Shannon fumed in helpless anger. The first direct attack on Cortin's new team--one he admitted to himself shouldn't have been made, but that he'd found irresistible--had been a total disaster. The troopers had been outnumbered more than two to one, yet they had still routed his men, as far as he knew taking no casualties while claiming eight kills. Worse, he'd had to let one of his own go before death. It was always unpleasant to lose someone useful, and when that one was sworn to him, it was humiliating as well. Worse, though, was his near-certainty of why Cortin and her people would be taking another of his to a remote security area, when that one was a near-perfect medical match. Restoring Cortin's sexual function, and the use she would make of it, would cause severe and possibly critical damage to the use he had been making--and intended to continue making, if she didn't reclaim it--of human sexuality. Especially the new virus-enhanced version, which offered such delicious possibilities if properly redirected and emotionally loaded. Was there anything he could do to prevent it? Degas, a former Brother--though unfortunately too young then to be properly sworn to him--was on Cortin's team. It was possible he could be blackmailed into cooperating . . . though that would mean using his power, since security at a Royal retreat was so tight. Cortin would have to be sedated for the surgery, maybe for part of her recovery time as well, and it should be safe enough to use them while she was drugged. If he only knew when she'd be under! But without that knowledge, he decided regretfully, it would be wiser to refrain. The Adversary had pointed out that timing was crucial; he simply dared not take the risk of rousing Cortin's power too early. * * * * * Friday, 28 Feb 2572 Odeon was sitting beside the heavily sedated Cortin, stroking the hand without tubes, when Bradford entered the shelter. He started to rise, but settled back at Bradford's gesture. "Yes, Colonel?" "Brad, please." Bradford looked at the woman for some time, then he turned his attention back to the scar-faced man who was her second in command. "You've known and loved her for years, Mike. So will you please tell me why in God's name the most talented Inquisitor I've ever seen won't take a nice, safe, productive assignment at the New Denver Detention Center where the most difficult cases can be referred to her?" "I thought you wanted her in the field!" Odeon exclaimed. "Dear God, no! If I had my way, she'd be at the Center with all the medical and professional support I could provide, not out in the field getting shot at, torturing herself by making her back trouble worse, and wasting her talents on criminals a second-semester student could handle. If I try to keep her there, though, I'm afraid I'll lose her--she's never said it in so many words, but if I read her right, she'd go rogue rather than give up her hunt for the Shannons."