Ch 110
Finally reaching land, which made Nana and Mayu cheer, The Captain pulled into the California marina. Getting their luggage together, Cameron noticed that Captain talking to Catherine.
"Mrs. Weaver, the fuel services have been shut down. We can't refuel." the exasperated Captain said.
"Has anyone explained why?" she asked unhappily.
"Yes, by order of the Governor, no petroleum fuel is allowed for pleasure craft use. That is an expansion of the President's executive order restricting use of petroleum products. Only rescue craft and vehicles are allowed to use gas and diesel fuel."
Looking out beyond the marina, Cameron noted many bicycles on the road, and some skate boards and roller skates as well.
"So, he wishes to destroy the economy," Catherine said blankly.
"I don't know. All I know is we can't refuel."
Not looking happy, Catherine turned to Cameron. "Is everyone ready to leave?"
Carrying their bags to the end of the dock, Cameron found a notice posted about the new 'regulations'. Basically, if a vehicle was used for work, a permit could be obtained to allow it to be filled with petroleum products, the permit cost $1000 for a year. If someone was caught operating the vehicle with no permit it was a $5000 fine and the vehicle was confiscated to be sold at auction. It was also a crime now to sell any petroleum products unless the proper permits were in place on on display. The fine for non compliance was $20,000 and two years in jail minimum.
This was all for helping make a 'greener' America.
'Wow, and take the country back to the middle ages,' Cameron thought. California was bad before. Now they had gone completely insane. leaving the marina, she saw a line of taxi cabs. Catherine and James Ellison got a cab. Cameron asked the price of a ride. At first the cabbie didn't want to say. He finally admitted it was $20 to start and $40 a mile after that.
There was no way she was going to get a cab to take them back to Texas.
Cameron called the airport. There were no planes going to anywhere in Texas, or even in the area around Texas. She did see 'For sale' signs everywhere in front yards and on some buildings.
Working out what to do, Cameron knew she could ride a bike fast, as could Delilah. Kaede also had the ability to go faster than a human could. Talking with them, They decided on recumbent tandem bikes. Kouta would ride with Kaede, Delilah would take Nana, and Cameron would have Mayu with her.
That left Yuka with no ride. Well, she'd figure something out.
It was a walk to find a bike shop. Fortunately, they did have recumbent Tandem bikes - for six grand each. Cameron also found the had a four wheeled bike that had a bench front and back seat. She decided to get that with two Tandem bikes, so he could ride Mayu and Yuka. She then paid extra for luggage racks on the back of all the bikes and the state required helmets and pads. Delilah sprung for camping gear and food to bring along, then the motel they stopped at on the way out of town.
Nana and Mayu though this was a different and fun way to travel. Neither Kaede nor Kouta were thrilled about their transportation. Yuka especially, since he was riding with Kaede and not her.
"Why can't I ride with Kouta?" Yuka asked Cameron as they got ready to go.
Cameron eyed her. "We're not tourists, I want to get home as fast as possible, not as slow as possible."
"Well I'm sure Kouta and I can pedal along pretty good," Yuka insisted.
Delilah barked out a laugh. Cameron smirked at her. "Yuka, if you can manage to go as fast as me, then tomorrow you can ride with Kouta on this, and I'll ride with Kaede. Deal?"
"Yes," Yuka agreed that two people could go faster than one.
.
Their trip started by riding in the bike lane through town, except where homeless had their tents / structures. Soon, they were riding in the first lane where there wasn't any obstructions except for slower bikes. Yuka was intently watching Cameron pedal along by herself, spinning the pedals fast. She was sure she'd get tired and ask Yuka to help soon. One teenager tried to keep up with them in a 25 mile and hour zone. Soon as the got to the 35 zone, they left him behind. Cameron lead, with Kaede behind her, Delilah taking up the rear. They stayed within the speed limit and stopped at red lights, behaving themselves so they could get out of here with no trouble. Yuka was sure Cameron was about to tire out very soon.
Finally getting out of the city, the speed limit went up to 55. Seeing nothing on the road but a delivery truck, they stayed in the right hand lane and sped up. To Yuka's surprise, Cameron's pedals spun in a blur and they went so fast the wind was blowing their hair around. How was she doing that? Not long after they got up to highway speed, a single car came up from behind and blared his horn. Delilah looked back at him, right behind her. She waved him past. He only blew his horn again, loud and long. Delilah looked back at him and frowned. He waved at her motioning to the side and yelled, "Get outta the road!"
