Chatting with Angels

Chapter One ~ Della

Written by Jo Dora Webster

Would Kathryn be prepared for the news that an angel would bring to her about her friend Monty?

Chapter One ~ Della

I was still living at my parent’s home on Labor Day Weekend in 1995 especially to go by the Star Trek fan club table at Dragon*Con. And when I say go by the table that’s what I really did. I walked by without stopping. When I came in June 1993 to the con, I was thinking about my Father who had introduced me to Star Trek in 1966. I was about to stop at the table when I also remembered him yelling at me that it was a ‘tool of the devil’. A beautiful girl with auburn hair smiled at me and I still kept on going.

In 1994 they held the convention in July. I came by the table which I had found out was for “Starfleet: The International Fan Association”. This time I saw the amazing auburn haired woman with the green eyes. I could lose myself in her eyes and I found myself halted 50 feet from the table clogging a bottleneck in the main traffic aisle. Con Security came up to me with people from behind me squeezing by on one side or the other. He obviously read my con badge before he spoke to me.

“Monty, is it?”

“Yes sir”

“This Con is an amazing place with sights beyond belief but the one place where you can’t stand and admire them is there. MOVE ALONG!”

I started moving and never stopped and never came back to the table that year. But that was then and this is now, the year that Dragon*Con hosted NASFIC and the Starfleet International Conference. On the table as I went by I could see my prize. The holy grail was a brochure with information and a membership application for the USS Republic of Atlanta, GA. But I also remembered what had happened with the security guard from last year. I could not just stand and admire it from a far without the same traffic mishap. So I orbited round and round the circumference of the room, never stopping. Each time I could see that same amazing woman with the auburn hair and I wondered what she was thinking?

”Bernie, what is he thinking?”

”Captain Kathryn, obviously he’s not thinking with either of his brains. He seems totally infatuated platonically with you. He’s the guy that stopped up traffic last year and I think that I saw him the year before. He wasn’t even a snatch and go like some are. He never stopped.”

”Well maybe my new minimizer bra is working?”

”Not on your life Kathryn. You have seen all the other guys come by and we both could tell they were very happy to see you. This calls for drastic measures. Here! Take the custom blouse you have to wear to the IC if we sign up 10 folks for our ship along with the McLeod tartan unsewn material and the clan pins that you use to turn into a dress. Change into the top in the bathroom and make the dress out of the tartan and put it on over it.”

”Not liking where you are going with this, Bernie, but I’ll do it.”

Well when I came back around for so many orbits I had lost count, The auburn haired woman was standing in front of the table instead of behind wearing the McLeod tartan as a dress. On one side of the table was a large mostly royal blue silk USS Republic banner 4’ by 4’ with the Starfleet logo banner which was about the same quality but a bit smaller and on the other side was an even smaller yellow denim banner with a small Starfleet emblem with the McLeod bull superimposed.”

”Now Captain Kathryn!” said the blonde woman with the straight chin length pageboy hair. The auburn haired woman that had been called Captain Kathryn quickly came out of the dress leaving the tartan piled up on the table in front of the blonde. By the time I could get close enough to speak I could see her teeth chattering since the A/C had the place as cold as a freezer. I was curious on how she had made some unsewn cloth into and out of a dress so quickly. I stopped in front of her, never taking my vision from her amazing eyes and placed the Tartan over one of her shoulders as it hung front and back but was not obviously a dress.

”Captain Kathryn, just like USS Voyager? I’m amazed at how you could fold and pin that bolt of cloth into a dress. That’s the McLeod tartan isn’t it? Is that your clan?”

”Didn’t the blouse that I was wearing give you a clue? It’s a famous saying from a Sci Fi Movie franchise that my cohorts named the ship after. I am a scot and my clan is the Murray clan.”

A passing woman asked Kathryn, “May I?” which she nodded yes. The woman took a peek under the tartan and smiled. “

”Look here, Trekkie!”

She then removed the tartan from Kathryn’s top and then forced my head down so that I was staring at her bust. Kathryn and I responded in unison, “It’s Trekker!” Then I really looked.

”Oh My!” The top was barely covering her bosom and two words surrounded each nipple with one word between her bosom.

