Galactic Marshal III
by
Hilltopper

CHAPTER 7

“Calm down! It will only be until we get back home.”

“But I can’t be female again. What about Raylan?”

“He’s still a baby. It is not an issue.”

“Shit!”

Karen stopped the argument.

“The real issue is do we even want to go with them. They basically have said that their people will be coming here regardless. If we go to their planet as facilitators, it could be considered treason.”

I thought about that.

“I am still a marshal. It would be my duty to report this.”

Mary spoke up.

“Same here.”

Karen sighed.

“Yeah, I’m really the only one who is independent of any authority.”

“What do you think Tinker would say if we gave them the condition that we must report in before leaving.”

Karen laughed.

“I don’t think you want to know what I think.”

We tried to relax the rest of the evening but we were all very tense. When we finally went to bed, I had a fitful sleep. I awoke to a scream. I jumped up expecting the worse. I was not disappointed. Mary was standing over Raylan’s bed in shock. She looked at me with tears streaming down.

“Raylan’s gone!”

“Maybe Karen has him?”

We went to Karen’s room. Unfortunately, Raylan was not there. In the control room, I noticed a message flashing. It was from Tinker.

“Gina, is Tinker’s ship still docked?”

“No, it left several hours ago.”

“Left?”

Mary looked at me in horror. I punched up the message.

“We realized that you were not going to help us as we wish. Therefore, we have taken Raylan with us to Prowhiness. Please meet us there. Tell no one for the sake of Raylan. We are sorry to do this but it was necessary.”

I looked over at Mary. She was pale as a ghost.

“I can’t believe they have done this again.”

Karen walked in and read the message. She misted up.

“I’m so sorry. It’s my fault they did this.”

“No, you had nothing to do with this. The question is what now?”

Mary was almost hysterical.

“We go get him!”

I sighed heavily.

“I guess they have left us no choice. Why do they need our help so badly? Something just does not add up.”

Karen nodded.

“They have not told us something important. The trouble is they have given us no choice as you said.”

I nodded.

“Gina, take us to Prowhiness.”

We all went to the galley to eat breakfast. I held Mary before we entered.

“We’ll get Raylan back safe, I promise.”

Mary nodded.

“I know it’s what you will have to do to get him back that worries me.”

I sighed.

“Yeah, the aliens have a habit of getting things there way. I wish I knew what they truly want of me.”

“I think it must be something that you really either don’t want to do or will go against your nature.”

We sat down with Karen at the table. After getting our food, Karen looked pensive.

“I have thought about what we talked about after Tinker and Bell left. I don’t know how they knew it but it was my suggestion of treason that caused their action.”

“I think you’re right but it’s my opinion that they knew what our reaction would be. In other words, they planned to take Raylan all along.”

Mary looked shocked.

“How can we trust them ever again?”

Karen shook her head.

“It’s not about trust. They are going to convince us to do what they want no matter what it takes. It is just the way they are. We must remember that they are aliens and have an alien culture. The disaster they face just makes them more insistent.”

We decided that there wasn’t anything we could do until we reached Prowhiness. Mary and I went to our room and just held each other. I must have drifted off because I was startled when Gina called out.

“Marshal Harper, we will enter Prowhiness space in 15 minutes.”

“Thank you, Gina.”

As expected, when we entered Prowhiness space, a message popped up from Tinker.

“Thank you for coming. Your ship will be directed where to land.”

“I don’t like this. We will be more vulnerable on the ground.”

Gina piped up.

“I am receiving a beacon to follow.”

I looked over at Karen. She shrugged.

“What choice do we have?”

I nodded.

“OK, Gina, follow their instructions.”

We landed on Prowhiness in a very desolate location. Mary shook her head as she looked out the window.

“This looks a lot like the place Linda and I landed at on Prowhiness.”

“There sure is nothing here. What did you do?”

“We walked out a ways and a shuttle appeared out of nowhere.”

I frowned.

“This gets worse and worse. If we go to their ship in their shuttle, we will definitely be at there mercy.”

“And we’re not already?”

“It’s just that when we find Raylan, we can not leave their ship until they let us.”

“I know!”

Karen sighed heavily.

“We might as well go out and make the best of it.”

“OK, Gina, open the hatch.”

I suddenly had an idea.

“Gina, we are going outside. A shuttle may be waiting for us. If we leave the planet, follow us.”

