The biggest problem with the pickup from the cruise ship off of Cocoa Beach, was that Cocoa Beach was very close to Cape Canaveral, where America still did the majority of the space launches and had a decent sized military presence. The group was a little better prepared for a military intervention this time though.

They came in fast, all four ships coming down in a hurry, with the bigger ships piloted by Pepper and Vanessa in one, and Nash in the other. Emma and Zay provided fighter cover with the small ships directly over the cruise ship, and the two larger craft hovered on either side of the cruise ship deck. Emma could see the throng of people lining up to get aboard, each of them carrying a suitcase or other piece of luggage.

Emma was in her fighter jet with her whole little family group, because none of them wanted to stay behind, and they headed for the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, hovering over the end of the runway, with her weapons pods pointed at anything that dared to try taking off. Xavier had been kind enough to show her how to extend the wings, which helped maneuver in the atmosphere, though to Emma's trained eye, it just made her ship look more like the flying campervan that Lone Star used in the ancient movie SpaceBalls. Yes, it was old, but it was required viewing by anyone in the Space Force, just for a laugh.

As expected, nothing moved on the runway, much to Emma and Viv's relief. They weren't sure if it was the call to the General that helped, or the fact that the pilots knew it would have been futile, but they were very glad they didn't have to fire on people that they were once comrades with.

"How are we looking?" Viv asked the other ships while Emma kept her eye on the controls.

"We're almost done!" Pepper announced. "We have a lot of excited people here, so it might be noisy. They're gonna be standing room only, that's for sure. Packed in tight."

"Is there any word on the Australia mission?"

"They're almost done too." They'd arranged simultaneous pickups on both cruises, with the one off the American coast happening at 9pm, while the Australian one was happening just after lunch thanks to the time difference. The Australian government hadn't been expecting any kind of spaceship incursion near them, But they did send a message that they had no issues with them using their airspace, which was nice to hear from one of the Earth governments. Xavier also made a detour to a soccer field outside of Asunción Paraguay, where the parts for two water wheels and electric generators to hook up to them were waiting. They weren't huge, but they could power a good sized town with wattage to spare, and that would be perfect for backing up the solar panels.

The ships off of Cocoa Beach finished up shortly thereafter, with some jets being launched from other bases, but none approaching them. Having the smaller ships as cover definitely paid dividends, as there were no issues with being attacked at all. There was little doubt that their larger numbers intimidated the forces that once tried to stand against them. Not that they expected to have to go back to the Earth, but they were happy to see that they had options in case that was necessary.

Before the end of their day, there were over 300 new people up in orbit. Most were in various stages of disbelief, though all were overwhelmingly excited. What had seemed like a fantastic dream to them just hours earlier was now something that was happening to them right now. The ships were so crowded that the new passengers had to take turns looking out all of the windows at the vistas below, but none seemed to mind. Once they were back in orbit around Uranus, it would be even more thrilling, as some would have to go through airlocks in zero G while they were distributed evenly among the ships to make sure they were all as comfortable as possible. It would also provide them with an amazing view of a planet that few humans had ever seen and would be the gateway to even more spectacular views.

Unfortunately, many would need to stay in zero G for weeks until Lena and Miles returned, just to make sleeping bearable. They asked for volunteers do live like that, and then got so many that they had to turn them away. After that, it was just a matter of keeping people entertained while waiting. For most, this wouldn't be hard, as they could be shown the translators, tablets and other gadgets that had been recovered, and many could start studying information about the new aliens that would hopefully be sharing their home with them. If they were lucky, it would be a harmonious existence, and they would make a strong alliance together.

"When are you coming out?" Pepper had asked Jason just before they started to bring everyone out to Uranus. "Are you sure you can't come now?"

"I'll be out in a few days," he assured them all. "I have a meeting to turn over the Mars resupply runs that I need to go over first, and then I'll be out. Besides, I'll be able to monitor the news and send updates with Zay's ship, since he's sticking around to be my pilot. That way, if you need any last minute things before we wrap things up here, then send him a message and we'll take care of it."

Pepper glanced at Vanessa who just shrugged. It wasn't like they were in a huge hurry since they had a lot of time to kill before Lena was back with the 4th ship anyway. "Fine. Just be careful and let us know if you hear anything." Vanessa had her hand on his forearm, imploring him not to take risks. He'd been a part of her life for years in his capacity as her father's assistant and was as much family as he was friend to her. "We'll see you soon, okay?"

