What happens when two young alien soldiers use a damaged star gate to escape the enemy? They wind up in another part of the Galaxy, in human bodies, and have to grow up all over again. NO SEX or Molestation. Sweet, innocent story. Please, if you feel something needs correcting, ask me first. I write this way with purpose.
Universal Galactic Date: 14011.5
BOOM ! Crash! The sound of falling debris and the screaming of the wounded was deafening in my abused auditory canals.
“Oh by the eggs of zennah that was close Tran, we gotta get our egg sacks out of here. The enemy have broken through and they are gonna eat us.”
“Go on Ohman, I’m not gonna make it. I’m hit and can already feel my life force departing.”
I looked down at my life long buddy Tran, and observed his wound. It was a superficial burn of his brain case. This was typical of my buddy; he was so dramatic, and weak. That’s why I’d had to kick his rear all over the galaxy just to keep the fool alive. We thought that our colony had finally found a safe sector to live and prosper, away from the relentless naked skinned bipeds. They seem to have tracked us down, again.
“Geez, Tran, I think that in spite of your wound, you’re going to be just fine, I promise.”
“Are you sure Ohman, I feel so weak.”
“I… I promise Tran, I will help you and protect you, but you have to do your part little buddy.” That in spite of the fact that Tran was twice my size and had mature, menacing, horns!
I’d have to resort to shameless manipulation to get him moving because the enemy were almost on us.
“But Tran…Tran, I am so frightened, and if you do not protect me the enemy will have their way with me, causing me great shame and the loss of virtue! Oh, Tran what am I going to do, you have to protect me!” I wailed in my most piteous emitance; making my flangies quiver in a way that I knew would draw his sympathy.
“They what, now they have gone and done it, by maliciously frightening you Ohman!” Get back Ohman, I’ll handle this!”
Tran pulled himself off the ground and to his full height, puffing himself up to several times his normal girth. “Mrooooorrrrr!”, his battle cry was so frightening and shocking. It made my lung cavity swell with pride and joy! My hero was going to protect me and that made me feel so…so um reproductive! He was so handsome with his ear flaps fully unfurled and his air sacks fully inflated. By comparison, my own aggressive displays were much less magnificent; almost embarrassing.
I loved it when he did this for me! It was so romantic and made me feel so valued and protected. Sigh!
The enemy bearing down on us were completely taken aback; some of them even fell over backward. There were seconds in which an uneasy silence prevailed.
Tran and I stood there side by side, amazed that the enemy had been so startled as to stop completely. It was as if they were stunned.
“Ohman, Tran whispered quietly, “I think we should flee while there is yet time.”
“I do too.”
With that, both of us turned and started running as fast as our appendages would motivate us, I was slower than Tran and as he passed me, he scooped me up in his huge musculature. “Oh, thank you for saving me Tran”, I murmured softly. Swelled by pride, Tran ran faster.
We ran back toward the landing zone in spite of knowing that the troop carriers had already left; leaving behind most of the equipment needed to start a new colony. The enemy were slower, so our flight before them gained us some time, but we knew we would not have long.
Running into the compound, we could see no weapons of strength to eliminate the hundreds of bipeds after us. Breathing hard and looking around, all we could see was the supply motivator, but it had not been set or calibrated completely. I began to look at the controls, thinking about the reciprocal of those settings used to get us here. The sound of the enemy was getting louder, and I felt on the verge of actually having the motivator set correctly.
Suddenly there was a biped near the machine and he was holding a weapon on us. He began moving the settings after he made me step back. “Look, sorry you two, but I am a deserter from the army, and if they get their hands on me there will be much turmoil, so I’m using this to take me back to the world of our origin, if it will do it. Otherwise, this machine, and all of us will be blown apart into our most elemental particles. Humanity left the home world a long time ago and I can’t stand what we have become; the number one war makers of the known galaxy. There are tales that after we left, the world civilisation collapsed and I am hoping that they have rebuilt. If not, living the simple life is fine compared to this.
“But you can’t just leave us, your um friends will make it quite insufferable for us when they get here.”
“Look those war mongers are not my friends. OK, well, I’m jumping down that worm hole when it comes. You can follow or stay here to meet the military, your choice, really.”
“But it is not calibrated for us!” I squealed, again using my most piteous and forlorn voice. You have set it for humanoid biped and if you look at us, we are anything but a ghastly humanoid. Who knows what a trip on those settings will do to us?
“Look sweet cakes, I know you must be a real beauty to someone, but not me, so that seductive tone just won’t do it to me.”
He reached over and pulled the restraining pin out of the power setting; moving the lever as far as it would go; many times its design parameters. Immediately the machine began to groan and make other self-destructive noises.
“OK, within seconds after I step through that gate, this machine is going to make a huge crater, or worse, so they can’t follow me, and it will kill large numbers of them. I was never in favour of our human predator tactics. I hate them. Come or stay as you wish.”
He dove through the gate as a blue haze from overheated links and super ionized air began to obscure the gate. Just as he stepped into the gate, I could see that he was leaving a red coloured trail of his body fluid from a wound in his side. He was contaminating our path! I wonder what that would do to us?
I looked at Tran and back at the biped army. One look was enough for me. His face conveyed that he was of the same mind as I, so he picked me up and ran through the gate behind the fleeing biped.
Seconds later, I felt a thump and a ball of fire began to pursue us through also.
An observer in that solar system would have first seen a temporal distortion and then one of the planets went off like a supernova, thus wiping out all life in that system, including millions of colonial humanoids.
Late August 2011, about 3:00 PM MST.
I felt an impact and then the blackness came. When I wakened, Tran was still enfolding me in his appendages, though I could not see him. It seemed as if brightness surrounded us, but I could see nothing. I lay there for a time, too stunned to do anything. Soon, it was evident that our bodies were not the same. I could feel only four appendages! Eventually, I realised that the blindness was happening because there was a moveable membrane occluding my visual organs. I tried to call out to Tran but the only sound I could make was “Da, goo goo, screech”. This was humorous to me and I found myself emitting an effusively emotive noise that I would later find out was a “giggle”. I finally managed to move the membrane over my “eyes”, and found that Tran and I were in a place where their sun shined brightly overhead, and there were many kinds of vegetation, though none of it looked edible. I tried to call out to Tran again and made the previous “google da da giggle” noises. Good heavens, this was not suitable for communication. After a period of time, I managed to move my “head” and look at Tran. I was shocked to see that the Motivator had made us into bipeds! Oh, the shame of it, how will we bear this great burden? He appeared to be sleeping. Sleeping, this was no time for sleeping! I let out another scream, but this time it felt more like distress or even anguish!
The area around me smelled like burning flesh, and vegetation, so I surmised that the flame had followed us the thousands of light years we had travelled, but it wasn’t really that far because the machine had warped space, so who really has any idea how far it was?
Where was that biped that preceded us through the gate? We would not know for many years.
I heard a loud noise and the pounding of feet. A large hairy quadruped came running at us making the most grievous, grating sounds. I would later learn that these things were “dogs”. This dog, had a wet, slimy appendage that he began to mop my face and body with. He started doing the same to Tran and it wakened my pod mate, making Tran emit the most wretched screams. That seemed to make the dog reticent to touch us and I could see him lay down a short distance from us, though he continued to watch us.
