Skye shrugged. “We all have our reasons. We were talking about that before you came in. I’ve been trying to get into a defence technician training course for years. They kept rejecting me, but now they need fighters, and, well, here I am.”

Mitzi looked the woman up and down. She could guess why the girl had been rejected. With her short crop of strawberry-blond hair, smooth skin, and delicate features, Skye looked far too pretty to be considered a fighter. Regardless, Mitzi was a little impressed.

“What about you?” She turned to Franc.

He shrugged. “They’ve been saying it’s fight or die. That they need people to take a stand if there’s any hope for humanity to live.” He looked uncomfortable saying it, but Mitzi thought it was a genuine sentiment. “I want my grandchildren to know that I stood up for what’s important, what’s right, even if it’s difficult. Hell… I just want there to be a world for my grandchildren, whether they remember me or not. We’ve all got to make sacrifices.”

“Wow, okay.” Mitzi glanced at the other side of the room and smirked. “Adam, I can guess why you’re here. So you can be an awesome hero and save the world and have all the ladies begging for your attention.”

“You know it.” He flashed her a devil-may-care grin.

“But you, Ellen. You clearly don’t want to be here.”

Ellen sniffed. Her hands were clenched so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. “I dunno. Same reason as Franc. I just want to make a difference.”

“Yeah.” Mitzi sighed. “I’m calling bull on that. What’s the real reason?”

Ellen shook her head vigorously.

“Ellen,” Mitzi said, letting a low note of warning slip into her tone. “Don’t lie to your captain.”

“My name’s not Ellen,” she blurted. “I’m Taurun. Elle’s my older sister. She got the summons. But-but… she’s been trying to get into medical school. She’d die if she had to fight.”

Mitzi raised her eyebrows. “And you think you’d fare better than her?”

Ellen no longer tried to stop the tears leaking down her cheeks. “No. But better me than her. She’s really smart. She’s into politics and humanitarian causes, and-and I’ve never really known what I wanted to do with my life. She could do so much good—”

“Oh my goodness,” Mitzi groaned. “Someone give the damn martyr a hug. Dibs not me.”

No one moved for a moment, then Eoin slowly raised a hand and awkwardly patted Ellen’s shoulder twice.

“Great, thanks, Eoin,” Mitzi muttered as Ellen put her head in her hands. “Don’t suppose you want to share your reason for coming here today?”

He shrugged. “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”

His voice surprised Mitzi. It was low, nasally, and as nuanced as a robot’s.

“Still think it’s a good idea?” she asked.

“No.” He turned back to his still-open book.

“Okay, good. And that leaves… Mir. Why’d you come?”

The surly teenager on the left bench was twirling Mitzi’s hair tie between her fingers. She fixed Mitzi with a cold stare. “No reason.”