The Callisto Group and the Journey to Earth

The Callisto Series

Michael Westheim

Published by Michael Westheim, 2021.

While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this book, the publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions, or for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein.

THE CALLISTO GROUP AND THE JOURNEY TO EARTH

First edition. March 15, 2021.

Copyright © 2021 Michael Westheim.

Written by Michael Westheim.

The Callisto Group

and the Journey to Earth

Michael Westheim

Quantum Resonance, LLC

Jacksonville, Florida

Contents

1 The Morning Ritual

2 Lessons with Ms. Agen

3 As It Was and Shall Be

4 An Internal Battle Develops

5 Discussion: Earth

6 What's with Alicia?

7 Trouble at Home

8 An Assignment is Given

9 Into Mischief

10 There's Earth

11 Stopover at L4

12 Down to Earth

13 So, This Is It

14 Gayle to the Rescue

15 Bad News

16 A Sense of Urgency

17 The Birth of A Plan

18 JJ Takes Charge

19 The Unexpected Journey

20 Time to Go

21 Yankee Clipper

22 The Gig Is Up

23 House Arrest

24 The Debriefing

25 Homeward Bound?

1 The Morning Ritual

It was still dark when Gayle awoke. Without opening her eyes, she lay there in her bed and felt the soft breeze caress her exposed arms and legs. She always slept with her window open. Off in the distance she could hear the soft splashing from the fountain. Her mom said that that was probably the reason she slept so well.

She finally opened her eyes and glanced over at her clock. It read 4:27. The plasma tubes were not scheduled to ignite until 6:30. Despite the hour, she could hear her mother downstairs in the kitchen as she was getting ready for work. Was she humming? Gayle listened carefully; her mother was humming. A first. What was she so happy about?

Her father still slept. Gayle would be long gone before he rolled out of bed.

Gayle closed her eyes again and listened to birdsong. Their song accompanied the sound of the fountain. She could hear two distinct songs. There would most likely be more songs, but Flame, her cat, tended to keep them away. She had no idea what birds they were. Her best friend, Alicia, would probably know.

Flame slept next to her calf. He stretched out as far as he could reach. What a lazy cat, she thought. If he had any goals, then it would be to sleep all day.

Knowing that she could not fall back to sleep Gayle decided to stay in bed and read. The problem was breakfast; it was not available until 6:00 when Ms. Welby had the cafeteria ready for service. To kill time, she grabbed her tablet and opened her book.

She felt guilty that she spent time reading Mars cozy mysteries. It was a complete escape from her chores and the lessons. It was a time waster, but she was so far ahead in her lessons that she could take a year off if she had wanted to. Still, she was behind JJ, and this frustrated her. It was worse that she had two years on him. She may be a year ahead in her studies, but he was two years ahead.

Later, the clock informed her that it was time to get ready. She showered, dressed, and brushed her shoulder-length blond hair and tied it into a loose ponytail. Gayle could hear her father still snoring in the other room as she made her way downstairs. Exiting their home, she could smell the honey suckle growing next to the house. The cobblestone walkway led from their door to the cobblestone path that led completely around the Callisto Station.

It was still dark when she left. The streetlamps provided some light, but not enough to read by, but did prevent one from stumbling along the path.

“Hey!”

Gayle almost jumped out of her skin. She stopped to wait for Alicia, her best friend.

“I wasn’t expecting to see you until later,” said Gayle.

Alicia was a few centimeters taller and about a year older than Gayle. She had long straight brunette hair which she wore loose. She kept a red tie around her wrist in case they went to the weightlessness of the hub.

“Well, I have no problem falling asleep, but I have a difficult staying asleep.”

“Me too!” said Gayle. “We need a cafeteria that will serve breakfast earlier.”

Alicia laughed. “I’m sure Ms. Welby will disagree. She gets in around four to get the cafeteria ready.”

Gayle frowned. “True. I don’t want her angry with me.”

“Nope, not a good idea.”

As they neared the fountain, they saw Uma. She was sitting on the edge with her feet dangling in the water. She was deep in thought, with unfocused eyes staring at the ripples on the water.

“Shh,” said Alicia, “we don’t want to wake her.”

Uma turned to face them. “Very funny, guys, I heard you the moment you two met up.”

“Couldn’t sleep either?” said Gayle.

“Don’t need it,” said Uma. Uma had remarkable blue eyes. Younger than both Gayle and Alicia, she too had shoulder-length reddish hair she wore in a tight braid.

They entered the cafeteria saying good morning to Ms. Welby who was behind the counter.

“Oh, you guys look lovely,” she said. “Can I get you anything special today?”

“No, thank you,” they said. They usually had juice, whichever was in season, some fruit, Gayle preferred bananas, and yogurt.

At that moment Jerome Jimenez, better known as JJ, came in.

“The usual, JJ?”

“Yes, Ms. Welby.”

She filled up a cup of milk about three-quarters from the top and warmed it.

“Thank you,” he said accepting the mug. He then poured some coffee into it, and a generous portion of honey. This would not seem that unusual except that JJ was only seven. With his free hand he grabbed three chocolate doughnuts.

Gayle grabbed a mug and decided to try coffee. If JJ could do it, then why couldn’t she?

JJ headed for his usual spot in the corner and propped up his tablet, no doubt working on another lesson, thought Gayle. No wonder he was always ahead.

Alicia led them to a table next to JJ’s. Talk generally concerned goats and lessons. As they ate, others arrived. JJ was joined by Gustov van Leer, but everyone called him Gusty, and Boris Schubert. Fernanda Vante and Yuana Hsu arrived just ahead of the Fenech twins, Christina and Mark-Albert.

Gayle took a sip of her coffee, cringed. She got up to put more honey in it, then zapped it. Walking back to the table she took another sip. She rolled it around in her mouth trying to decide whether she liked it or not. She shrugged. It was an acquired taste. She sat and sipped it for a few minutes.

A few minutes later Uma stood and said, “Okay, guys, let’s go! “We got a job to do.”

Outside the cafeteria they made their way to the path leading around the station. It, too, was cobblestone. They could walk all the way around the station and end up at the same place. This time they were only heading for the wilderness area. That was their play area, as well as their goat and chicken farm. But before they got there, they had to pass one of the two agriculture sections. Both agriculture sections could produce more food than they could eat.

Gayle loved the Ag sections. They were so green and had so many good things to eat. Initially, their first group task was to keep the goats in the wilderness area and out of the Ag sections. The goats could do a lot of damage in a short period of time. From there, they were to manage the goats, providing fresh milk every day for Callisto’s inhabitants. The younger kids collected eggs from the chicken coops.

There was one problem though. Gayle nudged Uma and said, “Will they be in their pen?”

“Absolutely, not,” said Uma, and laughed. This had become one of their routines “We still haven’t fixed that problem.”

“I’m not sure we ever will,” said Alicia. “Anyway, it’s good exercise rounding them up each morning.”

As they expected, the goats were scattered over the wilderness area, but not in the pen. Most of the goats cooperated and waited to be milked. The boys went off to find the stragglers and dragged them back to the pen. Boris did what he could to mend the pen but held out little hope it would last a day.

By far the most challenging task was first finding, then dragging the bucks, male goats, back to the pen. Billy Goat and Idiot wandered over the whole wilderness area, and sometimes they were found in one of the two Ag sections. They went in search of the two while the others began the milking operations.

About an hour later Boris and Gusty were placing milk pails on the wagon to be carted to the cafeteria. The bucks had been returned safely to their pen. Gayle knew they were planning on their next escape and tomorrow morning it will start all over again. She was fine with that.

They began their journey back to the Big Apple, the residential section where they lived. The milk sloshing in the pails. About five groups spontaneously formed and as many conversations were started. And just as suddenly, groups broke up and were reformed, and other conversations begun.

The plasma lamps that provided light to the station were shining brightly directly overhead. As they walked through the Ag section, Gayle could smell the rich, earthy scent coming from the damp soil. Back in the Big Apple the kids dropped off the milk and eggs at the cafeteria. That job was complete. It was now time to attend group lessons.

2 Lessons with Ms. Agen

After dropping off the milk and eggs at the cafeteria, Gayle grabbed an almond breakfast bar and a bottle of mango juice. She ate the bar as they walked to the old store that had been converted to a school room. Every day, as long back as Gayle could remember, Ms. Agen would be sitting in her chair awaiting them to arrive. But not today.

They stopped just inside the door, looked around, and then checked the clocks on their tablets. It was time for class.

“Well,” said Boris. “Don’t just stand there.” Boris was eight and a little bossy. He always appeared serious with furrowed brow and moved his eyes rather than his whole head to look at you. Gayle moved and let him pass into the classroom. She followed him in and took her seat on the right-hand side of the room, sitting with Alicia. Gayle looked around; most everyone was talking with their neighbor. All except JJ who was working on a lesson.

She wondered if JJ had passed her in the total number of lessons. She did not mean to compete with him, particularly since he did not know she was competing. Her father had noticed Gayle’s frustration one day and asked her what the problem was. She told him about JJ. Her father laughed. “Don’t let it get to you. He’s trying to know everything there is to know.”

“But that’s impossible!”

“I know, but he’s determined to do it anyway.” This had all happened a couple of years ago. Mr Artois must have noticed that Gayle still felt bad about the situation. “Don’t let it get to you. I feel he knows it’s impossible, but I do admire his drive.” He could see her concern. “Don’t you worry. You have way more brains than I did at your age.” He held her chin between his thumb and forefinger. “I am very proud of you.”

Somehow, that had helped a little. As she sat there at the table with Alicia, a little girl with a set of two braided black pigtails came in and sat in the back. It was the first time she had come to class. Gayle had seen her from time to time, but she rarely said anything. Occasionally, she would hang out with them at the fountain. But before she could continue conversation with Alicia, Ms. Agen walked in.

She was slightly younger than her parents, athletic, but her father referred to her as a nerd. He said he meant that kindly. Gayle suspected that it had a lot to do with Ms. Agen’s glasses, and how smart she was. But today she came in with a tablet in her left hand and a tissue in her right hand, holding it up to her eye.

“What’s wrong?” asked Alicia.

“Oh, nothing,” said Ms. Agen. “Allergies, perhaps. There must be something blooming that is producing some serious pollen.”

“Do you want me to get something from Dr Ng?” asked Fernanda.

“No, don’t bother her. I’ll be fine.”

She looked around the room. “Oh, good. Let’s welcome Angelita on her first day of class.”

Gayle turned to see Angelita stand and express a huge grin.

“Is there anyone here who you don’t know?”

“No, I know everyone.” Then she sat down.

“Okay,” said Agen as she activated her tablet. “Let’s see. It appears that Alicia is on pace with her studies. I was expecting a little more science and math. You obviously enjoy more your literature studies.”

Alicia said that she would work on correcting this.

“Gayle, I can see why you team up with Alicia. You are ahead in science and math but falling behind in your literature studies. No, I’m afraid cozy mysteries don’t count.”

Ms. Agen continued down the class list. She laughed when she got to JJ. “I will tell you right now, you will never get through all of my lessons, JJ.”

“That’s a relief, I would hate to have nothing to do.”

“There will always be something to do. The only suggestion I could make would be to meditate. I would hate to see you burn out.”

“I will look into it. Thank you.”

She continued down the list until she got to the new student when she laughed again. Then Gayle knew why Angelita was starting early. “So, Angelita, I’m not sure you understand how this works, or perhaps no one told you, but there are subjects other than math.”

The others laughed.

“Yes, Ms. Agen.” Embarrassed, Angelita looked down at the table as she said this. Gayle could see that Angelita showed no remorse. Gayle did not know whether she should feel annoyed by this or encouraged. What an idea; Angelita just acknowledged that the understood, not that she would follow the lesson plan.

“Okay,” said Ms. Agen. She appeared to have gotten over the allergies; her eyes were brighter; her voice stronger. “With our new member today, we will have to make some changes. Alicia, I would like for you to work with Angelita, so that pairs up Gayle and Gusty, Boris and Uma, JJ and Fernanda, sorry, the Fenech twins are working together today, and lastly, Yuana and Kotari.”

“But we’re not working on the same lessons,” said Uma.

“Looks like you’ll have to find common ground.” Some of them were disappointed, but once they got started everything went smoothly.

Gayle looked at Gusty and asked, “What do you want to study?”

Gusty shrugged. “Greek History?”

“Oh, but not with Aristotle, anyone but Aristotle.”

“Oh, all right, then Herodotus.”

“Okay,” said Gayle. The tablet initiated the archive, and Herodotus appeared before them. It was not really a person; rather it was a hologram. An incredibly good one. For the next couple of hours, they discussed the Persian Wars. Gayle realized the problem right away; Herodotus liked to talk, and it soon turned into a lecture. Gayle did what she could to throw up obstacles, but Herodotus always brushed those aside. “We’ll get to that,” was his constant refrain. This went on for some time, and the time flew by.

“All right, you guys. Your time is up.” Ms. Agen was beaming at them. “Angelita and Alicia, how did it go?”

Alicia put her hand over her mouth to hide a smile. “Well, Ms. Agen, somehow all the lessons except for math had failed to download.”

“What an unfortunate accident that was,” said Ms. Agen. “I hope you were able to straighten that out for her.”

“She’s good to go now.”

Angelita smirked but did not say anything. It will be the same story tomorrow, thought Gayle.

“Thank you for getting that straightened out for her, Alicia.” Alicia looked back at Angelita, who winked back. “Another JJ,” said Gayle to Alicia.

“It is now lunch time. See you tomorrow.”

“Bye, Ms. Agen,” they chorused back, then headed for the door.

As they left, some of them ran to lunch, others stood there at the door talking, and the others walked to the cafeteria. However, they all ended up at the same set of tables. Ms. Welby was there along with the other volunteers. Gayle loved the meat loaf and smashed potatoes, but she did not really care for cooked carrots. Dessert was a strawberry cake. She wavered between coffee and tea but decided to go with tea.

As usual, Gayle sat with Alicia, Uma and Fernanda. The boys sat together, except for JJ. He sat away from them and had his tablet propped up.

The parents had mostly cleared out and had gone back to work, but a few lingered over coffee and conversation.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Gayle hissed over to JJ, “What are you reading?”

JJ’s head slowly rose from his tablet and looked over at her, shrugged. “Not much, don’t worry, it’s not another lesson.”

“What’s not much?”

“In general, education systems. You know, our system of education is unique.”

“In what way?”

“I’ve never come across Didactic AI. Agen’s holographic assistants.”

“Oh, really? I wonder why.”

JJ went back to reading, having concluded that the conversation was over. Gayle wondered why JJ would be reading about that. Gayle shrugged it off attributing it to one of JJ’s eccentricities. In the meantime, she had lost track of the conversation between her table mates. She listened for a moment and realized that she had not missed much.

Gayle continued with her lunch. Her mind was still on JJ. Something just was not right with the world. First, it was Agen arriving late to class and puffy-eyed, then JJ reading about educational systems. And her mother humming. She also wondered why no one else was using holographic mentors. Gayle got up and took her tray to the drop off area. She left the cafeteria and made her way to the fountain.

The fountain was close to the cafeteria and had become the usual hangout after lunch and dinner. The Fenech twins were already there. Christina and Tonks had a close relationship. Tonks was an octopus, but not a real one, rather a holographic one. Mark-Albert was on the other side of the fountain talking with Hagrid, the sea turtle, and Norbert, the great white shark.

Gayle kicked off her sandals and sat on the edge of the fountain. It felt good putting her feet into the warm water. The water jets were splashing on the surface of the water producing a fine mist. The Coriolis breeze directed it at Gayle. She leaned back and looked up at the plasma tubes that were providing light for the station. They were spaced around the hub, the station’s axis. They were producing as much light as people on Earth would receive on a nice sunny day.

“That was rude,” said Alicia. She was with Uma and Fernanda.

“What?”

“Just getting up and leaving that way.”

Gayle could tell that her friend was not angry, but just taking some shots at her. “Well, your conversation was not all that intellectually stimulating. So, I figured I would just come out here for a discussion with Myrtle.” That was a quite the insult. Myrtle was a lobster that lived on the coral reef at the center of the fountain. She was bossy too, and easily hurt emotionally.

“Nice,” said Alicia, but she kicked off her sandals and sat down next to her. The others did as well. Of course, doing so was bound to attract the attention of Hagrid. He leisurely swam over and said, “Hi, ladies.”

“Hi, Hagrid.”

It was Norbert who caught Gayle’s attention. He was chasing the clown fish. When he caught one, he immediately pooped it back out, unharmed. Well, they were holograms.

Alicia kept up her discussion with Hagrid until it was time for their afternoon lessons.

Home for more lessons.

Gayle’s first lesson was with Sir Isaac Newton and they were going to discuss the laws of motion.

3 The Big Reveal

“Okay, Gayle, take one of your ZeeGee balls for example.” Sir Isaac had an accent that sounded strange to her but found it intriguing.

“All right. What am I going to do with it?”

“You will be standing by the fountain, and you will throw the ball up in the air. What happens?”

“It’s going to fall back down, of course.”

“Right,” he said as if she just said something wonderful. “Okay, take that same ball and go to the hub. Then throw the ball up into the air. What happens?”

“What is up?”

“Exactly,” he said, excited. “Why not?”

“Gravity?” she said, hesitantly.

“Right you are!” He was excited by her answer. “So, do you need gravity to define an up direction?”

“My guess would be yes. But you can ‘define’ an up in the absence of gravity.”

“I suppose you could, but let’s stick to the lesson. Now, am I right to assume that the ball is the same whether there is gravity or not?”

“Yes, of course.”

“So, the ball doesn’t change with respect to the force of gravity, just its behavior.”

“I suppose. It’s still the same ball.”

“Okay, now let’s introduce the idea of weight, pardon my question, but how much do you weight?”

“That’s easy, 34 kilograms.”

Sir Isaac flashed her a mischievous grin. “That’s your mass, not your weight. In the hub you are weightless, but you still have a mass of 34 kilograms. You will be 34 kilograms everywhere, but your weight will change depending on the acceleration due to gravity, or a gravitational constant.”

This conversation went on for quite a while. Gayle felt that she now understood the distinction between mass and force, sometimes call weight.

But now Gayle’s head ached, and her stomach rumbled. Her lesson with Isaac Newton had gone on way too long. She understood the lesson she was meant to learn.

He stood in front of her smiling benignly. He was a holographic projection but appeared to be a physical human being. He wore his dark hair shoulder length. He wore a long brown jacket that went to mid-thigh. Gayle was glad the modelers chose the younger Newton, since he looked handsome. Gayle was still able to concentrate on the lessons though.

“Okay, young lady,” said Isaac. “I see you’ve had just about enough for the day. So, when we pick this lesson up again make sure you have read those articles that I pointed out to you.”

Gayle smiled up at the elegant young man and wondered when he would began wearing the powered wig. Did they really wear their hair below her shoulders? He smiled back at her.

“Thank you, Sir Isaac, for the lesson. I will read those articles before next time, I promise. Bye, for now.”

Isaac Newton faded out and Gayle was left standing there thinking about dinner. She headed downstairs from her bedroom to find her mom working at the kitchen table. Her mom looked up at her, and said, “how were your lessons?”

“They were good, but I prefer chemistry to physics.”

“That’s like your dad. I was rather partial to physics.”

“Do we have any chemists here on the station?”

“Sure, a couple. Why?”

“I might want to shadow them.”

Her mother nodded. Then made a strange face that Gayle did not understand. Did she say something wrong?

“You ready for dinner?” her mother asked.

“I’m starving.” Just then Gayle’s stomach gurgled again, and they both laughed.

“Good. I believe your father’s already there waiting for us.”

Gayle laughed again. “He won’t wait.”

“You are probably right.”

Gayle’s mom logged off the computer and headed for the front door. In just a couple minutes they were at the cafeteria. She saw her dad, he was sitting with the Morgans, Alicia’s parents. And she was right; he had not waited on them. He was almost finished with this dinner when Gayle and her mom joined him.

Gayle set by Alicia, her best friend. Alicia was one of the slowest eaters of the whole group. It was not long before Gayle caught up with her. Not that she was competing.

Before story time, they got up, grabbing their trays. Gayle’s mom caught her elbow and asked if they were heading for the fountain.

Gayle paused, wondering why she would ask that. “Yes, of course, we always do that.”

Gayle slowly turned and looked at her mom. “Why do you ask?”

“Great! We’ll be by to see you guys later.”

Then they found a place on the floor to hear Dr. Moser read a story. Once someone poured him a cup of coffee, he was ready to begin. Gayle could not follow the story. It was always a good book with a lesson that made them think. Gayle listened to be entertained. However, that evening all she thought about was her mother’s question, and what it could mean. This was not normal for her mom. For one thing she was not usually this happy. And another thing, they never joined them at the fountain. This change of routine left Gayle totally uncomfortable. Gayle was not paying attention and did not realize that Dr. Moser had finished reading for the evening. She only moved when she saw everyone getting up.

Alicia and Gayle got up, then headed for the doors. Gayle released her hair from her rubber band and let it fall to her shoulders. She got her blonde hair from her father. She got most of her facial features from her mother though. Which she thought was a good thing.

“What do you think of that?” said Gayle.

“Oh, they have some news they want to tell us.”

“Why don’t they just tell us?”

Alicia stop dead in her tracks and turned towards Gayle. And looking her straight in the eye, she said, “Parents don’t do things that way.”

“I wish they would,” Gayle said.

“Anyway, it must be really big for them to make a big production of it.”

Gayle’s frown lines formed.

In the distance they could see the big round blue glow. That was the fountain. Someone was already there.

“This has got me somewhat worried,” said Gayle.

Alicia smiled. “It can’t be all that bad.”

“I hope you’re right,” said Gayle.

The fountain was relatively large. According to her father it compares to the Trevi Fountain in Rome. The sides came up to mid-thigh. In the middle of the fountain, when inactive, what stood there resembled a pile of boulders. As if someone just dumped them there. But if one knows how to activate it, then the fountain comes to life. Right now, it was alive.

Above the fountain was a large phosphorescent sphere the color of the ocean. And within this blue sphere was sea life. In the center, the pile of rocks became a fluorescent multicolored coral reef.

Sitting on the edge of the fountain with her feet in the water, Christina could be seen with Tonks, the octopus. Tonks had one tentacle draped over her shoulder and they appeared to be deep in conversation.

Gusty was standing in the fountain near the center. Within the multicolored coral and the fish Gusty was in a deep discussion with a lobster. Gayle did not really like talking to Myrtle.

She preferred talking to Hagrid, a large sea turtle. He was lazily floating along; his feet slowly waving back and forth. He saw them coming and waited.

“What’s up?” said Hagrid.

“Not much,” said Gayle. “How are you?”

Hagrid laughed. “Great! Always the same.”

“Have you seen JJ?”

Hagrid looked around. “I saw him over with the pixies.” The pixies were a school of clown fish. Individually they could be quite interesting, but when they group coalesced, they become a little difficult to take. Its intelligence was not the sum of the individual intelligences, but the multiplication of the individual intelligences.

Just then they saw JJ heading their way. As he neared, a great white swam down opening its big mouth with the intent of swallowing JJ whole.

JJ did not see it coming, but he knew something was up because Alicia and Gayle were both laughing. He turned just in time for the shark to take a big bite out of him.

“Dammit, Norbert! Stop doing that!” But he laughed along with the others.

“Hagrid, my parents are stopping by later,” said Gayle.

“Fantastic!”

“I don’t know about that,” said Alicia. “They have an announcement to make.”

“Even better. I love surprises.”

JJ looked grave, which concerned Gayle greatly. “What do you know, JJ?”

JJ shrugged. “I’ll let them tell you.”

Now both Alicia and Gayle’s anxiety level peaked. Now they were annoyed with JJ as well.

Just then, Uma and Mark Albert arrived. Only Boris was missing. Gayle saw that Fernanda and Yuana were now talking with Norbert, the great white shark. Gayle was glad that the pixies were on the other side of the fountain.

“You know!” said Alicia pointing a finger at JJ, accusingly.

He slowly nodded. “But I promised not to say anything.”

“That’s not fair,” said Gayle. “Your mom tells you everything. We always have to find out later.”

At about this time Gayle noticed that some of the other kids were looking off towards the cafeteria. Gayle turned; she could see why. The parents were on their way.

Alicia, Gayle, and JJ sat on the edge of the fountain. Hagrid floated lazily above them while Norbert the shark tormented Boris who was making his way to the fountain. Boris tried to shew it away like it was a nasty fly, but that only made Norbert laugh.

Christina swung her feet to the outside the fountain. Tonks still had a tentacle draped over Christina’s shoulder, and when Mark Albert joined him, Tonks stretched tentacle out over his shoulder. The other kids made their way to the edge of the fountain and found seats.

The pixies swam over to see what was going on. “Hi, parents of our friends!” they said in unison.

It seemed that the kids and the fountain were ready to hear the big news.

The number of parents outnumbered the number of kids, which made sense, since couples could only have one child. The exceptions were Christina and Mark Albert Fenech who were twins, the only brother and sister on Callisto Station.

Mrs. Jimenez, JJ’s mother, was the director of Callisto station. She stepped forward to address the kids, and the fountain too. “Good evening, I am glad that you are able to attend.”

“But we are always here,” said Hagrid.

“Attend?” thought Gayle. This was sounding like an adult meeting. She did not like that at all.

“Sorry for all the mystery, but we wanted to make a special announcement. I know a few of you were aware that something was up. And there was. We hope you will be as excited as we are about this bit of information.”

Under her breath, Gayle mumbled, “I wish she would get on with it.”

“Well,” Mrs. Jimenez continued, “next month at this time we will be boarding a shuttle and we will be heading to Earth.”

This was met with silence. The only sound was from the water streams splashing on the water surface.

“No,” Gayle said, almost as a whisper. “Why?”

“Is that good?” said Hagrid.

“No, it’s not, now be quiet,” said Alicia.

“Well?” said Mrs. Jimenez. “Isn’t this great news? You kids are going to Earth!”

Gayle could see the parents were beaming from ear to ear. No doubt, they saw this as great news. Many of them have been away from Earth, their home, for a long time. And no doubt, are looking forward to getting back.

Gayle did not feel this way. Callisto Station was the only home she has known.

4 Nowhere to Run

Gayle woke the next day, hoping that all had been a bad dream. It was not. She had tossed and turned throughout the night. Not even the fountain helped her fall asleep. The solar lights had yet to come on, so it was still early. The clock on her bed side table read 4:37. She decided to get out of bed anyway.

She visited the cafeteria to find that Ms. Welby was already there preparing for the day. She grabbed some breakfast bars and a juice before heading for the wilderness area and her chores.

Only one more month. She could not believe it.

Unconsciously, Gayle walked from the Big Apple to the adjacent research area taking the long way around the station. This time she did not pause to enjoy the Ag section. The next section was the wilderness area where they did their chores. As she walked, she noticed that the plasma tubes were still dark.

The night before all she could feel was numb. She wondered if that was like being in shock. She was aware of what was going on, but she had somehow distanced herself from it.

Now that she has started a new day, she realized that she was angry. More than angry, she was furious. How dare they take them from their home!

Much to her surprise, she found that Uma was already there. She was not tending to the goats. They had all escaped from the pen, as usual, but Uma was not concerned about them. She was leaning on the post staring off across the pen. She was so deep in thought that she did not hear Gayle approaching.

“We really need to do something about this pen before we go,” Uma said when she saw Gayle. Her voice came out passionlessly. “Have we ever found the goats in the pen when we arrive in the morning?”

“I don’t believe we have. By the way, why are you here so early? I figured I would have been the first one here today.”

Uma turned toward Gayle, her face blank, her eyes vacant. She had the sisal rope in her hand, but she was not doing anything with it. Some of the goats were nudging her. They needed milking. “After the ‘surprise’ I couldn’t sleep.”

“I know what you mean. I couldn’t sleep either. I tossed and turned all night. Flame gave up on me and left.” He usually slept on the bed near her legs.

“Well, I am happy for my parents,” Uma said, “but I don’t really want to leave here. I have no idea what to expect when we get to Earth.”

“Me neither.” Gayle decided she better hold the gate for Uma. “Do you want to do anything with that twine?”

The plasma tubes began to glow as Uma unrolled a length of twine. It was not Uma’s best work, but the goats would be out tomorrow anyway. It did not matter. The goats did not like to be penned up. Idiot was the problem; he would wander the whole station if they let him. Once he was out, all the others wanted to see what he was up to.

Gradually, the rest of the gang showed up. Alicia and Uma led a few over to the pumping station to collect the milk. In the meantime, some of the kids rounded up the goats and put them back into the pen. The rest collected eggs.

Boris and Gusty loaded the pails onto a cart. While Uma and Alicia finished up the milking. They walked the cart to the Big Apple’s cafeteria, and Gayle hoped that some of the milk would be made into ice cream. That would be nice. It might cheer her up.

They unloaded the milk pails, helped themselves to another breakfast, then it was time to get along to class. Gayle had another coffee and drank most of it.

Ms. Agen was looking over their report concerning the goat farm. She was twice as tall as most of the kids, and quite fit. She was going through the numbers when Gusty asked, “How long will it take to get to Earth?”

Ms. Agen looked up from the report, “Oh, it will take anywhere from 175 to 200 days to get there. It would depend on the relative positions of the planets when you leave.”

“A lifetime,” said Fernanda, exasperated.

Ms. Agen laughed. “It may seem so.”

“Do you have any idea where we will live, once we get there?” asked Boris.

“As I understand it, you will spend some time in Florida, a state in the North American Alliance. They will want to make sure you are adjusting to the gravity on Earth, and if there are any concerns with your adjusting to the atmosphere. There is a lot in the air there, and it may take time to adapt to the changes. Then, who knows?”

“What do you mean, ‘Who knows’?” JJ said.

“Well, chances are, depending on where your parents find employment, you will be heading off to various parts of the Alliance.”

“You mean we’ll be separated?” Fernanda said, sounding as if the idea scared her.

Ms. Agen saw the error of her ways. “Who is to say. Right now, you will settle in Florida for the foreseeable future.”

It was quiet for some time. Gayle looked over at JJ, then looked at Alicia. Gayle could see that they already understood their fate once they arrived on Earth.

At most times thirty days, one month, seemed like a long time, Gayle thought to herself. Especially if she was waiting for something good to happen, like Christmas or her birthday, other times it goes so fast. Right now, these days are flying by.

And Gayle wanted to make them stop.

She lost all interest in doing what she usually loved to do. Sure, she still went to help with the goats in the mornings, but that was so the others would not have to cover for her. She would prefer to just spend her whole time in bed. She could see herself doing that.

Flame still followed her wherever she went, he was always there with her when she was with the goats. But for some reason he was never there when Gayle was in class.

It was early afternoon and Gayle had flopped on the bed. It was individual lesson time, and she promised to read papers before she met with Sir Isaac. She had not done this, nor did she feel like studying anything now. All she really felt like doing was laying there and staring at the ceiling. She never felt like this before and could not understand why she did. She just wanted to fade out, just disappear. Run away from it all, but where would she go?

Again, time was playing games with her. Time was going too fast. When Sir Isaac materialized it came as a surprise. That was not for another hour, but the clock only confirmed that again time had sped up.

Before he could utter a word, Gayle said, “End program.” And Sir Isaac faded.

There were about thirty days to go when they got the news at the fountain that night after dinner. Before she knew it two weeks had already flown by.

The next thing she knew, she was being woken up by her mother. “Gayle, wake up. It’s time to go to dinner.”

