Chapter 22

After the other staff officers had filed out, the Major sat motionless and watched as the Colonel's feet finally reached the desktop after their usual slow and ponderous journey. "So, Major, what do you make of this latest turn of events on the smaller landmass?"

"Two things come to my mind immediately, Colonel. One, the Velorian bitch seems to have overcome the bad publicity from her previous public appearance. Two, I believe that we have found Lieutenant Sirren."

"Yes, unfortunately. I do not mean that about having found the Lieutenant. I had feared that we had lost her during that so-called 'Battle of the Rio Grande'. I am relieved to discover that we had not."

"As I also, Colonel. We have already lost too many good officers to that Velorian." Starting with Meelek, she thought to herself, though she knew better than to voice that thought to her commanding officer. Especially to her commanding officer.

"However, I still must commend you, Major. That publicity campaign you orchestrated to embarrass the so-called 'Superbimbo' worked much better than I had dared to expect. I keep misjudging the power the media wields among the Terrans, since the government does not control the media. Sometimes it seems as if the Terran media controls the government instead. Nonetheless, it kept her out of our affairs, and even helped to recruit even more Terrans for our efforts."

Remaining seated, she leaned forward as she bowed slightly in acknowledgement of the praise. However, that still did not make up for the pain she still felt at the loss of Meelek, though again she would not voice that thought. "Thank you, Colonel. I truly appreciate the compliment. But I wish we could have kept her out of action even longer. She may yet interfere with our operations in Europe."

"You did far better than I expected, Major. And she has shown no signs of interfering in Europe. The ridiculously fragmented Terran governments may yet prevent her from interfering anywhere on the planet outside of her country. But what do you make of her behavior this time? The first time, she continued to attack our drop shuttle instead of trying to save that Terran aircraft. The second time, she actively caused the deaths of over twenty Terrans. This time, when she appeared to be getting the advantage on Sirren, she broke off to rescue the Terrans."

"The second time was under the influence of Orgone, Colonel, thus we cannot rely on the datum. The other two incidents almost do not seem to be of the same Velorian. Yet all of our sources do indicate that all three of the incidents involved the same person. She admitted as much. The person the Terran media refer to as the 'Blonde Supergirl', or simply 'Supergirl' as they used to before the Orgone incident."

"Do you believe that her attitudes have changed, perhaps because of the Terran media, Major? Or was the first time an aberration, and now she is acting as a true Velorian Planetary Protector should?"

"I am at a loss, Colonel. This Velorian is definitely an unusual Planetary Protector."

"You are convinced now that she is truly a Planetary Protector, Major? As I seem to recall, you had your doubts the last time we discussed the matter."

"Yes, Colonel, I am now firmly convinced that she is a Protector. Her behavior certainly suggests it. The first time, she may have pursued the attack out of inexperience. But Velorians, and Protectors in particular, are very sensitive as to how they are regarded by the beings they Protect, especially when they are humanoid. After the Orgone incident, I would have been surprised if any Velorian had acted differently in the last incident. But this one showed absolutely no signs of indecision in rescuing the large passenger vehicle, the ones the Terrans call a bus. But I believe that a non-Protector would not have allowed that smaller vehicle to interfere with her attack on a Warrior Prime. And then, there was that Orgone incident."

"Go on, Major," he prompted as she paused.

"Well, Colonel, do you know of any non-Protector killing two Warriors Prime with her bare hands simultaneously? Or with her bare body, as in this case? Even with the strength increase that usually accompanies the arousal from the Orgone, I do not believe that many Protectors could have done such a feat."

"Our Warriors Prime were also under the influence of the Orgone, Major. Certainly that would affect their fighting abilities."

"Certainly, Colonel. But they were males." She realized that her statement could be taken in the wrong way. She hurriedly continued on. "By that, I mean that while their fighting abilities would decline, as would their desire to fight, the Orgone would also toughen their bodies." She always preferred to infuse herself slightly with Orgone before allowing a man to suckle her breasts, it allowed her to be rougher with them than otherwise. "Yet, the Velorian seemed to have no trouble crushing their bodies."

"I see. I had not considered that aspect of it before, Major."

Of course not. What man would? They all liked to think that they could handle a woman without any artificial aids. Especially Arion Prime men. She decided that she needed to change the subject. "What about Lieutenant Sirren, Colonel? Should I send a team down to contact her? Perhaps even to retrieve her and reassign her elsewhere?"

"Contact, yes. Retrieval, no. At least not yet, Major. She is doing a commendable job down there, right where she is, operating on her own. She definitely should be told that. But she does not need to be told much else. She will continue to help keep the Terrans, and the Velorian, off balance. But if she does not know of our other plans, then she can not compromise them. Her new assignment can be right where she is now, continuing to do what she is already doing."

"But she may interfere, strictly inadvertently, of course, through her ignorance of our operational plans, Colonel."

"Do we have any operations planned in that area in the near future, Major?"

Glancing down, she punched a few keys on her palmtop device. She realized once again that despite his apparent lack of knowledge about Terran behavior, he did know how to conduct a military campaign. She looked up at him. "No, Colonel, we do not. We have moved everything since we lost that groundside base. As you well knew." She favored him with one of her rare smiles.

He acknowledged her smile with one of his own. "Then we shall let her be. But we should provide her with the ability to contact us directly, should the need ever arise. And naturally, so that we can contact her, if that need should ever arise."

"Certainly, Colonel."

"And give her what supplies she needs, within reason. But no Orgone generators. I do not believe that Orgone is an effective weapon against this particular Velorian."

"Neither do I, Colonel. Not after we had seen its effects." She saw that he was raising his feet off of the desktop, preparatory to bringing them back down to the floor, signaling the end of the discussion. She rose to her feet. "Anything else, sir?"

"Yes, Major, one more thing. When you send that team down to contact Lieutenant Sirren, make sure that they take along a few extra things for her. I believe that Senior Lieutenant Sirren has earned the right to wear her campaign cape, do you concur?"

She caught the reference to rank. "Absolutely, Colonel. She has most definitely earned the right to wear her campaign cape, and to wear it proudly. Not many Warriors Prime can boast of having survived single combat with a Velorian Planetary Protector. She most certainly has earned her campaign cape, and her promotion." Yes, Lieutenant Sirren, no make that Senior Lieutenant Sirren, had acquitted herself quite well. She hadn't exactly defeated the Velorian, but the Velorian hadn't exactly defeated her either.

The Colonel saw the brightest and widest smile he had ever seen on the face of the beautiful Ice Queen. It made her that much more beautiful, that much more desirable. After she saluted and turned, he watched her back as she walked out of his office. He continued to look at the door long after it had closed and taken her from his view.

Finally, Linda and Mark had set a date for their wedding.

We discussed the other half of our wedding present, to go with the half I had already given them by enhancing Linda. We had already decided that Mom should have the honors. Since the enhancement was apparently intended to make the enhancee a suitable partner for the enhancer, my enhancement of Mark would probably be a little too much for Linda to handle. After all, my own darling husband was almost too much for Mom to handle. As if any man could ever be too much for Mom to handle.

"Since I'm going to be keeping your fiancé from you, do you want to borrow my husband to keep you company?" Mom asked Linda.

"Ooh, that's an intriguing thought. But no, thanks, Joan. I think that I want my first experience with an enhanced man to be with Mark. But I really do appreciate the offer."

"Linda, you're an incurable romantic," I chided her.

"That's what you think, Julie. And to prove it, remember that I said I wanted my first enhanced man to be Mark. Can I borrow Mike and Rob for the night?"

I had to laugh. I knew about their previous fling. I wasn't upset about that; I had been with Linda's fiancé at the time, after all. "Sure, if they don't mind." They didn't. They seemed almost too eager. I made a mental note to myself to give them a reminder of what I could still do sometime, and soon, before they completely forgot all about me.

Since Mom was going to be busy with Mark, I took the opportunity to claim her husband for the night; it had been a while since I've spent a night with that big former jock. Then Karen trumped me by claiming my own darling husband for the night. I felt a brief pang of regret at leaving my husband with another woman so soon after our reconciliation, but neither of the men raised any serious objections. After all, it wasn't anything that we hadn't done before in the past. And all of us had certainly enjoyed it on those occasions.

The day before the wedding Linda introduced us to her brother. Leonard was in the Air Force, currently stationed in Japan, but had managed to get some leave to attend his older sister's wedding. He had been a cadet at the Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs when Supergirl had made her debut in Colorado. Linda had told me about some of his thoughts about her at the time, especially about the certain combinations of the 'super' and 'girl' parts. The same kinds of things that Danny had told me about.

Looking at the young tall handsome blond officer in the Air Force whites, I could clearly see the family resemblance. I thought that I just might have to show him personally just how the 'super' and 'girl' parts of this particular supergirl went together, as I had done with his older sister earlier. Though of course not quite in the same way. No, not quite.

Since their parents couldn't attend, Leonard would be giving his sister away; he looked fantastic in his dress blues. Ted came up from Texas to serve as his old buddy's best man. Karen was one of the flower girls. I was the matron of honor. Everyone danced with everyone else at the reception.

I thought back to my own honeymoon, when I had enhanced my darling husband. Oh, what fun those weeks had been! How different it had been from everything that had gone on before. But then I thought about the scientist that Linda was. "You know, I kinda feel sorry for Mark," I said to Mom as we watched the limo pull out of the parking lot, carrying the newlyweds bound for their honeymoon.

"Sorry? Why? I would think that Mark would be very happy."

"Linda's probably going to be spending most of the night poking and prodding him, measuring the effects of the enhancement. That's what she did to herself after I enhanced her. And considering that Mark's been enhanced by the only person to have been enhanced by two Velorians, she's really going to be testing him."

