The cable closet on Level Twelve was a mess. Bits of wires and shielding littered the floor.

"What's it look like down there?" Lacey asked over Reene's comm. She'd stayed in the ship.

"Like a bomb went off." Zain turned to Pio. "So you were tripping the sensors when you played, and InterGlax would show up and shoot you?"

"Yes."

"So you cut the sensor wires?"

"Yes."

"Didn't they come to fix them?" Lacey asked.Pio gave a little bounce. "Two thousand and thirty-five times."Zain heard Lacey burst into laughter. When she recovered, she said, "Don't ever accuse me of being stubborn again." He had to grin. He could only imagine InterGlax's frustration. He examined the mass of conduits. "How did you know which cables to cut?"

Pio scrambled over to the cascade of thick tubes.

"We cut all, then watch them fix." He pointed a bony leg to the red cable. "Eyes.

Stop fixing."

"Sensors," Zain said for Lacey's benefit. "That explains why they didn't detect us down here. Probably got sick of all the false alarms. What else do we have?"

Pio waved at the blue cables. "Portals. Always, fix portals." Then the yellow.

"Ears. Always fix."

"Ears. Communications maybe?" Lacey asked.

"Would be my guess." Zain dropped his pack and began pulling out items. "Give me a few minutes, and we'll be tapped in."

"Report, Everard."

In the miniature holodeck on Schuler's desk, his ops chief stood at attention. "We are on schedule. All systems are online and operational."

"And Installation 93?"

"Nothing unusual to report. I will send a team in tomorrow for a complete assessment."

"Excellent. I understand that Maadiar has finally accepted our protection and trade opportunities." Schuler leaned back and savored another victory.

"Yes, sir. Our field team did an expeditious job of orienting the Maadiar's juvenile governments. We should have no trouble bringing the rest of the juveniles into our trade agreements after tomorrow's strike."

"Excellent. News of the Maadiar attack has reached CinTerr, and the upper InterGlax leadership is scrambling for excuses. They are on the brink of collapse with no one to save them." Schuler paused. "Unless Zain Masters returns from the dead."

"Zain Masters?" Everard's eyes widened. "He can't still be alive."

"Apparently, the man is quite resourceful. I have Ferretu on his trail. With luck, we won't have to worry about him."

Everard blinked rapidly. "Yes, sir. Out."

Schuler closed the comm. On his monitor, the countdown continued its torturously slow march toward victory. Until now InterGlax had known but a small taste of his power.

He wondered how Lundon would feel if he knew his "old friend" was taking down InterGlax under his nose. Schuler felt no guilt and no regret. InterGlax and CinTerr had outlived their usefulness; they were too slow and blind to the fortune to be made from the untapped and fertile juveniles of the Outer Rim. They were obsolete. And once InterGlax was dissolved, no one would stand in his way of negotiating new trade alliances with mature planets. Eventually, CinTerr would fall and the universe would be free of their oppressive rules.

Schuler savored the sweet taste of a triumph twenty years in the making. He was about to single-handedly bring the most formidable military force in the galaxy to its knees. It would be a feat that would change history.

Nothing could stop him now.

Chapter Twenty.

Lacey watched the miniature replica of the underground armory blossom on Reene's console as Zain tapped into more systems. The cables were visible now, looking like a spider web spreading down from the dome into the levels below.

"This is very cool," she said to Reene. "So, now you can see whatever InterGlax sends to the station?"

"Correct," Reene replied. "Zain has tapped all the main cables. When InterGlax communicates with or polls the station, I will be able to interpret the results and build an interface."

Lacey nodded. "Will that give you enough of a sample to be able to control the portals?"

"The odds are favorable."

A blue box lit up on the panel in front of her. She glanced out into the surrounding area looking for trouble. She saw nothing but calm red desert.

"What's that light for, Reene?"

"An incoming transmission," he replied.

"From whom?" she asked.

"Zain's sister, Torrie."

Her eyes widened. He had a sister? It occurred to her that she knew nothing about his family. She watched the Ught flash. "Don't you think you should answer it?"

"I am not authorized to open transmissions in Zain's absence. The sender may leave a message." Lacey frowned. If it was her sister, she'd want to talk to her. So she leaned forward and pressed the blue square. Immediately, a stunning, redhaired young woman replaced the image of the Well in the holo-deck. "Lacey, you are not authorized to manually override-" Reene objected. "It's about time someone answered," the redhead said over Reene's protests. She raised her eyebrows when she saw Lacey. "Greetings. I'm Torrie Masters." Lacey leaned back, fascinated by the interactive holographic communication. "I'm Lacey Garrett. Nice to meet you. You're Zain's sister?" Reene interrupted. "Lacey, I really must insist you break off this conversation-" With a smile, Torrie said, "Yes, whether he wants me or not, and despite his nagging computer. I've been trying to contact him for days with no reply." "The ship crashed and then lost all power. We just brought everything back up." The woman pursed her lips and looked at something beyond Lacey's range. "Is his ship still inoperable?" "Not anymore. But we have other problems. Bigger ones if you can believe it,"

Lacey added with a smile. Reene interrupted, "Zain is approaching." Torn from Torrie's image, Lacey frowned. "So?" "Dammit!" She jumped at the roar behind her. "Shut it down, Reene," Zain ordered as he appeared. Lacey spun and sucked in a breath. He was glaring at her with murder in his eyes. "I can't, sir. Manual override is on." Zain's eyes narrowed to slits. Lacey sank back into her chair as far as she could. "Why hello, Zain," Torrie said, looking up at him. "I see you still have a way with women. Don't go blaming her. I just followed your ping." Lacey was relieved when his homicidal gaze moved to Torrie. She watched a quick succession of emotions play on his face. "There's a reason why I don't answer your messages, Torrie," he said finally. "Then you shouldn't have pinged me." His sister smiled. "I figured your buddy Rayce would contact you about me, and sooner or later, you'd start to worry. Anyone ever tell you that you're predictable?" Zain countered, "Anyone ever tell you that you are relentless?" She laughed. Brave woman, Lacey thought. She liked Torrie instantly. Then his sister's expression sobered. "I'm on a serious mission, Zain. You need to come home. Father is not doing well. I know you don't get along but you may not get another chance to see him alive. Let me help you-"

"No," Zain growled. "This isn't a good time."

