Zain smiled and turned to his sister as she strolled up behind him. She leaned against the balcony railing and gazed out over their family's land.

"Carmon is never going to let you have your own delivery run. No matter how hard you work him over," Zain said casually.

"How do you know I even asked?"

Zain shrugged. "I overheard you corner him in the hallway."

Her eyes narrowed. "I'm sick of minding the office. Sooner or later I'll wear him down-you'll see. He may be running the company now, but he's nowhere as tough as Father. I have my eye on the Galcuta run."

"Too dangerous," Zain said with a frown.

"Ha! You sound like Father. I can handle that run as well as Carmon."

Zain shook his head. "It's right through the heart of the Dead Zone, Torrie. Carmon has been attacked by pirates a handful of times, blown three engines, and lost two crewmen."

"Yes, but I know how to use a gun." She grinned.

Zain eyed his sister. "I noticed. Where'd you learn that skill? Certainly not from anyone in the family."

She humphed. "I've been sneaking out of the house for the past ten years learning weapons use, hand-to-hand combat techniques, piloting. I even devised my own tracking technology. I'm in a better position to handle a run than anyone in this house."

"I don't doubt your ability to take care of yourself, Torrie. Just choose a different run."

Green eyes speared him. "I don't want another run. I want that one.""Why?""Because it's the hardest," she told him, her voice firm. "That's where the adventure is."

He caught the gleam in her eye, one he understood completely. "Adventure is not all it's cut out to be, Torrie. I know. I've been there."

"You had your chance. I just want mine," she countered. "Besides, I have Mother on my side."

She grinned knowingly and Zain shook his head. Seven full-grown men were no match for the two Masters women, and he knew it. Torrie would get her run.

"I think you miss Lacey."

"Yes," he replied simply. How could he explain how she had taken all the light with her when she left? His heart was cold, black, and lifeless.

"So ... are you going to stick around here forever, or get on with your life?"

"Trying to get rid of me?"

"Unless you're going to convince Carmon to give me the run, yes." She shrugged.

"Besides, I thought InterGlax just cleared you?"

"They did," he said. "And they offered me a new assignment."

Torrie looked at him, surprised. "Really? Doing what?"

"Troubleshooting. I would work alone, with complete discretion handling any internal investigations. Basically keeping InterGlax clean."

"No bureaucratic red tape?"

He shook his head. "No. I would report to senior command only. I'd be a free independent. Nice ship, anything I want."

"Sounds like the perfect job."

"You don't sound happy for me," he said.

She gave him a half-hearted glare. "I just thought you had other priorities. Like, maybe a vacation on a juvenile planet. Let's say, Earth, for example."

He stuffed his hands in his pockets. "She doesn't need me."

"Oh, I wouldn't be too sure about that."

He watched stars fill the night sky. "I can pretty much guarantee that I'm the last man she ever wants to see again."

Torrie turned and leaned against the railing. "She loves you."

He laughed at that. "Maybe she did once but not anymore. There are some things that can't be forgiven." "So?"

He looked at his stubborn sister. "She has to fight a few battles for herself, without my help."

"So?" Torrie grinned.

"Isn't there someone else in this house you can bother?"

She laughed. "No. Besides, you're miserable without her. Go see her. What can it hurt?"

As if it were that simple. "She would throw me out," he said softly. "There's nothing I can say to give her back what I took from her on Avakur."

"Tell her you love her," Torrie urged. "Tell her how you feel."

"And then what?" he replied sharply. "Ask her to give up everything she's worked for and fly away with me on a little ship traveling across the galaxy into untold dangers?"

Torrie grimaced. "Actually, I have it on good authority that she hates space."

"No wonder. I ruined her," he muttered. "She's spent her life with men who didn't know how to treat her right. Men who controlled her every move. I'm not going to be another name on her list. I have nothing to offer her."

"How about love?"

His heart pumped cold blood through his veins. "I'm not sure I know how to do that without locking her up to keep her safe."