Delilah said, "Nana, duck."
Nana did. Delilah shot his car with a plasma cannon. The grill disappeared and the engine exploded, throwing the hood up to smash the windshield. The car slowed, skidded then flipped over to bounce to a stop.
Nana looked back and said, "He went boom!"
"Served him right," Delilah replied, and pedaled a little faster to catch up to Kaede ahead of her.
.
Joan called Coach Baker. Due to the tensions, and not being able to travel to other teams, the women's league were not going to play either until the gas crisis was settled. With no more football for a while, Joan, Allison and Bob went over to help build their house.
.
John got a message passed to him through the sheriff's office. The governor wanted a certain section of the Rio Grande blocked off where it was found drugs and many illegals had been coming through a vacant stretch five miles long. He got the location, and the Texas Guard Captain there was expecting him. This was a one week trial to see if John could hold the border line. John took 20 terminators with him so he could spread them 1/4 mile apart. For 20 terminators, he had to use the moving van to get them there.
Traveling down to the border, John found the Guard there could only arrest people if they caught them. They couldn't send them back. The Captain took John to where the problem area was. At a bend in the river, it was a large swampy area.
"See, even if we catch them in the swamp, which we rarely do, they are already in the US, and all we can do is hold them. We know drug runners use the swamp at night, but very few are caught. They do have snorkels to avoid being seen," The captain explained.
"What about fencing?" John asked.
"They cut through it."
John nodded then said, "OK we'll figure it out."
A guardsman stayed nearby as John planned. Knowing terminators were heavy, he had some 2X8 lumber brought in and had 4 terminators walk into the swamp a couple hundred feet apart. Their mission, terminate anyone else in the swamp, and anyone in the river coming towards the swamp.
Walking farther down was am area in heavy brush and small trees. Here he left a terminator about every 200 feet. They all had the same orders, if it was in the river coming at them, unless it was a Texas guardsman, they were to shoot to disable craft and if shot at, shoot to kill.
.
Carlos got ready for the nightly run across the river. behind the knoll that hid them from eyes across the river in the US, he checked the rubber boats and their loads. 40 refugees, eight bundles of drugs with ten 'guards' He knew when the patrols came around. At 10 PM, when the last patrol had passed by, he sent the boats out, and kept watch. His boatmen all had radios, he guided them from atop his knoll.
All went well until they floating armada got halfway across the river. Then bright white streaks of light flashed into being. Rubber boats lost air so fast they exploded. People screamed and wailed in pain. The bolts kept coming, a few men fired their AK 47's at the bank, making themselves targets and the next to catch fire and burn before falling into the water.
"What the fuck?" Carlos cried. He watched more boats and people burn, wailing in pain from the bright flashes of light, not conceiving what was happening.
"What the Fuck?" he cried again as black and smoldering debris was drifting down stream, and the few boats left desperately tried to get back to this shore. Men and a couple women, wide eyed in terror tried to come back. Another round of bright white bolts passed over their boats and caught those in the boat on fire and instantly deflated the boats. They wailed out in agony until the water engulfed them. Only steam and smoke, and some blackened chunks remained to float away.
"What the Fuck!" Carlos cried again as he dropped to his knees. The whole group was gone, Runners, passengers, and drugs. Noting was left of them. He had no idea what he'd just seen. When the dealers came, he was going to have to explain where those drugs and men went. What he just saw defied any explanation he could rationally think of. The dealers and drug lords didn't think. You performed or you were made an example of. He sobbed, sure they were going to kill him.
Carlos ran off to find a place to hide. He wasn't going to try to cross the river. He missed the two snorkelers who'd gotten their necks snapped when they got close to the waiting terminators.
The next night a mile downstream from the swamp, eight armed men crossed the river to circle around behind the swamp to kill whoever was killing their people. Wading in to shoulder level, they kept their guns high, and received plasma fire that incinerated their heads before they could shoot back.
For a while border crossings were stopped along the southern border of Texas.
Hearing of this slaughter, the Governor and the Texas Guard Commander let people know there was a drug war going on, and it wasn't safe to be near the border.
.
