Before the answer could come, John was cutting the discussion short, and Derek looked at his nephew for a moment. John did not say thing like this may take a while. He worked while he asked questions, so something was going on.
Mike chuckled. "H.G. Wells, that's certainly original."
Derek had no idea what it was supposed to mean, but something was going on, and he knew enough to keep his mouth shut when needed, or at least change the subject. "I've never been out of the country, which one do you prefer?" They could discuss irrelevant things until John told him what was going on.