His barking and Tran’s screams seemed to attract the attention of numbers of bipeds not much larger than us. Their giggling and loud noise making attracted the attention of first one and then several much larger bipeds. They pick us up, separating us, and both Tran and I start feeling great distress and for the first time I can see his body, and I assume Tran mine. Gah, I am now one of the enemy!
September 2011
Time has passed since we were discovered laying upon the lawn of a biped dwelling. At first both Tran and I were quite tense, but they seemed to be loving and kind despite their loathsome appearance. We will try to abandon our prejudice against these deplorable creatures. There was another, biped, the largest of the group with a booming voice, who really frightened us, but in time we learned that as long as everyone obeyed this one, he was relatively kind, and not threatening.
Tran and I had not yet gained command of our strange, new bodies, but his presence near me was of comfort and in time they realised that Tran and I shared a bond. My speech centres were beginning to sift through their various noises and in time, we could understand the rudiments of their speech. Tran and I still shared an empathetic bond that felt quite reassuring. As time went on the “human’s” as the bipeds called themselves, seemed to sense that Tran and I shared a very close connection, and stopped separating us so much. It took them little time at all to give us names that were suitable to them. Tran became Joseph and I became Elizabeth; though in private we still used our real names. From listening to their conversations, they think we are about one of their years old. Hah, if they only knew!
Though they knew not from whence we came, they seemed to feel that we were “sent” to them. The large Male, and the group’s Bishop talked and we were taken to a place with strange smells, with busy, officious people, who examined us, and even poked us painfully, making me cry in anguish. Even then, Tran reached for me as if to comfort me and because we were both so stricken with anguish, they allowed us to touch and remain close to each other.
We would later understand this place to be a “Doctor’s” office, and the pain that was so awful to us was a “blood test”, though in my previous experience nothing so invasive was ever done.
June 2013
I now know that almost two of their years have passed, and Anne says that we are precocious in our development. Anne seems to have adopted us as her babies because she had none. She seems to have an issue with her reproductive organs and when I learn better control of this body I occupy, perhaps I shall repair her. Tran and I talk quietly in whispers, but use a limited vocabulary with the bipeds. They would not understand at all.
I learned the consequence of voiding excess fluid through my panties. One of Anne’s sister wives hit me on my wet bottom and scolded me in irritated tones about it. She eventually took me to the bathroom and showed me a potty seat to sit on if I needed to void excess fluid again. The females, as they call themselves, seemed to share great joy and astonishment when it took just one correction to teach me, or “potty break me”, as they are fond of saying. I found the walk in there quite easy, and often Tran would follow me, so we could help each other in that activity. The adults have no idea that we understand them so well. When we feel it is safe, we will inform them that we need to be about our business.
May 2014
Another of their years has passed. When Tran and I informed Anne, and later the other bipeds, that we needed to be about our business, it caused laughter and eventually a great uproar in which Margaret, number one wife, and eventually Brother Steven’s lectured us on being obedient, and respectful to those who care for us. This whole ordeal caused Anne to weep a great deal, so we promised first Brother Stevens that we would be respectful and that we had no intention of ever causing anyone emotional pain. “I am so sorry, Brother Stevens”. We had to repeat the same to Sister Margaret, Mummy Anne and finally the entire gathered assembly of the house, some 37 bipeds in number.
January, 2015
We are said to be 4 years old by Mummy Anne, and she has been a great help to us, now that we understand that by being extremely respectful and solicitous to the adult bipeds we are able to endear ourselves to them. Mummy has begun to help us gain access to the many books in their library. Most deal with their idea of a deity, and they are extremely committed to it and him. Tran has tried to access their primitive computer, but got a stern scolding and spanking for it. A way must be found to do it.
In pursuing another tack, Tran asked Mummy for access to the piano, but learned very quickly not to pound the keys, and let Mummy teach him to read the notes. He had to be patient with Mummy because she loved and was kind to us, but in a week’s time he could play as well as one with such tiny hands could. The notes were intuitive but the various chords and key combinations were not manageable due to the lack of size of his hands. The adults made a great deal of fuss about Tran’s ability to play, but they would not yield on their refusal to allow us to get on their computer; saying that such activity is for mature adults only, and we gradually realised that meant the Man and wife number one.
With much astonishment, in the tub one day, we realised that Tran’s organs were different than mine. Where he had what they call a penis, I had only a small slit. It was the first time I knew I was no longer like Tran. When we asked mummy about it, she explained that Joseph was male and I was female. We no longer took baths together.
Surreptitiously, Tran and I agreed to watch the adults while the other one managed to get on their computer to do research. I was caught on the keyboard while Tran watched and they began to lock the keyboard up in a drawer. We were both spanked and made to ask their deity for forgiveness for our wrong doing. We knew that the lack of that information device would cause us great delay. At home, we simply attached to the information in the air with our brains, but in this new body, our capabilities seemed degraded significantly.
August, 2017
Tran and I are now 6 years old, according to the adults. Anne and first wife think that we are too smart to home school, since we already know everything in all their books, including the things in their religious books. Both of us can recite at will, any verse they ask us. There was a great deal of consternation when we attempted to explain travel through temporal rifts to them, so we learned not to attempt that. The Bishop says that we are child prodigies and need the best education that we can be given. The church will assist. After a heated meeting with the Bishop, Brother Stevens, Mummy and Anne, Tran and I will attend a special school at a big city in the North by a huge lake filled with salt. Later we would find that we were to move to a place of habitation called Provo. Mummy and we were being driven by one of the Sister wives Anne’s mother, and as we left, I could see a huge smile on the face of first wife. At a deeper level, I understood that we were being driven out.
Mummy Anne is given housing for her and us at the University in Provo. She and we are told to not talk of our own family or church as it is private, not for outsiders. There is a computer there and Anne already trusts us not do evil with it. In very little time, we realise that this planet is well settled and there are only sentient bipeds here. The animals that look like our old selves, they call reptilian and do not appear to be sentient because we found one on the street but he did not want to speak with us. They seem to know nothing of the animosity between bipeds and my own people. And, as we had suspected all along, this planet is a thousand years or more less advanced than our own sector of the galaxy. We have determined that we are in the same galaxy, but in a section of another arm, thousands of light years away. It seemed unlikely that we would ever see our home world again and the knowledge caused us great sorrow.
In looking at their human history, we see that there have been times when they advanced significantly, only to be driven back into the mud by their own folly, or by natural disaster. We raptly explored Western history, then European history, Middle Eastern history, but we found Far Eastern society to be the most interesting.
We’d already been taught about the history of long dead inhabitants of the Americas, and when we saw pictures of the ruins at Copan, we realised that this was indeed the original home world of the hated bipeds. What they interpreted as mounts to worship their Gods, was actually the place where the focusing array of a motivator was placed. So, biped history in that area must have been many thousands of years long, perhaps even 100,000 of their years.
We find that we are able to talk freely with Mummy about our findings and in time are able to share with her about our true origin. Her belief in her deity begins to fail, so we do our very best to bolster it, so she does not feel loss.
“It is all I have ever known. My own mother is wife three. We have a bond like none of the outsiders, and love one another though at times there is strife. The outsider’s lives are full of strife and bad feelings.” Anne says.
“We have not come to undermine your life. And yes, in our time here, we have seen that your people are kind and loving. There is nothing higher than that.”
