"In case you haven't noticed, for some reason hard to ascertain, I no longer have any clothes that fit me," I said indicating the oversize coverall, of my former male self, I was wearing. They both looked at me for a few seconds. "Mm, this is a bit tricky, " said Yuki, " you are a bit bigger than both of us especially in the boob department............. Gift Of The Red Planet - Part 4 by Alys

We stared at the three downed coyotes.

"If the infectious agent has got as far as the perimeter fence then everyone in the base will be affected," said Yuki.

"But Yuki, I don't understand how that's possible," I responded, " surely the bacteria and virus filter in the gas exchange system would prevent any escape"

"We are dealing with an unknown entity here, " Yuki countered, " we don't know enough about the characteristics of the strange organism causing this disease"

"They won't have any choice but to either completely isolate the base or destroy everything here," added Bella sounding anxious.

"But what about people commuting to work in the base?" I asked, " it could be in the general population already"

"What can we do for them, if it's already spread?" asked Bella, sounding more agitated, " if it's too late, they will have to take the consequences. All we can do is stall for time and hope there will a chance to get out of here before......well, you know."

"We're morally bound to warn them" I responded, "otherwise we are condemning millions to a painful death"

"But what about our deaths!" responded Bella, raising her voice.

"Better us, than millions!" I yelled back, angrily.

Yuki quickly stepped between us as Bella and I glared at each other.

"Now calm down you two," she said, quietly, "we need to have cool heads to decide on the best course of action."

Yuki's intervention rapidly dissipated the antagonism, caused by the stress of our situation. We all sat down on the bed and tried to make some sense of developments. There didn't seem to be any good options and even after fifteen minutes discussing all the possibilities we were still only left with the diametrically opposed positions of myself and Bella.

Faced with an impasse we all turned to look out at the continuing pathetic scene near the perimeter fence. The females had by now sidled up to their mates and were alternatively trying to revive them, by licking their faces, and raising their heads to howl in anguish.

Suddenly a battered SUV arrived on the scene and two desert Rangers jumped out. One of them was carrying a rifle with a telescopic sight while the other had something akin to a medical bag in his hand.

The female coyotes that had been keeping watch shuffled a little away keeping up their howls of anguish.

The rangers moved from one limp male coyote to the other and seemed to be clipping something to a ear, they then injected each one with an injection gun, jumped into their truck and sped off.

We watched with relief as each of the previously prone animals slowly stumbled to their feet. Within a few minutes the pack had reassembled and had made their way quickly away from the base.

"Ohmigod they were only tagging the coyotes," said Yuki, as we gazed at the small dust cloud of the departing group, " they must have shot the males with tranquiliser darts"

"So it looks like containment is still working then," commented Yuki.

We all collapsed on the bed with exhaustion after the cumulative stress of the previous few hours.

"I feel like I've been to hell and back," I said, "I wake up from a coma to find I've been changed into a woman, then Mars Corps CEO wants to strip me for Playboy and then it looks like we are facing imminent execution"

I felt Bella put her arm around me.

"It's OK, Alexa," she said, " I know this is all such a lot to take in, but things will be fine, as long as we can get through the immediate danger"

"Yes, remember when we were caught in the dust storm on our last EVA and how it slowed down the buggy," mused Yuki, " I was convinced we would run out of oxygen before we made it back, but we didn't panic."

"Yes, we didn't," I responded, " and I remember I only had five minutes left in my tank, that was close"

"I think I had even less," said Yuki, as our thoughts went back to our time on the Red Planet.

There was silence for a few minutes as we each were lost in our memories.

"I know what would make us feel human again," said Bella, suddenly, " something I've wantd to do since we came back. What about if we have a nice relaxing meal, I'll cook us Veggie Lasagna and we can sit down and chat over a bottle of Napa Valley White. How does that sound?"

"It sounds good, Bella, assuming that you can actually make such a dish. I don't remember you preparing anything tasty, or even very edible, on Mars, " I said, smiling.

"That's because, Smarty Pants, we only had concentrates to use," she replied as she gave me a very gentle, affectionate slap on the cheek.

"Well, I think it's a brill idea," said Yuki

"Yes it does sound great, except for one thing that might spoil the atmosphere," I said.

"What's that?" chorused the other two.

"In case you haven't noticed, for some reason hard to ascertain, I no longer have any clothes that fit me," I said indicating the oversize coverall, of my former male self, I was wearing.

They both looked at me for a few seconds.

"Mm, this is a bit tricky, " said Yuki, " you are a bit bigger than both of us especially in the boob department, even though I would estimate that you have lost about four inches of height compared with your male form"

"I think I might have a loose shirt that might be just big enough," said Bella.

"My peasant skirt might stretch enough," ventured Yuki, "but you might have to go commando, don't think my panties would fit you"

Ten minutes later I was luxuriating in the base shower. I was amazed at how sensitive my new body was, especially my nipples. I was only able to tolerate the water splashing on them for small periods before the arousal became too strong. I was also surprised at how well toned every muscle was considering that I had spent such a time lying in a bed. I wondered what other surprises there would be as a result of my transformation.

The meal that Bella prepared was delicious, as I knew it would be despite my teasing. Afterwards we sat and talked about our time before Mars Corps as a way of forgetting our immediate predicament. I listened attentively to Bella and Yuki describing their earlier lives and tried to imagine how different my own experiences would have been from a female perspective.

I was woken the next morning, earlier than I had hoped after going to bed rather later than usual, by the sound of the airlock opening. I quickly jumped out of bed and made my way to the main lounge in the clothes I had borrowed the day before.