Their first night on the road, Cameron stopped at a motel that only had one other customer. They had made decent time, riding an average of 50 miles an hour all day. She also noted Kaede was exhausted. They were out of California, if just barely, but in Nevada, they didn't have those stupid 'no fuel for personal use' posters up. She also noticed that even though there was only one car in the lot, there were several rooms of people here. Delilah talked to a man and his family who only had backpacks. They were fleeing California for Texas or Oklahoma, a state that didn't strangle their efforts to live decently.
Nearby was a used bicycle shop. There were many for sale. Delilah talked Cameron into taking a look at them to see if they cold build a bike for this family. They went over searching for similar bikes. Finding a couple with 24 inch tires that were in good shape, Cameron also found good frame material on a few others.
Picking their choices, they saw the family walking by with their backpacks on. Delilah waved them over.
"I thought you had bikes," the man said.
"We do!" Delilah told him. "We can take these and make one so your family can all ride on it, if you want."
"It's better than walking," Cameron told them.
"Can you do that?" the woman asked, holding the little boy's hand.
"We're Thing One and Thing Two," Cameron said lightly.
"Thing two and Thing one, we can do anything, anything, anything under the sun!" Delilah sang.
The kids laughed, the parents grinned. The man asked, "How much are they?"
"Not much, I already paid for them," Delilah replied. "So let's find a spot and get to work!"
Going back to the motel parking lot, Cameron took two back, as did Delilah, the man took the other two.
"You're going to make one bike out of all these?" he asked.
"We are."
The man helped some, as did the kids. They were shocked when Delilah brought out a plasma canon to cut away what she needed, then re-welded frame pieces back together. Saving the best, longest brake and gears shifting cables. While they worked, Nana and Mayu came out and wanted to help too. The man was also surprised then they didn't use wrenches for nuts or bolts, they just loosened them up and turned them with their hands.
The mess of parts slowly turned into a four wheeled bike. It was an odd looking thing, with the frames on the sides, the half handlebars joined by bearing joints from unused wheels connected the bar between them, and another stiff bar on the left side came down to steer the thing. The two sets of pedals were just behind the front wheels, then the two lawn chair seats, followed by a slightly longer board bench seat behind it for the kids with another board backrest that also supported the frame type basket between the back wheels to put their stuff in.
Scrutinizing it with a bunch of piece parts to the side, Delilah said, "I think we got it."
The kids climbed onto the back seat, grinning. The youngest girl cried, "Mom, Dad, get on, we got a bike-car!"
The man and the woman got on and bounced a little.
"It's sturdy," the woman said.
"The man nodded. He turned to Cameron and Delilah. "Thank you so much!"
"You're welcome, happy traveling"
They all waved and the man and the women pedaled out of the lot and started down the road.
"We need to go too."
Kaede was rested up from yesterday, so they loaded their things on and took off down the road. Almost a mile down the road, they passed the family doing 50 miles an hour. Cameron yelled "BEEP BEEP!" as the flew by.
"Damn," the man said, "They are really hauling ass!"
The woman grew a smirk. "They can do anything, anything, anything under the sun."
"I believe it." he agreed. "At lest we're not walking all day any more."
.
Going down the road, they found themselves in the desert towards the end of the day. Kaede was getting tired again from spinning her pedals all day. While it was still light, they got off the road and set up a camp.
Plopping down, to sit by the fire, Kaede asked, "How much further?"
"At our current speed, another six days," Cameron told her. "We're in the narrow part of Nevada, we should be out of it and into Arizona soon, then a couple days through New Mexico, then into Texas."
"Good, I'm missing Far Away," Nana said.
"Nana, Far Away is really fun?" Mayu asked.
"It is!" Nana beamed. "You'll love it, Mayu, you can swim like a fish, play games , feed Allie Gator, and do all kinds of things. It's fun to go out on the boat, eat and swim with the fish people."
"Nana it's called Driftwood, not Far Away," Cameron told her.
"But it is," Nana replied. "That's why it takes so long to get there!"
Deliah chuckled. "Nana does have a point."
Yuka looked around at the desert and said, "I take it Driftwood is out in the middle of nowhere?"
"No, it's somewhere," Nana said. "It's just Far away."
Kouta chuckled. "It is near Far Far Away? Does a big fat green guy live there?"