“But Ohman and Tran, do you believe as we do?”
“We are at peace with your beliefs and we find nothing in our knowledge to indicate that it is not true. In our hive back home, the idea of a supreme deity just never occurred to us. We have sworn your oaths and given our testimonies as they were our own.” Tran and I were very aware that the biped’s belief system was extremely vital to their wellbeing. We must help her as much as we can.
As a means of cheering Mummy up, I downloaded a movie from the internet and we watched it together. Tran squirmed a lot, but I and Mummy enjoyed it very much. The movie was called “Persuasion” and watching it, I realised that Mummy was just like the Anne in the movie. What a co-incidence! It helped me to understand the meekness and reticence of Mummy. I wondered if it was her true nature or had it been forced upon her.
Joseph and I decided that we would use only our “Christian” names so that we would seem more normal to Anne. We are concerned for her, and we know that it is hard for her being away from her family for so long.
“Mummy, may I cook for you tonight?”
“Lizzy, I would like that very much. May I watch you and we can talk?” She thought that she was being subtle in maintaining a watch on me while I engaged in biped cooking. This activity is something we never did in our old lives.
“Sure Mummy, I know that you are lonely. After dinner, Joseph and I need to take you out to the park, or we could even go to the Temple grounds, and watch the sun set.”
“That would be lovely dears. Joseph, do you mind going with us?” Mummy asked. Anne was astonished to hear such talk from 6 year old children.
“I would love to accompany you and dizzy Lizzy as you walk. After all, you need protection and an escort.” He said with faux smugness and humour.
“Who says I am dizzy, you oaf,” I said to him and threw a pot holder at him catching him right in the face.
All this mock fighting made Mummy laugh and we were all soon lying on the carpet after a tickle fight. This did seem to raise her spirits for a while.
Later Joseph and I decided that Mummy needed a companion.
After our long walk with Mummy that night, we persuaded her to take us back to her old home for the week end. It felt as if we were all outsiders when we got there. So, Joseph and I found Brother Stevens and asked to talk to him in private. In an, at times, heated conversation with him, where he threatened to whip us, we finally persuaded him to release Anne from her marriage commitment. At first it appeared as if he would not yield, but when we revealed that we knew of a certain activity of his, he agreed, but with great bluster and unseemly bravado.
Anne was more than ready to leave after we had eaten lunch with the family on Saturday, so we had one of the wives, Anne’s mother, return us to Provo. We had not told Anne that Brother Stevens had released her yet. It would all have to go through the courts but to her the only thing that would be important was that Brother Stevens had released her. Joseph was working hard on finding a companion for our Anne, and I put much of my energy into helping her around the house and being her companion.
August 2021
We were 10 years old now. It was touch and go for a while because Anne was quite sad that she had been abandoned by her family. In truth, it was easy to see that they all used her and emotionally abused her. We persuaded her to take us and to start attending a church near us, and we tipped some the sisters off, that our Anne was quite lonely. We did not understand the specifics but the people at this church believed differently than where Mummy came from, and she quickly adapted. It seemed obvious that there were no sister wives, and that there were lots of men around. So, we often listened to a report of Anne’s day that included pleasant and challenging breaks with visiting sisters. She seemed much happier and more animated than in recent months.
One afternoon as she walked us to classes, we stopped at a drive up to get warm water with honey in it. Joseph wanted some coffee, but we had agreed that we would honour Anne’s beliefs as long as we were with her. As we walked away, a man said to us. “Mam, you have two really lovely and smart children there. You should be proud of them.” We recognised him from church and he seemed about Anne’s age, and he eventually invited us all out to dinner with him that night. His name was Professor Michael Hyde. He was one of the professors at the school, and had heard about us, but we had not had him as a professor yet since he was a sociologist and we were very science oriented.
At dinner, Joseph took me to the restroom and stood outside while I hid in a stall for a while. We wanted to give Mummy a chance to talk to Michael. I know it could sound sneaky but Mummy was almost 25 years old and we knew that she felt worthless. After that, we hid behind some flowers in the waiting area until the hostess asked us what we were doing. “Oh, we are just giving Mummy and that nice man some time to themselves.” She smiled at us and said, “That is really nice of you to think about your mother.” She turned and went on helping other customers but watched us out of the corner of her eye.
May, 2026
We are 15 years old now. At times I miss our old lives and the freedom and adventure, yet this existence is pleasurable. Mummy Anne married Michael, and much has changed. Mummy and Daddy (Calling him Daddy was still hard at times, but we wanted to support their marriage) were married in the temple a week before Thanksgiving that year. Of course Mummy had to get baptised just as a formality since her group was not the same as our present one. We have moved to a spacious house not that far from campus. We both have friends of the opposite sex, but we do not get serious with any of them. Every once in a while I will see Joseph looking meaningfully at me or he will catch me looking at him; we know.
Joseph is teaching higher level physics and advanced mathematics. He told me that he must be careful so that the government does not get too interested in him because of his advanced mathematics and engineering knowlege. Though he has been able to make some primitive imaging and listening devices from their primitive technology, it was nothing like what was common in our old existence. He explained to me that the new technology was on the verge of 4 nm. Joseph explained that he planned to indirectly help them start developing technology that would permit the move into more advanced science than what their primitive methods allowed.
While doing some lab work one day, I decided to Karyotype my own tissue. And, later ran the same test on the tissue of Joseph. We had assumed that in the trip through the matter transporter, our cells had mixed, but that was not the case at all. In fact, our DNA was not even remotely related. At first, I thought nothing of it, because I was simply acquainting myself with the primitive lab equipment. Something seemed to be wrong with the test though, and I was not surprised. I had not really expected my test to be completely normal. After a lot of work, I finally figured out that I did not have 46 Chromosomes, but 128, and that seemed so unlikely. The software in the analysis machine was not written to cope with any more than 50 Chromosomes, so I had to hand count and calculate the rest. Everything I checked seemed to confirm my original results. I wondered what those extra Chromosomes were for?
His science was getting more advanced than anything I had seen here on earth, and one day it dawned on me that he was drawing on the Common Memory, something I had not felt since we came through the worm hole. Throughout the universe, every piece of matter was connected by what could loosely be called neuronic paths, and the gravity wells around solid objects formed figurative ganglions. So, effectively all of creation was a huge memory device and mind. Later that night we would talk. I could feel the heat of betrayal building in me. I felt like going to war. Why had he not told me? To be back in touch with the Common Memory would have been such a comfort!
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“Tran, are you accessing Common Memory?”
“Yes Ohman, did you not know we could?”
“Why did you not tell me about it, you big oaf?” Yes, Tran was twice my size in this life as well, Gah!”
“Well, you’re a girl.” Where did he get such sexist and human like thinking? I thought he was better than that.
“Tran, I am so displeased with you. “ I could not stand it, I had to have a piece of him, and began pounding on him, but my 100 lb. body did not carry menace in it. Suddenly something snapped in me and I started to cry and scream at him.
“You used to love me and you cared for me and protected me and I could depend on you and now you just care for yourself. How could you?” Tears were streaming down my face and I was feeling emotion that I had not thought possible and continue to live!
Before I knew it, Mummy was holding us both, and Michael, bless his soul, just stood there looking confused. I cried and cried. But finally Tran seemed to have understood his offense to me, and began to apologise profusely.
