Chapter 90

“We are going to make a pit stop on the way home, Mum,” Zeke informed her.

“You’re driving, Son,” Pat replied.

They watched as Mars grew as they got closer. Hercules had little trouble entering the thin atmosphere. He even got to spread his wings. They were soon speeding over craters and wide rents in the land. Zeke skirted a small mountain and dived down into one of the chasms.

Zeke slowed Hercules and hovered beside a cliff. “I’m going to blink,” he warned them.

They barely felt the transition as they appeared inside a huge cavern. They all felt the magical energy and subconsciously started to draw it in as Zeke lowered Hercules to the floor.

“Hats and gloves, people. I’ve never sealed this cavern to make it airtight. The door I put in the hole I found was to keep the blowing dust out. Herc says it’s not breathable outside.”

They made sure their suits were good and followed Zeke off the ship. He led them to a wall and touched it. An airlock door appeared. They entered a 3m cubed room. Zeke closed the door and went to the second door. He pressed a button on the wall and watched the display.

He hit the next button, and air flooded the chamber from the vents in the walls. Once he was happy that it had equalised, he went and opened the door into a long hallway.

“You can take off your helmets now.”

They walked down the hallway, and Zeke explained how he had found the caverns and secret rooms when he was nine. Since then, he had fixed them up a bit. They were amazed when they walked into a huge room set out with lounge chairs, side tables and a huge bookcase along one wall.

“This was all in here when I found it. Everything has preservation spells on it. Over the years, I’ve stocked the place and created a better air supply. You could live here quite comfortably.”

“It has six huge bedrooms, twenty-four smaller ones and two bunkrooms to sleep ten. The kitchen and dining rooms are also big. The preservation pantry is huge. It was practically empty when I got here. There is also a humongous storeroom, and I only know about half of what’s in it.”

“I never seem to find the time to finish exploring it. It still has most of the minerals they mined in it. I don’t think Mars had a much better atmosphere than now when the Keltrians were here, as few products are plant-based.”

“I sold some of the minerals when I needed some cash and to pay Frank when I got the shits with him, bleating that I was a drain on his resources. I’ve not really put much of a dent in what’s here.”

“I always wondered where you got the money. I thought you dug it up,” Pat commented.

Zeke chuckled, “Well, in a way, I did. I also had to get Blake to help me sell it. Until recently, he didn’t know where I found the gold. Fortunately, some of it was still in natural form. Do you want to see my treasure room?”

“Yes,” Carly cried in excitement while the others grinned.

“This way. Akl told me that none of my predecessors had found it. He’d brought four of them here in the past. He was surprised when I opened the hidden door. Only Ptah had been able to open the storeroom door before me.”

Zeke opened the hidden door in the lounge room.

“One thing I found interesting was that there was little in the way of jewellery. I’ve not found any magical items either. They were either cleaned out long ago or never left here. Most of this stuff is more for decorating a pretentious mansion.”

They looked around the large room. The items were varied and included different types of furniture and art, but as Zeke had said, unless you were interested in melting some of it down, decorating, or antiques, it was basically useless.

“So why are we here?” Lindsay asked.

“I wanted a few items for Herc’s hidden room and more crystals. I didn’t find very much of several precious metals in the space junk, that I need. Look around. If you like anything, tell me when I get back. It might be an hour or so. There is food in the kitchen.”

He then walked down an aisle and disappeared.

Carly looked at Pat.

“He can be aggravating, can’t he? He dropped two women into the solar system’s most exclusive shop and said, pick what you want; it’s free.”

Pat laughed. “Zeke has never been interested in social climbing or art deco. To him, a thing has a use, or it just takes up space. Even so, he can appreciate it is important to others, but it just isn’t him.”

Carly replied, “I guess when you live on a freighter, arty stuff just adds weight and takes up space.”

“Exactly. However, the common areas could do with sprucing up. Let’s see if we can find any pictures that we like. You can pick some, too, Lindsay. Your cabin is as bare as Carly’s.”

Lindsay grinned, “My mother would be green with envy if she saw this furniture. I say! I do like those chairs.”

He wandered over to a large dining table with twelve settings while Carly looked in the large chest near the table and gasped.

“Pat, what’s the bet this amazing dinner service is for that dining set. It even has matching artwork.”

Lindsay came and looked, too. “That’s smashing. Hey, Carly, has Zeke said anything about where he lives on Mars when he’s not on his ship?”

“He lives in his ship and has done so for many years,” Pat informed them.

Pat looked at the couple thoughtfully.

“However, with Frank gone and me moving, Zeke is going to have to spend more time on the planet. I’d be happier if he stayed in the house in the complex. Dallas and Sabrina have moved into the apartment that Zeke built.”