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Finally, the remaining passengers had finished boarded, and the door was closed. This was followed by the customary admonishment to make sure everything was stowed overhead or under the seat in front of you and to have your tray tables closed, your seatbacks upright, your electronic devices turned off, not to smoke, stay in your seat, keep your seatbelt fastened at all times,and so forth. The announcements were repeated in Chinese.

Gavin whispered to Alex, "I'm surprised they don't tell you how to wipe your ass and in what direction. I've never heard so many rules."

"I suppose the announcements really are all necessary," said Alex disinterestedly.

"Hmph," said Gavin in response to Alex's dismissal of what he thought was a clever comment.

Alex realized he shouldn't have been so dismissive, and added, "So, which direction do you recommend?" which elicited a grin from Gavin.

The safety announcements began, and neither boy paid much attention to them, instead looking around to see what their fellow passengers were doing. They saw their fellow were generally not paying attention to the announcements, either, and were fiddling with their personal electronic gadgets and other personal belongings. The plane was pulled back from the gate and slowly lumbered down the taxiway, stopping which it reached the takeoff queue.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, this is your captain. We're third in line for takeoff and should be in the air within five or six minutes. We are expecting to arrive in Hong Kong on schedule. Planes ahead of us are reporting no major turbulence and we expect your flight to be entirely uneventful. If this is your first trans-Pacific flight, your will notice there is a second set of crewmembers on board. After eight hours, we'll switch off. We'll keep it quiet from the cockpit during the flight since most of you will wish to sleep. Thank you for flying with United Airlines and we hope you enjoy your flight."

The flight attendants were all seated and strapped in, and within a few moments the plane was rolling down the runway with its engines blaring at full thrust.

Not long after the flight took off, the curtains were drawn that separated the business class from the coach cabin. The first class cabin was on the upper deck on this particular configuration. In the confines of the business cabin, hot towels were soon passed out, and Gavin and Alex both took one.

"I love these things," said Alex rubbing his face, his eyes, and even behind his ears, luxuriating in the feel of their hot moistness.

"Yeah, they're pretty cool. It's so easy to do, too, so I'm not sure why we don't make these at home."

"Yeah. I guess nobody thinks of it unless they're on a plane."

Alex grabbed his used towel, now cold, and in a sudden burst of playfulness opened it fully and wiped Gavin's face much like one would wipe a car's windscreen.

"Hey, what the...?" Gavin was taken by surprise by the unexpected attack, but realizing that it was just a towel, he relaxed, then giggled, and retaliated in kind.

They were struggling when the flight attendant interrupted, with a smile, and asked, "Is there a problem, gentlemen?"

"Um, no," they replied simultaneously and handed her the towels. She smiled at them warmly, and continued on collecting the used towels.

Moments later another attendant was handing out small individual bowls of warmed assorted cashews and peanuts to each passenger in the business class cabin.

"God, I just love hot nuts," said Gavin.

Alex took one look at Gavin, realized he was oblivious to his comment, and started laughing uproariously.

"What? What's so funny?"

Alex tried to talk but sputtered and laughed even harder, so hard that he started to have trouble breathing.

Gavin gave Alex a funny look, trying to figure out what it was all about. All of a sudden he realized what he had said, then started laughing himself. It slowly wore off. The flight attendant just rolled his eyes when he collected the empty dishes.

"Yeah, okay, you got me," said Gavin sheepishly.

"It's nice to have someone admit a nut fetish like that so easily," said a grinning Alex.

"Well, not just any nuts mind you. Just certain ones."

"Naturally," said Alex enjoying the interplay.

"Yeah. Certain ones," said Gavin suddenly serious and killing the mood.

They sat without speaking for a while as various announcements were made about in-flight entertainment, food service, and other trivial details.

Soon the first meal of the flight was being served. Since it was business class there was a better selection than coach, nor was the food quite as dreadful as in coach, but it still wouldn't win any awards. Gavin selected the chicken cacciatore, while Alex picked the beef burgundy. They were served their salads and had their drinks refilled as the flight attendants took the remainder of the orders for the cabin.

