Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 570: Crazy

“So that’s that, then. I’ve finally gone off the deep end...” Marix shook her head and closer her eyes to stop herself from seeing what was in front of her. Or at least, what her ‘eyes’ were saying was in front of her. It wasn’t in front of her, and those weren’t eyes telling her that. She was asleep. She’d fallen asleep about an hour previous after finally getting fed up with getting no where in interrogating Qroal. That meant that everything currently being presented to her was a dream.

Dreams were rare for Marix, as she normally had a firm grip on nearly every aspect of her mind. That was why she could tell it was a dream. Such a rare occurrence meant it was easily identified. Well, there was that, and then...

“I believe I was the first crazy one in this family, thank you.”

After an annoyed sigh, Marix gave in and opened her eyes again. Her so-called eyes told her that she was in a small room, not much larger than her quarters on Loki. There was, however, no furniture or even a door. In fact, the only other thing in the room with her was the source of that every familiar voice.

Jyren sat against the wall across from her, arms folded on top of his knees as he casually peered over them at her. Though what he’d just said was one of those sarcastic comments he seemed to love spouting at every inappropriate moment, the words were stated in a matter-of-fact kind of way that almost made him seemed bored.

“You do not have the monopoly on psychoses, Jyren,” Marix grumbled at him, not at all liking this kind of dream after the day she’d had. Series of days, really. In case her words weren’t enough, she folded her arms and narrowed her eyes, as if this was all the fault of some of this creation of her mind.

Jyren just shrugged slightly. The fact that he didn’t argue proved to her that even her mind couldn’t bend to the insanity that was necessary to create an accurate representation of Jyren. His eyes closed a moment later and he spoke up in that same bored voice, “So are you just going to stand there and glare at me or did you actually want to be helpful for once in your life?”

She should have felt insulted by that. In fact, the only reason she wasn’t was due to her rational mind telling her this wasn’t Jyren yelling at her, but more likely that part of her own mind that had been the link for so very long. It was practically him, anyway. Practically, however, wasn’t completely. She wasn’t about to start yelling at herself...not yet, at least.

Instead, Marix decided to keep her guarded approach and find a way to get herself to wake up and out of this self-created hell, “Is it too much to ask that I just get a few hours of quiet, restful sleep for once?”

“Apparently,” Jyren might have been nodding, but it really just looked like he tilted his head slightly. His eyes seemed to stare off into nothing for a moment before turning back up to look straight into hers. It was a sight she sorely missed, “Don’t blame me for you showing up here, though. I just live here.”

That was an odd statement. Well, at first. But then again, he did ‘live’ there. This part of Jyren would always be there, carefully buried away in her mind so that she didn’t get distracted like...like this. When Marix woke up, she was going to be back on a very badly injured, unconscious Kanyak with a Yuuzhan Vong locked two rooms away. And, if she slept long enough, finally at the Gateway and some semblance of sanity. Now she was going to have to deal with this, too. It seemed that this wouldn’t ever go away. Then again, she shouldn’t have been as surprised as she was. A link was a very powerful thing...quite literally, half of her was dead. Of course it wasn’t going to just be forgotten completely.

“Fine,” she said the word quietly to herself before walking over next to Jyren and having a seat against the wall at his side. Turning to give him a sideways glance, Marix decided to just give in to whatever this was supposed to be, “Obviously this is for a reason, so get to it. What am I supposed to get out of this?”

Jyren shifted then, letting his arms slide off of his knees to his side. Then, very inelegantly, he allowed himself to fall just enough so that his head dropped onto Marix’s shoulder. He took a couple of moments to find a comfortable spot there before saying softly, “Can’t you just be happy for once?”

For some reason, the idea to just ignore the insanity of her dream and be happy with it had yet to occur to Marix. It wasn’t a half bad idea, actually. Idly, Marix leaned to rest her head on his. It may have been a dream, but that was real enough for her. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad thing...maybe it wasn’t insanity. Maybe her mind was finding a way to defend against going crazy by presenting her with exactly what she needed, if only for a few hours while she slept.

“You know I’m going to have to wake up relatively soon...” eventually, Marix found herself saying that. There was a great deal of sadness in the way she said it, too. Of course, that wasn’t terrible surprising.

