While Alex was admiring the construction process of the Colony builders , Helena joined him .
They were silently looking at the shipyard when Helena spoke , “I think you’ll need more miners and cargo ships if you want to complete all of your projects”.
“You’re right , but it doesn’t come down to a year or 2 considering that the construction will take 20 years to complete , and I don’t have to pay for personnel since it’s all automated” answered Alex .
“Still , the miners and cargo ships can mine the asteroid belt so that resources won’t be a problem in the future” replied Helena .
“I already thought about that .
That’s why , after all the planned ships have been built , I’ll keep building miners and cargo ships” said Alex .
A space station around earth for docking and living purposes is added to the to do list once there are enough resources .
“Just don’t bite off more than you can chew , Alex.” said Helena .
We’ve got more than enough time to do it all at our own pace , and if you have forgotten , there are 8 billion more people on earth .
You don’t have to do it all on your own .
She kissed him and said , “I’ll be going to Sam and Cynthia , there’s an orc settlement that needs to be raided . See you later” and she left .
Alex and Helena had their own schedules these three days , but they didn’t neglect each other .
They had dinner together every evening and Helena would talk about what she had been up to with Sam and Cynthia .
Alex , in turn , talked about possible plans with the solar system and when it would be a good time to explore the nearby star systems .
Helena chuckled several times when hearing the wild dreams of her boyfriend and told him that they had plenty of time to do these things , but that the solar system had to be developed first before thinking about spreading their wings.
“Humanity was just adapting with the whole Nexus and other species thing” she said.
He also got a message from El’Anor stating that they were busy with making the plans for the tier 4 city , but with the new guidelines provided by the government , half of the city would be catered to accommodate scientists and engineers .
She said it would be quite the bill if he intended to pay for it and was making sure that there were no problems at Alex’s side considering the magnitude of the project .
Alex , with all his scans he submitted in the early days and numerous side projects wasn’t concerned .
Da’grass once told him that he had submitted a planet’s worth of scans due to him scanning for millions of years before he ended up in Alex’s hands .
But when he thought about all of the expended credits with his projects , he couldn’t help but gulp ; he was spending credits like water on a hot day .
He told El’Anor to send the bill whenever they were ready and sent her his regards .
The refugees had their treatment , and Helena and Alex returned to the island after they had a short chat with John , who was anxious to return home and see the rest of his family .
Days past while they were enjoying the weather on their little island and as they were lying at the pool , Alex got a message that the colony builders were ready to be deployed .
Helena notified Sam and Sarah , who wanted to be present when Alex would give their destination , and told Alex to wait for them .
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They didn’t have to wait for long before both of them showed up .
“You haven’t deployed them yet , have you?” said Sarah .
“That would be a shame while we could watch them leave their docks” said Sam .
“You guy’s want to see them leave?” asked Alex .
They’ll be gone before you know it .
“Humour us” pleaded Sarah .
“Yeah , this is history in the making” said Sam .
Very well , but let me and Helena get changed before we leave then .
While they were walking to the docks , and not the shipyard because miners were already under construction , Alex explained to them where he was going to send them .
“I let Da’grass scour the scientific world on the internet in search of interesting locations for a colony , and he returned to me with three locations where water , albeit frozen , is present” said Alex .
So I decided to build colonies on those three locations .
“And those are?” asked Sarah .
“We’ll have to send the colony builders to Jupiter and Saturn” explained Alex
More specifically , Europe , a moon around Jupiter , and Titan and Enceladus , two moons around Saturn .
“Why not the moon around Earth?” asked Sam .
“At the time I made the decision , I was intending to keep ourselves hidden for as long as possible .
Besides we can always build a colony on the moon afterwards” replied Alex .
“And when will the colonies be connected with gates?” asked Sarah
“The gates will be delivered to the colonies when the cargo ships have been built , their first stop will be the fledgeling colonies” answered Alex .
There will be research facilities present and more defenses just to make sure , but other than that , they will be the same as the Mars colony .
Any more questions ?
“Isn’t there a lot of radiation at those locations?” asked Sarah .
“Yes , without the shields we wouldn’t even be able to maintain a presence over there” replied Alex .
If there aren’t any more questions , I’ll be giving the order for launch .
Da’grass , if you will , launch !
As they watched the ships leave , everybody was holding their breaths .
It didn’t take long for the ships to get out of sight , but they were happy to have decided to watch in person .
“Alex , there is something you should know” said Da’grass .
Two galaxy freighters are to arrive at Mars in two hours , they are delivering the equipment to start construction for terraforming Mars .
“Two ? I thought all was to be delivered by one freighter” asked Alex .
Apparently , Etherea changed your order somewhat in recognition what you have done .
Your order remained the same with the exception of some prefabricated industrial complexes with docking capacities .
Resources are delivered , and construction of needed parts is executed immediately .
“Does it change anything specifically in the construction process ?” asked Alex .
“No , you only have a much easier start .
As long as you provide recourses , it will continue producing the parts it needs for its construction , as well as more droids for construction and maintenance” answered Da’grass .
“Give a heads up to john about what’s going to happen , those ships won’t go undetected by Earth” said Alex .
Who wants to go for a drink while we await the second big event for today ?
“That’s a good idea .
There is a bar with a splendid view not far from here” said Helena .
“Did you know it would arrive today” asked Sarah .
“No , I only knew it could arrive the upcoming days” responded Helena while walking to the bar .
“Two major events on one day” said Sam .
Do you mind if I let Cynthia know about this ?
“I’m just surprised you didn’t for the launch of the colony builders” said Alex .
“I did , but she was busy with something important for her work” responded Sam.
“It’s over here .
There is a terrace on top of the building where you can watch the skies very clearly” said Helena .
They went upstairs , took seats at a large table , and ordered some drinks .
A conversation over their exploits in the Nexus started and drifted towards company talk about upcoming projects , distribution and development .
Even Sam talked about his brewery on the colony and the Nexus until Cynthia arrived , and Helena decided that business talk was over .
Alex , remembering that they had made Sarah look just a bit younger when she got the treatment , asked her if she wanted to complete the transformation of her appearance since it didn’t matter anymore .
At first , she told him that he shouldn’t bother, but when Da’grass told her that it was purely cosmetic and that she didn’t even had to be put to sleep , she yielded.
Cynthia , spooked by the voice of Da’grass , was brought up to date by Sam on the existence of Da’grass while everybody watched the transformation of Sarah happen before their eyes .
Her skin became smooth , and she looked like a 25 year old , just like everyone else in the colony .
She smiled happily and looked radiant .
“Now we can be like sisters” said Sarah to Helena .
“Mom!” replied Helena .
And everyone was holding their laughter , including Sarah and Helena .
“The freighters should be coming into view if you look slightly upwards at the right of Alex” said Da’grass .
And indeed , 2 dots in the sky became bigger and bigger as time went on , until two behemoths of space freighters were hovering in the sky .
“Those are some big ass ships” whispered Sam and everyone went silent .