"Oh, no, she won't. Not this time. Well, she'll be testing him, but I made sure that she knew to let him do the poking. After all, that's the whole point of the enhancement, isn't it?" She winked at me. "She can carry out all the experiments she wants once they're back. I reminded her that there's only one proper way to measure a man on his honeymoon."

I had jokingly suggested a cruise through the Aleutians for a honeymoon. He didn't think that the suggestion was very funny, remembering the last time that he was up there with a young blonde woman. To be honest, it hadn't exactly been a pleasure cruise for me, either. But that had been where we had found Karen, and there certainly had been pleasurable aspects of that particular discovery, as both Mark and I knew very well from our personal experiences.

Instead, they were going the other way, to the Cayman Islands for two weeks, where Mark had promised to teach Linda all about scuba diving. Though I was pretty sure that the ocean wasn't going to be the only thing that they would be diving into. In fact, knowing Linda, I suspected that the diving would probably be one of Mark's least strenuous activities while they were there. I also resolved that at the first hint of anything that even resembled an Arion in the Cayman Islands I would be there.

The morning after the wedding George had to leave on a business trip with his dad. I invited Leonard to have lunch with me. Linda had told him enough about me, he didn't refuse the invitation.

I had actually asked for, and gotten, George's permission to take Leonard out to lunch. And for whatever happened afterwards. He also had told me to have fun with Mike and Rob while he was gone on his business trip. As long as I kept it private and avoided TV cameras. And Arions with Orgone generators.

Leonard couldn't keep his eyes off of me during our little 'date'. I had dressed that way to make sure of that. The short skirt showed off most of my long shapely legs. The top was cut very low to show off plenty of the deep cleavage between my large full breasts, making sure that he didn't spend too much time looking at my legs. My long golden hair was tied back in its usual ponytail, though I didn't think that he would have noticed, let alone cared, if I was completely bald.

As I drove him back to Linda's apartment, I asked him what he had imagined doing during his Academy days if he had ever found himself alone with Supergirl. He looked a little embarrassed; I had to prod him a little, undoing the clip and shaking my hair free of its ponytail, before he finally answered. "It wasn't that much what I would do to her. I knew that I couldn't do a thing to her that she didn't allow me to do. It was mostly what she would do to me, things that I wouldn't want to stop her, even if I could. All the while hoping that she would be very gentle with me."

"Oh, but if I like a man, I let him do whatever he wants with me. And I'm always very gentle with him. I only leave a few bruises behind." I turned to smile at him. "But you haven't given me any details. Just what kinds of things would she do to you?"

Parking in the lot, he offered me his arm as we left the car and entered the apartment building. Unlocking the door, he opened and held it for me. As soon as he had closed the door behind us, I bent down and got an arm around his legs. Carrying him into the bedroom, I gently laid him down on top of the bed. It didn't take me long to get him undressed. He was already standing rigidly at attention. "Mmm, I love it when an officer salutes me like that," I whispered in his ear as I raised him up to his feet.

I then let him undress me. I let him explore my body with his hands and with his mouth as I posed and flexed for him. I let him feel the contrast between my hard biceps and my soft breasts. "So, is this what you'd imagined Supergirl would be like?" I whispered in his ear again.

"You're taller than I expected," he said. In the three-inch heels I had worn for our little 'date' we were just about evenly matched.

"Is that all?" I whispered, flexing my arms again.

"You're even more beautiful than I'd ever imagined," he whispered back. "And even more super." He tried, and failed, to put even the slightest dent in my arm.

"Did I tease you in your fantasies?" I asked, smiling at him, flexing even harder.

"A little," he answered, continuing to feel both my arm and my breast.

"Good." Grasping his hips I lifted him up into the air, ravishing his broad chest. I raised him up higher, feeling his throbbing manhood against my stomach. A little higher and it went between my breasts. Flexing my chest a little, I trapped him between my breasts. I stroked myself with him for a while, keeping enough pressure on him to keep him from climaxing until I was ready for him to climax.

"Ooh! But never like this," he managed to gasp out.

"You haven't seen anything yet." Spreading my legs, I lowered him between them, letting him suckle my breasts. I raised him back up a little higher. Adjusting my grip so that I had one hand on his ass and the other behind his shoulders, I lifted him up into me. I held his chest lightly against my soft breasts as I used his body as a big dildo. Tightening my inner muscles a bit, I kept him from climaxing until I was ready.

All through the afternoon, and well into the night, I recreated his fantasies about being with Supergirl, before I showed him what I could really do. By the time I finally let him sleep, totally exhausted and drained, he knew that the reality far exceeded even his wildest fantasies. In the morning, breakfast had to wait while I made sure that he wouldn't forget what he had learned the previous night.

After lunch I drove Leonard to the airport, where he caught his flight home, to visit his parents before reporting back to duty in Japan. I was sure that he would leave out a few details about his sister's wedding when he reported the details to their parents.

With George out of town on business, that left me with nobody. Nobody except for Mike and Rob, that is. Remembering how eager they had been to keep Linda company, I went to their condo. I flew in through the second-floor window that they usually kept unlocked for me. I walked in on them just as they were finishing dinner.

"You guys seemed awfully eager to keep Linda company that night," I said sternly, as I walked up to the table. They started to stand up.

"Julie, it wasn't anything to do with you, really," Rob said, a touch of fear in his voice.

I kept my face stern. "Sure it wasn't. You two just didn't want to have anything to do with 'Superbimbo', did you?"

"No, Julie, no," Rob said, with more than a touch of fear in his voice this time. Mike was already beyond words; he looked like he was about to shit in his pants. They were both backing away from me. "It's just that, well, Linda asked us, and...."

"And you were just being polite, right? Anything to avoid having to spend a night with 'Superbimbo', right?" They had their backs to the wall, and were really looking scared. I had to laugh, I just couldn't continue to tease them. When relief replaced the fear on their faces, I put my arms around their waists. Lifting them up, I carried them into the nearest bedroom. "Now, you're going to find out what it's really like to spend a night with 'Superbimbo'," I told them as I laid them down on the bed.

They hadn't even gotten their breaths back before I had their clothes off of their bodies. It wasn't much longer before I had my own clothes off and I was on top of them.

It had been a long time since I've had these two working over me. It had been a long time since I've worked over these two. I didn't even want to think about the last time I had worked over two men.

What these two lacked in physical strength, they more than made up for it in enthusiasm and in teamwork. And I remembered to be gentle with them, much more gentle than I had been with that other two.

I let them know that I really didn't mind that they had spent another night with Linda. But I also made sure that they didn't forget what it was like to spend a night with the one and only 'Superbimbo', I mean, with the one and only Supergirl.

Not that I kept it to one night. I was with them every night while my darling husband was gone. At least until Karen chided me about making them too tired to work.

So, in order to let Mike and Rob catch up on some needed sleep, I left them alone for a night. That didn't mean that I was alone that night. If Karen wanted her engineers to get some sleep, then she would have to find me a suitable replacement.

Karen was much more than suitable that night. The next day she was the one who was moving around a bit slower than usual, even after her coffee and orange juice.

Not that I was working at top efficiency myself that day, either.

Linda scooped Mark up in her arms and carried him into the bedroom, after she had let him carry her into the beachfront bungalow for the benefit of the driver. Kicking off her shoes, she carried him all the way into the bedroom and laid him down on the large bed. By the time she returned with their two suitcases, he was beginning to sit up on the bed.

"I'll help you unpack," he said, swinging over and getting a foot down on the floor.

Putting the suitcases down, she put a hand on his broad chest, stopping him from standing up. "No, you can stay put, right where you are," she told him. She pushed him back down to the bed with her hand, while her other hand began unbuckling his belt. "There's only one thing I need to unpack tonight."

She had felt the difference as she had held his hand during the flight, squeezing harder and harder. She had been able to squeeze it much harder than she had ever before. At least since Julie had enhanced her. All through the remainder of the flight, and through the limo ride to the bungalow, she had wanted to try using some of her other muscles to squeeze another part of his body.

It didn't take her long to get him undressed, effortlessly brushing his hands aside as he made a show of putting up a fight. After slipping his shorts off of him, she pushed him back down to the bed. She knew that Julie liked to do it to him with just her little finger, but she had to do it with her hand, putting the palm on his chest.

Standing up, she quickly slipped out of her dress. Just as he was rising up to a sitting position she forced him back down again, but this time with all of her body, her breasts pressing against his chest as her mouth found his. This time he didn't make a show of putting up a fight, wrapping his arms around her instead as he responded to her kiss.

Wrapping her own arms around him, she rolled over onto her back, rolling him on top of her. Tightening her embrace, she felt her breasts flatten against his muscular chest. Before, this had been as tight as she could hug him, or any man. But tonight she slowly tightened her embrace further, feeling her breasts flatten even more against his hard chest. A chest that was harder than it had ever been before. And his hug felt harder than before, his arms much harder than they had ever been before.

"Oh, thank you, Joan," she thought to herself. "And you too, Julie," she added, for if it hadn't been for Julie, then she wouldn't have been in the position of needing Joan's half of the matching wedding gift.

She continued to tighten her embrace. Soon she was holding him as tightly as she could, completely flattening her breasts between them, yet he showed no signs wanting her to stop. She knew that she was strong enough to crush an ordinary man against her chest, but Mark was no longer an ordinary man.

Mark almost wished that Linda would leave him alone. Almost.

It wasn't that he minded what she wanted him to do. No, not at all. But she wanted so much of it. Not that he really minded that, either. No, not at all. But he did have limits, even if those limits were well beyond what they had been before.

Two days in the Cayman Islands, and the only times he had been out of bed had been to eat and to go to the bathroom. Not that he really minded. No, not at all. But he hoped that he could get some diving in soon. He could use the rest.

