Galactic Marshall II
by
Hilltopper

CHAPTER 16

Karen and I met the marshals as they entered our ship. I did not know either of them. One of them glanced at me and then addressed Karen.

“Are you Karen Singleton?”

“Yes”

“We have been ordered to take you and Marshal John Harper to headquarters. We can not take your lesbian lover with us, however.”

Karen looked at me and smirked.

“My dear marshal, this beautiful woman is Marshal Harper.”

Both marshals stared at me. I grimaced.

“I know this is strange but I have to look like this in order to live on Fledora. I am John Harper but I go by Jonnie while female.”

The first marshal frowned.

“I don’t know what you are trying to pull. I have met Marshal Harper and have seen him many times. You look nothing like him. This ploy will not work. You are not coming with us. Now, where is John Harper?”

I sighed.

“Just take us to HQ. We can sort it out there.”

The other marshal shook his head.

“I am going back to the ship to get further orders. As of right now, both of you are under our custody.”

I went back to the command center. I told Coop what was happening.

“God, you can get in more predicaments. Do you think Fledora would change you back to your male self before you leave?”

“No chance! As much as I want to contact them especially Mary, I must not. The best thing right now is for Karen and I to go to the marshal service and straighten things out. That merchant’s ship will arrive here pretty soon. You need to get with Linda and George to figure out a way to load the thulium. I don’t know how long it will be before I can come back here.”

“Yeah, OK, I agree that is the most important thing. The aliens have agreed to this. I don’t want to think what will happen if we renege again.”

I nodded. The head marshal poked his head in.

“We have been instructed to take you and Karen with us. Get your things.”

“Sure”

I shook Coop’s hand.

“Good luck and take care of your self.”

“Don’t worry, we will sort things out.”

I went to my room and gathered my clothes and toiletries. I looked at myself in the mirror and I had to shake my head. Going back to the marshals HQ like I am now was my worst nightmare. I found a pants suit I had bought on Broadskye and changed into it. The tight purple dress I had been wearing would not do. Karen walked in and smiled.

“I figured you would change but you did look good in that dress.”

“Unfortunately, I have to agree but it is definitely not the image I want to put forward to the marshal service. It is going to be hard enough to explain this.”

Karen laughed.

“You’re taking this too hard. They know you have been living on Fledora.”

“Yeah, but, as George says, knowing and seeing are two different things.”

“Well, we have no choice. You ready to go?”

I nodded and we made our way back to the hatch. The marshals were waiting for us.

“Are you going to tell us where Marshal Harper is at?”

Karen and I just stared at him. He shook his head.

“OK, but you better have a good story when we get to headquarters.”

We both shrugged. He grunted and we entered the marshal cruiser. This was not going to be a pleasant trip.

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The alien led George and I to a room with 2 reclining chairs.

“Please have a seat and buckle in. We need to rendezvous with our merchant ship.”

He picked George up and placed him in one of the chairs. I buckled him in and sat in the other chair. The alien left and the door closed.

“I sure hope we haven’t made a mistake.”

George nodded.

“Yeah, but I’ll take any chance to walk again.”

About 30 minutes later, the alien returned.

“We have docked with the merchant ship.”

He put George back into the wheel chair. We went to the hatch at the rear of the cruiser. It opened and we entered the merchant ship. We were led by the alien down a corridor and through a door on the right. In the center of the room was a contraption I find very hard to describe. I guessed it was the medical unit that had been mentioned. The alien stopped and turned to us. He kneeled in front of George.

“It is fortunate that your injuries are completely healed. Karen had extensive injuries that delayed the nerve regeneration of her spine. Since you are very healthy otherwise, it shouldn’t take long to fix your back.”

He looked up at me.

“Linda, do you want to stay?”

“Yes”

He nodded and lifted George out of the wheelchair placing him on a table.

“I need to completely undress you. One must be naked before going into the tank.”

After removing George’s clothes, the alien took a blood sample. The vial was place into a cylinder.

“This will give the machine a working knowledge of your body. I am going to sedate you now because the sensations in the tank can be unnerving.”

He waved a device over George’s head. George immediately passed out. I was beginning to worry.