Not long after, their entrees were served and they chowed down as only teen boys can. Their food was gone quickly but it was some time before their dinner trays were cleared away. After that, the desert cart rolled through offering a sundae or a platter of fruit and cheese.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," said the flight attendant over the public address system, "now that the meal service has concluded, we'll begin the films for those of you in business and economy. There are three films, which have a short intermission between them. You may read about the films in the entertainment booklet in the seatback pocket in front of you. There will be a second meal service two hours before we land. There will be a mid-flight snack service for those in our premium classes. Many of you will want to sleep. To assist in that, we will dim the cabin lights for the remainder of the flight until it's time for our final meal service. We ask all passengers to pull down their window shades as a courtesy to your fellow passengers. We also ask that if you aren't using your overhead light, to please turn it off. There will be no further in-flight announcements except for safety purposes, until we are two hours from our destination." Again, the announcement was repeated in Chinese.

Both boys grabbed the entertainment guide and looked to see what was playing. The first film was Bend it Like Beckham, followed by Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, and Die Another Day. Each film was separated by a half-hour, very old sitcom: Cheers was between the first two films and Murphy Brown between the second two films. Neither boy had spoken much since before dinner when Gavin seemed to shut himself off when his mood changed.

The videos were started almost immediately after the Chinese announcement finished, and both Alex and Gavin put on their headphones. Alex decided he'd try to listen on the Chinese channel for fun, but the novelty wore off very quickly and he switched to English.

After the first film ended, he went to the lavatory, and when he came back he noticed Gavin was missing. A few seconds later Gavin came back, and slid in. "Ran to get another drink. I'm thirsty – it's so dry up here."

"Yeah, I suppose so," replied Alex still wondering why Gavin's mood had changed so suddenly before dinner. He thought about asking, but decided the plane wasn't the place to do it. "I might read instead of watching the second movie. I've already seen it three times."

"I'm going to watch it and then go to sleep. There's no trick I know to make my body clock deal with this wicked time change. It's a total inversion: twelve hours," stated Gavin, little emotion showing. It was obvious he was still thinking about something else.

Alex noticed it, wondered about it, and then decided not to pursue it. Instead Alex continued along the current line of conversation. "I'm sure It's going to be an experience. Still, I'm looking forward to seeing Hong Kong and being shown around, especially since I'm being shown around by you," offered Alex trying to break whatever funk Gavin seemed to have fallen into.

"Yeah. I'm looking forward to that," said Gavin a slight smile creeping on his face. "And I'm really glad you are, too."

Alex felt much better now that Gavin seemed to relax a bit. It would be no good to be tense for such a long trip. They started watching the movie, but soon Alex was digging for his book. He grabbed it, and stuck it in between his armrest and seat-cushion, so it would be ready for him later.

Soon, he was fast asleep. When he awakened, Gavin was asleep and the episode of Murphy Brown was playing. He stared at Gavin for a few moments, watching him sleep, watching his chest move up and down gently as he breathed. Alex smiled a little as he stared at Gavin.

He heard a little clink, and that caused him to stop staring at Gavin. He looked around and saw food on the tables in front of a lot of the seats, so he knew he'd just missed the snack service. He decided that he didn't want to get caught perving over Gavin, so he got up and quietly walked to the galley, finding one of the buxom flight attendants, and asked "Is there anything left? I'm still hungry."

"Sure sweetie," she said. "We have some entrees left over from dinner, plus the snack was a build-your-own sandwich. We'll fix you up with whatever you'd like and bring it by.

 "That looks awesome!" exclaimed Alex, and looked at the different items for the sandwich before deciding on a ham, turkey, and cheddar on rye. She sent him to his seat and a few seconds later, they had a tray in front of him. He ate quickly, enjoying the food while ignoring the video screen.

He dozed off again. When he awakened again, Gavin was also awake. "Man, this flight is so long. How much longer to go?" Alex said blearily.

"A little under five hours, still," answered Gavin after peeking at his watch.

"Oh, God. Just open the door and push me out. Please?"

"That's how I feel too, Alex."

"I thought the flight to Europe was bad, but this is insane." Alex groaned, the grin being replaced by a grimace as his back spasmed painfully.

"Yes, it is. At least you've been sleeping a lot. But don't sleep too much. Remember, we're getting there in the late afternoon so you don't want to be wide awake when it's time to go to bed."

"I know," mumbled Alex before dozing back off. He awakened later to the smell of coffee. Gavin was just waking up as well, obviously roused by the same smell. Soon, the galley trolleys were plying the aisles offering the second meal service, which was a choice of a breakfast or lunch entrée. Gavin took the ham and cheese omelette, and Alex got the diced chicken over bed of pasta. Neither boy was fully awake so they ate quietly.