After all, Linda had wanted to learn how to dive. It shouldn't take much time for her to be better at it than he was. With that amazing body of hers, she was a better athlete than any Terran athlete could ever hope to be. At any sport, she could easily best him. Not that he really minded. No, not at all.

And she was proving to him once again her athletic prowess. And once again, it was at their favorite 'sport', as she held him in her powerful arms, moving his body up and down between her shapely legs as she knelt on the bed.

At least we stopped getting reports about destroyed ATMs from Texas. Apparently the Prime wasn't too anxious to have me find her again. And I really wasn't too anxious to find her, either. My body ached every time I thought about that fight in Corpus Christi.

Linda was walking along the beach. It was well after midnight, but the eastern sky hadn't yet started to lighten with the dawn. The ocean was really beautiful, completely different from any scenery back in Colorado, and the sound of the waves lapping onto the sand was very soothing. Even then, this wasn't where she really wanted to be. But there were limits to what an enhancement could do for a man. She and Mark had spent quite a bit of the day in the water already. Then they had spent quite a bit of the evening and night in bed. Even though he was asleep, exhausted by the day's activities, she still wasn't quite ready to go to sleep.

She had just about decided to turn around and go back to the bungalow. It would be a temptation, but she would try not to wake up Mark. But she would be there when he awoke. He would probably appreciate a little something after he woke up. And maybe he might even appreciate a little something to eat after he woke up.

She was still about half a mile away from the bungalow when she felt a hand close on her arm, pulling her down towards the sand. By the time she had recovered from her surprise, she was down on her back and the man, for it was a man who had attacked her, had ripped off the top half of her bikini and was already working on the bottom half.

Remembering that there was nothing he could do to her that she didn't allow him to, she decided to go along for a while to see just what the man would do. He was a big man, though not quite as big as Mark, wearing just a pair of denim cut-offs. She saw the muscles on his body, though there was a layer of fat on top, beginning to accumulate mostly around his midsection.

She pretended to put up a feeble struggle as he ripped off the bottom half of her bikini, dropped his shorts, and spread her legs. Kneeling between them, he tried to enter. Tightening her inner muscles, she was pleased to discover that he couldn't enter her. With no visible signs of struggling, she was preventing her own rape.

She was looking at his face when she felt a sharp tingling sensation on her breasts. She then felt him entering her to his full length. She realized, too late, that he must have slapped her breasts. In her surprise she had momentarily relaxed her inner muscles, allowing him to penetrate.

Still, the tingling sensation on her breasts felt good. Almost as good as when Mark hit her there. It also felt good to have a man inside her, even if he wasn't as big and hard as Mark was. Still, this man was trying to rape her. Keeping her inner muscles relaxed, she reached out with her left hand, putting it on his lower stomach. She lifted him off of her, and out of her. At the same time, her right arm went around his chest, pulling his upper body down to hers. Not too hard, she stopped squeezing when she felt her breasts start to flatten against his chest.

She enjoyed seeing the look on his face, as he tried to push himself away from her and failed. She enjoyed it even more when she saw that he realized that she was holding him with just one arm, her other hand still on his lower stomach. Without taking her eyes off of his face, she freed her left hand and used it to brush the hair out of her face.

The pressure against her breasts felt good as she held him to her. Figuring that Mark would still be asleep for a little longer, she decided that this man would make an acceptable substitute. But she, and not he, would be the one in charge of the situation.

As he continued to struggle to escape, she rolled him off of her, laying him down on his back on the sand. She knelt astride him. Putting her hands on his hips she lifted him up. Inserting him, she began stroking herself with his cock, using his entire body as a dildo.

It didn't feel as good as using Mark this way did. At least not any more. And his chest bouncing against her breasts didn't feel as good Mark did. Still, it wasn't all that bad. She carefully adjusted her grip, so that she had one hand on his ass and the other hand between his shoulder blades, pressing his chest harder against her breasts.

She had kept watching his face, enjoying his reactions as his expression changed from surprise to fear. But now, as her climax approached she closed her eyes. When she came down from her peak, she opened her eyes. She saw that his eyes were closed. But something didn't look right. She quickly realized that he wasn't breathing.

Alarmed, she immediately opened her arms, letting his body fall to the sand. Her medically trained eyes immediately spotted the reason. Her skilled fingers probed further, discovering a number of broken ribs. Some of them had punctured his lungs. His chest was bruising quickly.

Feeling his throat, she couldn't find a pulse. She wasn't certain, but she thought that one of his broken ribs must have penetrated his heart.

What had she done?

She was a doctor. She was supposed to be saving lives; she had sworn an oath to that end. But she had just killed a man with her bare hands. Or rather, with her bare body.

Granted, the man had tried to rape her. But she had been in no physical danger; at least she didn't think that she had been in any danger. And in the end she had been raping him instead of the other way around.

What had she done?

She couldn't just leave the body here. She knew that she needed some help. She needed Mark's help, he would know what to do. Carrying the man's broken body and setting it down under a tree to get it out of sight, she went back to the bungalow, jogging at an easy pace that would have made an Olympic sprinter jealous. Back to the bungalow, and Mark.

Mark woke up to find himself alone in the big bed. Figuring that Linda was probably in the kitchen, he went into the bathroom to shave and shower. He emerged from the shower just in time to see his wife entering through the back door, completely naked. "God, she looks good like that," he thought to himself.

Then he lifted his eyes a little higher and saw the tears that filled her normally clear blue eyes. "What's wrong, love?" he asked, quickly walking over to her and putting his arms around her, holding her tightly against him.

"Oh, Mark, my love!" She put her head on his shoulders. "Th-there was a rapist out there. And I, I...." Her body, and his, shook with her sobs.

He held her as tightly as he could. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" He guided her to the couch and helped her to sit down.

"I, I'm fine. But he, he's d-dead. I k-killed him." Her body, and his, again shook with her sobs.

"What? Are you sure?" He sat down besides her, keeping his arms around her.

"I, I am a doctor, darling. I know a dead body when I see one." He felt her professional demeanor trying to surface. She was now talking as a doctor, not as a woman.

Untangling himself from her arms, he got some fruit punch and rum from the kitchen. After making sure that she drank some, he sat back down to listen. Or to not listen and just hold her, if she didn't want to talk about it.

He'd had some experience with rape himself. Professionally, not personally. Well, maybe a little, personally. Some of what Julie and Karen had done to him could almost be called rape. Almost. He'd always been a willing victim, as they used his body for their pleasures. And they always made sure that he got his pleasure out of the experience. His new wife was of the same mold. No, he did not mind being 'raped' by these superwomen. No, not at all.

And there had been that time in Kentucky. Like a fool, he had talked Julie into splitting up, pursuing their individual leads. He remembered the Beta woman single-handedly capturing him. He also remembered what she had done to him afterwards, using his body for her sexual pleasures.

Professionally, he'd had to deal with rape. Both sides. He'd interviewed rape victims. He'd helped catch rapists. He'd also worked with Julie as she set herself up as a decoy in order to trap rapists.

From talking with victims, he knew that rape was a very traumatic experience for the victim. For a woman or a man, he'd seen some of the rapists after Julie had gotten through with them. He sometimes thought that the lucky ones were the ones that had been killed in Julie's powerful arms, the ones that didn't have to live and remember what she had done to them.

Julie was a special case, however. She had been a supergirl before she became a woman. He remembered back to the first time he had worked with her. He had though that her mother had made a mistake by bringing her along on a dangerous case, in San Jose. But she had more than justified her mother's faith. She had almost single-handedly captured five of the gang involved in an industrial espionage case, including the gang leader.

He also remembered the first time that the two of them had worked together, without her mother along. Julie had been the one to come on to him that time in Seattle. That had been the first time that she had 'raped' him. Not that he had minded. No, not at all. And it certainly wasn't the last time.

But his wife was different. She had been a girl, and then a woman, all of her life. It was only recently that she had become a superwoman. Though she had adapted quite well in some ways, especially in THAT way, there were still some things she had yet to learn.

He brought his mind back to the present situation and the superwoman currently in his arms, as finally she seemed to calm down enough to tell him what had happened. He held her as he listened, only releasing her to get the two of them more fruit punch, this time without the rum.

"Can you show me where it happened?" he asked. He saw the surprise in her eyes. "You don't have to see him again. Just point out where it happened."

"No, I think I need to see it again." She stood up and started walking towards the door.

He would hate to see that covered up. But there were conventions. "Ah, Linda, don't you think that you should get dressed first?"

Linda looked down at herself. She realized that she was completely naked. She started to try to cover herself with her hands before she realized that the only person with her was Mark, and he had certainly seen her naked before.

She also saw that he was naked. "Only if you get dressed too."

A few minutes later, suitably dressed, they emerged from the bedroom. Mark was in a pair of dark blue trunks; Linda was in a white and yellow striped bikini. Heading outside, they started walking along the beach.

"It'll be quicker if I carry you," she said. Without waiting for his answer, she bent down and got an arm around his large muscular legs. Scooping him up in her arms, she straightened up and began running on the soft sand. With her long legs eating up the distance they were there in next to no time.

Seeing the marks in the sand, she stopped and put him down.

Even without his wife's medical training, Mark knew immediately that the man was dead. He also had no trouble deducing the cause of his death. The condition of the body made that quite clear, he had seen similar damage before.

He briefly thought about having his wife throw the body into the ocean as far as she could. If and when the body washed ashore somewhere, there would be nothing to connect it with the two of them. But he knew that he couldn't do that, it wouldn't be right.

His wife seemed to have the same thought. "What do we do about the body?"

"Let me make some calls." He hoped that his connections would work here. "The police will have to be notified."

She took him in her powerful arms, turning him around so that his face was just inches from hers. "No, you can't do that. I killed him. I don't want to go to jail as a murderer."

"Look, love. I didn't say that I was going to tell the police that you killed him. Look at the body. Do you think that anybody would believe that you did that?"

