victims and find the hostages, with the writer expressing
the hope she would carry out equally swift justice on the captured
Brothers, particularly the one who had helped maim her. There was no
mention of revenge, but there was the implication the writer thought it
would be appropriate for her.

Cortin put the paper down, frowning. It was true that she had been
looking forward to her first chance at personal revenge ever since the
attack on her--but now that she had it, the opportunity didn't seem
anywhere near as attractive. There was no question but that the
Brother deserved the revenge she'd planned for him, and more; his
crimes undoubtedly deserved more punishment than she could possibly
inflict.

But punishment wasn't the problem with this one, any more than it had
been with any of her earlier subjects. It was the revenge part that
bothered her, though it certainly wasn't illegal--or sinful, for
Enforcement troops, since they were carrying out God's vengeance even
when it had a personal component. So why had the idea of taking her
revenge on this Brother suddenly lost its savor?

She mulled that over for some time before she was able to come to what
seemed like a reasonable hypothesis. The Father had claimed vengeance
as His own, but Jeshua had concentrated on mercy, even though some of
His priests had been fighters. The Protector emphasized love and
justice; possibly those who represented Him weren't supposed to indulge
in vengeance. She'd have to talk to Mike about that, find out if he'd
run into the same thing.

Maybe she could tell without talking, though, so she went down to Suite
Bravo's observation room--Suite Alpha held the Brother team-leader--and
joined Blackfeather. The reporter looked pale and had turned the
speaker off, but was managing to control herself; Cortin greeted her
with approval, then turned to watch Odeon.

Odeon's back was to her, so she couldn't see his expression. His
manner, though, was more professional than passionate, which supported
her hypothesis so far. The same went for Bain, who was holding the
prisoner, though that was less evidential; to the best of Cortin's
knowledge, he'd never expressed any desire for personal revenge against
the ones who'd maimed her. She'd only be sure of it regarding him if
they happened to capture one of the terrorists who'd tortured his
brother.

"If he was on one of Larry's personal teams, he won't be able to tell
you anything," Bl