“Already?”

“Yeah. Are you all right?”

“Just tired. I’ll be down in a second. I just need to throw some water on my face.”

“We’ll be waiting downstairs.”

When she came downstairs, she found her parents outside. Flame was darting in and out of the bushes. Gayle wondered what he found so fascinating.

“We’re just waiting on the Morgans.”

“Oh, good.”

Gayle watched Flame. She still did not know what he was after.

“Did you find Flame a home yet?” her mother asked. She heard her mother ask something, but she was thinking about time.

“I said, ‘Did you find Flame a home yet?’”

Gayle was not sure she heard her right. “What? Who?”

“Flame.”

“Yeah, what about him?”

“Did you find him a home? You know we can’t take him with us on the ship.”

“What! What are you saying?” She could not believe what she was hearing.

She just turned and ran. She did not stop until she reached the wilderness area and crawled into the pueblo. “This can’t be happening,” she said to no one.

She was still panting when she lay flat on her back with, her knees up in the air. Her eyes remained unfocused as they were directed at the ceiling “Really,” she said to whoever would listen, “I am ready to vanish now. Please take me away from all this.”

When she woke, the lights outside had gone out. The only light came from the streetlamps. Then she heard Alicia calling her. Gayle sat up but did not want to answer. Surely, she would check the pueblo, but there was no place to hide there.

“If you weren’t with the goats, then I figured you would be here.”

Gayle did not say anything. She had nothing to say.

“Are you ready to come back?”

“No, not really. I’m okay though.”

Alicia smirked. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

Gayle looked at her feet. She was afraid to say what was on her mind. But Alicia was her friend. “No, I need some alone time right now.”

“Okay.”

“Thanks for checking up on me.”

“You’re welcome. Should I come and check on you later?”

Gayle shook her head. “No. I’ll be okay.”

“Okay.”

Gayle hated herself for wanting to see her friend go, but that was how she felt.

Late the next day she wandered back to the Big Apple. The only thing that drove her back was hunger. She kept to herself and before she knew it, there were only six days left before they would be leaving.

She would have spent those remaining days in her room, but she needed to find someone to watch Flame. Eventually she found Ms. Brandeis, but she said, “I will put food out for him, but he probably won’t stay here. I promise I will do the best I can.”

Gayle felt a little better.

Back to her room.

She was already packed. What was there? Just some clothes. That was all. There was an old tablet she used. It was the extent of her existence. She lost her home, her cat, and soon enough, her friends.

Much too quickly the day of departure was upon her. Gayle felt like she could not move. She lay frozen on her bed. She felt she could not do this, but she had to. Her parents were counting on this.

With great effort she made her way downstairs. She stayed about ten paces behind her parents on the way to the elevator. It would take them up to the hub where the Magellan awaited. She saw the others, but there was no desire to acknowledge them. They found their cabin and Gayle floated over to a sock, and slid in. The monitor flipped from different camera angles: from outside the station facing the ship, from inside the ship as people entered, from outside the ship showing the way into the ship.

She was mesmerized. She was numb. It did not feel real. But she kept watching.

But then it happened. The door was slowly closing. Gayle realized that she was squeezing her fist so hard that her fingernails dug into her palms. When she opened her fists, her palms were bleeding. Then the door finally locked into place, her heart lurched. It was real. It was time to cry..

5 Discussion: Earth

Gayle hated the minutes just before the group discussion. She and her friends were expected to cram themselves one by one into a small cabin aboard ship to discuss life on Earth. It was supposed to be a fun and informative conversation, but Gayle did not find these talks to be either. She pulled herself into the small cabin and strapped herself into a couch.

To kill the few minutes before the discussion, she activated her tablet and called up the book she had been reading, but it was futile; her eyes saw the words, but her mind was not making any sense out of them. Frustrated, she turned to watch her friends pull themselves into the cabin and take their places. Just a few months earlier they used to be like family, but now Gayle did not feel all that close to them anymore. About the only person she could talk to was Alicia, but she had not arrived yet. Somehow being with Alicia made the time pass much more pleasantly.

A total of eleven children were streaking toward to Earth. All of them had been born on Callisto Station, and none of them had ever been to Earth.

The little meeting room aboard the ship was cramped, and the air was stale. Gayle hated it. Every day (or what was referred to as a “day” on a spaceship) seemed worse than the one before. Gayle tried not to think about it, but her frustration was becoming hard to control.

She kept glancing toward the door, waiting for her friend to arrive, her eyes sporadically returning to her book and scanning the words without truly reading them.

She was biting her thumbnail when her attention was drawn to the front of the cabin. She turned in time to see Gusty fling a blue and orange ZeeGee ball across the cabin. It connected with Fernanda's forehead. She grabbed her head as she began to spin in space.

Gayle was so mad. He had never done anything so inconsiderate before. Worse yet, while he coasted toward the front of the cabin, he was laughing so hard he had to wipe his tears away with a sleeve.

Gayle reached out to stop Fernanda's rotation. The girl’s shoulders were shuddering as she fought to hold back her tears. This made Gayle even angrier, and without thinking, she retrieved the ZeeGee ball and threw it back at Gusty. Without gravity, the ball sailed true, hitting Gusty on the side of his head and sent him spinning. Gusty thrust out his arms and legs in a sloppy attempt to stop his rotation.

The ball ricocheted off the chamber walls and drifted to a stop near the entrance. Gayle retrieved it. She then rotated herself just as she neared the far wall. With another gentle push, she was heading back to her couch.

Gusty glared at her, having finally come to rest against the front wall. She shrugged and said, "If you can't take it, you shouldn't give it. Anyway, we finished the game last night. Poor loser."

Gusty used to be a nice kid. He was handy with the computers (but not as good as JJ or herself). He was also very good at the games they had created together. He was not so nice anymore, though. Everything had changed for the worst.

Fernanda smiled in appreciation as she strapped herself in. She was small and had long, jet-black hair tied back into a ponytail. Gayle smiled back. She liked Fernanda. But that's what friends like Gayle were for.

Alicia finally pulled herself into the small meeting cabin and took the couch next to Gayle. She was older than Gayle and was the oldest child on Callisto Station. Alicia was the first born to the original Group of forty researchers sent to Callisto Station. She was tall and thin, and her long brown hair reached down to her waist, even when braided. Her large hazel eyes were normally friendly but now were just half open.

Gayle leaned over and said, “What took you so long?”

Alicia frowned back.

“You wouldn't believe . . .” began Alicia, but suddenly Ms. Hart swept into the room. She was just a few centimeters taller than Alicia but somewhat rounder. She cut her brunette hair short and let it stand out in the weightlessness, or zero gravity, like a furry helmet.

Ms. Hart's difficult task during the long voyage was to teach the children as much as possible about life on Earth (or “Home,” as she was so fond of calling it) and the many cultures that inhabit it. To do so, she told the children many colorful stories. Gayle did not find the stories so wonderful.

“Hello children,” she said in her lilting voice. “I have some wonderful videos of schools back on Earth. I enjoyed reviewing them last cycle, and I am sure you will love them, too.”

Ms. Hart looked over at the entrance as Jerome Jimenez, better known as JJ, came in. JJ was seven years old and short for his age, but what he did not have in height he made up for in brains. He liked his black, curly hair cut as short as possible and always wore baggy, dark-blue jumpsuits.

He went over to his couch and strapped himself in. Ms. Hart watched him but did not say anything about his tardiness. This was a good choice, Gayle thought, because she had seen that face many times before; JJ was in a temper. He was not going to do anything except sit there with his arms floating at his sides.

Ms. Hart kept her eyes on him, but she eventually decided just to let the infraction go.

“Okay, class, who can tell me how many cycles there are until we get home?”

She looked around the cabin. Only Boris Schubert and Uma Talbot were willing to answer, both looking very smug about it, too. Of the eleven children leaving Callisto Station, only these two appeared happy about it. Boris had bright, gray-blue eyes, and he smiled broadly as he held up both hands. Uma's green eyes shone and appeared genuinely enthusiastic. For her part, Gayle saw no point in asking the question in the first place. The answer was there in bold every time you activated the tablet: the “Count-Down to Earth.”

“Okay. Uma?”

“There are 106 cycles remaining. I checked it early this cycle.”

They used the word “cycle” to represent the day because in space there were no real days with sunrises and sunsets, just twenty-four hour blocks of time.

“Very good, Uma. Now who would like to say something about school on Earth, something your parents told you or you read about?”

Gayle caught Uma's eye and mouthed, “Teacher's pet.”

Uma stuck her tongue out at her.

Again, Uma and Boris raised their hands, but before they could answer, JJ began to speak.

“Kids have to walk to school, outside, in the rain, sleet, and snow and uphill both ways, but my dad, I am sure, was just kidding about the last part. It is sometimes worse when the clouds are gone, and you wonder when the air will boil away."

“Thank you, JJ,” said Ms. Hart. “But . . .”

“And in some cities the school is even scarier than the walk outside.”

“That's enough, JJ!”

But JJ was not finished. In a quiet, determined voice he said, “Propaganda. You show us only the good things about Earth. Your stories are about some fantasy world! My dad had a different experience."

Under her breath Gayle told JJ to shut up. Sometimes he knew too many things, and that usually got him into trouble. Gayle had been through most of the texts on the net, but JJ was usually one step ahead of her.

JJ was young, though, and he had not learned to put on a façade. He did not understand about hurting the feelings of the adults.

“JJ, are you going to force me to report your behavior? I know your mother will not be happy about it.” Ms. Hart fixed him with one of her serious looks; her head tilted slightly, and her black eyebrows furrowed.

JJ folded his arms over his chest and focused on the wall in front of him. Gayle knew he was done.

“Good,” Ms. Hart said. “Now let's get on with the first video.”

The room darkened, and the monitor in front of Gayle came to life. The drone of Ms. Hart's voice commenting on the video nearly put Gayle to sleep, but she stayed awake by focusing on her memories of the fountain and her friends who lived there. Especially Hagrid. Of course, Flame was always on her mind.

After orientation Ms. Hart asked her to stay, so Gayle remained in her place as her friends left the small cabin.

Ms. Hart propelled herself toward Gayle, but her teacher was not a very comfortable floater. The teacher smiled briefly and said, “I'm disappointed in you, Gayle.” She patted Gayle on the shoulder and continued on in a syrupy voice. “I thought I could count on you to pay attention in class and take an active part. Every cycle I hope, even pray, things will change, but you just strap yourself into your chair and phase out. Your friends look up to you and would follow your lead. I would hate to bring this up with your parents, but I will if I have to.”

“Yes, Ms. Hart. I understand. I will try to do better,” Gayle said, looking chagrined. A voice in her head screamed, “I don't want to go to Earth! Turn this ship around!”

After giving her another pat on the shoulder, Ms. Hart pushed herself away. "That's what I like to hear. Now, you go on and catch up with your friends."

Gayle unstrapped herself and, with a slight push of her foot, sailed to the door. Outside she sighed loudly and almost ran into Fernanda.

"Oh, Fernanda, you scared me."

"Sorry," Fernanda said, and she smiled again, revealing a missing tooth. "I just wanted to say how grateful I was. Gusty caught me unprepared; otherwise, I would have had the better of him."

"Yes, I know. He's been so . . . difficult lately."

Fernanda started down the corridor. "Are you going to work out now?"

"Yeah, I just hope Alicia hasn't started without me."

A few others were using the corridor, a cylinder about two meters in diameter. Courtesy meant letting the adults have right-of-way at all intersections, and when they met one in the corridor, they stopped to allow the older party go on unimpeded.

“I saw her and Yuana heading that way,” Fernanda offered.

They rounded the corner, and Fernanda saw them first. “Good, they are waiting for us.”

Gayle saw them hovering at the entrance.

“Hey guys,” said Gayle when she and Fernanda had joined them.

“Finally,” Alicia said, and they turned toward the changing area together. Fernanda and Yuana followed.

“I'll scream if I have to sit through another one of Hart's classes,” Gayle announced once they had all gathered.

“I know what you mean,” said Fernanda. Her eyes were dark and half-closed, giving her that sleepy look. But she was anything but sleepy. In fact, she had learned to read English at three and a half and Spanish at four years old, and she loved to play the violin, an instrument Gayle would never have had the patience to master. Gayle loved to sing, though; she and Alicia had this in common.

Appearance-wise, five-year-old Yuana was nearly a perfect contrast to the petite Fernanda. She was becoming as round as she was tall, and Gayle was amazed at Yuana’s insatiable appetite. Gayle's mother had told her that the trip to Earth affected people in different ways, and for Yuana, weight had been the major factor. She had her straight, black hair cut short because she hated to fuss with it. Her awkward exterior contradicted her considerable intelligence, something she had developed as a direct consequence of having friends and parents who were always pushing her to achieve. Indeed, she could read and write English surprisingly well for her age and was learning Mandarin from her father.

“Why isn't Uma with us anymore? Did anyone do anything to her to make her angry?” Yuana asked.

“No!” Gayle exclaimed as they entered the changing area. “The little teacher's pet has just decided she doesn't need us.” Then she imitated Uma's voice and said, “Earth means a new life for all of us.”

“Oh,” Yuana said with a frown. “It's Earth again.”

“Yes,” said Fernanda. “Going back to Earth is supposed to be the best thing for us. I certainly hope so, but there are times I'm not so sure it is.”

“It's Uma's choice,” Alicia said as she and Gayle entered the gym. “It is her right to choose, isn't it?”

“Sure, it is.” Gayle placed her things in a wall-slot and closed the latch. “But she acts so snotty, as if she doesn't need us anymore or doesn’t want to associate with us.”

“So,” Alicia countered, not at all taken with Gayle's argument, “she doesn't need us. We don't need her. We don't need each other, as far as that goes.”

Gayle did not know how to respond, having never heard Alicia talk like this before. She barely managed to keep her shock from showing; it was like being slapped.

As Fernanda entered the gym, Yuana voiced her confusion. “I don't know what's wrong. Why is everyone acting so strangely?”

“Come on,” Alicia said impatiently. “You guys talk too much. Let's do our work out and get out of here.”

Gayle looked at Yuana and then at Fernanda. They were as baffled as she was. Gayle decided to let it go for the time being, for she knew that tempers would cool, especially after a good workout. Living on a spaceship for so many months was hard on the body as well as the spirit. There was no gravity to fight against every minute of every day, so people found other things to combat, often other people, even friends.

Even though the girls took several drugs to combat the effects of long periods in ZeeGee, they had to supplement the drugs with exercise to keep their muscles and bones toned up; otherwise, they would wither away during the long voyage. Fighting against Earth's gravity once they arrived would take all their energy for quite a long time.

Gayle, Fernanda, Christina, and Yuana followed Alicia into a small chamber full of work stations. It did not have to be large because the stations could be on the walls and even on the ceiling as well as the floor. In fact, telling the ceiling from the floor was virtually impossible.

The girls split up and began stretching the elastic membranes to work their muscles.

Gayle rowed, stopping from time to time when she felt a drop of sweat form on her brow. She looked over at Alicia and said, “Boy did JJ lose it today. I kept wanting to go over there and shut him up.”

“Yeah,” Yuana said, grinning. She was not really working, just pushing far enough to feel some resistance. “He's lucky his mother's a director."

Fernanda was straining, trying to pull a bar down to her neck. Beads of sweat popped out on her forehead, and her voice squeaked as she said, “We couldn't have gotten by with that kind of behavior. What has gotten into him, anyway? He used to be so caught up with lessons that nothing bothered him.”

“You guys here to work or chatter?” Alicia snapped as she worked up a sweat on the wheel.

“What's wrong with you, Ali?” Gayle had stopped and was looking at her friend. She had never heard Alicia talk like this.

“Nothing is wrong with me. It's just difficult to work when all you guys do is chatter. It's like a General Meeting in here with all the gossiping going on.”

“We've always done this, Ali,” Gayle said

“Well, it's getting on my nerves, so let's work and get this over with.”

Gayle did not know how to respond or if she even should.

“Sure, Ali,” Fernanda said. “If that's what you want.”

The girls finished their workout, but Gayle remained behind. She needed some time alone to think away from the others.

6 What's with Alicia?

Gayle floated around the gym, thinking about how bad life had become. Alicia's attitude disturbed her; she had never seen her friend act like that before. It was as if Alicia suddenly had become a different person. They had all been acting strangely, but Alicia was usually in better control of herself. Gayle was sure her mother would call it another example how people respond to stress, but even that possibility was not enough to reassure her. The closer they got to Earth, the further the group seemed to grow apart.

Soon other people started arriving to use the gym, so she grabbed her things and left. Floating along the corridors, she thought of her parents. They had been in fantastic spirits lately because they were so grateful to be going home, and they thought Gayle would love it there. She soon would have a chance to meet her grandparents for the first time, and her parents were sure she would love them. That was probably true, but it did not make it any easier to leave Callisto Station.

The cabin door opened after recognizing Gayle’s thumb print. Her mother, Miriam, was sitting at her monitor reading the latest science articles beamed from Earth. She did not even notice Gayle as she entered the chamber.

“Hi, mother. I'm home.”

“Oh, hi, Gayle. I didn't hear you come in. How was your day?”

“Fine.”

“That's nice. I'll be with you in a minute. I want to finish this article.” Gayle was sure her mother could have been a model. She had long blond hair and sky-blue eyes to go with a tall, lean figure. Despite her beauty, though, she thought only of cosmology.

Gayle came in, opened out her favorite couch, and strapped herself in. She called up the fantasy she had been reading but could only stomach a couple of sentences, so she closed the file and went to the main library. She looked at the options and decided to try a mystery novel. The mysteries usually took place on Earth, but occasionally they took place on L4 or the Moon, and, thought Gayle, when she got back to Earth, mysteries on Mars would probably be the fad. The mysteries were sometimes scary, and Earth often seemed like a frightening place, but her mother told her not to believe everything she read.

Gayle could not get interested in the novel she picked, either. She kept looking over at her mother, whose brows were furrowed in concentration; she was really looking forward to getting back to Earth where, as she put it, all the great science was being done.

Gayle was not so sure about the move. Earth may have been her mother's home, but to her Callisto Station was home. She was born there, and she knew she belonged there. In fact, if she could choose to live anywhere, she would pick Callisto Station every time. No matter how many videos she saw or files she read, she was certain that Earth could never mean as much to her as Callisto did.

Earth could never be home to her, but what choice did she have?

Then she started to think about JJ's outburst. He said there was a plague called violence on Earth. Gayle had read about this too, but her parents would not want to go back if it were really that bad. Or was violence something people got used to and tended not to notice anymore?

She wanted to discuss these things with her mother, but her mom was still at her monitor, deep in thought. Gayle might as well be invisible. Regardless, she had to find out if JJ was right. JJ said countless people were killed each year. She found this incredible, but on Earth there were several billion people, while on Callisto Station the population was closing in on three hundred and fifty.

Every life on Callisto Station was valuable. No one was a stranger, but on Earth everyone must be a stranger. This would be difficult to get used to.

Gayle desperately wanted to tell her mother that she did not want to go to Earth, but how could she do this? Her parents were excited, and she did not have the right to ruin it for them.

Gayle woke to find her father looking down at her and nudging her, softly saying her name. She realized she had fallen asleep while reading the mystery.

“What do you say we go for dinner, Spunky? The Morgans are already on their way.” Gayle's father was of medium height, his dark hair was cut short, and his body was starting to get flabby because of the easy life and plentiful food on Callisto.

Gayle smiled up at him. “Sure, let me finish this chapter.”

“I wasn't aware you were reading. Go ahead; your mother isn't quite ready yet.”

He laughed and moved off. Gayle looked at her tablet, but she had forgotten to turn off the automatic pager which scrolled the text to her reading speed, so when she had fallen asleep, the monitor had gone ahead and now waited at the end of the file for her. She turned it off in frustration.

Gayle got up, cleaned her face and hands with a moist towelette, and blow-dried herself. She was ready, but her mother was still reading.

"Mo-om," she said, stretching the word to two syllables.

"Yes, yes. In a minute. They won't run out of food, at least not that stuff."

Her father was always ready, whether it was for breakfast, lunch or dinner. He tried not to show his impatience, but he was never very successful. He was usually the one to prepare meals or otherwise take care of things; if it were up to her mother, they never would have eaten.

The mess hall was a small area just down the corridor, but it was bigger than all the other rooms on Callisto. It was spun to give the chamber a small amount of artificial gravity, although it did not generate enough for diners to use open glasses or loose food, and if someone spilled anything, it took about five minutes for it to fall. With the "floor" spinning, the spill could come down on unsuspecting diners sitting across the room.

Gayle remembered one of the first cycles on the ship back before everything had gotten so bad. The children were sitting at the table and having a good time (that was before they grew tired of the paste they called food). JJ was telling a joke he had read somewhere, but no one knew it was going to be a joke. Everyone was listening to him as they ate. Boris happened to take a large drink from his bulb as JJ said the punch line, and Boris sent two jets of water spewing out of his nostrils. One hit the luckless Yuana, while the other went off into the cafeteria. They watched and laughed as it formed up into a ball and wobbled away, but then they realized that it was headed for the officers' table and its unsuspecting diners. JJ grabbed a vac from the wall, placed there for just such emergencies, and hurriedly sucked up the wobbling projectile.

When the Artoises arrived, the hall was nearly full. Fortunately, the Morgans had reserved three places at their table for them. Gayle's father went to the counter to get their dinners while Gayle and her mother took places alongside the Morgans.

Alicia did not look up from her tray as Gayle and her mother joined them.

“Hello, Alicia. How's the slop?”

“As bad as usual. What did you expect?” Alicia's tone sounded harsh to Gayle.

Gayle could not understand it. Had she done something to make her friend angry? It just was not like Alicia to be so mean. Gayle remained quiet, looking down at the empty table. All around her it was noisy. Parents talked loudly, laughed with reckless abandon, or just smiled from ear to ear. It amazed Gayle that they could remain this enthusiastic after nearly a hundred and fifty days in space.

They all  were most likely discussing what Miriam and Alicia's mother, Colin, discussed: getting home. They were obsessed with the idea. They could not stop gushing about the Earth’s open skies, sandy beaches, and salty oceans. "The food," they said with reverence. American, Mexican, and Chinese food, as well as a thousand other cuisines, awaited them there. Dessert was also a popular topic. The mention of real ice-cream, made from cow's milk, would get her mother drooling as her eyes grew large.

Gayle's father arrived with three trays. He set them down and clumsily took a seat near Alicia's father.

Each tray was white and had five rectangular recesses. In one was a pasty drab-green substance which, according to the menu, was salad. The burnt-orange slab was carrots, and the large, almond-brown slab was the evening's special: turkey and dressing. Gayle lowered her nose to inspect. Her sense of smell would beg to differ with the menu’s culinary claims. The last two rectangles supposedly contained potatoes and what passed for gravy, while the last slot contained a banana/lemon flavored goat yogurt.

Gayle took her scoop from its magnetic clamp and scooped up a bit of the salad; it was gritty, no doubt from the croutons. Back on Callisto, they had enjoyed real salad. Gayle wondered what it would be like to eat on Earth. Would the food get even worse? Her parents certainly did not think so.

She chewed the paste, swallowed, and then washed it down with a sip of water from a bulb. At least when they eventually reach Earth they would not have to eat the ship's slop anymore, but that was little consolation.

The thought of going to Earth did not scare her; after all, a nine-year-old wouldn't admit to being afraid of anything. However, it tore the joy of life out of her whenever it crossed her mind.

“Ali, do you think JJ is right about Earth?”

Alicia shrugged. “Don't know. I've never been there, but JJ usually knows what he's talking about.”

“It's kind of scary, isn't it?”

“It's best not to think about it. There isn't anything we can do about it anyway.”

Gayle finished her yogurt first and then started on the main course.

“Ali, do you think JJ got into trouble for what happened that cycle?”

“JJ? Are you kidding? JJ is too slippery for that.”

After dinner they all went back to the Morgans' cabin, a small, dull gray room just like the one Gayle shared with her parents. Ms. Morgan stuffed the sleeping socks into a cubby out of the way of the screen. Mr. Morgan brought out some beverage bulbs he either had been hiding or storing and handed one to Gayle's father, who twisted the top and took a drink. He nearly choked on it.

"Hey!" he yelled. "How did you get around regulations?"

Mr. Morgan shrugged. "You just have to know the right people."

Mr. Morgan had a stash of beer that he had smuggled on board. Usually only essential items were allowed because the extra mass required more energy to get the ship from Callisto to Earth. Getting these few families back home was already expensive, so most of them had to leave a few special belongings behind. That is what made bulbs of beer a special commodity.

It still made Gayle sad to think she had to leave her cat, Flame, behind. He did not weight any more than the bulbs Mr. Morgan smuggled on board, but Flame did need to eat and breathe, and food, water, and oxygen were the two most important items on board, with fuel a close third, and they took up much room in the ship. The adults would not care to share these items with a cat.

Ms. Morgan asked the monitor for a file, and the screen came to life. Two people, whom Gayle recognized with surprise as the younger Mr. and Ms. Morgan, were running from the surf.

Ms. Morgan said the image was taken on the island of St. Thomas. She was very brown then; the years and hard work on Callisto had given her little time to work on her tan. Gayle was not paying much attention, for she was thinking about how miserable life had become since leaving Callisto. Alicia was not watching the videos, either, or had she said anything to Gayle the whole evening.

Alicia held onto a support rope and chewed on her thumbnail, her eyes staring unfocused at a blank wall. Gayle could not help but think of the good times they once had enjoyed together on Callisto.

Callisto Station was best described as a big wheel in space. The station, which was in the same orbit around Jupiter as the moon Callisto, rotated on its axis to produce an artificial gravity for the living areas. It had a total of six sections; the two living sections were separated by a research section, and two agricultural sections produced all the foods and plants the station needed. The last section was a wilderness area. The station also had lower levels, but those were rarely used. Gayle and her friends especially loved the artificial sun that lit up the living area.

The station had so much room that they could run about as much as they wanted. All the families had lived in one of the two residential sections called the Big Apple, which was named by the station’s first visitors.

The days on Callisto were always sunny. After the group lessons with Ms. Agen, Gayle and Alicia and the rest of the Callisto Group would take the elevator up to the hub and down again into LaLaLand or the wilderness area. LaLaLand was built to hold a population of five thousand but was vacant, so it became like a city of their own, and they had named it the forgotten city of LaLaLand. Its many apartments (called “townhomes”), dry fountains, and an abandoned mall had made for an ideal playland.

What Gayle and her friends had liked most was watching the shy cats, which still roamed the city. One day, having given up on the cats, the kids were playing hide-and-seek. Gayle ran to hide, and as she lifted a big palm leaf to crawl under, she froze in her tracks; there, curled up tightly, was a scrawny kitten. At first Gayle had thought it was dead, but the kitten started to whine for food, she pulled off her shirt, wrapped up the kitten, and, with the help of the others, brought it back to the Big Apple. She was somewhat surprised when her parents allowed her to keep it. Gayle and her friends bathed it and found it to have bright orange fur. With the help of many bottles of goats' milk, they had nursed the kitten back to health. Gayle decided to name him Flame because of his bright orange fur. After finding him, the group had spent many days looking for other strays, but they caught only two more.

Gayle could not think about those days without feeling sick to her stomach. She had to leave Flame behind, and she did not really trust their neighbor, Ms. Brandeis, to care for him. She could tell that the woman did not really want the responsibility.

Gayle looked over at Alicia, who was still chewing on her thumbnail. All Gayle wanted was to go back to the cabin and sleep; when she slept, she did not have to think about her situation. Unfortunately, there was no way she could sleep the two hundred plus days it would take them to reach Earth.

“Ali?” she asked, hesitantly.

“What?” Alicia did not look over at her.

“Do you think Flame is okay?”

“How should I know?” Then more softly, she said, “Cats can take care of themselves.”

Gayle let it go at that. It was obvious to her that Alicia did not want to talk.

7 Trouble at Home

“The first thing we'll have to do is visit the folks,” Miriam said to Merril. “I'm sure my mother will forgive me for keeping her granddaughter away for so long.”

Gayle’s father looked back with a sheepish smile. “Yeah, well, your mother won’t be the problem.”

Gayle felt trapped in the cabin with her parents. She did not really want to hear this conversation all over again. She was trying to concentrate on her book, but her parents were going on about Earth the whole time the way they always did, every chance they got.

Merril smiled. “Yeah, I think you're right. I'll tell you this: My mother could go another dozen years without seeing me. She only had me so that she could have grandchildren. If I know my mother like I think I do, I'm sure she'll try to make up for all those years we were on Callisto.”

Miriam fixed Merril with a pained expression. “You think so?”

Merril nodded. “I know so. Don't worry, I'll talk to her. Anyway, we can take back what we find is too much.”

“That won't go over well.”

“What she doesn’t know . . . .”

They talked about Earth and they talked about Gayle and how she would love Earth and her new grandparents. She had seen them many times before since her parents regularly received videos from Earth, just as her parents had sent videos to them. It was just like knowing them.

Her parents went on and on, often talking about Gayle as if she were not there. She made a noise as she stretched to remind them of her presence.

Merril continued. “Nothing ever goes over well with her. She still talks about the time I teased the dog, pulled the cat’s tail, or about tormenting the girls in the neighborhood.”

“I know,” Miriam said, “but why did you torment those girls?”

Gayle's father looked annoyed.

“Anyway,” her mother continued, “I think she wanted you to marry one of those girls you grew up with, but then I came along and ruined all of her plans.”

“I don't think so; those girls didn't want anything to do with me.”

“It was a good thing I met you after you had grown up.”

Merril laughed. “Hey, maybe we can get away for a couple weeks while we're in Florida. Go to the beach. Gayle would love it.”

“How long would we be in Florida before they booted us out?”

Merril scratched his cheek as he thought about it. “I was talking to some others about it. They believe two or three months, but that all depends. We are essentially the first, and we have children with us. I'm sure they will receive a lot of attention from the doctors and the shrinks. It also depends on when we start in our next positions.”

“But I don't want a lot of attention,” Gayle said. “I want it just the way it was.”

Her parents stopped, realizing she was in the room with them. They looked over at her where she was strapped in front of the monitor.

“But you'll love it on Earth,” Miriam said hopefully. “And the attention will last only a few weeks. Then it will be school and a new city and new friends. It will all go by very quickly.”

“No, it won't.”

“It will, Spunky. Just think of the new friends you'll make, and you will never tire of seeing new places. It's so big there, with so many lands and cultures.”

“I had plenty of friends on Callisto. On Earth I'll just be another of the billions of people already crowding it. I liked it where I knew everyone. All those strangers scare me.”

“Yeah, we've been through all this.” Merril ran his fingers through his hair. “If we could change the situation, we would. I didn't mind Callisto so much, but it's so far from Earth. We decided before you were born that this was a chance of a lifetime. Your mother took the job knowing it would mean a better job when she got back. Now is that time. We have to go back, Gayle; your mother's job is over on Callisto.”

“I don't see why she couldn't continue her work on the station. It seemed like a good job! She seemed happy.”

“I was happy, Gayle,” her mother said, “but it is time to move on to bigger and better things. I know you won't understand this, but the work there had become routine, and I need new challenges, other hills to climb.”

“You could have found those hills on Callisto.”

“Well,” Miriam said, “yes and no. There were always other projects, but not like the possibilities I will have on Earth. Callisto just doesn’t have the same resources or technicians as on Earth or one of the colonies.”

