"A countdown. Four days and counting."

"To what?" she asked.

"An excellent question," he murmured. One he'd rather not be around to find out the answer to. He gave a quiet sigh. "I need Reene in order access to these systems."

Her reply was swift. "We'll fix Reene, Zain."

Her determination surprised him. Their eyes locked and for a split second, he wasn't alone. Lacey was right there, by his side like she'd been with the Bobzillas.

She might be fragile and small and soft, but she also had an unshakable spirit.

Next to him, Pio clicked. "They are back."

"Back?" Zain asked with a frown.

Pio turned and looked up. The entire chamber darkened. The console panel lights came to colorful life. Zain lifted his rifle with one hand and reached for Lacey with the other. Pio didn't move or appear alarmed, so Zain could only hope for the best.

The floor rumbled and, above them, four giant semitransparent tubes dropped from four circles in the ceiling-the teleportals around the dome. One dropped past the platform and locked into a hole below them, forming a conduit. Light brightened the iridescent tube and then a shipper descended. It shot down and into the waiting tunnel, followed closely by another. Zain turned to the other three conduits. They were also accepting shippers at a rapid rate. In short time, the conduits had emptied into the tunnels. Then the tubes disengaged and withdrew into their respective cavities in the ceiling.

As the chamber's lighting powered back to full strength, Lacey asked, "Are those the same units that went out a short while ago?"

"Probably."

"So maybe they are back empty now?" she suggested."Right," he said, trying to sound like he meant it. But his sixth sense was thrumming, growing more restless. "Pio, how often do the portals activate?"

The creature tilted its head. "Many times each cycle."

Busy place. "Do they always leave and come back?"

Pio's head tilted the other way. "Yes."

Zain pointed to the teleportal on the floor. "What about that?"

"They come every thirty suns."

"How long before the next visit?"

"Four suns," Pio chirped.

Zain studied the countdown. Maybe that's what it was for.

In four days, they were going to have a serious problem. Not that they didn't already, but it was going to be impossible to hide Reene if anyone showed up unannounced. He and Lacey would have no warning and no defense except for their rifles.

Lacey turned to him. "Zain, what is going on?"

"Something big."

Blue eyes narrowed in challenge. He was beginning to enjoy their battles, even if he lost sometimes. He put his hand up. "I'd like some answers, too. But first, we have to get Reene some power cells and work on his weapons." He turned serious. "Preferably before Bobzilla discovers we are vulnerable."

He gazed down into the abyss. Then up at the other side. He addressed Pio. "Where are the parts?"

The creature danced atop the counter and Zain heard a whirring beneath him as a narrow service walkway extended across the void and locked on to the balcony of the first floor of the other side. Pio sprang off the counter, and clicked across the floor and onto the walkway. A pedestal with a control podium sat just inside. He rotated around to face them.

"Other side," was his translation.

Zain turned and grinned at Lacey. Her horrified expression said it all. Her head had already begun to shake back and forth vehemently.

"Don't even think about it," she said.

Chapter Thirteen.

"I cannot believe I'm doing this," Lacey muttered. Her hands gripped a skinny railing, the only thing keeping her from certain death as the moving walkway drifted down. The metal mesh beneath her slippers gave a perfect view of the bottomless abyss they were sliding into. The flimsy walkway stretched between the center tower and the ring of vertical wall. She took another look over the railing and tried not to barf.

"I still don't understand why I couldn't have just waited back on the platform."

Beside her at the podium, Zain replied, "I don't want you too far away-in case someone enters through that portal up there." He worked his datapad, balanced perfecdy on his feet as if he rode these things all the time.

She knew he wasn't telling her everything. He was holding back-for what he thought was her own good, no doubt. One part of her hated it. The other part didn't really want to know. If she knew, what would it change? Nothing. They'd still be stuck on this stupid planet with a dead ship surrounded by Bobzillas. On the other hand, they could just plunge to their deaths right here and now.

She inhaled a deep breath, closed her eyes, and listened to her heartbeat. Think of something else, like Zain and his exceptional DNA.

"Are you all right?"

Zain's soft voice interrupted her panic attack. She nodded a half-dozen times before peering at him. "I've just never experienced so many degrees of terror in such a short period of time. I can't wait to see what else you've got in store for me."

"I'd hate to disappoint you," he said with amusement.

"Please. Disappoint me," she begged, trying to look anywhere but down. Above her, the view wasn't much better. They had dropped at least ten stories, and one of the portal circles was directly overhead. A troubling thought occurred to her.

"So, what do we do if the portals activate again and we are in the way?"

"Duck?" He grinned, not looking up from his datapad.

Smart ass. "Since you seem to have all the answers, just how do we know where we are going?"

"We have to trust Pio. He says the parts storage is located on the center level."

She glanced at the happily bobbing krudo who appeared to be enjoying the ride. Was she the only one who sensed danger here?

Endless minutes later, the walkway began to slow. It came to a complete stop and then slid sideways, catching Lacey by surprise, and she stumbled off her feet and into the railing. Zain's hand closed around her arm in a split second. As the walkway rotated around the tower, Lacey felt dizzy. "I'm definitely going to need drugs to get back."

"No, you won't."

She nodded adamantly. "Yes. Yes, I will."

From behind, Zain wrapped his hands around her waist, holding her fast and anchoring her as the walkway continued its sideways glide.

