He grew silent again, as if mulling over a decision.

“Do either of you know anything about physics?”

“Sure. We’re experts.”

“Really?”

Rickards rolled his eyes and slumped back against the couch.

“Oh, you’re being facetious.”

Angela leaned forward.  “No, we don’t know anything about physics.  Only what Mike told us.”

“What exactly did he tell you?”

A surprised Angela straightened and thought back.  “Well, for one, he said energy is not what it seems.  That it’s very strange and sometimes can be different things.”

“Such as?”

She frowned.  “Um, he said that in smaller, controlled circumstances, it was more predictable, I think.  But in larger, more concentrated levels, it could change.  And something about energy and mass being similar at extreme levels.  I’m not sure if I’m remembering exactly right.”

“You’re close enough,” said Townsend.  “Do you recall when I told you about the hubris at NASA?  That kept those fellas from having an open mind?”

“Yes.”

He pursed his lips. “That can go both ways.”

“What do you mean?”

Townsend was slow to reply.  “What I mean is that Mike Morton may have been a bit eccentric, but he was no dummy.”

“We certainly didn’t think so.”

The older man continued contemplating, biting his bottom lip.  “In a lot of ways, I’m not… the man I used to be. In some ways, I’m the same.  But others…”

He stared down at the envelope on the table.

“Just like everything in life—including physics.”

“I’m not sure we’re following,” said Rickards.

“Everything changes,” he replied.  “And evolves over time.”  He continued staring at the envelope, then at the table.  “There was a man named William Herschel who lived in the late eighteenth century.  He was an astronomer who discovered the planet Uranus.  Brilliant astronomer… but…” Townsend momentarily grinned to himself.  “He also thought the Sun was very cold.”

“Our sun?”

“Back then, it was believed by many scientists that our solar system was teeming with life, and Herschel believed the Sun was no different.  That it was cold, and its inhabitants had just adjusted to the bright luminosity of their giant planet.

“Then there’s the idea Albert Einstein had in the early 1900s of our universe being static and unchanging—until a man named Hubble proved that was not the case.  Or the erroneous science behind combustion and oxidation.  Or a thousand others.”  Townsend relaxed and placed both arms on his chair.  “The same goes for quantum physics or quantum mechanics.  A lot of mistakes were made, even by Einstein.”

He looked at both of them.  “Do you two know what an electron is?”

“Uh, yeah,” Rickards mumbled.

Townsend nodded.  “My point is that even mankind’s brightest minds have been and still are proven wrong from time to time.”  He blinked and said simply, “Hubris.”

“It happens to all of us,” said Rickards, “not just scientists.”

“Yes, it does.”

Another long pause left them waiting.