Beads of cold sweat ran down Susan Wienczorkowski's neck as she carefully
navigated the long dark and empty warehouse corridor.  Clad in lightweight body
armor, the newest addition to the Metropolis  Special Crimes Unit looked like one
of the troopers from Star Wars.  Close behind her followed a similarly clad
associate. "Wienczorkowski ...west corridor clear." she said into her helmet's
comlink. With a nod she motioned for her partner, Sergeant Mike Robinson to cover
her as she dashed across the open space.  The tall black man swung his high
powered rifle left to right as Wienczorkowski surged forward until she flattened
against the far wall. An anonymous tip had revealed one of the last Intergang
hideaways.  The statement that they were about to bolt from their hideaway had
sent the strike force racing to Suicide Slums to intercept them before they did.
If they could take down this last group, it would complete the war against
Intergang that started a year before when Clark Kent of the Daily Planet had
written an series of inside articles that had blown the lid off the organization.
Those and Superman's destruction of most of their heavy equipment in earlier
raids had whittled the once feared organization down to this last remnant. "I
wish Superman were here with us." Sergeant Robinson whispered to his partner as
he moved up alongside her.  "Intergang has too much of a track record of coming
up with unexpected surprises." The lower ranked officer nodded her agreement. 
Before leaving headquarters, a call had gone out for Superman on the radio band
they always used, but no response had come.  A hero with responsibilities the
world over, and sometimes even beyond that, the Metropolis Police Force couldn't
always depend on his being there. "Looks like it's up to us."  she added as she
took a step forward. Although a newcomer to the SCU, Susan Wienczorkowski had
almost ten years of training to fall back on.  Eight in the United States Army
and the last two on the Metropolis Police Force. Normally, an officer had to be
on the force at least five years before even applying for the crack unit, but in
Susan's case they were more than happy to make an exception.  She was that good.
Prior to leaving the Army, Susan was well on her way to becoming the first female
member of Delta Force - the Army's elite counter-terrorist unit. It had all come
down to one final test when she'd removed her application and resigned instead. A
rumor of lesbianism had surfaced and rather than deny it or hide behind the
military's rather ridiculous "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Susan had simply
said it was true and let the chips fall where they may. It was Inspector Maggie
Sawyer herself, the commander of the SCU that had recruited her for the squad. 
The fact that Maggie, an open lesbian, was  stretching the rules for another
lesbian led a lot of ignorant people to wonder if the SCU was all she'd recruited
her for.  Of course no one who actually knew either woman would ever think such a
thing. With a skill honed though long hours of practice, Susan duplicated Jerry
Robinson's actions of a few moments before as they cleared the last corridor. 
Just ahead of them was an open courtyard. Suddenly, the sound of gunfire erupted
from their comlinks, followed by a series of loud, hurried commands.  The echoes
in the courtyard made it hard to tell from which direction the automatic weapons
fire was coming from. Susan looked at Mike Robinson for instructions and he just
shook his hand. Whoever was involved in the firefight would call for help if they
needed it. Meanwhile, their orders were to cut off any exit from the building. In
a flash of motion, two dark suited figured bolted from another doorway and out
into the courtyard.  Full spead they heading for the kid's playground beyond. 
Instantly, Robinson and Wienczorkowski took off after them. "Police Officers!" 
Robinson yelled at the top of his lungs.  "Drop your weapons!" As one, the two
men turned and aimed two rifles the like of which neither officer had ever seen.
With Intergang, there was no second warning.  Both of the SCU members opened
fire, dropping them where they stood.  It was all over in seconds. In their
comlinks they could already hear the graveled voice of "Terrible Dan" Turpin
yelling out the all clear.  The battle was already over. Securing the weapons of
the two gang members, Robinson turned to say something but was cut off by a loud
crack that ripped though the air. His body arched backward, bullet holes stitched
across his chest.  Training took over as Susan ignored her partner, praying at
the same time that this body armor was all it was supposed to me, and whirled in
the direction of the shots. "Raise that weapons and you're dead!"  the woman
standing twenty feet across the yard said as she aimed the small machine pistol
right at Officer Wienczorkowski's head.  "Actually, you're dead anyway."  she
laughingly added as she applied pressure to the trigger. In that split second, a
half dozen options raced through Susan's minds.  They all ended the same way,
with her bloodied corpse laying next to her partner. With resignation she closed
her eyes and hoped the end would be instantaneous.   The short deafening sound as
the machine pistol's magazine emptied filled the air as the Intergang member sent
a stream of copper jacketed death through the air. A second passed, then two and
Susan opened her eyes, amazed to still be alive.  The sight in front of her
caused them to open even wider.