They walked back to the bungalow. As much as he enjoyed being carried by his superwoman, this time he had declined her offer to carry him.

Once back at the bungalow, he insisted that she get some sleep. Making sure that she was asleep, he began making some phone calls. His first calls were back to Colorado. Even though it was still the middle of the night there, he knew that there would be somebody on duty in the communications center.

Equipped with the proper numbers and code words, he then called the local police office. The code words eventually got him through the chain of command and in touch with the right office. They immediately promised to send somebody over.

He then called back to Colorado to discuss things further. He was just hanging up the phone when his wife came back in. "Have you had breakfast yet, love?"

He was immediately on his feet beside her. "Hey, I thought I told you to get some sleep."

"You did, love, and I did. Even if it was a little difficult without you next to me." She gave him an affectionate little hug. Probably a harder hug than she had given the man she had killed, he thought to himself. "But it's morning now." He looked out the window and saw that it was indeed light outside.

They had barely started on the coffee when there was a tapping at the door. "I'll get it. You just sit there and try to act like a lady, for once." He stood up and got out of her range before she could retaliate. At least both of them had put on something suitable for company; they were both wearing tee shirts over their bathing suits.

The man at the door wasn't dressed too differently, except that he was wearing a pair of jeans instead of a pair of shorts. He introduced himself as Chief Inspector Thompson. He appeared very thoughtful as Linda, with some prompting from Mark, described the night's events, jotting down a few notes in his little notebook. But she did leave out the details as to exactly what she had been doing to the man when she had killed him.

He didn't seem too surprised to find that she had killed her assailant, apparently he had studied the files on Julie, known to the world at large as Supergirl, or the 'Blonde Supergirl' to distinguish her from the other one, the 'Dark Supergirl'. But he did seem to be taken back just a little to discover that the beautiful young blonde woman sitting across the table from him was not Supergirl herself.

After listening to Linda and Mark, Thompson wanted to see the body. They walked the half-mile along the deserted beach, Linda tactfully not offering to carry the two men and run to speed up the process.

"Why, I know this man!" Thompson said as he saw the face, distorted in agony.

Mark felt the wrenching pain in his gut. This was a friend of the Chief Inspector? He wasn't just a rapist? His wife had killed a friend of a policeman?

Thompson continued on. "We have been looking for him for several months. Five other women have described him as their assailant, but we haven't been able to catch him. And yesterday, he robbed a bank, killing a security guard in the process. " He took his notebook out of his pocket. From it, he withdrew a couple of sheets of paper. Unfolding them, he showed Mark and Linda a copy of a police artist's sketch. The other was a print from the bank surveillance camera. There was no mistaking them; they showed the same face, the face of the dead man at their feet. "You have done us a big favor, ma'am." He took Linda's hand and bowed over it, kissing it.

"What will you do?" she asked. She seemed to be a little frightened. Mark couldn't really blame her; she was a murderer, after all, regardless of the mitigating circumstances.

"Don't worry, I will take care of it. And, ah, under the circumstances," here he looked at Mark, "no mention will be made of you. After all, it was in self-defense."

After returning to the bungalow for a little more coffee, Thompson took his leave. Both Mark and Linda thanked him for coming out and taking care of the situation.

"Bet you never thought that you'd end up doing this kind of stuff, did you? Just like a certain young blonde I could mention."

"But Julie's been trained for that kind of work. You've worked by her side lots of times."

"It was more like working under her, most of the time," he leered at her.

"And now, you're working under ME." With that, she scooped him up in her arms and carried him back to the bedroom. She seemed to have recovered from her experience with the rapist quite well. Maybe too well, she seemed even rougher than she had the night before. Not that he minded. No, not at all.

He also realized that she was probably being rougher with him than she had been with the rapist she had killed, his new enhanced body able to take much more of her passion than any ordinary man. Not that he minded. No, not at all.

He also knew that he was enjoying it a lot more than that other man had. Much more. And that he didn't mind at all, either. No, not at all.

He didn't do any diving that day. At least not into the water. Not that he minded. No, not at all.

We did receive a couple of calls from Mark in the Cayman Islands. But it wasn't about any kind of trouble with the Arions. I didn't hear all of the details, but apparently Linda had come across a man who had learned a lesson about making unwanted advances towards an enhanced woman. That had been the last lesson he had learned in his life.

Fortunately, I didn't have to go down to the Cayman Islands. Unfortunately, I had to go down to Texas instead.

Another ATM had been broken into. This was the first sign we'd had of the 'Dark Supergirl' since that battle in Corpus Christi. But even though I was down there for a little over a week, we found no further sign of her.

She didn't hit another ATM. As far as we knew, she didn't hit anything. Apparently she was laying low, trying to avoid attracting any further attention to her.

Trying to avoid me, I hoped. I wasn't exactly looking forward to meeting up with her again, but I knew that if she showed up, I'd have to try my best to stop her.

The fact that she didn't do anything didn't mean that all of the crooks were taking a vacation. I did come across two guys robbing a convenience store. They didn't put up much of a fight. Not after one of them emptied his Saturday Night Special at my chest at point blank range. Well, that and after I tapped them both lightly on their chins with my fingers. I heard that they both woke up at the police station about four hours later.

Sirren was already in the sauna today, with the heat turned up all the way. Carlos knew that he wouldn't last a minute in there, but she seemed to like it that way. He was in the weight room, doing a little more lifting before closing up for the night. Since Sirren had been with him he had noticed that his strength had increased a little. He sometimes wondered whether possibly some of her incredible strength had somehow rubbed off on him. But that wasn't possible, was it? The only way to build up strength was through hard work, pumping iron. Or through steroids, and he certainly wouldn't do that.

As he lifted, he also thought about leaving Sirren. Oh, he still loved her muscles, and the way she used them. But just what kind of person was she, deep down?

He had seen parts of the battle down in Corpus Christi. He had seen the footage on TV. He had read the accounts in the newspapers.

Just what kind of person would try to knock a fully loaded bus off of a bridge? Never mind that the 'Blonde Supergirl' had been attacking her, she broke off the attack in order to save the bus.

Yet how could he leave her? He couldn't walk out on his own apartment, on his gym. And could he tell her to leave? A girl who could throw cars at buses? How do you tell someone like that to leave without having her throw you into orbit?

He was so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't hear them enter the gym. It wasn't until they entered the weight room that he saw the couple, a man and a woman, both casually dressed in Dallas Cowboys tee shirts and faded blue jeans. Racking the weight, he stood and faced them. "Sorry, the gym's closed for the night."

"We're looking for a friend of ours," the man said, walking towards him, the woman following him at his heels. "Her name is Sirren."

How could anybody know to look for her here? And these two moved a little too smoothly to be somebody who was casually looking for a friend. Almost with military precision. Cops! No, they had to be Feds! They must have somehow connected Sirren with those ATMs. "Sorry, you must be mistaken. There's nobody else here," he lied.

"Hold him. I'll go look around," the man spoke again.

Before Carlos could react, the woman had an arm around him. He tried to break free, and discovered to his surprise that he couldn't. It felt almost like the way Sirren sometimes held him, when she wanted to demonstrate her incredible strength.

Almost, but not quite. He could see that she was exerting herself, even though she continued to hold him with one arm. Sirren never exerted herself like that with him.

Still, she wasn't exerting herself that much. He saw her reach with her free hand for the weight that he had just been bench pressing. He gasped as she curled it smoothly to her chest, almost hitting him in the head with the bar. She ran off five quick reps before replacing the weight on the rack. Who was this woman, Sirren's sister or something?

Sirren heard the door to the sauna open. Carlos would never come in here; he always spoke to her from outside the door. She was surprised to see a man enter, holding a gym bag in one hand. "Lieutenant Sirren? I have something here for you." He bowed.

It took her a moment before she understood what he was saying. Stars, he was speaking to her in Arion! It had been so long since she had heard anyone speak to her in that language. It took her another moment before she could reply in the same language. "What do you want, Beta?"

"With the Colonel's compliments, Lieutenant," the man replied. Opening the gym package, he took out a piece of red cloth. Holding it out to her, he bowed again.

Sirren immediately recognized it as a campaign cape. Realizing belatedly that it probably was uncomfortable for the Beta in here, she had him follow her outside the sauna before allowing him to place it around her shoulders. Fastening the clasp around her neck, she spun around once, admiring her reflection in the mirror. Her own campaign cape! She knew that she had to show this off to Carlos. She headed off for the weight room, keeping her pace down so that the Beta could follow at her heels.

Opening the door and entering the weight room, she saw Carlos struggling in the grasp of a woman. At her command, the woman immediately released Carlos and bowed to her. Carlos quickly began running towards her. A hand gesture stopped the Beta behind her from intercepting him.

Carlos saw Sirren come through the door, followed by the man. At first he thought that she had a red towel wrapped around her, but then he realized that it was a cape, fastened around her neck. He also realized that she wasn't wearing anything else.

She said something to the woman holding him. Even though he couldn't understand the words, the tone of her voice was unmistakably that of a command. The woman immediately let him go, bowing to Sirren. He quickly ran towards Sirren.

When he reached her, she put an arm around him. She sat down on the floor, pulling him down with her, nearly in her lap. The other two remained standing, conversing in that same language she had used to get the woman to release him. While Sirren continued to converse, he felt her hands stroking his body. He felt her hand on the back of his head, guiding his face towards one of her large breasts.

Dios! What was she doing, fondling him, making him fondle her, in front of these others? He realized that he'd never been introduced. And anybody else could still walk in; the doors were still open. Pulling his head away from her breast, he managed to whisper to her, "Gotta lock up for the night."

Feeling her releasing him, he stood up. He quickly went about closing up the gym. Sirren and the others ignored him as he came back through the weight room towards the saunas. As usual, Sirren had forgotten to turn the heat down. He turned the heaters off for the night.

