The double grimaced. "True--but can't you protect us against them?" Shannon smiled briefly. "It's more economical to use them. Anyone incompetent enough to get captured deserves their attentions, and it saves me the bother of reprimands. Maintain reasonable security, and you should have no serious problems." "Yes, Raidmaster." The double would have expected Shannon to prefer handling his own punishments, but he did have a good point about making use of the Inquisitors. "If that's all, I'll go pass along your orders." "Thanks, James." Shannon sketched the Brothers' sign in the air. "Revenge for the oppressed." "And death to the oppressors." His double returned the gesture and left. Shannon looked after him for a moment, then stood and went to look out the window. He was putting a good face on it, he thought, but in truth he'd like nothing better than to have Cortin dead and in Hell, or at least lying bloody at his feet. But that wasn't to be. Not yet, at any rate, and perhaps never. She was as vital a part of this damnable charade as he himself, so he could neither kill her nor cause her death, at least until after her role was played out. He couldn't even use many of his powers against or around her until she realized and began using those that would be hers for a time. He could do anything short of those, however--and he smiled at the delicious memory of torturing her. Although he'd known it would cause her relatively little distress--far less than a normal woman, and certainly far less than being branded with the marks he'd suggested to the Brotherhood--he had particularly enjoyed raping her. It would have been even better if she'd been a virgin, but given what she was being primed to accomplish--whether she realized it yet or not--and the fact that she was an Enforcement trooper, he'd known better than to even hope for that. Still, it was the rape she'd get support and treatment for, when the marks were the real violation; he could take comfort in that. He cursed the fate that was making him fight to preserve the prewar morality. It served his purposes, true, but having to live by it himself--having to set a God-loving example!--was going much too far. Celibacy was definitely not his style. At least his favorite sado-sexual activity was expected behavior from terrorists, even those calling themselves freedom fighters--but it was so hellishly long between opportunities, and when they did arrive, he usually had to restrain himself!