“Are you sure this thing is safe?”

“Yes, completely. I will put George into the tank once it is filled.”

“Filled?”

“Yes, the fluid is necessary for the nerve regeneration.”

A pinkish liquid entered the tank. George was gently place into it.

“The fluid will allow him to breathe. The process will take about 12 hours. Would you like to rest?”

I nodded. I still wasn’t sure about this. He led me to a room with several reclining chairs and a couch. I sat down and he gave me a drink.

“This will relax you. I think you’ll find it tasty.”

He was right. It tasted vaguely of strawberries. The next thing I knew, he was tapping me on the shoulder.

“It’s time. The process should be about finished.”

I stood up and followed him back to the medical room. He looked at a screen and nodded.

“Everything looks good.”

He then lifted George out of the tank and placed him on the table. It looked like George’s female disguise had dissolved away. He was George again! The alien did something with a device. George coughed and spit up some liquid. A few minutes later, he opened his eyes. I took his hand.

“I’m here, George. Are you OK?’

He blinked and looked up at me.

“I guess. I had some crazy dreams.”

The alien helped George sit up. George suddenly realized he was naked and blushed. I smiled and squeezed his hand. I noticed that his legs were moving.

“George, you’re legs!”

He raised both legs up and broke out in a huge smile. He turned to the alien.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you! You have saved my life.”

The alien smiled.

“It was our pleasure.”

George put his clothes on and we followed the alien back to the room I was in before. George was walking as if he had never been injured.

“Please sit down and buckle in. We are heading to Fledora to meet up with your ship.”

The alien left and I looked over at George. He held out his arms and I jumped into them.

“Oh, George, I am so happy for you.”

We kissed deeply.

“I guess we better buckle in like he said. It’s sure good to be me again.”

I nodded and we broke our hug. After we had sat down, the ship shook a little. George was still worn out so he napped. I was really optimistic about things. I know we had left Fledora against the council’s orders but the result has been fabulous. I did not think we would be in much trouble. An hour or so later, our alien came in.

“We have a problem. Apparently, Karen and Gina have been taken away by your marshal service.”

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Once we were on the marshal ship, the head marshal turned to us.

“You are not under arrest. Apparently, Fledora has made a complaint against Marshal Harper and Karen Singleton.”

He looked at Karen.

“You are ID’d as that Karen.”

He then looked at me.

“You are ID’d as Gina Coleman. I have been instructed to take both of you back to our headquarters to sort all of this out. It would be better if I had Marshal Harper here as well but, when my partner talked with our superior, we were told to forget Marshal Harper and head back ASAP. We are going to go directly to the hibernation pods now. Any questions?”

Karen and I shook our heads.

“OK, let’s go.”

He led us to the hibernation room and assigned us pods. As I climbed in, I looked over at Karen. She smiled.

“Don’t worry, Gina, this will work out OK.”

“I hope your right but I am still embarrassed and a little bit horrified by this.”

Karen just nodded sadly and we layed down in the pods. I sure wish the medical pod had been installed in Coop’s ship. Going to HQ like this was something I would not be able to live down. Most marshals were very macho as I pretended to be before my initial trip to Fledora. My appearance was not going to please many of them. Oh, well, there is nothing I can do about it. The door closed and I drifted off into a deep sleep.

I awoke to see Sam staring down at me. The pod opened and I sat up. Sam grinned.

“Well, I must say, you look better than ever.”

I blushed.

“Sorry about this, Sam, I did not want to come here like this.”

“I can imagine. You do look very nice, however. Let’s go to my office and try to figure things out.”

I got out of the pod and Karen did as well. We followed Sam out of the cruiser. The two marshals that had picked us up gave me a hard look. We passed several marshals that I knew on the way to Sam’s office. They did not seem to recognize me which was a good thing; the way they were looking at my body was not. We entered the office and sat down.

“OK, Fledora wants both of you turned over to them. However, the alien threat is our top priority and you two are the only ones to have had contact with them. What are they after?”

I looked over at Karen. She nodded.

“They want to buy the thulium they had been promised by Fledora. They are not interested in anything sinister as far as I can tell. It would be a good relations builder to sell them what they want.”