Jyren, as always, provided an obvious, but impractical, solution, “You could stay this time.”

That got a smile on Marix’s face. A real one. Maybe her mind really could create an accurate version of Jyren. Or, rather, perhaps there really was much more of him in her than she’d ever really understood. Either way, it didn’t matter too much, “If I stay, Loki’s not going to drop out of hyperspace and then I’m going to end up dead, too. That...and, well, you know the rest.”

Turning things around yet again, Jyren did something very much unlike him. He was silent and obviously thinking about how to respond to that. He didn’t just blurt out something stupid. Instead, he pulled himself up again and managed to look her in the eyes with a smile, even if it looked a bit forced, “Take care of yourself out there, Marix.”

The smile on her face didn’t fade. Marix nodded and rested her forehead against his, suddenly forgetting none of it was real, “I will...and I’ll make sure to tell the twins you love them, too.”

“Definitely getting soft on me,” finally, Jyren’s smile looked genuine, “Come back when you can.”

She didn’t tell him she would. It was technically talking to herself, so it wasn’t necessary. But even if it had been a real conversation between them, she wouldn’t have said it. While Jyren may have always found words to be so important, he did still understand that some things didn’t need to be said. Some things were just understood.

Maybe Marix was crazy.

Maybe she’d finally just snapped and that was it.

But that didn’t seem to matter anymore.

When Marix woke up not long after, there was an actual smile still on her face. Despite everything that was going wrong, despite the galaxy falling apart around her, Marix was smiling. It was, of course, taken into account quickly and disappeared as she made her way to the cockpit to bring Loki out of hyperspace and finally get him some real medical attention.

But, inside at least, she was still smiling.

Maybe crazy wasn’t so bad...

 

[Cerulean_Wings]

Hey, new reader here

Ankh-Morpork Guard (yes, I did copy-paste, I admit it!), your story is very interesting and addicting, the characters realistic, and the sci-fi battles well described. I love it. I've only ready five chapters so far, but I can't wait to read the rest

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

As usual, when I miss a few days in a row I like to give a reason for it so you guys know I am, in fact, still alive and this isn't suddenly going to be abandoned.

Sadly, I found out Friday that a very good friend of mine took his own life. It hit me pretty hard, and I've spent a lot of the last couple of days letting other people know and things like that. I have one more thing I have to do on that tomorrow, but after that it should be back to life as normal. Hopefully updates will continue again starting either Monday night or Tuesday, depending on things.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 571: When I Grow Up...

The Jedi Headquarters reminded Tobias of the Palace on Alraxia. It was big, white, and boring. Of course, the Palace could talk, but Tobias wasn’t really sure if that was a point for or against it. Despite the fact that the building was mostly devoid of Jedi, he’d done at least some exploring just to see what he could see. Mostly, it seemed that the building was filled with mostly-empty rooms of various shapes and sizes that probably served as meditation chambers. There were, of course, more ‘normal’ things such as a comm center, a large mess area, one full level that consisted entirely of living quarters, a hangar with only a few ships inside, and then a large atrium that eventually led out to the rest of the planet.

Before leaving the Headquarters, however, Tobias decided that it might not be the best of ideas to present himself as a Jedi to the rest of Coruscant. The general sentiment in the galaxy was not exactly positive towards Jedi, and the last thing he needed was to get into trouble with the very people he was supposed to be protecting. Though it was unlikely anything bad would really happen, Tobias wasn’t about to tempt fate. If there was one thing he’d learned in the past few months, it was to prepare for the worst, hope for something terrible, and then be glad when everything ended up just mildly annoying.

With that in mind, Tobias dug though his small pack of very few belongings for a change of clothes. Not that he ever dressed in the typical Jedi robes, or anything that would actually identify him as a Jedi. He did, however, wear clothes that, while loose fitting, did nothing to conceal the lightsaber at his belt. Tobias knew that he could just go without the lightsaber, but something about that didn’t feel right. Instead, he simply grabbed a jacket that was about a size too big and morphed human. With that done, and after adjusting his belt to slide the lightsaber clip farther to his right side, Tobias was glad to discover that it was impossible to see the weapon with a casual glance.