The figure that now stood between her and the Intergang Assassin stood 5'7" and
weighed about 120 lbs.  She had long straight blonde hair that ran down behind a
bright red cape.  A tight form fitting blue shirt topped a red skirt and matching
red boots. Situated across her rounded breasts was an irregular red and yellow
pentagon with a stylized "S" in it.

"Supergirl."  Susan mouthed wordlessly in relief as she saw the small mashed
slugs lying at the Krytonian's feet. "I suggest you drop the weapon and
surrender."  the costumed woman said in a quiet voice that  concealed the awesome
power behind it. "Fuck you, bitch!"  the Interganger yelled as she slammed a
second clip into her pistol and brought it up and pulled the trigger. Faster that
the eye could follow, Supergirl surged forward and disarmed the killer. She
grabbed the weapon and effortlessly crushed it in her bare hand.  Dropping the
now twisted and useless metal to the ground, she grabber the Interganger by her
blouse and lifted her off the ground. "That....was a mistake."  the blonde haired
girl said in a slow, powerful tone.

Whatever might have followed was interrupted by the appearance of the rest of the
SCU, led by Maggie Sawyer herself.  They fanned out and covered the yard.  Turpin
instantly moved to Susan who was now kneeling by Robinson's side and trying to
undo his body armor. "It's my fault, Inspector."   she said,  "I should've seen
her come up behind us." "No one expects you to see everything." Dan Turpin said
in a reassuring tone.  "It's just as much our fault for letting her get past us."
A low moan from the unconscious Sergeant brought a smile to Susan's face as she
realized that he was alive. "His chest armor took most of the impacts." Supergirl
said as appeared behind the two kneeling officers.  The only two bullets that hit
him seem to have done only superficial damage."  she added as she did a quick
x-ray scan. "Thank God."  Susan said as paramedics appeared from the direction of
the playground and immediately went to work on the fallen officer.

Susan stood and watched the paramedics until they gave her a thumbs up indicating
that Supergirl's prognosis was right on the money.  Then they loaded him onto a
stretcher for the quick trip to Metropolis General.  As the ambulance disappeared
in the distance, she wished she could've gone with him but duty required her to
be here.  It would be different if he were still in danger.  First she had to
take a second look at what had happened and how she could've prevented it.

As her body finally came down from her combat high, Susan had the time to take a
second, better look at the Girl of Steel who was engaged in conversation with
Inspectors Sawyer and Turpin. Age wise, she looked to be about 20 years old.  She
had blue eyes and was pretty in that all American girl way.  Only she wasn't the
girl next store, unless the girl next store came from another solar system.  Her
body had the physique of a moderately athletic young woman, not what you really
expected from someone who could bench press a diesel locomotive.

Supergirl finished her discussion with the senior officers and was about to leave
when Susan asked if she could talk to her for a moment. "Oh course."  she
cheerfully replied. "I just wanted to thank you for saving my life."  Susan said
as she realized that she was still wearing her helmet and visor and reached up to
take it off. "You don't have to thank me." Supergirl said as she looked into
Susan's dark green eyes.  "You and the other officers are the real heroes here. 
Body armor not withstanding, you're the ones risking your lives." "Be that as it
may, I still want to say it." Susan said as she ran her hand through her short
red hair, restoring a little of the body that the helmet had flattened out. "And
I was wondering if I could maybe buy you lunch or something in appreciation, I
mean you do eat , don't you?" "Yes, I do."  Supergirl answered with a smile. 
"But I'm afraid my schedule doesn't allow me too many luxuries like that.  I do
appreciate the offer though.  Now of you'll excuse me."

"Shit, that was stupid!"  Susan said to herself as she watched the blue and red
clad woman take to the sky.  "Asking to take her out to lunch.  I bet she thought
I was making a pass at her." The offer had been both genuine and made on such a
spur of the moment, Susan hadn't taken the time to considered the implications. 
Her self-incrimination might've been much less severe if she could've seen the
Girl of Steel pause in flight some thousand feet up and use her telescopic vision
to take a second longer look at the red-haired officer.

