Part 28 (1/2)

”No, or Sis wouldn't have been able to take it from Joanie.” Odeon hesitated, then went on. ”I wouldn't have been able to tell you all this unless it was highly probable you'd want to be on her team if you knew. If that's right and you do, either Sis or I can Seal you to her; if not, you'll have to wait till she goes public.”

”I do,” Bradford said without hesitation. ”From you, since I agree that there's no time to waste.”

”Good.” Odeon rose as Bradford knelt in front of him. ”Drink, then, the Seed of Life.”

Bradford was hesitant at first, taking only what welled out--and that was enough for the union to form. Odeon felt the hesitancy dissolve, felt Bradford's awed pleasure as G.o.d's Presence filled and cleansed him, shared his fear that it would end--and then his joyous realization that it wouldn't, that he'd been accepted and was wholly G.o.d's now.

When it was over, Bradford shook his head, looking dazed. ”I had no idea . . . and Mike, I don't feel like conducting even a Stage One after that. I need to come down, if you don't mind.”

”Me too,” Odeon said. ”The repet.i.tions, or whatever they end up being called, won't be that prolonged or intense, of course, but I'm beginning to think the Sealing itself always will be. And that we'll have to allow for a wind-down period--most likely s.e.xual, the way I felt and felt you feel. Though Sis and I didn't, until after Joanie was on her feet.”

”Of course not,” Bradford said. ”I'd like s.e.x--but what I need is talk. To help Joanie effectively, I've got to know exactly what she and we are trying to accomplish, and--if possible--why.” He found a chair without looking, settled into it. When Odeon had followed suit, he went on. ”Since you and Sis were chosen directly by Jeshua, you two are the obvious leaders of our group. If she's around, maybe she should join us.”

”If she's awake, you mean,” Odeon corrected, grinning. ”When I saw her last night, she and Ivan were heading for her room, looking like they intended to make a night of it.”

Bradford looked at him quizzically, then echoed the grin. ”And a disciple of him, I'd be willing to bet.”

”A bet you would win, Colonel.” Chang stood just inside the door, her arm around the St. Dmitri Inquisitor's waist. ”He, and the rest of Team Azrael--including Lieutenant Powell. Pardon the intrusion, but I felt we would be needed, and no one answered when we knocked.” She smiled at Bradford. ”It is good to have you in our group, Colonel.”

”Thanks--I'm happy I could be. And we are off duty.” Bradford gestured the newcomers to seats. ”At least off Enforcement duty, and you and Mike outrank the rest of us in this field.”

”As we heard you tell him, yes.” Chang and Illyanov took seats.

”However, it is we four, not two, who are her primary staff. Your responsibility will be liaison with the Church. Mike and I must guide her into her temporary role. Ivan is to show her that her dual role of judge and exalter is complementary rather than contradictory.”

”That's going to be hardest, I think,” Bradford said. ”I know who she is, and I still have trouble with the Lifegiver as an Inquisitor.”

Illyanov smiled. ”Did your parents never punish you, then?”

”Yes, and I get the connection--punishment, and hopefully correction before it's too late to change. But the scale is so different!”

”And right now she's more interested in the punishment part than the correction one,” Odeon said. ”That's not surprising--but helping her change that emphasis has to be Sis' and my first priority.”

”That will not keep her from carrying out her punishment and execution duties, will it?” Illyanov asked.

”How could it?” Chang countered. ”She is Judge as well as Guardian--and even if it were not so, she could not deliberately fail to perform any legal duty she is sworn to. Even with her knowledge of her destiny deliberately hidden, she is Protector if only for a time, as well as being the true one's Herald, and therefore incapable of sin.”

”Which doesn't mean she can't make mistakes,” Odeon added. ”Being human, she can--both has, and will.”

Bradford frowned. ”Any idea when she'll realize who she is?”

”Nothing firm, but logic says not until she has to--maybe as late as when she confronts Shannon, or the real Protector surfaces.”

”Which gives us time to discuss this more later,” Bradford said, glancing at the wall clock. ”I did promise Joanie I'd question Powell for her, and . . .” He hesitated, then went on. ”I . . . now that I know who she is, I feel I have to watch her work.”

”Understandable.” Odeon nodded, then gave the Bishop-Inquisitor a half-smile. ”Does questioning Chuck have to be formal, or can you enjoy yourselves in the process?”

”Hmm?” Bradford frowned in puzzlement, then smiled. ”Since he's already agreed to cooperate, I don't see any need for a formal interrogation. Why?”

”Let's go up to the common-room, and I'll show you.”