hem. "So do you. Because in his own way, he's an idealist too--even
though I'm not sure he knows that, or would believe it. An idealist
who's turned cynical, soured against just about everything--but I
believe there's still a tiny bit of him that wants the same things we
do."

Chang gave the reporter an appraising look, then turned to Cortin. "I
believe we may have a truly virtuous person among us, Joan. Not merely
sinless, but virtuous--willing to believe the best of people, which I
find surprising for a reporter."

"I doubt I'll be a reporter much longer," Blackfeather said. "What Sis
calls a virtue isn't, in my particular field; once I've filed these
three stories, backing Enforcement, the Families, and Colonel Cortin, I
fully expect to be fired. So would any of you happen to know of any
job openings for an ex-reporter?"

"How about historian?" Odeon asked. "We need one, with a reporter's
training, while it's still early enough to get an accurate account of
what's happening. The First and Second Testaments were written by
groups, edited by others, and translated by still others; after that
many opportunities for intentional or accidental change, we might not
know what the originals really said." He made a wry face. "Yes, I
believe everyone involved was inspired. As investigators, though, we
all know humans are fallible--with or without inspiration. But they
didn't have modern publishing; given a press run of ten or fifteen
thousand, by one writer and in the original language, there'll always
be a totally genuine version somewhere."

To Odeon's surprise, Blackfeather snickered. "You've got your
historian, Mike--but if you believe a press run as low as ten or
fifteen thousand, it's sure clear you're no publisher! On this
particular subject, especially with Colonel Cortin involved, go up a
couple of orders of magnitude. A million or million and a half copies
wouldn't be an unreasonable estimate of sales, even at a price double
or triple that of a standard book. A copy she autographed would be
worth . . . well, even my imagination isn't quite that wild!"

"Even better," Odeon said.

"You do know, though, that it'll mean interviews to get everything you
remember that has anything to do with Joan--and that the result won't
leave you much, if any, privacy. You don't get a major social
revolution by hiding the sort of personal behavior you're trying to
encourage--even though other people may choose t