The afternoon passed quickly for Supergirl as over the next few hours she twice
assisted the Metropolis Fire Department, located a lost child in Centennial Park
and apprehended four members of the Police Departments most wanted list. All in
all, it hadn't been a bad day. "I guess I'll have something to show cousin Kal
when he gets back from his Justice League mission."  Supergirl thought as she
flew low over the city, her long hair blowing in the wind. "Another day of this,
then it's back to the west coast."

Coming in low over the East River Bridge, Supergirl came to a landing on the
north tower.  Far below her, the evening rush hour was just beginning as the
bridge filled with an endless stream of cars heading out of the city.  Sitting on
the edge, her long slender legs dangling in the air, Supergirl envied the normal
people as they began the journey home.  At least they had someone to go home to.
Where did she have to go?  At best, she had the keys to her cousin's apartment if
she wanted a place to sleep. Glancing upward, she could see the first stars
appearing in the early evening sky.  It would be a few hours before it was dark
enought for the rest of the city to see them. The stars were beautiful, but they
weren't the stars of home.  Those stars existed only in memory.  If she closed
her eyes and concentrated, she could still see them filling the night sky of her
youth.

****************************************** "I love you, Kara."  Jan-La whispered
to the young blonde girl as he kissed her once more. "I love you too, Jan."  Kara
said as she returned the kiss." "Then why wait?"  the young 16 year old asked.
"Who knows what tomorrow will bring?" Their conversation was a familiar one.  One
which young men and woman had been having since the dawn of civilization.  Theyıd
reached the point in their lives where the lust and impatience of youth battled
with the responsibilities of impending adulthood. "My day of ascension is only
two months away.  After that weıll be adults."  Kara stated. "Canıt you wait
until then?" "Two months can be a lifetime."  Jan said. "We should live every day
as if itıs our last." he insisted. When her mother was her age, Kara thought,
Janıs words would just be the same argument that men had always used. But for her
generation, they held a far different meaning.  They were the Children of the
Apocalypse - the generation born after the end of the world.  Every day could be
their last. Itıd been over ten years since that cataclysmic night that the planet
Krypton had died in thermonuclear fury.  The core of the planet had always been
unstable and a population that prided itself on itıs intelligence had turned itıs
back on the words of warning.  One of the most prominent had been that of Jor-El.
 He had been Karaıs uncle. One of the rising young stars of the Science Council,
he had tried to rally people to a space ark project to save at least some of the
populous.  But space flight had never been a popular endeavor on Krypton. The
official space program had been all but abandoned after a missile test had gone
so totally wrong and destroyed the small moon Wegthor. Wegthor had been the site
of an ambitious attempt to colonize one of  Krypton's natural satellites, and
1500 astronauts had died with it. Because of this, too few believed Jor-El and
billions had met the same fate as those 1500. Argo City, Karaıs home, had been
the prototype for the Wegthor Colony.  A planet bound space station, it had
continued as the most advanced research and development center on the planet.
Even the air that filled their lungs was filtered and reprocessed under a clear
plasti-steel dome that covered the small community.  One of the members of the
Board of Directors of Argo City was Jor-Elıs younger brother, Zor-El.  Convinced
that his brother was right, Zor had kept up to date on his brotherıs star drive
research and hoped to incorporate those designs into Argo City itself. Time had
run out however and on a warm summerıs night - Krypton and the dreams of nine
billion souls had died.  In a hundred billion to one accident of fate, the land
that Argo City had been built on had been blasted whole into space.  A third of
the population had been killed during that rapid launch into the void, but more
importantly, the city had survived relatively intact. A space station with no
means of propulsion, Argo City became a lifeboat for the last of the Kryptonian
race.  Actually, the last save one.  The automatic systems in Zor-Elıs lab had
recorded the launch of one of Jor-Elıs prototype starcraft an hour before the
planetıs last gasp.  Zor remembered his older brother telling him that if it came
down to the end, he would send his infant son into space on the last test ship. 
Better a chance at life than certain death. Examining the flight path which his
own computers had recorded as part of their link with his brotherıs, Zor wished
his nephew godspeed. Eventually, life settled down to the closest they would ever
come to normal.  In the shielded sky, the glow of the radioactive rubble that was
once their homeworld joined the gigantic red star to give the night an eternal
twilight glow.  Life went forward, and Zor-El continued his brother's experiments
on the star-drive. Work was agonizingly slow for he lacked the data on Jor-El's
final breakthrough, but one had to have a dream to keep yourself going.  Then, a
year and a half into their odyssey, Zor-El's wife Allura presented him with
another reason for living - a daughter.