I almost burst out laughing at the incongruous sight of three space suited people standing there, surrounded by a collection of photographic equipment and heaps of clothing.

"Well, hello darling," said the tallest of the group, whom from their heights I assumed to be a man and two women.

"Good morning, who are you?" I asked, rather curtly, irritated by the immediate assumed familiarity.

"Hey, Sexy, don't get in a huff," the man responded, " I was only being friendly. I'm Hank and these other lovely ladies are Hannah and Josie. We're here for the photo-shoot and I for one can't wait to see those puppies exposed"

I was beginning to feel nauseated by Hank's sexism and was at a loss for words.

"So how is this going to work?" asked Bella, who had entered as our guests were being introduced, " how are you going to dress Alexa while you're wearing suits?"

"Yes, it will be a problem," replied Hannah, in a friendly tone, " we were rather hoping that either you or Yuki or both would help in getting Alexa ready"

"We are also constrained by time too," added Josie, "we only have an hour of oxygen, so we're probably going to have to get Alexa dressed for each shoot here in this room"

"No!" I blurted out.

"What's wrong?" asked Yuki, who had arrived at that moment.

"I'm not changing in front of him!" I said angrily, " and I'm not doing the topless poses."

"Come on sweetheart, you ain't got nothing I ain't seen before," he said in a smarmy way.

I refused to budge from my decision despite further pleading from the photo-shoot three and after a few minutes they decided that given their severely limited time in our module that they had better do what was possible. Hank was packed off to another room to wait while I was got ready for the first shoot. As he walked past he gave me a strange wink, which I ignored as I assumed it was another slimy try-on.

The next three quarters of an hour was one of frantic activity as I dressed, was made up and photographed for each outfit. Each time I was just getting used to the feel of the expensive materials before I was forced to disrobe again. Finally the base comm duty officer was forced to order Hank, Hannah and Josie back into the airlock as they were trying to finish another shoot while ignoring their suit warning lights. They left in a hurry, promising to return to finish the shoot using the clothes and equipment they had left behind.

I sat back on the sofa, exhausted after the frantic activity, wearing the designer black silk dress. I flicked off my unfamiliar three inch heels. I rubbed my calf muscles which were beginning to ache.

"Did you enjoy that Alexa?" asked Bella, smiling.

"This beauty business is hard work," I replied, " I can't wait to get back to Science"

"Yes, it's not as easy to look good as it seems in the magazines," said Yuki, smiling, "although you would still look amazing even without the makeup and sexy clothes."

Without warning the friendly face of Bill Gilles, the duty base officer appeared above the camjector.

"Alexa, if you feel up to it we have the Norah Jones interview scheduled for about fifteen minutes," he announced in a friendly tone.

I thanked him for the reminder and prepared myself for my appearance on the world's premier chat show.

"Good morning Alexa, and welcome to the Norah show," were the welcoming words of the most famous woman in the world. Norah Jones, the former Jazz and Blues superstar still looking absolutely stunning at 41, had taken over the TV phenomenon, formerly known as Oprah, four years previously and had maintained its pre-eminence.

"Good morning, Norah and thank you for the invitation," I responded.

"So, my first question, Alexa, how does it feel to be a woman?" she asked.

"I'm just glad to be alive, Norah, unlike the two other crewmen on the mission," I responded.

There was a few moments of silence, "Yes we were all sorry to hear about the deaths of Captain John Sanders and Commander George Jerson," said Norah.

She then expertly altered the subject to ask me some questions about my past and about our mission. I relaxed as she skillfully put me at my ease. Finally she said she had one final question.

"My last question then Alexa, this thing that happened to you, could it happen to anyone else? I'm not sure if Mr Jones would be so keen to have such a nice womanly figure as you now have, " she said, smiling broadly.

"Not to worry, Norah, we are working hard to find out the properties of the......" I paused as I noticed Yuki and Bella frantically signalling to me not to say anything further.

"Of the what?" Norah asked, looking puzzled.

"Sorry, I meant of my condition," I replied, trying to cover up my slip with a broad smile.

Norah gave me a strange look and then her disembodied head turned away as she spoke to her studio audience, "Ladies and Gentlemen please give a great round of applause for one of the bravest people on Earth, Alexa Dupre"

There was a thunderous sound of appreciation as she first turned to camera to announce an ad-break and then thanked me for the interview, before disappearing.

"Alexa," hissed Bella, "you nearly told the whole world what we're trying to conceal from the base"

"How could you be so stupid?" accused Yuki with more than a little anger in her voice.

"Sorry, sorry, she was just so good at making me forget everything," I responded, "listen I think I've had too much stress for the day I'm going to read in my room"

I left the icy atmosphere behind and retreated to my own little space. I dropped the dress, crumpled on the floor and put on one of my clean coveralls, rolling up the sleeves and legs.

For the rest of the day I kept away from the other two while Yuki busied herself with further tests on the blood and air samples containing the infectious agent while Bella analysed some of the soil samples we had brought back.

I slept badly as I dreamed about sexist photographers, beautiful clothes and firing squads.

I awoke with a start, there was a very loud rumbling sound that was increasing in volume. I rushed to the main room to investigate. I looked at the cloud of dust, indicating a huge vehicle approaching.

Suddenly the whole building shook violently as a tank crashed through the outer security wall and smashed the air lock.

The top panel of the monster vehicle opened and a young military looking individual of uncertain gender pulled themselves up into open view. I noticed their cap with a strange purple symbol on it, a male and female sign superimposed. I wondered what it meant.

"Quickly, you've got to get out of here, they're going to nuke the place!"