d. "A little, but it depended on someone
believing me. Like I said, I'd like to go to work for you, if I could."

Cortin nodded; she'd definitely be questioning Mike next! "Think about
it some more, talk to my men--then if you're sure that's really what
you want, I'll see what I can do. For now, go with Matthew; he should
be at the main door shortly."

When Powell left, Cortin turned to Odeon. "All right, Mike, give!
Last time I saw him, I revolted and terrified him--now he's like a
puppy eager for my approval, and I swear he has a crush on you. Why
and how?"

To her astonishment, Odeon looked abashed. "Uh . . . Ivan had an
experimental drug he wanted to try, just to see how thorough a
conditioning was possible and how much trouble it'd be. Well, you'd
already set up a program for our young friend, so Ivan figured he might
as well work on him. He outranks us--outranked you, then--so we went
along."

Cortin nodded; they'd had no choice, and Ivan had been polite enough
not to tell her he'd modified her intentions. "It looks like the
conditioning was complete, all right--but how permanent?"

"Till he dies, Ivan says, or till he's put through the same type of
conditioning again, which Ivan doesn't think is possible anywhere
outside a Detention Center. So if you take him on, it'll be for good."

"I don't see that you left me any choice," Cortin said with resigned
amusement. "Kicking him out with conditioning like that would be like
. . . kicking a puppy, I suppose. Though I have no idea what I'll be
able to do with him!" She paused, frowning. Joining the Brotherhood of
Freedom, or any other terrorist group, meant automatic excommunication,
and she didn't care to make her people associate with an excommunicate.
"I don't suppose you also saw to his spiritual welfare, by any chance?"

"Of course we did, and not by chance," Odeon said. "Better than that,
though we blocked the memory in case you turned him down. Uh--"

"Don't tell me," Cortin said, half-grinning. "You enlisted him and put
him on the team."

"Close," Odeon said. "Commissioned him, since you wanted all officers.
He doesn't meet the normal Strike Force criteria, but Colonel Bradford
waivered them in his case. He's a good rider and a damn good marksman,
but otherwise his main qualification is absolute dedication to his
Team-Leader. I wouldn't call him a puppy, young as he is; I'd call him
a guard dog. The cue to make him 'remember' he's