Alfie felt the tap on his shoulder, but it didn’t register.

“Excuse me, Sir. Excuse me, Sir,” the air hostess said, louder. “We are preparing to land. Please put your seat in the upright position.”

“Preparing to land? But this is Skytube.”

“No, Sir. This is the Malaysia Airlines Airbus, you boarded twelve hours ago.”

“Oh sorry – I.”

“That’s alright. Would you like some juice?”

“Thank you.”

Alfie Mynn’s sleep ended, but the dream didn’t. For years, he envisioned a world where the major cities were linked by giant bridges. The bridges were tubes, sealed from the elements, which crossed oceans and land on stilts. And bullet trains travelled as fast as the fastest airliners, inside the tubes. Fueled by solar power, stored in the outer casing of Skytube, it was the cleanest, safest and most efficient form of long-distance travel. Alfie had no idea if it was possible, any more than any inventor had, until it happened. But he hated everything that was possible to hate about air travel. So much so, that his dream became an obsession.

If ancient man could build the pyramids, Chichén Itza and Angkor, why couldn’t modern man build Skytube? Think of the benefits. No more catastrophic air crashes, cleaner air, no noise, no need for air traffic control on the scale it was. Air terminals, spread over acres of costly land, would be replaced by sleek multi-level tube ports, using free air space. No more weather delays, planes stacking over airports, or re-directs. No more roads congested with fuel tankers on their way to airports. Passengers would have room to move around, and wouldn’t be packed into Boeings and Airbuses, like sardines in a tin. There would be restaurants, bars, coffee shops, lounges and sleepers. You could even live on Skytube. You’d still have bureaucratic nonsense at each end; customs and immigration. But it would be a small price to pay for the comfort and convenience. No more DVT, stagnant air, and no more turbulence. How he hated the turbulence. Alfie revelled in his dream, but he had no idea if it was feasible.

He was wide awake when the Airbus wheels screamed as they hit the runway, back in today’s world. Compared to building Skytube, re-engineering a small jewellery business would be a simple job. He couldn’t allow the commitment he had made to Nin to split his loyalty to Bob. In one way it was a problem, but in another it was a force that would drive him on and ensure he let neither of them down. Challenges like this were what he had thrived on his whole life. Skytube motivated him, he was ready to tackle the financial meltdown and save his business from ruin.