Sam nodded.

“OK, that certainly makes sense. We would like to meet with them. Do you think you could set something up?”

“I don’t know. They were supposed to meet us near Fledora but we were picked up before that could happen.”

“Hmm, I am going to run this upstairs. Maybe we can set things straight. Why don’t you come back in the morning.”

“Alright”

He turned to Karen.

“There is an arrest warrant out for you but we can forego that at the moment. I will set up a place for you to stay tonight.”

“She can stay with me in my apartment.”

Sam nodded.

“Sure, that will be OK. See you both in the morning then.”

We stood and left.

“Well, that went better than I expected.”

Karen nodded.

“Yeah, but it looks like we’re persona non grate on Fledora.”

I sighed.

“I wish I knew how Mary was taking this. I also miss Raylan.”

We walked toward the cafeteria in silence. As we entered, all eyes turned toward us. They did not look friendly. We filled our plates and found an isolated table. Karen grimaced.

“It doesn’t look like we’re any more welcome here.”

“I guess the word is out as to who I am. This really sucks!”

“Don’t let them bother you.”

“That’s easy to say.”

We ate quickly and left the café. As we rounded a corner heading toward my apartment, we were confronted by five men. The one in the front was an asshole I had never gotten along with.

“Well, well, if it isn’t the queer marshal and his fag friend.”

“Tad, move aside.”

He frowned.

“You are a traitor to your sex and are not welcome here.”

“Yeah, fine, now get out of the way.”

I could see his eyes narrow and I knew what was coming. What he didn’t know was that I was even stronger now than I was as a man plus still had my fighting skills. I used a trick Mary had taught me. He threw a punch and ended up flat on his back with my knee on his chest. I looked over at the other guys. Karen was mopping the floor with them. I stood up and we continued on to my apartment. Karen grinned.

“That was fun.”

I shook my head and laughed.

“You’d make a great marshal.”

“Naw, too many rules.”

We entered my apartment and sat down on the couch.

“You take my bedroom. I’ll sleep on the couch.”

“Nonsense, this is your apartment.”

I smiled.

“So is the couch.”

“OK, OK, I give up. See you in the morning.”

Karen went into the bedroom. I went into the bathroom and changed clothes. I came out and layed down on the couch. I wondered how George made out. I hoped the powers that be would work this out the right way. Trouble was, I wasn’t sure what the right way was. I was soon asleep. I awoke to the smell of coffee. Karen noticed me sitting up.

“This coffee pot looks like it’s never been used.”

I laughed.

“That’s because it hasn’t. I hate coffee.”

“Who ever heard of a marshal that doesn’t like coffee.”

I shrugged.

“I’m hardly typical.”

Karen looked me up and down.

“That’s for sure.”

I got some juice and sat at the table.

“I’ve been thinking about the aliens. They don’t appear anxious to reveal what they look like. I wonder why they showed us.”

Karen nodded.

“It is strange. I don’t think we should say anything about them. They must have their reasons.”

“I agree, besides, no one would believe us anyway. I mean, faeries for god’s sake.”

Karen laughed.

“Yes, it still seems like a dream.”

We dressed and went to Sam’s office. I knocked and got the usual greeting. After sitting down, Sam stared for a minute.

“We got a message from George Brett. He says the aliens healed him and he can walk as good as new.”

I smiled.

“That is great news.”

“He also said that the aliens were upset that you two were not in Fledora space waiting for them. They will not deal with anyone but you all. The chief has informed me that you, Jonnie, have been appointed lead marshal in our dealings with the aliens. I am assigning a cruiser to you. Your orders are to meet with the aliens and do what it takes to mend relations.”

I nodded.

“What about the Fledoran council and Karen’s dilemma?”

“The Fledoran council has been informed that you and Karen have been given diplomatic status by the Planetopolis. They are not happy but will leave you alone.”

“Wow!”

Sam laughed.

“You sure can get into some situations. Just make this work!”

He handed me my orders and new credentials. Karen and I stood and shook his hand.

“Take care.”

We walked out. Karen turned to me.

“If I haven’t said it before, it has sure been a pleasure making your acquaintance.”

I laughed.

“Ditto”