Galactic Marshal III
by
Hilltopper

CHAPTER 3

We opened the first book and started reading.

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200+ years ago

I looked in the mirror at my wife’s dress I was wearing. It was green and knee length with no sleeves. Frankly, I looked ridiculous. I had only been married for a week. My closet was now filled with my wife’s dresses and skirts. I was like a kid in a candy store. Marlene was at work. She is a nurse. I tried all week to resist doing this. Today, I could stand it no longer. I sighed.

“Maybe a dress with sleeves will work better.”

I found a black one and tried it on. To my disgust, it would not fit over my shoulders. I took it off and sat down. I had always felt that I should have been a girl. Either my desire to please my parents or, more likely, fear kept me from doing anything about it as I grew up. Now, here I am 26 years old and the need has become unbearable. Having Marlene’s feminine things about has thrown me over the edge. I stood up and hung the dresses back in the closet.

“Hmm, maybe a skirt and blouse will fit me better.”

I found a blue skirt with an elastic waist. I am pretty skinny and 6 feet tall. To my surprise, the skirt fit. Marlene liked very loose blouses so I picked out a white one. It fit! I looked in the mirror and smiled. For the first time, I could see the real me. Of course, my head still was a man’s but I could finally see in my mind what I should have looked like. I glanced at the clock. Marlene would be home soon. I quickly took off the clothes and tried to put everything back the way I found it. I know that I should tell Marlene about my problem but I wasn’t sure she would understand. Even if she did, the fear of losing her was too great to contemplate.

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Karen put the book down and looked at me with tears in her eyes.

“This is so horrible. The pain John must have felt growing up.”

I nodded.

“I certainly can feel for him. Even though I did experience some girlhood, when it came to crunch time, I knuckled under to my dad’s will and my desire to please him.”

“Like I’ve said before, you can’t escape your past.”

“Yeah, well, I’m beat. I’m off to bed.”

“OK, we’ll read some more about John tomorrow maybe.”

I nodded and headed into my room. I didn’t want to bust Karen’s bubble but reading those journals was bringing back issues I didn’t need right now. I wasn’t sure what time it was at Fledora’s capital but I decided to call Mary anyway. She popped up on the screen. I could hear voices behind her.

“Hey John, we are having a council meeting. How are you and Karen doing?”

“OK, the rest is helping.”

I decided not to tell her about the Roscoe incident.

“I wish I could talk more but things are heating up here.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“How so?”

“Well, we are still hashing about the male referendum. The case of Raylan has come up.”

I frowned.

“In what way?”

“There are a few members including the chairwoman who are concerned about a male living here even though he is a baby.”

“I hope you told them to back off.”

“I did. I don’t think they have the votes to do anything.”

“Thank goodness. Hopefully, when my medical leave is over, I can come back so we can sort this out.”

“Yes, I can’t wait. I have got to hang up. We have a vote coming up. I love you.”

“I love you too.”

We disconnected. I lie back and sighed. Things were looking too much like my situation as a child. If it became too bad, I was going to take Raylan to Earth. Worry caused me to have a troubled sleep. The next morning, I beat Karen up. This time she awoke to the smell of coffee.

“Mmm, that smells good. I thought you didn’t like coffee.”

I smiled.

“I don’t but you do.”

She grinned.

“Thanks. So, what’s on tap today? Do you want to read some more of John’s journals?”

“Tonight maybe. I thought we might hike to a waterfall I know about and have a picnic.”

She brightened.

“Sounds good to me.”

We made some sandwiches and packed them plus some drinks into a back pack. The trailhead is only about a mile from my house, so we decided to walk to it. The hike up to the falls is fairly strenuous. We took our time and arrived just after noon. There is a ledge behind the falls near the top that is a great picnic site. We settled in and broke out the meal.

“This is a wonderful spot.”

I nodded.

“It is one of my favorite places. I came here a lot while I was growing up.”

“I’m glad you brought me here.”

We finished eating and started back down. It was almost dark when we arrived at my house. We entered and Karen went right to the journals. I rolled my eyes and followed her. She sat down and started reading.

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Well, Marlene is pregnant. I am very happy but also a little envious. My cross dressing behind her back has continued. I still have not gotten the nerve to tell her. She does not seem to have noticed. At least, she has said nothing. Of course, I just put on some of her clothes for a while. I don’t leave the house. The pregnancy will certainly change things especially when she stops working. I have got to control my feelings better for her sake.

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Karen shook her head.

“This is looking bad.”

I nodded.

“Yeah, those feelings can really eat you up.”

Just then the vid went off. I went over to it and Mary appeared.

“Mary, it’s great to hear from you.”

“Hey John, how’s medical leave.”

“Quiet. Have things settled down there?”

She laughed.

“Nothing going on with the council. We did, however, get a message from the aliens. They want to meet with Karen on the moon in two weeks.”

Karen heard and walked over.

“Did I hear right? What do they need?”

“I don’t know. The message was very cryptic.”

“Hmm, I guess I better be there then.”

I spoke up.

“I’ll call Sam. Maybe he will let me take Karen there.”

Mary’s eyes lit up.

