“We can’t read the mind of another person without them.”

“I feel that.”

“Also we can’t without them. And they can. We live in a historic moment. This moment. It’s about the future of the world. It’s about what happens next.

We want to minimize the impact on the environment by encouraging innovative design, by means of shared analysis and best practice. We want to encourage people to speak up, to design solutions, to design effective treatment where appropriate.”

He found his words somewhat lost in his own excitement. There was a groundswell of interest and well-being that had died somewhere in the jungle. The day would have been a good time to come in, he knew. A gathering of minds had gathered round a shared concern over what was next.

He thought about the battle clouds gathering at the Alfredo’s, and the clouds at the top of the world, and perhaps a thousand other things, his mind traveling back and forth across those flimsy membrane clouds.

After five minutes, she said, “Your plane’s in the air.”

The words were as clear as they need to be, but his throat catched and he didn't know what to say. She looked at the television set and cringed. She fired up the jet, for the first time in a year. Then she said, “We’re ready to go.”