"'Let me go free?'" Kara repeated with a mild laugh. "Maybe that's not what I want. Do you think I broke into a base just to be let go?" Kara shook her head and stalked along the aisle, heedless of the fact she was out of irons thanks to the man behind her.

She knew she really couldn't tell anyone what she really wanted, though. Stern could make all the promises he wanted to, but there'd always be another CO looking over his shoulder, and Kara'd eventually be remanded to a mental institution for claiming to be from another planet. Still, if Stern did believe her - and he'd have to do so to some degree what with all the damned evidence she'd gathered and left in her escape plane - she could at least throw her weight in another direction.

Pausing midway down one aisle, she plucked a beat up old tach from a shelf, turning it over in her hands. Turning back toward Stern, Kara gave him a long look. "I'm not saying no, Commander, all right? You just gotta give me something else besides an unarmed escort off property."