“That would be great.”

“OK, I’ll call him in the morning. As soon as I get the go ahead, I’ll let you know. I love you.”

“Ditto. I’ll be waiting for your call.”

We disconnected. Karen looked puzzled.

“This is not like them to request me. I wonder what is up.”

“No telling.”

“Well, no sense worrying about it now. Let’s read some more.”

We went back to the couch and picked up the journal.

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We need more income with the baby coming so I have joined the local police force. With my ATF training, I was easily accepted. Unfortunately, I must go away to police school for 10 weeks. Not only will I miss Marlene a lot but I will be immersed in malehood. These last weeks have really inspired my feminine side. Now, I must suppress it again. I hope I can make it.

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Karen looked over at me.

“If John feels so strongly about being female, why doesn’t he just do it?”

“You have to remember, this was over 200 years ago. Gender was not looked on then as something one changed.”

Karen nodded.

“I forgot. Wow, that will be hard on John.”

We skipped forward a little bit in the journal.

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The baby arrived today. It is a beautiful boy. I have mixed feelings. I wish I was the one breast feeding him and being his mother. Unfortunately, I have to pretend to be the best father I can be. The guys at the department are wanting to take me out to celebrate. I just don’t mix well with them. I’m beginning to get a bad rep but I feel out of place with them. About the only thing I do that feels a little compatible is playing golf with a couple of them. At least the baby will give me an excuse to be at home.

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I sat the journal down.

“I’m getting sleepy. You go ahead and read but I’m going to bed.”

Karen was disappointed.

“No, I won’t read without you. We’ll continue tomorrow.”

“Sure, good night.”

I went right to sleep. The next morning, I called Sam and told him what the aliens wanted.

“OK, John, I don’t see a problem with that. You can take the cruiser you had before. It is still assigned to the alien situation. See if you can get the aliens to meet with us. I’m getting a lot of static. There are some who are feeling desperate about this.”

I nodded.

“I can see why. So far, the aliens have more or less ignored us except for Fledora. I’m sure that hasn’t set well with the male hierarchy.”

Sam laughed.

“Do tell! Contact me when you get here.”

He disconnected. I immediately called Mary.

“Good news! I’ll be coming with Karen.”

Mary grinned big.

“That is good news.”

We talked a while longer. Nothing much new was happening on her end. Raylan was growing. I sure missed both of them. We said our good byes and disconnected. I drifted into the kitchen. Karen was already eating.

“Did you talk to Sam?”

“Yep, it’s all set. We can take the same cruiser.”

“That’s great. I still wonder what they want.”

“Maybe it’s about that gate thing.”

She nodded.

“It could be.”

“Sam wants me to try to convince them to meet with the Planetopolis government.”

Karen shook her head.

“Don’t bring it up. I’ve talked with them and they want nothing to do with your government.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“You mean our government.”

Karen just nodded. I shook my head.

“Yeah, I sometimes feel estranged from the government when I’m on Fledora. I wonder why the aliens are avoiding it however.

“Who knows. They are a pain to deal with.”

After eating, I went out to the back porch. It was warm today but was raining. Karen came out a few minutes later carrying the journals.

“Since it’s a bad weather day, how about we finish these?”

“OK”

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Baby Jess is doing fine and Marlene has recovered nicely. She is going back to work tomorrow. I am getting anxious. While she is at work, I will be the mother. I can dress the way I want and feel good again.

Marlene came home early and caught me today. I had on one of her summer dresses and was feeding Jess. She just looked at us and never said a word. As soon as I finished, I laid a sleeping Jess down and hurriedly changed clothes. Marlene was fixing supper and I sat down at the table. She acted like the earlier incident had never happened. After eating, I put on my uniform and left for my shift. I don’t know what to think.

Marlene finally confronted me today. She said she needed to think things out before talking to me. I could not bring myself to lie to her so I told her everything. We were both crying at the end. She left for work saying we would talk more tomorrow.

We have made an appointment to see a psychologist. Marlene made me promise to not wear any female clothes until we met with the doctor. I agreed but I am torn up inside. Marlene does not want to talk about the problem at all.

We have now met with Doctor Thoran weekly for 3 months. I have taken several tests and we have talked extensively and honestly. Today, Marlene and I met together with the doctor to get her early assessment. She basically said that she believed me to be transsexual. She told Marlene that there was no cure since it is not a mental condition. Marlene was extremely angry and has not talked to me since we left.

Marlene and I had a long talk today. I told her that I needed to transition to a woman. She said that, if I did that, she would leave and take Jess. I am now very depressed. The guys at work are on me to go drinking with them and cheer up. If they knew the problem, they would not be so supportive. What a mess!

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We were interrupted by a knock on the door. It was Officer Jim.

“Hey, Jim, you look as good as new.”

He laughed.

“Thanks to you. I want to pay you back by taking you and Karen out to eat.”

Karen walked up.

“That sounds great. I’m famished.”

I shook my head.

“OK, give us a few minutes.”

After getting cleaned up, we went to a local bar that has fantastic burgers and fries. We were about through when a familiar voice rang out.

“Well, hello Miss Harper.”