"Kara?"  Jan asked as he looked into her blue eyes. Kara pulled back from the
young man she loved.  She reached up to the zipper of her green jumpsuit and
pulled it all the way down, exposing her firm young breasts - the envy of many of
her friends.  Jan buried his face between her mounds and covered them with
kisses. The rest of the jumpsuit followed and Jan ran his hands up and down the
length of her body. Again and again he returned to the bright pink nipples that
capped each breast, tickling each with his tongue.  From her playful encounters
with a few of her girlfriends, Kara knew how enjoyable that particular action
could be. "One of us is overdressed."  Kara noted as she shifted on the carpeted
floor. Jan stood up for a moment and divested himself of his own red jumpsuit. 
Kara watched in fascinated as his hard cock popped into view, the first she'd
ever seen outside of a medical textbook. Hesitantly, the young woman reached out
and ran her fingers across it, bringing a loud sigh from his lips. "Rao, that
feels nice."  Jan gasped. She cupped his balls with her other hand and rubbed up
and down.  Jan leaned back and closed his eyes, enjoying the sensation.  She'd
come this far, she told herself, she wasn't going to turn back now. The naked
blonde bent over and took his erection into her mouth as she had seen in one of
the underground texts her friends had circulated.  The effect on Jan was
immediate and pronounced.  A sudden pressure swelled up from his balls and he
thought he was about to explode at her touch. Thankfully he regained enough
control  as to not embarrass himself. "Mmmm."  Kara murmured as her lips slid up
and down her lovers cock.  She was surprised she liked the feel of it in her
mouth.  Listening to her friend Zara describe the sensation she thought she would
hate it. Up and down she went, playing with his balls at the same time.  Jan had
shifted his position enough to run his fingers across the small blonde bush
between her legs.  With a practiced skill that made Kara wondered where he
acquired it, Jan found her stubby clit and began to stroke it in time with the
movement of her head. As he continued to rub her sexual center, Jan slid two
fingers inside of her, continuing the rhythm he'd established.  Letting his hard
cock slip from her mouth, Kara let out a series of quiet moans that were music to
Jan's ears. Now it was Kara's turn to lean back and enjoy the attention.  By this
time Jan had three fingers inside of her and had replaced the finger on her nub
with his tongue.  Round and round he swirled, causing tiny sparks to shoot
through Kara. Then he extended his radius and began to slide his tongue up and
down the length of her now wet pussy. "That is so nice."  Kara said, meaning
every word of it.  Neither her own hand or Zara's attempts during sex play had
been as enjoyable. "Jan, I want you inside me."  Kara said passionately. "I want
to love you." Jan paused and looked up into her blue eyes. Up until this point,
everything they'd done could be explained away as youthful liberties.  Now that
they were there, he had the slightest bit of hesitation. "Are you sure?"  he
asked. "Yes, more than I've ever been sure of anything." Jan moved up and kissed
her softly, easing Kara down to the floor as he did.  He parted her legs with his
free hand and pressed his cock against her moist hole. Kara helped guide him into
her, not that he needed it.  She let out a small gasp as she felt his cockhead
push aside the outer walls of her pussy. Jan echoed the soft moans as he felt
those walls wrap around his hard flesh.  It was such a tight fit that he was
almost hesitant to push forward, afraid that he would hurt her. "I'm not afraid."
 Kara said as she kissed his ear. She lifted her ass off the floor as he pushed
and seemed to pull him even deeper.   Kara felt a sudden pressure against her
maidenhood and in a flash of pain surrendered her childhood forever. The barrier
gone, Jan began to slide in and out of her, sending oscillating waves of pleasure
radiating outward from her sexual core. Waves that became more frequent and
intensive with each additional thrust. It wasn't long before the two were matched
in a perfect rhythm.  Each thrust being met by that of the other. Tiny droplets
of sweat covered the warm flesh of each of them as they lost themselves more and
more in their sexual joining.  Eventually, they weren't even aware of the rapid
beating of their hearts or the short shallow breaths that accompanied it. The
room that surrounded them quickly became a blur, no longer part of their
existence.  For a brief moment in time, they had  transcended their place in
reality.  They were among the stars, constellations in the heavens. A sudden fear
filled Kara's heart.  Not the fear that childhood was gone, but a sudden
terrifying premonition that she'd never know this moment again.  That somehow,
her very reality was about to forever change. Wrapping her legs around him, she
pulled him deeper inside her, afraid to let him go. Every stroke of his body was
met with an even more frenzied thrust of her own.  She couldn't catch her breath,
couldn't even tell if her heart was still beating.  Yet still she drove on and
on.  If this was to be the last moment of her life, she wanted it to be the
moment that she should've had so long ago. Kara wasn't even aware that she had
screamed, only that her body was quaking with abandon and her mind was filled
with a longing she's never known. Past and present collided with an uncertain
future, ripping her body apart from deep within.  It was like she was floating,
every nerve of her body alive with euphoric joy.  As if every day of her brief
life up to now were but a prelude to this one perfect moment.