Torrie's expression softened. "You can't tell her how to live her life any more than Father could to you."

Her words sunk in slowly. She was right. Somewhere in the past ten years, he'd become his father-the controller of all, the man he most wanted to escape. How did that happen?

"Wait here," she said, and disappeared into the house. A few minutes later, she emerged carrying a canvas. It looked like one of his.

"I wanted to wait until IG cleared you. Lacey told me to give this to you to keep, and to never forget her."

He swallowed hard as she turned the painting over to reveal a sleeping Lacey. And everything came back in a flash. The sweet sound of her laugh, the smile on her lips, courage in her heart, love in her eyes-the wave of memories threatened to bring him to his knees.

"It's just too bad that InterGlax offered you the job of a lifetime. If you didn't have anything better to do, you could settle down with a good woman."

Zain's entire body stilled, and he lifted his gaze to his sister. "What?"

She waved a hand. "You know: a house, family, kids, sunsets. Quiet dinners. Long nights staring at the stars. Arguments over what color the house should be. But that would probably be too tedious for an otherworldly explorer like yourself. I mean, there wouldn't be any life-threatening situations to survive or InterGlax to save on a daily basis."

She handed him the painting, then walked back toward the house. Just before she stepped inside, she said over her shoulder, "Besides, how much everlasting love and happiness could one man stand?"

The sand was blistering beneath her feet as Lacey trekked the forbidding desert. She'd been walking endless hours toward the red hills in the distance, which seemed to be moving farther away with each torturous moment. Tired and thirsty, she wanted to rest. But Zain was in those hills, and he needed her. So she took another heavy step, struggling with her own body for every inch.

An alarm sounded beside her. Dread and panic followed. She tried to run, but the sand was swallowing her up. She screamed and lunged-and sat straight up in her bed. Early morning sun streamed into the room amid the gentle flutter of curtains. Oliver lifted his sleepy head and blinked at her.

Next to the bed, the phone rang.

"I hate that damn dream," she whispered, brushing hair from her face.

She fumbled for the cordless phone before it rang again.

"Hello," she murmured, and laid her head in her hand.

"Lacey?" her mother said. "Did I wake you?"

Lacey glanced at the clock. 6:21 A.M. Obviously her mother didn't want her sleeping her life away.

"I worked late last night," Lacey said with a yawn.

There was an audible sigh on the other end. "You work late every night, sweetie. You can't keep running yourself ragged like this. Don't you think it's time to take a break? Maybe a vacation?"

Lacey smiled at her mother's poor attempt at concealing ulterior motives. A vacation-so she could leave her solitary confinement and meet a nice new young man who would break her heart. As if she had a heart left.

She stretched and swung her feet onto the floor. "I'll take a break after I finish testing the Simmons project, I promise. I have to work on the house anyway."

"That's not much of break. You need to get out and have some fun."

"I just joined the local gardening club. That's getting out."

She could almost visualize her mother's eyes rolling. "Lacey, I meant something exciting. A little adventure," the woman added with enthusiasm.

Lacey laughed to herself. Just what she needed. "I've discovered that I'm not the adventurous type, Mom. Fixing this place up will be excitement enough."

"Well, I hope you don't plan on doing all the work on that house yourself," her mother continued, disapproval edging her voice.

Lacey glanced down the hallway, where she'd stripped off the old lathe and plaster, leaving bare studs and new possibilities. She thought it best not to tell her mother that she'd already done significant demolition. It was the rebuilding part she hadn't figured out yet. Not that that minor fact was going to stop her. She might not be adventurous, but she was persistent.

"Don't be silly," she said. "I just placed an ad in the local paper for a handyman."

"I'm so glad to hear that. Before she sold you the house, Glo always hired a handyman from town. I can't remember who. You could ask the neighbors."