“That's right,” her father said. “There is so much more to do on Earth, so many more possibilities. But the most important reason to go back is you. You need the schools on Earth; they are so much better. If you continued school on Callisto, and then tried to go to a university back on Earth, you wouldn't stand a chance. You need to be on Earth to be able to get into the best schools.”

“You've told me that a thousand times already, but Ms. Agen would have made sure that we got the best education possible. Besides, why would I ever want to go to Earth?”

“Sure, Callisto was fun, but it wouldn’t have been good for you and your career. Ms. Agen did great for the resources available to her, but it just wasn't enough.” Miriam looked over at Merril with a worried look on her face.

“Why do you keep talking about a career? There is plenty of work on Callisto to do.”

Merril said, “You will grow to love Earth. Give it a chance. We wouldn't take you back if we didn't think it was the best place for you.”

“No, that's not what you think. You think it is the best place for you. You grew up on Earth, and for you it is home. I grew up on Callisto, and for me that is home. Earth will never be home for me.”

“But Gayle,” Miriam said, “Just give it a chance.”

“And if I don't like it? What will you do? Take me back to Callisto?”

Her parents looked at each other. Her father said, “We can't. Our jobs on Callisto are finished.”

“So, it's either like it or lump it!”

Gayle unstrapped herself and propelled herself toward the door. She slammed the button, which sent the door open, and then she hooked herself out and down the corridor.

“Wait!” she heard her father say just as the door swished shut.

Gayle was halfway to the mess hall before she considered where she was going. She stopped just at the main corridor. "Up" led to the cockpit, but she was off-limits. "Down" led to the engine room. But just before the engine room was the storage bay. Gayle and Alicia had found a small portal that led into the bay back when they explored the ship together. They did not do much together anymore.

The corridor was quiet as she made her way to the portal. On the way she had seen only one technician and two travelers. The bulkhead leading to the engine compartment was closed to travelers, but she did not want to go there, anyway.

She ducked down a narrow, tubular corridor and found the portal still unlocked. She slipped into the dark, cold room.

The few belongings of the travelers were netted down along the walls of the storage bay. This arrangement left chasms in which to move. Gayle and Alicia enjoyed moving along them and hiding among the crates and tarps.

Gayle slipped into her favorite of the many nooks and wedged herself in. Emotions were overwhelming her. She hit the crate next to her with an elbow. It felt good. So, she did it again and again, until her elbow began to hurt. Only then did she permit herself to cry.

But her tears did not last long; just getting away and having the freedom to express herself was all she really needed. She dried her eyes on her jumpsuit sleeve.

She wanted to share her feelings with Alicia, but for some reason Alicia was no longer her friend. She never felt as comfortable with the other kids as she did with Alicia. Now she felt so alone. Her parents were no use; they saw only how happy they would be back on Earth. They never thought about how she felt.

She wondered if she would have felt better if she had a brother or a sister to share her thoughts with. This possibility reminded her of a time when she was six years old.

It seemed like long ago. It had been after Ms. Agen had arrived to take over the children's program. Gayle had been with the other children, learning a new game. Ms. Agen made them divide up into two teams, and Mark-Albert wanted to be on Christina's team, but Ms. Agen said that he should not be on his sister's team this time. The word “sister” had confused Gayle, and she thought about it for a long time. When she got home, she asked her mother if she had a sister. Her mother smiled and told her that if she did have a sister, she would certainly have known about it.

“But Mark-Albert has a sister,” Gayle insisted.

“Yes, he has a sister. A twin sister. Although they don't look exactly alike, they were born at the same time. They have the same mother and father, so that makes them siblings.” Her mother saw that Gayle was still confused. “If I had permission to have another child, I could then make you a brother if the baby turned out to be a boy, but if the baby were a girl, then you would have a sister.”

They discussed this for the rest of the day, and Gayle felt she understood. From that time on, she still wanted a brother or a sister, preferably a sister, but her mother said it was not possible. Gayle was angry, feeling it unfair, but now she realized that her mother had no choice in the matter. The government on Earth set these rules. The Fenech twins were just lucky.

Gayle sighed and tucked back into her nook. Her mother was too busy to have another baby, anyway, even if the government had allowed her to do so. This realization made her just as angry.

Then she heard something. Maybe it was just cartons shifting, maybe it was only in her imagination; she was not sure. She held her breath and listened.

There it was again. Maybe it was a rat moving about the freight. She hated rats and did not look forward to meeting one alone in there. Gayle was thinking about leaving when suddenly a face appeared and looked down at her.

“What are you doing here?”

“Alicia!” Gayle said, her heart racing. “You scared me. What are you doing here?”

“I asked you first.” Alicia looked at her more closely. “Were you crying?”

“No! I just came here to get away.” Gayle looked off into the distance. “I didn't have anywhere else to go.”

Alicia kept an eye on Gayle. “I was in the corridor when I thought I saw you come in here. I just came in to tell you that you shouldn't be here.”

“Is that why you're here?”

“Yeah, I was following you.”

“But,” Gayle said, knowing better, “I didn't hear the portal. You were already here. What were you doing here?”

It was Alicia's turn to look away. “Probably the same as you. This is the only place to get away from it all since those cabins are so small. Now that we have that cleared up, I'll leave you alone.”

Alicia began to move off.

“Wait!”

Alicia stopped, floating but anchored to the net.

Gayle cleared her throat and said, “Why are you being like this? I thought we were friends.”

“Being like what?”

“You know exactly what I mean. You don't even speak with me anymore except to say hello and good-bye.”

Alicia gave it a moment to reconsider.

“I think you might be imagining things. But it doesn't matter. Once we get back to Earth, we will never see each other again.”

It felt like Gayle had been punched in the stomach, and she found it difficult to breath.

“What? But that's not true! It can't be.”

“Oh, grow up. Of course, it's true. My mother even told me. Agen told us. We will be together a while in Florida, but our parents probably won’t be working at the same place afterward. So, once we leave Florida, you will go with your parents and I'll go with mine, and we’ll never see each other again.”

Gayle felt physically sick. She had never even dreamed of such a separation. To be on Earth was bad enough to imagine. But to be separated? Was it possible? The more she thought about it, the sicker she felt. It took all her concentration and deep breathing to keep from throwing up.

It had gone from bad to worse. Not only was she leaving home, and gave up Flame, but she was also going to lose her best friend for life.

“We can't let this happen,” Gayle insisted.

“Yeah? What can we do about it? You have to go with your parents, and I'll have to go with mine.”

“You said that already,” Gayle said, thinking. Her eyes grew wider, and she raised a finger; she suddenly had an idea. “I'll run away.”

“They would just come after you.”

“I'll refuse to go back.”

“You can't do that. Your parents love you, and they think they're doing the best thing for you.”

“I know that. But I don't want to forget you. You can't just forget your best friend.”

“But what can we do about it?”

Gayle did not have an answer. She thought that since Alicia was the older one, she should have all the answers.

“Shh!” Alicia held her hand out to Gayle to silence her. “I heard the portal.”

They listened for a moment, and then they heard someone moving along the net.

“Hey! Where are you guys?”

“JJ?” whispered Alicia. “Is that you?”

“Yeah. You guys should leave. Gayle's parents are looking for her. They figured I might know where she is. Of course, I told them that I would try to find her.”

Alicia held onto JJ as he approached. “How did you know we were here?”

JJ smiled at her. “That was easy. I was following you when you first discovered this place. When will you guys learn that you can't keep any secrets from me?”

“I ought to knock your block off, JJ.” But Alicia could not keep a straight face. She pushed him, sending him spiraling away.

He floated to the net and latched on. “You want to give me motion sickness?”

The girls laughed as JJ faked retching sounds.

After a few minutes they made their way back to the portal. Gayle grabbed onto JJ's sleeve. “Is it true that once we're on Earth they'll split us up?”

JJ braced himself on the wall. He frowned. “Yes, but not by choice. It would be unlikely that our parents could find jobs in the same city or even in the same country.”

“But isn't there something we can do?”

JJ shrugged. “I'm working on it, but our chances are very slim.”

“What are you doing?”

“Just thinking for now,” said JJ.

“You're going to have to do better than that,” Alicia said.

8 The Assignment

“I have a difficult time with coffee the way it is, but this coffee is just plain bad,” said Gayle. She looked over at JJ to see if he agreed with that assessment.

He shrugged. “It’s a matter of getting used to it. But you’re right, it isn’t as good as the coffee on Callisto.” They sat in the mess hall on the ship after dinner. There was no story from Dr. Moser that evening or any evening. JJ could not believe he was missing that. It had been a part of their lives since he could remember.

Alicia was staring off into space.

“What are you thinking about,” he asked. She did not hear so Gayle nudged her; she jumped.

“JJ asked what you were thinking about.”

Alicia grimaced. “I was just missing story time.”

“Ha!” he said and the people at the next table looked over at him. “I was just thinking the same thing and couldn’t believe how I was feeling.”

“Oh, man, JJ,” said Gayle, “don’t tell me you actually have a heart.” Alicia and Gayle laughed.

JJ just grinned at them. They still do not realize that he is impervious to their jabs.

“Are you two about done with your coffee?” Alicia was ready to go.

“What’s the hurry?” asked Gayle.

“I don’t know. I guess I am just tired of sitting here.”

JJ drained his coffee. Gayle took a sip. They stood and headed for the exit. On their way out, Gayle poured her coffee into the drain, and they set their cups on the counter.

“Where to, then?” asked Gayle.

“Storage bay?”

Gayle shrugged. “Why not?”

Just then JJ’s father entered the mess hall. “Great! I was hoping I’d find you here,” he said. Blas Hugo Jimenez, JJ’s father, was slightly taller than Alicia and looked like an ex-athlete. He could come across as intimidating, but his ready smile quickly changed this perspective. “Can I have a few moments?”

“Sure, dad. I’ll catch up with you later.”

Blas poured himself a cup of coffee, and JJ was ready for another cup too. They each grabbed a piece of chocolate cake and a fork. They found a table and sat for a moment. JJ imagined that his father was trying to find the right words.

JJ leaned back in his hard, plastic chair and waited.

“Sorry to be keeping you from your friends. I always liked Alicia and Gayle.”

JJ nodded. “They are good company.”

“You know, I never asked you how you felt about going to Earth.”

JJ shrugged, sipped at his coffee.

“In fact, you haven’t said anything at all about it. And I was wondering why?”

JJ laughed; took a bite of his cake. “You were probably afraid of my answer, and I would hate to disappoint you with what I would say.”

“You are probably right. Very astute of you. You must have gotten that quality from your mother.”

JJ looked away before he told his father exactly how he felt.

“To be honest with you, I am a bit disappointed in you. Of all people, I felt that you would have put up a fight.”

JJ turned to his father. “What good would that have done?”

“It may have done a world of good.” He watched his father grimace. It must have come out a bit harsher than intended. “Sorry.”

“No problem. It’s me, remember?” JJ smiled; shrugged again.

“Yeah. Okay.”

“Look,” said JJ, “I didn’t want to make this move any more difficult than it already was. I see how Gayle and her mother are always butting heads. The way Alicia stares off into space, feeling helpless.”

“Let me be honest with you again.” Blas looked down at his coffee, then off across the mess hall. “That is exactly the way the parents will feel after the first week on Earth. Right now, they are feeling the euphoria about going home. It will be too late when they realize that they had given up paradise, and placed you kids in a gravity well that will wear you down for the rest of your lives.”

“Isn’t it too late to change things now?”

“It is too late for the parents to do anything. It is up to you kids to get us back to Callisto.”

JJ was not sure what his father meant.

“No pressure, right?” JJ said, smirked.

JJ’s dad laughed. “No, none at all.”

“Any advice on how I will accomplish this?”

“That’s simple. Just convince the rest of them that they want to go back. Then go.”

“Oh, that will be easy,” said JJ, heavy with sarcasm.

It was Blas’ turn to shrug. “It would be easy if you had some help.”

JJ’s dad rubbed the scruff on his chin, then continued, “All you need is both Gayle and Alicia on board with the plan.”

“Why them?”

“Because I like Gayle’s spirit and Alicia’s power to see what could go wrong. Gayle will be the cheerleader, while Alicia will pick the plan apart. But that isn’t important here. The point is, if you can get Alicia on board, then the rest will follow.”

JJ nodded. His father was right. He would have to get to Alicia through Gayle. But how, and what is the plan?

“Sorry, dad, but what is the plan?”

JJ’s dad looked at him with a tilt of his head. “Simply run away from your problem. Present a united effort. If you can do that then it’s all downhill from there. I’ll leave it up to you to figure out the details. If you check on your account, you will see that there is plenty of money to carry out your plan.”

“But that can’t be cheap.”

“Seriously, there are more important aspects in life than money. How much did we need on Callisto?”

“Right. I didn’t think of it that way.” JJ looked off toward one of the screens. Images of Earth were being broadcast. It was beautiful from a distance, the description of it as a big, blue marble was apt.

“Okay, I will get on it.”

“Good, I knew I could count on you. As you know, it wouldn’t be good for anyone to discover that I was behind this.”

“Understood.”

“Fantastic. See you later, JJ.”

9 Into Mischief

It was another "day," and it was time for another "Discussion: Earth" session with Ms. Hart. Gayle did not want to go; to her it was a form of punishment, a slow, painful process. It was bad enough to be going to Earth, but to be exposed to such propaganda was just cruel.

She truly wished she could feel as excited about her move to Earth as her parents felt. She had never seen them so happy, but their joy did not make it any easier for her. She still felt trapped, with no way out.

Gayle made her way along the long, narrow corridors. She saw Alicia just ahead and sped up to catch her.

“Hello, Ali,” she said, with a slight tug on Alicia's pant leg. Such a familiar gesture would have been out of the question just a few days ago, but since the meeting in the storage bay, Alicia had not been so harsh with her.

“Hi, Gayle.” Alicia flashed a smile, but it was not her best. She was wearing a teal jumpsuit, and her hair was pulled back into a ponytail. “I sure miss Ms. Agen. I don't even mind anymore that she was so hard. I would be willing to do her homework without an argument.”

Gayle laughed. “Yeah, you didn't give her any trouble, but I know what you mean. I would do anything to have her as my teacher again.”

Ms. Agen was their instructor back on Callisto. She had seemed a large, powerful presence when Gayle had first encountered her. She could remember her first day of school as if it were yesterday.

On that day Gayle had risen early and dressed excitedly. When she met her father at the door, he looked nearly as excited as she did, and he had a large smile spread across his face. Her mother was already at work but had told Gayle the previous night how proud she was.

They walked in the perfect weather of the station down the cobblestone path, past the park, and into another large, white structure. Then they climbed up steps that Gayle remembered had not been easy to scale because her legs were so much shorter back then. Soon thereafter her father led her to a room set aside for school. A large woman stood out front, and Gayle suddenly felt a chill go down her spine, for she had never seen the woman before. This was strange because she thought she knew everyone on Callisto.

Gayle slid back behind her father's leg as they approached the woman, and when he reached out to shake the stranger’s hand, Gayle wanted to run.

Then the woman bent down until she could look directly into Gayle’s eyes and said, “It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Gayle. I do hope we will have a lot of fun together. My name is Lizabet Agen, but you can call me Lizabet.”

Gayle took the hand and let Lizabet lead her into the room. She did not even notice that her father had already gone.

She knew all the other kids in the class, having grown up with them. Alicia was there, as well as Uma and the baby Fernanda (Gayle and Alicia called her “baby,” but she was nearly four). The Fenech twins, Mark-Albert and Christina, were still too young for school, but Gusty van Leer and Boris Schubert were there, and so was Jerome Jimenez, a kid Gayle wasn't sure she liked at all. The three-year-old was short and loud and acted as if he knew it all, but later she would find that they had more in common than she initially thought.

These were the children of the first forty families. The real lessons were done at home with the computer, but the classes were held so that the students could learn how to work with others on projects.

The other kids looked up to Alicia as the leader, not only because she was the oldest but also because she was calm and generally willing to help anyone who asked. Boris, who imagined he knew better, always challenged her; however, the others always rallied to Alicia. All except JJ, who seemed to need no one.

Gayle could not remember what their first project was, but kids eventually learned to work together.

She recalled with a warm heart the time they were tasked with setting up a goat farm for the station. This was an important assignment because the animals had wandered off into one of the agricultural sections of the station and had destroyed a portion of it. It had been such fun to round up the goats and then build a pen to keep them out of the fields. The children kept track of the goat population and all the related expenses in terms of time and supplies. Gayle knew nothing about goats, but Uma did; her mother was the station's animal expert. Uma thus taught them all about goats and how to raise them. Boris, on the other hand, had learned about economics from his father, so he taught his classmates about the business end of things. It was a lot of hard work, but Gayle still enjoyed herself, and she learned a lot.

One of her least favorite parts of the goat assignment, though, had been refuse collection. She and her friends had to take the scraps from the cafeteria and provide them to the goats. She could not believe it, but the goats could eat just about anything. In fact, one day when she was cleaning the pen while wearing one of her old sweatshirts made from some synthetic material, a goat, the one they later called Idiot, started nibbling on it. “Don't worry, he won't eat it,” Uma had assured her, but after Gayle had pushed him away, Idiot came back, and this time tore a chunk out of the garment. Gayle tried to pull it out of Idiot's mouth, but it slipped out of her hand, and Idiot swallowed it.

“What do you mean, ‘Don't worry’?” Gayle said. Laughing, she stood there with half of her sweatshirt missing. “Maybe I should have changed my shirt after lunch.” Not long after, Gusty came over, grabbed Idiot's horn, and dragged him away.

The goats were a lot of hard work, but they had fun with the project and continued taking care of them. Later they worked on science projects, such as setting up telescopes in the hub and collecting data on stellar formations. Gayle's mother was a tremendous help with this project.

It saddened Gayle to think that those days were over and that the group was falling apart. They no longer pulled together, let alone talked or played.

Alicia was still ahead of her, pulling herself along the corridor. She was saying something, but Gayle was not paying any attention.

“What did you say?”

“I said, ‘Are you going to the party?’”

Gayle had almost forgotten; they were within Mars’ orbit, and to celebrate it, the crew was throwing a party for the passengers. Gayle did not feel like celebrating, but she knew she had to go.

“I guess so. Are you?”

“Yeah, it would upset my parents if I didn't want to go. Oh look, there are the others.”

Yuana, Fernanda and Uma stood outside the chamber. It surprised Gayle to see Uma with the others; she had been a pain since they had left for Earth.

Yuana was sucking on a tube of sweets while Uma and Fernanda argued.

“What are you guys arguing about?” Alicia asked.

Yuana and Fernanda looked at one another. Neither wanted to say anything, but that did not stop Uma.

“Fernanda wants to skip Discussion today, but Yuana is scared.”

“I suppose you're going to tell on them if they do?” Alicia liked Uma, but she did not like Uma's present attitude.

“No, of course not. Why would you ask me a dumb question like that?”

“Because of the way you've been acting.”

“Well, acting is exactly what it was. I don't like going to Earth any better than you do, but what choice do we have other than to accept it and make the most of it?”

“I see what you mean.” Alicia eyed Uma for a second then asked, “So, what do you want to do, teacher's pet? Are you going to skip, too?”

The smug expression vanished from Uma's face as she looked away.

Alicia turned back to the others and said, “I like it. I think it's a good idea.”

Gayle shouted, “Yeah! It’s a great idea!” She did not want to sit through any more videos of Earth or listen to Ms. Hart's lilting voice. “Let's do it.”

Alicia turned to Yuana. “Well, what do you want to do?”

Yuana looked at the others, trying to read their feelings. "Okay, I'll go, but I hope I don't get into trouble."

“What are they going to do, kick you out of class?" Gayle said. "I wish!”

Alicia grabbed Uma's suit and pulled her close so that their noses almost touched. “Are you with us?”

“Of course, I'm with you. Always have been.” Uma pushed Alicia away, and a mischievous grin bloomed on her face. "Where do we go?"

“Sometimes I wonder, Uma,” Alicia said, just before they disappeared down the corridor.

Gayle made her way home through the corridors. Skipping Discussion: Earth had been fun. She had never done that before, so she experienced moments of anxiousness when she realized what she had done, but they passed quickly. It was a lot more fun playing in the storage compartment than sitting through more Earth talk.

The party was in a couple standard hours, which gave her time to think of a way out of it. She could say she was sick. A stomachache should work.

When the door to her cabin opened, Gayle was surprised to find her mother waiting for her. She knew instantly that something was wrong.

“Where have you been, Gayle Sherwood Artois?” Her mother had one hand placed on her hip, and the other was holding onto a cupboard to steady herself in zero gravity. If her mother weren’t so angry, Gayle would have laughed.

“I was out with my friends. What else is there to do?”

“Don't get smart with me. I received a message a few hours ago that you didn't show up to the Discussion: Earth session. What have you to say to that?”

Gayle had never seen her mother so angry before. She wracked her brain, but she could not come up with an excuse. “I just didn't want to go.”

“You didn't want to go,” repeated her mother in sharp, crisp words. “As if you didn't know, those discussion groups were set up to help you prepare for life on Earth. Ms. Hart isn't doing it because she likes it.”

Without thinking, Gayle said, “Oh, yes she is. She loves Earth, just like everyone else. But let me tell you, I hate Earth. I couldn't care less if I never saw Earth. So there!”

“Look, young lady, there is no other alternative. It's time you face up to it.”

“I won't. I won't. I never will. I will die before I step foot on Earth! Do you hear me?!” She screamed in the tiny room, the sound echoing off the hard walls. She had never felt so crowded in her life.

She wanted to fly away, but there was nowhere to go.

Her mother's brows furrowed, and her face turned from red to scarlet. Gayle hoped her mother would not burst a blood vessel or anything.

“Okay, young lady, you just climb into that sock of yours while I have a few words with your father. We will deal with you and your attitude.”

Gayle knew better than to aggravate the situation. She climbed into her sock and stared at the gray wall.

Her father arrived at the cabin a half hour later looking very happy until he saw Miriam and Gayle.

“Where have you been?” Miriam asked.

Gayle's father took a double take. “I've been jawing, leaving you in peace to do your reading. Why?”

“You should have been here. Ms. Hart stopped by to inform us that our daughter didn't show up for class today. I guess she and her friends decided to skip. Then she comes back here and has one of her tantrums because I was angry at her.”

Gayle did not listen anymore. She pretended to be asleep as her parents got ready for the party. They had decided that she would not be able to attend, but she didn't want to go anyway. What was there to celebrate?

Her parents were out for quite a while, but she was unable to fall asleep. As the time passed, she grew more and more angry. She was still awake and angry when they got home. They sounded like they were in a very good mood; at least they had fun at their party. When they got back, they were quiet so they would not wake her. It was maddening, and Gayle wanted to yell at them and tell them not to be so considerate because she was not asleep.

10 There's Earth

What a sight! Gayle was delighted to see Flame again as he sauntered along the path toward the goats, walking with an air of dignity, his tail held high in the air as if he were king of Callisto.

In  the wilderness area there where many small animals such as mice and chipmunks who made a home there. Flame liked to catch them, and Gayle hoped he did not hurt them. No matter what he had done, though, at this moment he was certainly feeling pretty good about it.

“Flame!” she called out. “Flame!”

But he did not seem to hear or see her. He had looked back once, but then he turned and continued his way. He followed the winding path through broad leafed palms that came up to Gayle's hips; taller pines filtered out a lot of the yellow simulated sun shine.

Gayle picked up her pace to keep an eye on Flame as he disappeared around the cobblestone path. She did a little skip as she jogged toward him.

“Flame, not so fast!”

Gayle noticed that the blue hibiscus was in bloom. She always liked those, but not as much as the red ones. Thinking of them, she suddenly became aware of their scent. The path wound some more, and she realized that there were not any straight paths anywhere. She wondered why.

She was about to call out again when something huge ran past her. It took her only a moment to realize it was the wolf that parents told their children about.

Panic set in. Her heart raced, and her breathing quickened. But Flame was up ahead! She had to warn him.

“Flame! Run!”

Gayle popped out of a restless sleep and realized that she was still screaming for Flame to run. Her parents’ faces were inches away from hers, but she still saw Flame up ahead of her on the winding path, that wolf right behind him.

The cabin's lights were still dimmed; somehow she still noticed these things despite her racing heart and quick breath. Her throat felt as raw as if she had been screaming at the top of her lungs for days.

The wild wolves of Callisto only lived in legend. They were supposedly large, semi-intelligent (but crazed) beasts. She had heard stories about them; what child had not? They were at one time very real on Callisto. In her dream the wolf had been pursuing her cat Flame, and Flame had been running for his life, but Gayle was not there to help him even though she sensed that Flame was calling for her.

But how could Flame be calling for her? Gayle was perplexed.

She could imagine (or was it a memory?) the wolf's large, drooling teeth coming in for the kill and Flame escaping through the brush just as the jaws snapped shut. But she was awake, so how could she still be part of this and experiencing it through Flame's own eyes and senses?

Parents loved to tell stories about the wild, talking wolves whose genes had been modified by the previous inhabitants of Callisto Station. Gayle was told that all such wolves had been killed.

Meanwhile, Flame made off through the woodlands. Gayle wanted to help, but she was millions of kilometers away; however, she also was the cat, or at least was experiencing the world through its perspective. This must be just my imagination, Gayle assured herself. She would have to ask her dad if dreams could seem so real that they could continue after you woke up. Why not ask him right now? After all, he was right in front of her. Gayle saw his lips moving, but she could not hear a word he was saying.

From Flame’s eyes Gayle observed the wolf wander into the grove of trees. Flame waited for what seemed an eternity. When he could no longer smell the wolf, he came down slowly, keeping his eyes on the grove. There was no movement nor any smell of the wolf in the air.

Flame jumped down to the ground and started back to the Big Apple. There was more safety there, but there was not as much food. Gayle had fed him until she had left for Earth, and then he was left with Ms. Brandeis, but the grove provided mice and sometimes a bird. Gayle understood all this as if he were sharing his thoughts as they occurred to him.

Just when Flame was feeling relatively safe, Gayle's heart skipped a beat; the sound of paws beating the turf grew louder. She suddenly realized that the wolf had set a trap.

Flame turned to face the wolf, arching his back and pointing his ears straight back, and as the wolf came down with his mighty jaws, Flame sprang and landed on the wolf's back, digging his claws in and taking a bite of the beast’s ear.

Gayle's heart was about to beat out of her chest. Feeling useless as Flame fought for his life, she let out a scream as the wolf's wild movements dislodged her cat, sending him flying into the bushes.

She kept screaming and screaming until her parents got a hold of her. She remembered looking into their faces, but she continued to scream, and it took her a long time to calm down enough to talk.

But what could she say to her parents? They would not understand. It had been many cycles ago, but they were still angry about her skipping Discussion: Earth. Telling them the dream was about Flame would send them into a frazzle. She especially couldn't tell anyone that she had been Flame for much of her dream.

“I'm fine. Just leave me alone,” she heard someone say. Then she realized it was her own voice.

“Are you sure?” asked her father. “You didn't sound fine a few moments ago.”

“It was just a bad dream. Is there a law against that?”

“Don't get smart with us,” said her mother. “We only want to know if we can help.”

They looked at her, expecting her to say something, but she just turned away and worried about Flame. Under her breath she said, “Flame, are you okay?!”

If only she had not gone away, she still would have been there to take care of little Flame. But no, she had been dragged away, leaving Flame to fend for himself.

“Why don't you try to go back to sleep,” Miriam suggested. “You still have a couple of hours. Today's going to be a big day.”

“I'll try.” But she did not think she would be able to. She closed her eyes and listened to her parents.

Her father was getting dressed when her mother asked him, “What are you doing?”

“I won't be able to go back to sleep. I'll see if there is some coffee in the cafeteria.” His voice had the hard edge it always had when he was annoyed but did not want to show it.

The one thing her father loved was a long, peaceful slumber, which she had ruined, and she had not been very nice when he wanted to help. She knew she should have apologized, but he was already gone.

Gayle did not go back to sleep, either, but she did float in place for a few hours until it was time for breakfast. Her father had not returned by the time she was ready to go.

She found Yuana and her family in the mess hall. She took instead a spot at an empty table because she did not really want to see anyone, especially Yuana and her passion for food. She loved her, but it was just not a good time to be with people.

The whole place was buzzing. Earth was finally in view, and everyone was talking about how blue it looked. Deceleration would begin in just twenty more days.

Gayle tried to ignore the talk. It was difficult enough to swallow breakfast after her dream, which was still fresh in her mind. She wanted to know if Flame was all right.

Yuana came over after her parents had finished their meal. “Hello, Gayle. Have you seen Earth yet?”

“No, haven't had the chance.” She sounded sharp, impatient. In a softer voice, Gayle asked, “Did you see it?”

Yuana had her black hair pulled back into a ponytail. Her face was rounder than when they had left Callisto Station.

“No, I didn't want to. I'll see it soon enough, I guess. Say, are you going to eat your hash browns?”

“Yes, but you can have my toast and jam.”

Yuana took the rectangular slabs of bread, plastered them with butter, and dropped a couple dollops of strawberry preserves to complete the task. Staring off into space, she began to nibble on them. Gayle turned back to her hash browns. A few minutes later Alicia showed up, flanked by Uma and Fernanda.

The group grabbed some breakfast and joined Yuana and Gayle. This diverted Yuana's attention away from Gayle and her breakfast to easier pickings. Yuana's eating was getting on Gayle's nerves; then again, she realized that everything annoyed her these days.

Alicia said, "After breakfast we should go have a look at Earth. Let's see what the fuss is all about."

No one said anything. They just looked at one another.

Alicia frowned. “Oh, come on, we don't have much of a choice, do we?”

“No,” Gayle said, “but to be able to see Earth without a telescope makes it seems so . . . final. You're right, of course. We'll go have a look.”

Yuana helped herself to most of Fernanda's breakfast, but Fernanda did not seem to mind. Having the others around irked Gayle. What she really wanted was time to speak with Alicia alone so she could tell her about the dream, for Alicia was the only one who would understand. Gayle would just have to wait for the right time to say something.

The five of them made their way along busy corridors. Minor collisions were more frequent because of all the activity, and plenty of “sorrys” and “excuse mes” could be heard. They found the main recreational area even more crowded; the main screen was across the room, but the grown-ups blocked the way. Most of them were no longer looking at the screen but were huddled in small groups, all talking at once and telling whoever would listen what they would do first once they arrived.

Alicia pulled Gayle along the wall toward the front. Fernanda and Yuana were pushing from behind. Gayle did not understand what the rush was and was not paying as much attention as she should have, so she did not notice that Alicia had stopped until she crashed into her.

“Will you watch it,” Alicia said in a harsh whisper.

“Sorry, Ali.” Then she saw why Alicia had stopped. There on the screen was Earth: a large blue and white crescent in a sea of black. Gayle had to reluctantly admit that the birthplace of her parents and grandparents was beautiful

“There it is,” said Alicia.

“Yeah, there it is. Our new home.” Gayle felt a lump come to her throat.

Gayle saw the Moon move out from behind the Earth. She wondered if she would ever get used to such a crowded world and only one moon. She seriously doubted it.

She grabbed Alicia's sleeve and asked, “Have you seen enough?”

“Yeah, let's get out of here and work out. There shouldn't be anyone in the gym right now.”

They escaped the recreation center and its euphoria, which had no effect on Gayle’s mood at all; in fact, she retreated more annoyed than when she arrived.

