Part 19 (1/2)

”Dear G.o.d, 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.”

”I think so too,” Odeon said. ”She wants revenge, and I can't blame her. So I'll help her, and protect her as well as I can . . . and so will the rest of Team Azrael.”

”And any other Enforcement man who's been around her for long,”

Bradford said drily. ”Interrogation isn't her only talent, I've discovered. She doesn't know about it, I found when I debriefed her--I can't help wondering if you've noticed.”

”Noticed what?” Odeon asked, puzzled.

”How people, men especially, react to her.”

Odeon chuckled. ”That? That's easy! She's an Enforcement officer, so civs are apprehensive about her--more than they are of us, but until Sis came aboard she was the only woman officer. And our people like her, probably for the same reason.”

”Your observations are accurate, of course--I'd expect that, from a Tracker. But not completely so, since I have yet to find an Enforcement trooper, officer or enlisted, who's been around her for more than a short time and only likes her. To the best of my research, any trooper who's spent as little as ten or fifteen minutes with her has fallen in love. I used to believe it was because of s.e.x--you know how generous she was with herself--but since her maiming, I found that theory was wrong.” He grimaced. ”The effect isn't even conscious, much less deliberate. When I went in to debrief her, I thought it would be routine, and that I was braced against anything she might try.

But she didn't, and I wasn't--by the time I left, I was in love with her, and so was every man on my team. I can't claim I don't feel any s.e.xual attraction for her, because I most definitely do, even though I'm a happily married man with a child. But my primary feeling for her is protectiveness, and I understand that's how the rest feel.

Including,” he grimaced again, ”Major Illyanov, the entire Inquisitorial staff of the Detention Center, one clerk-private, and the proprietor of the Eagle's Nest. Probably others as well.”

”Mmm . . . that fits.” Odeon hadn't thought about it that way, but now that Bradford had pointed it out, it did fit. The team's degree of protectiveness toward their commanding officer and their concern with how she came through the operation were both unusually strong; it was good to have an explanation. Especially one that also explained Bradford's presence--and Illyanov's, since he wouldn't normally be a member of a Royal party. ”I hadn't realized, but you're right. So what do we do about it?”

”d.a.m.ned if I know,” Bradford said. ”There's probably nothing that can be done, since she's not doing it either deliberately or knowingly. I mentioned it to you primarily because you're her second and need to be aware of that effect. It could be useful--at least if a young civ falls in love with her, you'll know to send him to a recruiter!”

Odeon chuckled. ”True--too bad all recruiters don't have a method that effective. It would've saved me a lot of time, when I had that duty.”

”It would save the Service a lot of time, too, getting rid of ones who don't work out,” Bradford agreed. ”If she weren't such an incredibly talented Inquisitor, I'd want her on that duty--though she'd have to have a partner who could tell when it happened, because as I said, she doesn't know she's doing it.”

Odeon frowned. ”Do we want her to know? I don't like keeping things from her, but offhand I'd say she's better off thinking it's normal comrades.h.i.+p, with her back trouble as an explanation for any help or protection out of the ordinary.”

”Which is what I was working around to asking you,” Bradford said. ”If you think that's best, we'll keep it between the two of us.”

”Us and the team,” Odeon corrected, ”so they don't mention it by mistake. No one else is likely to say they love an Inquisitor, even if it's true. I know I'd never dare.”

”Did you tell her before she got her Warrant?”

”No--she never seemed to want that kind of tie, so I didn't burden her with it.” Odeon frowned briefly, then smiled. ”Fortunately for me--and the rest of us, I guess--she doesn't need that to make love to us.”

”I've heard,” Bradford said appreciatively. ”As well for you--us, if she's willing to go outside her team--that she doesn't put a daily limit on herself.”

”She's never restricted herself to a given team, either,” Odeon said.

”Only to Enforcement men. I'm sure she'd be willing to accommodate you and Major--I mean, Ivan.”

”Good!” Bradford smiled. ”Both our wives understand and accept the dispensation, of course, and so does Ivan's mistress, if that matters to her.”

”I don't know if it does or not,” Odeon admitted, surprised at himself.

”She's never mentioned it to me, or to anyone else I know of. If I thought about it at all, I guess I a.s.sumed she a.s.sumed any wives or girlfriends did accept it.”

”Okay. Sis expects her to wake up tomorrow?”

”Late afternoon or early evening, yes.”