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A coupleof weeks flew by as Alexa and I spent most of our time with Leif, walking the beach and caring for him as he grew and met one milestone after another.
The deal with Hanson was progressing, and although it was still in the planning stages, I felt as though it was fast becoming a reality. Hanson knew a lot of high rollers who wanted in on the future, and so we signed on more partners in the joint venture. Each partner had a specific expertise in the area or just saw the venture as a solid investment.
Whatever the case, I met with Ken frequently on Zoom and went over the developments and plans for the first steps the consortium would take to make the dream real.
“One of our new investors suggested something the other day that I want you to consider. He thinks that the first thing we should do is test out mining on the moon,” Ken said to me one day when we were both sitting in front of our computers on a conference call. “What do you think of a moon base that was designed to mine there first? It’s a helluva lot closer and there are valuable metals on the moon that could easily be transported back to Earth.”
“The moon?” I said, frowning. “I’ve known that it had valuable metals, but my sights were always on the asteroid belt. But I’m intrigued. Tell me more.”
We spent an hour just talking through the idea, and in the end, I felt it was a good one. It would be proof of concept. We could develop the mining equipment on the moon and then see how it performed in low-G for when it went to the asteroid belt itself.
In the end, I was sold on the idea and was glad that things had worked out between Hanson and Astra. It almost hadn’t.
When the conference call was finished, I went into the kitchen where Alexa was fixing lunch and came up behind her, slipping my arms around her waist. Behind us, Leif was sitting at the island in his chair, playing with toys.
“How’s it going?” Alexa asked, turning her head for a quick kiss. “Did you and Ken have a good discussion?”
“We did, and guess what? We’re going to the Moon…”
“What?”
Alexa turned around in my arms and her eyes were wide. “The Moon? What about the asteroid belt?”
“That, too, but first, the Moon. We’ll develop the tech there to ensure it functions well in low-G. Then, it’s the belt.”
She narrowed her eyes. “I don’t suppose you’re planning on taking a trip there or anything…”
I smiled, because of course I had thought that very thing. “Not until Leif is older and doesn’t care about me anymore, just in case there is an unfortunate accident…”
“What about me?” she asked, pouting. “When I first met you, you were ready to go to Mars and leave Earth behind. Then, I thought you were happy to stay on Earth because of us.”
“I was. I am. But you have to realize, in the next decade, going to the moon will be no more difficult or dangerous than a trip to the Himalayas or to the Rain Forest in Brazil. It’s going to be common.”
She sighed and adjusted my collar. “Just wait until it’s really safe and you’re certain to come back, okay? I don’t want Leif to grow up without a father, even if he was a space pioneer and lost his life heroically while setting up a moon base.”
“Don’t worry,” I said and pulled her closer, kissing her. “I’ll wait until he is consumed with other things, like girls and whatever music is popular and whatever video game is the best seller before I go. I want to come back, too, you know…”
She smiled. “Do you have to go into the city today? I was hoping we could take a nice walk along the beach and have a barbecue.”
“Today and then no meetings for an entire week. We can go for a sail tomorrow when your parents come to stay for the weekend. How does that sound?”
She nodded. “Okay. That sounds nice.”
I was taking a trip into the city to meet with John and Adam Pierce. Hanson was in Houston and had meetings in the afternoon so that was why we met over Zoom in the morning. I called the limo service and then got my papers together and went to the door to pull on my shoes. Alexa brought Leif over to the front entrance for a kiss goodbye.
“There goes Mr. Big Daddy, to the city for his very important meetings,” Alexa said.
“Mr. Big Daddy will be back for supper.” I leaned down and kissed Leif on the head. Then, I kissed Alexa. “I’ll call when I leave the city, so you know I’m on my way.”
“Okay,” she said and leaned up to kiss me one more time.
Then, I left, waving goodbye to the two of them before I sat in the back of the limo.
* * *
