Chapter 1 – The Contract
A few years earlier,
The Boeing 707 was one of the most luxurious transatlantic jets operated by Pan Am. The six-and-a-half-hour flight from New York to London was far from cheap, boasting amenities that resembled those of a Fortune 500 hotel. Passengers enjoyed plentiful meals, spacious cabins, and air conditioning.
An air hostess walked down the aisle like a model on a catwalk, her tight-fitted blue skirt and white cotton blouse accentuating her slender frame. Her blue hat kept her blonde hair neatly tied back. She offered passengers in the first-class area some warm champagne.
A little girl skipped along the aisle behind her and stopped, intrigued by a man drawing a picture of an eagle and a wolf. "Hey mister, what are you drawing?" she asked, her two front teeth conspicuously missing.
"It's a puzzle—two medals to place in two inlets, but first, you've got to find them," the man replied with a smile, showing her some other puzzles he was working on.
"Those are cool. Are you an artist?" the little girl asked, glancing at some of the man's books on houses and large buildings.
"Kind of. I'm an architect," the man said, opening a book on castles. "I design buildings like this."
The little girl struggled with the word "architect" but smiled as she looked at the beautiful rooms in the castle.
"Annabelle, stop bothering that gentleman," Annabelle's mother called out, having spent a few minutes searching for her adventurous eight-year-old. "Sorry, sir. She can be very inquisitive."
"That's quite alright. I have a daughter around her age," the man said, showing her a picture of his daughter, Lisa, riding her first bike with excitement. He also showed a picture of himself with his wife, Jessica.
Annabelle's mother, smiling at the happy family photo, introduced herself. "I'm Maggie," she said, extending her hand.
"George. George Trevor," George replied, kissing her fingers politely.
"Is it your first-time visiting England?" Maggie asked, noting his well-prepared demeanour.
"Yes, it is. I'm heading to Scotland, but I thought I would see the sights and sounds of London first," George replied.
George had books on British architecture and other intriguing texts on puzzles.
"I heard you say you were an architect, but these books look more enigmatic. Where do you work, Mr. Trevor?" Maggie asked, as inquisitive as her daughter.
George explained that he worked for Trevor and Chamberlain, a company known for its unusual and surreal building designs. He was the founder of the company and had partnered with his college friend, William Chamberlain.
The newspaper on his lap was open to an article about a new British aristocratic billionaire making waves in the scientific community. George pointed to the man he was going to meet in Scotland.
"What a coincidence! I'm also off to see Doctor Spencer. He requested my presence as I am the foremost expert in eugenics," Maggie said, hoping George understood the significance.
"I'm sorry, what is eugenics?" George asked, unfamiliar with the term.
"Well, eugenics is the study of improving the quality of life," Maggie explained, sitting next to George in the empty seat. "Take Annabelle here. I aim to help future generations live longer, thrive, and become a greater asset to society."
"Are you saying you play God?" George asked, reading between the lines.
Maggie explained that it was more about believing in the potential for change, fashioning humans with the most intelligent traits mankind has to offer. She pointed to her daughter as an example of someone she believed would grow to be quite the lady of science.
"My wife prefers to stay at home with Lisa, cooks, cleans, and keeps her husband happy," George said with a smile, finding Maggie very interesting. He didn't fully grasp what she was getting at, but her infectious smile was a welcome distraction.
"Teutonic minds have no place in science. We must grow and expand into a world beyond what we have as a prison," Maggie said passionately, sounding like a scientist on the verge of a breakthrough. "One wonders what Doctor Spencer needs with an architect."
Oswell had invited George to his home in the British Isles for inspiration for a house he wanted to build in the Arklay Mountains, a midwestern part of America in Arklay County, deep within Raccoon Forest. It was to be the house used in the doctor's experiments, with a secret laboratory underneath.
Keeping meddlers out of his experiments would be George's task, using his expertise in puzzles and booby traps. Oswell Spencer had found the right man for the job, and his team was already beginning to assemble.