A to B

Captain: "I've just got off the radio to Timpson. It seems his party are stranded at B without supplies. Their vehicle hit a mine a couple of his men are badly injured, unable to move and can't be left. Basically they're completely stranded. If we don't do anything they'll die in a couple of days."

Harris: "Where did you say they were, Captain? B?"

Captain: "Yes Harris. Any ideas?"

Harris: "Well, we're here at A. If we send a small party with supplies and stretchers we can get to B and rescue them."

Captain: "Excellent plan Harris. Emerson, you look concerned. Is there a problem with the plan?"

Emerson: "Well sir, the problem as I see it is that in order to get to B we'd need to pass through C."

Captain: "C?"

Emerson: "The midway point between A and B."

Captain: "Well I can't see how that's a problem. It's not enemy territory, is it Harris?"

Harris: "No Sir, C is definitely ours. I was part of the unit that won it back for us. A glorious day."

Captain: "Well then, we simply go to C, then on to B. I don't see the problem."

Emerson: "The problem is sir, we can only get to C by passing through D, the midway point between A and C."

Captain: "That's ours too though, isn't it?"

Harris: "Yes Sir, the whole road is ours, all the way from A to B."

Emerson: "Perhaps it's best if I draw you a map. To get to D we first have to pass through E."

Captain: "You mean the midway point between here and D."

Emerson: "Exactly. And to get to E we have to pass through F, but to get to F we'd have to pass through G."

Captain: "I can see how we're soon going to run out of letters, but I still don't see how this is stopping us getting to B. We were there last week, weren't we Jenkins."

Jenkins: "Yes sir. We had a picnic, sir."

Emerson: "The problem is, captain, there is no limit to the number of midway points we'd have to pass through before we got to C, let alone B. For every midway point there's a midway point halfway between here and the midway point. It's an infinite number, therefore an infinite distance."

Captain: "Good lord, I'm beginning to see your point. You mean we'd need to travel through an infinite number of midway points to get to B."

"Emerson: "Exactly sir."

Captain: "But it's impossible to pass through an infinite number of points in a finite time. It'll simply take forever to reach B and we don't have forever, do we Harris?"

Harris: "No Sir. Just a couple of days at best and that's if the weather holds. Timpson's party didn't even have a brolly, so ..."

Captain: "Don't even think about it Harris, it's too dreadful to contemplate. Is there nothing we can do?"

Harris: "Well sir, what if we drive really, really quickly?"

Captain: "Ah now there's a thought Harris. Would that work Emerson?"

Emerson: "Well, let me work it out. To travel an infinite distance in a finite time, well according to my calculations we could do it."

Captain: "Excellent."

Emerson: "But in order to do so we would need to be traveling at an infinite speed."

Captain: "How fast does your lorry go, Harris?"

Harris: "About 60 mph, Sir. I have got it up to 68 mph."

Captain: "68 eh. That's pretty nifty. But not up to an infinite speed?"

Harris: "I'm afraid not, Sir."

Jenkins: "May I suggest something Captain."

Captain: "Please do Jenkins, but if it's another picnic this really isn't the time. Besides, by the look of things right now we'll never make it to the picnic site."

Jenkins: "Well sir, it looks like we can't make it to B via C, not without passing through D, E, F, G, H and the whole of infinity."

Captain: "That's right Jenkins, bit of a tricky one isn't it."

Jenkins: "What if we take the bypass. That goes round C, so we wouldn't have to worry about D, E and all the others. We should be there in half an hour."

Captain: "Excellent suggestion Jenkins. I forgot about the bypass."

Emerson: "That's my fault sir, I left it off the map."

Jenkins: "If it's only going to take half an hour, ..."

Captain: "Yes Jenkins, spit it out."

Jenkins: "Well it is a lovely day and if we're going to B it is a perfect site for a picnic."

Captain: "Excellent idea, Jenkins. We'll take the emergency equipment and stretchers for Timpson's party, plus the picnic hamper, I think there's some ginger beer in the fridge. And Emerson,"

Emerson: "Yes sir?"

Captain: "I think we'll leave your map behind if it's all the same to you. We're definitely not going that way."