"Thank the Goddess!" Vastra springs up from her chair and breaks the quietness of the drawing-room. She hands her wife the letter and points twice.

Jenny stands and surmises to her family, "It seems our nemesis Mr. Chales Sabini has become bankrupt and moved to Brighton and established a similar criminal activity under the alias Fred Handley."

"That gnat is gone," Vastra picks up her wife and spins her around.

Jenny cups her wife's face, "I am glad you are pleased. How shall we celebrate?"

Jennifer stands waving her companions into a huddle, "Mothers and Grand Mama's would you mind covering your ears and humming?"

The four companions watch as their mothers cover their ear and each humming a different tune.

Vastra something Silurian.

Jenny hums "Take a pair of sparkling eyes" from 1889

Fiona and Alaya hum different songs but none of the girls are familiar with the tune.

Jennifer asks, "Do you think this is a good time to bring it out?"

April nods yes, "I have run sufficient tests."

"What is broadcasting now?"

Odea asks, "Does it matter?"

"I guess not." Jennifer pats her friend on the shoulder, "Odea, can you retrieve it on your own?"

Odea puffs up, "Yes, but I will need someone to open the doors."

"I will come with you," Mirum volunteers.

Once Odea and Mirum are out of the room Jennifer and April signaled to their Mothers and Grand Mamas to stop their humming. "I am sorry, but I must ask you to close your eyes."

The four adults close their eyes.

Quietly Odea brings in a large box with knobs.

April clears off the top of the buffet.

Odea places it with a thud, "Sorry."

April quickly looks inside, "All is well."

Jennifer comes close to Mirum's ear and whispers ever so softly, "Turn it on."

A whirling sound echoes the room.

"This is BBC World Radio and the time is seven-thirty. Headline news ..."

The adults open their eyes to four very proud girls.

"What have you done?" Jenny is the first to run over and look at the radio.

"We have built a radio and shortwave receiver." Jennifer puts her arm around Odea and her sister. Odea puts her arm around Mirum. "We built this together."

April hands her Mother Fiona the diagrams.

"From this? How did you understand?" Fiona looks at blueprints flipping it side to side, "I do not know what I am reading."

Mirum shrugs her shoulders like her mother Vastra, "We taught ourselves."

"We are working on a shortwave radio, to send signals."

Vastra looks at the radio, "I am impressed."

Jennifer turns the radio off, "It is just news for the next hour. There are radio dramas, music and we can all be together without wearing our perception devices."

April becomes quiet.

Jennifer turns and pulls her sister close, "Of course when your friend Kay visits we shall wear our devices proudly."

April looks into her sister eyes, "I know, you have always been there for me."

Jennifer nods to Odea.

Odea takes center stage, "Would you like to know how to work the radio?"

Jennifer and Odea sit by the radio listening to the latest broadcast.

"... Unemployed demonstration in London. The crowd has now passed along Whitehall and, at the suggestion of Mr Popplebury, Secretary of the National Movement for Abolishing Theatre Queues ..."

Alaya passes by the drawing-room overhearing the radio.

"... is preparing to demolish the Houses of Parliament with trench mortars ..."

She calls, in a panic, for her wife and mothers.

" … The clock tower, 320 feet in height, has just fallen to the ground, together with the famous clock Big Ben, which used to strike the hours on a bell weighing nine tons ..."

"Oh my god. What should we do?" Jenny pulls Vastra close.

Odea and Jennifer turn to their mothers with their fingers on their lips, "Shhh! We are trying to listen."

"We are trying to enjoy this."

"... the Savoy Hotel's house band ..."

Odea turns around again, "This is faux news, it is a drama."

"It sounds real." Jenny annoyed that she fell for the joke.

"... this is a work of humour and imagination ..."

Jennifer points to the radio, "Listen."

"This is too much for me. I am returning back to the criminal report." Jenny taps her wife on her arm before she exits.

The next morning Vastra threw down the newspaper in front of Jennifer and Odea. There was a big circle around a section.

Jennifer picks it up and reads it out loud, "Revolution hoax by wireless. Terror caused in Villages and towns … We hope that any listeners who did not realise it will accept our sincere apologies for any uneasiness caused. London is safe. Big Ben is still chiming, and all is well."

Odea turns to her mother, "We knew it was a entertainment, the radio announced it four times."

"May people did not." Vastra looked to the girls. "We must think through our jokes and satire. This," Vastra points to the article, "Could have been handled better."

Jennifer hands the newspaper back to Grand Mama Vastra, "They are pleased with themselves. I suspect that the faux news will inspire others. I would love to hear mysteries and scary stories."

Odea shakes her head yes in agreement.

Vastra tap both girls on the head with the folded newspaper, "I prefer that you read them instead."

"Shh, I am trying." Odea asks a bit miffed. She stops and looks at her companions, "I am sorry. I am anxious."

"If we don't get the broadcast," Mirum comes over to the radio, "It will be fine. We can read the commentary in the newspaper tomorrow."

