McCormick knew that smiling wouldn’t be the reaction Ewan wanted, but he found his young friend’s attitude touching. He hid the smile as well as he could, as Ewan pointed to the top of the wall and reeled off some memories.

‘Sarah Best used to help Kate when she got anxious in French. They weren’t even friends but she helped anyway. Callum Turner came up with the Oakenfold Code… “the problems are not the person”. We all adopted it, and the teachers were proud of him for coming up with it at the age of twelve. Joe Horn always joked about being best in the school at chess club, even though he never reached a semi-final. Then there’s Elaine, Arian and Teymour… they deserve to be remembered for more than just dying on Jack’s generator mission.’

Ewan turned to McCormick, revealing the redness in his face.

‘Remember a few weeks ago,’ he snarled, ‘when I yelled at you for not adding the Rowlands? Three good people died in New London helping us get out of the Inner City, and they didn’t even become chisel marks. They didn’t become bloody anything. And I don’t want to forget them either.’

‘If they mean that much to you—’

‘It’s too late now. You’ve already added Charlie, and he died after them. I’m scared about what’s going to happen next.’

Scared. Have I ever heard him use that word before?

‘You’re taking a stupid risk,’ Ewan said with watery eyes, anger and love blending in his voice. ‘If Lorraine’s hand twitches at the wrong time, your name’s next on this list. Whether you die on the operating table, or somewhere in New London with your stitches ripped open. If you meet a clone that’s faster than you, your name’s next on the list. If…’

Ewan’s sentence collapsed. McCormick tried to take advantage of the silence, but couldn’t find anything to say. His lead soldier was absolutely right.

‘Don’t you dare become just a chiselled name in a bloody rock,’ Ewan managed to continue. ‘Other than my dad, you’re the only man I’ve ever trusted. You’re not allowed to mean that much to someone just to die on them. Don’t you dare do that to me.’

McCormick closed his eyes. As a mathematician, he knew the logical response. As a human, he didn’t want to hurt a young man who meant so much to him. But as a leader, he knew there were some situations that were impossible to get right. He chose to be honest.