Paul was tired and hungry as he walks to another space berth looking for work. So, far today he had been turned down twenty times. He had left early from where he had been hiding and was out looking for a job. He would do anything to get off Beta IV. His life here has been nothing but one big mistakes. He had been born to a space tramp and when her ship came in, she had abandon him. The authorities had placed him in an orphanage along with the rest of the children left behind by their parents.

By the time, he was ten years old he had runaway and hooked up with a bunch of space urchins. He learned how to steal and break into places. The leader of the group had been giving him some type of shots. He didn’t know what the shots were for, but what he did notice was he wasn’t getting any taller or muscular. His hair had gotten longer and changed to a platinum color. His skin felt softer and smoother. His voice hadn’t cracked like most boys he knew and his body was becoming slimmer and curvier. The last thing he noticed about himself, was the rapidly developing breast he was getting. They weren’t small and concealable, but rather plump on his small frame.

The drug the leader of their group kept giving him. Played hell with his emotions and eyesight. The leader had given him three huge dosages.
The problem was he had no idea why he was given these shots. Then one day he was sent to a certain section of the station by his leader. When he had arrived, the hatched he had come through closed behind him and was grabbed by a huge man who tore off all his clothes.

The next few hours he was abused by five men. The last thing he remembered was passing out on the floor of the chamber he was in. He had been found by security and rushed to medical for his injuries.

They couldn’t do anything about the large dosages of alien estrogen in his system and they wouldn’t change his sex either. They needed a guardian’s permission to do that. Security had done a scan of the bar code tattoo on his neck and found he had run away from orphanage center 13256. He would be sent back once he was fully healed.

Paul had managed to escape before security came to retrieve him from the medical center. He had found a place he could hide out and get some sleep so he could find someone willing to hire him. Paul looks up at the berthing sign for the name of the ship. Nightingale.

Just as Paul was going to press the com button to talk to the Captain of the ship, the alert sirens go off.

“All personnel evacuate! All personnel evacuate!”

The crew of the Nightingale ran by him pushing him deeper down the docking collar towards the ship.

“Kid, either get your ass in here now or get out of the way.” A woman with long black hair dressed in a black jumpsuit and wearing a gun belt ran pass him towards the ships door.

Paul runs behind her following her to the bridge of the ship.

“Cricket, Arona get us the hell out of here. Now!”

The woman who Paul figures was the Captain sits in a seat directly behind the two people she had been talking to.

“Getting us the hell out here, Captain.” Cricket had notice the adolescent human girl standing behind the Captain’s chair.

Paul looks towards the one name Cricket and notice she was a blue humanoid looking elf like creature with bright orange hair. Her partner
Arona was a young human male with short black hair that wore the flight suit of the Bejing Empire. Paul feels the ship take off from the station. He had to hold onto the back of the Captain’s chair to keep from falling on her ass. The woman working at the environment station was an older woman and had some gray in her hair. Across from her at the weapon station was an Orden Tiger. A humanoid warrior Tiger race known for their combat skills. Having one of them in a group or on a team was like having six fighters. They were known around the galaxy as one of the best warriors around. Very few races could compete against them.

The next thing that happens is the ship shaking from an explosion.

“What happened?” Paul had held tight to the chair.

“The station just exploded.” Cricket had turned around to explain to Paul.

They had jumped to hyperspace before the station had exploded.

“What’s your name kid?”

Susanna had turned around in her chair and looks at the young girl standing behind her.

“Paul.”

“Paul? That’s kind of strange for a girl’s name.”

“I’m not a complete girl ma’am. I was made this way by the leader of a gang I use to belong too unwillingly.”

Paul didn’t know what he should do.

“Well, you can’t go around calling yourself Paul looking like a girl. How about we call you Paulina instead?”

“I guess, but once they scan the bar code on my neck it will have my true name.”

“Don’t worry about that. I know a doctor that can erase it and change your gender if you want it.”

“Since I’m already halfway there, then I guess I should go all the way.” Paul really didn’t know what to do, but he couldn’t stay the way he was.

Susanna looks at the kid and could tell she has had a hard life. You could see it in her eyes and the clothes she wore.

“Is there any place you want to be dropped off at?”

“No ma’am. I was looking for a job when we had to leave the station.”

“Well, since your already here. Maybe you can help around the ship. Since, we don’t have any spare rooms currently, you can bunk with me.”

“Thank you.” Paul hugs the Captain.

“So, where to Captain?” Cricket was ready to input the navigation coordinates for their new destination.

