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“Yeah, there’s an entry to the access tunnel right there, so it saves all that travel time to and from the original location. It also provides easy access to the rest of the landscape so we don’t have to use the goat track anymore.”

“I’m very glad to hear that,” I said.

“I thought you might be. So how did the mission go? Any problems?”

“It was pretty much a milk run on the journey there and back. Although it actually was a little tricky transferring everything and everyone from the ISS to the starship. We couldn’t dock with the station because our ship was of alien design, so I had to try and match the station’s rate of turn and orbit with the starship and try to keep the ropes between them taut for the station’s crew and supplies upload. It was almost a challenge to my pilot skills—but we got it done in the end.”

The girls then rejoined us, so we chatted for a while longer about general things before Nick and Sammy bid us adieu and went home. I had to admit that I was kind of glad when they did; I could barely keep my eyes open. As we stepped onto the first tread of the stairs, I found that I was also glad it was really an escalator as it carried us upward. I doubted I had the strength to climb the stairs unassisted. Mel and I fell onto the bed and immediately fell into a deep and uninterrupted sleep for ten hours. I guess we really were tired.

We awoke and bounded out of bed the next morning, refreshed and full of energy for the day ahead. We had breakfast and went outside and jumped into the buggy. When we arrived at the houses of the new crew on level six, we found Nick and Sammy already there with them. All of us piled into the two buggies and headed off to explore the rest of the city. We didn’t bother showing them any more of the residential districts, as they already had digs, so the tour didn’t quite as  long. We completed the tour by having coffee and conversation in the terminal, which was Nick’s and my favorite meeting place because the windows looked out at the hangar and the spaceships parked there (we were, after all, seasoned pilots at heart).

“You must have felt like all your Christmases had come at once when you stumbled on 

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“Would it be all right if we postponed the rest of the tour until tomorrow? It has been a long and exciting day, and we would like to unpack and settle down for the evening.”

“Yes, of course. Would you like me to show you how to make the furniture appear?”

“No, the main bed has appeared, and that is likely all that we will require. I can work out the rest as necessary, and I will heed your warning about staying near the doorways when pushing the panels until I know what will pop out and where, believe me,” he said with a grin.

“OK then. I will bid you adieu until the morrow then. Sleep tight and don’t let the bedbugs bite.”

He gave me a strange look.

“Very well. See you tomorrow morning and thanks for everything, Drew,” he responded.

Mel and I jumped into the buggy and headed for home. We were looking forward to being in our own place once again. When we arrived, I pushed the panel in the lounge area and waited for the furniture to sort itself out before walking into the room. I made drinks for both of us and then we sat down with a shared sigh.

“Cheers!” we said as one and sipped our drinks.

“You get a nice view from level six. Would you like to move up in the world?” I asked.

“No, I would not. I like our home, and I really don’t want to move. The views from here are fantastic enough, and I think I would suffer from vertigo up there. Thanks all the same though.”

“Fair enough. It was just a thought. How did Yelena seem to you just before we left?”

“She seemed to be quite exhausted. It’s been a big day for them, and I really think they were very tired. It is tiring landing on a new planet, meeting other people for the first time, and house hunting as well, you know.”

“Now how would I possibly know about that? But I suppose you could be right.”

Any further discussion was interrupted by a knock on the front door. I rose and went to open it. It was Nick and Sammy. “Hi, guys! Come on in,” I said.

Nick and Sammy followed me into our lounging area. Sammy sat down on the couch next to Mel, while Nick and I went over to make drinks.

“Here you go, old boy. I brought you some rum.”

“Great. Thanks very much. You obviously found my stash while you’ve been unloading the remotes.”

“I say, old boy, I find that a bit insulting. At least I’m giving you back some of it.”

“Good on you, mate. So what did you think of the new crew?”

“They seem like a nice enough collection of misfits, I suppose. Something bothers me about Grizzly though. Nothing bad…he just reminds me of someone I once knew, that’s all. Oh and there’s also the fact that he looks like a huge bear.”

“Yeah, I really thought you were a dead man walking when you called him Grizzly Adams,” I said as we walked back to the couch and sat down.The girls had obviously overheard, because Sammy chimed in,

“Yeah, tell me, Nick, have you ever read a book titled How to Win Friends and Influence People? Oh wait, don’t bother answering—the answer is blatantly obvious to everyone in that room.”

“Aw, come on. It just slipped out of my mouth before my brain could stop it. I mean, don’t you all see it? The guy looks like a huge bear!”

“Well, it’s certainly not the first time it’s happened in the time I’ve known you, but I really thought today was going to be your last,” I added.

“I’m sure you would have saved me, Drew.”

“How do you think I was going to prevent a huge bear from tearing you a new one—sorry, I mean asunder? Actually, I mean both.”

“Well, anyway, it didn’t happen. All he did was rough me up a bit.”

“Actually that’s just the way he greets people. He did the same to me when I first met him, and I hadn’t even pissed him off.”

