"I know," Cortin admitted. "I don't have any choice but to try, though. I saw two possibilities in the vision, or whatever it was, and I've got to work for the second. In the first, humanity kept on the way it's going now, a slow decline with the terrorists getting stronger until they reach a critical number and Shayan takes them over openly, uses them to wipe out the rest of us in a final bloody massacre, then amuses himself by torturing them to death one by one—which he and his demons continue, of course, once they're in Sheol.
"The other wasn't quite as clear, maybe because there's more than one way for it to go—I can't be certain. In it, we recognize the Satyr Plague for what it is—"
"Shayan's attempt to corrupt us," Princess Ursula declared.
"With all respect, Your Highness," Cortin said firmly, "that's not possible. I can't deny that Shayan has tremendous power, but there's one power God has reserved to Himself, and that is the creation of life. The satyr virus isn't very high on the scale, I agree, but it is life, with no detectable connection to any other form in the Kingdoms. So the Satyr Plague is from God, and it must be His Will that we use it, within the limits of morality He's given us, to reverse the decline."
"The Satyr Plague used within the bounds of morality?" Princess Ursula sounded highly dubious.
"It can be done," Cortin said. "Troopers don't use their dispensation to spend all their time having sex, do they?"
"No," the Princess admitted, "not even all their spare time. But troopers are far better disciplined than the average civilian—give landfolk the freedom to indulge their drives the way troopers do, and I dread to think of the consequences."
"I think you're underestimating them, Your Highness," Cortin said, allowing herself a smile. "I was raised in a farming family, and I can assure you they're every bit as disciplined as troopers, although in a different way." She grimaced. "I'll take drill, and transfers, and orders, and getting shot at, any day, over milking and plowing and feeding and getting up before dawn every day! Even with the virus' help, farm life doesn't leave enough energy for overindulgence. I'm sure most would be happy to keep their sexual activity within the family."
"Happier than now, I'd bet," Bain said. "That way, they'd get the variety the virus makes you want, without having to go outside the family—which would be a major reduction in adultery all by itself."
"That sounds reasonable," the Princess said. "Your argument about the virus being a new life form is one I can't refute either, so go on. We recognize the Satyr Plague as God's gift; then what?"