My dear, I am not in the habit of leaving a task half finished. He said, rather unhappy at the implication he was afraid, which he was but he still had a duty. You have my apologies for my inconvenience in being here but I shall be staying for the time being if that's quite alright. But.. he began, producing his pipe at the same time and stuffing it I cannot fathom why you would need me, moral support is about the best I can do in circumstances like yours. While I'm happy to give it, I'm no tactician and I ask, what is it you want with me? He was about to light his pipe when he quickly added if indeed there is something you want and I haven't misinterpreted this trip as being a request for help where it is in fact a simple scenic flight. He thought he'd better make it clear that he had no illusions about his lack of importance, just to be on the safe side. He wondered how many people ended their lives shorter than expected because of ego or arrogance. Whatever the figure, Alfred did not intend to be among that statistic