St. Thomas, August 2571-February 2572
During the first week after Team Azrael reported to Middletown, Cortin got her men assigned quarters and the personal vehicles they were authorized, then made arrangements for them to have unlimited access to the Elysian Gardens, the city's most exclusive—and equally expensive—joy-house. The proprietor was reluctant—her ladies were accustomed to New Pennsylvania's nobles and gentry, not common troopers—until Cortin, with considerable hidden amusement, paid generously in advance, and promised bonuses if her men were pleased.
She also offered the Base Commander her services as priest and Inquisitor. He preferred to retain the base's civilian chaplain, but did accept her other offer, promising her all the work she could want. With that done, Cortin discovered that time went by very slowly when you were part of a group that had to conceal its mission, yet remain independent and assert special privileges.
Her work helped ease the boredom for her, and she took advantage of some of her spare time to ease more by practicing her driving. She'd never been in a car before her trip to the Academy, hadn't driven one until Strike Force training. It had been frightening at first, but she'd come to like it, and Odeon encouraged her. Since she no longer had the consolations of sex, he said, she really ought to make full use of what she could enjoy—and after all, a tank of gasoline wasn't much more expensive than an evening at the Elysian Gardens.
She was pleased when, midway through the second week, Degas asked to join her on one of her after-work drives. She'd known from their first meeting that something was bothering him; it was about time he got whatever it was out of his system. He was silent as she drove them through town and past the Ducal Palace, but when they got to open country, he asked her to pull over. She did so as soon as she found a shady spot, and turned to him. "What is it, Tony?"
Silently, slowly, he drew his pistol and held it to her, butt-first. "You may want to use this."
Cortin accepted it, stunned. "In God's Most Holy Name, Tony! Why?"
"Something I've kept from everyone except the priest I confessed to." Haunted eyes looked at her from that beautiful face. "I—Captain, for almost a year I was a Brother of Freedom."
Cortin's finger tightened reflexively on the trigger, but somehow she managed not to fire. "Why, Lieutenant?" she asked coldly. "And why tell me, now?"
"My confessor said that when I found the person I really wanted to follow, I'd have to tell, and accept her judgement."