He returned to the weight room. Sirren continued to sit cross-legged on the floor, her cape around her shoulders, covering her back but leaving her front completely bare. The other two remained standing, occasionally bowing to her as they spoke. There was no mistaking who was in charge here. The only acknowledgement he received from her was a brief hand gesture. Even though he had never seen that gesture before, there was no mistaking its meaning. He immediately walked over to stand before Sirren. She quickly pulled him back down, in the same position he had been before. She pressed his face to her breast before resuming playing her hands over his body.

Sirren was pleased to learn of her promotion to Senior Lieutenant. She hadn't expected to be promoted this quickly. She really hadn't done anything yet. Stars! She had been on her way to her first assignment when the Velorian had struck. She stood up briefly to allow the Beta woman to attach the insignia of her new rank, to her cape in lieu of the uniform that was still in her locker.

She was even more pleased that the Colonel had seen fit to award her the campaign cape after her battle with the Velorian Planetary Protector, that campaign cape meant a lot to Arions, and to her especially. She was also pleased to learn that the Colonel had commended her on the battle. She hadn't won the battle, but then she hadn't lost the battle to the Velorian bitch, either. Sirren was still alive, and unhurt.

She was not as pleased to learn that she would be kept down here on the surface. Upon seeing the other Arions, she had hoped to be transferred elsewhere, to be working with other Arions. Or at least a little R&R, back on the ship. Back on the ship, and with that infantry captain.

Yes, it would be so nice to have seen that captain again. It would be even nicer to have felt that captain again. Yes, it would be so nice to feel him, holding her in ways that Carlos never could. And to be holding him in ways that she could never hold Carlos.

She briefly considered ordering the Beta man to attend her tonight. But no, it would not do. Not with the other Beta around. No, she would have to make do with Carlos tonight. Let the Betas continue to think that he was just her toy, her pet.

After the two Betas promised to return the next night with the supplies she had requested, she dismissed them. Still holding Carlos at her breast, she stood up. She knew that she was going to have to spend some time tonight explaining some things to him. But not too much time, she and Carlos had other things to do tonight.

Major Ramirez, like everyone else, had seen the TV footage of the battle in Corpus Christi. Unlike many of the other officers, he did not think that it was some publicity stunt, just some Hollywood special effects. His sister had been in the area, visiting some friends, and she had seen the site of the battle. Not even the Yanquis would cause that much damage just for a movie. Even if that building had still been under construction, that damage would still have been expensive. Much too expensive for a mere movie special effect, even for decadent Hollywood.

He and the other officers had discussed what they would do if one of those supergirls ever showed up around their base. Most of those discussions hadn't been very serious, and certainly not very military; they usually ended up with one of the men describing what he would like to do to her.

However, while he found those discussions amusing and entertaining, Ramirez had found only a few other officers who were willing to discuss this as a military issue. What if the Yanquis were actually planning an attack, using those supergirls? What weapons would be needed to counter one of them?

He didn't think that the Yanquis would actually attack. And if they did, they wouldn't need any help, their military forces were much stronger than anything Mexico could possibly hope to put into the field was. He had spent two years with the Yanquis in an exchange program, including a year at West Point.

Besides, those supergirls didn't seem to be under the control of the military. The dark one had willfully attacked that bus, filled with civilians. The blonde one had saved that bus, but she had also killed all those people elsewhere. They seemed to be acting independently, not under the control of the government.

What if one of them were to come south of the Rio Grande? How would they handle that situation? Could they handle that situation?

Major Ramirez was the Executive Officer of an infantry battalion. There was an armor company attached to his battalion. Would that be enough? Would that be enough to take care of one person? A young girl? A girl who could throw cars and trucks around as easily as his son could throw a baseball? A girl who could be hit through a building and come out the other side unhurt?

He had read the report on the story of the gunfight in Brownsville, Texas. He wasn't sure if he could really call it a gunfight, when only one side had guns. According to the report, she had faced the fire of six policemen, seemingly without any effect.

But surely his soldiers' rifles and machine guns were much more powerful. And if they weren't enough, he had his tanks. Surely nobody could stand up to that kind of firepower. Not a girl. Not even a supergirl.

Or could she? He was an ambitious man, wanting a command of his own. And not just of a mere battalion. What could a supergirl like her do for him? Oh, the things he could do with her at his side! Not to mention the things he could do with her underneath him.

Oh yes, there were a lot of things a supergirl like her could do for him. And of course, there were a lot of things a man like himself could do for her.

Of course the fact that I wasn't anxious to meet up again with the Arion Prime, the 'Dark Supergirl', as the media was calling her, didn't mean that we weren't still looking for her. We couldn't just leave an Arion Prime like her on the loose. We were afraid that she might be planning something big. Something much bigger than merely knocking off a string of ATMs.

But after that last ATM, there was no sign of her. We knew that we wouldn't be so lucky as to have her get herself killed in a car wreck. Not an Arion Warrior Prime, who could walk out of a dozen car wrecks without suffering a single scratch on her smooth skin.

In some ways, not finding her was more worrisome than actually finding her. We had our contacts in Washington keep their eyes and ears open for anything unusual happening elsewhere in the world, but especially on the other side of the Rio Grande. If she were to show up in Mexico, we wanted to be ready for her.

Carlos was only too happy to oblige when Sirren started talking with him about leaving the city for a while. The pressure had been building, especially after the battle in Corpus Christi. This just might be a good time for a vacation.

He'd been meaning to visit his cousin. Luis and his wife owned a ranch near Veracruz, in the Mexican plains. They'd had had their second child earlier this year, and Carlos had been planning to go down to see her. This might be the perfect opportunity. After all, they had a little spare cash from the ATMs that Sirren had broken into.

It didn't take too long to make the necessary arrangements. His father could look after the gym. Luis was only too happy to see his Yanqui cousin again. And his new girlfriend. Carlos and Sirren would leave in two days, in his old battered car, which unlike those cars in that downtown parking lot had survived their latest to trip to Corpus Christi without suffering any damage.

Linda and Mark came back from their honeymoon in the Cayman Islands. Mark looked a little tired, though the twinkle was in his eyes. Well, he looked more than a little tired. And I didn't think that it was from the flight home. And I didn't think that it was from the scuba diving, either. Even Linda looked a little tired.

But they also looked happy. Very happy. Apparently they had put that little unpleasant incident of the first week behind them.

As happy as Linda looked, I knew that Mom's enhancement of Mark had worked quite well. I was half tempted to sample Mark right then and there. But I managed to restrain myself. After all, I couldn't take Linda's new husband so soon after their honeymoon. I settled for giving him a hug. A much harder hug than any that I'd ever given him before.

Sirren had been glad to leave the country. It was still a little difficult to believe that by simply crossing the river she would be in a different country, with a completely different government. Such a small planet and these Terrans had to subdivide it even further.

Of course, they spoke a different language here; one they hadn't bothered to teach her during her training. No wonder the Terrans had to subdivide their small planet, if they all didn't speak the same language. But at least Carlos spoke the language and could interpret for her.

But now Carlos was sound asleep, his Terran body again unable to keep up with hers. Putting on a tee shirt and a pair of shorts, she went out for a stroll in the warm night air. She was walking through the dark quiet streets of the nearby town when she met the man. Still feeling the afterglow of the evening with Carlos, she still wasn't fully satisfied.

It didn't take her very long to let the man take her clothes off as she pretended to fight back. She continued to pretend to resist as he forced her down on her back. His body felt as light as a blanket to her as he got on top and 'forced' his way in, as she relaxed her inner muscles.

As far as she was concerned, the man might as well have been a blanket. He was doing nothing for her. She hardly felt his feeble thrusts; she could barely feel him inside her. Wanting more, she shook off his hands pinning her wrists to the ground. Putting her hands on his hips, she lent him some of her strength as she lifted and lowered him into her, using his body as a huge dildo.

It still wasn't enough for her. One of her arms went around his back, holding him tightly against her breasts. The other hand tightened its grip on his hips, crushing the bones to improve her grip, allowing her to lift and lower his body with one hand.

Eventually she realized that the man wasn't doing anything for her at all. Opening her eyes, she saw the reason. She no longer held a man in her arms. There were only the remains of his body. His ribcage had been crushed against her soft breasts. His hips had been crushed by her hand. She hadn't even noticed his death.

Laying the corpse aside, she stood up. Using the man's discarded clothes, she wiped his blood and gore off of her body. Putting her clothes back on, she went back to the ranch to find Carlos.

Major Ramirez saw the naked body before the medics took it away. He saw the unusual wounds, the man's body crushed, especially the chest. He thought that the chest had been crushed against two large and hard objects.

He thought back again to the police reports he had seen from Brownsville. The ones that described the bullets bouncing off of the near naked breasts of the girl, the 'Dark Supergirl'. He remembered thinking at the time about what those breasts would feel like against his own chest.

Looking down at the soldier's crushed body, he suddenly wasn't so sure that he really wanted to feel those breasts against his chest.

Again, Sirren wasn't ready to sleep. Again, she went out for a stroll in the warm night air. How was she to know that those men were off-duty soldiers, returning to the barracks after a late night out on the town? How was she to know that the cluster of buildings on the outskirts of the town was the army barracks?

The four men accosted her in the street. Even though she couldn't understand their words, their intent was obvious. She was still feeling the afterglow of the evening with Carlos. Instead of simply turning and running off, or even simpler, just killing them outright, she decided to have a little fun with them. The one man the previous night had been fun, how much better could four men be?

It started out okay as she let them 'force' her into the dark space between two of the buildings. She only offered token resistance as they removed her clothes and pinned her to the ground. She let them have their way with her as one man pinned her wrists while two more each took a leg. The fourth man dropped his pants and got between her legs. But as he entered her, his feeble thrusts were doing nothing for her.