After a short glance in a mirror to make sure it was definitely hidden, Tobias smiled to himself and headed back to explore Coruscant, herself. Even though all he’d done was to put on a bigger jacket and morph human, he felt like he was actually in disguise. Of course, to the rest of the galaxy, he probably was. Most species couldn’t be other species. Tobias still didn’t really think about that as if it was something amazing.

So he left the Jedi Headquarters to the walkways of Coruscant, amazed that such an overpopulated, technologically insane planet actually had walkways between the buildings in addition to the countless number of skylanes where airspeeders flew past above, below, and next to. There were countless numbers of beings everywhere, and even more speeders and ships in the sky above. More than half of the species he saw, Tobias couldn’t identify. Sure, there were Humans, Bothans, Twi’lek, Duros, Mon Calamari, Quarren, Ithorians, and others that he recognized, but then there were...others. Some of them barely even making an attempt at being humanoid. Being a good, intelligent person, however, Tobias didn’t stare at any of them, simply made a note of the interesting creatures and continued on.

The main walkway that left the Jedi Headquarters looked to eventually make its way to a building so massive in comparison to everything else that it could have easily been mistaken as a mountain. But it wasn’t a mountain. It was the one landmark Tobias knew of thanks to Jyren. It was the Imperial Palace, the former seat of the Galactic Empire and, currently, home to the New Republic government and various apartments for the senators and dignitaries. Where all the buildings around it were huge spires in the sky, they all paled in comparison to that mountain of durasteel.

That, however amazing it was, was not at all the kind of place Tobias wanted to end up. Something about another Palace just unnerved him. So, instead of continuing along the walkway, Tobias eyed a section of it that went down to a level below. Stairs. Actual stairs on Coruscant. Something about that just made him smile.

A level down, the world somehow changed. Where above was mostly empty of anything but high end apartments, business officers, and other boring places that he would have been impossibly out of place in, Tobias found that just one level below took him to a place that was much more...real. It wasn’t seedy or dangerous or anything like that, but Tobias did notice that most of the people seemed to be wearing clothes that didn’t look like were just bought minutes earlier. To one side of the walkway was the same skylanes as before, but on the other were much different buildings than above. Though they were technically the same exact buildings, the interiors did not house offices, but nightclubs, stores that looked to sell anything they could get their hands on, various restaurants specializing in every kind of food Tobias could think of, and then, to top it all off, a few signs pointing to back alleys that looked to house the requisite seedy taverns. With all of that so far up on Coruscant, Tobias was almost afraid to think about what the lower levels might house.

Though he was interested in pretty much everything he saw, Tobias ended up just standing by the railing watching the speeders go by. He might have actually gone into some of the places, but the problem of a lack of credits was forefront in Tobias’ mind. For so many years, he’d never even thought about money and now, here he was actually finding that it would be useful.

Oh well.

A smile on his face, Tobias found he didn’t really care that much. Here he was, standing on Coruscant, the heart of the galaxy, a lightsaber at his belt and actually training to be a Jedi Knight. This was his dream. Tobias had spent nearly all of his childhood hoping for this day. The road to this point wasn’t exactly what he’d hoped for, but that didn’t change the fact that he was there. He was there, watching airspeeders fly by and seeing things most Alraxians couldn’t even dream of. And he was going to be a Jedi. The only thing that was missing was Jyren, but oddly enough, Tobias for the first time found himself accepting that it was okay. It was okay because Jyren was there, as he was the one who’d given Tobias that inspiration in the first place.

After a few minutes of just standing there, leaning on the railing and looking off into the valleys between the monolithic buildings, Tobias noticed something odd. All around him, he could feel the various beings in the Force. There were so many that, through the Force, the entire world around Tobias felt like a bright candle. It was like Yavin IV, except that there were no trees and he was surrounded by towers of unliving metal...yet there were so many living things that he could barely tell the difference. But there, not far from him and in the midst of it all, Tobias could feel something else. It was vaguely familiar, but that wasn’t what was odd about it. In the sea of bright, glowing lives in the Force, this one was somehow outshining all of the rest.

Identifying the direction of this bright feeling in the Force, Tobias looked off to his left and into the crowd of people. Even with the Force helping him to pick through the vast number of beings, it was impossible for Tobias to actually find what he was looking for. With a bit more concentration, he probably could find the source of it, but that wasn’t necessary.