Nana frowned. "There's no big green guy. There's a big read headed woman, Sonya, she's like, tall as two people!"
"Sonya is only seven foot four, Nana," Cameron told her.
What's that in centimeters?" Kouta asked.
"About 224 centimeters," Delilah told him.
Kouta's jaw dropped. "That is nearly tall as two people!"
.
One more attempt at the border was tried. A few Mexicans on the other side of the river sprayed rounds into the bushes, then got turned into burning corpses by plasma fire. Four days after that, the other side was clear of anyone. John was sure they got the hint. Before they left, he called for razor wire and had strung just on top and under the water along the entrance to the swamp in the thick brush areas, he had it tangled up into the bushes right at the bank, as well as in the water at the edges. The local Texas guard Captain was pleased with the results. John headed home with the terminators.
.
The drug cartel was not pleased. Looking for good reinforcement, they visited the Chinese camp. One of the drug lords asked to see the commander there. The commander met him and was gracious, offering him food drink and a pick of senoritas they had for the night.
Sitting down in the Commander's tent, the drug lord said, "The Americans had the nerve to kill my men, as well as civilians! They need to be shown a deadly lesson."
The Commander nodded. "I agreed, so what will you do?"
Looking intent, the drug lord said, "I need your men to come with mine and attack the border. Get on the other side and kill as many of them as we can find. We need to show them we will not allow them to kill whoever they wish!"
The Commander smiled and said, "I do not disagree. We have yet to receive orders to move, so as of yet, we cannot help you in this task."
"You have manpower here, you bring us plenty of drugs, surely you don't want to see your profits go away!"
"We are not concerned with profit," the Commander said evenly. "Our mission is not to pick a fight or move until we are ordered to do so. While your idea is good, we cannot help you without the orders to do so. We help you by bringing the drugs you seek at a very low cost. We help you make a profit. That is all we can do until told differently."
"They slaughtered 30 of my men, and another 40 helpless women and children! The entire shipment has been dumped into the river!"
"Then move and plan better. If they killed thousands, it is not our concern," the Commander stated.
A soldier came in, saluted then whispered in the Commander's ear. The Commander perked up. "What of the other ships?"
The soldier whispered more and threw up his hands.
"I see," the Commander said heavily. He looked a the drug lord. "It appears the normal shipment will not be arriving on time. My apologies."
The drug lord frowned at him. "The drugs are no good unless we can get them across the border!"
"We get you the drugs to go make a profit on. The rest is your problem."
The drug Lord stood up. "It will be your problem too, unless you help us." He then stormed out.
After he was gone, the Commander asked, "What of the two ships that didn't get seized?"
"No word on them, Commander. The next one is to arrive in two days."
"Go to the port, if it doesn't arrive, inform me immediately."
"Yes, Sir."
.
Arizona and New Mexico agreed with the stand Texas had on border crossings. They also decided not to comply with the fuel reduction ban to recover their economies. Anyone they caught coming over the border was marched back across the border. If they had kids and pleaded for asylum, they were pointed to the nearest entry ports, right after they were taken back to the Mexico side. If they fought with the border patrol, they were disabled and put back on the Mexican side. Tear gas and rubber bullets drove away a two thousand strong attempt to get across the border. Mexican police showed up to guide the 'refugees' to entry points on the border.
The 'hostile' treatment of innocent immigrants infuriated Washington. To ensure the safety of illegals, the federal government began hiring Border patrol officers again. When the new border patrol officers got to their assigned areas, they were told how the border was being protected now. There was no putting border crossers in holding just for registration, then let free. They were sent back to Mexico. Mexicans police complained that these people were from other countries, they didn't belong in Mexico. The answer from border patrols was, 'you let them into your country, you deal with them.'
The mobs just outside the border crossings got larger as border crossers were sent to the legal entry points. Washington was now threatening Texas and Arizona with martial law unless they followed the latest Executive Orders.
John bought a long strip of land right on the border that had no fencing on it, then paid to have the wall continued along his land. This infuriated Washington. John sent a reply back through his lawyers, "This is my land, and I don't want them on it." A few others bought small parcels of land only a hundred feet wide or so right on the border, and began building their own walls. The President signed another Executive order to remove these walls. A judge declared that order as non-constitutional. If someone owned land, there was nothing to prevent them from erecting a wall on their land for their own protection. Slowly, more border wall was built.
