Jan interrupted him: “‘The paleontologists paid off?’”
Lightning flashed on the other side of the blinds. He turned to face her, bars of white light flickering briefly on his face. “Oh yes, quite handsomely. You’ll understand in a moment. Because after—”
Thunder boomed, and the window rattled.
He cleared his throat and continued: “After completing an excavation and consulting with scientists, we realized that what we’d uncovered was probably ...” He paused.
“Yes?” Jan prompted anxiously.
“An alien spacecraft,” he finished.
Silence flooded the room. She scooted her chair back and stood, then walked around to the front of her desk. She leaned against it, staring at him. “That’s—that’s extraordinary.”
“It gets better,” he said. “Because what I haven’t told you is: The thing was still h