A few short moments after he’d started looking for its source, Tobias saw a familiar face break through the crowd. Upon seeing Anakin Solo, Tobias realized he should have been able to identify that feeling right away. He resonated in the Force unlike anyone Tobias had ever seen, even Master Ral. The last time Tobias had seen him, they’d been at the Academy a long time before anyone even considered the fact that the Vong would attack there. It seemed like a lifetime ago, as Tobias had just started his training back them. Maybe it was a lifetime ago...

“Glad to see you made it,” Anakin said as he reached Tobias, stopping next to him and idly leaning on the same railing.

“You, too,” Tobias knew what that was reference to, so he didn’t bother adding anymore detail beyond that. Of course, there was an obvious question, “Were you following me?”

The dark-haired young man shook his head, “Not exactly. Not here for long, either. But thought I felt someone familiar and figured I’d give it a look.”

For some reason, that got a smile onto Tobias’ face, “So you just got back from that hell on Yavin and you’re off again?”

Anakin shrugged and idly waved his hand, “Can’t sit around long with this war.”

That was true. It also made Tobias wonder how long he and Master Ral were going to stay on Coruscant. But putting that out of his mind for the moment, he decided to pose a different question to the young human, “Just before the attack, I remember hearing you actually flew through that blockade and came down to help the rest of the students out.”

After nodding, Anakin told Tobias what had happened. Apparently, he’d actually ‘borrowed’ the X-Wing from Coruscant because no one else was going to do anything about it. The New Republic was staying out, and Anakin sure as hell wasn’t going to just sit around while the Academy was invaded. So he’d run the blockade, done his best to protect the younger students, and then found himself stuck on the planet. In the time while Tobias and Master Ral were carefully hiding away, Anakin was actually working with a Shamed Yuuzhan Vong warrior to find his friend who they had captured. That, alone, was amazing to Tobias. A Vong helping Anakin. A Vong that had died helping Anakin. And as Tobias and Master Ral made their escape thanks to Horus and Varis, Anakin and his friend escaped on the Star Destroyer, Errant Venture.

While Tobias was hiding in a hole, Anakin was being a hero.

Sensing something wrong, Anakin asked Tobias what had happened to him. Explaining those events just felt pathetic. Nothing he’d done was heroic, just survival. But Anakin, apparently, didn’t agree.

“You couldn’t take on the whole landing party yourself,” Anakin said simply, now looking off to the skylanes next to them.

Tobias, though, directed a rather critical gaze at the human, “You did.”

Pale blue eyes glanced over to Tobias for a moment before turning back to look at the passing airspeeders, “I wasn’t about to leave a friend behind.”

Somehow, that was enough. It was the strength in Anakin’s voice that really got the message across. This young man was a hero. He couldn’t have been twenty standard years old and he was a hero. Not only that, but somehow, it didn’t seem to phase him one bit. Tobias stood next to a human that was the embodiment of everything he wanted to be. Everything that was right about being a Jedi.

That was when Anakin did something else that surprised Tobias. He turned away from the skylane and put on a unique looking smile before nodding at Tobias and saying, “You look like you’ve had your share of adventures, too.”

Was it that obvious?

Maybe it was. So much had happened between the last time he’d seen Anakin and standing there on Coruscant next to him that Tobias probably did look completely different. Just like Tobias could see something new in Anakin, Anakin probably saw something else in Tobias. Something that was still just growing, but was definitely starting to slowly. He was, after all, standing on Coruscant, a Jedi student, and speaking with a fellow Jedi Knight that was everything Tobias wanted to be. Everything that, for the first time in his life, Tobias realized might be within his grasp.

This feeling only grew as Tobias found himself talking with Anakin about both of their exploits since they had last met. For every amazing moment that Tobias experienced, Anakin has five more. And yet there was somehow not a divide between them. Almost everything they had done put them on opposite ends of the galaxy...except for one event. They had both experienced Fondor. Where Tobias had been in the thick of the battle on an actual Yuuzhan Vong ship, Anakin had been on Centerpoint Station at Corellia...he had nearly fired the weapon, only to stop and watch his uncle fire it blindly and kill so many of their own allies in the process. Seeing this hero standing next to him, feeling regret that it wasn’t him that had fired the weapon, Tobias started to also understand the weight of everything on Anakin’s shoulders.

