Suffused in virtue, I dropped the draft of my statement on my boss' desk for her changes, then went down the slide, out to my carpet, and onto the freeway. Sure enough, traffic was beastly, especially down by the airport. Not only was everybody getting on and off there, but the flight lanes for the big international carrier really cramp air space for local travelers.

Judy was waiting for me when I got home, as I'd thought she would be. We'd been seeing each other for about two and a half years, then; I'd gotten her a spare entry talisman and given her the unlocking Word for my door pretty early in that time, and she'd done the same for me.

She greeted me with a pucker on her lips and a cold beer in her hand. "Wonderful woman," I told her, which might have helped heat the loss a little. She got a beer for herself, too. We sat down to drink them before we went out.

Judy's a big tall brunette with hazel eyes and a mass of wavy brown hair that falls halfway down her back. She doesn't walk, exactly; when she moves, it's more like flowing.

She looked too feline ever to seem quite at home on my angular apartment-house furniture. I enjoyed watching her all the same.

"So what did you come across today?" she asked.

I finished my beer and said, "Let's talk about it at the restaurant. If I start explaining it now, we won't get to the restaurant, and then you'll think I invited you over just to lure you into bed."

"It is nice to know you occasionally have other things on your mind," she admitted, upending her own bottle. "Let's go, then."

We rode on my carpet; the safety belts held us companionably close. The restaurant parking lot had a skin with a big Hanese dragon breathing ornately stylized fire and a blunt warning: TRESPASSERS WILL BE INCINERATED.