"Of course. And then in a few months we'll be celebrating our new home."

"Damn, we're going to have to figure out what we can do to replicate a cake!" Pepper groaned when he said that. "We have no idea if there will be milk, eggs, sugar or flour there!"

"I'm sure there will be other things we can make though. We have several people aboard that are bakers, brewers, chefs, and distillers. I'm sure we'll make all kinds of interesting things from what we find." Vanessa shook her head fondly at her lovely wife and watched the cute little pout change into a smile.

"Good point. We have a lot of examples from the past to work with."

"You know," Jason leaned back, a smile on his face. "If the Earth ever gets its head out of its ass, we could even trade with them. We'll have an entire new solar system full of items to provide."

"We could do that anyway," Vanessa pointed out. "If the Earth won't, I bet the Mars colony would. Maybe Australia too since they reacted so well today."

"Good point!" Pepper nodded happily at the thought. "That would allow us to have influence here too, and we could promise support to anyone else who wants to move elsewhere."

"Perfect." Jason gave each of the women a hug. "Now get out of here. I'll be there shortly, and then we're off to our new home."

With that, the little flotilla of ships headed out to the orbit of Uranus. It took a few hours to get all the air locks set up to the space station, but after that it was a party between all of the ships as the new settlers commingled and got to know everyone.

Emma and Viv were thrilled to see two smaller kids in the same age range as Bree. One was a girl, and one a little boy, and Bree shyly greeted them both. Lexi had similar luck, with a guy and a girl both being there and just a little younger than she was, and another handful in college or having just graduated that were a little older. It was a relief for the older women to see that the younger pair would have people that would be able to make each of them a little peer group.

"So, do you want to have a little one of our own?" Emma asked Viv. "Should we both carry?"

"Well, Ara and Hermosa are here to help with that if we want, right? I think we'd make good parents, and I bet Bree would make a wonderful big sister. But maybe we should wait until we get settled in. Besides, Bree deserves our undivided attention for a little bit after her crappy family treated her like they did. So, how about we give her time to be spoiled by us, and then we try?"

"I like the sound of that," Emma agreed with a smile. She leaned in, pressing her lips softly against Viv's, tugging on the lower lip as they both wished they could have some privacy. That didn't seem likely until they got to their new home world, but they could still imagine it. When she pulled away, she had a good idea. "Emily may have the first baby on the new planet, and my sister may have had the first sex there, but maybe we could have the first marriage."

Viv opened her mouth to reply, but then stopped as she thought for a moment. "Oh, shit. Did we ever request baby stuff? I saw baby food and diapers on the list, but what about cribs and baby books and developmental toys?"

Emma frowned at that, trying to remember the long list of things that they were bringing. "I don't know. Maybe some of that is on the list, but I don't know. Let's check with Pepper, she remembers everything. If not, that was why Zay was staying behind for, right? Last minute items?"

"I can't believe we forgot that kind of stuff. One of the biggest things we needed was a way to make the babies, so we'll need a place for them to sleep too." Viv shook her head in frustration. They had all these people trying to remember things that they needed to bring, and some things were just missed in the rush, no matter how much brainstorming was done. Hopefully, there wouldn't be anything too important that was missed that wasn't realized until they were at the other end of their journey.

The pair made their way through the throng of people until they found Pepper and Vanessa, who were showing people the medical beds in their ship and letting them take turns in them. They arrived just as a man and woman were getting out of the beds, both chucking at how great they felt. Viv, Emma, Lexi, and Bree had all taken a turn in the beds a week ago, so they knew they'd feel completely rejuvenated right now.

"Pepper, do you have a second for a quick question?" Viv asked the blonde.

"Of course. What's up?"

"I hate to ask this, but we were talking about having babies, and neither of us could remember if cribs, baby clothes, and some developmental toys for them were on the transport list. We saw diapers and food, but not the rest."

"Of course, they were there," Vanessa scoffed. But then she saw Pepper's face sinking, and realized they had an issue. Had they really forgotten something so basic?

"Shit." Pepper shook her head in frustration. "No, we messed up. Let me get a hold of Jason and see if he can get some. Zay can pick them up and bring them when Jason comes out."

The four of them went back to the bridge, and then sent their order to Jason, who vowed to get what they needed. Zay would pick up as much as he could, and then they'd come out in a few days after Jason's meeting.

They didn't know it at the time, but their mistake saved Zay's life.