Could Tobias really be like Anakin?

Could he step up to the front lines of this horrible war again and again and again?

Jyren had. Marix had, too. Tobias wanted to be able to do that, and though he was starting to accept the possibility that he really could be something more than just another Jedi, he actually unsure if he could put himself in the line of fire over and over. His heart wanted to, but Tobias knew that he couldn’t...not yet. Anakin Solo was more than half his age, but Tobias had only a fraction of his training, experience, and strength. Anakin was a hero in every sense of the word, while Tobias was just barely beginning to understand what that actually meant.

But it was one step closer.

It was one small advance towards Tobias truly becoming what he wanted and knew he was capable of.

And it was good to know that if he ever needed help along the way, there were Jedi out there like Anakin Solo to show Tobias what he was really aiming for.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

So, apparently, about a page back I made a typo in one of the Chapter numbers and then ran with that wrong number(30 behind) until...well, now. Just went back and fixed them. Hopefully I haven't messed the numbers up somewhere else.

 

[AnonymousOne]

You know I've been reading this for a while now ...

The most amazing thing of all of this? The Alraxians, pure genius in their concept and creation.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

You know I've been reading this for a while now ...

The most amazing thing of all of this? The Alraxians, pure genius in their concept and creation.

Well, that I can't take credit for. But glad you're liking it.

...And now some bad news. Power supply on my computer has crapped out and I'm not sure yet on how long that will take to get replaced. Hopefully it won't take too long...but if it does I'll figure out an alternative way to update. Posting from my iPhone right now and don't think I could do full updates this way

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Wanted to let you guys know I'm still alives, but sadly taking a while to work out the computer issue. Still hoping to have it fixed soon, but I'm starting to consider alternate ways to post. Problem with all of them is the text file is on the computer...

If it ends up taking more than another week, I'll just get on with things and update from a computer on campus.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Good news, finally!

I'm back on my computer with a now-working power supply. Lots to catch up on, but should be able to get this moving again tonight.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 572: Distracting the Mind

Arms folded across her chest and an unreadable mask across her features, Marix carefully looked through the panel of glasteel at the Yuuzhan Vong prisoner on the other side. Here was an odd collection of worlds in one small room. The more time she spent on the Gateway that guarded the hyperspace route into Alraxian space, the more she couldn’t help but wonder if Alraxians even designed it. Yes, the consoles and such were obviously of Alraxian design, but the structure was metal. Glasteel was not Alraxian, but something very common in the rest of the galaxy. And here, just beyond that sheet of material, was Qroal, something even more alien.

Qroal had not resisted when the two Knights dragged him from Loki and into this cell, and somehow that had been of no surprise to Marix. There was something about this Vong that bothered her at a very deep level. The warriors were so simple to deal with. They fought, she fought back, only one of them survived. But Qroal fought with words. This was a new side of the Vong, and a terrifying side as it made them so much more diverse than simply brutal, fanatical warriors.

Keeping Qroal alive was vital, as Marix knew this part of the Vong needed to be understood to really know what was going on behind the invasion. It was no longer going to be so easy as to just win the war in battle. But Qroal seemed to recognize his value to her, also, as he had attempted to take his own life four separate times since being placed in the cell. The first time he’d nearly succeeded, removing an odd spine from a growth on his shoulder that had no been there before. Thankfully, one of the Knights monitoring the cell noticed this and quickly dashed in to stop Qroal. From that point on, two Knights remained in the cell with him at all times, though this didn’t seem to stop his attempts to end his life. Thankfully, he seemed quite inept at such actions.

Marix was keeping as much of her conscious thought on Qroal as she could. It was necessary for her to at least keep up her air of calm that was expected of her from the Knights after all the years they’d been around her. They would know, through subtle feelings in the Network and even the Force, that she was deeply worried about Loki. They did not, however, need to see this on her face, in her actions, or in her voice. This Empress was a fighter and had seen thousands of lives end. She could not show fear around any of them, no matter who she was fearing for. There were only three people in the galaxy that ever saw her like that, and neither Jyren, his father, nor Alyx were anywhere near.

