Local Hero

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    This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have control over and does not have any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.
    LOCAL HERO
    An InterMix Book / published by arrangement with the author
    PUBLISHING HISTORY
    Harlequin Books edition / December 1987
    InterMix eBook edition / October 2012
     
    Copyright © 1987 by Nora Roberts.
    Excerpt from
The Perfect Hope
Copyright © 2012 by Nora Roberts.
     
    Cover design by Sarah Oberrender. Photo: Central Park © iStockphoto/Thinkstock.
    Illustration of Commander Zark courtesy of Nora Roberts.
    All rights reserved.
    No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.
    For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
    a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
    375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
    ISBN: 978-1-101-56963-4
    INTERMIX
    InterMix Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
    a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
    375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.
    INTERMIX and the “IM” design are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

For Dan, with thanks for the idea
    and the tons of research material.
    And for Jason, for keeping me in tune
    with the ten-year-old mind.



Chapter 1
    Zark drew a painful breath, knowing it could be his last. The ship was nearly out of oxygen, and he was nearly out of time. A life span could pass in front of the eyes in a matter of seconds. He was grateful that he was alone so no one else could witness his joys and mistakes.
    Leilah, it was always Leilah. With each ragged breath he could see her, the clear blue eyes and golden hair of his one and only beloved. As the warning siren inside the cockpit wailed, he could hear Leilah’s laughter. Tender, sweet. Then mocking.
    “By the red sun, how happy we were together!” The words shuddered out between gasps as he dragged himself over the floor toward the command console. “Lovers, partners, friends.”
    The pain in his lungs grew worse. It seared through him like dozens of hot knives tipped with poison from the pits of Argenham. He couldn’t waste air on useless words. But his thoughts . . . his thoughts even now were on Leilah.
    That she, the only woman he had ever loved, should be the cause of his ultimate destruction! His destruction, and the world’s as they knew it. What fiendish twist of fate had caused the freak accident that had turned her from a devoted scientist to a force of evil and hate?
    She was his enemy now, the woman who had once been his wife. Who was still his wife, Zark told himself as he painfully pulled himself up to the console. If he lived, and stopped her latest scheme to obliterate civilization on Perth, he would have to go after her. He would have to destroy her. If he had the strength.
    Commander Zark, Defender of the Universe, Leader of Perth, hero and husband, pressed a trembling finger to the button.
    CONTINUED IN THE NEXT EXCITING ISSUE!
    ***
    “Damn!” Radley Wallace mumbled the oath, then looked around quickly to be sure his mother hadn’t heard. He’d started to swear, mostly in whispers, about six months ago, and wasn’t anxious for her to find out. She’d get that look on her face.
    But she was busy going through the first boxes the movers had delivered. He was supposed to be putting his books away but had decided it was time to take a break. He liked breaks best when they included Universal Comics and Commander Zark. His mother liked him to read real books, but they didn’t have many pictures. As far as Radley