My first semester as head of the biology department at Sizemore University was passing smoothly and quite pleasantly. It was a small, secluded campus, sequestered in the scenic hills near Riceville, Tennessee. It was certainly not on the leading edge of scientific advancement, but it provided me with the placid atmosphere I sorely needed. The facilities were adequate; the campus’s original life sciences department had been destroyed in an explosion the year before. A tragic accident in the chemistry lab that so severely injured my predecessor, a professor Leland Dudley, that he was forced to retire. It pained me to benefit from such unfortunate events, but the job was so agreeable to me that I soon forgot my qualms. I was provided with an area in the vocational building that had been an auto repair facility, small, but large enough for the few students I had, outfitted with full lab facilities.