As they had imagined, the gym was empty. They worked out, and Gayle no longer felt so tense. It was a quiet workout, too; they just did not have much to talk about. Each girl was lost in her own thoughts.

Gayle never had a chance to tell Alicia about the dream. She was hoping Alicia would assure her that it was only a dream, that Flame was okay and curled up on someone's lap, purring loudly. That is what she wanted to hear, but those comforting words never reached her ears.

“Oh, to be home again on Callisto,” Gayle whispered to herself.

Later that cycle, Gayle returned to her cabin. She half expected to find her mother staring at the monitor, but instead she found her father taking a nap.

She hoped not to wake him; it would be her luck to disturb him again, and boy would he be angry.

"Hello, Spunky."

The sudden sound of his voice nearly made her jump out of her skin.

“Dad! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you. Really, I was trying to be quiet.”

Her father laughed. “It's okay. I was just resting. I woke up a few minutes ago.”

“Good. Look, I am really sorry about this morning.”

Her father waved it away with a flick of his hand. “I know it's not your fault. These things happen. I'm sorry, too. I need my sleep or I'm grumpy the whole day.”

“I know.” She could not keep the smirk hidden.

He laughed again. “I bet you do.” He slid out of his sock. “Do you want to tell me about your dream?”

Gayle watched him pop a coffee bulb and wait for it to warm. “Not really. It would only make you angry.”

“Is that so?” he said, giving her a lopsided grin. “I bet I can guess what it was about.”

“I bet you can't.”

“You still think about Flame, don't you?” His smile grew sad. “I understand. I've watched many of my animals die, some of old age, others more violently. I know how attached you were to Flame. He was a good cat.”

“But how did you know?”

"You only said his name over and over again."

“Oh. I thought I just screamed. I really am sorry I woke you, and I'll try not to let that happen again.”

Her father laughed. “It wasn't the first time, and it probably won't be the last. When you were a baby, you liked to eat every three hours. You woke us up like clockwork for five months! I still don't know how your mother did it, but I guess she could feed you in her sleep and go on with her work during the day.”

Gayle remembered the videos of herself when she was a baby and wondered if they were saved somewhere.

“Was it hard on Callisto when you first got there?” she asked.

"Yeah," he said, "in a way. Oh, we had everything we thought we would need, even for bringing up children, so everyone looked forward to Alicia's birth, but when she arrived, it became clear we had thought of everything except diapers. We couldn't really ship those from Earth. We had to manage for a while until the printer was coded to produce recyclable diapers. It was quite a mess at first.”

“I can imagine.”

“Taking you to the hub on Callisto was fun. I can't tell you anything about zero gravity that you don't already know. Your mother and I used to go there when we had some time. You were with me when you decided it was time to eat. Since your mother was a few meters away, I just gave you a slight push, and you floated across to her. You should have seen your face! Your eyes were big, but you had one of the strangest smiles I've ever seen. You no doubt wanted to laugh, but it was such a strange experience you were not sure it was okay. You stuck your arms and legs out and flailed them around. Your mother was laughing so hard I imagined her not catching you.”

“I wish I'd seen that,” said Gayle through bouts of laughter.

“Well, you were there!” After he had stopped laughing, he said, “Oh, those were some good times.”

11 Stopover at L4

The last few days had passed quickly for Gayle, and now Earth was a giant crescent in the black sky. Gayle tried not to look at it and never admitted out loud that it was a beautiful sight.

Her mother was in the room putting some of their belongings in order. They were scheduled to dock at L4 in the next few hours.

L4 was a giant space habitat that had been constructed from Moon material many years ago. It was a station much like Callisto, but it orbited Earth, not Jupiter. Gayle could see the large torus rotating against a black background, the stationary farm domes tilting toward the sun. She wondered if she could replace home on Callisto with home on L4, but she decided against it when she found out that the stations were similar in name only; otherwise, they were very different in character. Still, life on L4 might be better than life on Earth.

They were only supposed stay on L4 for a couple of days. Then they would take a smaller transporter to a space station in low Earth orbit (LEO for short).

“Aren't you going to help?” her mother asked. Gayle knew that voice; it was on the verge of frustration, and Gayle could understand why. They had been on the Magellan for over two hundred days. It was small, even compared to Callisto, and her mother loved big open spaces. To be fair, she knew they all had seen enough of the Magellan.

Gayle turned to her mother. “What am I supposed to do? It looks like you have taken care of most of it. Anyway, in a few minutes you will tell me to get out of your way.”

Miriam shook her head. Gayle knew she was making it hard on her mother, but it just was not fair. Lately the two of them could not agree about anything.

Finally, Miriam said, “Whatever is not packed will simply be left behind. I am not going to lift a finger to pack your things.”

“I don't care. The only things I cared about are still on Callisto.” Gayle wanted to say it with more force, but her voice failed her.

“Why do you have to make it so difficult, Gayle? We only want the best for you.”

Gayle's hands formed fists as she felt the blood run to her face. “No, you don't,” she said in frustration. “If you wanted the best for me, you would have left me on Callisto. Callisto is home, and you are taking me away. I was happy there. And who will take care of Flame?”

Gayle fought back tears. She had tried to hide her pain of leaving home and the fear of this new world from her parents. They could not understand. At the same time, she hoped that her mother would come over and comfort her just like she used to do when Gayle was little. After so many fights, though, she had no hope her mother would do this; those moments were gone.

Silently she stuffed her few belongings into a backpack and threw it over her shoulders. As her mother continued with her packing, Gayle curled up in a sleeping sock and drifted off to sleep.

Gayle woke to the sound of her name. She smiled from some long-ago memories buried deep within her; when she was a baby, her father usually had been the one to wake her from her afternoon naps. Then the reality of the situation came back to her.

The intercom system was set up to broadcast the talk between the pilot and the traffic controller on L4. They were coming into dock.

“I thought you might want to hear this,” her father said. He really wanted her to enjoy the experience, but she wondered if he could really be that blind to her feelings.

In a groggy voice she said, “I heard it many times on Callisto. Remember?”

“Yes, of course, but this time it is different. This time you are arriving. Are you ready?”

“No. Not really.”

“Oh, come on. This is a big day.”

“Not for me.”

“It isn't so bad. You'll adjust to life on Earth and eventually learn to enjoy it.”

“Never. I'm sorry, dad.”

“Why do you have to make it so difficult? Don't you see how you are hurting your mother?”

“And what about me? Really, dad, there is no point in going over this again.”

“But you're young. You can adjust. We are old and set in our ways.”

“You're not old, dad. And you liked living on Callisto. I know you did. I don't know when it will be, but I will go back as soon as I can. My life is there.”

“Someday you can go back if you really want to.”

“The sooner, the better.”

Her father shrugged his tired shoulders, exchanged a look with her mother who was resting in the sock, and went away.

Gayle listened anyway to the pilot's conversation with the traffic controllers. This went on for about an hour; then came a small bump, and then the final systems check took place.

All too soon for Gayle, a smooth, authoritative voice announced, "L4 welcomes our honored guests from Callisto Station. Please make your way toward the air lock near the bridge. A representative of the station will then show you to your temporary quarters. It is truly a pleasure to welcome you all back home."

The intercom clicked off, and Gayle could hear people heading for the exit. Her father returned and pulled two bags out of the hold.

He looked over at Gayle. “It's time to go.”

She nodded back to him. She knew he did not want to hurt her; he had very little choice in the matter. Her mother had unstrapped and took another bag out. They both glanced at Gayle, trying to contain their own excitement.

“Let's go,” her mother said.

They entered the crowded corridor and took the handholds toward the airlock. Gayle hated to do it, but she took ahold of her mother's pant leg for fear of losing her parents in the crowd and let her do the pulling.

It was a slow process. The holdup was at the open airlock; people were sorting themselves out and trying to find guides to help them understand where to go next.

Gayle had not seen Alicia. She kept her eyes open, but there were too many people in the narrow corridors.

They eventually got to the airlock and were met by a young man wearing dark blue station security overalls. Over the right breast was the station's logo, a bronze arch on a dark background with little stars. At first Gayle did not understand what it meant, but then she saw a banner that read “Welcome to L4, Gateway to the Universe.” The young man wore his black hair slicked straight back, and dark glasses covered his eyes. When he asked them their names, the strangest sounds came out of his mouth.

Gayle had always heard English spoken aboard Callisto, but this was her first indication that there were other ways of speaking the language.

Gayle's father gave the security guard their names. The young man, who had the name “Cyrus” printed over his left breast, paused a moment. “Okay, Dr. Artois, let's go find your room.”

Gayle wondered just how he knew where to take them without referring to a monitor.

Cyrus led them away from the busy docking area and down into another section that was even busier. Here they saw the lifts and the crowds of people waiting for them. Cyrus directed them to one, and they got in line behind about two-dozen other people.

Gayle had never seen so many people and hoped it was not this crowded below.

“I hope you had a pleasant voyage. It was a long trip, wasn't it?”

“Yes, very,” her father said politely.

They chatted politely until the elevator arrived. After an army of people exited, Gayle and her family squeezed in. Gayle was beginning to adjust to the strange version of English but was sure she would never grow to like it. It sounded like Cyrus was talking through his nose, and he placed a strong emphasis on the letter “s” which made it come out "sh." She was going to keep her own dialect.

Inside the elevator was a diagram indicating "down." They entered and directed themselves in the proper orientation, each of them inserting a foot into a strap on the "floor." Once the doors closed, the elevator began to move, and Gayle felt her weight increase. During the near-kilometer ride to the bottom, the bag she was carrying kept getting heavier. Instead of indicating floor level as most elevator readouts did, a display showed their level’s relative gravity; it had shot up to almost one Earth gravity.

The elevator slowed to a stop, and the doors opened. At this point the gravity began taking its toll on Gayle, and she told herself she should have spent more time in the gym. The effect was like carrying extra weight all over her body. She was already breathing hard as she exited the elevator.

No matter how bad Gayle had it, it appeared much worse on her parents. Her father was sweating, and her mother was bracing herself against the wall. They took a few cautious steps fighting to keep their balance.

Cyrus looked at them, his face expressing understanding.

“Would you care for wheeled transport?” he asked them.

“No, no,” said Merril. “We better get used to it.”

Cyris led them very slowly down the crowded corridors. It required so much effort to just walk.

Once Gayle could stop concentrating on the gravity, the first thing she noticed was the station’s lack of green and that it was completely enclosed. They walked down a crowded corridor, not a path as they had on Callisto. People were in a hurry to get somewhere and had little time to notice the new arrivals.

This suited Gayle perfectly.

Eventually Cyrus left the main corridor and entered a minor branch. She saw a sign above the door indicating that they were entering the Gateway Holiday Inn.

Cyrus led them to the reception area and presented them to a blond receptionist. The man smiled and said, “Welcome back. Let me find your room.”

The man glanced at his monitor a few moments. He wore his hair slicked back like Cyrus, and he wore a black dress jumpsuit with a white tie. Over his eyes he too wore dark glasses.

Cyrus turned to Gayle's mother and father and wished them a pleasant stay. Then he bent down to Gayle and said, “You will love Earth. It's a wonderful place. I get so tired of living inside sometimes.”

“How do you know what I'll love?” Gayle snapped.

Cyrus smiled, said, “Good day,” and strode off, not appearing the least bit fazed by Gayle's response. Gayle could see her mother's body tense with anger, but she only gave Gayle a severe look.

A woman arrived wearing the same uniform as the receptionist save for the golden sash over her left shoulder. She wore her hair held tightly back and just as short as the men’s.

“Melanie,” the receptionist said, “could you show the Artoises to room one twenty-one?”

Melanie smiled and said, “Certainly.” She loaded the family’s few bags upon a small cart; then she took Gayle's bag and dropped it on top. “If you'll follow me.”

Gayle did not want the woman taking her bag but did not know how best to demand it back. She resigned herself to walk side by side with Melanie, her parents close behind. Grudgingly, the weight of the backpack was worse than she could have imagined.

The room they were given was about as small as the one aboard the Magellan, but in place of the sleeping socks were real fold-down Murphy beds.

Melanie unloaded the bags and wished them a pleasant stay. Gayle’s father looked somewhat uncomfortable. Then in a meek voice he asked, “Am I supposed to tip you? If I am, I'm sorry. I don’t have any currency.”

She laughed, “No, Dr. Artois, it's all taken care of.” She left the room, closing the door behind her.

Gayle's mother unfolded a bed from the wall and collapsed on it. “Ah! A real bed. This feels so great.”

“This gravity,” her father said. “I don’t remember it being that bad. I've had it too easy for too long. Move over a bit, will you?”

Gayle looked at her parents who were crashed on a real bed after nearly a year sleeping in socks. This was boring. After a moment of rest, her father propped himself up on one elbow and asked the room to activate the holovision or HV.

It popped to life; its three-dimensional image was large and clear. “A soap opera,” her father said in disgust and asked the room to scan the programs. Gayle watched image after image pass by, but her father never stopped channel surfing long enough to focus on any of them.

Despite the HV, Gayle had had enough.

“Can I go look for Ali?” Gayle asked, hopefully.

Her parents stared at her in disbelief. “How are you going to find her?” her mother inquired.

“I don't know. I guess I'll ask around.”

“Don't be ridiculous,” her father said. “L4 is over a mile in diameter and has a population of over 5000. No, first I want to go find a restaurant. It'll be good to have something other than paste for a change.”

“If you don't mind,” her mother said, “I'll just have a shower and then a quick nap on this fantastic bed.”

They smiled at each other. They did not bother to ask Gayle what she wanted to do.

Her mother pushed herself off the bed and entered the small bathroom. A moment later Gayle heard the water in the shower.

Her father finally stopped the holovision on a channel. “Ah, baseball. I wonder if it is still play it the way I remember it.” Gayle watched a few minutes of the very peculiar game until she heard her father snoring. “So much for the game,” she thought. It was enough to put her to sleep, too.

The shower stopped. Her mother came out wearing a robe and with her hair up in a towel. “That was great. You can shower now if you like.”

“No. If we're going out to eat, let's do it. Then I can go look for Ali.”

“But your father's sleeping. Let him sleep for a few minutes, and then we'll go.”

Her mother sat on the bed, careful not to wake Merril. In a few minutes Gayle noticed that she was asleep as well.

12 Down to Earth

Gayle did not want to sit around while her parents slept, nor did she have any idea how long they were going to be sleeping. What she wanted to do was to explore L4, but her parents had not actually given her permission to go. However, they had not specifically said she could not, either. L4 was somewhat like Callisto, so she saw no reason why she couldn't find her way around.

She left a note on the monitor and quietly slipped out of the room.

The lobby had a steady stream of people coming and going. She saw Melanie over by the kiosk and walked over to her.

“Hi,” Melanie said. “Are you looking for something to do?”

“Kind of. My parents are sleeping, but I'm not tired. How do you find someone else on L4?”

“With the directory. Who are you looking for?”

“I wanted to find my friend. Someone I came here with. Her name is Alicia Morgan.”

Melanie smiled. “Okay, just a sec. Directory: Morgan, Alicia.” She paused for a moment. “There are several Morgans. Can you tell me her parents' names?”

“How did you do that? How do you know that?”

“What? Oh, looking up your friend?” Melanie laughed. “I'm sorry.” She removed the glasses, keeping the strand around her neck, and handed them over to Gayle.

Gayle looked at the lenses and was amazed. Near the top rim was the time and date. “Hey, this is great, but how do I look up Alicia?”

“You can't really. It's set for me. But you could get your own pair of glasses. You would have to clear that with your parents.”

Gayle did not want to ask her parents. “They wouldn't mind; they want me to adjust as soon as possible. How much does a pair cost?”

“Not much. It's the access that is expensive.” Melanie pulled a small box out of her front right hip pocket.

“I have the L4 subscription. It can help you get around. All you do is say, ‘Location: bla bla,’ and a map is superimposed on the lenses of your glasses. And if that doesn't help, say: 'Destination: bla bla.' Then just follow the bold yellow line.”

“But how do I get the glasses and the subscription?”

Melanie chewed on her lip for a moment. She took back her glasses and put them on. “Look, I have only a few more minutes before I have to go back to work; otherwise, I would take you there myself.”

“Just tell me where to go.”

Melanie frowned. “All right, kid, come on. Let's make it quick.”

Gayle followed Melanie out of the lobby and into the busy passageway. They walked for a few minutes and turned several times before stepping into a shop called Widgets, a specialty electronics store selling all kinds of gadgets Gayle had never seen before. They went up to the counter and were greeted by a tall, gray-haired gentleman.

“How may I help you young ladies?” he asked in a smooth voice that lacked the strange dialect Gayle had been expecting.

“This young lady has just arrived from Callisto Station and needs a pair of glasses. Can you help fix her up?”

“Callisto Station? I've always wanted to talk to somebody from there.” He scratched his cheek, thinking. “You were born there, weren't you?"

“That's right, but I wasn't the first. My friend Alicia was born one Earth year and forty-five days before me.”

“Well, that's still pretty impressive. I was only born on Earth just like most everyone else.”

Gayle wrinkled her nose. “I didn't really want to come to Earth, but my parents had to come back.”

“That must be quite an adjustment. Maybe I can help make it a little easier on you.”

Melanie excused herself to get back to work as Gayle and the gentleman discussed a business deal. A few minutes later, Gayle walked out of the shop with a new pair of glasses and a full set of subscriptions. She also had given the gentleman the names of her friends and their families. Gayle did not see anything wrong with that; they needed glasses too. It was a deal Gayle could not pass up.

The information itself was not on the individual modules but ran through the seams of the station and was available to anyone who had the means to access it. The subscriptions provided the access to the information from the station and displayed it to the lenses of the glasses. Gayle accessed the central computer through a transducer on a choker necklace that fit snuggly around her neck. She could either speak out loud if she were alone or sub-vocalize if she were not.

Gayle tried it out. Finding her way back to the lobby was simple; she just had to follow the yellow path. In the lobby she saw Melanie working. She gave Gayle a smile and a thumbs up.

Taking a seat by the small fountain, Gayle addressed the computer.

“Directory: Morgan, Alicia.”

A moment later three names appeared on the right lens. Lawrence and Colin Morgan were second on the list.

“Location: Hyatt.”

The lenses revealed a scale model of the station. The Hyatt was highlighted in red.

“Destination: Hyatt.”

The map vanished, but the yellow path did not appear. She turned her head, and the yellow line was superimposed over her view of the exit. She got up and left the lobby.

Following the yellow path was a simple task. The walkways were not too busy, but she bumped into several people on the way because she was so focused on the yellow line. Eventually she learned both to look through the lenses at where she was going and follow the yellow path. This led her from Rodeo district to Bond district.

By the time she got to Hyatt reception, she was told that Alicia was not there. While she sat in the lobby and waited, several people asked her if she was lost or needed help. She took the glasses off to give her eyes a break; it was really tiring to read the lenses and watch where she was going. Her eyes ached, and tears formed at the corners. She tried to rub the ache away.

When she raised the glasses again to see how long she had been waiting, she noticed a message that she was to return to her room. She wondered how her parents had managed to send.

The return trip to the Holiday Inn was much easier. The yellow path was just there; she could see it without concentrating. The whole way back she regretted that she had not seen Alicia.

When she arrived, she found her parents waiting for her in the lobby. They both were visibly upset, but neither wanted to make a scene in public.

“Where did those come from?” her father asked. “They look good on you.”

Gayle knew he was joking, but she pretended it was a serious comment. “A man gave them to me. He wants me to send you to get yourself a pair later. That was the deal.”

“Oh really?” Her mother looked skeptical. “We'll see about that. For now, what do you say to getting something to eat?”

“Sure,” her father said, “but where?”

Miriam looked around. “Maybe I could ask the receptionist.”

Gayle said, “What's the problem? Computer: Directory: Restaurants.”

A list of around twenty restaurants came up on her lenses. She read through the list for her parents. “You want any of those?”

Her parents looked at each other. Gayle could tell that they were impressed, but they were in for a surprise.

Miriam said, “Oh, fish. I haven't had fish since we left for Callisto.”

“Okay,” Merril said, “so it's the Swordtail. Now we need to find it.”

“No problem,” Gayle said. “Destination: Swordtail.”

She then turned to her parents and said, “Follow me, it's not far.”

“With pleasure,” Merril said.

They had fun at the Swordtail. It was Gayle's first time eating fish. She tried a sample meal and liked everything except for the crab; it was too sharp.

After dinner they went for a walk and saw many of L4's main attractions. From the observation dome they could see the farm domes, which were separate structures out in space. Gayle understood why: to grow food required a lot of area, but it did not necessarily need gravity. If they did that on Callisto, they could support a population of ten thousand.

She liked the feel of being outside but having the clear roof above for protection. L4 was like living in a building; there were many floors and rooms, but there were no green areas. Occasionally, on the way back she could see the glass ceiling of the station.

On the way back to the Gateway Holiday Inn, her father excused himself and returned an hour later.

The next day, or cycle, was a busy one. They were up early and had breakfast just before a bellhop arrived to collect their bags to take them to the terminal.

“But I haven't talked to Ali yet.”

Her mother shook her head. “It is much too early. Anyway, you'll see her in a few days on Earth.”

Gayle was too tired to put up a real argument. Anyway, knowing JJ, he would have obtained a pair of glasses by now, so she could leave a message for him as well as Alicia. She composed a note for the two of them that said she was sorry she had missed them in L4 and looked forward to seeing them very soon on Earth.

When someone from transit authority arrived, her father got up and said he was ready to go. Gayle looked at him and burst out laughing. He had glasses just like hers and boy did he look funny in them.

“What's so funny?” he asked, embarrassed. “I should have a pair too.”

“And why don't I get a pair?” Gayle could tell her mother was not angry. but her father brought out a small package and said:

“Welcome home.”

She kissed him and gave him a big hug while the man from transit authority loaded up their cases.

Gayle followed quietly behind as they went to the terminal. She kept her glasses with her, using the time to go through the other subscriptions.

They retraced their steps from the day before. From the observation window she could see a smaller transporter awaiting them. Other travelers were waiting in the lounge as well. The tourists were having a difficult time with the weightlessness, but many of the fancy-suited businesspeople showed less uneasiness, having experienced weightlessness before.

Once onboard the shuttle they were given a small cabin to share with three other people who kept to themselves until they found out that the Artoises were from Callisto. By then they were near the end of the two-day trip to Earth.

During the first half day of the trip, Gayle took the opportunity to see several movies, which she did not enjoy very much. Meanwhile, her parents watched news from Earth on their small monitors. They had been watching this almost nonstop since they left L4, and Gayle assumed they were cramming as much information into their brains as possible in order to prepare themselves for their arrival.

She imagined it would be better to turn it all off and spend most of her time asleep. To help, the steward gave her a drink containing a hormone that made her drowsy.

Her dreams were fitful, but Flame never appeared in them.

The Low Earth Orbit, or LEO, station could be seen on her screen. A small station compared to L4 or Callisto, it served as a jumping off point for travelers to the Moon or L4 or even Mars Base, but mostly it was a multinational research facility. She saw those modules in the distance, but they were off limits to most people. Gayle had heard rumors about the research, but no one really seemed to know for sure what went on out there.

The transporter completed its braking maneuver and was coming in to dock with LEO. A steward came around and tested Gayle's blood; after doing so, he suggested that she take another hormone to counteract the one that had made her sleep during much of the journey. Once she took it, she turned on her monitor and tuned it to the image of Earth.

The giant sphere was blue and white with traces of brown and green. When her mother saw that she was looking at Earth, she asked, “Do you know where we go first?”

“Yes,” she said, not really wanting to talk about it.

“We don't have long to wait before we catch the next flight to Earth, so try to stay close to us, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Are you feeling any better about returning to Earth?”

“I'm not returning. You are.” She darkened her glasses and said no more.

The docking and departing went smoothly, and as Gayle awaited the next stage of her long trip, she felt too tired and numb to care. She could not run away, nor did she look forward to going to Earth. She felt defeated, an emotion she never had experienced before.

If she had it her way, though, she would not feel defeated for long. If her parents only cared about themselves, then it was time she began looking after herself, too.

They did not get a chance to see LEO. The next flight down to Earth was about to board. They made good time through the terminal. The whole scene jetted by Gayle.

The boarding and takeoff seemed to take only minutes. Once they were launched, she began to see the orange glow outside the window caused by the ship's entry into the atmosphere. The North American Alliance was well defined below them as they glided down to meet it.

Gayle wondered if she would ever see her friends again. She could not take anything for granted. The others could land anywhere they wanted; after all, Earth was a very large place.

13 So, This Is It

It was cloudy, so Gayle could see very little as the flying wedge made its way in for a landing. The clouds looked like a calm sea of white below. The scene fascinated Gayle; she had seen the clouds on Jupiter, but as spectacular as they were, she had never been as close to them as she was to these clouds.

As the flying wedge inched toward the white sea, Gayle watched intently. She had never experienced a trip to a planet before. She had always been on a station, completely enclosed, so it was strange to imagine a world open to space. If Callisto Station had been open, all its air would have streamed out, but Earth was large enough that its gravity held the air close to its surface. Gayle knew this on a rational level, but on an emotional level the concept scared her greatly.

As the wedge entered the sea of clouds, the sky grew darker. Wisps of cloud flew by the window, and she realized just how thin the clouds were. She looked over at her parents; they were holding hands, her father peering out of the window as an anxious smile played on her mother's lips. Gayle knew she was trying to contain her enthusiasm. She so looked forward to being home again after so many years on Callisto.

Gayle turned back to the window. The clouds were still there, but they were even thinner now. Gayle strained to catch a glimpse of Earth. She removed her glasses and let them hang from the band.

Without any warning, the clouds were gone. Gayle let out a gasp and then stopped herself from screaming with all her might.

She turned away quickly but not fast enough. Her heart was racing, and she felt a thin film of sweat form on her forehead and cheeks.

They were falling.

The ground was racing up at her, and there was nothing between their wedge and the land below. She felt herself panicking; her whole body was sweating now.

She put her glasses back on and darkened them. “Think. Think of anything but falling,” she said under her breath, but she couldn't get it out of her mind. She forced her mind back to Callisto where she felt safe, back to the fountain where she had spent a great deal of time.

She recalled standing in the fountain with the water up to her knees. The Pixies, a school of clown fish, were swimming around her head. In unison they asked, “Don't you get tired of your two-dimensional world? Don't you feel restricted?”

Gayle had to think about that for a moment. She was not sure that she agreed. “I don't think so.”

They said, “You can swim back and forward, left and right, but not up and down, as we do.”

“Walk, not swim,” Gayle corrected. “But I never thought of it that way.”

She stood there, mesmerized by the undulating fins and the interplay of the brilliant orange and white colors and shadows. "Still, we can go to the hub and play in zero gravity, so I have experienced your type of world."

“Good,” they chorused. “We want to see what your world is like, too.” They rearranged themselves into a shape that looked strangely human, with a head, arms, a torso, and legs. Their “feet” stood on the bottom of the fountain.

“Look at me, Hagrid!” they said. “We are human!”

“Ah, right,” drawled Hagrid the turtle as he swam toward them for a closer look. “Don't be making fun of them; they can't help the way they’re made.”

Giggling, the Pixies dispersed.

Mercifully, the flying wedge was just minutes from landing, but again Gayle felt her heart leap up into her throat as the wheels were lowered and yet again when they touched the ground. She thought they had hit something, but she was still alive, and the taxiing wedge was still in one piece.

A spontaneous clap erupted from someone in the back. Then a couple of other passengers near Gayle began to applaud, and soon all the passengers aboard the wedge joined in the celebration. They clapped and hooted and shouted with enthusiasm for a couple of minutes.

Maybe they were just glad to be on solid ground.

The flying wedge taxied for a while and then came to a stop. Her father gently shook her, and Gayle realized that her eyes were tightly closed. So much so that when she opened them, they hurt.

Her father nudged her, and she lightened her glasses. The other passengers were leaving the wedge along the aisle. Gayle tried to stand but found herself stuck in her seat. No, she was not really stuck, she soon realized; it was the gravity. With great effort she pushed herself up and squeezed in-between her father and mother. Then they merged with the other passengers shuffling along into the terminal.

A sign hanging from the ceiling read, “Welcome to the Great State of Florida.” Gayle knew this place was part of the North American Alliance. The next stop was at customs. There, one officer looked at Gayle's glasses with suspicion, but the woman did not say anything. Gayle did not like her and wondered if most people on Earth were this unfriendly.

After they had picked up their two cases, they made their way to ground transportation. They went through a set of doors, but they must have left the building, for Gayle's eyes began to water and her nose to burn. She mentioned this to her mother, who murmured, “Probably some pollutants in the air.” However, now her parents were more intent on finding a taxi than anything else. By chance they saw a line of vehicles stamped with the Florida palm tree about fifty meters away. As they approached them, Gayle saw that the roof was no longer overhead.

Gayle stopped in her tracks. It was so open.

Her mother came back and took her arm, but Gayle did not budge. All she wanted to do was run back under the roof.

“It's okay, darling. You'll grow used to it.”

Gayle darkened the glasses and kept her head down as her mother led her to the taxi and helped her in. Once inside, Gayle breathed a sigh of relief.

Her mother then offered Gayle a handkerchief for her burning nose. She blew into it, but her nose continued to burn and run.

The driver took them to a small apartment building set aside for those returning to Earth. It resembled a squat white block, speckled with shutter-less windows. The white was broken up periodically with gray blocks. Gayle did not find it a very appealing place to spend the next few weeks, but at least it was temporary, and at least all of her friends were going to move into the building, too. From here they were to adjust to their new environment.

As the days passed, her friends arrived one by one. Gayle found it was unfair that Alicia was the last to show up.

In the meantime, Gayle's nose did not get any better; in fact, it had become worse. Whenever she blew it, her tissue was a bit bloody. Her mother did not seem worried enough about it and just blamed it on the pollution.

Gayle also still struggled in the gravity. Her body felt too heavy, and she did not have any energy to do the things she liked to do. It did not matter, anyway; she had left all the things she liked to do back on Callisto.

Finally, Alicia arrived. She and her parents had stayed on L4 a few extra days to visit some relatives. Gayle was just happy to see her again.

Meanwhile Gayle had spent that time with Fernanda, Christina, Uma, and Yuana. JJ had shown up one day wearing a pair of glasses like Gayle’s. Gayle had not been surprised; JJ usually had the best gadgets available. They swapped access subscriptions and set the others up with glasses.

They spent a lot of time together, but they did very little. Adjusting to the gravity was not so easy. They were advised not to do anything requiring a lot of strength because they might snap one of their bones, which had grown thin due to the reduced gravity on Callisto.

Thus, they used their time together to remember the past and try to settle into their surroundings. During the day they would sit around the playground talking about how they missed Callisto and how they would like to go back, and in the evenings they would go up to the roof of the apartment building and look at the night sky. They felt almost enclosed under the black veil of night. One evening JJ pointed out Jupiter, and he said on a clear night and with a good telescope they could see Callisto. This did not make it any easier to adjust to their new home.

These gatherings continued for a few weeks, and eventually the group was whole again. The Fenech twins, Christina and Mark-Albert, the bully Gusty and his buddy Kotari, and even Boris Schubert were hanging out with the girls. They were unhappily on Earth, but at least they were together.

It particularly satisfied Gayle to see Boris sitting around, depressed. He once had been so gung-ho about going to Earth, but now even he reluctantly agreed that Callisto was home.