“Ohman, I am so sorry, I was wrong. Please do not be angry with me. I do love you and have always loved you and would lay eggs with you as my pod mate.” Tran clearly was not thinking of anyone but me and failed to realise that Mummy and Michael would have no idea what we were talking about. This could really open us up to scrutiny that we did not wish.
“Tran, we have lived through so much together on 100 planets or more. I cannot bear the thought of your not being with me. Please, I beg of you never leave me!”
Mom looked at us, and then at Michael in confusion. Then she seemed to make a decision. “Michael, I think I would really like a banana split. Would you please take me out for one? I think the children have something to work out.”
“Uh, yes, I think I really would like a banana split too.” He glanced over his shoulder as Mummy herded him toward the front of the house.
Mummy, now full of purpose, guided him to the door; grabbing her purse and keys along the way.
“Ohman, I am so sorry. You are the dearest thing to my heart, and it has always been so. It has been so difficult learning to be the male and having you as the female, when we used to be both. It was a game we played and we both knew it.”
Sniffling a little I said, “Speak for yourself buster. I rather like being the female and having you take care of me, especially when I need to be held.”
“But, but Ohman, what about when I need to be held and comforted, like we used to do?”
“Then I suppose we shall have to work that out, but as you can see, your huge T shirt will always look like a dress on me, and if I ever catch you in my shoes, you are so dead mister!” Tran picked me up like he used to, and I began to rub his face and run my hands through his hair. Though we both knew that we could not allow desire to inflame our bodies.
Later, outside he very quietly explained to me that most areas where we worked were bugged, and we were being watched very closely. Apparently we had failed to be as private as we wished. He did not speak of the CM because he did not wish to attract attention.
Mummy and Michael came home to find us sitting at the dining table, opposite each other chatting happily. Gone were the tears and dark clouds surrounding Tran and I.
“Hi dear, you seem to be doing much better.” Mummy said. Michael stood back a little as if he was unsure that the storm was finally over.
“Mummy, may we talk to you and Michael, um Daddy, for a moment?”
“Sure darling, what is it?”
Mummy, there are some things we need to tell you, and I hope that you will give us your blessings. You see, Joseph and I are not twins, or even related. I ran some tests while in the lab at school the other day, and we are not even remotely related. You see before …” Mummy gave me a warning with her eyes. She clearly did not want Michael to know about our past lives. “Well, it is like this. Even though we grew up together and everyone thought we were twins and we have been so very close these years since we came here, we both wondered why we felt so connected to each other. We have both tried to get interested in others, but it comes right down to the fact that we somehow share a spiritual link that cannot be broken.”
“I am glad that you said something honey, because I have been thinking the same thing almost from that day you appeared on the front lawn. Your words only confirm it.”
Michael said, “Now children, you are too young to marry now, but if Anne still feels strongly and you do also Joseph, when you are 18, I will support your marriage with the Bishop.”
I got up and walked around to hug Mummy and then um Daddy. It was going to be hard to adjust to this nice man as Daddy, but it is something that needed to happen to help solidify our bond as a family.
The next day as Joseph and I walked to campus to teach, he related to me that at first accessing the Common Memory was unconscious, but then he realised what he was doing and the link soon gained much strength. I tried it right then but got nothing, but we vowed to work on it more later.
At College, I am teaching advanced medical techniques and cell theory. Hah, I say theory, but it is not, because I am teaching way less than I know, feeding them just a little at a time.
Mummy thought that she could not have children but when I got her in an exam room, I used my diminished powers of healing to repair and mature her ovaries. She’d been intersexed, and we managed to erase any sign of abnormal genitalia. It took a couple months and the use of special teas but her reproductive systems finally began functioning.
“Anne’s first mense was greeted with both shock and joy. We’d prepared Anne, but she never thought that she’d need the napkins and tampons. She insisted on changing her own bed, and chortled to herself as she carried the sheets into the laundry room to wash. I’d managed to snap a picture of her bed while she was in the bathroom before she stripped the bed. Anne, for the first time in her life was standing firm, and for a while we feared that it would go to her head. “I have a husband and we are going to make babies.”
Joseph had already been talked to about going on the mission field, and the prospect instilled fear in me. We had both spent several score of years together in our old life and the prospect of being separated from him I could not bear. We had never thought of stopping for children. In our old state, one of us would eventually decide to bear the egg and the other would fertilise it, since both of us could do either function, and in a pinch, we could impregnate ourselves, but that would lead to birth defects eventually.
This living in a biped body held a certain amount of menace for me. I had to have a mate, and frankly looking at the sophomoric and irresponsible attitude of the males around me made me fear a joining greatly. It took some time to occur to me, but in time I would realise that Joseph was the only perfect mate for me, even in our new life. We loved living with the gentle people of the Wasatch Mountains and the Salt Lake. And we hoped that we could remain there for quite some time. Their system of belief was unnecessary to us, and we find no reason to disprove it. Yes, we can easily be at peace with it. Yet, I knew that on this planet, people regularly forced their beliefs on others.
To encourage and show support for Mummy, Joseph and I applied to be baptised and it was quickly approved. So a couple weeks later, we both submitted to it. I felt something when it happened, but had no idea how much it would change my life.
Though I had always inwardly withheld something of myself concerning their belief system, by coincidence, the next week, access to the Common Memory came to me once again. Neither Joseph nor I spoke of it for a long time, but inside I knew something that I did not wish to think of.
Joseph and I have set our wedding date for September 2, 2029. We will be 18 years old. We started getting salaries when we started teaching, but Mummy insisted that we saved it for the future as she was providing everything for us. She did allow us an allowance, and she and Daddy helped us buy used cars when we got our licenses.
I began commuting to Salt Lake to teach my medical courses, and was eventually awarded a Medical Residency in spite of the fact that I taught some of the advanced classes there. The President of the Medical School assured me that when my age seemed more mature to the board, he’d see that I got a full Doctorate. I did not care, because they essentially let me do as I wished anyhow.
With help from Joseph, we had begun to dig into human genetics and drawing on Common Memory, were able to figure out that humans were designed to be the supreme predator. We’d had some really secret meetings with a shadow government organisation, and agreed that they could watch us all they wanted, if they stayed out of our lives and did not try to imprison us. They were pressing Joseph to work in weapons technology, but through subterfuge, he had managed to hold them off, saying that his work was purely theoretical. We knew that it could not last long though.
Working secretly, Joseph and I began to prepare some surprises for them if they grew aggressive.
I had said the bare minimum to Joseph, but I was preparing a plan to alter the genetics of humans, to make them much less aggressive and to reproduce less also. I felt like a saboteur, but human bipeds needed to be controlled or they would destroy all known life. I took no notes and prepared no solutions. I kept my findings stored in the Common Memory. My own race was aware where we were, due to both of us accessing Common Memory, but I had convinced them that I was going to remedy the problem of human seed in at least this galaxy. They understood and supported that the objective was to pacify humans, not to exterminate them. My people did not have the need for revenge and retribution in them. They just wanted peaceful, harmonious lives.
