When Medart woke, his uniform was hanging up inside the bathroom door, his underwear was folded neatly on top of the clothes hamper, and his boots and other leather items had been polished. He showered and dressed, decided not to call DeLayne since he'd gotten the necessary information about Cortin's odd Talent from Odeon, and checked the time. He'd slept longer than he expected; it was about 1730 Standard, about an hour later local time. He left his suite, followed sounds of talk and laughter to the living room--and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted with a hug and enthusiastic kiss from the Inquisitor. He returned both with equal enthusiasm, got a similar greeting from Sis and a more restrained one from Betty--right, she wasn't a trooper, didn't share their dispensation, so more wouldn't be appropriate. Then Odeon approached, his expression inquiring. Medart shook his head with a smile. "I'm flattered, Mike, and I don't want to offend you, but I'm afraid you aren't my type." "Thanks, and none taken," Odeon said. "Too bad, though--does being around it bother you?" "No, not at all--it just doesn't do anything for me, either." Odeon chuckled. "It would if you'd had the plague and been out on remote patrol. There aren't many women in Enforcement, so all but a very few troopers go both ways, especially in the field." "I can understand that," Medart said. "The ones I've seen, on a couple of worlds where sex is considered an art form, didn't leave any doubt they were enjoying themselves, either." "That's all very well," Cortin said, sounding plaintively amused, "but would you mind going into reminiscence and philosophy later? I, for one, am ready for supper and after-dinner relaxation." Her semi-complaint drew chuckles and agreement; the Family and guest went to the dining room. * * * * * After breakfast the next morning, Cortin asked Medart to accompany her to her ground-floor office. When they were seated in the conversation area there, she said, "While you were napping yesterday, I called Colonel Bradford and asked him to go into the details of what you found out from Shelton. I'm the best in the Kingdoms at third-stage, but he's the best at first, especially the memory-enhancing techniques we use with cooperative witnesses. I'd like you to work with him this morning; you can join me this afternoon, if you want to observe an execution." Medart grinned briefly, then nodded. It was almost half a century since he'd taken orders from anyone except the Sovereign--but he wasn't in the Empire now, he was Colonel Cortin's guest; he'd go along with her arrangements, as long as they didn't interfere with his duty. "As you say, Colonel." Cortin returned the grin. "Pretty good, for someone Captain DeLayne told me gave orders rather than taking them."