“Take us to Alastor V, Cricket”

“Right away Captain.”

Cricket inputs the coordinates for Alastor V.

“How long before we get there?”

“Almost four hours Captain.” Nasakhma responded for Cricket.

“Come on kid. Let’s get you out of those clothes and into something a lot more comfortable.” Captain Susanna takes Paul to her quarters and
looks around for something for her to wear.

“This might fit you Paulina.”

“Thanks Captain.” Paulina accepts the jumpsuit from her.

“Call me Susanna, Paulina. The only time you have to call me Captain is when we are on the bridge or among other people at a station or
something.”

“Yes ma’am.”

Paulina takes her old clothes off and slips the jumpsuit on. Paulina feels as the suit adjust to her short stature and hug her body curves.

Susanna looks at Paulina as she dresses in the body suit. It hugs her body well. Now all they will have to get her is a pair of shoes to wear.

“Captain, would it be alright if I have a slice of bread please?”

Susanna looks at Paulina “When was the last time you ate?”

“Three days ago, ma’am. Just before I escape from the medical center.”

Susanna just shakes her head.

“Come on Paulina. Let’s go and get you something to eat.”

Susanna takes Paulina down to the mess hall and replicate some food for her. As they were sitting down two more members come walking in.

“Who’s the new crew member Captain?”

Paulina looks over towards the two-people coming in. Both were humans and one was a short female and the other was a middle age male.

They both wore the same color jumpsuit and had burn spots on their uniform.

“Darsh and Siya I would like you to meet Paulina. She’s going to be staying on the ship and helping out where she is needed.”

“Welcome to the Nightingale kiddo. If you work down in engineering with us, make sure you have a set of coveralls to work in.” Darsh walks
over to the food replicator and replicates a plate of spaghetti with meatballs.

Siya replicates a chicken salad sandwich.

Paulina watches Siya. She doesn’t say much as she fixes her plate. Then she notices a scar under Siya’s chin. Siya sits down with her partner
and eat their dinner in peace.

“Come on kid.” Paulina had finish her supper and was just wondering what she was going to do.

Paul follows Susanna out of the mess hall.

“I notice you spotted Siya’s scar. She got that from the slaver who owned her once. He tried to kill her for displeasing him. If it wasn’t for her
partner Darsh killing the slaver and rescuing her, she would be dead. The blade the slaver used damaged her vocal cords, so she can’t do much talking now except grunts and whines. She’s a genius with the ships engine systems, but keeps to herself most of the time. “

“But doesn’t that make it hard for her to communicate to the crew what problems they have or need?” Paul knew someone who couldn’t talk, but could sign.

“Darsh and Siya share a telepathic link with each other. They had it establish about three months after Siya was rescue and felt better. That was before they came to work for me. I seem to draw the misfits and unwanted crew members from different places.”

“Is that what I am, unwanted?” Paul looks at the Captain.

“I don’t think that is the case Paulina. I think what happened was your mother had you and knew she couldn’t take care of you and gave you
up. She might have been praying someone nice would come along and give you a better life. I know it didn’t happen, but now you have the
chance to do something for yourself and have a fresh start among people who know what second chances are about.” Susanna ruffles Pauls’ hair.

Paulina follows the Captain up to the bridge and stands near her as the ship drops out of hyper-space. As they get closer she sees Alastor V on the screen. She has never seen so much green before. There were pockets of life, but the planet was huge and had plenty of green to offset the settlements.

“That’s a big planet.” Paul couldn’t believe it.

“Big and dangerous Paulina. Stay with us and don’t allow yourself to get separated from us.” Susanna takes a bracelet and attach it to Paul’s
wrist.

“That’s your translator and wrist com unit. You’ll be able to hear everything being said by any race. Now, when we land I’m going to take you
shopping and have your barcode erase and changed.”

Paulina watches as the ship lands and is secure.

“Give me ship wide.”

“You have ship wide Captain.” Cricket had turned around in her chair.

“Attention crew. We are going to be here for two days only. So, if you want to go ashore and enjoy yourselves for two days, feel free to leave
the ship. Remember, the rules and check in with one another every eighteen hours so we know you are still alive. Captain Out.”

Susanna looks at Paulina.

“Let’s go and get you some shoes and have your barcode removed and sex changed.”

When Paulina steps down the ramp from the Nightingale she is amazed at all the greenery surrounding her. She has never seen so much greenery. When she looks down, she notices they are on a giant tree.

