as eager for the drought's end as you are. Maybe more so--and from
what you two are saying, that won't be long."

"Not long at all," Odeon said. "We'll be heading for Dragon's Lair
first thing tomorrow--no need to look so surprised! Bradford pointed
out that it'd have to be kept between him and us; what better place
than a well-secured Royal retreat? He may've told His Majesty, to get
us permission to use it, but can you imagine the reaction if the public
found out someone--even a Brother--had been maimed for the purpose of
allowing an Enforcement officer to have sex again?"

"I can imagine it would cause a bit of an uproar," Cortin said drily.
"Even if it's part of the punishment he deserves for his crimes."

"And I imagine that's putting it damn mildly," Odeon said. "It's
pretty obvious how you feel, but to make it official?"

"I want it--even if it means being under algetin for however long."
That would be days at least, maybe a couple of weeks, of pure
agony . . . but it would be worth it. She hoped. "I'm at your orders,
Lieutenant Chang."

"The only one I have at the moment is that you are to eat no solid food
until after the operation," the medic said. "Let me reassure you about
the algetin, however. It will cause you no distress; those of my
profession have drugs to ease or eliminate even such extreme pain. I
can render you unconscious while the algetin is necessary."

"Good." Cortin had no desire to use drugs for normal pain, but algetin
enhancement was an entirely different situation. She turned to Odeon.
"You said we leave at 0500, which means getting up at 0300 if we're
going to say Mass and still have time for the rest of you to eat
breakfast. So I think you'd better have supper, and all of us should
get to bed early."

7. Dave

St. Thomas, Thursday, 20 Feb 2572

The Royal Family, the King's Household and staff, and favored nobles
flew to Dragon's Lair; everyone else rode. So when Team Azrael and its
prisoner left Middletown for the deliberately-isolated Royal retreat,
they were on horseback. Cortin, like most people, had learned to ride
almost as soon as she'd learned to walk, and was expert at it, but she
quickly found that riding was another thing she could no longer enjoy.
She was wearing the back brace Egan had given her for unavoidable
strenuous exercise and riding the smoothest-gaited horse in the Base
stables--a black Arab named Rainbow--complete with a lambswool sadd