“I’m getting the very strong feeling that none of this has happened by chance,” William said. “You didn’t just find me because of some sort of business deal, did you?”

“I fully intended to tell you. But you know, the explosions and kidnappings got in the way.”

“Partly by chance, partly by design is the truth, I’m afraid,” Steven said. “The Corcillium has been moving chess pieces for some time now. I should know, I was one of those pieces. Obviously there was a reason they kept tabs on Dr. Martin’s family. Before Rex Martin died, he let the Corcillium know he’d told his son all about his research, hoping in vain that he would continue his work. No one could have guessed his great-grandson would be the one to pick up the mantle.”

“It caused a pretty big rift in my family,” Quincy said. “I obviously never met my great-grandfather Rex. He was dead long before even my dad was born. My dad grew up listening to his father grumble about his crazy father Rex, who told stories about people disappearing and reappearing into lightning. In fact, my grandfather took all of Rex’s notes that were stored in boxes and tossed them, but my dad secretly dug them out of the trash. And Dad really got into it, carefully keeping them in fact. Boy, did it piss off my grandfather when he found out. Said it was a bunch of crap that ruined Rex’s life. It was the beginning of the end for my dad and his father. As a final middle finger to his father, my dad made sure my first name was Rex. Being antagonistic is a family trait.”

“So those letters from your great-grandfather … you’ve read them before?” William asked.

“No. I just have his private scientific notes. In them, he made several references to the fact that he was hesitant to keep anything about his actual discoveries at his home, for fear that it could be discovered and his family would be in danger. You can imagine my fascination in reading that. And I only found out about his technical notations when your story came out, Will. I was just a kid too. Maybe ten years old. I clearly remember talking to my dad about the kid from Tennessee who was abducted by aliens, and my dad said, ‘You should read what your great-grandfather believed.’ I devoured it. And by the time I made my first million, I knew how I’d be spending my money. My business goal was to get your name on the dotted line for the new campaign, but honestly, this is what I really wanted to know: If my great-grandpa Rex was right.”

William felt the uncomfortable prickling of doubt. “Campaign?”