Keith was surprised to find himself more intrigued than anything else at the scene through the observation room window. What she'd called the third-stage room resembled, more than anything else the young Sandeman could think of, was a museum exhibit of a twentieth-century operating room he'd seen once, with cabinets of supplies and equipment, monitoring machinery, even a surgical table. But operating rooms didn't have chains hanging from the ceiling, and patients weren't held spreadeagled, naked, between those and eyebolts in the floor--and he'd had no particular feeling toward the doctor in the display, where he'd developed a strong fondness for the Inquisitor. A couple of minutes after they entered, Odeon glanced toward the observation room, raised a hand in acknowledgement, and said something to Cortin. She turned toward them. "Colonel Bradford?" "Yes," Bradford said, "with Ranger Medart and Lt. DarElwyn." "If you'd care to, you're welcome to join me in here." "Thank you, Excellency." Bradford switched off the intercom and turned to the others, looking surprised. "That's a first; she doesn't normally allow anyone in there except Captain Odeon or other Inquisitors. The disadvantage is that you can't avoid her prisoner's screams by shutting off the intercom." "Even so," Medart said thoughtfully, "if an invitation's that rare, we ought to accept." The three entered the larger room, which smelled of antiseptic--rather to Keith's surprise. Why should Her Excellency care about infection in people she was torturing to death? He might ask her later, if it looked like she wouldn't mind discussing her work. "The interview went all right?" Cortin asked. "Quite well," Bradford replied. "I'll get the operation moving as soon as I get back to my office." "Good--thanks, both of you." Cortin turned back to her prisoner, still addressing the observers. "This one's nothing special, except in the number of his crimes and the fact that he wanted witnesses until he got to the last victim in each series. It was the rapes that were his particular thrill; the murders were enjoyable, but more of a side effect. So I'll be concentrating on the punishment for rape." Keith watched attentively. These were the preliminaries, obviously, but he was interested in anything and everything she did. It was several hours before she was satisfied with the prisoner's general condition: his entire body except the genital region so bruised or abraded that even a light touch brough curses--and by that time, Keith was admitting to himself that what he felt for her was more than fondness. Cortin stepped back to survey her prisoner, then smiled at her audience. "That takes care of the preliminaries; now we can get to the real punishment." She went to a cabinet, removed a vial and syringe.