"Better?" he asked softly near her ear.

She could feel his heat on her back and closed her eyes against the insanity around her. She wanted to lean back just a little, just enough to lock herself in his strength and banish the free-floating anxiety she'd had since coming here. Even if he was the cause of it.

Hold me, she wanted to say. Hold me and keep me sane.

"All done, Lacey."

Her eyes fluttered open. The walkway had stopped, and she was facing one of the tunnels at the other end. Zain breezed past her toward the other side. Pio was already there. Paralyzing anxiety gripped her as she watched Zain stroll down the length of the catwalk as if it were as wide as a parking lot. About halfway across, he turned and noticed she wasn't following.

"Are you coming?"

She shook her head a little. It was the only part of her body she could move. Was he nuts? That walkway was getting narrower by the second. Hell no, she wasn't going. Her feet wouldn't budge and her mind had shut down altogether. She wasn't moving from this spot.

He returned, his eyes dark with concern. He stopped in front of her, blocking out the sliver of walkway.

"I'll help you across," he said quietly.

She shook her head. That meant "No, I'm not going." He was an intelligent life form, he should be able to figure that out.

Zain took her clenched fists in his hands. He looked down, frowned and carefully pried open one of her fists. She winced and realized blood creased her palm where her fingernails had dug in.

She heard him say something softly, and then he pried open her other hand. Slowly, his gaze rose to hers. She waited for him to tell her that her fears were stupid and ridiculous. To tell her in a lengthy, humiliating lecture how she should be able to conquer them like a normal person. Just like Robert.

Instead, he wrapped her fingers in his and gently pulled her toward him.

"Look at me," he whispered, and she promptly lost herself in his dark eyes. Somehow her right foot slid forward, then her left.

"Breathe," he said. She did. Another step, breathe, step, breathe-the whole time his eyes never left hers, keeping her in his spell.

Who are you? she wondered, marveling at his intense eyes, high cheekbones, chiseled lips. Are you my dream or are you a nightmare? It was hard to tell the difference until it was over. By then it was too late.

His lips moved. "We're here."

She blinked and looked around. Sure enough, she was standing inside the tunnel with the walkway behind her.

"Good job," Zain said with a faint smile. Then he turned into the darkened tunnel.

The parts center was a lot bigger and lot busier than he'd expected. Endless rows of racks were packed with inventory. As Zain stood on the balcony overlooking a cavernous room that stretched hundreds of meters, he wondered what the hell was going on. This housed more than just a few spare parts. There was an entire inventory here as well as a recovery area and repair station, all manned by robots. There wasn't a live body in sight.

He ducked his head at a flutter overhead. An airborne robot sphere flew by, oblivious to them. A set of arms hung below it, grasping what looked like a boring tool.

"A little ship?" Lacey asked, her voice hushed as she stood next to him.

"A runner," he whispered back. "They are designed to perform small tasks like carrying tools and hauling equipment." And for surveillance, although he didn't say it. More runners buzzed by, pulling out parts and tools and then flying off.

"It looks like a Home Depot in here," Lacey said. "Except these guys actually know what they're doing."

He eyed her. The color had finally seeped back into her cheeks. He'd had no idea how truly terrified she was of the bridge. It had taken great courage for her to fight such a deep-seated fear. No wonder she'd wanted to stay up top. But he couldn't leave her alone with the teleportal.

No, she needed to stay with him. For her protection. And it had nothing to do with the fact that he was enjoying her company.

"They don't seem to notice us," she noted.

"And I'd like to keep it that way. Pio, why all the activity?" Zain asked.

"Repairs. Always after they return," Pio bleeped.

"The shippers didn't look damaged," Zain noted.

"Inside they are." Pio swiveled and clicked across the balcony to a floor lift. They all boarded it together and descended to the first level. Zain took the lead, heading for the closest rack. On it, he recognized a diagnostic scanning unit.

"Parts?" Lacey asked, coming up behind him.

"For a spacecraft navigation system."

She swept her hands around. "Is this what's being teleported in?"

"Possibly."

A shadow overhead caught his attention. He looked up just as a charred part of a laser cannon was carried by. He ran down the length of the rack, exiting the row just in time to watch it dropped into a recovery dumpster. A sizzling sound followed and the smell of melting metal filled the air.

Lacey came up behind him. "What was that?"

Zain pursed his lips, not wanting to tell her what he was thinking. "Another part."

After a moment, he squatted to the creature's height and asked, "Pio, did that come out of a returning container?"

Pio tilted his head. "Yes. Many."

Weapons. Zain closed his eyes, his worst fears realized. This was no simple repair facihty or shipping facility. It was a military armory, and a high-grade one at that. The big question was-what was it doing here?

"I know you are the strong, silent type but I'm getting pretty tired of talking to myself," Lacey muttered as she towed a power cell on a hovering thingie behind her.

Zain walked ahead of her, carrying a serious-looking cannon on his shoulder. This was the third trip they'd made down this tunnel from the repair depot to the bridge, and Zain hadn't said a word. That man's head was like Fort Knox. But the part that worried her most was that he suddenly seemed in a hurry. Something had changed.

She continued, "And I'm boring myself to death."

"You are anything but boring," he called over his shoulder.

"What's the sudden rush, Zain?"

He didn't reply for a moment, then said, "I want to get back to Reene."