As I caught up with Murphy, I asked, “What’s the deal calling me a little girl?”

Captain Murphy stopped walking and turned to face me. When I got up next to him, he towered over me. “You’re little and you’re a girl. Any other dumb questions, lieutenant?”

I sighed. “I guess not.”

Oddly enough, we stopped right in front of the lab’s entrance. Murphy pushed a button and the door slid open. “I think we’re expected.” I followed Murphy through the door.

The lead technician in the lab came out of his office, someone named Doctor Grundy, and grinned at us. “Gentlemen! Um, er, ladies and gentlemen. I’m glad you’re here. Everything is set up so we can start without delay.” He pointed behind him and then started walking to the rear of the lab.

As we passed by computers, techs, monitors and various equipment, I would have no trouble believing that the lab consumed half of the ship’s power. That’s always been the rumor, but damn! Just look at all this stuff.

As we entered the small equipment filled room, the lab tech said, “Now miss. If you’ll just remove your blouse and hop up on the chair.” I’ve done this before and thought that an odd request.

Frowning, Dr. Grundy spun around and sternly said, “Belay that miss. Jordan, knock it off. Can’t you see this is a child?” To me, Dr. Grundy said, “You don’t have to disrobe, miss. But please climb into the chair.”

The chair was elevated on a dais, and they had provided steps to help getting seated. The chair hummed menacingly and I felt uncomfortable sitting in it. Jordan then strapped a five point webbing and cinched it tight. What the hell? He then held out a small plastic rod with wires on each end.

Jordan said flatly, “Please bite down on this, miss.” When I did, he snapped a cage across my jaw and tightened it. ‘Try to avoid moving your head around during the procedure.” Couldn’t the idiot tell I was completely immobilized?

Captain Murphy grinned at me. “Just relax, lieutenant. This process will hurt you far more than it will hurt me.” He chuckled.

Dr. Grundy gave me a wry smile. “You know that there’s some pain involved, miss. But you’ve changed since the last time you were our customer. Be advised miss, that women are more sensitive to this process than men. You may feel a desire to crawl out of your skull, but that’s normal for females. It’s strictly transitory and ends immediately upon cessation of the process.” This just gets better.

Jordan lowered a cable festooned head set that covered my whole head. He said, “You’re lucky, sweetie. We installed this headset just six months ago. The previous one required us to shave your head. You have such pretty hair, it’d been a shame to shave it.” He then slapped a few switches and shouted, “Ready doc!”

Dr. Grundy sat down at the device’s console. “At first, miss, you’ll experience some mild discomfort. And then you’re hit with some serious pain. Just try to relax. You don’t have to do anything other than sit there and look pretty.” Can I beat this guy up?

I have done this before so I hope the doc was just trying to scare me. It’s uncomfortable to be sure, but I never experienced anything like what he was telling me. I felt a buzzing in my head when he started the process. There’s a virtual pointer they call a cursor he moves around inside my head which feels really weird. Then he hit me with the full strength and he wasn’t kidding about wanting to crawl out of your brain. All my muscles tensed. And then I understood the restraints. I’m not ashamed I actually screamed.

Five teeth gritting minutes later, he turned off the machine. I slumped in the chair exhausted.

As Jordan started removing the restraints, Dr. Grundy tapped his monitor and said, “That wasn’t so bad, was it?” He then handed Murphy a shiny data cube. “Perfect image. Very clear. I commend you on your outstanding memory, miss. That’s it. We’re done. Have a nice day and all that.”

I was actually shaking a bit as I slid out of the chair. That was the worst experience I’ve ever had doing a memory extraction. I think Dr. Grundy just hates girls. I followed Capt. Murphy out of the lab.

As we stood outside the lab’s entrance, Murphy turned to me and asked, “Are you okay? You look kinda pale.”

I stood next to Capt. Murphy taking in some deep breaths. “That was terrible.”

Murphy chuckled. “Well, he did warn you.” He then looked at his communicator for a moment. He raised his eyebrows as he looked over at me. “Come along, girl. We need to find a uniform that fits you. You should feel privileged. Wild Bill himself has requested your presence.”

I looked at Murphy surprised. “What the fuck?”

Capt. Murphy shrugged. “I didn’t’ tell you. But on the way to the lab, I was informed you were reduced to civilian status and to drop you off planet-side at the UCP orphanage for safe-keeping. But now you’ve been re-instated as lieutenant.”

Shocked, I asked Murphy, “You wouldn’t have done that, would you?”

