posed to be
the leaders of the Protector's . . . guardians, I suppose, for lack of
a better word. Not to guard Him, of course, He won't need it, but to
guard His people from the ones who don't accept Him and aren't willing
to let those who do live in peace. As I told Colonel Illyanov once, as
long as humans have free will, Enforcement's still going to be
necessary."

"Colonel Illyanov, yes." Watkins looked at her quizzically. "Four of
the ones Sealed so far are Inquisitors, and two of them have gotten
sudden promotions to the top rank; one other was already there. The
rest of the Sealed are high ranking themselves or closely associated
with rankers--not at all like Jeshua and His disciples."

Cortin shrugged. "That's how I'm told it's supposed to be, this time
around. This is the Final Coming, and if the Protector defeats Shayan,
He'll be reigning over at least the Kingdom Systems; His mortal staff
will have to have some top-level experience to give Him proper support.
I think you can expect to see more promotions and other changes in the
fairly near future."

"God willing, He'll come into the open soon--promotions or not, I want
to be Sealed myself."

"And he's not the only one," an intense-looking young Lieutenant said.
"Don't get us wrong, Excellency, we sure wouldn't turn down any
promotions, but over half the staff of the Center--maybe three-quarters
of the Inquisitors--mostly want Sealed. Myself included."

Cortin's truthsense said they were understating the intensity of their
desire for the Protector's chief benefit. Their yearning to be Sealed
seemed to be every bit as strong as her desire to avoid the
confrontation with Shayan she was sure would cost her her life--and if,
she thought grimly, the Hell-King could manage it, with pain even
greater than Mike's. She forced that thought back; the confrontation
would happen, and a Strike Force member's job description practically
guaranteed death in the line of duty--the questions were when and how,
not if.

It didn't surprise her particularly that it was the Inquisitors who
most wanted to take advantage of the Sealing. Their work, done
properly, was a constant strain, with the accompanying urge to take out
their frustrations on a subject--or not do what was needed to get vital
information. The line between the Warrant-protected violence of their
duties and the sin of giving in to personal weakness was a thin one,
easy to rationalize crossing . . .