tion of saying Mass, that she was a
natural priest. Yes, Mike was far more suited to serving a divine
purpose than she was.

And he was waking; this would be as good a time as any to bring up the
part of her vision she was most frightened by. And maybe the part
she'd liked best . . . When he started to sit up, she spoke. "I need
to talk to you, Mike. Got a few minutes, or do you need to get up
right away?"

"I've got all the time you want," Odeon said, settling back. "What's
the problem?"

Cortin moved toward him. "I . . . didn't tell everything about what I
saw when I was under. Part because it was too frightening, part
because it was too . . . personal. I'm not even sure I can tell you."

Odeon took her in his arms. "Okay. The frightening part first."

"I . . . believe Sis now. Shannon is Shayan, or under his direct
control." Cortin shivered. "I was in a prewar bio-lab--you know, the
kind we've all seen pictures of?" When he nodded, she went on. "It
was a Brothers of Freedom lab. I know that, somehow, even though there
were no symbols and no one heard of the Brothers for another fifty
years. Shannon was there, looking exactly like he does today, and he
was engineering the worst of the plague strains. Working with his
mind, the equipment was there just for show. And he was proud of
himself; he'd just persuaded the ruler of one of those tiny asteroid
colonies that if they used his plagues they could take over St. Monica
without bloodshed. Mike, the Final War was no accident, or innocent
mistake, or even a human horror--it was Shayan, turned loose!"

Odeon stroked her back, trying to comfort her. "The Bible does say
he'd be set free for a hundred years before the Protector begins
working against him." And that fit too; history said work on the
plagues had started in 2464, and she'd graduated--begun work against
him and his Brotherhood--in 2564. "So the Protector's here, and
working--just not openly yet."

"But why not?"

Odeon shrugged. "I'm only human; you can't expect me to know why God
does what He does. All we can do is trust Him, try to help in whatever
ways we can."

"That's not terribly comforting." Cortin snuggled closer. "I'd feel a
lot better if I knew who the Protector is, at least. Are you him?"

"No." Odeon didn't dare elaborate; she was too likely to pick up on
the smallest mistake. Instead he decided to change the subject, hoping
to distract her. "What's the p