"I am fully familiar with the feeling," Illyanov agreed. "There are few things worse than enforced idleness, especially in such surroundings." He raised a hand, smiling at her. "Not that I call your studying idleness, not at all—I am, in fact, impressed by your industry—but from your Academy and other records, I am sure you are impatient to begin practical application of your theoretical work."
"I certainly am." She wasn't all that eager to practice the first two stages, though, especially in the beginning when they were on Academy cadets, with the additional purpose of training them to resist interrogation. Her interest was in third-stage, with Brothers of Freedom as her subjects—but she supposed it was all necessary, to achieve her real end. "How soon can we start?"
"Such eagerness!" Illyanov laughed. "Nor are you the only one; I have been relieved of my classes and given orders to expedite your training, once you were out of the hospital. We are, if you choose, to concentrate on Stage Three—and the one who gave me those orders said it was highly likely you would so choose."
"He was right." Cortin thought back to the debriefing and that mysterious Lieutenant, certain he was somehow involved—but that the classified assignment probably was too, so it would be wiser not to ask about either his identity or his involvement. She'd thank him for it later, if she could do so without breaking security. For now, she smiled at Illyanov. "So, when do we start?"
"I do love an enthusiastic student … shortly after we finish here, if you are that impatient. Any Brothers of Freedom captured in this area—except, for now, those probably having critical or time-sensitive information—will either be sent here or held where they were captured until you decide whether to question them yourself or turn them over to another Inquisitor." He gave her a raised-eyebrow smile. "I confess to being astonished at that, Captain. I have heard of prisoners being reserved for a particularly skilled Inquisitor, yes, but never for a student. Even one as promising as yourself."
Odeon whistled. "Neither have I, and I'd thought I'd heard just about everything." He'd known for a long time that Joan Cortin was something special, but Illyanov was right—this was unprecedented. "Joanie, any ideas?"
"Not exactly, though I can't help connecting this with the Inquisitor on the team that debriefed me. I'm positive he's more than a simple Lieutenant, and—" she chuckled ruefully, "from what I've learned since, I'm sure he picked up more from me than I told him verbally. Or wanted to tell him, for that matter."
"And what did this more-than-Lieutenant look like?" Illyanov asked, suddenly attentive.
"A bit over 180 centis, slender build, medium-brown hair receding slightly above the temples, green eyes, classical features that looked like he laughs a lot—" She broke off, seeing recognition in the others' faces. "You've both met him, then."
They nodded. "The … officer I spoke to at Personnel," Odeon said.