My stomach felt like a huge lump of ice had dropped into it as Captain Richards stood up and said, "Will Andrea Martin please approach the tribunal."

Wondering how long my wobbly legs would support me, I stood up and took a step forward before saying, "Actually, it's Andrew."

The captain frowned as he looked down at me from the makeshift podium. "What was that?"

In a louder voice, I answered, "My name is Andrew, not Andrea."

"Miz Martin, the charges being brought against you are very serious. This is hardly the time to ... ." He let the end of his sentence drop when the first mate stood up and whispered into his ear. A moment later, the second mate stood and joined the conversation. The crew members that had somehow managed to cram themselves into the cramped galley behind me began to murmur as the three tribunal members had a quiet but heated looking discussion.

Eventually, all three of them sat down again and the buzz of conversation around me died when Captain Richards banged on the table in front of him. If anyone had thought to include frozen cricket embryos in the cryogenic storage compartments, you would have heard them chirping right around then.

The captain sighed as he looked at me again. "Miz ... ter Martin. Although the crew roster clearly identifies you as Andrea, for the sake of expediency, this tribunal has decided to allow the use of the name Andrew for the duration of this trial."

It felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from me, and I couldn't help but smile a little. "Thank you so much, Captain."

"Don't thank me yet. We still have a serious breach of contract, which the backers for this mission will not take lightly."

"Nothing in my contract specified I couldn't identify myself as male."

There was another quiet conversation on the podium before the captain said, "That may be true, but the contract does specifically say you agree to bear at least two children, and raise them as members of the first Martian colony."

"I still do plan to uphold that and all other parts of my contract."

"But how would you ... unless you were into guys ... but then you'd be ... ." Captain Richard's voice slowly died as he struggled with several alien concepts."

Feeling a bit more confident, I raised my voice and said, "That would make me homosexual." I could see assumptions forming in the captains mind and quickly added, "While there are quite a few transgendered people who are homosexual, I'm not one of them."

"But, if you're with another woman, then how can you have children?"

Before I could reply, I felt someone stand beside me and say, "Don't worry, Captain. Andy and I are sure to find a way."

"Ensign Johnson? Ensign Michael Johnson?"

"Actually, it's Michelle now."

I turned and smiled at the woman who had stolen my heart. As you can imagine, there was a bit of giggling and whispering from those who already knew about us, and much louder, more confused conversations from those who didn't.

Eventually, the captain banged on the table again. When silence returned, he stood up and said, "It is the opinion of this tribunal that no breach of contract can be found." He studied me for a moment, then asked, "Is there anything you'd like to say before we draw this to a close?"

"Yes," I answered as I wrapped an arm around Michelle's slender waist and drew her close. "Would you do us the honor of presiding over our wedding ceremony?"