They were somewhat dismayed to find out that their time of adjustment and relaxation was about to come to an end. The following week they had to start attending school. Even worse was that not only would they not be in the same class as they were on Callisto, but they were to be in different grades, regardless of the level they had achieved in the past.

Two days before school was to start, Gayle found her mother rushing about the place. She was putting things away and finding every bit of dirt and making it disappear.

Gayle wondered what was up; she had never seen her mother so fussy before. Gayle tried to stay out of her way, but the apartment was too small to do this well.

“What is it, mother? Are we having a party tonight?”

Her mother stopped rearranging the pictures on the shelf after she had dusted it and turned to Gayle. “You mean, no one has told you?”

“Told me what?”

“I am really sorry. I thought your father told you.” Her mother pushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Well, your grandparents are arriving today. They are looking forward to meeting you, as you already know. but they don't have much time. They just got back from the Virgin Islands and have to be at an aarp conference tomorrow.”

“When do they get here?”

Miriam looked at the clock. “In an hour, maybe less. They arrive by the maglev from Miami. I can't believe we forgot to tell you, but my mind has been other places recently.”

“That's okay, mother. I understand.”

Gayle cleaned her room to help, but it was not a difficult task, for most of her things were already stored somewhere, anyway. Then she helped her mother with the vacuuming, and when they were halfway finished with the living room, they heard a chime. Gayle rushed to get it.

“Hello,” she said into the intercom.

“Hello. We are looking for the Artoises.”

“This is Gayle Artois. Are you my grandmother?”

“Yes, I am, Gayle. Why don't you let us up?”

“Oh, yes, of course!” Gayle released the lock downstairs. “Mom, they're here!”

“Oh, no! Not yet. I'm not done yet. Gayle, keep them entertained so I can get cleaned up.”

“Okay, mother.”

Gayle went to the door and opened it. She heard the elevator humming down the hall. Eventually it stopped and the doors opened. Two elderly people stepped out. The woman was well dressed and left the man standing at the elevator with two cartons while she rushed over to Gayle and engulfed her in her arms. Gayle felt as though she were being crushed.

“You don't know how we've missed you,” she said as she squeezed her granddaughter again, lifting her off the floor. “It's not fair that your parents finally gave me a grandchild but kept her too far away for me to spoil her. I never got a chance to see her, and look: she is nearly all grown up already.”

By then her grandfather had arrived and had dropped the two cartons onto the floor. Her grandmother ignored him as she led Gayle back into the apartment.

Inside, her grandmother looked around, and a sour look came across her face. “What a dump they keep you in. After all those years working for them, they keep you in a dump like this? This is despicable. Where are your parents?”

“Father is shopping. Mother should be out in a moment. Can I get you something to drink?”

“Oh, she's so well mannered,” Gayle’s grandmother said to her husband. “Coffee, but I'll fix it. Two weeks aboard a cruise ship and you'd think they'd provide decent coffee. A good cup of coffee is just what I need.” Her grandmother marched herself into the kitchen and started banging the cabinet doors.

“Hi,” her grandfather said. “How are you adjusting to Earth?”

“It's not easy.”

“I imagine. But we are glad to finally get to meet you. Tell me about life on Callisto.”

“Sure,” Gayle said, brightening. “I'd love to.” She did not know where to start, but that didn't stop her. It was nice to have someone around who was genuinely interested. She told him a little about Flame and Idiot the Goat. She thought about telling him about the dream but decided to tell him about her friends instead. She told him about the pueblo they had constructed and their meeting place in the wilderness area. She also described the fountain that would come to life.

“Why do you make her talk about such gloomy times, Grandpa?” Her grandmother returned with a steaming cup of coffee. “Grandpa, why don't you grab that box there, the one with the fragile sign on it.”

Gayle's grandpa slid the carton over to the center of the room. Her grandmother continued. “We have nine years of birthdays and Christmases to catch up on. This box has your birthday presents in it.”

Gayle opened it and found nine boxes, all wrapped, inside. She opened the first box quickly and found a doll. By the time she got to the ninth package, she was losing her enthusiasm, but she was particularly drawn to a cute little golden bear that was wearing a red T-shirt (a “Winnie-the-Pooh,” her grandmother called it). It was so soft. She liked it, but it could not replace Flame.

“What's all this?”

They turned to see Miriam standing in the hall.

“Oh,” her grandmother said, “these are for the birthdays we missed. The other box is the first installment of the Christmases we missed. Poor child, growing up on Callisto in such barbaric conditions and with no grandparents to spoil her.”

“So, you're going to make it all up to her now?”

“Yes, of course. We have a lot of catching up to do.”

“We'll see about that. For now, I think we've had enough.”

Her father, as usual, arrived just at the end of the exchange and had no idea what was going on. Gayle could see him standing at the door, his arms full of groceries, wondering what had happened and if the situation could be salvaged but not knowing exactly how to get on with it.

Gayle's grandfather got up and took one of the bags from Merril. She could see how similar they looked. He said something quickly to his father, but she could not hear it.

“Hello, Mother. How are you?”

“Much better now that I've gotten to meet my granddaughter.”

“Yes, I thought you'd feel that way. Just a moment, let me get myself a cup of coffee.”

Gayle and her grandfather joined her grandmother on the sofa. Miriam disappeared into the kitchen closely on Merril's heels.

Her grandmother tilted her head and turned toward her with a sad smile. “I have waited so long for this. Tell me, have your parents been treating you right, Gayle?”

Gayle thought about it before answering. Her grandmother gazed at her impatiently. Finally, she said, “Mostly, but they brought me to Earth, and I can’t say I’m happy about that.”

“But you'll love it here! You don't know how long we've waited. I knew it was a bad idea, he and Miriam gallivanting off to some planet out there,” she said with a wave of her hand.

“Jupiter, the largest planet in the solar system,” Gayle said.

“It doesn't matter. I knew it was a bad idea, and I never will forgive them for that. Now you're back, so we can get on with getting to know each other. Say, why don't you come visit with your grandfather and me?”

Gayle did not know what to say. She knew she had to ask her parents first. Before she could reply, though, her grandmother shook her head and said:

“Oh, no, that won't work. We must go to that conference, and then it's off to visit your aunt in Toronto. But we will work out something.”

Just then Miriam and Merril returned and sat in the chairs. Gayle remained between her grandparents. She looked over at her parents and knew immediately that they were not comfortable. Merril took a sip of his coffee and cringed.

“Who made the coffee?”

“I did,” said the grandmother. “I hope you don't mind my making myself at home in your kitchen.”

“No, no problem. I just thought . . .. Oh, well, thanks for making it.”

“Well, anyway,” her grandmother said, “I see you don't have room for us here, nor, I must say, would I want to stay. I can't believe they put you up in such a dump.”

“It's only temporary, Mother.”

Gayle knew from her father's voice that he was struggling to remain patient, so she tried change the subject. “So, where are we going for dinner? I'm starved.”

Her grandmother came over and gave her a big hug. “My poor baby. What do you say, Grandpa? We take them out to eat?”

“Yes, Grandpa. Let's go! I want to try fish again.”

She saw her father hide a smile. He had told her how her grandmother hated fish, but she had forgotten.

14 Gayle to the Rescue

Gayle could not believe it was morning already when her father came to wake her up. She had a miserable time getting to sleep the night before. All her thoughts had been on the many terrible things that could go wrong on the first day of school.

It was not easy, but Gayle forced herself to shower and get dressed. In the kitchen her parents were all prepared to document the event. "Gayle, smile for the camera. Gayle, say something."

She was already sick of it. At least they had prepared her favorite breakfast: waffles. Outside, her parents made more videos, and Gayle tried to smile, but it was not very convincing.

The others joined her. And now she was completely embarrassed. None of the others were very enthusiastic, not even Boris, who sulked the whole ten minutes it took them to walk to school.

The playground was full of children, most of whom stood around in groups talking. A few of them were playing on the jungle gym, while others played games in small groups. Gayle did not recognize their games at all. One group was waiting by the fence, huddled together and pointing at Gayle and her friends as they arrived.

Gayle was afraid something was going to happen, but the Earth boys left them alone, at least for the time being.

When the bell rang, everyone ran inside. Gayle's group took its time. There was a certain amount of security in staying together.

Finally, they had to say good-bye, and Gayle and Gusty went to their room. At least she had Gusty, Gayle thought to herself; Alicia was by herself in another class.

Ms. Johnson made Gayle and Gusty stand in front of the class and introduce themselves. The two kids looked awkwardly at each other; neither was comfortable being on display, but they saw no way out of it.

“Hello," Gayle said, "My name is Gayle Artois. I grew up on Callisto Station. That is my home. I hope someday soon to return there.”

Gayle did not know what to make of Ms. Johnson. She had a pleasant smile, but her eyes did not support the smile. Then Ms. Johnson said, “Oh, well, I'm afraid you will have to put up with us for some time.”

Gusty made fists but kept them at his side. Gayle saw his face grow red and hoped he would not lose his temper. Gusty had changed a lot once they started heading for Earth, going from easygoing and happy to sullen and aggressive. Now that he was on Earth, his temper was quick to flare up.

The class went well that morning, although Gayle felt Ms. Johnson picked on her and Gusty too much. The real trouble began at recess.

The Callisto friends met outside. Gayle felt relief at being together, and they began to talk about their classes, but soon they were surrounded by a group of boys. They knew then that they would not be left alone.

Simon, a boy in Boris's class, was the leader of the group. He was tall and had his red hair standing straight up. “So, you guys are the space cadets,” he said. Some of his group snickered, and others shook their heads. “That wasn’t hard to figure, since you all look like a bunch of aliens. You even sound like aliens, too, with that gowd-awful accent.” He then turned to one of his cohorts and said, “Stu, go check if any of them bug-eyed monsters got a ray gun.”

A tall boy with dark hair approached Boris, but Boris put up a hand, and Stu stopped. “We don't have any weapons, and we are not bug-eyed monsters. We may be aliens to you, but I would rather be an alien than an earthworm any day.”

“Who are you callin' an earthworm, ET?”

“All of you guys are just a bunch of creepy-crawly earthworms!” yelled Gusty.

Yuana began to whimper. Uma put an arm around her.

“Oh, yeah?!” said Simon, pointing a finger at Gusty. “Look out, ETs. This is our school, and this is our city. If you don't watch your step around here, we might just have to put you back in your place.”

Alicia cleared her throat and said, “We don't want to be here anymore than you want us here. We would leave if we could, but we can't, so I guess you'll just have to get used to us being around.”

Simon laughed. “Maybe so, but we don't have to like it, and we don't like sharing with space worms.”

“I'm afraid you don't have a choice,” Boris said.

“That's what you think,” said Simon. The others behind him nodded and murmured in agreement. “If you want to get along here, you better do as I say. You got that?”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t ‘got that’” said Boris. The rest of the Callisto group backed him up with approving words and gestures.

“Yeah,” Gusty said. “I’m not sure why we should do what you say. That would be like following Gayle’s cat. It’s cute, but I’m not sure it has much for brains.”

“Oh, you alien, who do you think you are coming here with your expensive glasses and who knows what other tech stuff you have on you? You think you're better than we are? We oughta teach you a lesson.”

“I doubt you're such a tough guy without your friends behind you,” Boris said. “In fact, I bet you're not much of anything but a big mouth.”

Confronted by the cool assessment of his limits, Simon scowled at Boris and flexed his fists at his sides, but Boris did not show any emotion at all. He was surprisingly calm, thought Gayle.

“Well, let this here be a warning to you, aliens,” Simon said, “You better watch out. You don't belong here, and we don't want you here.”

Just then a playground supervisor came around. “Okay, break it up now. Move along.”

Gayle began to walk away and heard the supervisor mutter under her breath, “First day of school and already causing trouble.” She suspected that the supervisor was talking about the Callisto Group.

Simon walked off with his friends in tow.

Gayle's friends looked at each other. Alicia said, “We'll have to stay together. I don't know what they might do, but I don't want to find out.”

JJ took off his glasses and said, “I think I know. We may have to send a message that we will not let them push us around.”

Alicia looked carefully at JJ. “That is easier said than done, unless you have an idea.”

JJ shrugged.

School itself, Gayle had to admit, started out okay if she could ignore the other kids in her class. But as time went on, even that became more difficult. There were no virtual teachers to lead one through lessons, no exciting virtual experiences or crazy Earth tech. She expected the school to have so much to offer, but it was very disappointing.

The teacher spent more time trying to get the class to be quiet than she did leading lessons. It particularly bothered Gayle because this was supposed to be one of the best schools. She could not understand why these kids even went to school if they didn’t want to be there, and it was such a waste of time for Ms. Johnson and the other students who wanted to learn something.

When she had first arrived, Gayle put in an effort to get her work done, but she quickly grew tired of working on extra worksheets all day while Ms. Johnson was taking someone down to see the principal. She even accepted working on paper with a pen, even though it would have been more efficient to just transfer the homework files to the teacher. Over time she found she was talking more and more with Gusty during class time. He was also finding it difficult to stay interested in school.

At least Ms. Johnson, who had other things to do, was no longer picking on them.

The days had grown routine for them. They would all meet in the morning, walk to school together, meet again at recess, lunch, and then meet again after school and walk home. The children had reunited as a group once again, largely because Simon and the others were always looking for a chance to catch one of them alone.

One day Alicia noticed that their experience was much like one of Ms. Agen's group projects; they were faced with a problem, and it was up to them to figure a way to deal with it. And they had discovered yet again that they all had to help to do the job.

Despite their renewed camaraderie, or perhaps because of it, they were always looking for something to remind them of home. They all missed it more than any of them admitted.

Gayle found it more and more difficult to motivate herself to do the minimal work assigned to her class. After about three weeks, she quit doing any homework, and it surprised her that she just did not care.

She knew her parents would hit the roof once they found out, but that did not bother her, either, or did the little notes from the teacher faze her. She expected any day to be sent down to the principal's office, which she actually looked forward to: a new adventure.

The day-to-day activities had made her mentally numb, but Gayle found the passion within her when she needed it.

The real trouble started one day when Fletcher started spit-wadding Gusty. Gusty tried to ignore this at first, but Fletcher persisted. The one that hit Gusty on the nose set him off.

His face red with rage, Gusty turned in his seat to face Fletcher. “Stop that, you moron!”

That got Fletcher's attention as well as Ms. Johnson's.

Ms. Johnson had turned away from the board when she heard Gusty's voice. Gusty was still red with rage when she stood over his desk. “What is the problem here, Gusty?”

“It should be obvious what the problem is! Just look at the little wads of paper all around my desk. This idiot has been spitting them at me for the last fifteen minutes.”

“Now is that true, Timmie?”

“No, Ms. Johnson. I don't know what Gusty’s problem is.” Fletcher had a very innocent expression pasted on his face.

Gusty’s fists pounded on his knees in exasperation. “You liar! Just look on the floor. The evidence is all around. Don't you see it, Ms. Johnson?”

“Gusty, that will be enough of that. I can take care of my classroom without your help.”

“That's what you think. If you knew what you were doing, you wouldn't have any of this trouble. Ms. Agen wouldn't have put up with this.”

“Well, this is not Callisto Base, and I am not Ms. Agen. I do things differently.”

“If you do anything at all.”

“Gusty, one more statement like that and you will be visiting the principal.”

Gusty turned and stared at the front of the room, an action which reminded Gayle of JJ.

“Now I am going to ask you one more time, Timmie. Did you do this?”

“No, Ms. Johnson. I didn't do nothing to Gusty.”

“But that's not true, Ms. Johnson,” Gayle said. “Gusty is actually wrong; it wasn't fifteen minutes; it was more like twenty-five. He only noticed fifteen minutes ago.”

“Oh, you shut up, girl!” yelled Fletcher.

“That's enough, Timmie.” Ms. Johnson had a frown on her face, but she had no choice. “I think we need to go talk this out with Ms. Steadfast.”

“But of course the girl is going to lie! Them ETs stick together.” Despite his protests, Fletcher got up and walked with Ms. Johnson out of the classroom.

The class was silent for a few seconds. Then this silence was broken.

“Way to go, you jerk!” This time it was Kyle Bannoch, one of Fletcher's friends and part of Simon’s following.

Gusty ignored him, but Kyle got up and walked over to Gusty and stood over him.

Kyle was not as tall as Gusty, but he was stockier. He saw no point talking over a problem when it could be settled with a fist. “You know Fletcher may have to spend a few days at home because of you. His father is not going to like that.”

“Oh?” Gusty said. “I hope he gets what he asked for. I didn't force him to act like an idiot, but I sure hope he has to pay the price for being one.”

“Okay, space worm,” Kyle said, just before he knocked Gusty's books off the desk.

Gusty looked up at Kyle through darkened lenses. Gayle crossed her fingers, hoping Gusty would not respond. Gusty just shook his head and kneeled on the floor to pick up his books. He stacked them neatly and put the loose papers back into his notebook as Kyle stood over him, his face red and his fists hanging at his sides. Just when Gusty was about to put the books back on his desk, Kyle kicked Gusty just under the arm, sending him flying back down and launching the books across the floor.

Gusty just lay there groaning, holding his side.

Gayle lost her temper and without thinking picked up a book and heaved it at Kyle. It hit him squarely just above the right eye.

She did not stop there. She went after Kyle, not missing a step as she slipped off her sandal. Kyle's eyes refocused after the book bounced off his head, only to see a very angry Gayle rushing toward him.

He started to laugh, but his attitude changed when she slapped him with her sandal. She kept hitting him, not giving Kyle a chance to get away. Kyle warded off the blows with a forearm and tried to back away from Gayle's fury, but he tripped over Gusty's foot and fell onto the floor.

Gayle sat on him, beating him repeatedly with her now broken sandal. She did not notice the rest of the class standing around cheering Kyle on.

This was the scene Ms. Johnson witnessed upon returning.

Gayle could feel someone pull her off Kyle, but that was all she was aware of. She continued to struggle, but slowly her fury faded, and she sank down on a chair, exhausted. The next thing she saw was the nurse taking Gusty out of the room. He looked pale, and she saw blood around his nose and mouth.

It was Gayle's turn to visit the principal, but she was not alone. On the other side of Ms. Johnson was Kyle Bannoch. The area around his eyes was beginning to grow red and puffy.

Ms. Johnson yanked on Gayle's arm as they wandered the empty hallway, but Gayle did not care. She acted like a rag doll. Ms. Johnson could yank her arm off for all she cared; nothing mattered anymore.

In the outer office Ms. Johnson shoved Gayle over to a chair and commanded her to sit down and not say a word.

“What am I now, your dog?”

Gayle obliged. She sat and crossed her arms. Her legs dangled from the chair and she kicked them back and forth. All she thought about was Gusty; he did not look so good when they led him out of the room. If Kyle had hurt him, she would see that he paid for it.

After a few minutes they were asked to go into the principal's office. The principal, Ms. Steadfast, was a big woman, and she could not hide her girth behind a desk. She was even older than Ms. Johnson. Ms. Steadfast glared over her desk at the two of them.

“Now, who wants to go first?”

Kyle burst out, “They started a fight with me. There was nothing I could do but defend myself.”

Gayle rolled her eyes.

“Is that how it was, young lady?”

“Not likely. It happened this way . . ..” Gayle told the whole story, beginning with the spit wads up to the moment she was pulled from Kyle by Ms. Johnson. Ms. Steadfast listened patiently. From time-to-time Kyle interrupted to elaborate, only to have Ms. Steadfast shush him.

“Do you have anything to say, Kyle?” Ms. Steadfast finally gave Kyle his chance.

“It just ain't so. They're lying. They stick together, those aliens. I tell you; they don't belong here. They are troublemakers.”

Ms. Steadfast's nose wrinkled as if she had just smelled something rotten, but she did not say anything. Then she activated her computer and began to type.

After about ten minutes of this, she finally cleared her throat and said, “I will see your parents tomorrow. We will decide then what to do about all of this. You may now go to your class, but if you cause me any more trouble, I'll see that both of you are out of here for a very long time.”

“It doesn't matter to me,” Kyle said.

Ms. Steadfast fixed him with a blood-curdling stare. “If I send you home, your parents will have to find someone to look after you. They won't like that one little bit. If I were you, I'd straighten up my act and very soon, young man. Do you understand what I'm telling you?”

Kyle looked down at his feet.

“Now get out of here before I change my mind.”

15 Bad News

After school let out, Gayle went down to meet the others as she always did, only this time Gusty wasn't with her. This was the first thing her friends noticed.

They asked where he was, and after she told them what had happened, the usually happy group walked home without a word. They all hoped to find Gusty waiting for them on the small playground when they arrived home.

Gusty was not there.

No one had the heart to play. One-by-one they headed into the building and went to their own apartments. Gayle wanted very much to do something; she did not really want to go home and face her parents.

Before Gayle left school, Ms. Steadfast handed her a note and told her to give it to her parents. Gayle was tempted to "lose" the note on the way home or possibly "forget" to give it to them, but she decided this would only cause her more trouble. What did it matter anyway? Nothing really mattered anymore.

She entered the apartment to find her father watching a program.

“Hi, Spunky,” he said. “How was school?”

She could have told him anything since he was not really waiting for an answer.

"Where's mother?"

"She's resting. She's had a couple difficult interviews today. I wouldn't bother her if I were you."

Gayle got herself a drink and then joined her father in the den. “I hate to bother her, but it is important.”

This got her father's attention. He turned away from the holovision and looked Gayle in the eyes.

“What happened?”

“I should get mother.”

Her father shook his head. “No, I'll get her. You just wait right here.” He got up and left the room. A few minutes later her parents returned and sat on the sofa. Gayle got up to retrieve the note.

“There was trouble at school today. Here is a note from Ms. Steadfast. I think you should read it.”

They took the note and opened it. Gayle watched their faces as they read it. It did not look good.

Her mother handed the note to her father and then looked at Gayle with a mix of anger and frustration. “Gayle Sherwood, you beat up another child at school?” She said this very slowly and carefully as if she did not trust her tongue. “Can you explain yourself?”

“I had to, mother. He was going to hurt Gusty. I mean, he already hurt Gusty.” Gayle nervously told them the story but had to start over a couple of times before she could get the whole thing out. Her mother began to interrupt several times but stopped when her father placed a hand on her mom’s shoulder.

“I didn't want to. Kyle was going to hurt Gusty if I didn't. Gusty was already down on the floor, and there was blood coming out of his nose and mouth. I couldn't just stand there and watch it happen. I don't understand how I let myself get carried away, but it won't happen again.”

“I should hope not,” her mother said. “I don't see how we can let this go, even if you were protecting Gusty. You could have really hurt that boy, and I don't care whether he deserved it or not. What am I going to do with you, Gayle Sherwood?”

Her mother sat there shaking her head while her father reread the note.

“I think I'll have to ground you, although I don't really want to.”

“Excuse me,” her father said, “ but that is too severe. I think she was right to protect someone in this situation. It is too bad that Gayle showed excessive force, perhaps, but sometimes the adrenaline takes over.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“If you must punish her, then give her an early curfew for a week.”

“Okay, early to bed it is.”

Gayle frowned. “Okay, I truly am sorry. Next time I'll try to stay calm.”

“I hope there isn't a next time, young lady.”

“Yes, mother. Me too.”

The next morning Gayle sat outside Ms. Steadfast's office with her parents. She was thankful that her parents, after hearing the whole story, had understood. She had imagined the worst. The last year had been a tough one, and she knew she had made it difficult on her parents. She was sometimes argumentative and, as her parents were fond of saying, going through a phase in her life, but they still stood behind her. It was probably hard for them to imagine their daughter beating another student with her sandal; however, they knew a lot of tension was building up. They could not understand why Dr. Zitzelsberger, the doctor studying them, didn't see this coming. Gayle and the others attended sessions with him to discuss the changes in their lives, so if anyone could have predicted their troubles, it should have been him.

Gayle’s pent-up rage frightened her parents. She could have really hurt someone as Kyle nearly found out. Now they sat there silently, staring across the room at the far wall. A poster was stuck there, sporting some catchy phrase about being a caring student and a success.

Her parents felt that she should be punished for her actions, and maybe they were right. However, that evening she just took her tablet under the covers. A book would have required a flashlight. Early curfew was really no punishment at all.

Books were curious items for Gayle. Callisto did not have the trees to spare for books, so out there they just didn't exist. Indeed, on Callisto Gayle had learned that “books” were electronic files to be read from her monitor or a tablet, so it had come as a surprise to her that many Earth books still were printed on paper. Readers were more efficient; they carried libraries, whereas a book carried only one story or several short ones.

Still, she was learning to enjoy these blocks of paper; they could be taken under the covers with her, and they functioned without power, unlike the book readers she was used to. She could not carry very many, though; they were too heavy, and if you didn't have a bag, they tended to fall at the wrong times.

Just then the door opened, and Alicia stepped out of Ms. Steadfast's office. Gayle was surprised to see her.

She got up to go with her parents into Ms. Steadfast's office, but the principal held up a hand. “You wait here a minute; I'd like a word with your parents first.”

Alicia waited for Gayle's parents to enter Ms. Steadfast's office. Then she took a seat next to Gayle.

Gayle did not know what to say to Alicia, who sat and tapped her heel against the floor. Eventually Alicia asked, “Are you going to be in trouble?”

Gayle watched Alicia's foot do its tapping. “I don't think so, but it doesn't matter. I wouldn't mind just being at home for a few days, but my parents want me to stay in school. Even though they were furious when they heard what happened, they were even more furious when they heard what goes on or what doesn't go on each day in class. I probably won't miss any days. Besides, who is going to look after Gusty now that his ribs are busted, and his lung was punctured?”

Gusty's injury reminded them all just how fragile they were. Since their bones had developed in Callisto's reduced gravity, they had not grown as thickly as they would have under Earth's gravity.

“Well, it was Kyle Bannoch's fault,” Alicia said. “They can't throw you out of school. You were just protecting Gusty, and he was seriously hurt. Surely they can't be that unreasonable.”

Gayle made a fist and hit her knee in frustration. “Who knows what they'll do? They certainly don't think reasonably.”

“That's not true. They may see things differently, but they feel they are doing the right thing.”

Gayle frowned. She did not want to argue with her best friend. “It doesn't matter. There is nothing to look forward to here. I don't like it, and I don't think I ever will.” Gayle paused and looked at her friend. “What are you doing here? You aren't in trouble too, are you?”

It was Alicia's turn to look away. “Oh, no. Just had to see Ms. Steadfast about a few things.” She slid some loose hair behind her ear. “What did your parents say when they found out?”

“Not much. My dad thinks it was good that I stood up for Gusty, but he believed I went a little too far. When he heard about how bad off Gusty was, though, I think he wanted to tell me that I did the right thing.”

Alicia made a black mark on the floor with the heel of her shoe and then tried to rub it out, but it only grew bigger. “I think it is even more dangerous now. Simon will have more followers since Kyle was humiliated. They will feel more powerful. They have a cause to fight for. And, most importantly, they know how vulnerable we are.”

They heard the door open and saw Ms. Steadfast look out. “Oh, Alicia, shouldn't you be getting off to class? You still have a week or two to be saying your good-byes.”

Gayle did not understand at first what Ms. Steadfast meant by that.

“Yes, Ms. Steadfast,” Alicia said. “I'm on my way.”

But when Gayle turned to her friend, she was already at the door.

Another week or two, she Gayle said to herself. It's starting. They will separate us, and that will be the end. Gayle felt the tears well up in her eyes, and there was nothing she could do to stop their flow.

The meeting with the principal went by without Gayle paying much attention. Then she was sent back to class with no punishment to speak of except to clean the boards and the classroom with Kyle for the next two weeks.

After school Gayle went home with the others, but she did not stay with them. She went straight up to her apartment and into her room. Her life was being ripped apart, and what was worse, she could not do anything to stop it.

Gayle wore her glasses all the time except when she slept. She and JJ traded great sites and talked about all the information on the net. The others also had glasses, but they were not as obsessed as Gayle and JJ were. Gayle found the net to be a great escape from reality; through her glasses she could go virtually anywhere. It was always a let-down to come back to reality and to find that her nightmare was still going on.

It was Saturday, and the kids were sitting outside Dr. Zitzelsberger's office. Gayle was with JJ, and they were discussing their glasses. JJ doubted whether they would work on Callisto.

Gayle said they would have to make them work once they get back. “Have a look at this, JJ.” She sent him an app.

JJ loaded and activated it.

“Wow, I didn't realize there was so much traffic.” JJ saw all the flights between Earth and LEO and L4.

“Someday,” Gayle said smartly, “I'm going to be on one of those flights on my way to Callisto.”

“Well, I'll see you when you get there.”

JJ looked over at her and cleared his glasses so that he was seeing his own reflection in her lens. “Maybe we should start planning now?”

Gayle pulled down her glasses and said, “Oh, I wish.” She did not give it another thought.

The others were in the waiting room with them; many had already sat through their session with Dr. Zitzelsberger (or “Ziggy,” as JJ had nicknamed him).

The children hated these discussions. Ziggy always asked the same questions: How are you adjusting to Earth? What bothers you about Earth? Is there anything you would like to talk about? The children had to be careful how they answered, or he would then ask them to explain, and that was dangerous.

Gayle had tried to cooperate at first, but the sessions quickly tried her patience. Then she resorted to one-word answers: yes or no. After talking with her friends, she found out that she was not the only one to do this. In fact, they all did except JJ, who liked to toy with the doctor.

JJ put away his glasses, and Gayle could see that he had something on his mind.

“Ziggy,” JJ said, “has the arrogance to assume we're normal children. Well, we're not normal. We were born and raised on Callisto where we were surrounded by scientists and engineers and away from all the diversions here on Earth. If you take Earth kids as the norm, then we are very abnormal.”

“We are normal,” protested Gayle.

“Normal is a relative term. You have to base it on something.”

“That's too simple, JJ,” Alicia said, overhearing. “Actually, I have read about the different cultures on Earth. There are no so-called normal children. The cultures here are many, and they vary greatly. What is normal here in the North American Alliance is not normal in Southeast Asia and certainly is alien in the Middle East. These differences accounted for many, if not all, of the wars fought during Earth's long history.”

“That may be,” said JJ, “but my point is that we are from an alien culture, and Ziggy is measuring our progress by comparing us to his norms. It makes no sense. We have adapted to an environment totally foreign to the peoples of Earth. We are fundamentally altered.”

Gayle was not sure she understood this, but if JJ was right, then life in space had changed them in ways never seen in the history of humankind. They were not the first to live on Callisto Station, and she wondered if that had something to do with the Builders of Callisto. Had it changed them, too? What could have made them suddenly leave that beautiful station? Did they ever plan on going back? If they did, would they make the people leave?

Gayle decided that when she got back to the station, she would most definitely find out more about the Builders of Callisto.

They met that Monday morning as usual out in front of the apartment building. It was another hot day in Florida, but this they could get used to. Gayle noticed that in addition to his backpack, JJ was carrying a bag.

Discreetly, Gayle edged over closer and whispered, “What do you have there, JJ?”

JJ gave his famous grin, lifted his glasses and winked. “It’s a little surprise.”

She could see that he was not going to tell her anymore. They continued along the road but staying away from the traffic. They turned off toward the school. A quiet road with aspen along both sides. They could see houses beyond the trees.

As they approached the gate, the playground was crowded with students waiting to be let in. Gayle saw the playground supervisor busy with another group. Overall, the day was starting out quietly. Gayle noticed that JJ was leading them close to Simon’s pack, but not too close. She wondered what JJ had up his sleeve. Not to pass up an opportunity, Simon and his pack appeared to be ready for them. No doubt to pay back the Callisto group for getting two of them into trouble.