“How high up are we from the ground, Captain?”

“We’re about three thousand feet up from the ground. The trunks of these large trees are wide enough for the Nightingale class size to land on.
Other wised we would have had to take a shuttle craft down. The populace of Alastor V live high up in the trees, because the creatures on the ground are dangerous. The wood these trees produce is called Iron wood. These trees are so strong and tall, that they make excellent spaceports and products for furniture and such. Susanna takes Paulina to a healing center.

She speaks with a weird looking humanoid looking woman.

She glances at Paulina and says something that his translator translates to “are you sure about this?”

“Yes, I’m sure. Someone has already begun the process of turning him into a her.” Susanna was going to have the whole process done to
Paulina to make her one hundred percent a girl.

“Alright, if you’ll come with me Miss.Paulina. We’ll get you started.”

Paulina looks towards Susanna. She was a little scared.

“You’ll be okay, Paulina. Like you said, you might as well go the whole way.”

Susanna places a kiss on Paulina’s forehead.

Paul follows the nurse back into a room with a coffin like device in the middle of it.

“Go ahead and completely undress and climb inside.”

Paul does as she is told and climbs inside the device. She lays down and a clear lid flows over the top, trapping her inside. A mist fills the
device and a blueish liquid starts pouring in. The next thing Paul feels is herself drifting off to sleep.

The nurse escorts Susanna back into the same room as a table raises from the floor. She is told to undress and laid down on it. Her legs are secure in a set of stirrups and the nurse retrieves one of her eggs and takes it over to the device Paul had climbed into and injects it into the device.

“She’ll have your genetic material and be a fully functional woman. I don’t know what alien estrogen has been used on her, but it should combine with your egg and make her one hundred percent female and allow her to produce her own offspring if she decides to have children.
Do you want me to place a birth control device in her until she decides she wants children?”

“I think that might be a good idea. How long before I can move her back to the ship?”

Susanna figures she could go and do some shopping for her.

“She’ll be ready to move in four hours. The sleeping agent we gave her will wear off in six hours. After that she’ll be a little stiff when she moves around, until she gets use to her body.”

“That’s fine. Also, I need for you to change the bar code on the back of her neck as well.”

“No problem. We will change and delete any records of her previous life. It shouldn’t be too hard.”

“Thanks, Bellatan.”

“No problem Susanna. You can get dress now, unless you don’t have anything else to do?”

“I knew there was another reason you wanted me to get undress.”

Susanna wraps her legs around the nurse as the two of them start exploring each other.

Six Hours later:
Paulina wakes up groggy and looks around. It took some time for her mind to figure out that she was back on the ship and laying in her bed in the captain’s quarter. She slowly sits up and rub the sleep from her eyes. Her whole body felt strange. Her hair had been trimmed and no longer came down to her butt, but to her shoulders. She lifts the covers to check between her legs and discovered that she had the proper plumbing now to go with her looks. Someone had put her in an oversized pink t-shirt with kittens chasing after a butterfly. She had a cute pair of panties on that matched her nightshirt.

She makes her way over to the mirror and looks at herself in the mirror. She still had her Platinum color hair, but it was shorter. Her eyes were a bright blue and sparkled when the light hit them. Her skin tone was a little paler then she remembered. She was shorter then she used to be.
She looked nothing like she used to. She looked at the built-in desk and saw a package resting on it with her name on it. She opens it and discover it was a new jumpsuit, a pair of ankle boots, a bunch of new panties, bras and a square communicator she had seen the other crew members wear.

There was a note there with her name on it. She picks it up and reads it.
To start your new life with.
Love Mom.

Tears come to Paulina’s eyes as she gets dress. The Captain was right about the ship. It was a place for second chances. She finishes getting dress and brush her hair. She checks herself in the mirror and walks out of the room and head towards the bridge. Paulina finds Susanna sitting at the navigation console with her feet kicked up and watching the people outside her ship on the main screen.

Paulina walks up behind her and hug her.

“Thank you, mom.”

“You’re welcome pumpkin.”

Susanna pulls Paulina around to her and lift her onto her lap.

“I had to donate an egg from my body to make it so everything came out alright with you. They couldn’t identify what alien estrogen was used on you. So, to counter act it, they used an egg from me and used the DNA inside the egg to fix you. I think you came out fine. Your eyes are the blueish I have ever seen and it goes well with your platinum color hair.”

“Thank you.”

Paulina just lays against her and watch the people outside the ship with her.