”There can be only one? Oh! Highlander! I’m sorry but I missed that. They are great movies and I can see why you would want to name your ship after them. Could I still see you turn that tartan into a dress, miss?”

”Thank you, Ma’am, for the assist. Bernadette, I win. You get to wear the blouse now. Hi there, I go by Kathy ordinarily. Bernie gets enthusiastic that my first name is spelled like Kathryn Janeway’s on Voyager and that I’m the USS MacLeod’s captain. What’s your name?”

”I’m Monty. Glad to meet you Kathy. I’m kinda glad that you got me to stop. It feels good to be just standing still for a change. I am really in to Scottish culture and it fits in to my trek avocation too with Scotty on the original USS Enterprise. I imagine that you all go for Scottish culture in addition to the Highlander interest from you having that Tartan.”

”Okay Monty, I’ll show you how I can fold and pin the tartan into a dress, if you will promise to take one of out brochures and be our guest at the Starfleet IC at the Holiday Inn down the street. I believe that you would make a great crewmember in Starfleet.

Sarah showed me exactly what folds she made and where she placed the pins to make the dress. Soon she was again the amazingly beautiful lassie that had finally stopped me in my tracks. I saw the time and knew that a must see panel was soon to start. I didn’t forget to pick up a brochure from the table. However when I looked at it closely, I found that it was the one for the USS Republic. When I discovered my mistake, I went back to the table but instead of the two girls were a couple of heavy set men and no McLeod brochures in sight so I kept walking.

I finally did join Starfleet: The International Fan Association and became a member of the USS Republic chapter. They explained to me at the Starfleet IC that the USS Republic met not too far from me in a north west superb of Atlanta whereas the USS MacLeod met in the extreme south east sector beyond the suburbs. I had to join the club that I could get to on MARTA if needed since my parents might get involved. I was so enthusiastic that I took the Officer Training School test and passed it to become an Ensign right away.

Something seemed to click in me, at my first USS Republic meeting when Kathy was introduced again to me as the Captain of the USS MacLeod. Instead of running off afterward, I wanted to talk to Sarah after the meeting,”

”Hi Kathy, I’m [email protected] What’s your email address?”

”Monty, I don’t have one. I don’t have a working modem to get online and I can’t afford to join Compuserve just to get email.”

”Kathy, I have an extra modem that I know how to put on your PC and I have the diskette for Juno which we can install on your computer and you can get email for free.”

”I’m a bit busy Monty with work and other things but if you wanted to come to my house early before the next USS MacLeod meeting with the modem and disk, you could do it. I really appreciate your offer.”

Kathy handed me a sheet with all the information on the USS MacLeod membership and meetings, including a map. I saw that it was a lot closer than I had been told. I found out later that the person who told me that was from Alabama. I saw that the time was something that I could make as well.

”I can do it Kathy, I’ll see you before the USS Macleod meeting.

”You don’t know what this means to me, Monty. Thank you for your kindness.”

She gave me a kiss on the cheek and sent me away happy. You bet I went to her meeting. With the modem and software that I provided, Kathy had an email address. And because I helped her set up the software, I had her email address too.

That mismatched parts computer of hers was always having software or hardware problems. Helping Kathy with her computer became the excuse for my frequent visits to her home. I benefited from being able to keep in touch with Kathy by Email as well.

Beyond the simple things I started out doing, I was really a novice and had to do a lot through trial and error. Unfortunately, Kathy's computer suffered some of the effects of my errors. However when things were said and done, I always finally succeeded to restore her aging, patched together computer to function normally, at least for a while, until another component failed.

After we had begun the process of meeting for me to work on her computer, I had also become a member of her chapter of Starfleet, in addition to the one I originally belonged. When our friendship bond had grown close she had a dream, which she told me about later.

It was afterward, at her home, as she tried to process her perceptions of me, that she drifted away in the twilight between sleep and wakefulness. Kathy told me that she was literally beside herself as her astral body looked down on her near sleeping form. She was not alone, but had been joined by a beautiful woman, who Kathy perceived as an angel. The angel was rather tall with brown hair and mischievously twinkling green eyes. Since she had been gifted with visions in the past, Sarah knew that the thing to do was to listen attentively for the angel to begin speaking.

