r, but somehow she
managed not to fire. "Why, Lieutenant?" she asked coldly. "And why
tell me, now?"

"My confessor said that when I found the person I really wanted to
follow, I'd have to tell, and accept her judgement."

"Go on."

"I was a kid, idealistic--I believed in what they said they stood for.
I still do, but what they say doesn't come anywhere close to what they
really stand for."

Cortin nodded, relaxing slightly. "I've never faulted the ideals they
claim, or their courage--just their methods and their real morals."

"I was slow--it took me a while to realize the two didn't match. Once
I did, and let people know I was sorry I'd joined, my superiors
arranged for me to meet Shannon, and that told me I had to get out."
Degas paused, looking sick. "He's an attractive man, handsome
and--from the effect he had on the people I was with--damn near
irresistible. I don't know how I was able to resist, but I've thanked
God every day since that I was." He shuddered. "Shannon's evil,
Captain! There's no other word to describe him. He may not be Shayan
himself, like Sis thinks--though I tend to agree with her--but if he's
not, he's not far off. A demon, or possessed by one. Most of the
Brothers, I think, are just deluded--but Shannon's evil, and as long as
they're under his spell, they'll act that way too."

"Did you commit any crimes while you were a Brother?"

Degas shook his head. "Not for lack of trying, I'm afraid. As I said,
I was a kid; I wanted to do everything I could. But my superiors
wouldn't let me, until I was older and knew more. So the only thing I
was guilty of was joining, which I've been forgiven for--and I think
I've paid any criminal debt I owed. I became a trooper because I was a
Brother."

A trooper with a good Academy record, fifteen of his twenty-one active
duty years in Special Ops--critically wounded several times, but living
that long at all in Special Ops qualified as a real miracle--with
numerous operations to his credit that he'd refused well-deserved
awards for, as he'd refused promotion beyond the one to First
Lieutenant he'd had to accept to remain in service. She'd wondered
about those refusals, but Odeon had said he'd claimed personal reasons.
Now that she knew, she respected him for it; that was his way of
atoning. "You've decided to follow me, so your confessor said you have
to accept my judgement--and he knew you'd decide to follow a woman.
That sounds pec