They laughed lightly again – it was well understood that success was a long way away.

“But still,” David Brown said. “You must admit – it is worth a try.”
“I do. Perhaps I shouldn’t… but – simply as an experiment – it all seems fair enough to me.”

“Good.”
“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think it was at least worth a try.”
“And no great harm can come of it. Even if…”
“Yes well…”

The surgeon was suddenly serious –

“I’m not so sure about that! You never know what might happen once you start seriously rocking the boat.”

“But at the end of the day – it’s only a film.”
“Come on Dave, we all know this could go belly-up – and in a big way. What if…”

David Brown rushed to shut the surgeon down. He didn’t want the film to begin with an impromptu and totally unnecessary swirl of negativity.

“Don’t worry – it’s all good.”

The surgeon sighed –

“I wish I had your confidence Dave, but… we’ll see.”
“We will – thanks to you – we will.”

Once again their eyes met in a pool of trust beyond words. These blokes knew each other well – they were old mates – like the hard core Aussies who were still cracking jokes in the trenches – lame, but barbed jokes like “thank God that bloke is a shit-house shot!” They knew – of course they knew – that this was all a huge punt but… life itself was a huge punt these days – and probably always had been.

“Neil – there either is a God or there isn’t – it’s just a matter of proof.”

“Don’t worry…”
“One way or the other – we’ll be better off knowing.”
“I agree – that’s why I’m here!”
“The time has come – we need to know.”
“No – don’t worry I agree – even though I must say – personally I don’t even believe in God – or at least, a God still interested in us. Frankly, I just don’t.”

“Fair enough,” David Brown shrugged. “Why should you? After all – you’re a man of science, and there’s never been a shred of proof – not even a realistic experiment!”