Another 'drug gang war' battle happened at the border. In New Mexico, investigators found the American side had scorched and cindered bodies with drugs and AK-47's lying around in the cindered plant life in the area.
.
A happy cheer went up from the bikers as they finally rode past the road sign that said 'Welcome to Driftwood'. No more had Cameron and her group stopped at the diner to rest and get something to drink, and word spread around town that they were back. Spreading faster than they moved. Cameron turned the corner onto the small lake road to find Sonya outside her factory waving to them.
Kouta saw Sonya and gaped at her. Wow, she really was a giant! Nana leaped up out of her seat and greeted Sonya heartily. "Sonya, we're back!" she cried.
"Hi, Nana, welcome back," Sonya replied in a happy tone. "So who are these others?"
Nana happily introduced Sonya to her family. Yuka just gazed up at Sonya with a look of amazement as Sonya hugged Cameorn and Delilah, then Nana introduced Sonya to her Maple Inn family.
As soon as she had the chance, Sonya told Cameron and Delilah, "You need to get home and go up to John's office. I don't mean to rush you, but sooner is better."
Cameron nodded. Seeing the newcomers, Sonya offered, "I can watch them and show them around, if you and Delilah want to head home."
"We'll all just continue on home, but thanks," Cameron told her.
.
Riding back home and down their driveway, Cameron, Delilah and Kaede stopped by the back porch.
"We're here, this is Far Away," Nana announced and waved a hand at the house. "Mayu, come on, Nana's got things to show Mayu! Kouta, Kaede, you come too!"
"Kaede's a bit tired," Kouta told her. "You two go on ahead. Just be careful."
"Come on, Mayu," Nana said and pulled Nana and led her in the house.
Kaede leaned against Kouta. "I'm glad we're finally here," she said with a sigh.
"I'll show you to a room," Delilah told them.
Cameron headed for John's office.
John wasn't home, a little to Cameron's surprise. Seeing Peggy in the kitchen, she greeted her. Peggy came over to give her a welcome home hug. Well, that three-some was here. Heading up to John's office she looked on the desk for any clues. Not seeing any, she opened John's laptop. A message was on the screen.
Hit return to connect to John Henry
Cameron sat down and did.
John Henry's face appeared on the screen. "Hello, Cameron."
"Hello, John Henry. I take it there is an urgent message for John?"
"Yes. Mrs. Weaver is reviewing events since she was gone from the country. A few are disturbing, as is other proposed actions by the government. John Connor has not returned from his border patrol I take it."
Cameron tipped her head slightly. "No. Why is John on border patrol?"
"He was called to solve some problems you were having at the US, Mexico border. He took 20 terminators with him."
Cameron frowned. "Do you know his current status?"
"The last report two days ago is the bodies were all disposed of and John Connor was meeting with the Officer in charge of the area. That is one of the items Mrs. Weaver is concerned about. The border states do not want people from other countries just walking across the border, but the federal government insists these states let them. The situation is becoming very tense," John Henry explained.
"Were any of these border crossers Chinese?" Cameron asked, thinking about the armed camp the Chinese had in Mexico.
"Not that I am aware of." John Henry said. He paused then said, "I have just viewed a traffic camera video of John's truck coming into Houston. I believe John Connor is on his way home."
"What is the message Catherine has for John? I will inform him when he gets here."
"Mrs. Weaver would like you, John Connor, Delilah Connor and Sonya Connor to meet with officials from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Arkansas, Kentucky, Ohio, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Montana, Utah, Kansas, and South Dakota as soon as possible, in the place of John's choosing. Mrs. Weaver suggested Sonya Connor's factory."
"We will make it the high school auditorium on a Sunday," Cameron replied. "What is the reason for this meeting?"
"I do not have that information. Please have John Connor select a date as soon as possible and inform me."
"I will," Cameron said. "Is there any other information of importance?"
"Yes, The President is calling all military back to the US, and increasing recruitment. States not complying with the Executive orders have been given 30 days to do so, or Martial law will be enforced," John Henry explained.
"It appears I missed much taking our time getting home," Cameron said in a mussing tone. "Thank you, John Henry, I shall inform you the moment we decide when this meeting is scheduled for."
