Synopsis: Set in the next decade, this story details the eight year long robotic construction of a settlement on Mars and the preparations leading up to the mission to occupy the colony. Grand in scope, the action of the story takes us from Tucson Arizona to Laredo, Texas to Washington, DC to Baikonur, Kazakhstan to Earth orbit and, of course, to Mars. Dr. Helen Meers, retired astronaut, Bill Mayfield, robotics tycoon and Hector Rodriguez, former Marine captain are the main characters of this story and are three points of the eternal love triangle. Complicating this already complex situation is the fact that only one will be going to Mars.