Home sweet home. Three weeks in the Mojave Desert gathering data about how geckos thermoregulate left a man hot, dry, and dusty. A shower and a long nap, in that order, were the only two things I had on my mind. I was determined that not one thing or not one person would keep me from them. And it was even sweeter knowing that my house was on the water and there was no sand in sight.

Mac ran his hand through his unruly, blonde hair as he shook his head. His scalp felt gritty, and the taste of sand was still on his lips. He had washed in three weeks but there were no high-pressure shower heads like the ones he had in his bathroom. That three-and-a-half-hour drive from the Mojave Desert seemed like three and a half days. What sand was not on him was in his Jeep.

MacGyver opened his front door and dropped his duffle bag down on the floor with a thud. Three weeks' worth of smelly, sweaty clothes. Mac thought there was a third thing he needed to do, laundry.

MacGyver liked living on a houseboat. It was like his own oasis. Sometimes he felt like he was sheltered from the troubles of life.

As he started to skim through a thick stack of mail that he had picked up from the post office, he pressed the button on his answering machine to listen to what calls he had missed while he was away.

"Hi, this is MacGyver. We all know how these things work so when you hear the beep, go for it." Mac winced as he listened to the first message on the machine.

"Hey, Mac. Jack here. Don't you ever stay home? Never mind. It's your best friend, Jack. Jack Dalton. Just in case you had more than one best friend. I won a bid on an abandoned storage unit. Got it for a song. The only problem is it didn't come with a key. I know how clever you are at getting into locked places, so if you can help me, you can have first pick of whatever is in the storage unit. And being that I don't know what is in there, I may need some help loading it into the truck I rented. Call me. Because if you don't, I'll just keep calling you. See you soon, pal."

MacGyver quickly pressed the delete button on his answering machine and patted himself on the back for doing so. Who knew what they would find in that storage unit. Counterfeit money. Drugs. A crying baby. Well, maybe not a baby. But whenever Mac got mixed up with Jack anything could happen. And it usually was not good.

Jack Dalton and MacGyver had been friends since high school back in Minnesota. Jack was always chasing a get rich quick scheme and often dragging Mac along with him. While the adventures that pursued brought danger sometimes, they always brought laughs and camaraderie. And with MacGyver's mechanical skills, he made a stable ground crew for Jack's shaky planes that he flew.

Just as Mac started to trudge up the stairs to take a shower, the phone rang. He looked up the spiral staircase, longing for his shower. He caught a glimpse of his bed with his favorite down comforter, which he planned to surrender to after he washed away all the dirt of the desert.

"No. I am not picking it up. That is why I have an answering machine," MacGyver said to himself, as he grimaced.

But Mac, being the friend that he was, fought his conscience and picked up the phone. How long could it take to drive down to the storage unit, open the lock, pack up Jack's "treasure" and get back home? Then he could rest undisturbed.

"Mac! It's about time. Did you get my message about the storage unit?"

"Yes. I did. I will help you get into your storage unit and pack up your things. But I don't want a pick of your treasure. I just want you to leave me alone to sleep."

"No problemo! I can meet you there in an hour. Cheap Self Storage at 123 Ironwood Avenue. Oh, and bring an extra pair of work gloves for me and your handcart. I don't want to strain my back. See you there, pal!"

MacGyver hung his head and sighed deeply.

He jumped into the shower, throwing his clothes in a heap on the floor. They practically stood up on their own. After a quick scouring, he got dressed, grabbed two pairs of work gloves, and loaded his hand cart into his Jeep.

Off to his next adventure with Jack Dalton.