It took a few moments for the two lovers to refocus their attentions to the world
around them. When they finally did, they  became abruptly aware of the sirens
piercing the night air.  Kara jumped up and looked out the window to see people
running in the streets and lights coming on all over the city. "Something's
happened!"  she exclaimed as she grabbed her coveralls off the floor and quickly
put them on. "Kara....I ....I love you."  Jan said as he dressed as well. "I love
you too, Jan."  she responded as she gave him a quick kiss.  "I have to get home,
let my father know I'm OK." "I understand."  Jan said as he gave her a second
kiss.  "Meet me tomorrow morning?"  he asked. "Of course!"  she said as she ran
out the door. As Kara raced through the streets across the five blocks to her
parent's home, she saw a look of fear and horror on every face she passed.  The
peaceful acceptance of life among the void had been suddenly torn asunder.

"Father!"  Kara had called as she ran into their quarters. "Kara, thank Rao
you're home."  Zor-El said, a look of pain on his face that Kara hadn't seen
since the night her mother had died. "What's happened?"  she asked. "Our time has
run out, my child."  he said with a tone of defeat.  "Krypton's long shadow has
caught up to us." It took her father a few minutes to explain that Krypton's
destruction had sent hundreds of thousands of asteroid fragments across the solar
system.  It was on one such fragment that Argo City rested.  What had happened
was that the city's long range sensors had discovered a shower of such fragments
on a collision course with the city. Projected impact was in less than ten hours.
"What can we do?"  Kara asked as the enormity of it all sank in. "There's nothing
we can do." the city's leading scientist said in resignation.  "I can't change
the laws of matter and motion." "The star drive."  Kara said, trying to keep hope
alive in her heart. "It's nowhere near ready." her father said. "I've only run
trials with the....." A light of inspiration suddenly filled his eyes. A chance
to snatch life from death as his brother had done years before. "The prototype,
the drive is already installed on the test ship."  he exclaimed.  "It can carry
one passenger ... you Kara." "No, I won't leave."  Kara protested. "There's no
time to argue."  Zor-El said in a final tone.  "It'll have to launch in the next
three hours, before the smaller fragments enter Argo's orbital sphere.  They're
too small to damage the city but any one of them could be disastrous to the
starcraft." Kara's mind began to spin, too much was happening too fast.  To many
changes to her life. She needed time to sort it all out - time she didn't have.
Before she knew it, her father had finished programming the navigational
computers on the prototype with the flight plan he'd recorded so many years
before.  With it, his daughter would follow Jor-El's son to Earth. "Ready."  he
announced.  "We should launch as soon as we can. I'd like to think better of our
fellows, but the end will do strange things to people." "Father, I...." "I love
you too."  Zor-El said, an eerie calm passing across his face. "And your mother
loved you so much.  May her spirit guide you to your new home." Kara stepped into
the ship, unable to think that all she knew was fading with each passing second. 
Images flashed across her eyes....friends who would never see the morning dawn. 
Jil, Zara,,, Jan......" "Oh Jan, I don't want to leave you."  she said to herself
as tears ran down her face.  "Father, I can't...." The words were never finished
as Zor-El took a deep breath and hit the launch button.  Kara's tears were
reflected in his own eyes. "Noooo!"  Kara screamed as she hurdled up and into the
endless night.

