t of vestments every day!

There was a knock on the door, then Odeon's voice. "Need some help,
Colonel?"

"Yes--come in, please."

He did, along with Chang. "That was a little more spectacular than
anything we'd guessed at," he said quietly. "How do you feel?"

"Fine," Cortin said. "No pain at all, even in my back. I just look
like a mess." She grinned at them. "Jeshua said this trade would
help, and I think it did, with the Enforcement troops--but it looks to
me more like it scared most of the civs in the congregation."

"Sure it did," Odeon said. "Here, let me give you a hand with that
tunic-- What would you expect, the first time? We're trained to cope
with the unexpected, they aren't--and I've got to admit I was shocked.
Next time everyone'll expect it, and it will help. But--why didn't you
tell me?"

"Because I didn't remember till it happened." Cortin pulled herself
free of the sticky tunic, looking at it in dismay. "Sis, could you ask
someone to get me a fresh uniform? And I'm going to need some help
with sponge baths until I can get a shower put in-- Oh, dear God."
Her memory of the other "little thing" Jeshua had mentioned was
triggered. "Mike, Sis--take off your gloves." She pulled off her own;
yes, the burned-on symbols were now smooth pale-blue flesh.

"What in God's Name!" Odeon exclaimed, examining his hands and the
symbols that matched Cortin's. Chang's reaction was less emphatic; she
merely smiled, then went to pass along Cortin's request for clean
clothes.

When Sis returned, Cortin answered Odeon's question. "Was I wrong?"
she asked when she finished. "I was sure, but--"

"And you were right; if you'd left us out, you'd've had a major morale
problem. We were marked the minute we put on Special Ops patches, if
you remember." He studied the marks on the backs of his hands again,
smiling this time. "It's a difference in degree, not in kind."

"But it's a big degree," Cortin pointed out. "I got the impression
that Shayan's skill is to mine as mine is to a first-year recruit's.
And that's without using any of his powers--if he does use them, he
could make it last for . . . years, maybe, knowing you'd be free of him
as soon as you died."

"True, but years is still better than forever. And if playing with us
keeps his attention away from civs . . . well, that's why we all joined
the Service, isn't it?"

"Yes--though I doubt any of us thought, then, that it was Shayan
h