"I will," Lacey said, now that she'd actually met the neighbors. Nice people. Nice little town down the road. Nice, quiet, peaceful place with nary a Bobzilla in sight.

As if her mother could read her mind, she asked, "Have you heard from Robert lately?"

Maybe just one Bobzilla. "I drove to Baltimore and had a short talk with him. He's going to give me a fight for my software ownership." Even as she told her mother, she smiled. The look of utter shock on Robert's face when she showed up on his doorstep and told him to hand over her application or she'd kick his sorry ass from here to the next star system had been worth everything. After a whole lot of stammering, he'd finally regained his lethal tongue and told her she'd have to sue him for it. Fine with her. She'd been threatened by the best. There was nothing Robert could do that would scare her now.

"I wish you'd told us when it happened sooner," her mother said, her disgust clear. "We could have helped you. We're family. We stick together. Your sisters and I would have come out to be with you."

Lacey's eye's widened at the horror of her mother and sisters underfoot. Nothing could save her from that. "I appreciate the sentiment, but Robert is my problem. I can handle him."

"We really did think he was perfect for you," her mother added sadly.

"I know. Don't feel bad. I used to think so, too."

"I hope you find a good man who will make you happy, Lacey."

The heart she'd thought was dead squeezed in her chest. She already had found a good man. She just couldn't compete with the universe.

"I have to go now," she said, trying to keep the emotion from her voice. "I'll talk to you later."

"Bye, sweetie." Her mom hung up.

Lacey turned off the phone and put it back in the cradle. She walked to the window. Outside, spring had finally beat back winter. All was green and fresh and real. Death Valley seemed like a distant memory. A low shrub waved at her in the breeze. It probably needed pruning. Everything needed something in this house. But that was okay. After this contract went out, she would have the time and money to do it right.

Maybe she'd even put a vegetable garden in this year. The gentlemen in the gardening club had been so sweet and encouraging. How hard could it be to get something to grow? And flowers, too. Perennials. Roses perhaps, along the back fence. And a swing on the porch. Like a real home.

She turned to Oliver. "So what do we do today? How about we go hog-wild and rip out the lav?" She winced at the terminology. "Bathroom, I mean." Oliver just yawned and laid his head back down.

"Smart cat."

Lacey went to her PC to check her E-mail. While her uplink tried to connect, she looked up at the poster of Stonehenge hanging over her computer.

Above the familiar stone megaliths hung a single, bright moon that penetrated the night. Behind it, the sliver of a sunset. She'd never realized how very fragile her little world was before. The wars and skirmishes and everyday problems seemed trivial in the grand galactic scheme of things. But Earth was safe now. She'd helped to save it, even if no one would ever know that except for a handful of aliens and Zain.

At the thought of him, a familiar ache swept through her. Maybe it was better to have loved and lost, but it made for long nights and a desolate heart.

A message flashed, and she noticed that the connection attempts had timed out. She shook her head. Her satellite dish had probably fallen off the roof, which had rotted out because of neglect. Unfortunately, she needed that uplink. It was her livelihood. So she headed to the back door.

She was halfway to the kitchen when a sharp knock startled her. Who was at her front door at 6:30 A.M.?

She pulled the door open and froze. Her hand on the doorknob was the only thing that kept her from falling over. A man stood on her wraparound porch, his back to her as he scanned her front yard. She took one step onto the porch and let the door close behind her.

He spun to face her. The hair had been cut short, and he appeared tired, but he still had the power to stop her heart. In a denim shirt and jeans, he looked as if he almost belonged here. Still, her mind struggled to place him in her world. For a long time, he just stood there and watched her-studied her, as if memorizing every inch. The world could have ended and she wouldn't have known.

After an eternity, he held the local paper up and said, "I'm here about your ad." When she didn't answer, he raised an eyebrow and added, "It says you need a handyman."

"Handyman?" she parroted. He was standing on her porch. Her porch in her world. In reality. On Earth. Where space cowboys didn't reside. Why?