"I know about the ship," she responded. "I have parts-"

"It's not just the ship, Torrie. This planet is a death trap. We're in a seriously dangerous situation."

"Again?" she replied, rolling her eyes. "How do you get into so much trouble in the middle of nowhere?"

"It's a gift," he muttered. "One I don't want to pass along. So, let me go for now."

She shook her head. "No can do, big brother. I came all the way out here to get you and I'm not going home empty-handed."

Zain stood with his hands on his hips and Lacey sensed him waver. "How bad is Father?"

Torrie's expression softened. "Terrible. His heart is failing, and he's too stubborn to get a replacement. He only has a few months left. Probably less." Torrie leaned forward. "Please, Zain. I'm begging you. If you miss this last chance, you'll never be able to forgive yourself."

Zain closed his eyes and Lacey sensed the sadness that seeped from him. "You know it's not safe for me there. It's not safe for anyone around me."

Torrie replied, "Trust your family, Zain. We'll take care of that."

Lacey frowned. We? There were more of them?

Zain exhaled, hard. "Let me handle this mess first. Then, I promise I'll come home."

Torrie looked skeptical. "I could help. I'm close."

A corner of Zain's mouth twisted. "If we need something blown to hell or general anarchy, I'll call you."

His sister made a face. "That only happened once."

Zain smiled at her warmly. "Don't come find me, Torrie."

She gave him a look of concern, then sighed. "I'll be good-if you stick to your promise."

He nodded. "Give me two days."

"Deal," Torrie said. Then she looked at Lacey. "Perhaps we'll meet?"

Zain's eyes met Lacey's and narrowed.

"Uh, thanks, but I'm only here temporarily."

"Really? That's too bad. Zain could use some human interaction." She winked.

"Out." The blueprints of the armory filled the holodeck once again, leaving a sound vacuum that Lacey tried hard to ignore. But it was impossible to ignore a big, angry man taking up most of your personal space.

Zain spun her chair to face him, placed a hand on its arms, and bent down to look her in the eye.

"What do you think you were doing?" he asked coolly.

She held his gaze. "You shouldn't ignore your family."

"Really?" he asked, his voice dangerously soft. "And what would you know about my family?"

"You have a sister, parents, and brothers," she guessed. "Who worry about you and want you to come home. And a sick father."

"And I could get them all killed," he said. "Now, thanks to you, Torrie likely has a fix on my location."

She blinked. "She said she wouldn't-"

He pushed from her chair and towered over her. "My sister has never followed the rules. Ever. She'll do whatever she feels like."

Lacey crossed her arms. "So what's wrong with that?"

"I don't want Torrie to be shot down by this planet's defenses. Her ship is nowhere near as sophisticated as Reene."

The thought made Lacey gasp in panic. "I forgot."

Zain's stern expression was unforgiving. "Obviously."

"But this is family, Zain. You can't ignore family, even if you want to. Believe me, I've tried."

"Watch me."

Reene's voice interrupted. "We have portal activation."

At the familiar rumble and blast of lights from the upper portals, Lacey looked through the viewport. Sure enough, all the archways were initiating transfers. She glanced at the holo-image and watched color pump through cables from the dome to the sublevels and back.

"Are you getting all this?" she asked Reene.

"Of course," he replied, and added calmly, "We have an execution interface. And I have pinpointed the source of the commands. Sir, it's Avakur."

"Bastards," Zain growled but he didn't act surprised.

Lacey gazed at him in concern. "Do you think InterGlax and Avakur formed an alliance?"

"It's starting to look that way. Reene, any indication of what the Well's countdown is for?"

There was a pause. "No, sir. However, Pio is correct. A routine maintenance check is scheduled for Installation 93 in approximately thirty-six hours."

"Is Installation 93 the name of this facility?" Zain asked.

"Yes."

Breath caught in Lacey's throat and she turned to look at Zain. His expression was drawn with concern.

"So how many other installations are there?" she asked. "And where the hell are they?"

Lacey hung out in the lav for as long as she could. Eventually, she'd have to come out. She rehearsed the speech that she'd come up with: "I realize that we had sex last night, and that it may seem as if I'm interested. But it'll never work out because we have nothing in common. This will only distract us from our mission, and Reene is here, and the cat, and Pio who has moved in, and it's getting a little bizarre. So I think it would be better if we refrained from sex from now on."

She nodded to herself in the mirror-the picture of cool, calm, and collected. And just to be safe, she had her own clothes on. She was going to stay focused and out of the danger zone.

Feeling in control and fearless, she stepped out of the lav to find Zain's naked body stretched across her bunk, covered by a very thin sheet. He had one muscled arm thrown over his eyes, with those perfect lips and shadow of a beard showing. His chest was wide, sprinkled lightly with hair. It narrowed to his hips and then long, lean, strong legs.

"Oh, damn," she uttered, knowing her plan was ruined already.

He raised his arm and heavy, sensual eyes peered at her. "You spend more time in the lav than any woman I have ever met."