John Solo

The line costs one piece of chalk

John Solo told James Bond he could bring one piece of chalk and whatever he thought he'd drink before breakfast. Those were the terms suggested for a shared slot on the Latchford practice course. James arrived with a light in his kit, which shortly took a bath in his tea. John disposed of the tea and told him to hold the light sideways to drain. James said the light wasn't the point. He wanted to catch the little change in grip where the shadow fell over their lane. John said he would rather move the marker and feel it twice at different points.

They have both retold this argument. The tea was hot in John's version. James insists it had gone cool and that the light worked perfectly once he took it home. John would be more interested in that detail if either of them had remembered to bring a second mug.

Board at half past five

At his dispatch desk in Nightjar City, John keeps a piece of chalk and two cups. He marks leaves for the depot on the old board because a driver can see it from the door. A new dispatcher once rearranged the board in order of which buses were leaving first. John came in from the yard and dragged one finger through the whole bottom line. The new hire left him to write it again. Later she said she'd put the board in the right order, and he would've known if he had stayed for the explanation. He still thinks both schemes have merit. They alternate when holidays give them the desk together.

John bought time on the practice course expressly so he could have a place to go after a shift that full of voices. The Porsche Taycan Turbo S lays its power down quickly enough that he used to compensate with a heavier hand on the wheel than he needed. It took him a morning of running the same seam to realize he kept adjusting the start mark even though the trouble came later. He had worn a chalk stub down to his fingernail by then and never once asked somebody else to look.

What Miles could see

Miles Perhour had been keeping a timed diary on the Jaguar's bench. John asked him to pocket the timer and stand opposite the seam. From there Miles saw the Taycan start to move out before the wheel reached the join. John had been looking for the place it happened and making the adjustment just as he got there. Miles left to do his own preparation. John stayed out long enough to start getting it right. He stood by the gate when Miles's turn came and felt moderately foolish for having waited so long to ask.

Afterward they sat in the patch of shade by the garage. John said it was nice closing a morning off with nobody due out. Miles said he'd be due at work in twenty minutes and asked if John fancied walking him to the road. John got his cup and went. He still keeps his first practice slot solitary whenever he can get one.

The other mug

John's goal for the next shared test is a smooth exit after the shadow has gone. He has already offered James the choice of where to stand. James wants to see the marks from where John is standing. There's a bus-depot mug with a thumb-sized chip in the blue glaze wrapped in a dishcloth on the Taycan's bench. The day John packs that, they'll both have something to do with their hands during the explanation.