The video screens were finished showing the films and were now showing shorts from various television programs. There were excerpts from 60 Minutes, Discovery, and even Animal Planet. The meal service was cleared away. They peeked again at the front of the cabin where two large screens on either side of the bulhead showed where the plane was. Their destination looked far away indeed.

Eventually, after what seemed an eternity, there was only about an hour left until arrival. The cabin lights were slowly brought up over a few minutes.

They heard a loud bing, and then the captain's voice was heard over the public address system. "Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen. We're about 45 minutes away and expect an arrival at Chek Lap Kok Hong Kong International Airport about fifteen minutes ahead of schedule. The weather there is 85 degrees Fahrenheit, and sunny."

The flight attendant came on, repeated the announcement in Chinese, and then went on with further announcements alternating between English and Chinese every few sentences. "We will be passing through the cabin. If you did not receive a landing card and health questionnaire at check-in, please take one as we walk by. Please be sure these are fully filled out before we land. Instructions are in the back of your in-flight magazine. If you have a connecting flight, there will be uniformed agents waiting on the other side of immigration to help you."

Alex and Gavin each filled out their cards and started organizing their belongings. Alex was sure he'd have read a lot on the trip because it was so long, but he really hadn't gotten much done except eating, sleeping, and watching the videos. His mind was numb, he felt sore, and he was worn out even though he'd had no physical activity.

Many people had opened their window shades and, when Alex and Gavin peeked out, they could see it was a bright sunny day above the clouds. It was a beautiful view, but he thought back to Concorde and knew it didn't compare.

"Ladies and Gentleman we have begun our descent into Hong Kong. Please put your seatbacks in their upright positions and stow your belongings in the overhead bins or under the seat in front of you and make sure your seat belt is tightly fastened. On the video monitors, we will be showing important instructions about the immigrations procedures. If you have never flown into Hong Kong before, please watch these and take careful note."

The video started and the boys watched it. It didn't seem complicated to either of them. The steps were simple: proceed to the health station and hand in the health card, then on to immigration and show their passports and landing cards, then on to baggage claim to collect their luggage, and then finally proceeding to customs.

In the distance, as Alex looked out the window, he saw skyscrapers looming high in the distance and he realized how dense and tall Hong Kong was. He'd heard stories about how polluted China was and his dread eased when he saw Hong Kong wasn't nearly as bad as Mainland China was reputed to be. It was a truly unusual city – not much land and built really tall. Soon they were on the ground with nary a bump due to an expert landing by the pilot.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Hong Kong, Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China. This airport is one of the few in the world with double Jetways. Jetways will be attached to the front and middle of the aircraft. Please exit the door nearest to and forward of your seat. Follow the signs to the immigration area. Thank you for flying with United Airlines and we hope to see you again soon. Local time is seventeen past four."

Gavin and Alex exited the plane, and because they were in business class were out before most passengers. "Alex, if we move quickly, we won't be stuck behind all these people in line. Since China took over, these lines now move at a glacial pace."

Alex took the hint and doubled his stride. Gavin smiled thankfully and soon they were at the immigration and customs section. They handed in their health cards and were waved on without incident, which is what happened with most people.

At immigration, Gavin spoke again. "I can go through the diplomat line, but I'll wait with you. No point in me hurrying through while you have to wait in line. It shouldn't be bad. Doesn't look to be more than a fifteen minute wait."

"Cool. I'm pretty excited. Too bad we weren't here an hour ago. We could have delivered your package today and not dealt with it tomorrow."

"Nice plan, but they're expecting it tomorrow at ten, so that's when they get it."

"Oh well. Shot down yet again," said Alex, a little disappointed that they couldn't sneak a little more free-time out of the trip.

They passed through immigration without incident, collected their luggage, and were soon in the terminal.

Gavin looked around, locating the signage he was looking for, and signalled Alex, saying, "Come on. We're getting on the Airport Express, which will take us to Hong Kong. Then we take the MTR to Tsim Sha Tsui station."

"Huh?"

"The MTR is the subway. Our hotel, the Sheraton, is one block from the Tsim Sha Tsui station. The Airport Express takes us to Central and then it's just a short subway ride."

They got in the queue for tickets at the booth. Gavin whipped out a wad of Hong Kong dollars and paid. Alex was angry at having not planned for foreign currency. Soon they were on board the train and speeding towards the city, Alex's face planted squarely on the window looking at the sights.