All right, Katherine? asks David, peering through the gap in the seats.
Yes dear, says Katherine. I'm walking around Auckland in my new long johns.
You've eaten too many doughnuts, says David.
No, it's my new book, says Katherine. How would you spend your last hour if global annihilation was imminent?
What a terrible question to ask someone on a plane, says David.
I know, says Katherine. That's why I'm imagining I've landed.
Isn't that cheating? asks David. How long is this flight?
Three and a half hours, says Katherine. But anyway, there is no suggestion that this might happen. It's a playful question.
Hence the long johns, says David. Nice touch.
I wouldn't like to think my purchase was wasted, says Katherine.
Think about it, says David. Everything will be wasted. Including that scarf.
Not for an hour, says Katherine. You'd come to understand what is precious.
Let me have a go, says David. Assuming I'm not in a plane, what will I do?
What are you talking about? asks Gaius.
Katherine is posing a question, says David. To answer it I must imagine I'm not trapped in a plane.
Interesting, says Gaius. What is the question?
The world comes to an end in an hour, says David.
Does it? asks Gaius. Are we certain?
It's a hypothetical, says David. What would you do?
Continue doing whatever I was doing, says Gaius. No point starting a new project.
No point continuing an old one, says David.
True, says Gaius. Perhaps I would.... eat a tomato.
You hate tomatoes, says David.
I know, says Gaius. Because I believe them to be poisonous. In the circumstances, it wouldn't matter.
A flight attendant comes past, with a trolley.
Tea, coffee, hot chocolate? asks the flight attendant.
Coffee, please, says David.
Nothing for me thank you, says Gaius.
David gets his coffee.
Mmm, ahh, airline coffee.
He thinks about his last hour on the planet. Why not go to a café and order a full cream milk latte? Sit outside under an umbrella, or inside near a window, and watch the world go by.
Faster than usual.
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