chemical reaction in his brain , instantaneous transmission of the impulse , chemical reaction in every muscle system from his left foot to his right fist , total elapsed time a small fraction of a second , total distance to target less than a yard , total time to target another small fraction of a second , which was good to know right then , because the guy 's hand was all the way in his pocket by that point , his own nervous system reacting just as fast as reacher 's , his elbow jerking up and back and trying to free whatever the hell it was he wanted , be it a knife , or a gun , or a phone , or a driver 's licence , or a passport , or a government id , or a perfectly innocent letter from the university of tehran proving he was a world expert on plant genetics and an honoured guest in nebraska just days away from increasing local profits a hundredfold and eliminating world hunger at one fell swoop .