The healers, who would have been called technicians by most of the galaxy, had reassured Marix more than once that Loki would be fine and the temporary measures she’d taken by grafting durasteel to his damaged hull had likely saved his life. Saying it once was fine, but repeating it was what concerned Marix. They also refused to answer any of her questions, which likely meant they didn’t have any answers as to why he had been unconscious for so long. Or if his neural systems would be okay after that kind of trauma. Or...well, or a thousand other things.

‘I am unsure’ was not a comforting response, but at least they had been honest.

The sound of footsteps approaching from behind caught Marix’s attention, though she did not turn to look over her shoulder to see the source. The sounds weren’t very loud, but were also very deliberate. That meant it was not just a Knight, but one of the former Tam’Day’U approaching, as they had a habit of making their presence known when they approached Marix from behind. When the footsteps stopped, there was a moment’s pause before Marix heard a calm voice behind her say in Alraxian, “The Jendari report that they will be unable to arrive for at least another day, Commander.’

Commander.

Some things were just too deeply ingrained to go away.

Marix turned to face the Tam’Day’U and was presented with a face that she couldn’t actually place. The Knight standing at attention a half meter away from was about a half-head taller than Marix, with a very similar build that showed she was always ready for an attack at any time, and angular features that hinted at a very predatory look to the woman. It was in the eyes. A pair of pale green eyes with a silvery sheen to them that Marix knew she recognized.

And then, suddenly, Marix knew this woman.

The last time Marix had seen her was when she had freed the Tam’Day’U. Being the oldest of them, Marix was the only adult. The rest were children of various ages, but all definitely Alraxian children. Tam’Day’U never survived long enough to grow to adulthood, and if they did somehow survive that long, their lives were quickly ended. That was why Marix hadn’t recognized this Knight. She had been a child then, much smaller and not at all built like she currently was. Marix could see her still, standing off to the side, a young girl with short, neat auburn hair kept well out of those eyes that hadn’t changed one bit.

Somehow, seeing her here, all grown up and, of course, taller than Marix, was strange. It made Marix feel so much older than she knew she was. By Alraxian standards, Marix was still young, but something about this this woman made Marix reconsider that. Here, standing facing one another, were two Alraxians that were not ever expected to live long enough to be adults...and yet...

Marix tilted her head in a simple nod, “Thank you, Rhinna.”

Rhinna.

The girl hadn’t even known her name all those years before. Marix had helped many of them to dig up records of their families and parents. Names were important to the Tam’Day’U these days. It meant they were real, not just the shadows and Cursed Ones they were told they were for so many years. They had names. Names given by parents that likely never knew what became of their infant children when they disappeared in the night. And Marix always made it a point to not use rank with the former Tam’Day’U, but their names. They needed it.

Not only that, but the way Rhinna’s angular features managed to soften a moment later showed another effect the names had. They made the former slaves feel good. Happy. Such a simple thing to most in the Empire, but a precious feeling to the former Tam’Day’U.

“Will we interrogate him more thoroughly without the Jendari, Commander?” of course, they still called Marix by her rank. Never her name. But that was okay. Marix had always had that name, unlike the rest. She didn’t need the kind of help the rest of them needed. And they knew all knew that, so to show that, they used something that had never left them after being freed: respect for her.

Thinking on it, Marix made a decision, “I would like you to interrogate him yourself, Rhinna. The tizowyrm necessary for translation with our prisoner is in the guard room adjacent to the cell. Do what you must to learn everything you can of what he knows about our people. If you find anything else of interest, pursue it.”

Marix didn’t warn Rhinna to be careful of Qroal’s tricks, his words, or even an attack. That wasn’t necessary. She would know, and she would be ready. That was why Marix asked her to do it. Here was a young woman that reminded Marix of herself in many ways, and seeing that, Marix knew she could trust Rhinna to get the right kind of questions answered.

Part of Marix actually wanted to do it herself, but she had more pressing concerns. Concerns that she could no longer put off. So, after Rhinna bowed and moved off to do as ordered, Marix went the other way. It had been well over two hours since she had been to the hangar and checked on Loki. For some reason, Marix just felt the need to see him. She desperately needed to see that the healers were making progress.

If she lost Loki...

No.

No, Marix would not even allow her mind to go into that line of thought.

It wasn’t an option.

He would be alright.