‘So, what now?’ Stratton asked.
Seaton nodded, thinking the question through. ‘Well. You’ll go back to the UK, you and Josh, never to darken the doors of Los Angeles again. John Stratton was never here and so he didn’t blow the hell out of that building, nor did he do everything else that he, er, didn’t do – as far as we’re concerned. I can’t speak for your own people but I should think they would see it the same way. You might find yourself stationed in Outer Mongolia for a decade or so but other than that …’ Seaton shrugged.
Stratton exhaled heavily, agreeing. It was the most likely upshot of the several that he had speculated about while waiting in the base of the central pillar.
Josh sat down beside him. Stratton put his arm around the boy and kissed him on the top of his head as his thoughts went to Jack and Sally. He hoped that they would be content with the outcome and would forgive him for the dangers that he had put their son through. Wherever they were now, they were still practical people and would know that, as in any war, it wasn’t always the conduct of the campaign that mattered as much as the end result.