In the privacy of my own mind, while doing some lab work one day, I found a possibility. It was a weak point in the human genome, and I could see through information provided to me by CM (Common Memory) a specific kind of explosion on Earth would break that link. Males with 46 Chromosomes would have 43 and Females with about 1400 Chromosomes would drop to 1398. As I realised how simple this could be, I began to be suspicious that the original human gene structure had been altered but a long time ago. I began to cross link information and suddenly realised that by using genetic regression analysis, I could know almost exactly when this spliced on gene combination happened. It took a few days, but I realised that manipulation had occurred to the human gene set around 200,000 years ago. According to the data, that correlated with the sudden disappearance of a very old race that was of record in CM but not on earth.
It is only speculation, but it makes me wonder if that dying race had tampered with human genetics to find a way to prolong their survival? Well, Joseph and I would only talk about that issue through CM because we did not know if there could be a symbiotic relationship with present humans and survivors of that old race. And, we did not know how certain elements would react to this new idea.
So, accessing CM to have the calculations made, I also asked for the theoretical consequences on living humans. I was very concerned about Mummy and Daddy. It did not take long to understand that a sub atomic blast could harm the innocent, and have unforeseen consequences. Truth, the so called blast would do almost no observable physical damage and would be intended to only break the link in specific types of bonded cell structures. However, not even in the CM, was it known if the cellular bonding I sought to change occurred anywhere else in warm blooded, carbon based life forms.
September, 2029
Mr Joseph Blair, married me today in the Temple, and I became Misses Elisabeth Blair. The wedding was beautiful, and despite my normally placid nature, found myself happily crying quite openly when Joseph put the ring on my finger.
The reception was wonderful, and we were joined by many friends both from the university and our neighbourhood. Mummy had invited her mother and father, but they did not come, probably owing to concerns of difficulty in dealing with our church’s protocols. Happily, this was one time in my life when I could just smile, be sweet, and do as I was told, and poor Joseph had to handle all the other details. Mummy had been very pleased to do a great deal with the wedding.
Afterward, we spent a week, hiking in Southern Utah, in some of the scenic parks. I found places in what locals call, “The Slots”, that reminded me a great deal of our home world. Joseph had a great time, preparing the tent and things, and I loved cooking in the quiet desert air, though the mornings made me feel quite sluggish.
At some point, in his leisure time, he’d found out about an actress named Goldie Hawn, and proceeded to act out some of her old skits, performed on television with me. It was fun to watch the old shows on our little SatTV. It was quite easy to bring with us, rolled up and pushed into a little tube until we unrolled it to watch. I know that what we were doing was completely mindless, but he enjoyed it and I was happy to see him happy, and found myself having quite a lot of fun. The one where she talked about dumb people made us both roll on the floor of the tent in laughter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIA1VS2bDa4
On the last day, we hiked back out to the car, and found a man in another car that seemed to be parked, waiting for us. He looked about 40 or so years old, and was nicely dressed. I was not fearful of him with my 225 lb. baby with me. He’d been carrying his special accessories with him for some time.
The man got out of his car and came round to us. He introduced himself as Andy and said he wanted to show us something. He had a little remote with him and as he turned to talk with us, his car started making this warbling squealing noise that was quite loud, but not so loud that we could not talk.
“Well, that will take care of any local listening devices on your car or around here, but not any video they have on us. He shielded his lips with his hands and said, “You don’t remember me, but I went down the rabbit hole before you did. Sorry that the apparatus changed you into a lousy biped, but it looks like you two have done ok for yourselves. I’ve been watching you ever since I finally located you, when you were about 15 or so. You came down not far from here and I came down South of Des Moines, Iowa. All I had to do was dust myself off, get an ID, and get a job. I also gained access to CM, but do not have the facility with it that you do. I have to use a special receiver, and yours is in your heads. That’s what part of those extra chromosomes you have do.” He said. He looked tired and harried. We felt sorry for him.
“Look kids, you are doing fine work and I am proud of you. I know what you intend to do about the aggression problem, and want to suggest something. There is a formula in CM with the name Andy Darling on it. Look at my work and decide what you think. You are gonna find that you inherited a bunch of money from a dead Uncle, there will be enough even after taxes. I’d advise you to disperse the formula as well as you can by shipping stuff everywhere you can think of. You don’t need to spray it, just use one of those old fashioned bottles with a wick in it. Disperse that everywhere you can and every male baby born from now on will be missing Chromosome 45 and 46. Anyhow, review my findings and if you agree, use them.” He paused to look around and then at his little remote. “God, I don’t have much time, look I have to go, but do this for me and it will make the Galaxy a happier place.”
Both Joseph and Elisabeth stood there for a while after he left. They didn’t know if he was a nut or what. Secretly both of them knew exactly who he was but considering Joseph’s previous suspicions and the word of the man, they instinctively knew not to talk in the open about the matter.
Joseph turned toward Liz, and winked. “Wow Lizzy, that guy was weird; do you think he is dangerous?”
“I don’t know Joey, should we call the police?”
“Yes, I think we will as soon as we get back to Hanksville.”
Neither of them knew if what they said would help at all or specifically how closely they were being watched. They had never thought of what happened to the man who’d gone down the hole before them. It was a surprise to run into him.
It took them months to find Andy’s work and through trial and error, Liz decided that his assessment should reduce the aggressive nature of humanity, though it would take 40 to 60 years. He used a similar method to Liz’s but used a pseudo virus; strong enough to survive for several hours in severe conditions but like a virus in action. Once the gene change happened in a few males, it would be the dominant gene configuration for human males, and any males born after that would be more mild and un-warlike.
It took us a year and a half, but through shipping things with concealed aerosols all over the world, even un solicited, by tagging tiny ones to some part of airplanes, both commercial and military, we finally achieved as much distribution as we thought possible. It took a year, before the babies started turning up, but sure enough, by Joseph’s invading medical data bases in much of the world, and having started and then sloppily trying to conceal a story about genetic warfare, introduced by the Iranians, this news caused the Karyotype test to become routine. Of course in our research, we introduced a method of doing said test in a very economical way.
We felt a heavy burden, because we were going to alter the lives of all humanity, including those who’d given us nurture when we were helpless infants. At times, my dreams were troubled so much that they seemed quite unbearable. I often wakened feeling the burden as the possible exterminator of human kind. In my own defense, as lame as it may sound, it was our hope to eventually enrich the lives of not only humans but of all life in this galaxy and others if it became necessary.
Along the way, Joseph and I discovered that our bodies had stopped aging, though it would take us months to figure out why. We had thought about burrowing into the earth and hibernating for 50 or so years, but eventually decided that the responsible thing to do was to stay around and do what we could to help humanity, as dangerous as they were, along the way to a more admirable existence.
August 2034.
My goodness, my own academic life has changed so much. Two years after our genetic seeding of the earth, I found I was pregnant despite my most stringent efforts to avoid pregnancy. I was too busy and felt that my time was scarce enough. Much to my extreme surprise, Joseph was elated and strutted round like a barn yard rooster. When I mentioned terminating the pregnancy to him, he roared like a lion and menaced me in a manner that I had never seen with anyone, least of all him. I tried to argue with him and he even put over his lap and spanked me. We fought about it for days, and one time when I threatened to get an abortion, he chained me to the door knob. In the end, I really knew for sure that he wanted children, and I relented. I was completely discomfited and made to feel quite submissive and obedient. I think I must have been fearful of being abandoned at a very deep level and his strength made me feel secure finally. I have no idea where those feelings came from, and would not find out for almost 300 years, that he had done a little tampering with both our physiologies. By the time I did find out, I would be so enamoured of his leadership in our family that I was quite amused at his initiative. I don’t know what I will do with children?