Karen looked at me hard.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Yeah”

We exited the ship and walked about 500 meters away from it. I heard a noise behind me and turned around. Like Mary predicted, a small shuttle had appeared. Mary shrugged and smiled.

“I told you.”

We walked over to it and a hatch opened.

“Please enter and sit down.”

We did and the hatch closed. The ship immediately took off. After about 20 minutes, I noticed a ship come into view. It was quite a bit bigger than Tinker’s cruiser. The shuttle approached it and we were soon docked. The hatch opened and we walked through it. Bell was waiting for us. She looked at Mary and Karen.

“Please go down the corridor and through the double doors at the end.”

Mary stepped forward.

“Where’s my child?”

“He awaits you there.”

We started down the corridor but Bell took hold of my hand and stopped me.

“You need to come with me.”

I nodded to Mary and Karen. They continued walking. Bell pulled me into a side room. It looked like the medical bay George was in some time ago.

“We need to sort you out, Gina.”

I turned quickly.

“What! Now wait a minute.”

Bell just pointed to the unit in the middle of the room. I shook my head. She turned to face me.

“If you want to see your child again, climb in.”

“I don’t like threats.”

She seemed to sigh.

“Please, Gina, neither of us has a choice here. Our time is short.”

I hesitated but finally entered the chamber against my better judgment. It was only seconds before all went black. I awoke from a terrible dream. In it, I was being raped by Tad and then beaten. I guess I must have yelled out because a very concerned Bell hurriedly opened the chamber.

“Gina, are you all right?”

I nodded and, weakly, exited the unit. There was no doubt what had been done to me, I was female again!”

“Can you at least tell me why this?”

I motioned to my body.

“You could not come with us as your male self and it is essential that your whole threesome be there.”

I raised my eyebrows.

“Be where?”

“I’ve said too much. We need to meet Tinker and your companions.”

I decided it was useless to argue further. Bell left the room and I followed. We went into another room and Bell pointed to some clothes.

“These should fit you.”

On a bench were a blue sundress and a pair of white sandals. I sighed and put them on. Of course, they fit perfectly. Bell nodded and walked out into the corridor. I followed as we went to the end and through the double doors. Tinker, Mary, Karen and Raylan were in the room. It looked like a meeting room. All eyes turned to me and the room went quiet. Karen shook her head and Mary broke out in a big grin. I ignored them and rushed over to Raylan.

“Hi, little fellow, you sure get around.”

Mary laughed.

“So do you. Tinker explained what was happening.”

I glared at Tinker.

“Did Tinker explain why?”

Karen spoke up.

“Only that it is necessary that we go with them as a threesome of women.”

Tinker walked over to me.

“I will explain everything as soon as we eat.”

I nodded slowly and we sat down. Bell brought in a vast selection of food. I was not in a mood to eat but my stomach was. Tinker and Bell left us. As we ate, we discussed our situation. Mary seemed to have settled down now that she was reunited with Raylan. Karen spoke first.

“It looks like we are going with them no matter what so I don’t know what there is to talk about.”

Mary frowned.

“How about treason? No one knows where we went or why.”

I nodded.

“How about we ask Tinker to let us contact our governments?”

Mary agreed but Karen was hesitant.

“I’m really not aligned with anyone but the Planetopolis did sort of make me an envoy. You, John --- or Gina, are on assignment from them. I don’t believe they expect immediate results so I think you would be better off staying silent for now.”

“Hmm, OK, I agree but Mary is in a different situation entirely. As a council member, she is obligated to tell them what is happening.”

Mary nodded.

“Plus, I took Raylan away.”

I shook my head.

“No, I took him off planet and then Tinker kidnapped him. You were not involved.”

“It still leaves me in a quandary.”

We finished eating all of us in deep thought. Tinker and Bell came back in. Tinker stood at the end of the table and eyed each of us in turn.

“I regret the method we used to get you here. Because of the nature of our emergency, there are some on our planet that want to move our people as fast as possible with no consideration to the native populace. Bell and I have been tasked to do this on Prowhiness and Fledora. We have come to like you people. Therefore, we are taking you three back with us to our planet to convince our people of the need to work with your governments. I must emphasize that the transfer will happen regardless. Bell and I would like it to be non violent. I’m sure you do too. To be frank, we have the power to stop any interference. It is up to you which way it happens.”

Tinker and Bell then left the room. Mary was in shock and Karen looked angry. I just sat back and shook my head.

“Shit!”