The "quirky" volunteer Annie had mentioned to Nimec was a twenty-five-year-old research scientist named Jeremy Morgenfeld, whom she was able to reach on her cellular after depositing the kids at school--and just in the nick of time, Jeremy explained over the phone, since he'd been about to set out on his catamaran and had intended to remain incommunicado for the rest of the morning, his usual habit being to work no more than four hours a day, Monday through Thursday, beginning neither a moment sooner nor later than the stroke of noon. The living definition of a prodigy, Jeremy had graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology a month before his sixteenth birthday with a bachelor's degree in aeronautical engineering, and had later gained four master's degrees in that and other related fields, as well as three doctorates in the physical and biological sciences. By the age of twenty-one he had started up the Spectrum Foundation, an independent think tank financed almost entirely by the sale of its own diverse technological patents, with a small percentage of additional grant money coming from MIT in exchange for participation in several joint projects, which included what he was presently describing to Nimec as magnetohydrodynamics--

"Plasma theory," Annie said. "You'll have to excuse Jerry. Every now and then he likes to remind people that was once the exclusive subject of a MERF study."

"That an acronym for something?"

"The Mensa Education and Research Foundation," she said. "They're interested in measuring the upper levels of intelligence ... identifying the cultural, physiological, and environmental determinants of people with genius IQs."

"Nature or nurture," Nimec said. He was seated between them on the KSC tram, crossing from the reception area to the Vehicle Assembly Building. "The eternal debate."

"Look, I'm not into making anybody feel dumb," Jeremy said. Nimec guessed that was an attempt at being charitable. "But getting back to MHD, Annie's definition is much too broad. It's kind of like how every gerbil's a mammal, but not every mammal's a gerbil, you know? Plasma theory covers everything from the creation of the universe to these weird electrical surges in space I call Kirby crackle--after Jack Kirby, the comic book guy who outclassed all the megabucks special effects you've ever seen in sci-fi movies with only a pencil, an art board, and his imagination. Talk about genius." Jeremy paused. "Anyway, MHD's about the behavior of plasma in a magnetic field, which can lead to majorly immense practical applications. Power from atomic fusion, for example. It's the cleanest way known to generate energy, assuming we can figure out how to build reactors that are big and powerful enough to do the job on a mass scale without turning them and everything around them to melted slag."

"Better stop," Nimec said. "You're scaring me."

"Why's that?"

"Can't talk about it." Nimec kept a straight face. "Childhood trauma."

Jeremy raised his eyebrows.