At this time, JJ set down his bag. “Do NOT drink any of this,” he said softly. “Understood?”

They nodded back.

He handed out plastic bottles of some citrus drink.

“What you got there, aliens” said Simon.

JJ ignored him, but continued to tell the group that, “My mother found these the other day. It’s just like the drink we used to have on Callisto.”

Gayle caught on, as the others looked a little confused. “You’re kidding. I love this stuff. Where did she find it?”

“At a little store downtown.”

“Hey, alien! I’m talking to you!”

JJ turned, “Oh, sorry. I didn’t hear you.”

“You say that’s good?”

“The best.”

“Then you wouldn’t mind if we tried it. I always wondered what you aliens ate and drank. He turned to his gang, “Help yourself, guys!”

JJ held up his hands, indicating that he did not want to fight over it, and handed it to Simon. The others gave up their bottles as well.

They watched Simon open his and smell it. He must have concluded that it was safe, so he took a sip. The others were watching him, as he raised his eyebrows and nodded. “Not bad. Cheers!”

The others drained their plunder.

The gang walked off with looking very satisfied.

Gayle leaned over and asked JJ, “What was supposed to happen?”

“Nothing.”

“Nothing? What was the point?”

“Nothing, if you’d let me finish, for a couple of hours. Then the fireworks begin.”

“What are the fireworks?” The others wanted to know.

“You’ll find out. This is for Gusty. We owe it to him. Too bad he couldn’t be here for this.”

“This better be good,” said Alicia.

“Now look mad that we lost our breakfast.”

They opened the doors and let the students in. Gayle entered the classroom, but Gusty was not there with her. Kyle had a black eye, and Timmie shot her vicious glances when he could catch her eye. She shrugged back, letting them know what she was bothered by them.

Ms. Johnson began with math that morning, and then moved on to social studies. Neither subject much of a problem for Gayle. She missed her talking buddy. Both Timmie and Kyle were fidgeting, no doubt awaiting recess.

Suddenly, Kyle stood up and ran to the door, but not before soiling his pants. Timmie was not far behind. They burst out as if the room were on fire. “Hey, you didn’t ask for permission,” said Ms. Johnson.

Gayle did not see them for the rest of the day.

After school she met up with her friends and some of them were laughing. Some had tears in their eyes. She saw JJ and joined him. “What the heck did you do?”

“We treated them to breakfast, that’s what we did.”

“That was brilliant,” said Boris. “The best part is: they can’t tell they stole it from us!”

“But what was in the breakfast?” asked Gayle.

“Who cares?” said Uma. “They had it coming.

“No, really,” said Alicia. “What did you put in the drink, and will it harm them?”

“Only a little magnesium citrate. It was to help them cleanse. And, relax, it won’t harm them.”

Gayle still did not understand.

16 A Sense of Urgency

Last night, while having dinner with his parents, JJ found out that Alicia’s mother was the first of the returning parents to be offered a position out west. He felt he had failed in his assignment to get his friends organized and, on their way, back to Callisto.

JJ could not sleep but tossed and turned all night. When he saw light outside his window he decided to get up and enjoy the fresh air outside. He pulled on pants and a t-shirt, then donned his sandals. Down the stairs he went, stepping softly so as not to wake anyone.

At the bottom of the stair well he pushed open the door. The chill in the air felt invigorating. Dew had deposited on the grass and wet his feet as he entered the playground.

As soon as he arrived, he was joined by Gayle and Uma. So much for plotting the course ahead. He had to figure out how to get them on their way.

“You too?” said Gayle.

“Yeah, rough night,” he said. “What are you doing here?”

“Gayle and I are out here every morning. A habit we developed back home.” Uma sat on another swing and braided her hair. Gayle was still rubbing sleep from her eyes.

“I’m still upset about Alicia leaving,” Gayle said. “I don’t think I will ever get over it.”

“It’s gotten to me too,” said JJ. He was not going to tell them why.

Just then the door to the apartment complex opened again. This time it was JJ’s father. He took the path rather than walking in the grass. He waved at them, then pointed at JJ, and pointed toward the road.

“Oh, well, I’m being commandeered.”

JJ’s father called out to them. “I just need him for a half an hour, then come join us at the coffee shop.”

JJ joined his father as they headed for the street. At the main intersection they went right toward the Donuts R Us. The drive-up window was busy, but the lobby was nearly vacant. There was one table with three older gentlemen.

They went up to the counter and Mr. Jimenez ordered a coffee, while he ordered a French vanilla cappuccino for JJ. He added a dozen donuts and had JJ pick them out. They took a booth far from the gentlemen.

Mr. Jimenez looked at his phone noting the time. Then opened the box and selected a donut with vanilla icing. JJ grabbed a chocolate one.

“Do you feel it?” said his father.

“Feel it?”

“Yeah, a sense of urgency.” JJ’s father’s eyes were boring into his.

JJ looked away. “Yes, I feel it.”

“How far are you on your assignment?”

“Obviously, not far enough.”

“I’ll say,” his father took a bite of his donut, and looked out of the window overlooking the busy street. It hurt worse with his father not yelling at him. That was what he deserved. He had failed.

“I’m sorry, dad.” And he meant it.

“That’s okay.” He took a sip from his coffee.

JJ’s cappuccino was sweet and a hot. He burned his tongue.

“Maybe it is just me who wants to go back,” said his father.

“No, we all want to go back. Honestly.” JJ had momentarily lost his appetite.

“It’s not too late,” said his father. “Time is running out, but it is still doable.”

“I guess urgency is when your back is against the wall.”

“Look, consider your friends, who is capable of carrying out this escape?”

JJ thought about it for just a moment. “Me.”

“Right. No one else is going to do it.”

“You know what you need to do.”

“Yes. We will have a united front by the end of the day. We will all be on the same page.”

Mr. Jimenez nodded. “Once you have Gayle and Alicia, the others will fall like dominoes.”

“Yes, dad. I am sorry I let you down.”

“No, you haven’t. You are letting yourself down, as well as your friends. Callisto was the best and only place for you. I am only along for the ride. That is, after I have played my role in this movie.”

“But do you really think we can make it all the way to Callisto?”

“That’s just it, you don’t have to. All you need to do is send a strong message to the other parents and wake them up. By now they are realizing the mistake they have made.”

JJ grinned for the first time that morning. “That takes a load off.”

“Good, so we understand each other?”

“Yeah.”

“Good, here come your friends. The group has grown beyond Gayle and Uma.” Mr. Jimenez stood and extracted his card. “It looks like you might need more donuts and drinks. Here’s my card.” He said this with a wink.

Just then the door opened and several of JJ’s friends joined him as his father made his way out.

17 The Birth of A Plan

Gayle woke the next day to the sound of traffic outside her window. There were many strange noises on Earth Gayle found difficult to get used to; the traffic was one of them, and the occasional jet would make the walls vibrate. Although she was now able to sleep through the night without waking to the sound of cars, she still woke every time she heard the crying of sirens. This was the most unsettling noise because it meant that something bad was happening.

She listened to shouting taking place on the streets for a few minutes before getting up. People seemed much louder on Earth than they had been on Callisto. She guessed they had to talk louder to be heard over all the other noises. She listened for her parents, but they were not up yet, nor could she smell her father's strong coffee brewing in the kitchen. The aroma had a way of filling the whole apartment.

The sounds on the street continued. She rolled over to find a book; it was not on the desk, but then she had not read the previous night. She looked over the sparsely furnished room, but it was not anywhere to be seen. The room had only her bed, a desk, and a dresser in it. The closet was empty except for a few clothes. She detested the off-white color of the walls; she thought a brighter color, or a mixture of colors would have been better.

It did not really matter; she was not going to be there long. Longer than Alicia would be, though. Gayle knew they would be splitting up sooner or later, but she had tried to put it completely out of her mind after they had talked it over in the storage bay aboard the Magellan. That seemed like ages ago.

Whether she wanted to or not, Gayle knew she had to face up to the reality of her situation. She had known Alicia all her life. They were more than friends; they were like sisters. Whatever they had done in the past, they had done it together, and Gayle liked to think that they kept no secrets from each other. Being separated was not fair, but as Gayle’s experiences on Earth had made clear, what in life was fair?

The smell of coffee brought Gayle back to the present, and she stopped feeling sorry for herself. It was time to get up and get on with the day.

Gayle tried to remain as quiet as possible while her mother was home reading and working on job applications and conducting virtual interviews. When she was doing this, it was never a good idea to interrupt her, so Gayle kept to her room and read whatever she found interesting on the net.

When the door chimed, she answered it as quickly as possible. That way her mother would not be disturbed. Alicia smiled when Gayle opened the door. “Hi. You want to come out?”

“Yeah, sure. My mom's working, so it should be okay.”

“You want to go down to the playground and see the others?”

“No, not really. Let's go up to the roof. We need to talk. Then we can go down if you want to.”

Gayle left a message on the computer for her mother, and then she and Alicia went up the apartment building’s stairwell. The stairs emerged into a small, room-like concrete shell that sat on the center of the roof and had seen better days. An old antenna perched on its top, a relic from the past. Gayle and Alicia stepped out of the shell and looked out across the neighborhood.

The day was nice and sunny as most of the days on Earth had been. The roof was not a pretty place, not like some of the places they had explored together in Callisto Station, but it was quiet, and they were rarely interrupted. It served much like the cargo hold did on the voyage to earth. They felt pretty good about themselves, for JJ never had found them up there (or at least had never joined them).

Gayle and Alicia stood at the roof’s west wall and watched dark clouds heading their way.

“I don't want you to go,” Gayle said. “I don't want any of the others to go, either, but seeing you go will be the worst.”

“Yeah, I don't want to go either. I wish there were some other way.”

“Maybe you could tell your parents you don't want to go.” Gayle was hopeful.

“It doesn't really matter," Alicia said, frustrated. “We both have to go someday. At least you'll have the others for a while.”

Gayle formed a wad of spit and let it drop over the side of the building. “That will help. Eventually they will go too, and I'll miss them. Losing you . . . well, you're my best friend. It's like losing a part of me. We've been through a lot together.”

“Yeah, but we can’t do anything about it. Anyway, they say California is nice. It's like spring all year round.”

“It was always spring on Callisto Station,” said Gayle, softly.

Alicia did not respond. She propped her elbows on the wall and rested her chin on her hands. Gayle tried to do this, too, but she was too short.

“Look at that,” Alicia said, awed as she pointed to the sky.

They watched the clouds approach, a wall of dark clouds pushing the blue sky out of its way.

They could not take their eyes off the approaching weather front, having never experienced such a sight before. Gayle was the first to notice the air growing chilly as the wind picked up. “Do you think anything is wrong?”

“I don't know. It's new to me too. Let's go.”

The wind grew stronger, strong enough to force them to take shelter in the little concrete room.

They arrived just as the rain began.

The rain pounded on the room’s cracked, soiled window, and the light nearly vanished behind the black clouds.

Alicia looked out through the wet window as beads of water ran down the dirty glass. “At least we knew when it was going to rain.”

“Oh, I wish we could go back to Callisto,” Gayle said. “My dream is to go back one day.”

Alicia sighed. “So, do I, but it's not likely to happen.”

“Why not?” Gayle said. “There must be some way to get back. Ms. Agen would watch out for us. We wouldn’t be any trouble. There are always the goats to take care of. We could earn our way by raising goats. We also could work the technician jobs.”

“It would be nice,” Alicia said, shaking her head. “I have to admit I've considered it more than once.”

“So, have I! I know we can do it!” said Gayle, her enthusiasm returning.

Alicia put out a hand to slow her friend. “Think! Just think for a minute. How are we going to get back? We don't have any money. We don't have any tickets. Without a parent, no one will take us seriously."

Gayle made fists. She knew there had to be a way. But how? They did not have much time.

Then they heard an eerie sound that seemed to come from all around them. Gayle glanced at Alicia, who looked as scared as she felt.

“What was that?” Gayle asked, trying to sound casual.

“Oh, just the wind. When the storm passes, it will go away.”

They jumped when they suddenly heard a deep and angry voice. “I'm not the wind, and I will not go away.”

Alicia became angry, but Gayle was not so sure what to think. Before Gayle could say anything, Alicia put a hand over Gayle's mouth.

Alicia gave a wink and then said, “Who are you?”

“I am a friend, I can help you.”

“Oh. Hi, friend. How are you?”

“You think I jest, but I can grant your wish.”

“Right. JJ, come on out, wherever you are!”

“I know about this JJ of whom you speak, but I am not he. Trust me. I want to help you.”

Gayle leaned over and whispered in Alicia's ear. “But JJ doesn't know where we are.”

Alicia shook her head. Then very softly she said, “He always knows where we are.” To the voice she said, “Go away, friend. We do not want your help.”

“But we do!” Gayle said, panicking.

“You'll be sorry.”

“See what you did! We had a chance, and you let it slip away!”

Alicia frowned. “That was just some joker by the name of Jerome Jimenez.”

“But it wasn't!” Gayle insisted, certain it had been someone who could help.

The two girls sat there silently for a few minutes just watching the rain beat down. The air was cold but not uncomfortable. Gayle racked her brain; she knew there had to be a way to return to Callisto. If only the voice would come back. It knew how to help.

Suddenly Alicia grabbed her arm and said, “Did you hear that?” The darkness made it worse.

“What?” Gayle asked. She was still thinking about the voice.

“That noise. It came from over there by the stairwell.”

Gayle listened a moment but did not hear anything. “The wind probably blew something over. Or maybe the voice has a body.”

“Yeah, probably,” Alicia said with a laugh. “We should go.”

“Not so fast,” said another voice.

The girls jumped. “JJ, you jerk,” yelled Alicia. “You scared me to death.”

JJ stepped just inside the building dripping water onto the floor. His short hair was beaded with droplets as water ran like rivers from his shirt and pants. He stood there shaking his hands since he had nothing to dry them on.

“Stop that!” Gayle yelled, warding off the mist. “We don't want to get wet too.”

JJ just smiled. The girls’ faces showed both anger at being scared and embarrassment that he had been the one to frighten them.

“How did you find us here?” Gayle demanded.

“It wasn't difficult. When your mother is home, you try to stay out of her way, so when you weren't on the playground, I knew you must have been here. It doesn't take a genius, even though I am nearly that."

“You're so smug,” Alicia said. “Someday you'll go too far.”

“I don't think so. Anyway, I am not here to bother you. I came here to help.”

“Help us do what?” asked Gayle, suspicious.

“Okay, to be honest, I came to help me, too. I know what you were talking about. You want to go back.”

Alicia glared at JJ, but he just smiled back. Gayle saw this; it was nothing new. The girls were always posturing, trying to intimidate him, but their attitude just ran off JJ’s back like the rain on the window just now. Eventually, Alicia said, “How do you even know what we were talking about? And why would you want to help, anyway?”

“Because," he said matter-of-factly, “I want the same thing.”

“What?” said Gayle, not quite catching on.

“I'm not sure I should tell you,” said JJ, looking sternly at Gayle. “I tried to plant the idea every few weeks and again a couple of days ago outside Ziggy's office.”

He turned to Alicia. “I know what you were talking about because everything you say can be heard through the duct work which terminates in this little roof structure, so I heard your whole conversation from down below.”

Gayle began to protest, but Alicia made her stop so that JJ could continue.

“I have thought about your idea, Gayle, and I like it. I am so glad that you are seriously considering our eventual return to Callisto.”

This time Alicia interrupted him. “Why would you find it a good idea? I thought you liked it here.”

JJ let out a laugh. “Where did you get that idea? I have never said those words.”

“Except for your outburst during Discussion: Earth, you have been suspiciously quiet on the subject.”

“Ah, that. A very bad cycle for me. I had been awake the whole night reading and was depressed and exhausted.” JJ rubbed his eyebrow with his fingertip. “Otherwise, I have been putting on an act for my mother. We all have done such things, or at least tried. Our parents so looked forward to returning, and we really didn't want to make trouble for them. We tried to go along, and some of us did better than others.” He looked pointedly at Gayle. “It's just that I'm a better actor than the two of you. Gayle, you fight everything to the end without much success, and Alicia, you give up without a fight. The two of you cancel each other out. That's why I'm here. You need someone with vision and know-how, someone to help balance out your enthusiasm, Gayle,” he turned back to Alicia, “and your rationalism.”

“Our what?” asked Alicia.

“I’m saying I can help to balance Gayle's great, burning desire to leave Earth with your constant questioning, Alicia. You will always find the problem no one else has considered, so you give up rather than find a solution. Both perspectives are needed for this project to be successful.”

“Successful or not, we can't possibly leave our parents,” protested Alicia.

“Why not?”

“Yeah, why not?” asked Gayle.

“Well, it just wouldn't be right. And we could never pull it off, anyway.”

“We would leave them eventually,” continued JJ. “Why not now? We can look after ourselves as Gayle already said.”

“We don’t have the right to just get up and leave.”

“Of course, we have the right!" insisted JJ, striking a fist into his hand for emphasis. “Callisto is our home, just as Earth is the home of our parents. We have every right to go back if we want. Even if we don't make it, we will be sending an emphatic message to our parents that we want to return and we want to stay together. We were born on Callisto; therefore, we are citizens of Callisto. To take us away from our home against our will is nothing short of abduction.”

“You may have a point, at least up to a point,” Alicia said. “Abduction is much too strong a word, and we didn't put up much resistance in coming here. Besides, I can't see the others going along with us.”

“I would be surprised," JJ said, knowingly, “if they wouldn't go along. I'm afraid you don't understand your friends as well as you think you do. And I always considered you the empathic one, Alicia.”

“You think so?” Gayle asked, her enthusiasm peaking. “But Boris was so gung-ho, and I don't see Yuana leaving her mother. I can see Uma and possibly Fernanda going along.”

“Well, Boris made his feelings quite clear the other day when we met his friend, Simon. Yuana, I agree, is a big question mark, although you two have been like mothers to her. She may want to remain with you if she has a choice to make. We can work other angles with her if the need arises. For example, our parents will be right behind us if we leave.”

Alicia cleared her throat and said, “Before I even consider it, I have to hear your plan and meet with the others to debate it. Either we go as a group, or we forget the idea entirely.”

“That reminds me,” JJ said, “of an expression that was used a long time ago which is fitting here: where we go one, we go all.”

“I know that one,” Alicia said as she looked out at the rain. There was no sign of it letting up. “We'll need us all working together to succeed in this project.”

“Yes,” JJ said, “I believe you're right.”

“I'll round up the others,” Gayle said. “We'll meet here in about an hour, okay?”

“Okay,” Alicia said, beginning to look cheerful.

They ran down the stairwell. As they neared the bottom of the steps, Alicia put a hand on JJ's shoulder to stop him.

“Why were you trying to scare us with that voice?”

“What voice?”

Then he headed down the stairs.

18 JJ Takes Charge

After the meeting with her friends, Gayle returned home. She was excited; they were going to go home, their real home! Entering her apartment, she was so happy that she felt like doing a flip despite Earth's crushing gravity relentlessly weighing her down. Her mother was working, and her father was watching baseball while complaining that the game had changed too much.

Gayle went into the kitchen, grabbed a bulb of CocoBomb, and popped it. As it warmed in her hand, she thought back to the meeting. She could not believe her luck; finally, the world seemed right again. She always had known there was a way to return to Callisto. Now the group would get together, and it would all fall into place.

As she took a sip of her cocoa, she imagined how the next few days were going to drag along. She could not wait to be with her friends on their way back to Callisto.

She left the kitchen with her cocoa. She was so excited, and she wanted to tell her parents, but that would be the end of their plans. JJ had sternly warned them not to talk about their ideas; they were to keep their meeting discussions within the group. If their plans were ever revealed, then the whole game would be over.

As they had suspected, Yuana initially was hesitant, but she eventually came around to the idea, just as JJ had predicted. They convinced her to show a united front to their parents, and they made clear that they had to do it together or not at all. Where we go one, we go all. JJ also told her that she would not be more than one day without her parents.

Gayle watched her mother dictate notes as she read an article. Since they had been on Earth, all her mother seemed to do was work. It would be a long time before she even noticed I was gone, Gayle said to herself. When she did discover Gayle's disappearance, how would her mother feel? Probably angry; it would take her mind off her work. Then she would be happy since her work would never be interrupted again. Once she got over the initial reaction, Gayle hoped her mother would feel hurt, but somehow, she doubted her mother would miss her at all, and that idea hurt Gayle deeply. She wished so much that her mother still loved her.

Gayle took another drink and was suddenly not that thirsty anymore. Her father was yelling at the holovision as he always did. She would miss him a lot. He had tried as best he could to be there when Gayle needed him. He was a lot of fun, too. He would be very hurt when he found that she had gone. She did not want to leave him, but what choice did she have?

Ultimately, she had to admit that she would miss both of her parents. She loved them. She was going to find it difficult to go from room to room at their old flat on Callisto and not see them anymore. They usually had their own jobs to do, but they had some great moments together, many great moments, in fact, and Gayle told herself that she would always remember them. She would have to leave a long note to explain her actions and that she still loved them.

It was too bad they would not go back with her, but they had made their choice, and she had made hers.

Three days had passed since JJ, Gayle, and Alicia considered leaving Earth and going back to Callisto. Both Gayle and Alicia worried constantly about something going wrong, but JJ did not appear at all concerned, nor did he explain to them why it would not bother him if something did go wrong. When they asked, he would just shrug his shoulders. Gayle knew it was a group project, but JJ was taking on more and more of the responsibilities. He would keep Gayle busy with many minor tasks, and even Alicia asked to take on more responsibility for the planning of their escape.

Gayle recalled when they first met with the other members of the Callisto group. Their feelings fell somewhere between Gayle's enthusiasm and Alicia's constant concerns. Gusty was all for it, but Boris was reluctant; he could not see how it would work. He finally came around after the Fenech twins looked at one another and shrugged their shoulders, a gesture that was interpreted as approval for the idea. Kotari was ready to leave right away. Uma said it was a great idea and wondered why no one had thought of it before. Fernanda seconded the idea, but Yuana needed some reassuring. Knowing that Gayle and Alicia were going whether she went along finally persuaded her. She was not so sure about leaving her parents, but the idea of losing the two of them scared her more.

In fact, none of them liked the idea of leaving their parents. However, they also agreed that leaving was the only way to avoid watching each other move away to live on separate parts of a world to which they did not truly belong. It was a difficult decision to make. It would be an even harder one to carry out.

“Besides," JJ reassured them, “our parents will join us on Callisto, if not before, once they know we're there.”

Everyone felt better believing this.

A couple of days later, JJ called a meeting with Gayle and Alicia on the roof of the apartment building. “We have about a one in fifty chance of getting to Callisto,” he said.

Alicia considered them terrible odds. “What's the point then?”

“We have to make a stand sometime. If we don't make a stand, things will just go on as they are, and we'll go through life knowing we never gave it a try.”

Gayle added, “So, they will have to drag us back here if they catch us, and then at least they will have to think about us and how we feel. I don't like going down without a fight.”

JJ and Alicia laughed. They had heard about Gayle beating Kyle with her sandal, and they knew just how passionate she could be. Gusty still had his left arm in a sling to keep him from straining his mending ribs, so Kyle had deserved everything he had gotten.

As the days passed, JJ fixated more and more on the main computer in his mother's temporary office, and when he was not there, he was always updating by checking his glasses. He had bought several apps and shared some of them with Gayle to run, too. They were looking at traffic from Earth out to L4 - they knew there had to be some way to slip through, and JJ believed he had found it!

JJ had asked Gayle to look at the various groups that traveled between Earth to LEO, Earth's low orbital space station. She knew exactly what JJ was hoping to find: every day several groups traveled up to LEO, so they could also go to LEO as a group. If they were going to make their escape, though, they needed to hurry; time was running out for Alicia.

Whenever JJ had had enough, he would just get up and leave, locking himself in his room and refusing to come out until the next day. He was starting to come unglued at the edges. Gayle worried about him and asked if he was okay. JJ only said, “We're almost there.”

The group had just started making their plans when Gayle's mother surprised her one day after school.

“Guess what?” she asked. Gayle could see how excited she was, but Gayle imagined the worst possible thing had happened: her mother had gotten a job and they were leaving right away.

“Ah, we're going back to Callisto?” Gayle was careful how she said it because she did not want to make her mother angry, or worse, suspicious.

She watched as her mother's enthusiasm evaporated and was replaced by a sour look. “No, we are not going back to Callisto. Something better.”

To Gayle, of course, there could not be anything better, but her parents refused to accept that truth. Her mother decided to continue telling the good news even though her daughter had taken the fun out of it.

“We are going on a little trip. We are visiting your other grandparents out in the country.”

“When?" Gayle asked, worried that all their hopes were gone.

“Tomorrow. We leave first thing in the morning.”

“Don't get angry, mother, but I was wondering if Alicia could go with us. It would be nice to spend some time with her before she leaves for good.”

“I thought you would ask me that. I have already discussed it with Colin, and Alicia will be coming, too.”

“Thanks,” Gayle said. But what about the plans? Their fates would rest with JJ..

19 The Unexpected Journey

The next day they got up at an indecent hour. It was not like Callisto at all. The children on Callisto needed very little sleep, but on Earth they used so much energy fighting the gravity that they felt exhausted.

They were ready when a tired-looking Alicia knocked at the door.

An old, beat up taxi awaited them. At one time all taxis and most cars were fully automatic, meaning the passengers told the autopilot where they wanted to go, and the car determined the best route and drove them there. Unfortunately, all the autopilots had been ripped out during the People-First riots. The human driver grinned at them and wished them a good morning, but he did not offer to help them with their bags.

At the aerodrome they boarded a small commuter craft, and a few hours later they landed. Gayle was so relieved; the trip had been cramped and bumpy, and she felt worse when they landed than when they had left.

They entered the terminal with their few things strapped over their shoulders. Once inside, her mother let out a scream and ran away from them.

Gayle looked up at her father. He smiled and shrugged. Her mother had her arms around her parents, engulfing them.

Her grandfather was not a large man, and when he was finally released, Gayle saw his quick, brown eyes and friendly smile and knew right away that she liked him. Her grandmother's smile was warm and mirthful. Her hazel eyes revealed a playful character within.

They embraced Gayle's father, and then it was her turn. Gayle stepped up between her parents as her mother made the unnecessary introductions. Gayle then hugged both grandparents. Having known no other relatives other than her parents (and now, she supposed, her father’s parents), she was not exactly sure what was expected of her. To her, these kind-looking people were strangers, and she was a stranger to them, too, but somehow in those first few moments they made her feel as if she had always known them.

After the introductions were out of the way, they all walked out to the transportation lot together, finally stopping in front of what looked to Gayle like a pile of junk. It was not as new as the other vehicles in the lot nor even the same shape.

“You still have it!” her mother said with delight.

The vehicle in question was ice blue in the few places it was not rusty; it was also long and low. That was the best Gayle could do to describe it. A skirt surrounded its base.

“Stop gawking and climb aboard,” her grandfather said. Gayle's father just shook his head in disbelief.

As they climbed aboard, her and Alicia way in the back, her parents in the back seat, and her grandparents in front. Her mother explained that the vehicle already had been old when she was a girl. It was called a Volvo P206 Hovercar.

The turbos fired, and with a flip of a switch the car began to float on a cushion of air.

The ride was a comfortable one, especially over the rough country roads. As he drove, her grandfather told them about the car. It was difficult to control, and models like it were not made anymore. To drive it legally, he had to take a test every year and have the car inspected. When it broke down, it took him several weeks to find the part. He knew he should get a new car, but he had not had the heart to give this one up.

Gayle looked out the window and came to understand what her mother liked about this place. It dwarfed the wilderness area on Callisto. Growing up here would make any place seem small, Callisto in particular. She and Alicia watched the green fields roll by as her mother tried to catch up on the local news of the last twelve years.

Gayle had had just about enough of traveling for the day when her grandfather turned off the main road. He must have sensed Gayle's uneasiness, for he said, “This is the home stretch.”

“What does that mean?” she asked.

He started laughing. “You don't have horses there on Callisto, do you?”

The girls said they did not.

“It means we're almost there,” her mother said.

Her grandmother turned back to the girls. Gayle liked her smile, for when it flashed, it looked as if she were about to laugh. “I hope you're hungry,” she said. “We're going to spoil you. I've been preparing all of your mom's favorite foods.”

“I'm starved,” Alicia said.

“Me too,” Gayle said. She looked over at her mother, who showed no reaction to the word “spoil.” Her father's eyes had grown large with the talk of food.

“Me too,” he said.

A few minutes later Gayle could not help herself. “Are we almost there?” The talk of food had her stomach growling. Her grandmother had gone through the menu for the next two days, but most of the food she listed was unfamiliar.

Her father laughed. “We're already there,” he said. “We just haven't reached the house.”

“Another minute,” her grandmother assured.

Not only was Gayle having to get used to the gravity on Earth, but she also was having to adjust to the planet’s scale. Everything on Earth was so large. If they had been driving on Callisto, they would have circled it many times by this point. Everywhere she looked she saw green fields and robot farmers tending them. There were robots on Callisto, too, in the agricultural sections. Then she heard Alicia.

“Wow!”

A large, white house stood among other buildings. When it came into view, her mother started crying again. Gayle could understand the feeling; she knew she would cry too if she ever stepped on Callisto again.

The hovercar drifted up to the house, and four dogs ran out from the back. Two were as large as a goat, and the other two were no larger than a cat. They ran around, yelping at the car. Her grandfather yelled at them to go away, but they did not pay any attention to him. Colorful hens were wandering out in the yard, and a red and black rooster, named NapoLEOn, strutted among them.

When they got out, the dogs circled them, smelling the guests. Gayle initially felt scared, but the dogs only wanted to play. “Don’t mind them,” her grandfather said. “That’s Merovech, Brother, Abby, and Pequitas.”

They saw several cats sunning themselves on the porch, but the animals did not seem to notice the people climbing out of the car. Gayle felt a tinge of longing for Flame. Her grandmother introduced them as Lance, Lily, Lolita, Picard, and Misty Gris.

“Are you coming with us?” her father asked from the porch.

They followed him into the house. He turned and said, “You haven't seen anything yet.”

They went to the kitchen and were surprised to find more family members. Her mother's aunt was there with her family. Gayle did not know she had a cousin, but there she was. Emilia was four years old and quite shy; she stayed close to her mother.

What really got Gayle's attention, as well as Alicia's, was the mountain of food on the table. Most of it was new to Gayle, but some she recognized. Before Gayle could react, her father had already grabbed a plate and started filling it.

The meal itself was quite an experience. Little customs and tricks were required when it came to eating certain foods, but the girls mastered these quickly. Afterward Gayle was so full that she just wanted to find a nice, quiet place to sleep. Emilia, overcoming her bashfulness, had other ideas and wanted to play with Gayle and Alicia. Her mother told her to go and enjoy herself, so the three of them set off.

They went out the side door and down a path toward the barn. When they got there, Emilia led them through a gate and out into a small pen.

Gayle stopped in her tracks. Before her were animals she had seen only in videos. There were llamas, sheep, peacocks, ducks, geese, more chickens, and turkeys.

“Goats!” Alicia said, screaming into Gayle's ear.

Gayle saw them too. There were working on fresh grass. The girls looked at each other and then started running for the goats. They tugged on the horns and tried to feed them grass they pulled from the ground, but the goats ignored them. This did not diminish the happiness the girls felt at being so close to something that reminded them of Callisto.