John Henry's face changed to the normal screen background. Cameron closed the laptop. She called John. They had a meeting to arrange fairly quickly.
.
The Sheriff returned to his office from his routine yearly check of fire and safety equipment in the local businesses to find Catherine Weaver in his office, talking with Aliana. "Mrs. Weaver, correct?" he asked as he came in.
Catherine got up and offered her hand, they shook hands. "Correct. I have a task that needs to be done, as soon as possible. I would like your secretary to assist me."
The sheriff raised an eyebrow. "What can we do to assist you?" he asked warily.
"Prevent the civil war, which is rapidly approaching," Catherine said firmly. "I have a solution, But I will need your secretary's help."
.
Mayu watched in awe, Yuka in nervousness a few yards away as Peggy, Lily and Nana were on the dock feeding alligators. Many were small, but the big one was hanging onto the edge of the dock as smaller ones only a meter or so long, climbed up the big one's back to get on the dock. The three girls were all but surrounded by alligators looking at them, and the girls didn't seem to mind. Standing just on the dock, Mayu saw a smaller one by her feet, looking at her.
"I don't have any food," she offered.
"Mayu, here!" Nana called and stepped over an alligator and around another one to hand her a mostly empty bag. "Take out a small piece of meet and hold it over his snout. When he opens his mouth, drop it in," Nana instructed.
Mayu reached in and pulled out a piece of raw meat. Seeing this, the alligator opened it's mouth.
SNAP
The sound of the big alligator grabbing a chunk of meat made Mayu jump. She dropped her piece of meat. The waiting alligator caught it.
"Great, Mayu!" Nana beamed.
Mayu hadn't meant to do that. She watched the small alligator eat that piece. It looked up at her.
"They get two pieces each," Nana coaxed. Mayu nodded and took out another piece. She held it over the alligator's stout, he opened his mouth, Mayu dropped it in. She handed the bag back to Nana.
"All these alligators live in the lake, right. They don't come up on land?" Mayu asked.
"They live around the lake," Nana told her. "They are in the water and on the land around it."
"And people live here?" Yuka cried, staring at Nana.
"It's OK, Yuka," Nana told her. "Just stay away from the water until you get to know which ones are Alli-gators kids."
Peggy stepped over a few alligators to go over to Yuka. All she did was smile at Yuka and offered her hand. For some reason, Yuka didn't feel nervous any more.
.
John got home that night. His first stop was to drop the terminators off at Joan and Bob's house. The exterior was finished in the place and lights and work lights showed out many of the windows. heading home, he arrived just after dinner. Cameron met him with a hug and a kiss, then said, "John, there's going to be a big meeting soon. A Sunday, in the high school auditorium. So far, representatives from 16 states are attending."
"Wow, they are coming here?" he asked.
"John!" Delilah said happily as she came out of the kitchen. She put his plate of food down, then came over to get her long hug and some kisses. Hanging into him, she said, "We're all finally home at last! Hope you got some energy left."
An arm around each of them, he grinned and said, "Absolutely. Gotta get some food first. What's this big meeting about?"
"All we know is Catherine Weaver has initiated it," Cameron explained. "The states have 30 days to comply to the new Executive orders, or the President is going to institute Martial Law on any who don't."
John thought about his last meeting in the sheriff's office. "I think I might know what it's about. After I grab some food, we'll go talk to John Henry again."
"Tonight?" Cameron asked in a near whine. She was hoping for some good cuddling fun.
"Yeah, but it shouldn't take long," John assured her.
.
The closest realistic time John Connor could have this meeting was in two weeks, due to how far away some reps were coming and the difficulties on transportation from states that complied with the fuel reduction order. He also learned of the newest Executive Order for federal agents to canvas all citizens to record the weapons they had, with a 'universal' search warrant so anything found in anyone's home that was illegal, could be confiscated. But no charges would be filed if the weapon or illegal item was found and seized with no opposition.
"This shit has to stop," John said in a grating tone.
"Let them come here, I'll show them a couple illegal weapons," Delilah said.
"John, I just got word, Tennessee, Wisconsin and North Dakota will also be coming to this meeting," John Henry said.
Second Sunday, from today," John said firmly. "We will provide security for the delegates."
"I shall inform everyone," John Henry said and disconnected.
"Now, bed time," Delilah said with a crooked grin and closed him lap top for him.
