I knew the people here. I’d seen in their eyes their respect for me. They were here to win, and I was their leader. They were people I understood, people I knew how to motivate and train. I knew how to make them succeed.

“T. J.!” I reached out my hand to one of my vice presidents and member of my golf foursome. T. J. walked toward me and … through me! I actually felt his presence in me for just a moment, as if our molecules had shared the same space. In that moment I read his mind and learned what he thought of me—that I was an arrogant son of a gun and he’d just as soon have me drop off the edge of the world!

I stood still, blinking my eyes as others passed through me, hearing their thoughts as well. I used to think I’d like to be able to read minds, to get the advantage. Suddenly I no longer wished it. I backed away, not wanting anyone else to cross through me. I retreated, and we entered the corner office, my office. Joshua closed the door behind us.

I led him to my bookshelves and reached out and picked up a book to prove to myself I wasn’t a ghost. On a large mahogany worktable sat product models and promotional displays. The marker board behind it sported multicolored diagrams and bulleted lists of goals and opportunities. A large electronic screen to one side displayed one sales chart after another.

Excitement and passion welled up within me, a feeling and purpose I loved and understood. The sheer familiarity of it made me want to kneel down and kiss the floor. Had I escaped from the world of the red sun and two moons? My heart sank. No—surely what had happened with T. J. proved I was still somewhere else. I had dropped off the edge of the world. And somehow, some way, I had to get back.

Joshua gazed approvingly at the view through the windows towering beside us. “You belong here, don’t you, Nick?”

I nodded. This was my world, and I had sailed its waters as expertly as any sea captain had ever commanded his ship and his men. First in my office and last to leave—I’d been proud of that service record.

“I could take you back to Earth, Nick. I have that power.”

“You do?”

“In fact, I was thinking, maybe we could go into business together. What do you say?”

“Well … I don’t know what to say.”

“Say yes.”

“But how could you get me back?”

“Leave that to me.”

“What would I have to do?”

“We can talk about that.” Joshua waved his hand across the office. “This is what you were made for, Nick, isn’t it?”