A week passed , and it was a good thing they needed less sleep with the optimization of their bodies .
There wasn’t a single night they didn’t need to get up to feed the little critters .
Their time in the Nexus was cut short due to their new responsibilities , and if they logged in , it was with the help of Da’grass so that they could log off the minute their newborn children made any noise .
They needed to change their diapers at least six times a day and feed them every 2-3 hours .
Alex and Helena couldn’t wait until they had more free time and the babies would be less demanding .
And they had only been at it for a week .
They got visitors every day to watch the newborns , but it wasn’t as overwhelming when they left the hospital .
A crowd had gathered to cheer them on , and Helena had joked that it was like the wedding they never had .
Alex had grinned at this remark and replied that their children were the first Martians , which made them an interplanetary family .
The investigation of the planet didn’t find any animals on land , just some moss but no shrubbery , grasses or trees .
The planet was 25 percent bigger than Earth and was covered with water for about 60 percent .
When the scientists scanned the water , they found nothing but algae , jellyfish and mollusks .
It seemed life had just started , and oxygen levels were as low as 12 percent while the levels on Earth were 21 percent .
Da’grass suggested seeding the planet and terraform it to Alex’s wishes , transforming the whole planet as his base .
Alex didn’t understand why Da’grass would suggest this while they were busy transforming Mars , but he didn’t question his reasons and let him start ordering different kinds of seeds across the world .
Finally he decided to send the colony builders , cargo ships filled with equipment , and miners to build a main city .
A small fleet would depart to make the preparations for human arrival in a couple of weeks .
The other ship that had arrived at its destination had found a lifeless planet with no magnetic field and few resources and would make a quick run through its solar system for some additional scans .
The solar system of the soon-to-be-seeded planet seemed rich in resources and was a great candidate for colonization .
But if Alex wanted the planet to be his , he had to give the UN , and thus planet Earth , something of at least equal value , so the search for habitable planets continued .
“You’ve got a message from , El’Anor” said Da’grass suddenly while Alex was thinking things through .
She asks if is she and Cathy could talk to you .
It concerns the planet that we found .
“Helena , I’m logging into the Nexus for a while .
El’Anor and Cathy want to talk to me” said Alex , raising his voice so she could hear him .
“Not before you change Sam and Kim’s diapers .
After that , you are free to go and give them my regards” answered Helena .
So Alex went to his daughters’ room and changed their diapers like a good housefather would do .
He told Da’grass to let them know he was on his way and would meet them in New Eden in his house there .
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He took a good long look at his daughters and went to the living room to make himself comfortable and let Da’grass log him in .
When he arrived at his home , El’Anor and Cathy were already waiting for him , so he let everyone in and made them comfortable in the living room .
Both El’Anor and Cathy seemed nervous , like they were going to ask for his kidney .
“Well , I’m here . There was something you wanted to ask me ?” said Alex .
“The thing is” started El’Anor .
“We were wondering if you would be so kind to give our races new life and a place on the planet that you discovered” interjected Cathy nervously .
We’ve saved enough credits to buy the technology and didn’t ask before because we knew space was limited on Earth .
“We would be willing to work for it , off course , even if it would technically not be us but a copy of the last moment before we merge with our new bodies” supplemented El’Anor .
The Ea’Thell have rich experience in managing and terraforming planets .
This would mean more for us than you can imagine .
“Yes , it’s a second chance for both of our races to once again be among the living , and it would mean everything to us , even if you’re not obligated to do this for us” said Cathy .
“I see , but it wouldn’t be you according to what you said” asked Alex .
“No , we would be mere copies of what we are , but we as a species would be alive again , and we would know everything that we know now” answered El’Anor .
We would be erased from the Nexus once this would be done since we would be technically be living once more .
“Da’grass , didn’t you say that with you we would be not mere copies if we were integrated into the Nexus” asked Alex .
“That’s correct , with my method you would be 100 percent you” replied Da’grass.
“Any chance we could use your method to bring them back to the living” asked Alex .
“You would have to buy additional technology and ask for the permission of Ethera and every member of the species in question , but yes , it can be done” answered Da’grass .
“Does this mean you accept our proposal ?” asked El’Anor .
“I don’t even have to think about it” answered Alex .
“I consider you as my closest friends and I owe a lot to you guy’s “.
But it can take a while before this will happen .
I would rather wait until all the facilities have been built since , if we do it in our own solar system , it could raise problems .
“Thank you!” they both shouted .
“You won’t regret this” said El’Anor .
“We’ll work hard for you . We’ll transfer the credits we’ve saved immediately” said Cathy .
“Keep your credits . You’ll need them” replied Alex .
“Alex , there is a small problem with your plan” said Da’grass .
If we want to revive them in one batch , we’ll need 400 000 fast-growing incubation chambers and that’s not advisable for a main city .
And you have to resurrect the entire species in one go , which would need 200 000 chambers according to the rules of the Nexus .
“So make room in a petal of the main city for 200 000 chambers .
We’ll do them one by one , and afterwards , we could use them to colonize the planet with animals” answered Alex .
The question is , who will go first , the Ea’Thell or Cath’nix .
“Very well , I’ll design the city with that in mind” answered Da’grass .
Should I make the purchase of the necessary technology ?
“Yes , make the purchase” answered Alex .
At this , he got assaulted by Both El’Anor and Cathy , who were each kissing a cheek while he felt the wetness of their tears .
Six months had passed since that day , and Samantha and Kimberley were starting to crawl .
According to Mary , they were the quietest children she had ever met , only crying if they were hungry or soiled their diapers .
She said that Alex and Helena were the luckiest parents she knew .
More children were born , and new colonists were picked up weekly to inhabit the new colonies .
The space station and spaceport were also finished ; the former was under the control of Alex’s faction , while the spaceport was led by the UN .
For the moment , the only spacecrafts that visited the spaceport were Alex’s , but the UN had started with building their own spacecrafts , and it wouldn’t be long before space became a little busier .
Negotiations with the UN about the planet they found were difficult , even though Alex had already started seeding the planet and building a main city on its surface .
He regularly got requests to build colonies for other countries on Mars , but since he didn’t want the technology falling in the wrong hands , he made his stance clear by telling them he wouldn’t mind building their cities , but they had to use their own bought technology .
The UN found this acceptable and submitted a plan for a base on the moon and Mars .
After the UN did this , the rest didn’t dare to do otherwise .
Since the spaceport and space station were built , Alex relocated the free equipment and miners to build the UN’s two bases and told the rest they had to get in line since he didn’t want to build more miners than necessary .
Alex had more ships than there were landing sites at the colonies ; he was glad he had built a space station that could accommodate a small fleet .
Every colony had four warships docked as reassurance , all manned with pilots and maintenance crew .
He didn’t have an army , but he had more than enough security personnel .
The gates were kept hidden and only used by a select few or for emergencies .
The island was kept as a tourist destination for his close friends , and everyone who was present there had chosen to be there .
Alex still had a meeting scheduled with the group of scientists who resided in the colonies studying the surfaces of the moons and Mars , but after that , he would go to the island with Helena and their children for a little holiday .