When he was done, he switched positions with the one who had been holding on to her left leg. But the second man was doing no more for her than the first man had.

She wanted more; she wanted to get her pleasure out of their soft Terran male bodies. She wanted to show them what a real woman was capable of.

She kicked off the two men holding her legs. She shook off the man who was pinning her arms to the ground. She lifted off the man who was on top of her. Laying him down on his back, she straddled and mounted him, being careful not to crush his fragile Terran body. She grabbed another of the men, one who had just been holding her right wrist, tucked him under her left arm, and brought his face to her breasts, again being careful not to crush him.

The other two men tried to free their comrades. Using her free right hand, she captured one of them and brought his face down to hers, touching his lips with hers, before bringing his face down to her right breast, adjusting the other man to her left breast. Yes, this was better. Even better than Carlos alone. Carlos, even if he was bigger and stronger than any one of these men, couldn't match three of them. One between her legs and one on each breast. The other one, running around and feebly hitting her with his fists, didn't hurt the situation any. Yes, this was definitely better.

As the good feelings grew and spread, she started applying more force without realizing it. The man on the ground was the first to notice, as he felt her hips begin to slam harder and harder into his. Then he felt no more as another thrust crumbled his hipbones and crushed the life out of his body.

The corporal ran into the guardroom, wearing the tattered remains of his civilian clothes. Only his socks and his shoes seemed to be intact. His story sounded unbelievable at first. How could one girl have taken on four men and beaten them? Four trained soldiers? Even if they were completely drunk after a night out on the town?

But the corporal was not drunk. Major Ramirez knew the man did not drink. He also knew who the girl had to be.

Ramirez had had the duty that night. It took him less than two seconds to make his decision, only one stroke of his bushy mustache with the fingers of his right hand. Rather than waking Colonel Lopez first, he immediately mobilized the entire battalion.

First he sent the guards after her, ordering them to follow her and report her movements. Then he issued orders to the motor pool to get the trucks and the tanks ready for immediate action.

The first guards found her, still in the alley, with the three dead soldiers at her feet. When she refused to surrender, they opened fire. The bullets had no effect on her. Their jeeps were barely able to keep up with her as she began to run onto the plains outside of the town.

Colonel Lopez appeared in the office just as the trucks carrying the first platoon was rolling out the gate. Ramirez quickly gave his commanding officer his appraisal of the situation. The colonel immediately agreed with his executive officer's actions.

Sirren had had enough. All she had been trying to do was to have some fun with those four men. She had let one of the men get away from her, and she had been engaged in a running battle for the last hour. But now, she was far enough from the town where she felt that Carlos would be safe.

All she had been trying to do was to have some fun with those four men. But then those soldiers had come out of that cluster of buildings. They had chased her all the way out here onto the barren plain. They had all but surrounded her, getting out of their trucks and taking up their positions.

As the sun rose in the east, she charged the line of soldiers, her fists and feet crushing bodies, separating heads from shoulders, ignoring the bullets that bounced off of her naked body.

It was much easier than she had expected it to be. She had been told that these Terrans possessed some heavy weapons that, while they might not actually kill a Warrior Prime, could certainly cause some injuries. Yet all she had felt so far were the small bullets pinging off of her, bullets travelling only slighter faster than those of the policemen she had faced in Brownsville.

The cannon shell took her by surprise. It hit her right in the stomach, sending her flying back a hundred feet and knocking her down on her ass as it exploded. That actually stung! Almost as bad as being hit by that Velorian bitch.

Gritting her teeth, she forced her attention away from the sharp pain in her stomach as she struggled to rise to her feet. Getting up and brushing the hair out of her face, she looked down at herself. Despite the pain, she was pleased to see that her soft skin bore only a few red marks, the weak Terran weapon failing to truly injure her. She then looked around herself for the weapon. She saw the box-like vehicle at the end of the clearing, the smaller box on top turning to point its long weapon at her for another shot.

Determined not to let it shoot her again, she ran towards it. The gunner lost his aiming as her long legs carried her at a pace much too rapid for him to track. Reaching the side of the tank, she reached up to grab the cannon barrel. Getting both hands on it, she tried to use it to swing the tank over her head. Instead, the barrel broke off in her hands, the steel never intended to support the weight of the vehicle.

Throwing the useless tube aside, she squatted down and grabbed onto one of the bogie wheels on the side. Incredible muscles appeared on her legs and on her back as she slowly straightened up, lifting one side of the tank completely off of the ground. Muscles appeared on her arms as she continued to lift, finally rolling the tank completely over on its side, and beyond. A loud THUD accompanied a cloud of dust as the tank flipped over on its back.

A blast of her heat vision had taken care of the first man who had tried to crawl out of the overturned tank when there was another explosion practically at her feet. Turning around, she saw two other tanks approaching, their weapons pointed at her.

She charged towards them, zigzagging slightly to keep their weapons from tracking her. Machine gun bullets whizzed by her, occasionally bouncing off when they hit her nearly invulnerable body.

Major Ramirez watched through his binoculars the action unfolding below him. He was on the ground near the top of a small hill, his jeep hidden behind the hill. He saw that his men's rifles and machines guns seemed to have no effect on this supergirl. The same could not be said of the girl's fists, however, as she mowed down the entire platoon seemingly without any effort.

An entire infantry platoon, one of the best in the battalion, fully armed and equipped, against one unarmed and completely naked girl. And it was rapidly becoming clear that it was no contest. He begrudgingly had to admit that she was absolutely magnificent, her fists more than a match for the platoon and their weapons.

He was elated when he saw the girl go down with the first shell from the tank, the impact sending her flying out of the scope of his binoculars. "That gunner deserves a medal," he thought to himself as he panned to get the girl in his sight again.

He gasped as he found the girl again. She was struggling up to a sitting position, one hand rubbing her stomach. Madre de Dios! A direct hit from an armor-piercing shell, and she was still alive!

Not only was she still alive, but she didn't appear to be hurt at all. That shell only appeared to make her mad. He saw her rise to her feet and brush the hair back from her face. Then she blurred and he lost track of her again as she charged towards the tank that had just fired at her.

He brought his binoculars to bear on the tank just in time to see the girl flip the heavy armored vehicle over on its back. Madre de Dios! What could a girl like that do for an army! What could a girl like that do for him! With her at his side, he'd be invincible! He found himself stroking his mustache with his right hand as his left still held the binoculars to his eyes.

The girl slammed into the front of the first tank, stopping it in its tracks. Even Major Ramirez could hear the crash from his vantage point. The force of the collision almost threw the tank commander out of the cupola. The driver gunned the engine; the treads kicked up a cloud of dust on each side of the tank.

The tank commander recovered his position, and some of his composure. He unlimbered the thirty-caliber machine gun next to the hatch. Taking aim, he opened fire at point-blank range. The first burst hit his target dead center. Yet the only effect the bullets had was to make her large breasts bounce a little.

Then the girl looked up at him. He thought that she was actually smiling at him. Then he saw the faint purple beams emanating from her eyes. Suddenly, the machine gun blew up in his hands as the ammunition exploded. As he pulled his injured hands away, he knew that she was smiling at him now.

The driver continued to gun the engine; the treads continued to kick up a cloud of dust on each side of the tank. Finally, inexorably, the tank began moving. Backwards. The powerful engine was at full throttle, and the treads were moving. But the tank was sliding backwards over the hard-packed sand, driven back by the muscles of the girl from the stars, as her once slender body exploded with masses of feminine muscle.

Turning, she pushed the tank towards a ravine. As the rear of the tank began sliding down the ravine wall, she gave a mighty heave. The tank flipped end-over-end, rolling completely before settling on the mud at the bottom of the ravine, severely crushed and almost completely useless in a fight.

Suddenly remembering the second tank, Sirren quickly ran across the sand. Jumping up onto the hull, she wrapped her arms around its long barrel, squeezing her arms tightly to her chest. The hard steel of the gun slowly collapsed against her body, the barrel deforming and squashing as it was pressed with nearly immeasurable power into the deep valley between her breasts. The flattened barrel instantly rendered the gun useless.

Relaxing somewhat, she dropped to land lightly on the sand. She suddenly felt little stings all across the front of her body, throwing her head back violently as those stings moved up across her eyes, forcing her to close them instinctively. The unpleasant stinging continued as she forced her eyes back open, ignoring the impacts striking her eyeballs, realizing that she was again being attacked by small arms fire. Feeling a surge of anger, her blue eyes blazed with the heat of a distant sun. She lashed out angrily with her heat vision, two purplish beams instantly incinerating those foolish enough to be shooting at her from out in the open. The remainder immediately ceased firing.

Seeing that the small arms menace had been removed, at least for the time being, she turned back to grab the tank. The steel groaned horribly as her nearly naked body exploded once again into a maze of tight hard muscles, the tank reluctantly leaving the ground. From their cover the men stared in disbelief as the young woman lifted the tank over her shoulders.

Then, before they could react, she turned and casually tossed the tank onto the wreckage of the first tank. There was a small explosion as the fuel ignited. That was followed by more explosions as the ammunition in the magazines exploded, cutting off the screams of the tank crews.

Major Ramirez saw the girl push the tank over to the ravine and flip it over. He saw the girl lift the other tank and toss it onto the first one. He saw and heard the explosions, first of the fuel and then of the ammunition.

Madre de Dios! She was magnificent! Too bad she was on the wrong side. Oh, the things he could do with her at his side!

He didn't realize that his right hand was no longer stroking his mustache. He didn't realize what it was stroking. Not until it exploded in his pants, soaking his shorts.

As the explosions of the ammunition in front of her died out, Sirren felt and heard an explosion about twenty feet behind her. Expecting more tanks, she whirled around as another explosion occurred even closer, almost knocking her off of her feet. Looking around, she saw no more tanks, however.