Gayle sent a picture to JJ. Then she texted him to ask how the plans were coming along.

They stayed with the goats for the rest of the day until her parents came out to get them. It was time to eat again, and only then did Gayle realize that the sun had gone down.

Gayle and Alicia talked late into the night, even though they were exhausted. They had found a bit of Callisto on this planet, but they both decided that it only made them more determined to get back home.

The girls were up early the next morning to the smell of breakfast cooking downstairs. They got up quickly and dressed. Her parents were already up and looked surprised to see the girls that early.

They ate their pancakes and sausages quickly, looking forward to spending the day with the goats, but Gayle's grandfather had other ideas. “Would you like to do something more interesting than harassing my goats?”

Gayle was suspicious. “What could be more interesting than that?”

“I thought we'd go out to the lake. We could check on my crop and perhaps gather today's lunch.”

Gayle shrugged and looked over at Alicia.

“Why not?” Alicia said.

Gayle was not so sure. There were no large bodies of water on Callisto Station, so the idea of going out on a deep lake unsettled her.

After breakfast Mr. Sherwood led them out into the barn. Gayle nearly jumped out of her shoes when she was confronted with a horse.

Her grandfather laughed. “They're big but too lazy to hurt anyone. We'd take them out, but since you’ve never ridden one before, today we'll take the jeep.”

They climbed into the black, electric jeep and drove out of the barn. They turned at the end of a path bordered by a line of oak trees, and on the other side of a tall, sturdy fence they could see a herd of bison. These were scarier than the horses.

“What do you think of my little family?” Gayle’s grandfather asked, but he did not wait for an answer. “Your grandmother has been after me to get rid of them. Can't say that I blame her. I'm too old to care for them, but I don't want to let them go, either.”

“Can't you sell them?” Alicia asked.

"Sure, I could sell them, but they'd end up either on a sports preserve for hunters or as food on someone's table. I don't like either choice, but the first bothers me the most. They buy up these animals so rich people can go out and shoot them and hang the heads on a wall. It's ridiculous if you ask me. What does sport have to do with it? The animals haven't got a chance.”

The girls were shocked. That sort of sport had not reached Callisto yet.

“No,” he said, “I'll keep them here, where they are safe. That's what I liked about you being on Callisto. It was safe there. That's where the future is. This place will be gone in a few years. The Earth has changed. It's not like your mother remembers it. I am so glad to see you, but I really wished you had remained on Callisto.”

The girls looked at each other, shocked.

"What do you mean this place will be gone in a few years?" Gayle asked.

"They, the city council members, say it's not efficient. It doesn't produce enough for all the mouths that need to be fed, so one day they'll come and take it over. I can't feel bad; your mother has no interest in taking over the farm, and one day I really will be too old to care for it all myself. Then they can have it.”

The three of them arrived at the lake, which was not as big as Gayle had imagined. It was a place to relax or to swim. The actual fish farm was in the buildings next to it. The tour of the fish farm itself did not last very long; her grandfather mainly wanted to show them what could be done back on Callisto. The tanks could improve the water quality and produce oxygen, while the fish would provide another protein source.

Gayle wondered if he could come back to Callisto with them, but she knew that was not likely. Anyway, their return was still a secret, even though she knew her grandfather would have understood and maybe even would have encouraged them in their plans. She wondered how JJ was doing; she had not heard back yet. She felt bad that she could not be there to help him, but she was enjoying the trip more than she had thought she would.

Before they left the fish farm, her grandfather handed them each a net. “Why don't you get a few for dinner tonight?”

Gayle and Alicia had a blast trying to catch the fish, but the only thing they managed to accomplish was soaking themselves. Then her grandfather showed them the best way to use the nets.

That evening, their last evening there, they had a fish fry with all the extras. Gayle decided that fish were exactly what Callisto needed.

She was going to miss her grandparents, both sets.

20 Time to Go

After the trip to Gayle’s grandparents, they went back to the routine of going to school and hanging out afterwards. Then one day as they met to go to school, JJ lifted his darkened glasses and said, “We're on our way.”

Two days later, the plan was in motion. Alicia's time was almost up.

The most difficult day finally arrived, the one when they would leave just like it was any other day without saying a final goodbye to their parents. If all went according to plan, they knew they would not see their parents again for a few days.

It was Saturday, and they met in the morning just like it was any other weekend morning, only this time they had daypacks over their backs. Strangely, most of the children appeared unhappy for a day they supposedly were going to spend at an amusement park with their classmates.

JJ even had gone to the trouble to send out a parental agreement forms over the net to each of the parents. They all had come back okayed (to JJ, of course). The parents thought it was a good idea for the children to get out and do something fun together, and it seemed like a good way for them to spend one of Alicia's last days.

On the day before the trip, JJ had given Simon the tickets to the amusement park. He told him it was a bribe so that Simon and his gang would not pick on the Callisto group anymore. Simon had agreed and promised he would cause the group no more trouble. JJ knew that Simon had no intention of carrying out his part of the bargain; Simon had no idea, however, that JJ and his friends would not be there when they got back.

The group waited at the school for the taxi. It was a cool day for Florida, but this did not bother the eleven children, for they had more important things on their minds.

No one said it, but they all were thinking about leaving their parents.

Only Yuana was unable to hide it. Tears welled in her eyes, but she held back the sobs. Alicia put an arm around her shoulders, and this helped a little.

JJ reminded her that she would see her mother in a few days. This calmed her.

Finally, the shuttle-taxi drove up, and the children crammed themselves inside. The driver was scruffy; his black hair was greasy, and his face needed shaving. “Welcome aboard, mates. Nice day to go on a trip.”

“To the terminal,” JJ said. “I ordered the taxi yesterday, and the money has already been transferred.”

“That's right, sonny. Have you there in a moment.”

On the way to the terminal the driver tried to converse with JJ. When he did not respond, he tried the other passengers, but none of them felt much like talking either, so the driver eventually gave up.

Gayle wished they had left the auto-drivers in the taxis and the drivers out, but it did not matter anymore because she was leaving Earth.

The ride to the terminal seemed to take an especially long time, so JJ, Gayle, and Alicia were relieved once they arrived. The hustle and bustle of the crowds and finding the proper gate took the others’ minds off the gravity of their actions.

JJ had reserved seats on the flying wedge for the Cadet Corp. “The story is: our group has just finished its tour of duty and are “returning” home.” It was easy for JJ to insert this fiction into his mother’s computer since she had all the proper clearances. The trick was in establishing a fund and transferring money into it. Of course, JJ’s dad’s credit card helped a lot. They had to have enough money to book all the flights from Earth to Callisto via L4. However, their parents had so much back pay that this was not a problem. The real hassle was in creating alternate identities for his friends. This would make the search for the kids a bit more difficult, hopefully long enough for them to be well on their way before anybody noticed, but how long could eleven kids remain undetected?

JJ opened his bag and began throwing to each of his friends a blue t-shirt that had the Cadet Corp logo over the left breast.

They were standing near the gate, JJ removed a small envelope from his daypack and pulled out some cards. They read them as he handed them over.

“Who is this?” Gayle asked.

“That's you,” JJ said. “At least for the time being it is. When we get back to Callisto, it won’t much matter.”

Alicia said, “At least we get to keep our first names. Otherwise, we may have problems.”

“That's what I thought,” JJ said. “In a moment Alicia, Gayle, and I will take the cards back and go check in. You guys stay here and try to cheer up. We're going home.”

JJ, Gayle, and Alicia walked over to the check-in desk where a line of people was waiting to do just that. Alicia looked over at JJ. She looked worried; this was a critical moment for them. JJ understood this very well.

The line inched forward, and several people got in line behind them. Gayle looked back to see a middle-aged woman wearing a business suit and wearing glasses much like JJ's and Gayle's, only a much more expensive model. She was obviously on-line. Gayle could see the woman's eyelids scanning as she read. JJ approached her.

Gayle listened as he complimented her on her glasses. She smiled and asked him about his. This conversation went on as the line inched along. Naturally, she asked what they would do when they reached LEO, and JJ gave her the story of the Cadet Corps returning after taking part in an exchange program on Earth.

The woman was much impressed. By the time they got to the check-in counter, the woman and JJ were deep in conversation. JJ handed the idents and papers to the check-in clerk, who smiled at JJ and the woman. It occurred to Gayle that that was JJ's plan all along: to make the clerk believe that they were traveling with adults. If that was his plan, then it had worked; the clerk ran the idents through the reader and returned them with a smile and a wish for a pleasant flight.

All was going as JJ had planned. In the meantime, Yuana bought herself a bucket of popcorn and cherry twists. Even Fernanda helped herself to some of the popcorn. She had become nearly skin and bones over the weeks on Earth. Gayle assumed that Fernanda must be feeling better to eat at all.

Gayle could feel the anxiety around her. So far, so good, she thought. Just a few more minutes and the worst part would be over. Her throat was so dry that she had to think about swallowing. She tried not to think about her parents and how much she was going to miss them. On the other hand, she would have missed the others, too; they were like her ten brothers and sisters.

As they waited to board, she could feel the tension building in their small group. JJ sensed it too. He looked over at Alicia and then started to sing in a low voice a song they had learned in Ms Agen’s class.

Alicia added her soft lilting voice to it, as did Gayle. In a few moments, the others were singing along.

This raised their spirits. Once they had finished “The Wheel in the Sky,” they started a round of the children’s unofficial “Callisto Anthem,” different lyrics sung to the tune of the Anthem of the North American Alliance.

Their merriment ceased when they were called to board and the reality of just what they were about to do hit them. They braved it and headed for the gate. Gayle was proud of them, especially Yuana.

Once inside the wedge they relaxed, as if walking through the gate had been crossing one critical boundary. They had passed it, and now they took their seats. After a short delay they were on their way to LEO

21 Yankee Clipper

They arrived at the LEO station very quickly. Gayle was surprised; just a few short minutes ago, the take-off had crushed her back into her seat, and now she was in free-fall as the ship was readying for docking. Gayle looked through the window as Earth rotated below them. North America was going out of view as Asia took its place.

Gayle had no regrets about leaving Earth. It was a terrible place; well, most of it was. Her nose never had stopped burning from the pollution, although it eventually had stopped running all the time. Earth's children had a long way to go before Gayle would consider being on friendly terms. She knew she was being harsh, but they certainly were not like the children on Callisto Station. On Earth, she and her friends had been the odd ones. That was all behind them now. They were going home!

But they were still six hundred and seventy million kilometers away.

Gayle watched the docking maneuvers on the screen in front of her. It was the view from the station.

Her attention was drawn away from the screen by the sound of someone retching. Space sickness was still a problem for some people, but Gayle had spent a lot of time in Callisto's hub and had never experienced it. They did have medication, but there were still people who thought they were macho enough to handle it. They were sometimes much mistaken. She did not know why they did not make the medication mandatory for inexperienced flyers or at least strongly recommended.

Gayle tried to ignore the sound. She looked over at JJ, who was not watching the docking procedure. He was reading his glasses, pulling them up just long enough to look at the sick man in back. He flashed Gayle a smug little grin and put his glasses back down.

Gayle was sitting next to Alicia, who appeared to be asleep.

Gayle nudged her. Her eyes came open quickly.

“I thought you were asleep.”

Alicia looked over at Gayle's screen and then said, “No, I was just thinking: What if we don't make it? What will they do to us?”

Gayle shrugged. “They won't stop me. I'm not going back whether they like it or not.”

“Well, JJ doesn't think we'll make it, but I don't want to go back. I only wish there were another way.”

Gayle chewed on her lip. Then she said, “They didn't leave us with any other options. They would have broken up the group one by one and scattered us all over that dirty, mean world. They'll have to drag me back in chains.”

“Yeah, great. I think you've been reading too many fantasy novels.”

They felt the tug as they docked with the station. The steward made an announcement over the intercom that they should be careful when disembarking the ship. He reminded them that they were weightless and that someone would assist them if they were not comfortable with the feeling. He also strongly recommended that all the passengers use the Velcro slippers.

Gayle loved the feeling of weightlessness. She and Alicia had spent many weightless hours in Callisto's hub making up new games to play. They had grown up with gravity varying from zero to Mars standard gravity, so for them this was normal.

Alicia and Gayle grabbed their things and floated out of the ship, unlike the Earthies, who tried to "walk" on the special Velcro “floor.”

Gayle and her group did not need an up or a down to maneuver.

They gathered in the terminal and waited as JJ checked on the LEO-L4 stage of their trip to Callisto. Gayle was proud of her friends; no one was showing any weakness. Even Yuana smiled from time to time.

Gayle worried most about Yuana. She still had yet to say a word, but that was to be expected; she was the youngest of the group. Maybe the fact that they were on their way home had a calming effect on her, for she was no longer eating constantly and appeared to be enjoying herself.

JJ returned after about fifteen minutes. He pointed out through the observation window at a ship coming into dock. “That's ours. Once they have it ready for its return flight, we can board.”

The Yankee Clipper backed in, its retros firing to keep it aligned. The children watched as a pair of mechanical arms extended from the station, grabbed the ship, and pulled it back into the docking bay. This was truly exciting; the Clipper was going to take them one step closer to home.

The process seemed to take forever. The seals were set and then checked; if a leak occurred and the doors opened, then there was going to be trouble. The conduit was pressurized, and then the doors finally opened. They watched the passengers disembark with varying skills in ZeeGee, a situation which led to several comical scenes. One businessman put his briefcase down on the “floor,” but there was no Velcro on its base, so before he knew it the case was on its way with the Coriolis wind. Mark-Albert (one of the best of the group at ZeeGee movement) retrieved it for him.

When the man took his case back, he gave Mark Albert a look which said, “What are you doing with my case?”

Mark Albert tried to explain what had happened, but the man just walked off awkwardly, embarrassed and angry, without saying thank you.

Once everyone was out, a steward closed the gate. It would take another three hours to ready the ship for the return voyage. The children were anxious; they wanted to be on their way.

Over the next hour the terminal became more populated as other passengers arrived, most of whom were business travelers. Gayle saw a couple groups of tourists, and the rest were individuals heading back home to L4.

When the gates finally opened, the steward called the children and families with children to board first. The Yankee Clipper was not as nice as the ship that had brought them to LEO in the first place, but the trip was only going to be two and a half days, so Gayle could live with that.

Gayle shared a cabin with Alicia and the other girls. One sleeping sock was left over, so they wondered if they had to share the cabin with someone. The boys had a cabin to themselves next door.

Fearful of being caught, the group stayed in their respective cabins and decided to venture out only for meals.

Gayle knew her parents may begin to suspect if they had tried to contact her, but JJ had cut all communication. It was early evening for their parents. But, they were not scheduled to return from their outing for another couple of hours. So, all should be going according to plan. Gayle had blocked her parents, so they could not reach her through her glasses. She doubted they would have worked while they were no longer on Earth anyway.

They all were doing well, even Yuana. She was obviously anxious and kept glancing over at the snack bar. She always wanted food when she was uncomfortable.

Alicia knew what the problem was. “We all miss our parents,” Alicia reasoned with her. “We will  them in a few days, Yuana, think of this as an adventure.”

“Yeah,” Gayle added. “You know, Yuana, I wouldn't be surprised if they come to join us on our way to Callisto once they notice that we have left.”

Yuana's face brightened at the possibility.

Uma smiled at Yuana, and Christina placed a hand on her shoulder. “When we leave port,” she said, “perhaps we can send them a message. By then it should be too late to bring us back, and they will know that we have run away.”

Alicia said, “I don't know about that. Let's talk this over with JJ first.”

They stopped talking as the sirens sounded in the ship. A moment later the voice of a steward came over the intercom to announce the immediate departure of the Yankee Clipper. All passengers were to strap themselves into their socks for disconnection and acceleration.

After the message, the siren sounded again to indicate departure.

They felt a slight tug as the Clipper detached from LEO. Fernanda reached over and turned on the monitor; the screen showed a view of the Earth. Suddenly the ship accelerated, pushing the girls against the socks which held them in place.

The monitor showed a graphic view of the ship on an arc around the Earth. The little red blip followed the arc once around the Earth and then as it sped off toward L4. The ship used Earth's gravity to sling it, saving a lot of fuel. The complete maneuver seemed to last only a few minutes.

The view on the monitor split; one half showed a small star out in space, L4, and the other half showed a retreating Earth. They were on their way.

Gayle activated her monitor to check out the on-board library, but instead she got an introduction to space travel. The Moon was shown receding in the background, and slanted words scrolled over the screen. In essence it said that space travel tended to take longer than travel on Earth and explained that the distances were just not comparable. The farthest possible travel distance on Earth was around 20,000 kilometers, whereas the distance between LEO and the Moon or L4 was around 384,000 kilometers. However, travel in space was much more comfortable than Earth-bound travel because of free-fall, the absence of gravity. The mini lecture then gave a stern warning about the dangers of moving around the cabin in free-fall.

The lesson continued, explaining how the ship’s jets, which travel fast, could cover large distances in hours. It encouraged passengers to remain in their seats throughout much of the voyage. After only a few minutes their legs would begin to ache, and no position would seem too comfortable, but for safety reasons they should stay in place as much as possible.

Gayle knew, though, that the Clipper’s lack of gravity meant that passenger movement was far less restrictive. She had figured this out after her trip to Earth, having spent much of the time zipping through the corridors.

The ship had a vast library accessible from the monitor. Almost every book ever published was available, as were most movies. If neither option seemed appealing, passengers could also watch holovision.

A lot of people chose sleep to pass the time, and Gayle was one of them. In fact, she usually had a difficult time staying awake while traveling, though sleep did not come so easily with Uma in the same cabin. Uma liked to chatter, especially about goats.

Alicia did her best to keep Uma off the subject. Gayle held her tongue rather than complain about the noise, which at least was keeping Yuana entertained. Fernanda appeared unaware that anyone else was in the cabin; she had planted her face in a monitor since they had left LEO.

Alicia successfully shifted the conversation from goats to Callisto.

“There will be a lot of work to do when we get there,” she said. “Of course, Uma is concerned about the goats, but we have to put our old homes back in order if they are still available. Some other resident or a new resident might have moved in while we were gone. I don't think we have any right to take them back.”

“But why not?” Fernanda asked, looking up from her monitor. “They were ours when we lived there.”

“We gave them up,” said Gayle. “It doesn't matter. There are other places to move into. Maybe we can find places closer together. Or maybe we can live in LaLaLand.”

“Hey, yeah,” said Uma, with a gleam in her eye. “That would be fantastic.”

“That will be up to the residence manager, whoever that is now,” Alicia said. “Whatever happens, we shouldn't have any trouble as long as we work hard. Not only do we have to make ourselves necessary for the overall success of Callisto, but we must keep up our studies, too. We saw how important it was on Earth. We can't let what happened there happen to us.”

They all agreed.

“I wonder,” Uma said, “if the pueblo is still there.” They had read about Native Americans life, and afterwards the children had tried to build a Native American structure. They had been so proud of their project that they had dragged their parents to the wilderness area to see it.

Gayle remembered dragging her father and mother there. They never went to the wilderness area unless they had to, so it was real work to convince them to go see their pueblo. She asked, begged, and then pleaded, and finally they consented to go.

She could still remember the look on their faces when they stepped out into the clearing and saw it there. She could tell how proud they were; they even told her so. That was one of her best days on Callisto. They could not believe that she and her friends could build such a thing all by themselves. They had gone back to the Big Apple with their arms around her.

Those were great times, Gayle thought as she fought back a tear, but not before it got out. She quickly dabbed at it before anyone could see.

By then the conversation had shifted to Lizabet, their mentor. “I wonder how her new students are doing,” wondered Fernanda.

“Oh, I hope they didn't take over the goat farm,” Uma said, sounding worried.

Alicia said, very softly, “You better hope they had. If not, then the goats will not be in very good shape when you get there.”

Gayle could see that Uma had mixed feelings about the goats. “I wonder how many students Lizbet has now. I hope she still has room for us.”

Gayle knew she had said the wrong thing as soon as she said it. The others looked at each other, waiting for someone to speak. Alicia finally responded.

“Of course. We were her first students; we are special to her. When we get there, she will have room for us, but the younger kids need more of her attention. We are old enough to do most of our studies on our own as well as help her with the younger kids.”

Gayle saw the relief on her friends’ faces. She was relieved as well. She remembered helping when JJ and Fernanda joined the class, and then when the Fenech twins showed up, and finally when Kotari and Yuana started. It was fun, and it would be fun again.

She remembered telling her father about JJ coming to the group. She did not like him at all at first. He seemed to know everything, but he was only three at the time. Her father listened to her and tried to explain that JJ was gifted. He did know a lot, and he should not hide it. He told her that if she gave him a chance, she would grow to like him and his overwhelming self-confidence. He was right; JJ eventually mellowed and became someone to compete with instead of someone to dislike.

Her father always had some good advice. It saddened her to think he may not be there in the future. She hoped he would convince her mother to return to Callisto and that they could be a family again, if not necessarily a happy one.

Why did everything they talked about remind her of her family? It made her angry. She tried to push these memories out of her mind, but they kept coming back to torment her.

“What's with you, Gayle?”

Gayle shook the images out of her head and saw that the others were looking at her. “I don't know what to do first once we arrive at Callisto.”

“Such a terrible problem,” mused Alicia.

“I think I will visit the fountain. I have some questions for Hagrid.”

22 The Gig Is Up

They were halfway to L4 or a little over a day away. The children had spent their normal sleeping hours trying to sleep or, if they could not, reading from the ship's vast library. They had been floating in their sleeping socks, with one sock remaining empty, and one by one they pulled themselves out to begin their activities.

Gayle flipped on the monitor to see if there was any mention of their escape, but nothing had been reported. She was a bit disappointed.

Up to that time it had been an uneventful trip, but this did not bother her. She looked over at Alicia, who was still in her sock and had yet to begin doing anything. If Alicia's eyes had not been opened, Gayle would have assumed her friend was asleep. Alicia was thinking, so Gayle left her undisturbed.

“You know, guys,” Alicia said to no one in particular, “the first thing I will do is go see the goats.”

This made Gayle smile. She had always liked the goats.

Alicia continued, “I wonder if Billy is still king.”

“Sure, he is,” Uma said, offended. “He was only two when we left. If they took care of Billy and the other goats while we were gone, of course.” Billy was Uma's favorite, Gayle knew, and it was due to the difficulties he had caused her.

Uma was there when Billy was born and felt responsible for him. At first she had been very protective of Billy and tried to keep him out of trouble, but Billy Goat had ideas of his own.

Gayle started laughing as she remembered those days. The others joined in, except for Yuana.

“What is it?” Yuana asked. She was too young at the time to help with the goats.

Uma dried her eyes and began the story of Billy.

Billy was a tree climber, but the only trees to be found were outside the goat pen. To get out, Billy had knocked down the frail fence over the rocky base a few times. His real passion was to nibble off the trees’ fresh, tender buds. The children, who already had too many other things to take care of, quickly grew tired of mending the fences only to see them knocked down again.

Naturally, the horticulturists did not care much for Billy's wanderings. Their job was to study the new vegetation growing on Callisto and nurture it. When Billy got out, he would set the researchers back to square one.

The children tried to put up a stronger fence, but Billy just hopped over it. Uma had another plan; she talked the others into putting a sturdy wire fence over the base, one too high for Billy to hop over.

After they had constructed it, Uma went home satisfied, believing the trouble was over. However, the next day when they returned to the small farm, they found Billy up in one of the apple trees.

They never did figure out how Billy got out. Uma's respect for Billy grew, and from that time on he was her favorite. To keep him in the pen, they had to put a wire mesh roof over the pen.

“You guys go check on Billy and the goats,” Gayle said, “but the first thing I am going to do is find Flame. I had a terrible dream about him one night coming from Callisto. To this day it still gives me the shakes to think about it.”

“Cats can take care of themselves,” Yuana said, trying to be helpful. “But I hope he is all right. I think I'll get a cat, too, and then we can raise them together. Someone should try to control their population.”

“You never told me about your dream,” Alicia said, sounding hurt.

“I wanted to,” Gayle said, “but I never really had the chance.”

“You can tell us about it now,” Christina said hopefully.

Gayle shrugged. “I'm not sure I want to. Anyway, I'm too old to have nightmares.”

“You're never too old,” Fernanda said. “At least that's what my mother says. She had some really bad nightmares, but not on Earth; she had them only on Callisto.”

Alicia waved her hands and said, “Quiet you guys. You're not giving Gayle a chance to tell us about the nightmare.”

“But I wasn't going to tell you about it. I don't really want to talk about it.”

“Oh, come on,” pleaded Alicia. “It's not good to keep something like that to yourself.”

“Oh, give me a break, Ali. You're starting to sound like Ziggy.”

“But she’s right, Gayle” Fernanda insisted. “You should tell us about it.”

Gayle shook her head. She could still see the dream in her mind even though she had it months ago, and the images were still horrifying.

“We don't think it is silly or stupid,” Fernanda said. “Uma has talked to me about her nightmares, and I've told her about mine. We probably have all had them.”

“Okay, then you go first,” Gayle countered. “One of you tell us about your nightmare.”

“I will,” Uma offered. She stuck her lower lip out as she recalled the dream. “The dreams started after we had arrived on Earth. Come to think of it, the dream is quite stupid. I was in the wilderness area, but it wasn't on Callisto. I was playing in our pueblo when Simon and his gang showed up. I knew I shouldn't have been there alone, but I didn't want to sleep. Anyway, I tried to hide, but they saw me. I tried to run away, but I couldn't run very fast. Each of my legs weighed a ton, so no matter how hard I tried, I could not speed up. I never found out if they caught me. I always woke up before that happened.

"Other times I dreamed I was hiding from Simon and his gang. I don't think this dream was part of the other one, but it had the same characters. I was in a large building and looking for a place to hide. They were right behind me, so I ducked into a closet. As the time passed, I felt the walls and the ceiling crushing down on me. I knew Simon and his gang were just outside, so I strained against the walls and ceiling, but it was impossible to stop them from crushing me. Soon I couldn't breathe at all.

“I would try to scream, but nothing came. At this point in the dream my parents woke me up. I guess I was actually screaming, although I don't remember doing so.”

“I've had dreams like that,” Fernanda said. “But I never wake up screaming. My mother said it has something to do with the gravity on Earth. The whole time we are there, and more so as we sleep, the gravity pulls the atmosphere down, and it feels as if it is crushing us. We actually do have difficulty breathing, and this comes out in our dreams. When we are awake, we know what’s happening, but somehow when we sleep, we forget. The same with running; our legs really do feel like they weigh a ton on Earth.”

“Yeah, yeah, we know that already,” Alicia said. “Now let's give Gayle a chance to tell us about her dream.”

“I don't think I want to. I only said that one of you should tell us about your dream.”

“But I told you about mine,” Uma said.

Gayle could see that Uma was disappointed, and so was Yuana.

“Anyway,” Alicia said, “you said for someone to go first, which implied that you would go next.”

Gayle frowned. Her friend had her cornered.

“Well, all right.”

Gayle finally told them about Flame and the wolf, but she did not tell them that she was awake through the last part of the dream. They would not have believed her anyway.

“Wow,” Uma said, amazed. “I hope he's all right.”

“Yeah,” said the others.

“What did Ziggy say about it?” Alicia asked. “Did he have some reasonable explanation?”

Gayle looked at her friend, confused. “Why would I talk to him about my dream? It was none of his business. I’ll talk to Hagrid before I mention it to Ziggy.”

“Of course, it was Ziggy’s business. It was his job to talk about our dreams or anything else that bothered us.”

“You talked to him?” Gayle said, shocked.

“Well, no,” Alicia admitted. “I didn't feel like talking with him. He couldn't really understand us anyway.”

“I have to confess,” Gayle said, “I was tempted to talk to him. That wolf in my dream seemed so real that I could feel his breath on my neck and the matted fur under my feet.”

Uma was very serious when she said, “There really were wolves on Callisto. Many years ago when they found the place.”

“We all know that, Uma. Our parents always scared us with the wolf stories about bad boys and girls getting caught by the wolf.”

“There were wolves on Callisto?” Yuana looked terrified.

Gayle wanted to scream at her, but she knew Yuana did not deserve that.

“Yes,” Alicia said, patiently, but Gayle could hear her friend's annoyance. “But they are all gone now.”

“Wow!” was all Yuana could say.

“Wow, what?”

The girls jumped. They had not heard JJ enter the cabin.

“Don't sneak up on us like that!” Alicia screamed at him. “You're going to learn your lesson sometime.”

Uma balled up a fist and said, “Yeah, otherwise I'll knock your bald head off.”

“Cool off, guys. I didn't mean to scare you.” JJ shook his head in disbelief. “What's got you guys so uptight?”

“Spooky dreams, and wolves,” Yuana said. “What do you want, anyway? You lost?”

JJ smirked. “Not likely. I just wanted to talk some things out with you.”

“What's wrong?” asked Alicia.

“Nothing's wrong. I considered contacting our parents to let them know that all is well with us, but it's still too soon. I would feel better if we were already on our way to Callisto. By then it will be more difficult to turn that ship around and return it to L4.”

“When will we be on our way to Callisto?” Alicia asked. “Some of us don't want to worry our parents more than we have to.”

"I understand. We will contact them as soon as possible. They have probably figured it out already. We should have been back over twenty-four hours ago. They should have been able to trace our steps by now.”

“Then it won't matter if we contact them,” Yuana said.

“Probably not, but we need more distance between us and them if our plan is going to work.”

Alicia cleared her throat and said, “What is the plan? When do we leave L4?”

JJ paused. It was rare for him to think before answering. “That's a good question. I don't know. I haven't worked it out that far.”

“You what?” Alicia asked. “You said you had it all under control!”

“Well, most of it, but there was little I could do back on Earth concerning the L4-Callisto step of our journey. I am confident I'll come up with something.”

“Great, JJ. We'll be stuck on that stink hole while you come up with a plan.”

“Hey, guys, it will all work out,” he said, his arms waving through the air. “You have to understand, a ship only goes out to Callisto once, maybe twice, a year so that the amount of time it is in space is minimized. But first the ship must arrive from Callisto. The authorities don't fill those spaces anywhere but on L4.”

Alicia looked angry, but Gayle understood JJ perfectly.

“Alicia,” she said, “would you have come if you had known that?”

“Probably not. You misled me the whole time. Someday, JJ, I'm going to repay you for this.”

“Trust me, Alicia. It doesn't really matter anyway.”

Alicia shook her head, and a dimpled frown appeared on her face. “Of course, it matters. We need to be always on the move. If we stop, we're as good as caught.”

“Not me,” Gayle said. “They won't stop me. I've come this far. They won't take me back.”

“You guys don't get it, do you?” JJ asked. “If they do catch us, what do you think will happen?”

"They'll drag us back, of course." Alicia had lost what little enthusiasm she had been able to build. “Then they'll split us up, and we'll choke on the air and get crushed in the gravity and get beaten up by the Earth worms, dying on a world where we don't belong.”

“Oh, you're a real source of joy, aren't you?” quipped JJ. “Things usually work out for the better. Sometimes we must make things happen, but that is okay. In the end it will all work out.”

“You sound pretty cocky for a seven-year-old,” Alicia said. “You're not telling us the whole story, are you?”

“I'm telling you all I know. You'll just have to trust me.”

“We'll get there,” Gayle said, her voice very determined. “We have to get there. Look, JJ's gotten us this far. I believe he can get us the rest of the way.”

Alicia shook her head sadly. “I hope you're right. Both of you.”

