"Then we differ in that," Jim said. "Oh, I agree with you, in part. Or rather, I might come to. But I've always clung to that cliche about life and hope. I don't know what happens after we die, but I do know that until then there's always an opportunity. Somewhere. And I didn't specify a deep dark dungeon. There are unmapped planets, far-flung star systems, places he could make a life for himself."

Alone. He left that unspoken. It was not ideal, no. But it was one of the options, among many less-than-ideal choices.