******************************************

"Damn,  I promised I was going to stop doing that."  Supergirl said to herself as
she opened her eyes and looked into the setting golden orb.  "I can't keep living
in the past." She pushed herself off the stone edge and dropped a hundred feet
before she arched her flight path and glided over the mile long string of
automobiles. "Might as well give them something to tell the wife and kids about
when they get home tonight."  Supergirl said to herself as she waved to a few of
the motorists. For a moment, the waves and cheers she got back made her feel a
little better.  At least some people appreciated the difference she tried to
make. "What I need is to wind down a little."  she said to herself  "To take the
cape off for a while." With that in mind, she flew high into the sky in search of
distraction.

"Phone call for you Wienczorkowski." Officer Murphy called from across the room. 
"Line four." Susan Wienczorkowski sighed as she reached for the receiver.  She
was never going to get out of here tonight.  After spending two hours at the
shooting scene with an incident team, she'd gone to the hospital to check on
Robinson. He was still under anesthesia from the surgery when she was there, but
the doctors assured her that they'd gotten out both bullets clean and he was
expected to make a good recovery.  She'd spent a few minutes with his wife who
also wouldn't accept her statement that it was all her fault.  Mrs. Robinson had
been a cop's wife far too long and had already been told exactly what happened by
Dan Turpin. Back at the station house waited the usual mountain of paperwork, the
last of which she'd only just finished.  Doubtless this was some clerk upstairs
calling who would take a certain perverse pleasure in telling her she'd filled
out a report wrong and would have to resubmit it in triplicate before heading
home. "Officer Wienczorkowski." she said in a tired voice as she put the phone to
her ear. "What can I do for you?" "This is Supergirl."  said a soft voice over
the receiver.  "I was wondering if that dinner offer still stands." "Yeah, right,
and I'm Sharon Stone."  the redhead replied.  "Who put you up to this?...Myers,
Zukowski.... I know, Martinez, this is her kind of joke." "This isn't a joke." 
the voice on the other end of the phone said reassuringly. "Look, its been a real
long day and I'm tired."  Susan replied. "If this is really you then you won't
mind proving it." "All right, wait a second....." said the voice. Leaning back in
her chair, Susan expected the phone line to go dead at that point, the joke gone
sour.  Instead she came back on the line. "Would it help convince you if I
pointed out that today your wearing red panties with a white trim."  she said.
"That was pretty evident to everyone in the woman's locker room when I changed
this afternoon."  Susan replied.  "I'm afraid you'll have to do better than
that." "Go to the window on the left side of the room and look across the
street."  the soft voice said. Surprised that there hadn't been another attempt
to describe some other object of her apparel, Susan put the phone down and walked
to the window.  She looked out across the street and almost fell back in
surprise.  Standing on the roof of the bank was a familiar red and blue figure
holding a cellular phone in her hand. Susan's first thought was that Martinez had
really gone the distance on this practical joke.  That bubble burst when she
realized that the woman in blue wasn't standing on the roof of the bank, she was
standing two feet to the right of it - in open air. "Oh shit!"  she exclaimed as
she practically raced back to her desk and grabbed the phone. "It's really you!" 
she blurted out.  "I'm sorry I thought someone had overheard that stupid
invitation  I'd made and was using it to play some sort of joke on me and....."
"Oh, then you really didn't mean the invitation."  Supergirl said, her voice
reflecting just a slight hint of disappointment. "No!....I mean yes, of course I
did."  Susan stammered. "Well then what time would be good for you?"  Supergirl
asked. Susan looked at her watch.  Twenty minutes to get home, half hour...no,
forty-five minutes  to shower and change clothes.  That'd put it about
seven-thirty. "Seven-thirty?"  she suggested. "Why don't we make it eight, just
to be sure."  Supergirl replied. "Fine, its a date."  Susan said without
thinking. "Oh, and Susan....the name's Kara." Supergirl concluded. "Kara, that's
a beautiful name." Susan said as they broke the connection. A few seconds after
she'd replaced the phone on it's cradle, she realized what she'd said and felt a
little silly.  After all, it was just a friendly dinner, why had she called it a
date. Yet at the same time, Supergirl hadn't corrected or objected to her
characterization either. Or was she just reading too much into it all.  Either
way, she'd better get moving.