Page 26 of The Last Aquarius
“I’m going to pack some gear right away. When and where should I meet you? Is there a secret door in the portal chamber for the Mars one?”
She shook her head. “Think higher.”
“Rooftop?”
“Almost. Meet me in my suite.”
“Oh hell yeah. See you in a few hours.”
Hours that Ishtar spent pacing and wondering if she did the right thing. Maybe taking him to her planet, for real this time and not in a dream, would finally make the situation sink into Reece’s stubborn—handsome—head.
He arrived sooner than expected laden with a backpack and a bulging duffel bag in each hand.
“I do believe you forgot the kitchen sink,” her sarcastic drawl.
“Oh, that’s in the pallet I asked Nimrod to ready by the Mars portal, on wheels so we can push it inside.”
“You do realize Mars’ version of electricity won’t run your electronics.”
“Figured that, which is why I’ve got some portable power packs on the pallet. I would have brought a generator but didn’t figure you’d have gas to run it.”
“We don’t. We ran most of our things offluughal.”
His brow creased. “What’s that?”
“A crystal known on Earth as kyawthuite.”
He snapped his fingers. “Isn’t that like the rarest thing on Earth? They only ever found a tiny chunk, less than two carats large.”
“It’s actually from Mars. Or was. I swapped the one in the museum a few years ago for a fake.”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the one thing the Kukakk would need if they wanted to build nanobots or one of their more deadly weapons. It’s part of why we struggled to defeat them. They took over one of our mines.”
“Damn. Guess it’s a good thing Earth doesn’t have any, or we’d be in even bigger trouble.”
Most likely the Kukakk would find a way to adapt. Once it did, game over. “Ready to go?”
“Heck yes. After Your Majesty.” He mocked a bow, and she bit back a smile at the Earthly custom. Martians had not been as strict on those kinds of ridiculous pageantries when she was queen. Although she did know, in their past, they used to be quite fond of ceremonial customs.
Her suite spanned the entire upper floor of the tower, with only two areas sectioned off, one for bathing, another for a wardrobe, not that it was required with Nimrod supplying every need. She headed for a section between those two doors, a seamless expanse of wall but for a sigil carved in the stone.
“We about to pull a Harry Potter?” Reece asked.
“A who?”
“Never mind,” he muttered.
She placed her hand on the symbol, and an opening appeared. Beyond it, five arches. One for each major city on Mars. The one in the middle, with a pallet sitting just to its left, led to the citadel. Taking a deep breath, she stepped through and emerged in a chamber similar to the one they left. It also held five arches. Four of them leading to the other cities. Not that she would dare visit them. They’d been reduced to rubble. The citadel had only survived because it had been built to withstand even the most severe natural disasters, unlike Tamtui, a resort city of incredible beauty, its buildings built of the shells that washed upon its shores. It had been the first to fall.
She stepped aside just in time as Reece came through, pushing the wheeled pallet ahead of him. His expression brightened with interest.
“Let me guess, those are doorways to special spots on Mars?”
She nodded.
“Built by Martians.”
