o--you'll make a good pair." He took out
a notebook, made a checkmark. "Have you picked out a name?"

"Yes, sir. We are agreed on Azrael."

Bradford raised an eyebrow, still smiling. "That shouldn't surprise
me--but I admit I'd expected you to choose something less openly
descriptive."

"If you'd seen her in action, sir," Odeon said, "you'd know it fits."

"I have, Captain; I've been following her activities with considerable
interest since I debriefed her, which has included watching films of
her interrogations rather than just reading summaries; I certainly
don't argue the appropriateness of her choice. My surprise is only
that she's being so open about her intentions for the Brothers."

"It's deliberate, sir," Cortin said. "Major Illyanov told me early on
that terror can be useful; naming my team after the Angel of Death is
on the same order as taking my gloves off for the conclusion of a hunt
or during an interrogation."

"I understand that--but it could also work against you, if they suicide
rather than face interrogation."

Cortin smiled. "I think I can count on the 'can't-happen-to-me'
syndrome, sir, at least in the great majority of cases. At worst, a
few of them die quickly and with relative ease."

"True." Bradford made a note, put the pad back in his pocket. "Azrael
it is, then."

When the break was over and everyone was back in the theater proper,
Bradford went on with the briefing. "We have nine confirmed
Leader-second pairs, five of which have chosen names: Wolf, Guardian,
Flame, Falcon, and Azrael. The rest of you, as I said earlier, have a
week to let me know your decisions.

"During that week, in addition to those decisions, you will start
selecting your team members. Eligible volunteers have been brought in
on TDY orders, the way most of you were, and are being quartered at the
Academy. You'll meet them tomorrow morning, and can begin interviews
then; their records will be made available to you as soon as we finish
here."

"In two weeks, you will have your teams together and ready, because you
deploy during the following week." He paused. "True, there may be no
need for such hurry--but we don't know, so we want you prepared and in
place as soon as humanly possible. Now--some details.

"To start with, you--and through you, your team members--will hold
Writs of Immunity good in every system in the Kingdoms. The scope on
these Writs is even broader than an Inquisitor's War