Again he shrugged. “Orders are orders, girl. I mean, lieutenant. Let’s get you a uniform.”

As we walked down the gangway to a lower level, Capt. Murphy asked, “So how are you doing, lieutenant? Does that girl host feel okay?”

I shrugged. “Oddly, I feel perfectly normal. It’s as if I’ve always been this way. Everything seems to work. At least they got my eyes in the proper sockets. Remember Ensign Russell? It was bad, but also hilarious.”

Murphy chuckled as we entered the ship’s exchange. “We’ll see how you feel when you start that monthly thing.”

I sighed heavily. “Ah shit. That’s right. I’ll have a period. Being female is a gift that just keeps on giving, isn’t it?”

Murphy grinned as he said, “You can stop having a period for a while.”

I just looked at Muprhy and asked, “How?”

Laughing, Murphy said, “Get pregnant. Now let’s get you a uniform.”

A woman walked up to us and gave me an odd look at me dressed in the ill fitting scrubs. She turned to Captain Murphy to ask, “What can we do for you today, captain?”

Pointing at me, Capt. Murphy said, “This girl needs a regulation uniform.”

She looked at me curiously and again asked Murphy, “Yes, sir. Is she a cadet?”

I muttered, “I’m standing right here.”

Murphy chuckled. “Ah no. She’ll need lieutenant insignia.”

The woman looked confused. “Are you sure, captain? She looks what? Fourteen? Fifteen?”

Frowning, I said, “I’m sixteen.”

The woman looked from me back to the captain. Murphy said, “She’s on a special assignment.”

The woman said, “Oh.” She suddenly smiled knowingly at Murphy. “Oh!”

Murphy stifled a laugh.

I looked at Murphy and asked, “Am I missing something?”

The woman giggled and looked to me. “Right this way, miss. Let’s get you fitted.”

We went into a back room where the woman looked me up and down while saying “Mmmmmm”. She then pulled a uniform from the rack. It was light blue and resembled dungarees, with a very short, pleated skirt. She handed it to me. “Here. Try this. It’s really cute. A lot of women are wearing this style these days.”

I looked at the uniform dubiously. “Are you sure?”

The woman nodded. “The captain asked for regulation. That’s the most feminine uniform that’s regulation.” She grinned at me. “The colonel is going to really like you.”

“Hey wait. The insignia is on the wrong collar,” I said after noticing she’d pinned the lieutenant insignia on incorrectly.

She giggled. “Does it matter?”

I frowned and said, “Of course it matters.” I re-pinned the insignia and then went into the changing room. I had removed the top of the scrubs when the woman entered the room with me.

“I just realized you don’t have any undies,” she said with a giggle. “I’ll help you size the bra. Slip into these panties real quick.” At first I was completely embarrassed to undress in front of this woman. Then I thought what the hell? How many naked women does she see in a day?

As I tossed the scrubs to the floor and took the panties from her, she grinned at me. “Oh yeah. The colonel is really going to like you.”

I frowned as I took the bra from her. “I’m not a prostitute!” She just nodded as she adjusted the fit of my new bra.

I stepped into the uniform and pulled the dress up. It was all one piece. And holy crap was it short.

I narrowed my eyes at the woman. “Are you sure this is regulation?” I tugged on the hem of the skirt.

She nodded at me. “Yes, ma’am. You look cute. Oh. Dora’s still here. Would you like her to do your make-up? I noticed you’re not wearing any.”

I shook my head. “I’ll pass.”

Grinning, she said, “Well, I think we’ve kept the captain waiting long enough. Follow me.”

We stepped back out to where Murphy was waiting. His grin was wide. “Well lieutenant. You certainly cleaned up nicely. We need to go. Wild Bill has already sent me two notices.”

As we exited the exchange, the woman smiled and said, “Have fun!”

I said to Murphy, “You are taking me to a briefing, right?”

Capt. Murphy just chuckled.

I followed Murphy through the twisty passages as we made our way to the executive quarters. It was a wide area and actually had a receptionist. Wild Bill certainly liked to live large.

The receptionist looked at us when we arrived. I was surprised she didn’t stand for Capt. Murphy or salute. She pointed behind her desk and said, “Colonel Williams is expecting you and the girl, captain. You may enter the conference room. She looked at me with disdain. I noticed she was wearing a longer skirt than I was.

I took a deep breath and swallowed. Talk about nervous. It’s rare to get an audience with Wild Bill himself. I followed Murphy into the room.