‘I absolutely agree,’ he said. ‘You’ve named the exact line-up I had in mind. My suggestion is that you all get some rest now, because you’ll be setting out tonight and striking in the early hours of tomorrow morning. This leaves Alex and Shannon on comms, as Lorraine and I will be, er, unavailable. She’ll start her operation as soon as you leave, so by the time you’re home tomorrow I should be awake again. And on the night of the nineteenth I’ll be ready for action.’

McCormick had said his final sentence with an air of optimism, but it was met with a deathly silence.

He’d better not be saying what I think he’s saying…

‘Ready for action?’ asked Raj.

‘Yes, on the nineteenth we’ll need to find a way into New London, then raid the upper floors and wipe out every trace of AME we find. It’s a tall order, I know, and it’ll take place higher up in New London than we’ve ever reached before. But if we don’t manage it, we lose the war.’

‘But you?’ asked Raj again. ‘You, ready for action? No disrespect but… how old are you, seventy?’

‘Sixty-four.’

‘Oh, that’s OK then.’

‘I’ve been to New London before,’ said McCormick. ‘Just once, but I’ve been. Besides, the kings of old were always on the battlefield for the conflicts that won or lost their wars. It was expected of them. Even in World War Two, the generals joined their privates on the D-Day beaches. It wasn’t like the leaders of today who watch drones on TV from thousands of miles away.’

Ewan could feel rage and helplessness creeping into his mind, and his eyes began to twitch as if tempted to cry. Thomas, who must have been daydreaming through McCormick’s words, laughed about something to do with generals and their privates.

‘Sorry,’ said Alex, clearly not sorry at all, ‘but there’s a reason kings and generals don’t go into combat now. By the time they’re sixty-four they know they’re past it.’

‘Lorraine thinks so too, unless I have my cyst removed. I was lucky enough to get through that mission in December without it bothering me inside the Citadel, but I haven’t risked going back since. And it’s touch and go whether I’ll even be better in time, so the sooner it’s taken out, the better.’

Ewan had no idea what ‘touch and go’ was supposed to mean, but he found himself hoping that McCormick would have a very, very slow recovery. A whole week in the clinic would be worth it to keep the old man away from New London, from the thousands of clones that would try to kill him, and from Oliver Roth. Half a year in bed would be worth it.