The Next Frontier
Novelette 9,478 words Recommended by 2 award/anthology sources
"On this fine November day in 1967, Natalya Orlova took the oath to become a citizen of the United States, thereby clearing her last hurdle for acceptance into the astronaut training program. After nearly three years of giving her all to NASA, today should have been one of the happiest days of her life. If only Tomas, and their little Pasha, could have celebrated with her. Instead, Natalya returned to Merritt Island alone."
Quasar links out; the story lives on Analog, where the author gets the click.