Just then the door chimed. They expected one of the other boys, but when Fernanda opened the door, a short, brunette steward was hovering outside in the corridor.

The children looked at one another and then back at the steward.

She scanned each one of them and then looked over at JJ. “You must be Jerome Jimenez.”

JJ smiled back at the steward. “At your service.”

Gayle could not believe JJ's attitude. It almost seemed like he wanted to be caught. She fought back the feeling that he had betrayed them, but she knew he would not have done that. No matter what his plan was, though, she knew what had just happened.

The game was over.

23 House Arrest

The rest of the trip to L4 was very discouraging for the children. They were confined to quarters. Only one could leave at a time and then only under supervision. They only got to see each other in the cafeteria at mealtime. “Where could we go?” complained Gayle. “It’s not as though we could jump ship.”

Gayle hated being a prisoner more than the others did; in fact, the others appeared to have given up, but Gayle still had some fight left in her. She sat at the table, picking at her pasty food as they ate dinner together in the cafeteria. The meals all featured the same bland confection they had grown to hate during their trip from Callisto to L4.

Gayle threw down her scoop, and it bounced off the table and sailed through the cafeteria. “They won't take me back,” Gayle insisted. “I'll escape and hide in L4 until I can stow away on a shuttle to Callisto. I will not go back to Earth alive.”

“Oh, shut up.” Alicia had heard more than enough. “You're starting to sound like someone in an ancient crime video.”

“I mean it. I'm not going back.”

The others had accepted the fact that they were going back to Earth. Most of them, deep down, from the outset had had a feeling they would not succeed. Only JJ remained upbeat; he tried to raise his friends' spirits as well, but most were too dejected to respond.

They ate quietly, paying little attention to Gayle's repeated outbursts and Alicia's vicious replies.

On the other hand, JJ found Gayle extremely entertaining. “Let her go on. She's keeping my spirits up! I love her defiance in the face of perceived defeat.” JJ put a hand to his chest and extended one arm out before him. “It is better to have tried and failed than never to have tried at all.”

“Oh, shut up, JJ.” Alicia stuck her spoon into the steak paste and left it standing. “Don't give me this ‘perceived defeat’ nonsense. We lost. It's as simple as that. They will send us back on the next transporter or, more likely, in the hold of some smelly freighter.”

JJ sat there smiling, unfazed by Alicia's anger. This got to her. “Don't you get it? Our dream is over. We are going back to Earth whether we like it or not. Or maybe you haven't noticed.”

This sent JJ into a sudden fit of giggles, and he held his sides to keep them from splitting. He tried to stop, but the more he tried, the louder he became, and the more tears rolled from his eyes.

“How can you be so happy? We failed, JJ! We failed!” Alicia was screaming now.

JJ, still laughing in bursts, brushed his tears away with his sleeve. Alicia responded by pounding on the table with her fists. Her anger had made her speechless. The others watched in shock.

Gayle could not help herself. A smile formed, but she was not going to let JJ make her laugh.

Eventually JJ got himself under control, taking deep breaths and letting them out slowly.

The others looked at Alicia, hoping to find a comforting smile or a good word. It was not good for the group when Alicia was upset; she was the glue that held them together. Gayle felt that they had lost, as well, but she also held out hope that JJ had something up his sleeve. If JJ was not worried, she was not going to let herself get too worked up.

JJ took a sip of tangy orange and then cleared his throat. He looked around the table, making eye contact with each person in turn. “Life is a long, rocky road, my friends.”

Mark-Albert looked up from his paste; his brows were furrowed. His twin sister, Christina, glanced up and said, “What is that supposed to mean?”

JJ paused for Alicia to say something, but she was still fuming and just sat there with her arms crossed. “It simply means that it may take several steps to reach our goal. BUT! You must take the first step. You don’t realize just how big that step was. I am proud of you. Back to the expression: there are no easy roads in life, at least that is what my mom tells me, and unforeseen obstacles will always pop up along the way. Okay, so we got held up here, but we are not back on Earth yet.”

“What do you have up your sleeve, JJ?” asked Alicia. She sounded suspicious.

“Oh, just that I'm not yet ready to give up,” JJ said. His half-answers did not surprise Gayle; she knew he would not say any more than he had to.

JJ continued, “It's like an old holovision series I saw, only before they had holovision. In it this guy is a prisoner on an island although he had done nothing wrong. His mistake was knowing too much, but that doesn't matter. The point is, the prisoner continued trying to escape from this island again and again, even though he keeps getting caught. He never gave up, and his captors couldn’t break his spirit. We need some of that spirit right now.”

“I don't know that program,” Alicia said more calmly.

“I'll show it to you once we get back to Callisto. I’ll make it required viewing.”

Gayle smiled. Alicia tried not to, but soon she was grinning, too, and a few seconds later the whole group joined in. Maybe it was not over; they had lost just one battle in a long war.

Sleep did not come easily to Gayle on her last “night” on the ship. When she did sleep it was only for short bursts. Her body twitched as if it was ready to escape. When she was awake she thought about Flame, but she also recalled the fountain.

The fountain was a much a collection of friends as the live ones but confined to the reaches of the fountain: The giant blue glow. She wondered if they ever thought about their captivity. Were they even aware of the world beyond the blue globe? There was so much she would ask them if she only got a chance.

There were other fountains on Callisto, but they had never given up their secrets. The pixies were aware of the other fountains, but there was little information to be gained by these conversations.

Talking with Hagrid and Norbert were simply frustrating. Hagrid, the sea turtle, loved the simple life if you can call it life. He liked to swim, but that was about all. Norbert, the great white, on the other hand, loved to talk about hunting. He even threatened to swallow JJ one evening, because JJ kept teasing Norbert. Now Norbert pretends to swallow JJ every time Norbert sees him. Gayle could not remember what the argument was about, which probably meant that it wasn’t an important issue at all. Perhaps JJ asked him about all of Norbert’s kills, which, as far as Gayle understood, was a big fat zero.

Tonks, the octopus, was fun to talk to, but she preferred to discuss matters with Christina. No, Gayle did not enjoy talking with the pixies, the school of clown fish. Individually, they possessed no real intellect, but when they were together in their school, they knew quite a bit. It seemed to Gayle that their intelligence was added, rather multiplied when they coalesced. Even JJ found them fascinating when he was not teasing Hagrid or Norbert.

Gayle wondered if the Callisto Group functioned better as a whole, but away from the others, they somehow lost something. Gayle could not imagine JJ any less intelligent and quick witted, nor would Alicia become any less empathetic.

But Gayle was not quite ready to give up. She waited for the others to pull out their sleeping socks and settle in for the night.

She pretended to be asleep so not to encourage the others’ chatter late into the sleep cycle. To pass the time, she thought back to the pixies. They were the smallest, but combined they seemed to be the most intelligent.

The little clown fish swam in a school in a beautiful, choreographed dance. Individually, they were about as smart as one of the goats, but when they needed their wits, they formed into a group that usually appeared as a human face. JJ tended to interact with them, but when she could, Gayle enjoyed their discussions.

On one occasion, Alicia asked what happened when they swam too far from the fountain. The clowns formed a face, but still appeared at a loss for an answer. They did not see this as an issue, for they could never swim too far.

“Okay, so what happens when you swim past us and out of range?”

One of the clowns shot out and swam past Gayle’s head and headed for the edge. They watched as it vanished into thin air.

“Where is it!” screamed Gayle.

“On the other side,” said the clowns in unison. Apparently, they were not concerned as to the fate of their mate.

Alicia’s eyes shined with wonder. “Of course, it’s like a loop.”

Gayle still did not get it.

Alicia explained, “It’s like a long corridor. You run to the end and exit through the door there. But you find yourself entering the same corridor from the door at the other end.”

Gayle considered this for a moment. “Okay, so if I stood there at the door, and looked back, what would I see?”

“I believe you would see yourself looking back.”

Gayle brought here attention back to the present. That would be a neat trick and could use a clever trick right now.

With the cabin quiet except for the noises people make as they sleep. Gayle looked around and all her friends appeared to be sleeping. It was time for action. It was time to be a fish and swim off until she disappeared at the edge.

She carefully extracted herself quietly from her sock and stashed it. She hoped the attendants will not think to count them and realize that one was missing. She grabbed her bag and made her way to the door.

“Hey!” came a loud whisper. “You are really going to do it?”

Gayle realized that Alicia was still awake. She put her finger over her lip for Alicia to be quiet.

“Yes,” her whisper came out sounding a lot like an apology. “I can’t go back to Earth.”

“Come back for us.”

Gayle gave a thumb’s up.

The door opened soundlessly. She half expected someone to be standing guard outside the door, but the corridor was vacant. If she could only get to the storage area, she could hide there until they docked.

After about fifteen minutes she realized that it was going to be more difficult than she imagined. With a voyage of a couple of days, the passengers resided in cabins. There was not a baggage area since one couldn’t bring much along.

There was a cafeteria with minimal gravity. And there was an older gentleman drinking coffee at a table by himself. A younger lady was at the bar and appeared to be half asleep. A half-filled glass sat in front of her.

Taking a lesson from JJ, she approached the lady and asked the bar for cocoa, warm, with peppermint. A few minutes later a bar-tech brought it to her.

A few minutes after the last drop she felt a tap on her shoulder.

“Are you ready for me to escort you back to your room?”

It was a steward she had seen the day before.

“I guess so.”

“What? Couldn’t sleep? I’ve known that to happen. For some the absence of gravity throws off their internal clock.”

Gayle allowed herself to be escorted back to the cabin.

Hours later a different steward came to the cabin to inform them that after docking, they were to remain in the cabin until someone came to get them.

“Where do you think they'll take us?” Uma asked. “The brig?”

“I wouldn't be surprised,” Alicia said. “Just imagine, at the age of eleven I'll have already been in prison.” She tried not to smile but was unsuccessful.

“Well, they aren't going to take me,” Gayle said, pouting once again in her sleeping sock.

“We know already,” Fernanda said. “When will you make your great escape?”

“As soon as the opportunity comes along. Just watch. One second I'll be there, and then puff! I'm gone.”

Alicia laughed. “Then you can come and break the rest of us out of jail.”

“Right!” Gayle said. “I'll do it. I'll find a way.”

The other girls joined Alicia in laughing at Gayle's wild imagination, but Gayle did not let them bother her.

The bells sounded, and then throughout the ship they heard the announcement that the Yankee Clipper was about to dock. Gayle saw the defeated looks on her friends’ faces; they knew their running was over. She might also have detected a flicker of relief in their eyes. Another chiming of the bells marked the end of the announcement.

They did not say anything as the Yankee Clipper maneuvered into position. After a few moments they felt a slight jolt as the ship attached to the station.

Outside they listened to the people talking and clanking their things along the corridors. The noise increased as the corridors filled, and then it tapered off to nothingness.

Gayle knew that in a minute or two someone would be there to escort them to the brig.

That anticipated moment turned into several minutes.

By the time the officer arrived, the girls had become angry for having to wait so long.

The door finally opened to reveal a young woman wearing a station's navy-blue security uniform. She smiled and asked them how their trip had been.

None of the girls answered; they just looked around at the others. They had not expected this kind of polite conversation.

The woman shrugged and then said, “I understand. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to a hotel where we have a couple of rooms reserved for you.”

“What? No brig?” Gayle asked, genuinely surprised and perhaps even a bit disappointed.

The young woman laughed. “Oh, heavens no. You will be well taken care of until arrangements can be made for your return trip.”

“We're not going back!” Gayle insisted, getting over the disappointment.

The woman gave her a sad smile accompanied with a slight tilt of her head. “I know you want to go back to Callisto, but your parents would miss you very much. They have been worried about you for a couple of days and are looking forward to your return.”

“Humph! I doubt that.” Gayle said. “They didn't care how we felt when we were there, so why should that change now?”

“But that's not true. They do care, but we can discuss this later. There will be some time to talk things out before you go back.” The officer put a happy face on and said, “Come on, let's go find your rooms and something better to eat than shuttle food.”

The room was nicer than the one Gayle’s family had previously occupied. Gayle assumed this was some kind of mistake.

After two days without a shower, the first argument was about who would go first. The voices grew louder when they found out they were allowed only twenty minutes of hot water. Alicia stood at the door with her glasses, keeping track of the time as Fernanda and Yuana shared the shower. They spent most of their time complaining that the other was hogging the water.

When all had washed, they sat on their beds, tired and angry. No one said a word.

As promised, the officer led a steward into the room with their dinner. And the food was good. Gayle felt better but not good enough to give in to her situation.

She did not know how she could get out of the room without being stopped. When the officer had opened the door to bring in the food, Gayle had seen someone standing there just outside. She thought of JJ and wondered what he had up his sleeve. She wished he were there. He always saw the good side to everything. He would know how to get away or at least how to cheer them up.

Gayle finished her tomato soup and crackers and then quickly made the chocolate sundae disappear. Yuana zapped on the holovision, but this did not interest Gayle. She drifted off into a fitful sleep. Her first thought was of Flame.

The sound of the door opening woke Gayle. Breakfast had arrived, along with their hostess, who looked more relaxed than she did the previous evening. The girls dressed quickly, and then the boys joined them.

They ate breakfast in silence while the officer sat by. She appeared to have all the time in the world, so the girls did not hurry. She even asked if they would like anything else.

“Since you are finished, I can tell you what is about to happen. When your parents discovered your disappearance, they were understandably very upset and worried, but in a matter of hours they knew you were on your way back to Callisto, or rather to L4.

"They were surprised, well, perhaps shocked would be a better word, that you had run away without talking it over with them first. Although one of them knew about your plans, but for their own reason chose not to say a word. As you can imagine, they had very little time to decide how best to deal with this. Some of your parents wanted you sent back right away, but others questioned if that would be a good idea. Dr Zitzelsberger, the analyst assigned to your adjustment to Earth, suggested that a few of your parents should come here to negotiate your return. He pointed out that you were obviously not comfortable on Earth and shouldn't make the trip back immediately. He said that a discussion here, at a neutral site, would be better. Anywhere but at the source of the problem.”

“Good old Ziggy,” JJ said. “I guess he did pay attention after all.”

Their hostess continued:

“I can't say that I understand why you did what you did, but you must have had a good reason to give your parents such a scare.”

Gayle, rubbing her tired eyes, said, “We only wanted to go home.”

“But home is where your parents are.”

“No,” Alicia said. “Home would be more comfortable with our parents, but they chose to live on Earth. We will always be outsiders there. We were all born on Callisto, and that is where we belong.”

“But what about your parents?”

Alicia cleared her throat and then said, “We would miss our parents, that is certain. But, as Gayle said, we just want to go home where we can be together.”

The young woman nodded. “I would like to understand but having grown up here and not on Callisto with you, it is difficult for me. I can see that you are close, very close, and I've never seen such grown-up children in my life. It truly amazes me. Whatever happens, I hope it all works out for you.

“In a way, you are a family, and maybe that is where the conflict lies."

24 The Debriefing

Boris pounded on his pillow in frustration. They were put up in the Langham House on Bond Street. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

He was obviously furious.

“Boris, is there something bothering you?”

Boris glared over at JJ for a few seconds, but JJ just raised his eyebrows. Boris could only remain angry for a few minutes, but then settled down to a low simmer. JJ sat on the couch on the other side of their hotel room. Gusty was reclined on their bed. Kotari and Mark-Albert were on the other. They were not paying Boris any attention.

“I can’t believe we let you talk us into this.” Boris was finding a second wind.

JJ had his head back as he stared at his mirrored glasses. “As I recall, we all took a vote, and you were in favor.”

“Yeah, you led me to believe that we would be on our way to Callisto. We’re not. We’re holed up in this hotel and will most likely be on our way back to Earth tomorrow after the meeting.”

JJ laughed. “Relax, Boris. I’m sorry you feel that way, but I warned you about this. We did what we had to do so that we would return home.”

Boris pounded his pillow again; grumbled something JJ could not understand. JJ sat up and looked at the others. They were not paying any attention to the conversation. He was about to respond, but it was saved by a notice appearing on his phone.

<Meet me at 7:00 at the Alt Berliner Biersalon in Ku’damm.>

His glasses indicated that he only had a few minutes to get there. He entered the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face, dried off, then headed toward the door. Without a word, he exited their room. He half expected someone to stop him just outside the room, but no one was there.

He took the elevator down to street level. As he exited the elevator, he looked over at the reception desk. The concierge nodded at him. The doorman wished him a nice evening. A few yards away he saw the rails of the streetcar line and a bright red one was approaching. It was not going fast, so when it neared, he reached out and grabbed the handrail, and stepped onto the platform.

The streetcar traveled through Ginza before entering Ku’damm. The Alt Berliner Biersalon was easy to see with its bright red sign over the entrance. JJ stepped off the moving streetcar and wound his way through the crowded outdoor tables and chairs. JJ entered the salon and a host greeted him, “Guten Abend. Folgen Sie mir, bitte.” JJ had no idea what the host said, but he could figure it out. JJ allowed himself to be escorted to a table where his father sat waiting.

His father was reading his tablet, and only looked up as JJ arrived at the table.

He shut it off and smiled at JJ. “Glad you could make it on short notice.”

JJ sat and extracted the silverware from the rolled-up napkin. “Lucky connection with the streetcar.”

The Kellner arrived with a Berliner Weisse for JJ’s father, and sweet tea for JJ. They were told that dinner would be served shortly.

JJ had never seen green beer. His father took a sip and sighed. He set his beer down and said, “How do you think you did on this little project?”

“Not bad, but it was a gradual process. I had to spell it out for Gayle and Alicia. They only reacted when their backs were against the wall.” JJ tried his tea.

“Would you do it any differently if you had to do it all over again?”

“I would certainly be more direct and start much earlier. Subtlety is wasted with some people.”

His father laughed. “Same for adults as well. The earlier you realize that the better.”

The Kellner returned with their entrees. His father had schnitzel with roast potatoes, and JJ received a plate of sausages with a red sauce over them, and fries, which they called frites. JJ cut off a piece of sausage and sampled it. “What’s in the sauce?” he asked his dad.

“Just ketchup and curry powder. What do you think?”

“I think I like it. You should have warned me; I thought it was just ketchup.”

“That’s not like you. You relish finding things out for yourself.”

“True.” JJ tried his fries. “What’s on the frites?”

“Mayo.”

“So, did we do enough to get home?”

His father winked. “You caught the other parents completely off guard. It woke them up in a hurry.”

“But was it enough?”

“I would give it good odds.” He took another sip of beer. “Many are reevaluating their decision to return to Earth.”

“That is encouraging. But who decides the outcome?”

“It will depend on the program manager and the supervisory cabinet. Of course, if Ziggy comes through, the odds will improve.”

“Ziggy,” said JJ with a grin.

“Also, if the doctors’ findings come back showing adverse effects from the gravity, pressure, and air, then that may sway the cabinet.”

“Gusty made that perfectly obvious that we are at a disadvantage living on Earth. Even here on L4, the gravity is a constant battle.”

The Kellner returned offering coffee, as he removed the empty plates. They accepted. As they sipped on their coffee, JJ’s father asked, “Are you up for a trip back to Callisto? It’s a long ride.”

“I could deal with it. If I have something to read, and projects to work on.”

“Me too.”

“What about mom? What’s her view?”

“She’ll go back; never really wanted to return to Earth. Like me, she enjoyed the reduced gravity. Great for older bodies like ours. It’s hard to find anything wrong there.”

Finally, the Kellner returned to the table and left a box with a raspberry chocolate cake inside. JJ’s dad slid it over to JJ. “Share it with your friends. My thanks to them.”

They stood and hugged before finding a streetcar to Bond Street.

25 Homeward Bound?

Gayle woke stiff and groggy to a new day. She had not slept well; she kept thinking about the meeting with the parents. What bothered her most was that she had no idea what to expect. She was told that her father had arrived the previous night, along with several other parents. She checked her glasses and saw that they were in the same hotel.

She stretched and wished for a few more hours of sleep before the meeting. Alicia was still asleep next to her, and her eyes shot open when Gayle nudged her. Gayle wished they could just board the next transporter out to Callisto as one big, happy family, but she imagined the most likely outcome would be security dragging them all kicking and screaming back to Earth.

Gayle called to the others. Fernanda was already up, as was Yuana. Uma and Christina were the most difficult to wake.

The others were anxious too, not knowing what to expect in the upcoming meeting. When they talked, they did so in low voices. No one fought over the shower and the precious few minutes of hot water; no one even cared about such small things anymore.

Although she would not have admitted it to the others, Gayle was scared. She did not know how her father was going to react. She did not know whether she even wanted to attend the meeting, but there was no way out of it. They would eventually have to settle the matter between them.

At least he would listen to her. Her mother probably would not.

Once her mother had decided on something, there was no more discussion. Since her mother had so looked forward to returning to Earth, there seemed little chance she would change her mind and go back to Callisto. As Gayle remembered it, her mother hated every minute on Callisto, or at least she did at the end. She hated to be “so far away from the university and the open skies,” as she put it. She would not go back even if it meant breaking up the family, or would she?

Her father had liked living on Callisto. Would he naturally choose to stay on Earth with his wife, or would he consider returning to Callisto?

The idea that Flame was probably dead anyway popped into her mind before she could stop herself.

“But we had no other choice; we had to do it,” she said under her breath. Only by escaping Earth could the Callisto children stay together. The children had grown up together and were just as much her family as her parents, perhaps even more so. They had always been there, more than her parents, who were often too busy with their own lives. This was particularly true the last couple of years before leaving Callisto. In all fairness, she had grown older, too, and had chosen to spend more time without them.

The morning dragged on. Several times Gayle found herself chewing on her fingernails. Each time she did it, she could imagine her mother scolding her. Now Alicia filled that role.

When the door to the silent room opened, six heads slowly turned to see the officer enter. Gayle was so relieved; now it would all be over, for better or worse, but the worrying could finally stop.

The officer stood at the door with a bright smile on her face. Her straw-blond hair was pulled back and tied off in a ponytail. She looked rested and more jubilant than she had the day before.

“What's wrong? It's not the end of the world, is it?”

She did not get an answer, just long faces.

“Try to cheer up. You wouldn't want your parents to think that we've mistreated you, would you?”

There were a few attempts at smiling, but they were not altogether successful.

“That's the way. You look so much better.”

The girls got up and headed for the door.

“Just remember that things usually work out for the better. Whatever happens today may not appear to be the best thing, but over time you may change your mind.”

The officer was starting to sound like JJ, Gayle thought. Nor was she quite able to believe this outlook. Regardless, she had decided to behave herself during the meeting, no matter what happened; she was not going to run away or make a scene. Somehow, though, she would eventually make it back to Callisto. Gayle was never going to give up trying to get back, just like the prisoner from JJ’s old holovid series never stopped trying to escape. No matter what happened, she was never going to accept defeat. She wondered if The Prisoner ever escaped from the island.

They left the room and started down the corridor. The boys were as nervous as the girls. They followed the two officers down the corridors, passing restaurants and bars along the way.

The stewards led them to the conference section of the hotel. It was vacant except for crews moving busily from room to room setting up for the next convention. The officers stopped at a door and turned to the children. The young woman officer said, “Your parents are already inside.” She flashed a hopeful smile. “I hope you can work something out.”

She opened the door. Their parents were standing around a table, drinking cups of coffee and eating pastries.

Their conversation stopped when the door opened. They stood there looking at their children, and for a moment no one moved. Then Yuana broke from the group to run to her mother (Gayle figured Yuana would be the first to break). After Yuana, others began to enter.

Moms and dads hugged the run-away kids, and most of the kids were crying by then.

Gayle did not see her dad at first, but then he asked, “May I have a hug, too?”

Gayle turned and could not help herself. She let herself be swallowed up in his arms. She hated herself for crying, but she could not stop herself.

She hoped JJ had not seen her cry like a baby.

After a few minutes, the crying stopped, eyes were dried, and the children helped themselves to some breakfast. Gayle watched JJ, who appeared very calm. She wondered how he had such self-control. JJ poured himself a mug of milk and after a brief glance around the room poured some coffee into it. The hard part was about to begin.

“Okay, okay!” yelled Mr. Jimenez, JJ's father. He had taken charge since Ms. Jimenez had stayed on Earth because of business. “Let's take a seat and have a little discussion.”

Mr. Jimenez was a tall, thin man with dark skin and grayed hair around his temples. He pulled JJ away from the donuts, but not before JJ grabbed two in each hand. Mr. Jimenez just shook his head and took a seat at the head of the table.

“I think I speak for the rest of the parents, those present and those still on Earth, when I say how surprised and shocked some of us were when we discovered you had run away from home in hopes of returning to Callisto.

“We never realized how desperate you were. Not one of you ever talked with us about the difficulties you were having. Not one of you.”

“But that’s not true,” Gayle said, but too quietly to be heard.

Gayle looked over at JJ, who was working on his donuts and apparently not paying any attention to his dad. Then JJ looked over at Gayle and winked. That smart aleck, she thought. Gayle quickly looked away.

“Not even Dr. Zitzelsberger knew the seriousness of your discontent,” continued Mr. Jimenez. “If you had come to us, we could have worked it out.”

Gayle wanted to argue this point as well.

Mr. Jimenez looked at the children. No one was ready to answer.

“Excuse me, Blas,” said Liz, the mother of the Fenech twins, “but what's done is done. What we would like to know is how to put things right again.”

“Exactly,” said Gregor, Uma's father. Then to the children, he said, “Perhaps one of you could tell us why you believed running away was the only way out of this mess.”

There was a moment of silence as the children looked at each other, waiting for somebody to speak up.

JJ looked first at Alicia and then at Gayle. Neither appeared ready with an answer, so he spoke up.

“We just wanted to go home. At least there we could all be together.” JJ saw a couple of nods. “It looked as if staying on Earth would mean saying good-bye to our friends.” JJ paused; reconsidered. “No, I don't mean friends, I mean family. These knuckleheads are like brothers and sisters to me. To lose them would be losing almost everything. They have always been there when I needed someone. I mean no disrespect when I say this, but they were there when my parents weren't. I could always turn to Gayle or Alicia or Boris, or even Gusty if I were really desperate.”

This caused a few laughs. Then JJ continued.

“Many times, I went to you or mom, and you just weren't there, or when you were, your minds weren't.”

Mr. Jimenez smiled. “Ah, sure, you kids have grown up together, but you are young, and you will make other friends. Don't you think we all have said good-bye to friends we have had growing up? We felt as though we couldn't go on, but of course we did. That's all part of life, part of growing up.”

“Maybe so,” JJ countered, “but Earth was, and is, your home. You belong there. No one can take that away from you. We are aliens. The people of Earth may never accept us. Not that I care. A part of us has been left behind on Callisto. Something is gone, and I can't find it on Earth.

“You grew up in a different family setting, a different world. Parents played a much bigger role in your lives than they did ours on Callisto. These guys are my family.”

There was a long pause after this as it soaked in.

“The people on Earth would, eventually, accept you,” said Colin, Alicia's mother . “You have to give them time. They have never had the chance to go to space, and many have never left the state or even the city they were born in. You have to consider that.” She held up a hand before anyone could say something. “But! Going back to Callisto would not bother Lawrence or myself, if that is what needs to be done.”

“Well,” Alicia said, “thank you for saying that, mom. You must remember that the gravity at times is unbearable. We may eventually grow used to life there, but I don’t see ever feeling comfortable dealing with the gravity.”

“Who knows?” said JJ. “Maybe someday we will leave Callisto, but not for Earth. We may want to look for the Builders of Callisto or the Callisto Engineers, however you refer to them, or just explore space. We are better adapted to life there.”

Mark-Albert sat next to his mother with an arm in the air. Mr. Jimenez saw him and gave him a chance.

“All I want to say is: we lived too long on Callisto to ever be happy living on Earth. Callisto is a part of us, and we are a part of it.”

Mr. Jimenez looked at the other children, carefully reading their faces for clues.

He cleared his throat and then said, “Perhaps we didn't think enough about you children. We were too quick to assume you would adjust to a new life. Heaven knows, it's not an easy life on Earth. Even for me.” He looked at the other parents and then continued, “It is possible that what we have in front of us here is a group of future explorers who will explore space in a way most of us can only fantasize about. We have a very difficult decision to make, and I'm not sure we can make it without all the parents being present. You must be reminded that the powers who decided for us to return, will ultimately decide if you can go back.”

Gayle could not believe her ears. Was he really talking about going back to Callisto?

“Look at us,” Kotari's mother said. “We had the chance of a lifetime, and we returned to Earth as soon as we could. If we go back to Callisto, it will most likely be for good."

The room fell silent. The idea of the children returning was sinking in.

“Granted,” Gayle's father said, “the children have benefited from Callisto and would continue to benefit if they were to return, but I see great resistance to this happening. Some parents may not wish to return, and there is no guarantee that the government would let any of us go back. Those in charge are very fussy about who goes and who comes back. They may be greatly suspicious if we all request to return to the station.”

“You have a point there, Merril,” Mr. Jimenez said. “Surely, for the general welfare of the children or some other reasons, they may see it our way.” He looked around the circle. “Anybody have ideas?”

Yuana's mother raised her hand. “What about the schools? Surely the schools are better on Earth. The kids will have trouble finding jobs after their studies on Callisto.”

Mr. Jimenez looked at Boris's father, who oversaw the educational program on Callisto. “They are way ahead of the children on Earth, so that is not an immediate factor. However, university studies might pose a problem. We don't have the facilities available at the station, but there would be some time to develop them. The resources are already there.”

The discussion went on like this for a few hours. Then they broke for lunch.

Carts were wheeled in and places set at the table. The discussion continued as they ate, but not as seriously. After dessert was served, JJ got up and helped himself to another bowl of ice cream, which he covered with chocolate syrup and cherries. Gayle joined him at the dessert buffet, though she passed up another serving of ice cream because she was already stuffed.

“How can you eat so much?” she asked.

“Good news always makes me hungry, and this is really good news. So, what do you think?” JJ asked.

“You knew, didn't you? You knew all along.”

"No, but I could imagine the way my parents would lean if I pressed them. I wondered if the other parents were also feeling the same way. Sometimes you must give parents a little push to get them to do what they actually desire to do. The push is a very tricky thing; if you don't do it the right way, it could backfire. We had to make a stand to push our parents in the right direction, and the stand had to be a serious one before they would notice.”

“They aren't sure we can go back. You heard them discussing it. Even if we do receive permission to return, I don't think my mother will be so enthusiastic about going.”

“Well, we might not leave tomorrow, or next week, but maybe in a few months or at least within the year. We will get back, though. As for your mother, it will be up to your father to plead the case. My feeling is: she will go. I only hope that your father is convincing. You would miss her if she were to remain on Earth.”

“I think you're right.”

"It doesn't pay to worry. Things will work out."

Gayle sighed and then smiled. JJ was usually right.

Coming soon!

For the Berlin Group

Gaelle Fearheiley

Alison Winchester

Melanie Walsh

Kathleen Brandhofer

And Teresa Bryner

Published by Quantum Resonance, LLC

Jacksonville, Florida

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictitious, and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

The Callisto Series: The Callisto Group and the Journey to Earth, Book 1

Book Cover Design by ebooklaunch.com

Copyright © 2021 Michael Westheim

All rights reserved.

ISBN-13: 978-1548647704

ISBN-10: 1548647705

Also by Michael Westheim

The Callisto Series

The Callisto Group and the Journey to Earth

The Callisto Group and the Big, Bad Wolf

About the Publisher