Instead, out of the corner of her eyes, she saw a small object quickly climbing up into the sky. Quickly focusing her blue eyes on it, she followed the object as it turned over and began descending towards her. She followed it all the way down, as it hit the ground about seven feet to her left and exploded.

When the next mortar shell exploded practically at her feet, she got an idea. Tracking the next one, she moved to her right, straight into its path. Reaching up as high as she could, she wrapped her hands on the sides of the shell, gently and slowly bringing it to a full stop just above the ground.

Straightening up, she hefted it once to judge its weight. Cocking her arm, she threw the oversized dart over the hill, sending it back to whence it came.

Her aim was better than that of the mortar crew, a crew of professionals who had spent hundreds of hours on the firing range honing their skills. Her first shot landed within five feet of the mortar tube, immediately killing the crew.

She got better with practice. Her second shot landed within three feet of a mortar, taking out its crew as well. She all but dropped her shot back down the barrel, taking out three mortar crews with three of their own rounds.

At first Major Ramirez couldn't understand what she was doing. But he understood when he saw the explosions take out the mortar crews. Madre de Dios! She had actually caught the mortar rounds and had thrown them back. And with much more accuracy than the trained mortars crews themselves. She truly was magnificent! Too bad she was on the wrong side. Oh, the things he could do with her at his side!

He continued watching as the rest of the battalion attacked the girl. Or rather, as they attempted to attack the girl. It was soon clear that the battalion was fighting for its life. Their weapons seemed to have no effect on her; even the grenades didn't do much more than shake her hair around. On the other hand, the battalion had no defense against her bare hands.

He saw here take out the other tanks with no more effort than she had shown in taking out the first three. The infantrymen had absolutely no chance against her. Oh, the things he could do with her at his side! Oh, the things he could do with her underneath him!

His right hand had been continuing to stroke the wet spot in his pants. Soon his pants were even wetter. The scream that escaped his mouth just before he passed out had nothing to do with the tortured screams of the other soldiers just before they died down on the plain.

As she continued to fight, Sirren had felt herself getting more and more aroused, the way she always did when she used a significant portion of her strength. And she certainly was using a very significant portion of her strength. She also felt herself getting stronger as the fight went on, the arousal adding, as it always did, to her strength.

The remaining tanks were easier than the first three had been. In between, her fists and her eyes took care of the soldiers who still put up resistance.

As she finished off this group of soldiers, she heard another scream from behind her, a scream totally unlike those she had heard from the now dead soldiers all around her.

Looking around, she quickly located the source. Her bright blue eyes and her sensitive nostrils quickly told her the reason for the scream. A smile turned up the corners of her mouth as she saw the rest of the soldiers throw down their weapons and turn to flee. But her smile had nothing to do with the fleeing soldiers.

Seeing nobody else contesting the field with her, she quickly trotted up the hill. She saw that he was unconscious, apparently his recent exertions had been too much for him. She also saw the insignia that marked him as an officer, possibly the commanding officer of the pathetic group that she had just fought. Realizing that he might make a valuable prisoner, she bent down over him.

Major Ramirez woke up to see the supergirl bending over him. Two conflicting emotions filled him at once. This was the supergirl who had so easily defeated his entire battalion, the supergirl he had feared. This was the supergirl he had dreamed about.

When he tried to get away from her, she pinned him to the ground with a hand in the middle of his chest. As he continued to struggle, he was surprised to see that she was pinning him with just one finger. Oh, what a girl, what a supergirl! Oh, the things he could do with her at his side! Oh, the things he could do with her underneath him!

He heard her speaking to him. In English. Of course, this supergirl was a Yanqui. "Where can I hide?" she was asking him. "I want some time alone with you." Did he hear that right? She wanted time alone with him? But what was she going to do to him? He remembered the soldier that first night, his chest completely crushed. Crushed, he was sure, by those same breasts hanging so close over him.

He remembered the old ruins not too far away.

When the man told him where she could hide out for a few days, she picked him in her arms. Standing up and seeing the man's pack next to him, she decided that she should also take that with her. The man could use the food and water. Tucking the man under an arm, she stooped down and picked up the pack in her other hand.

Her long shapely legs quickly covered the distance. She soon saw the old stone structures; many of them crumbling from age. Her sensitive nostrils picked up no signs of Terrans, other than of the one tucked under her arm.

She found an appropriate place to keep her prisoner. Putting him and his pack into a small room, she rolled a boulder in front of the door, knowing that one Terran wouldn't be able to budge it. She then lay down on a large, flat, and warm rock, to rest, to absorb the heat from both the rock and the hot sun.

When she woke up the sun was low in the western sky. Rising, she stretched languidly, almost like a cat, only much more sensually. Pushing the boulder aside, she went in to check on her prisoner.

Ramirez looked around the room. The cell, he realized. There was some light and air coming through the small holes and cracks he could see up high on the stone walls. But without some construction tools he knew he couldn't enlarge any of the holes big enough for him to slip through.

After some of the field rations and a swig from his canteen, he lay down on the floor to sleep. He woke up when he heard the noise outside. He saw the girl pushing the boulder aside with one hand as she entered his cell.

Name, rank, and serial number, he reminded himself. But it was hard to concentrate on his name, rank, and serial number as he looked at her naked body, the muscles on her arm flexing incredibly as she put the boulder back. She was beautiful! As he continued to stare at her naked body, he thought that he detected the scent of wildflowers and honey. Suddenly, he knew that he would do anything for her. Anything she wanted him to do for her. Madre de Dios! He hoped that she would want him to do that for her.

He would do anything for her, and all she wanted him to do was to answer a few silly questions. Silly things, like what the army would do next. The kind of stuff any new brand new lieutenant fresh out of the academy would know.

From questioning her prisoner, Sirren was satisfied that she had a few days to rest and recover from her battle; it would take the army at least that long to mobilize sufficient forces for an attack. But there was one more thing she could do to speed up her recovery process, even if his body was too old and too flabby for her tastes.

It almost wasn't worth the effort. She'd had to make a real effort in order to get anything out of his body. Still, it was better than nothing. Not much better, but better.

Major Ramirez saw the girl replace the boulder by the door as she left before falling into exhausted slumber. When he awoke, he realized that he had told her everything that he hadn't intended to tell her. The locations of the nearest army bases. Their dispositions. Their likeliest courses of action. What had happened to just name, rank, and serial number? He resolved to tell her no more.

The next day, she returned. Again, he smelled the wildflowers and honey. Again, he found that he couldn't resist answering her few simple questions. When she left that day, again he was completely exhausted.

The next day he found out what it really was like to feel her breasts against his chest. It was the last thing he would ever find out in his life.

After the first two times, Sirren knew that she had gotten everything she needed from the officer. All the information she needed, anyway. One more time to have him try his feeble best to pleasure her, and then she'd kill him. That would be the merciful thing to do, not that she really cared that much about showing mercy to a mere Terran. There was no more food for him, and she certainly wasn't going to provide him with any sustenance THAT way. Tonight she was planning on returning to Carlos' cousin's ranch.

Pushing the boulder aside with one hand, she went in. The small cell stank of Terran. It stank of the Terran man and his wastes. She briefly felt ill, before she tuned out the smells. She didn't bother to push the boulder back to block the door, she would only need to be in here for a little while.

She kept her pheromones in check this time. She wanted him to feel everything this time, without anything muddling his senses. As she had expected, he tried to escape. She amused herself for a while, reaching out to catch him, pulling him back with one hand on a wrist or an ankle. Standing still with her hands on her hips, she let him try out his entire pathetic martial arts repertoire on her, laughing as his hardest blows barely tickled her, even though she kept herself relaxed and soft.

She didn't even bother to put him on his back. Stripping his clothes off and holding him with one arm around his waist, her other hand quickly manipulated him until he was hard. At least as hard as an ordinary Terran was ever going to be. His feeble struggles encouraged her. Spreading her legs, she moved him between them and lifted him up into her. He continued struggling as she used him, his fists bouncing off of her face, shoulders, and breasts.

When she was done, a little additional pressure with her arm completely crushed his ribcage against her breasts. On the way out, she casually pushed the boulder back into place, even though she knew that there was nothing in there any more that needed to be kept confined.

We tracked her down to Mexico. Actually, it wasn't that hard to find her. Our Pentagon contacts had reported that she had tangled with some elements of the Mexican army near Veracruz. She was apparently still out there somewhere in the field. The Mexican infantry battalion wasn't out there in the field any more, mainly because there was no infantry battalion any more. Neither was the armored company that had been with them. Fortunately the battle had taken place out on the open plains, away from the civilian population. I wasted no time in getting down there.

By the time I got there, the battle was long over. Only a few survivors had made it out alive. I saw the wreckage of tanks strewn around the area. Even worse was the crushed and charred remains of the soldiers. Brave soldiers, Terrans going up against an unarmed Arion Warrior Prime. Brave, but still dead.

I attended a meeting with Nancy and Ted, who had come down here with some of our people, and with Colonel Lopez, the commander of the battalion that had been wiped out. I then started searching for the Arion Warrior Prime while Nancy and Ted set things up to coordinate the operation from the ground. The initial reports that we had received had made it clear that we were looking for an Arion Warrior Prime. Seeing the damage, and listening to the survivors' stories made it imperative that I find and stop her.

It was also clear that it had to be me. By all accounts she'd had little trouble with an entire infantry battalion, backed up by a tank company. It was doubtful whether anything short of a tactical nuke could take her out, and nobody wanted to use nukes. That only left us with one possible weapon. Yeah, you guessed it, yours truly.

