“I’VE SOME news for you,” announced Alex over the holo. “I won’t explain right here and now, but I’m coming over with Terri to see you. Terri’s longing to make little Lorna’s acquaintance. Jo sends her apologies: she’ll not be coming: she can’t leave her work at present. No don’t worry!” she added, seeing Vikki’s brow furrow over. “I know you’re cramped for space: we’ll be staying in a hotel.”

Vikki was relieved at that. Lorna was just four months old now, and Vikki had finally persuaded Mother that, for all the joy and devotion she showered on her granddaughter, her presence in Scotland was becoming superfluous. Vikki was quite capable of managing on her own, with Hal to help out on his days off. Besides, they were anxious to prepare the spare bedroom as a nursery—and didn’t Mother want to be back with Father? He had already forsaken Scotland’s unpredictable and somewhat chilly spring weather and returned to Oregon on his own some months before.

Mother had acquiesced, and left them in peace. The work on fitting out the nursery was under way.

Alex and Terri arrived about a week later. Hal murmured something to the effect that “in the old days, they could have been here in a day”. But since the ban on fossil-fuelled air travel, the best way of getting from the USA’s West Coast to Scotland was by maglev train to Toronto and then Halifax, followed by solar hydro­foil across the Atlantic to Glasgow. The ocean crossing took just over two days. But without these reforms, and the consequent slowing-down of travel across the globe, Climate Change would have rendered the Earth uninhabitable long before now.

---§§§---

Alex had changed quite a lot in the months since Vikki had seen her last. Gone was her tendency to domineer over her subordinates—and the ‘banter’ she had used to indulge in was greatly diminished. Vikki wondered whether these changes were brought about due to her involuntary grounding. But it was not her place to comment.

Six-year-old Terri took an instant delight in her new little friend—not quite at the crawling stage yet but lively enough—and Vikki could tell at once that she could be trusted to take care of Lorna. So the adults were able to leave the children to themselves and move to the next room.

It was Vikki who spoke first. “You said you had some news for us, Alex, but couldn’t tell us on the holo. Am I right in guessing it’s about Enceladus?”

“Yes, that’s more or less it. I should tell you, Vikki, you made a good impression on those SSSA big-shots we met at the meeting. I’ve been to see Luis—Luis Mendés, Chief Scientist, remember him?—and he definitely thinks both you and Hal should be on the next mission—”

“—And Lorna?” Vikki couldn’t help interrupting.

“Let me come to that,” resumed Alex. “Luis wants to interview you—in person.”

“Not by holo?” said Vikki, wondering about the inconvenience of a trip to California.

“Yes—both of you. He has his reasons. And of course you bring Lorna along. Jo and I would be delighted to look after her while you and Hal are gallivanting in space. And just look at Terri with her!” They all glanced through the open door into the living-room, where Terri was still playing at entertaining Lorna, who was gurgling in delight. “Almost like little sisters already—and Terri’s always been moaning that she doesn’t have any brothers or sisters. Believe me, you’ll be doing Jo and me a good turn. And I really want to do something useful for SSSA—after all I’m permanently grounded and restricted to minor admin work...”

Vikki was silent for a while. She glanced at Hal, and he too didn’t seem ready to reply.

“I can see you both need time to think about this,” continued Alex. “We won’t decide anything now. Terri and I will be staying here three weeks. I’ve never been to Scotland before and I’d love to explore some of the Highlands. Gentle walks only, of course: those Terri and I can manage. The doctor tells me, reasonable exercise will do me good. We’re not up for tackling mountains!”

“ ‘Hills’,” remarked Vikki. “Here in Scotland we call them hills. But I see what you mean—some of the walks here can be pretty tough. I’ll come with you and show you around. It’ll be good for me too—and Lorna’s already been in the baby-carrier.”

---§§§---

Some of the steeper and rougher slopes of the Highlands would be too much for Alex in her condition, Vikki decided. Moreover, carry­ing the ever-heavier Lorna in the sling—on those days when Hal wasn’t available to take over the duty—that was becoming more and more of an effort. So they confined themselves to the less strenuous walks: gentle climbs in the Trossachs, and strolls around the shores of the nearby Lochs: Lomond, Venachar, Lubnaig, and especially Katrine.

And the celebrated, two-centuries-old steamship, the Sir Walter Scott, still plied its gentle course along the length of Loch Katrine—although it was no longer a steamer, having long since been con­verted to run on batteries. Vikki, Alex and the children all went for a cruise on board the ancient vessel, and little Terri was thrilled to bits. “So much nicer than that boat we came to Scotland in,” she exclaimed, referring to the solar-powered hydrofoil which had brought them across the Atlantic, and which was—for economy-class passengers at any rate—not the most stimulating of experiences for children. Being shut in a cramped cabin much of the time!

