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Kurt felt a little guilty for forcing Paul’s hand, but Paul was a perfectionist Given the chance, he’d run a hundred test scenarios before he put forth a novel theory

“It’s just an idea,” Paul said “I’ll start by saying I know it’s crazy”

“Can’t be any worse than Joe’s swarm of comets”

“Hey!” Joe said, feigning serious injury “No judg”

“You’re right,” Kurt said “So what does all this mean? Start with the bird I’m curious”

Paul took a deep breath “‘The Crow and the Pitcher,’” he said “It’s one of Aesop’s fables”

With just those words, Kurt saw the brilliance in Paul’s idea

“In the fable,” Paul said, “a thirsty crow lands beside a pitcher of water and attempts to dip its beak in it for a drink But the neck of the jug is so narrow and the level of the water so low that the crow can’t reach the water So the crow flies away and returns with a stone in itsThe stone displaces so this over and over, the crow eventually raises the water level far enough that it can drink from the pitcher

“The point is,” Paul continued, “if the ice caps aren’t h swar at this the wrong way Maybe there’s no additional water going into the oceans but so water that’s already present”

Everyone re the possibility

Paul looked around the roo in and having it overflow”

Kurt laughed “I’et the idea”

“Everyone’s so quiet, I wasn’t sure,” Paul said

“Justat your brilliance, ”

“Absolutely,” Joe insisted