ire for revenge after rape and maiming was a
human thing the Protector should be beyond. So was becoming an
Inquisitor, nothing like Jeshua's forgiveness of His enemies and His
gentle nature. Still, she thougt, there was precedent, if you went
back to the First Testament; she'd never been comfortable with things
like the innocent Job being tormented simply as a demonstration to
Shayan, or the she-bears being sent to kill forty-two children whose
only offense had been to tease Elisha about being bald. Cortin at
least confined the punitive parts of her Inquisitorial attentions to
criminals, and her truthsense let her be certain who those criminals
actually were.

23. Raid

Wednesday, 25 March 2572

The next morning, when Powell offered to help her into lightweight
Enforcement body armor, Blackfeather accepted gladly. She'd found out
the previous evening, at the same time she'd found out what the term
'unity' meant to those who were Sealed, that his Enforcement commission
was another of the exceptions surrounding Cortin; he was barely
seventeen, and his pose of being a veteran was exactly that, a pose.
But he was no rookie inside, and that unity had given her considerable
respect for the Protector's youngest Sealed.

"How does that feel, Sara?" he asked when she was suited up. "I can
adjust it some, if it doesn't fit quite right."

Blackfeather moved experimentally, then grinned at him. "It's fine,
Chuck. Now what about Sis?"

"She doesn't need armor; she won't be going in until after the action's
over. Mike doesn't want her going in at all, but she says if he can,
so can she, and he couldn't argue that. At least she's promised
this'll be the last time till after she has the baby."

"And the Colonel? Even if His Majesty has forbidden her, I'm surprised
she'd stay out of her team's--and Family's--first official action."

"She doesn't have any choice," Powell said regretfully. "It's a legal
order and her Enforcement oath is valid; disobeying would be a sin, and
that's something none of the Sealed can do. If we had reason to
believe any of the ones who tortured her would be among the attackers,
she'd be free to go with us, but none of the information we have even
hints at that. So she's stuck here."

"In her place, I'd hate that," Blackfeather said, feeling more sympathy
for the Inquisitor than she'd have thought possible a few days ago.
"At least we can make sure we give her a complete report."