After a night of cuddling with Helena , Alex fell asleep with her in his arms , only to be awoken by a call from an excited John .

“Alex , you beautiful son of a bitch , the UN has decided to enter talks with the government for the seat of planetary defense thanks to you” yelled an excited John .

When they went over the plans of the spaceport you submitted and are going to build , they were ecstatic .

They thought you were going to ship them of with a small spaceport and were already happy when you told them you’d build them a mid-sized spaceport .

But when they saw the plans , they were flabbergasted.

Five shipyards , 20 large landing sites that can be divided in 60 medium or 180 small spaceship landing sites , bunkers , command center , warehouses , shields , barracks , defensive armaments , civilian terminals , and the list goes on .

That’s not a medium spaceport but a large , well-fortified and strategic spaceport that might become the most important center on Earth .

It didn’t take long for the top to decide that it was at least worth considering cooperation with the government of the Nexus .

“Euhh , all I can say is that according to Da’grass , it’s considered a medium sized spaceport according to Etherean standards” replied a confused Alex .

“I saw the plans , Alex . That’s a large spaceport .

I don’t care about the Etherean standards , thank you !” replied John .

“Well , don’t ask me to buy anything . I saw my account and I’m pretty sure that I’m not the richest human in the Nexus at the moment” joked Alex .

“Did it cost you that much ? That can’t be right” replied a shocked John .

“No , no . I bought something else and I don’t think that I could have afforded it if I didn’t get compensation from Etherea” clarified Alex .

“Compensation ? And what did you buy ?” asked John .

“Wel , you know Cathy was creating an amusement park world , right ?” asked Alex .

“Yeah , I know . Did she finish it ?” asked John .

“Yes , she finished it yesterday and Etherea bought it to implement it as an option for every civilization in the Nexus” answered Alex .

I got the choice to be reimbursed with credits or technology , but the technology I wanted was more expensive , so I had to chip in with my own credits .

“Don’t drag it out , Alex . Just tell me what you bought” said a nervous John .

“I bought the schematics and related technology of a more advanced main city with a population capacity of ten million people to be built here on Mars” said Alex .

I’m pretty much broke for the moment .

“Damn boy , looks like you’re going all in on this one .

That’s the population of a small country” responded John .

“The good news is , when it’s built , we’ll have an energy source for our gates and thus expand their range” said Alex .

“What’s the bad news?” Asked John .

“I’ll have to play out Helena’s fantasy and act like a king with her as queen” joked Alex .

“Hey , I heard that !” interjected Helena , who was wrapped in blankets , at which Alex and John started laughing like madman .

“Nothing as good as a good laugh to release the built-up stress” said John .

“Thank you Alex . I’ll see you later ; I’ve got some UN officials to convince” said John .

“Bye , John” said Alex and the connection broke off .

“If you’re done with your bromance , come back to bed” said Helena .

“Very well , my queen” answered Alex , and he lay back next to Helena .

Another two weeks passed , and equipment and droids were still being transported to the construction site of the spaceport , which was already being built .

It attracted a lot of media attention , and UN officials were constantly being seen on the news channels .

There were talks of a reform of the organization , but nothing concrete yet .

The fact was that they kept protecting the nations that joined .

Talks with the government of the Nexus were officially not over , but John let Alex know that they would take up the mantle and occupy the seat of planetary defense .

They assured that , in time , they would come to an agreement with the rest of the world , as it was a necessity .

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It would be a difficult path , but John and Alex were hopeful that , in time , all parties would come to an agreement .

The UN had already contacted them , but officially , they hadn’t reached out yet.

On Mars itself , scientists were preparing to leave for the exoplanets .

Two ships would head out , and not including the ships crew , there would be 300 scientists on each ship .

Medical personnel were provided by the colony and accounted for as crew , as were family members of the crew who would be handling the daily chores .

The ships crew would be taking scans themselves and looking out for resource-rich locations and possible colonization sites .

According to Da’grass , they could easily be gone for a year if they wanted to visit al the planets on their list while doing scientific research .

So Alex told the pilots that if anything went wrong or the majority wanted to return , they had the permission to do so .

The ships were loaded with supplies and would be growing their own food as well , with no problems expected in this regard .

“Come on , we’ll miss the departure at this rate” pleaded Helena .

“Don’t worry , sis , I’m sure Alex can postpone the departure if he wants” replied Sam .

“I told you to hurry” said Cynthia .

Those recipes won’t run away .

“You’re late because you were browsing recipes?” asked Sarah.

“I found a race that claims to be the best producer of alcoholic beverages” answered Sam while entering the taxi .

“Everyone can claim to be the best at something ; that doesn’t make it so , you should know that” said Sarah .

“We’ll be there in time , don’t worry” said Alex to Helena .

The time to get there is negligible thanks to the taxi’s .

“What do you guys think of having a drink afterward” asked Sam .

It doesn’t occur too often that we are all together these days .

“You know I still have work to do” said Cynthia .

“Come on , just for a bit now that we are all together” pleaded Sam.

