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the rail of the boardwalk. It wasn’t so much surprise he felt as dread. “Who are you?”
    The man smiled, but the expression was secret, as if only for himself. He was short and handsome: blond hair and goatee shorn close, shoulders solid beneath a dark silk shirt, hips slim in black jeans. Hiseyes were blue behind wire-rimmed glasses that were a mirror of Travis’s own.
    “Worlds of possibility,” the man said. “Close to home.”
    Travis shook his head. “But what does it mean? What are you selling?”
    “Everything. Haven’t you seen our commercials?” His laugh was wonderful—low and inviting. “But of course you have. They’re sort of hard to miss. Thank our marketing department for that. Whatever people want, whatever people need, whatever they’re too afraid to dream of—that’s what we sell.”
    “Possibility,” Travis murmured.
    “Worlds of possibility.” The man paused. “But then, you know all about other worlds, don’t you, Mr. Wilder?”
    The night was perfectly still. Sweat seeped down Travis’s sides. What had he been expecting the other to say?
    The man stepped away from his vehicle and moved toward the boardwalk. His blue eyes were earnest behind his glasses.
    “Do you know what it means, Mr. Wilder? Do you understand the implications of what you’ve discovered? What it means for this world, what it means for all of us?”
    Travis’s mouth was filled with dust. It was hard to form the words, and when he did they were utterly hollow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    This time the man’s smile edged into a smirk. “On the contrary, you understand better than anyone, Mr. Wilder. You’ve seen for yourself what another world has to offer.”
    “What do you mean?”
    The man moved closer. “You really can’t see it, can you? That’s ironic. You’ve been there, but you don’t get it.” He shrugged. “Consider it this way. What do you think the Vikings thought when their dragonships landed on the desolate shores of Greenland? What did Christopher Columbus think when he realized that the jumble of islands he had found weren’t anywhere near India? What do you think was going through the minds of the men and women who sailed across a vast ocean to settle at Jamestown?”
    Travis could only stare.
    The man spread his hands wide. “A new world, Mr. Wilder. That’s what I’m talking about. The whole history of mankind can be measured as long intervals of meaningless static punctuated by the discovery of new worlds. These days most people believe there are no more worlds to find, at least not without climbing into a spaceship for a few hundred years.” He brought his hands together. “But you and I both know that isn’t true.”
    “Leave me alone,” Travis said.
    The man had reached the edge of the boardwalk. “Please, Mr. Wilder. I’m not your enemy. Far from it. Haven’t you wanted to meet someone who could understand what you’ve been through? Someone whom you could tell everything?”
    Yes. Yes, more than anything. But this man hadn’t been there. He could never have understood.
    Travis let go of the railing. “I said leave me alone.”
    The man sighed. “All right, Mr. Wilder. I can see you’re not ready to hear what I have to say. But let me give you some advice. I know you don’t trust me. And I’m sure you know people whom you think you
can
trust.” He cocked his head. “But you can never really know another, Mr. Wilder. Not truly, not what burning secrets they keep deep in their hearts. Everyone is seeking something. At least I’ve told you what I want.”
    Travis could not breathe. Despite the darkness the heat was suffocating. What was the man talking about? But the other only nodded, then turned toward his vehicle. Without thinking, Travis raised an arm.
    “Wait—”
    The rest of his words were cut off as the roar of an engine tore apart the night.
    Travis jerked his head up in time to see a white-hot beam pierce the darkness. He