Odea shakes her head and continues to rotate the dials slowly.

"... this is Plum Warner and I will bring you the test cricket match between Essex and New Zealand on Lyttelton Ground in Leyton. It is a beautiful sunny day and ..."

"You did it!" Jennifer jumps and runs out of the drawing-room. "Mothers! Grand Mamas! Odea got it! Odea has it playing!"

Fiona is the first to run in and plant herself in the seat, "This is history girls."

Jennifer comes in with a tray of tea, biscuits and lemonade. She sits down next to her excited wife.

Vastra enters pulling in her wife, "You don't have to listen, just sit with us."

"Fine. I am not going to sit here for five days." Jenny plops down in her seat, "Sorry girls, but there is much to do."

Mirum scoots back and uses Mother Jenny's seat as a backrest. She settles in and reaches up and holds her mother's hand. "If you get board I will play gin rummy, checkers or any other game."

Jenny looks to Vastra and gives a defeated smile, "I will be here for the first day. No promises for the next four."

"... New Zealanders won the toss and decided to bat … "

The telephone rings.

Jennifer jumps up to get it before it ring a second time. "Hello? Hi. One moment." She looks to her sister, "It is Kay."

"Hi, listening to cricket." April looks around the room to see everyone in their natural form, even Odea is wearing as little as possible. "It is a family affair. How does tomorrow sound? You and I? Come by after breakfast."

April hangs up the phone and returns to her seat next to Jennifer.

"You could have invited her." Jennifer whispers.

"I want my family to be themselves and not wear any devices." April leans back on her Mother Fiona's chair, "Besides we won't have too many days like this. We are listening to history; she wouldn't understand."

"Dear sister, she might someday."

"I don't dare give over to hope. I need to appreciate what I have now."

Fiona grabs her wife's hand as they listen to the first inning of cricket.

The room erupts with cheers as the second throw is a wicket.

After the cricket match, Jennifer turns to the adults, "May we have a moment of your time?"

"Why is it whenever you ask that my scales don't know whether to clamp down or soften?" Vastra asks as she looks at her grand-daughter with scrutiny.

"It is about our education. We have made a decision and need your assistance in achieving our goals."

"That is wonderful!" Alaya leans forward and grabbing Fiona's hand.

"We would like to go to boarding school ..."

Jenny and Fiona sit up in their chairs.

"In New New York."

Jenny stands to protest.

"Please hear us out."

Fiona looks to Alaya, who shrugs her shoulders. She leans in, "Were they in secondary schools?"

Alaya thinks back to her encounters, "I don't know."

"We want to attend boarding school rather than NNYU. We want to go to University here in 'Our London' and prepare for our careers in our time. We believe it is practical, in the long run."

"Why not just go to a secondary schools here? There are many to choose." Jenny asks as she is about to mention various educational facilities.

"Not good enough, we want a higher education that doesn't focus on getting husbands. Miss Shaw and Miss Gardner have been wonderful tutors. We will be bored until we at University studying."

Odea, April and Mirum shake their heads.

"You are too young, especially when you will be so far away we can't ..." Fiona looks at her wife for words.

"You will be alone; we will not be available for aid of any sort." Alaya reminds them.

"We have each other." Jennifer pulls her sister close. "We can take care of each other. We lack some skills, domestically, and we are hoping you will give us a year to prepare."

Vastra has been still listening to their argument.

Odea asks firmly, "What do you think Mothers?"

Jenny is about to offer choice words but is interrupted by Vastra, "I believe that you have all thought about your education. I support you four, only if you all are in agreement."

"Come to me Mirum and April." Vastra waves them closer to her, "I know that you are quiet girls. Do you want to go away for four years? Your sister and mother Alaya didn't go to NNYU until she was seventeen; you will be three years younger. Are you sure?"

Mirum nods yes.

"I am sorry Mirum, but a nod will not suffice. You will have to speak your mind."

Nirum takes a deep breath, "I know that I want to go to University. I do not have a problem wearing this device a few hours a day. Soon I will have to wear it longer professionally. I want to go to high school without this thing. Does 'our London' offer curriculum that will truly challenge my mind? Will you find me a boarding school or a secondary school that will allow me to go to classes without my perception devices."

Vastra shakes her head no, "That is why sent Alaya to NNYU, so she could be herself and learn criminology. Our London has no program or university that would allow her to attend."

"I want to study Literature and Anthropology."

"I want to study medicine." Jennifer looks to her mother, "I have always been fascinated with biology. You went to University here in 'our London', I don't see why I need to go to NNYU?"

"Forensic and Business." April smiles at her mother. "I can learn that here in our London."

"Engineering and Chemistry" Odea boasts.

"They are too young." Jenny whispers with a clasped throat. "Too young. I lost my Alaya after one year. She was an adult and returned a stranger."

"She was alone." Odea looks to her mother, "We will have each other."