“Well, there you go! He and I are the best of friends. No harm, no foul.”

“Sure, if you say so. I noticed on my way in that you have moved the remotes to a new location.”

Mel interjected, “Uh oh, they’re going to talk pilot stuff now. Should we move into the kitchen and chat, Sammy?”

“By all means yes, let’s,” Sammy replied. The girls then rose and left us to talk shop.

“Don’t say nasty things about me behind my back, will you, dear?” I yelled after Mel.

“Of course not, darling,” was her faint reply.

“She will, you know! So anyway, you moved the remotes?”

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* * *

Back on Mars... with me,

I felt a shove on my shoulder, spun around to face the source, and found Nick standing there with his hand extended. I took it and shook it.

“So you managed to find your way back then?” Nick enquired.

“The city is still standing I see. I am impressed, not to mention surprised,” I replied.

“Well, most of it is, anyway.” Nick turned and hugged Mel, saying,

“Hello, Melissa. You’re looking refreshed and tanned after your summer holiday.”

Mel and I both laughed as I grabbed Nick’s arm and guided him over to Vladimir.

“Nick, this is Vladimir Lenin. Vladimir, this is Nicholas Watson.”

“My God, it’s Grizzly Adams!” Nick exclaimed.

All conversation in the room stopped as everyone turned and looked apprehensively toward Nick and Vladimir; even Nick started to look pale and nervous under Vladimir’s steely gaze. I started edging around behind Vladimir so that I could jump on his back if he went for Nick. It probably would have been about as effective and useful as a gnat landing on the back of a rampaging bull, but I had to at least try to save Nick. I said in a conversational tone as I moved to Vladimir’s left,

“You’ll have to excuse Nick. We suspect that he may have developed the first documented (well it will be documented when I bother to write it down) case of a condition we are calling Martian Madness. We are not sure if it is terminal as of yet, so we have adopted an investigative wait and see therapy.”

The room was suddenly filled with loud, booming laughter from Vladimir, which covered the sound of the communal sigh of relief from everyone else in the room. And so, from that day forward, Vladimir was affectionately known and referred to as Grizzly by all of us. Vladimir then started giving Nick the same greeting he had given me when I first met him, to my delirious delight.

After he had finished and Nick had recovered sufficiently, I introduced him to Boris and Natasha (he looked at me with raised eyebrows as if to say “really?” and I nodded back as if to say “really!”). Then I introduced him to Yogi and May-tee Yee, and then Yelena. We chatted for a few hours after that, until Nick looked at his watch and suggested we get the buggies and take the new crew on a tour of the city. This was met with great enthusiasm by everyone, and then Mel suggested that the new arrivals grab enough of their gear to last them a few days and they could pick out their accommodations at the same time.

It was decided that Dick, Grizzly, and I would walk over to fetch the other two buggies and drive them over to T-2 while the rest of the men got a lift in Nick’s buggy to T-2. By the time we got to T-2 with the other buggies, they had filled the trunk of Nick’s buggy with luggage, so they helped us fill our buggies with baggage and then we all drove over and picked up the women from the terminal.

I decided to start at the top and work our way down. The others followed me to the terrarium. Grizzly and Yelena were amazed at the number of shrubs and trees and the sizes they had grown to in such a short time. So were Mel and I, for that matter. It was astonishing how much everything had grown in the thirty-two days we had been gone. We drove through the terrarium in awe of the jungle that had been created, the animals that wandered among the vegetation, and the birds that flitted and flew above and through it. We then took them on a brief tour of level six. “Are these houses that we’re looking at now?” Grizzly asked.

“Yes, they are, and they are all empty,” Mel answered.

“Could we have a look at some of them?”

“Of course you can; let me just take you to the outer circle, where we think you will find the best ones.”

When we arrived, they climbed out of the buggy and went to look through a couple of them. Mel and I followed to show them how to work the blue panels to gain access. “You should stay near the doorways when operating the blue panels, because you don’t know what’s going to pop out or up or from where,” I warned them.

The rest of their crew had joined us by then and were learning as well. When Grizzly and Yelena asked to see another house, Yogi asked if he and May-tee could have the one they were looking at. There were no objections, so Nick and Sammy helped them unload their luggage from the buggy while the rest of us looked next door. After looking through that one, Grizzly expressed a desire to look at others, so Boris and Natasha claimed it. Dick and Courtney helped them with their luggage while the remaining four of us moved on to the next house. This one was more to Grizzly’s and Yelena’s tastes, and after looking through the whole house they declared that they would like that one.

Mel and I helped them bring in their luggage, and then I looked out the huge, panoramic windows in the main bedroom. Because level six was higher in the mountain than our houses, these houses had unobstructed views over the surrounding hills across the Martian landscape to the hills and mountains on the eastern horizon. It was very impressive and breathtaking, and I made a mental note to ask Mel later if she would like to move up in the world, or at least in the mountain.

“Drew, may I have a word with you, please?” Vladimir asked.

“Yes, of course,” I said as we moved away from the rest of the crew.