“I don’t think they’d want that even if I liked the idea,” Jack said, in a tone that suggested he was halfway admitting Mitchell was right. People were going to die, and likely many of them. There was no way around that.

He sighed and made the case he’d assembled in his head.

“Look, it would take some time for any government to figure out what to do with me even if there was a draft – which there isn’t, yet. I could do a lot of good as a spy before it would happen, and there are portals if I absolutely need one.” Jack’s size, his unclear citizenship, the fact he had money backing him: He was bargaining that all would help keep him out of any army until it was absolutely necessary.

More quietly, he added, “And even if I have to go fight, that’s better than the alternative. I couldn’t look myself in the face if I sat this out.”