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

When they weren’t tramping around the Trossachs, Terri took a delight in playing with little Lorna in Vikki and Hal’s cottage—or in their extensive garden when the weather permitted. It was clear to everyone that she was thrilled to have found the ‘little sister’ she would be denied in her own nuclear family. Seeing this, Alex was confident that she and Jo would be well up to the task of providing a home for Lorna while Vikki and Hal were away.

All holidays, however enjoyable, must come to an end sometime. Despite being grounded from spaceflight, Alex still had her Earth-based job to do and had to return to Oregon, however much she may wish to remain in Scotland. It was the last day, and Vikki, with Lorna in the sling as usual, was on the platform at Stirling, waiting to see Alex and Terri off on the train to Glasgow where they were booked on the hydrofoil back to America—Boston this time. Vikki could sense that Alex had something weighty on her mind: she had hardly spoken in the car.

Finally Alex spoke up. “Before we leave, I need to put that question to you again, Vikki. Are you ready to let Jo and me look after Lorna while you’re away? A lot depends on this.”

Vikki hesitated. “I think I am. I’m not sure if Hal has made up his mind yet, but I’m fairly certain he’ll agree, so long as I’m happy. But let us see your place first, when we come over. ‘Brookings’, if I remember right?”

“Yes, it’s a small town on the coast, not far from the stateline with California. Well—we call it a ‘city’, but you’d think of it as not much more than a village. Warmer than here but not too hot—you’ll love the place, and our house is right by the beach.”

“Do you get sharks—off the beach there?” asked Vikki, her mind full of the Bala and the threat it posed, once again.

“No need to worry about that! And it’s a good place for surfing. If you come and stay with us, Jo can teach you to surf.”

“Hmmm... I’m not sure about that,” remarked Vikki, but just then the train drew in and there was no time for more than a quick exchange of good-byes.

---§§§---

It was a few weeks later that Vikki and Hal presented themselves at the SSSA offices in Sacramento. All had gone according to plan and Lorna was well settled in at Alex’s and Jo’s house. The couple were shown into Luis Mendés’s office. Apart from Luis, Lavinia Morel was present, and also, to their surprise, Estella Beeston alias Stella Strange. Both Vikki and Hal wondered what she was doing there.

“I guess you already know this,” was Luis’s first remark after they had exchanged greetings. “Yes, another space mission will be launching shortly, and both of you are needed aboard. But it won’t be to Enceladus—not yet. Saturn’s not well placed for us at the moment, so you’ll be going to Titania instead. We’re planning to set up a permanent base there, so you’ll be staying there a while—”

“Titan?” Vikki couldn’t help interrupting. “But that’s one of Saturn’s moons too. And who’d want to land there?”

“Not ‘Titan’. ‘Titania’.”

“Titania? You mean ... Uranus?” was Hal’s incredulous remark.

“Yes. A long voyage, but we can use Jupiter as a gravity assist, so the trip won’t take much longer in time than your return from Enceladus. And again, you’ll be among the first to set foot on an unexplored world. Surely that intrigues you—both of you.”

“Yes—but—will we get a chance to visit Enceladus any time?” was Vikki’s plaintive question.

“We hope so. Once the alignment is right, we can attempt the transfer to Saturn and its moons. But be prepared to wait.”

Vikki pondered this in silence. It was all very well Alex and Jo promising to take good care of Lorna, but could she possibly bear the separation from her child for so long? She glanced at Hal, and guessed that he was thinking the same. Would they entirely miss her development into a toddler and then into a schoolchild? Surely that was unthinkable!

“No!” she blurted out, finally. “You can’t separate me from my baby for so long. Please try to understand.”

Luis did not answer straight away. Instead he muttered a brief ‘excuse me’ and turned to the tablet on his desk. He typed rapidly, clearly exchanging urgent messages with his engineers. At length he looked up.

“I should have explained,” he began, “that you will not be travel­ling in the Valentina—not this time. We are fitting out a more advanced ship for this voyage. I’ve just discussed the matter with one of my team leaders, and we think it should be possible to provide infant care facilities aboard ship. They do not place too much extra burden on the life support system. So you can take your child—‘Lorna’ I believe her name is?—along.”

‘Wow!’ thought Vikki. ‘Is this crazy? A tiny baby, all the way to Uranus?’ But she did not speak these thoughts aloud. Instead, she remarked: “Little Terri will be disappointed. Alex’s daughter. She’s been expecting to have Lorna to play with for a long long time.”

“You’ll all be back—I can promise you that. She’ll just have to wait,” said Luis.

A thought occurred to Hal. “This new ship. Has it got a name yet?”

“The Christa.”

“And you?” he added, glancing at Estella, puzzled. “What’s your role in this?”

“I’m coming too.”