“Very well” yielded Cynthia .

“I’ve got no problems with that . In fact , I look forward to it” said Sarah .

“We don’t have a problem with that either , do we , sweetie” asked Helena .

“No , no problems at all” replied Alex .

“What do you guys think they’ll find out there?” asked Helena .

“Chances are great they’ll find nothing .

Best case scenario is resources , in my opinion” said Sam .

“There are a few locations that look promising according to Da’grass” interjected Alex .

But they’ll probably look nothing like Earth .

“And size does matter” giggled Sarah .

Too big , and we would have trouble moving around…

“Mom!” Cried out both Helena and Sam .

“Look we’ve arrived” said a flustered Cynthia .

A large crowd was gathered , watching as people said their goodbyes and boarded the ships .

Equipment and necessities had already been loaded in the previous days .

Cheers could be heard here and there mingling with the grumbles of scientists who hadn’t been chosen by their compatriots .

Ten minutes after the doors closed , they received a message that the ships were about to depart .

“This is history in the making - the first time humanity leaves its own solar system to explore another one” whispered Helena to Alex .

“We’ve been making a lot of history these last couple of years” responded Alex.

“That doesn’t make it any less valuable” said Helena , as she watched the ships take off .

They kept watching until the ships were out of sight , then returned to their taxi just in time to prevent it from being taken by another group .

The people who wanted to board the taxi recognized Alex and Helena and decided to wait for another .

“The perks of being famous” joked Alex once everyone was in the taxi .

“More like , ‘Don’t anger the boss or you’ll be fired’” laughed Sam .

Helena selected a bar on the holographic map , and the vehicle departed .

“It’s the same bar we went to when we watched the delivery of the prefab in Mars’ orbit” explained Helena .

“It’s a nice place with a good view” said Sarah agreed.

The trip was short , and soon they were seated at a table , ordering their drinks.

Helena assured them that she was fine with them drinking while she couldn’t , and she ordered a non-alcoholic cocktail .

Sarah started talking to Alex about opening a franchise offering full-time VR during stasis .

She argued that while in stasis , users could still enter the Nexus , prolonging their life according to the technology specifications .

She had already purchased the technology and was confident that there would be a clientele for it .

Alex agreed but emphasized the importance of allowing users to exit the stasis pods whenever they chose .

He transferred the necessary funds to the company’s account , insisting that payments for the service should at least be made partially in credits .

Sarah agreed but seemed a little distracted after that .

“What is it mom?” asked Helena , noticing her behavior .

“Well , there is something on a personal note I want to ask” admitted Sarah .

But it’s a bit of a sensitive topic knowing Alex .

“It can’t be that bad for you to act like that” said Alex .

“Very well . You know I’ve been dating Max for the last few months” began Sarah .

“How could we forget” grumbled Alex .

“See ? That’s what I mean” Sarah replied.

“Don’t mind him , mother . He’s just being childish” said Helena .

We don’t have anything against you and max dating , do we , sweetie?

“Sighh … no , we don’t” replied Alex .

“Well , okay . My question is if we can invite him to the colony so that we can be together?” asked Sarah .

He’s been a real gentleman and we hit it off quite well .

He makes me feel like I’m the most important thing in his life , and he doesn’t even have to put in any effort .

I think he really means it when he tells me he wants to spend the rest of his life with me.

“Good for you , mom” said Sam .

“Yeah , congratulations mom . I’m happy for you” added Helena .

“You do realize that if he gets the treatment , the rest of his life might be longer than he thinks” interjected Alex .

And if he has a personality disorder , it’ll need to be fixed .

“I haven’t told him anything about the treatment yet , but I’m confident that if he gets the choice , he’ll even risk a behavior adjustment to be with me” replied Sarah .

And I’m fully aware that if we live for so long , we may eventually drift apart , as you mentioned .

“Very well , send him to the island , but he better not publish anything about it in his magazine” answered Alex .

“He works for us now , and he won’t . Thank you Alex” said a grateful Sarah .

“Yeah , thanks , sweetie . See ? It wasn’t that hard was it?” said Helena while she winked at him .

For the rest of their time at the bar , they talked about smaller things , like what was happening in their personal lives and the documentary that Cynthia was making .

She admitted that the project was growing beyond the original scope she’d envisioned but was determined to make it work .

As for her movie , she shared that she wanted to bring the novels she loved reading to life , even if they didn’t have a large audience .

Helena told her that the universe was vast and that there could be more ‘people’ interested in them than she dared to imagine .

This brought a smile to Cynthia’s face , and she departed happily with Sam.

Sarah was the next one to depart , saying she had to share some good news with Max .

And so , the little gathering concluded with Alex and Helena heading back to their apartment .

“I wonder why the amusement park world isn’t an option yet” asked Helena while they waited for the taxi .

“I don’t know” replied Alex .

“According to my talks with Etherea , she is accumulating various retro entertainment from across the universe to add to the amusement park world.

Nothing will be deleted or altered , though” answered Da’grass .

“Well , now we know” Helena said with a smile .