Wallace never knew any other home. It was always one planet to the next, sometimes an inhabited planet sometimes not. At times it could be boring, but it gave him a chance that few kids had: to see the galaxy. As the son of the captain's line, Wallace became an officer almost instantly. He had no formal education, receiving his training as an apprentice would; on the job. Mathematics came naturally to him so he found astrogation especially appealing.

Just before Wallace turned twenty, the Sylvan Dancer went on a long mission into the wilds after a reported cache of relic technology. The trip was a disaster. The planet did have relics, which were controlled by a paranoid TED. The crew only found this out, however, after they landed. Three members of the crew where killed in the escape from the planet and the sort space battle with the planet's decrepit systems defence boat. Fuel was short,but Wallace charted a coarse that took them directly to the next systems gas giant. Wallace's parents, who had been captain and first officer had been killed, since they usually led the trading efforts. His older sister, Vallan, the oldest in the captain's line, took over. As second oldest Wallace became first officer.

The Sylvan Dancer made the long trip back to the area of the Reform Coalition, where it did much of its trading. For the couple years things were fairly quiet. It occurred to Wallace that the Sylvan Dancer was becoming a little crowded. His younger brother Xander had taken a wife, and the engineer had just had another child. Keeping the population of the ship low enough had always been a problem, since there were often more kids then parents. Wallace began to consider other options.

The final factor in his decision was Vallan's announcement that her boyfriend, a dirtside trader, had proposed to her. Wallace knew Val would not leave her ship, which meant her husband would come to live on the Sylvan Dancer. By tradition, when the captain's spouse gained enough experience (s)he became first officer. Knowing he would lose his spot as first officer and realizing the ship was getting overcrowded anyway, Wallace decided to start making inquiries about jobs on other ship. With experience as a pilot and an astrographer in addition to a trader, and a talent for dealing with people, Wallace felt confident he would be able to find employment.