Chapter 47

While the girls were sad to see Freya fly away, they knew it was time to settle into their new life.

Neither of them was really sorry that they no longer had to be at their father’s beck and call. While they did worry a little, after all, he was their father, they didn’t doubt his guilt. His actions leading up to them coming to Earth space had not put him in their good graces.

Knowing how he had used them in the previous few years didn’t gain him their sympathy either. Particularly from Paula, who tended to be his victim and chosen nursemaid, more so than Jada. The twins realised it was time to grow up and do something with their lives.

Even so, knowing that they still had Raul and Sofia to depend on, would help ease them into their future. While Jada still harboured some fantasies concerning Zeke, she did recognise them as being similar to idolising an unattainable vid star. Even so, she did have one vivid night to revisit in her dream.

It would do for now.

Zeke was glad to be heading to Morpheus.

He left while the girls slept, so he arrived for business hours on Morpheus. According to the calendar, it was Wednesday, the twenty-second day of December. It only took him three hours to be on an approach vector.

Before he left, he contacted Tean. He had her berth location, and she told him she had reserved a berth for him on Section C. She also had a lot to tell him when he got there.

Zeke contacted Manny to tell him that he would drop in and see him later that morning. Manny was looking forward to the visit. He also had news for Zeke, but it could wait until they saw each other face to face.

Zeke then contacted his storeman, Kilos Gaur.

Kilos replied, “Zeke, my man, back so soon? Never mind, I’ve got space for you if you’re dropping any cargo off. You can turn up any time. I’ll even put clean sheets on the bed for you,” he laughed.

Kilos was a simple man with simple pleasures, but he was no man’s idiot. He had been born on the station and had never left it in his forty years. He had worked as a dock man from straight out of school.

Kilos had been promoted to storeman some twenty years before. He was very good with numbers and keeping track of orders. Some people considered him OCD about organising his stock. Messing with it would result in a serious tongue-lashing from Kilos.

You would be hard-pressed to determine the nationalities of his forebears. He had long Black hair done in dreadlocks. One eye was hazel, and the other was grey. They resided over his wide, flattish nose and skinny lips on his triangular face.

He had olive skin on his trim, 170cm (5’ 7”) frame. He was also as gay as they come, with a thing for wearing purple and black. That included his elaborate eye-shadow and liner, lipstick, and nail polish.

However, he didn’t dress effeminately. He liked tight ship-suits in combinations of black and dark purple. He had other assets he was happy to advertise, including his tight little butt. He worked out religiously, but not to build bulging muscles, just to keep trim and fit, and it showed.

Zeke had rescued Kilos on his first trip to Morpheus, nearly four years before. He’d been trying to locate the warehouse his customer wanted the MC sheets sent to when he heard a scuffle.

He beat on the dumpster the men were behind and yelled, “MPs. Stop what you’re doing and get down on the ground.”

He watched three men run away but didn’t pursue them. He heard a man groaning and found Kilos, badly beaten, beside the dumpster outside the warehouse he worked in, in Section J. This was the first time Zeke had learned about the corruption on Morpheus.

Armid and his goons were unhappy when Kilos refused to join their new Union. Kilos was also less inclined to close his eyes to blatant theft. He was an honest man, valued his job and did it well. He had been left with the choices of joining, leaving his current job, or dying from the beatings he could expect.

Zeke had helped Kilos home and stayed with him after Kilos refused to seek medical help. As the night wore on, Zeke became so concerned by Kilos’ irregular breathing and the bruises on his chest that he performed a hands-on healing spell.

Healing spells were not his forte, as Nature was his weakest skill set. Ptah hadn’t used many healing spells either and had only recorded a few spells in his journals. However, Zeke’s worry caused him to put a bit more zest into his spells on this occasion.

When they both awoke the next morning, it was obvious that Kilos was fully healed with not a mark on him. He felt as fit as a fiddle, and even his chronic back pain had disappeared. He even looked younger than his thirty-six years of age.

Zeke had some explaining to do. At the time, only five people knew that Zeke could do magic. Kilos became the sixth. For Zeke, befriending and trusting Kilos became a very wise decision.

For one thing, Kilos didn’t bat an eye when Zeke told him he could do magic. The man knew he had been dying, and now he wasn’t. He was also pain-free. Kilos thanked Zeke for saving him twice.