CHAPTER 20

Claudia was quiet as John drove the SUV through the streets of Bern, away from the Einstein house. The tour guide had caused her to ponder a great deal about who she was. What the tour guide, Christina, had told her about Einstein and his frailties was not lost on the young scientist. Einstein struggled a great deal to even get his work published. The early years, working as a patent clerk, were difficult for a man of his abilities. And when he had succeeded, there had been a struggle to get the Nobel Committee to recognize his work because of the “Jewish factor” that she and the guide had discussed. He overcame all of that and attained recognition from the world scientific community, and the world at large.

And yes, he had been a bit of a ladies man, abusing the one woman who had helped him achieve his greatest discovery. It was not something Claudia condoned, but now she thought she understood.

Staring at the passing landscape, Claudia wondered how any young scientist could succeed the way that Einstein had in today’s academic environment. She remembered graduate school. Hundreds of young physicists were lined up to get jobs working in the large laboratories, lost in the crowd, assigned to do small parts of the larger physical experiments, a cog in the wheel of a group effort, using colossal particle accelerators. What patent clerk today, she thought, could get a major scientific publishing house to even read a new theory that questioned the relationship between time and motion? They would look at his credentials and laugh, throwing the paper in a ‘slush pile’ with the rest of the perpetual motion and alien abduction submissions.

It would be almost impossible for anyone …but her. Claudia had the extensive support of her mentor, the world renowned physicist Rodney Blackstone and the Committee foundation. She vowed to never waste those resources again. As she looked out the window she felt anxious.

Claudia was now ready to join the Committee’s efforts.

The two security men in the back were alert, watching, as did John, the road ahead and behind them as they passed through the narrow city streets. When John turned onto the main highway that connected Bern with Zurich, they knew they were in the clear. The men relaxed.

John turned his head from the road and looked at Claudia, her face pensive.

“Penny for your thoughts?” he said. “You okay?”

“I don’t know,” she said. “Thank you for taking me today. I think I managed to get a few things straight. Christina was –”

“Christina?”

“The tour guide.”

“Yes, sorry.”

“She was a wonder woman. You have no idea what that old woman has been through. She knew a great deal about Albert Einstein,” said Claudia. “She lives and works in a place where the historians say he made his greatest discoveries. She gave me something I couldn’t find in a science book.”

“And that is?”

Claudia smiled. “A woman’s perspective; actually, a mature woman’s perspective on Einstein and his relationship with Mileva Maric, my great grandmother. She opened my eyes to a few things.”

“Is that good or bad?” said John.

“Probably good,” she said, “unless you’re one of those scientists I yelled at in that first meeting.”

John laughed and turned his focus back to the road.

Professor Blackstone pulled back the window curtain when the front guard shack notified him that John had returned with Claudia. Relieved to have his protégé back in one piece, he resisted the urge to leave his office and meet them on the front steps of the mansion. Instead, Blackstone called down to the kitchen and told them they could now start the special dinner he had ordered.

Blackstone casually walked into the hallway when he heard John and Claudia pass. John was startled by his abrupt entrance but understood how the Professor felt about Claudia.

“Back already?” said Blackstone. He tried to camouflage his emotions, the joy he felt at seeing her safe, back at the estate.

“Yes sir,” said John.

“Isn’t Bern charming? Did you have a nice visit?”

“I did, Uncle Rodney. And yes, it is charming. I learned quite a bit about my great grandfather.” She stopped, gave him a bear hug and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for arranging the trip.”

The Professor beamed, his face turning red. “Yes, well, do you think you might be up for a special dinner? Just you and me. I asked the chef to prepare something exceptional. He managed to dig up a couple of bottles of vintage French wine.”

“Just the two of us?”

“Yes.”

“I’d love to,” she said.

John headed for the door.

“I guess you won’t need me anymore.”

“Thank you, again,” said Claudia.

“My pleasure.” He waved and started through the door.

At that moment Todd appeared in the hallway. He glanced as he rushed past John, stopping in front of Claudia and Blackstone.

“Where the heck have you been? Nobody could tell me what happened to you,” he said. “I was concerned.”

John stopped to listen.

Claudia kissed Todd and motioned at Blackstone. “Uncle Rodney made arrangements for John to take me to Bern.”

“What was in Bern?” said Todd.

“The Einstein house and the thirteenth century clock tower. Famous sites; they tell us a lot about Einstein’s ‘miracle year,’ the time when he and Mileva discovered special relativity and time dilation.”

Todd pouted. “Darn, I would have liked to have seen that.” He looked at John. “How come you didn’t let me know about the trip?”

Blackstone cleared his throat, “Sorry, Todd, the trip was a last minute idea and we wanted to make sure security was tight. No one knew about it. Not my staff, not the other security people, no one.”

“Oh,” said the ski instructor, disappointed.

“There will be plenty of opportunity for the both of you to see Switzerland,” said the Professor, “once we better manage Claudia’s security detail.”

Todd was wounded. “Jeeze, I wouldn’t have told anyone, I mean she and I are –”

Claudia grabbed his arm. “Don’t worry.” She nodded at Blackstone. “No offense intended. Uncle Rodney was being an old worry wart. We’ll have plenty of time to explore anyplace you want to go in Europe. I promise.”

Todd brightened up. “So what are we doing tonight?”

Claudia looked at Blackstone. “Uncle Rodney and I are having dinner alone. I’ll catch up with you afterwards.”

Blackstone jumped in. “We were going to discuss some family things, in private. …I’m sure you understand.”

“Of course,” said Todd, bowing his head, shrugging his shoulders slightly. “I guess we can hook up later.” He turned and walked away, following John out the door.