I searched night and day, checking in twice a day with Nancy and Ted. On the second day I found her hiding out in some old stone ruins. Possibly pre-Columbian, maybe Aztec or Mayan. Or maybe just Spanish, something built by the Conquistadors. Possibly of some archeological value. But I wasn't going to let that stop me. Given a choice between preserving some old ruins and taking out an Arion Warrior Prime before she created some new ruins, I knew that there was only one decision that I could make.

I remembered the last time that I had fought her, she was one tough customer. But at least this time, she wasn't going to get rid of me by throwing a car at a bus. Not this time. There didn't seem to be anybody else around for miles.

As she walked between two crumbling stone walls, I swooped down out of the sun at her and hit her from behind. Her body went flying into another stone wall, shattering it. Before she could get back up on her feet, I was on top of her, driving her back down, hammering my fists into her body and into her head.

I could see the hard stones cracking and shattering as her sexy and seemingly soft body transmitted the force of my blows. Yet she was still moving, her arms and legs flailing, trying either to hit me or to get away from me. I kept hammering at her, my arms driving my fists into her many times a second.

Then she did it to me again. I don't know how, but somehow she managed to throw me off of her. I went flying into a stone wall, and most of the way through it, the stones falling on me, almost burying me alive in the rubble.

Stars! The Velorian bitch had found her again. Sirren had thought that she had found the perfect hiding place, while she rested and recovered from her recent battle with the soldiers and their weapons. Having disposed of her prisoner earlier in the day, she had been waiting for nightfall before going back to Carlos' cousin's ranch under cover of darkness. But Star! The Velorian bitch had found her!

I dug myself out of the rubble and got to my feet just before she reached me, apparently she hadn't gotten up too quickly after the pounding I had just been giving her. Her first punch knocked me back against another wall, and through it. I leaped through the hole in the wall, hitting her in the jaw. She fell back stumbling, enlarging the hole through the first wall that I had made.

We circled warily around each other. We traded a furious flurry of punches. Each punch that landed sounded like an explosion, I could hear the echoes from the steep cliffs. I wasn't holding anything back, and I knew that she wasn't. I also knew that she was better at this than I was. I might be stronger and quicker and I could fly, but she was better trained and better skilled at unarmed fighting. It was clear to me that Warriors Prime got much better training than Betas like Mom did. Even half Primes like Karen.

Much better. She was driving me back, forcing me to back up a short flight of stone steps. I put everything I had left into it as I lunged at her, hitting her head and forcing her back down. Even as I fell forward, I saw her stagger against the wall, leaning on it for support, her hand holding her head where I had just struck her.

If these old buildings weren't in ruins before, they certainly were now. If this was indeed an old Spanish fort, it certainly had never experienced fighting like this. Pieces of stone went flying and crashing as our nearly naked bodies hit them. But while our bodies weren't hurt by hitting the stones, they were hurt by our fists. I only hoped that my fists hurt her as much as hers hurt me. Oh, the pain!

I had just barely gotten back up to my feet when she was at me again. We circled each other again. She got me in the stomach. I got her in the face. I blocked one fist headed for my face but the next one got through. I got one through to her stomach, buying me some time. But not much, she was back at me again almost immediately.

She was really kicking my butt. She was pounding the stuffing out of me. I barely managed to block a fist headed for my face. Then a blow to my stomach doubled me over in pain. Another blow exploded against my chin, dropping me to my knees. As I tried to get back to my feet, she kicked a leg out from under me, sending me sprawling on my face. As I tried to get back up, another blow exploded against the back of my head, driving my face against the rocks. Oh, what a headache! I even felt a trickle of blood coming from my mouth, the taste of my own blood shocking me. Oh, the pain!

Blood! My blood! I was hurt! This was not in the script! Since my powers had fully manifested, this was the first time that I've ever bled; this was the first time ever that I've actually been injured. No! This can't be happening to me! I'm the Velorian! I'm the one that's supposed to be Protecting this planet from the Arions. I'm the one that's supposed to be stronger than any Arion Prime was! This was not in the script! Oh, the pain!

As I struggled to get back up, another flurry of blows landed on my head and back, driving me back down to the ground. I tried to roll over, but she kept pounding me back down, flat on my stomach, driving me into the ground. Oh, the pain!

I tried to fly out of there. But her pounding kept me from flexing my muscles properly for flight. Every time I started rising up another blow would smash into me, causing my body to spasm from the pain and dropping me back down against the stones again. I could taste more of my blood in my mouth. Oh, the pain! Oh, the pain!

Then mercifully the pain stopped and everything went black as I lost consciousness.

Sirren's head was still reeling. But at least the Velorian bitch was down, and she wasn't moving. Sirren staggered off, a hand on the stone wall for balance.

Suddenly there was a brilliant flash of light behind her. Even though the flash had been behind her, it was still bright enough to make Sirren see spots in front of her eyes and to cause tears to come to her eyes. Blinking a few times to clear away the tears and turning around, she saw the stone steps where the Velorian bitch had been lying. There was no sign of her, other than the holes her seemingly soft body had made.

She had done it! By the Stars, she had done it! She had defeated the Velorian bitch! Alone and unarmed, Sirren had killed the Velorian Planetary Protector!

Oh, but by the Stars, she hurt! Her head was still reeling from the fight. But something else was also beginning to contribute to the spinning feeling in her head.

A feeling of elation. A feeling of happiness. A feeling of accomplishment, of supreme accomplishment.

She almost felt as if she could fly on her own.

Yes, she had accomplished the near impossible.

She had done it! Sirren had killed the Velorian Planetary Protector!

Nancy was beginning to get worried. No, she told herself, she was already well past that stage. She was definitely worried.

As soon as she had heard about the incident with the Mexican army, she had made some calls. Less than two hours later, she and her husband, along with some others, including some Army personnel, had been on an Air Force transport headed for Veracruz. Julie, having no need to wait for slow Air Force planes, had met them there.

There had been nothing unusual for the first two days. Julie reported in as scheduled, with nothing worth reporting. Nancy had helped interview the survivors from the Mexican army battalion that had been nearly wiped out in the battle with the 'Dark Supergirl'.

And the survivors' accounts had made it clear that it had been the 'Dark Supergirl' that they had encountered. Even though they hadn't gotten any photographs, their descriptions matched that of the young woman who had been involved in that battle with Julie in Corpus Christi over a month ago.

Then yesterday evening, Julie had failed to check in after her daytime patrol. She had also failed to check in this morning. Nancy had spent most of the day on the radio, talking with Joan and others back in Colorado.

She knew that Karen sometimes briefly disappeared at the end of case. She had heard the story about Karen somehow having been transported back through time.

But Julie had never done anything like that. She always checked in. She always reported in at the end of a case. So where was she? What was she doing?

She knew that Julie was a very capable young woman, she had seen that demonstrated enough. She still remembered the first time she had met Julie, when Nancy had been caught and held prisoner in that ranch house in New Mexico. Julie had single-handedly taken care of the three men who had been involved. And how! Crushing a jeep. Bouncing bullets off of her bare breasts.

She also remembered the next time she had worked with Julie. She still smiled every time she thought about how Julie had subdued the shotgun-armed man who had just robbed the diner at which they had just been planning to eat. One swing of her large breasts had sent the shotgun flying out of the man's grasp. Another swing of her large breasts had knocked the man out cold.

She also remembered what else had happened that night, as Nancy had discovered other aspects of Julie's large breasts. Other, much more pleasurable aspects.

And something else had also happened that night. Something that was responsible for Nancy being the woman she was now, her strength that of five men. Something that was responsible for her landing the man she had wanted as her husband.

That reminded her of another, though slightly less pressing, concern. Sensing his readiness, she lifted her husband off of her and laid him down on his back next to her. Throwing a leg across him, she straddled him. His hands came up to her breasts as she lowered herself onto him.

For the next half an hour, she didn't worry about Julie at all. She didn't think much about Julie at all for the rest of the night.

But by late morning she couldn't think of anything else. A Mexican army patrol had apparently found the site of a fight between Julie and the 'Dark Supergirl'. A short helicopter ride had taken her and Ted to the site. The stone structures were already in ruins, but some of the damage was definitely recent, judging from the moss and the lichen. It almost looked like it had been used for artillery target practice, except that this was no sign of any burn marks at all, no signs of gunpowder explosions. The only possible way to explain the recent damage would be to invoke the fists, and the bodies, of Julie and the Arion Prime. She knew that that was still enough to cause much more damage than mere artillery could ever do.

But there was no sign of Julie's presence. The only body had been found on the other side of the ruins, in a small stonewalled room. The army had identified him as a Major Ramirez, the executive officer of the battalion that had been engaged in the battle.

It was clear that Ramirez had been kept a prisoner here. The only door had been blocked with a large boulder; it had taken ten men to push it aside after the dogs had found the body. It was also apparent that he had been here a couple of days before he died, from the remains of the field rations. And from the other remains.

Just where on Earth was Julie, Nancy wondered.

She trotted along the countryside under the night sky at nearly eighty miles per hour. Sirren was elated as she set off to find Carlos, and the radio she had left with him. She wanted to tell him what she had done. She wanted to tell her people up in the ship what she had done.

She had really done something this time. More than enough to justify her new campaign cape. More than enough to merit her recent promotion to Senior Lieutenant. Stars, this might even get her promoted to Captain! She tried to imagine the look on the face of that infantry captain if she were to show up at his quarters wearing the same insignia of rank as he did.

And the look of surprise and admiration on his face when she told him what she had done to merit it. But she wouldn't tell him right away. No, he would have to earn the right to hear her story. And she had a very good idea as just how to make him earn it.

But first, she had to get back to Carlos. And the radio she had left with him. She wanted to tell her people up in the ship what she had done.

She wanted to tell the whole world what she had done.

Yes, she had done it. Yes, she had accomplished the near impossible.

She had done it! Sirren had killed the Velorian Planetary Protector! She, Senior Lieutenant Sirren, had done it! With her bare hands!