"I was hesitant at first, but then I thought about it." Mirum confesses, "April and I talked about the opportunity either University at NNYU or secondary school in New New York. It makes more sense to go to secondary school than a University in New New York."

Jenny looks to Vastra, "They will leave here at fourteen and return to us at eighteen. That is a tough year for girls. You know that."

"Do we not have any say in our future?" Odea looks to her mother as gently as possible, "We truly have thought seriously about our future. We are telling you now so that we can prepare." Odea bends down and looks into her mother's bloodshot eyes, "I desperately need to learn how to make a good stew."

Jenny laughs and cups her daughter's face, "Will you give me time to think about it?"

Odea, "You can think about what you are going to teach us, but our minds are made up. After Miss Shaw and Miss Gardner are gone, it will be just us. Do you truly believe that you can teach us things our mind doesn't even know it will crave?"

"Let me think, please." Jenny cups her daughter's face.

Odea shakes her head yes.

"Let's clean the room up and retire." Jennifer looks at her companions and the adults, "We shall leave you to your thoughts."

Moments later the drawing-room is quiet, "Just moments ago we were all cheering the final wicket, and now we are stumped." Alaya looks to her wife for any input.

"You make puns at at time like this? I am scared that they are too young." Fiona gets out of her seat and climbs into Alaya's lap. "You were lonely, but they do have each other. Do you remember anything about their ages or remember any sign they were not at University?"

"No. I have been reaching into my memory. New New York is not as proper as our London. There were not uniforms for students; you have seen my clothes. I wasn't in their room long enough to notice ..."

Jenny leaps up and stands in front of her daughter, "You were in their room?"

Vastra comes to her wife's side, "We aren't supposed to know."

"Oi! Don't tell me I am supposed to 'orget what 'er just said. Don't pull this butterfly effect on me. We are talking about our girls." Jenny wags her fingers at her tall wife. "You 'eard what she said. I want to know."

Jenny spins around and pulls a chair in front of her daughter. She folds her arms, "Spill it."

Fiona is about to leave her wife's arms, but Alaya pulls her closer and whispers, "I need you here."

Fiona nods and makes herself comfortable.

Vastra pulls the chair over next to her wife. She takes Jenny's arm but her wife quickly retracts it into her body. Vastra attempts again, this time she licks her wife, "I am scared too."

Jenny melts and pulls her wife close, "We are ready."

Alaya clears her throat and tells the events that will take place, "I was studying quietly in my private dorm room, drinking a cup of warm tea … " She tells the events that will happen billions years later. "... I left their small apartment. That is the last time we spoke."

"Is that the only contact you had with them?" Jenny asks with authority.

Alaya shakes her head no, "They wrote me a note. You remember it was taped to my dorm room?"

Vastra and Jenny remember it very well. It was not a good memory.

"It was from them." Alaya smiles, "They were worried that their, our timeline was affected. When they return to our London, I am to ask for something specific."

"What?"

"I helped solve a crime with NNYPD and my name made the papers. They cut out the clipping. I am supposed to ask for it on their arrival back in our London."

"Anything else?" Vastra asks.

"I … I … " Alaya all the sudden gotten scared and her scales clamped down. She looks to her wife, "... in the note I was told to watch out for a particular redhead riding by on her bicycle past our home at a specific time. I was told to be open to meeting Fiona and to allow her to make the first move. I was also given a lock of red hair. They do not want any missed connections."

Jenny just sits there shocked at the information. "Why have you not told us before?"

"I thought it was vital to keep it to myself."

"You told your wife."

"I am sorry. Truly. I did what I thought was best, for everyone." Alaya looks into her mother's hurt eyes, "I never found the right time."

Fiona snaps her wife out of her sadness, "We need to get back on topic. Our girls want to go to high school in New New York, billions of years in the future. We will not see them in eight months?"

Vastra shakes her head no, "The time dimension will only work with a year, there is a schedule or opening that we are dealing with the universe controls. So we will be without them for a year."

"They will be without us for four years."

"They will leave here our girls and return to us adults."

"They have minds that are craving more. We honestly can't give them what they need."

"I can." Vastra says without question.

"They are seeking what children need and want their age, other people." Fiona offers her experience, "I went to secondary school and University in our London. I cherish my friendship I developed, but they are not in my life now. I needed them to develop, adjust and help me grow. I can't believe I am saying this, but I think they are assessing their future in the correct way."

Vastra looks to her Jenny, "I believe they have made a wise decision."

"How can we deny them such a request," Alaya looks to her wife full of strength, "How can we say no to their desire to better themselves."

"I still need time to think." Jenny looks at Alaya, "You and I were so close before you left. It took years to regain a fraction of what we lost."

"You take your time. We have to agree together." Alaya grabs her mother's hands, "There are no wrong answers. We either send them to NNYU or secondary school. There is no wrong answer, and I believe they will adjust."

"I just hope I can." Jenny sits back into her chair, "I could use some tea."