Alas, the delivery boy is on the clock; he could and would work much faster on commission!

This letter will list the names, distance in miles, and business telephone numbers of each potential car pooler, and request that each member of the group . . .

She's startled. How long has it been since he called her Jax instead of Janet or Jan? The last is a nickname she secretly hates. It makes her think of that syrupy-sweet actress on Lassie when she was a kid, the little boy (Timmy, his name was Timmy) always fell down a well or got bitten by a snake or trapped under a rock, and what kind of parents put a kid's life in the hands of a fucking collie?

The designated leaders so far include superstars like Harold Varmus, a Nobel laureate, and Eric Lander, genome meister.