August 2041
God help me, I now have three sets of adorable twins, two boys, two girls, and two boys. We named them Joseph Jr., Brigham, Mary, Anne, John, and Mosiah. I thank God that they were twins because while they were burdensome to carry around, it meant fewer pregnancies. All the children seem to be quite precocious, and I expect that the two oldest will be ordering everyone around soon.
It was impossible for me to keep up with all this, so Joseph allowed me to hire a live in woman to help us with them all. Can you imagine 6 toddlers raising havoc in our house? The young woman has a child of her own, and was quite destitute because her own husband had very recently died in a mining accident. I don’t know how long we will have her but she seems to fit right in here.
I’ve had to almost completely abandon my medical practice, and Joseph is busier than ever working at the University at BYU, which has become the foremost research centre for space exploration. Mummy and Daddy have moved in next door and Daddy, now the president of one of the schools at the University, is talking with the building authorities about attaching the houses to each other. We all think it is a wonderful idea.
Yes, the space program is cooking again, and the leaders have finally realised that either strict population control must be enforced, or humanity but take to the stars. Through Josephs careful tutelage, he has guided them toward an FTL drive, though that won’t get them much but it will make it manageable to explore and even perhaps colonise the Moon, Mars and perhaps the moons of the gas giants. Venus is quite toxic and Mercury is really quite hot, but learning to exist in these places should finally help the humans to develop better research methods.
We do not have plans to give them the matter transport soon.
July 2061
Good heavens, time has flown by. All the children are in college, though Mary and Anne plan to get general studies degrees and then raise families. The four boys are very bright, though very gentle, and shepherd like to their sisters. The house seems empty with them being gone to college, and being involved in dating and other activities during the week. I was greatly pleased to see that in a family meeting, everyone agreed that Sunday was a family day and we would all eat, and go to church together. I am so glad that Grandpa Michael built the addition because it is the only room in the house to hold us, all our children, with their boyfriends and girlfriends, Mummy and Daddy’s children, Jeffery and Melody and their children, and so on, and so on. On Thanksgiving last, it took four turkeys and all the other things that go into a family meal.
September 2100
We just returned from Mummy and Daddy’s funeral this morning. They were hit, head on by a landing auto freighter, as they made their approach to Logan Airport, and died instantly. We all knew that they were too old to be flying their own auto-plane, but they seemed in such good health. Sigh, what can I say? We are all sad.
Joseph and I are going to have to disappear and perhaps return with new identities. We are hoping to present ourselves as our own siblings, and live in the same neighbourhood. Joseph finally slipped another scientist enough research ideas that he was able to build a working Fission power plant. It is small, about the size of a cooking stove and produces 44,000 watts. That was 5 years ago, and since then, the price of oil has plummeted. Airplanes, cars, trucks, boats and homes are being fitted with this power at the fastest rate possible. The waste of these power plants is tiny, heavy and not dangerous at all.
August 2150
We did disappear and return to our old neighbourhood in Provo, but it was painful to watch even our own children get old, and forget us. Finally, we just bought a big motor home and travel all the time, paying cash for everything. The Motorhome even flies, but it is lumbering and slow, though we have flown to Europe and China before.
The United States is now comprised of all of North America. The Capitol is now in Denver, and the government is truly democratic once again. The full effect of our genetic alterations to humanity is being felt now. In the huge melding of humanity, Christianity, Islam and Judaism all combined and made a very peaceful community. Of course there are still the atheists and other people, and they are given their voice, though they really don’t have much to complain about anymore, because religious tension is not driving war any longer.
Joseph and I are sitting several miles from the space port in Northern Nevada, watching ships fly to and from the colony on the Moon. The invention of a material with 100 times the strength of steel and 1/10th the weight has driven fantastic engineering feats. It is not made using foundries, and not from the earth.
They found artefacts up there and having seen the pictures of them, now know of the race that we believe originally spliced the human genome and made bipeds so aggressive. We’ll have to investigate soon to see if they still exist and find out what they originally intended. However, the CM indicates that they have not been heard of in many thousands of years. We will never give humanity access to the CM, at least not while we are alive; though Andy may do it, if he still lives, though we only met him here on earth that one time.
May my people, the reptilians live long. It seems that human bipeds are no longer a threat to sentient life. We just need to patiently wait as it propagates throughout the galaxy. We’ll have to resort to the use of the matter transport to do that, but we will send genetic packets to the places where we know the bipeds are thriving and then wait several generations before we allow our own peaceful bipeds to travel there.
When we started this journey, we had never thought of the existence of an intelligent unifying force in the universe. However so many unanticipated events have occurred, what I see no longer supports the chaos theory. To that unifying force, I hope that we have done your will and that you are pleased with us.
As I sat there gazing at the sunset, I felt a ping in the CM and when I looked in there, I saw a file that said, Ezekiel 1:16, yes the wheels within wheels reference. As a young girl going to school one of the classes I had all 12 years was Doctrine, and in that we studied the entire Bible, and all their other books. With my memory, and later using the CM, I could easily remember virtually all I had ever read. This file in the CM was not put in by me, Joseph, or anyone I know. The file extension was completely absent, so it should not have been possible to even write there. As I thought about the information and the possible source, I decided that yes, the intelligence was pleased.
Comments
Don't know what to say other than...
I am impressed..
Spacy/sci-fi-y/romantic/what the hell was that-y.
John in Wauwatosa
John in Wauwatosa
Hoping I found my literary voice?
Well, most of the last 7 years were taken up in pain and sorrow. Then about a year ago, it started to clear, and now I am nauseatingly jolly at times. I think that there is enough pain and sorrow in the world, and I am hoping that I have found my voice. La la la la la, oops oh not that one, but I mean, like who knows maybe I am the TG Goldie Hawn? I mean if you want to know what Elizabeth looked like just think of her.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
Thank You,
Thank you, many times over and over,
A delightful story,
Please, may we be granted More?
Olivea in SUGARTown
I plan to do my best.
I want to write funny, imaginative and sometimes violent SciFi. Hopefully, I can do a lot more and better too.
Much peace.
Gwendolyn
More? You want MORE?
More? You want MORE?
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
Hoping to be picked up as a script writer.
As a script writer in Hollywood, I could not possibly do a worse job than some of those people.
Oh believe me. From what
Oh believe me. From what I've heard from people that actually worked in Hollywood - including the director of Carnosaur - there's some serious dreck out there that never sees the light of day. Some of what happens, though, is that you take a good grade-B movie like Judge Dredd, and it ends up going overboard. It was originally intended to be a low budget B movie, just for entertainment - you know, a budget under 10 million. ( I think it was supposed to be under 5 million), and Sylvester Stallone jumped in (he was the biggest financial backer, as I remember. I'm going by what I was told by someone originally involved in it) and pumped up the film insanely. So, instead of a comic book movie expected to make a 3-400% profit, you ended up with a movie that made a 20% profit - and got Sly laughed at even more :)
BTW - my comment was an Oliver Twist reference.
