Mr. Big Deal (Mr. Big 4)

“It means I won’t have to move to Houston and will only have to visit when there’s an annual meeting or when we have a launch at the nearby facility. I’ll stay in New York and run Astra, focusing on our part of the project.”

“Communications tech, right?” Alexa asked. She knew as much as anyone what Astra’s role would be. We had made our name in communications tech for the military, but now, that tech would be used in launches. There were other investors, like Hanson, who had expertise in rocketry who would focus on developing that technology. Each different partner in the consortium would provide their own expertise and we would all contribute to the project and benefit based on that contribution. No one single company could do it all. Mining the asteroid belt was a huge historic challenge that would push technology forward. It would take at least a decade to get there if we all worked together.

That was the hope and the plan.

When I leaned back with Alexa beside me later that night after Leif went to bed and we were sitting on the patio side by side, I felt like life was finally as close to perfect as it could be.

I took Alexa’s hand and squeezed it, bringing her knuckles to my lips for a kiss.

“I’m blissfully happy,” I said, and met her eyes.

“Me, too,” she replied and for once that day, I saw that she was relaxed and really was happy.

That made it all worthwhile.