“Greetings Kathy! My name is Della and I'm here to help you interpret your perceptions of your friend"

“Thank you for coming, Della. What can you reveal about my friend, Monty? Something tells me that he is not what he appears to be. That discrepancy makes me a little uneasy about him on one level but his actions are always kind."

“Kathy, Let me help you see your friend's spirit and reveal the truth."

Della and Kathy's astral body were translated to peer into my bedroom as I lay sleeping. They were both witnesses as my astral spirit rose from my body. Sarah gasped as she realized that my astral spirit had taken the form of a young woman.

“This is Monty’s true self. One name that she uses in her mind for her true self is Monti, spelled M-O-N-T-I She was born with a rare condition, which will one day be known to your world as Harry Benjamin Syndrome. Her brain is no different from any woman's brain. God, who is perfect in creating new life, placed this female spirit within her body to inhabit her female brain."

“But otherwise Monty is no different from any other man?"

“Monty's female spirit makes her a woman. The Spirit and the Soul of a person live on eternally, but the body is temporary. A person's gender is an essential part of their spirit, and is fixed for all eternity"

“Does Monty know he's really a woman?"

“She always knew that she was different but it wasn't until entering male puberty and she did not start developing as the other girls that she realized what the difference was really"

“Monty is an honest soul. Why hasn't he told me about this himself?"

“Kathy, each person responds according to their gifts. The weight on her soul, of pretending to be someone she is not, will convict her and cause a crisis. She will either choose to be true and reveal this to you or else suffer the consequence that results from denying who she is in reality."

My spirit returned to my body. Everything appeared to be normal but now Kathy knew better. Della led Kathy back to where her body still lay in its twilight state.

“Why will Monty wait till a crisis forces him to choose?"

“She revealed her true female self to her parents as a child and later while she was still living with them as a young adult. They called her a liar and claimed that her true self was impossible. They demonized her thoughts so that she feared their reprisal if she revealed her true self again. More than, that she believed the fallacy that they advocated that God would condemn her to punishment unless her actions emulated a male."

Della paused a moment for Kathy to process her words a little more before continuing.

“Monty told the last woman she had a platonic relationship with before you, about her condition. She told Cindy, what she believed was the truth, that her female self had been buried so deeply that it would never resurface. At that time, Cindy had been her closest friend, and her complete rejection of Monty, left him completely devastated. It is because of Cindy's rejection that Monty will wait till the crisis occurs when she must confront the truth."

“Monty really wants to be my boyfriend. In most ways he already is, except that we don't date. What do I do if Monty asks me if we can start dating?"

“Ask Monty to wait a year. Before that year is up, she’ll confide in you about her true self. Even though at times it will be tempting to tell her what you know, it will be better for her for you to wait until she is ready to admit it herself."

“This is a bit much to take. I've already referred to Monty at work as my boyfriend, unknown to him, oh I guess I mean her? How should I refer to Monty?"

“You should simply refer to Monty by the gender she is presenting at the time. I'm glad I could answer some of your questions. The rest is for the two of you to discover together. It's time you returned to your life, Kathy. Thank you for caring about Monty"

Kathy's spirit merged with her physical self. Her last perception was of Della smiling warmly and that Della would keep her safe.

From Kathy's descriptions of Della, I recognized her as my departed maternal Grandmother. I still to this day wonder why Grandmother was sent to reveal to Kathy my true self even before I realized that I could no longer hide.

In the past Kathy had been open to messages from the spiritual realm, so when a message was given, she was prepared to both receive it and believe it. It was Kathy's friendship, which blossomed later into love, for me which would take both of us through the challenges to come.

I won't say yet, when Kathy confided in me about her vision and the other things that occurred out of my presence. It makes the most sense to me, telling the story now, to tell this in the order that it occurred instead of the order I found out about it.

It was really fortunate that after Della's visitation, Kathy fell into a deep sleep. I have no doubt that her unconscious mind was trying to make sense of her vision. She would need to be well rested, to face the aftermath of Della's visit, when she woke in the morning.