Too bad people in movies aren't doing low budget _fun_ movies anymore. I mean, look at the Maltese Falcon. For that matter, almost all of the Disney Sunday Movies (which they don't sell - bastards) were low budget, family friendly schlock. Everyone in the industry seems to think that you have to create something that requires zero imagination on the part of the audience.
I'll get a life when it's proven and substantiated to be better than what I'm currently experiencing.
I like people to use their imaginations.
Some probably thought that I should have explained some things more, but I tried to imitate some of the old BBC movies where many things were implied and the endings left one wondering. A case in point is where Joseph is giving Elisabeth meaningful looks and the fact that "they know".
The story probably have been 10 chapters and a lot more detailed, but this is one I just wanted to rip off like the old cloth bandages, and be done with it, though I wish that I would have written "Lizzy" to be more like Goldie Hawn.
Anne in the story is a shameless copy of the Anne in the BBC film "Persuasion". I am sure that those of us who are more reticent by nature can recognise elements of Anne in themselves.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
Yes! The world needs more
Yes! The world needs more scifi :D
I really liked this story... Although I found these aliens a bit too patronizing for my liking ;)
Thank you for writing this interesting story,
Beyogi
Humans as galactic scum.
My vision of the aliens is that they are inherently much more intelligent than Homo stupids, and the have the use of the Common Mind. Yet, they are peaceful and non violent.
Right now my opinion of humans, considering the world situation, is not high. It is embarrassing to be one of the enemy.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
I'm pretty sure that
I'm pretty sure that humanities bellicosity is actually a population control mechanism. Considering the fact that wars between tribes tended to wipe out half of each of them, it might be true...
Maybe humanity might really become a locust swarm as described in your story, but hopefully that won't happen.
About the situation in the world... religious fanatics fight against those who want to consolidate their security and obtain ressources and everyone else suffers for it. Just read an article about that new founded nation in africa. They already have a hunger catastrophe.
It's sad, but what can you do? Vote for another goverment? In the end they'll do the same and if you donate money it'll only be used to buy weapons.
It's a sad world,
Beyogi
very good stuff
definitely different, but very good.
Dorothycolleen, member of Bailey's Angels
liked the sci fi stuf...
Liked the Sci-Fi stuff especially as it affected the society that was humanity. Found the religion and faith bits a little unsettling for me, but each to their own.
Good story Gwen.
Skype you soon.
XZXX
Bev.
Growing Old Disgracefully
I can understand your position.
Because many of, or most of us have been treated very shabbily by religious belief systems, I can understand your reservations. Joseph and Lizzy were not as much religious as they were so peaceful and mild in their own inner selves, that they were willing to return kindness to those who had been kind to them, though they made it clear that to them, they had never experienced any belief system at all. Their people simply did not think of it; it never occurred to them. I especially wanted to write characters who were undamaged by physical or emotional abuse, as most of us are.
We humans seem to think that squabbling about these issues is normal, but I wanted to write characters with a different way of thinking than ours; people who could compromise their surface beliefs without losing their inner selves.
I was sort of trying to ride the edge on that issue, somewhat like Cathy in "bike" does, and finally in the last few paras, Lizzy begins to think about the broad scope of things and undergoes a very mild acceptance, though there would be no Sunday services, tithing, picnics, vain gossiping women or religious garb in the end.
I tried to make it clear that her involvement in the faith community was purely to help those who cared for her, not that she felt she needed it. It is very difficult to write a character who is so many times more intelligent than the people around her and most certainly the author. Notice that Joseph could function within the system without emotional involvement.
I apoligise to any who were offended by my very oblique references to faith, though I certainly have nothing negative to say to those who write belief in magic, vampirisim, or other things outside what others are comfortable with, though it is unlikely that I will change the content.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
Very good.
The SF part was well thought out, the interpersonal relationships were shown well. Two aliens became human and helped humanity to blend peacefully with other races.
Religion I don't talk about, but did catch a lot of things there that are very right.
Maggie
Well, I don't believe in Magic.
But I notice that you use it in some of your stories, and neither feel threatened nor make negative comments about it. As one of the authors here recently stated, everything can be explained with science, and because we do not understand something, does not make it magic, or fantasy, but it will eventually be explained and then it will solidly be within the pervue of science.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
Not meant to be negative at all.
Apologies if you felt it was. I have no problems with religion, either in stories or RL (most of the time, but there are exceptions to everything, after all. *smile*) I don't discuss things like that because in my own experiences that generally resulted in some kind of argument that was non-productive so I just don't get involved in discussions about that any longer.
Again, good story, good characters, nice situation and setup.
Maggie
Nice Story
I'm not crazy about the title but I like the story. Joseph and Lizzy sound like quite the pair.
I had to wonder about the fireball that supposedly came through the wormhole. You mention that the area (yard) smelled like burning flesh but Lizzy didn't seem injured. Did she actually get burned and heal?
Making humanity (men!) less aggressive sounds like a nice ideal but I have to wonder if the human race would still be driven enough to go out into space and explore the unknown. I'm not very aggressive and I don't like aggressive behavior but there must be something good about it. What if Earth was attacked? Would we be able to adequately defend ourselves? Ideals can be so tricky. *sigh*
Thanks and kudos.
- Terry
I was concerned about earth being attacked.
And, I really did not want to engage that in the story. My reasoning was that, in the story, Xenophobia is a form of paranoia and that humans evolved mentally ill. I do not know enough about evolution to really be able to mount an intelligent argument about the issue.
I was thinking that mere loneliness would drive other species to go out and meet the neighbors. Is my position lame? I do not know.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
The fireball.
Well, not being too methodical, it was my thought that the worm hole was still open when the Machine blew its self to smithereens. I was thinking that in that time, several of the bipeds had made their way into the room and were themselves incinerated. The worm hole was still sucking so the aroma of their cooked flesh came down the hole following the fireball, which came from the explosion.
The two reptilian soldiers that followed the biped down the hole were changed to human DNA and subseqentily humans because of the biped's blood in the works. Now, all this may be a "bridge too far" for some, but I wrote it as a lark and to enjoy myself, so no one can hold me to "scientifically correct" standards that some writers try to maintain.
LOL
Gwendolyn
Dear Gwen,
Thank you for a very nice story; good sci-fi and all. I didn't have to suspend disbelief all that much!
Just curious; did you see any literature/scientific papers or popularized that said Homo sapiens was distinctly different in aggressiveness compared to our immediate ancestors, Homo erectus? I'd like to read them if you have. H erectus remains are found in Africa, the middle east, Germany, China, etc. They were apparently good hunters and spread all over. In modern primates, under the right circumstances, Chimps are quite aggressive and have mini wars with rival groups of chimps.
I also think that sexual dimorphism, with males bigger than females, is caused by or goes along with a social structure where males have to fight for group leadership if not breeding privileges. In primates this usually seen except where male and female bond for life and the pair is solitary, like gibbons. Any situation where males compete/fight for group leadership or to collect a harem or even to mate at all, has to produce aggression in males. (The less aggressive mate less and fewer of their genes are passed to the next generation.)
I think it would be great for males and females to be the same size and have similar strengths, but I can't see modern males agreeing to a "downgrade" (in their eyes). Maybe wimyn scientists can just sneak in the changes.
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
Ready for work, 1992.
Hugs and Bright Blessings,
Renee
My opinion about male aggression.
First off, I will freely admit that I am neither a Doctor, Sociologist, nor genetics researcher, neither do I impersonate one on Saturday Night Live. So, my opinion on all these things is simply born out of my interpretation of events in my own life. :)
While yet living as a Male, my general opinion of some of them was quite negative. It seemed that some of them just had to compete for the head stag position, which always seemed extremely sophomoric to me. It would not be until years later, after I began to live as a woman that I realised that is totally normal conduct for men.
Over the years, I have worked out that women can be nasty in their own way, though. But mostly it is sniping at each other.
So, if you find that my story lacks sound scientific basis, you are probably correct. I had fun writing it though and I hope that others enjoyed reading it. I tried to do it from the point of view of the Aliens.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
It's less agression and more
It's less agression and more human mating behavior. As long as being powerful gives men the advantage with women men will crave power. If you'd reduce male strenghs, height, it won't change anything about behavior, since violent behavior is reinforced by female mating choices.
I don't think this dynamic is something one should manipulate via genetics. It has to be curbed by society on both sides of the gender fence. If you'd reduce male strenghs, because you think them problematic, you may very well end up with males most females are simply not attracted to.
This is not mens fault, this is humanities fault.
Human Logic ?
I was married to a woman for 40 years and after all of that, I would never accuse my wife of being logical in a way that I could understand. And now, after having been on on the um "bottom" for 7 years, and being around women a great deal more, I begin to see that most of women's decisions are logical to them (us,me), but in a way that mere men are not capable or do not have the desire to fully comprehend, in my opinion.
In my new life, includes many more decisions made on the basis of how I feel about something, not on the basis of need or practicality. I was once in Meier and Frank, just browsing, and saw a pull over dress whose color combination, and shape just made it call out to me in a way I found hard to resist.
So, for me, it is a very different world now, and I love it.
Gwendolyn
Basic Instinct?
Well... That's normal I guess. If we'll ever meet aliens, their actions will seem utterly irrational to us as we are not part of their society and don't understand it either. The understanding of most people is a circle with the radius 0... they call that their point of view. Only if you change your point of view you have a chance to understand other people.
Men are dominated more by pratical rationality while women are more emotional about stuff. I just wanted to say, that in principle neither is better or worse than the other. Some women say, men are cruel and ruthless, while some guys say women waste ressources and time for nothing. In the end both don't even try to understand the other.
For now we have to live the way nature made us, the way nature wired our brains. We can not yet change ourselves in such a way as indicated in your story. The christians call it original sin, but in the end it is us who have to conquer our animal instincts. We have the intelligence to make moral decisions. Humans may be egoistical as hell, like Thomas Hobbes wolfes, but we can also be altruistic.
Ugh... derailed myself ;)
I didn't want to say anything against being a woman, I just wanted to prompt to think before judging people for their mating behavior, which is basic instinct.
Beyogi
LOL Basic Instinct.
Oh, yes, I understand you perfectly, LOL. I can now look back at my old life and at times feel quite embarassed at what a complete Ass I was at the time. Things that my wife and daughter really wanted, at times seemed irrational to me and sometimes I would balk and refuse to cooperate. Things that would have been so easy, like: sorting the clothes and starting a load of wash, putting the silverware in the drawer properly, or cleaning my pockets and turning my socks right side out.
I must confess that I wonder if part of the reason for my now living as a woman is that I needed to understand the pain I sometimes caused the women around me.
Gwendolyn
This was fun! Funny and
This was fun! Funny and imaginative!
Feeling...reproductive! I loves their choice of words when they were still in their original form.
I writes, um quirkily!
I write in a way that feels right to me, though I do know most correct forms of English grammar. My biggest fear is that the "Language Police" will see much of what I write, especially in this story, as unsuitable and then like totally "fix" it for me, thus, to me, tearing the heart and soul out of it.
One of my biggest fears is that if I became successful enough to get into main stream printed books, that I would fall under the thrall of a demanding editor who would badger me into acceptable bounds and thus rob me of my fun and creativity.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
In this case it's perfectly
In this case it's perfectly justified, and you can tell that to any editor. They're alien, after all, and the use of non-standard vocabulary communicates their "alien"-ness.
Very interesting story.
I enjoy a good bit of pseudo-science sometimes, I've used it myself a time or two in my less realistic work.
I do enjoy the way you quietly integrated a particularly quirky interpretation of a religious sect already considered particularly quirky with this alien concept of a Common Mind which permeates the entire universe... I'm not sure if you were necessarily aiming this direction, but I basically took it that this Common Mind was, in fact, the Creator. Or, at least, a portion of his awareness.
Anyways, excellent story, and you asked me in pm if I were offended by the way you used religion in this story, and my answer is a resounding NO! Is it a purely correct interpretation? Not by my understanding of such things... But, it's fiction, some lee-way is to be expected, first of all, second of all... C'mon, part of the problem with religion is that no two people really interpret things alike. Ever. Add to it that this was written from the perspective of an alien whose intelligence surpasses ours, and who seems likely able to live, physically, forever...
Thank you, Gwen, for an excellent read,
Abigail Drew.
Abigail Drew.
There is but one reality.
That's how I experience it anyhow.
So blending science, belief, magic, and what ever else into one coherent system can look strange to others. However, I am reasonably pleased with my accommodation of all three in one.
I think it is some sort of designed in weakness that they even looked for something outside themselves, a built in inferiority complex. Is that a defect? I do not know, I was not the designer was I.
Too often we forget about the scientific method. Conclusions lie along a path, beginning with Theory, then Hypothisis, then Law. Amasingly, some of the most educated folk I know forget this when talking about things like evolution and belief.
For me, in my writing and in my life, there is a universe so big that I doubt that we'll ever know the extent of it. If I could figure out how to, I would post a set of telling photos that explains it all for me. Some of the folk have seen them. One is of Dark Matter of the Universe, the other is of human brain material. I am very comfortable with saying that my following statement is a Hypothesis.
So, for me, there is a huge mass of matter in the universe, and owing to phenomena that we do not understand, this matter has over the eons organised its self into what eventually became a thinking mind with its own agenda. I'd call this God.
Somehow belief has organised and regimented this God to have all sorts of traits that he/she never said he/she had. Yet, we egotistical and insecure humans eventually began to kill each other over conflicts in said beliefs.
Evolution is one belief system, and faith is another. I also believe that even Atheism and Agnosticism are both systems that function like belief systems, thus making all of them for most purposes the same. So, when someone disagrees with me on this issue, it is not that either of us are wrong, we just have different belief systems. Practically speaking, those with no beliefs at all, generally get killed on the street by someone who is bigger and meaner than them.
So, feeling free to draw on what we learn from all disciplines, we can come up with an existence where there are beings who live in the sun, or ones who live in the total vacuum of space. So, for me, there is little difficulty in blending space aliens with LDS thought, since a blend of both seems to make the most sense to me.
This story was written solely to play with ideas outside the common realm. There is an Author named James White and he has written lots of books in the "Space Hospital" genre.
I plan to test the boundaries of reason-ability more, and I hope that you all will enjoy my bumbling around on the keyboard.
Much peace
Gwendolyn
Good Story, Gwen.
I liked reading it.
May Your Light Forever Shine