UF-2 by Barbie Lee Edited by Catherine Linda Michel

Sherry walked over to my couch, turned sideways and gracefully sat as she put her hand behind her legs to hold her skirt. “If we have babies they will only be girls, no matter what we do or try. We can not change their sex to boys. Those girls will carry the DNA we are carrying and they will have only girls and on and on.”

My mind was screaming in horror. My stomach was rolling as Sherry explained to me what the DNA changes had been. Obviously a whole lot more than I wanted to admit.

“Remember in your history where male tsetse flies were irradiated and made sterile? Then they were released by the millions into the wild. After they bred with the female, both adults died after the female laid sterile eggs. It didn’t take long before the tsetse fly was extinct, except in the lab.”

What was Sherry getting at? “You aren’t suggesting we are sterile? You said we could have babies?”

She held up her left hand and studied her long nails. “Only girl babies. It wouldn’t have done any good to sterilize the human males on the station. We don’t mate like tsetse flies. Even if the males were sterile the females could go on breeding and having boy and girl babies. The human race wouldn’t be in any danger of being eradicated.”

“Think about it. If we can only have girl babies, and those babies grow up to have only girls, and on and on until all that is left are girls. The war is fought and won without us ever seeing our enemy or them firing a single shot. Even if it takes a few hundred years to wipe us out as we spread the code of only girls being born, it’s a beautiful plan.”

Sherry shook her head. “I don’t think they know how wide spread the human population has become or how many of us there are. It would take time eternal for humanity to be wiped out like that if they think we are a couple space stations more or less, and our home planet is not too distant, then the plan would have worked.”

“Obviously they had a human or humans to take DNA samples from and formulate to their design. Probably space travelers who had run into them on their home planet or in space. If you plan on breeding a species out of existence, then you need what that species considers attractive females as bait. Thus we have been designed as every male’s fantasy girl. We will end up with beautiful facial features, big breasts, incredibly tiny waists, and baby bearing hips.

My com link spoke to me. “Captain, the Pash is back. She docked without requesting permission. Should we send guards down to…”

“Let her do what she wants. She’s immune and we are already... Let her come aboard.” I tapped my com link off.

Turning my attention back to Sherry I blinked in disbelief as I digested what Sherry had told me. “You’re not serious?”

It was a reflex reaction as I stared. I couldn’t help myself as I took a good measure of Sherry. After a month she was already a good portion of what she had been describing. Unconsciously I felt my waist and caught myself before my hands made it up to my breasts. I already didn’t like what I had become. Sherry was telling me I was going to look like those female freaks on the rest and recreation stations that pirates and space travelers frequented. Those women were hideous freaks with breasts so big the women...

“NO! Not me.” I had been to medical the day before. I was thinking of having my breasts reduced from what they described as a thirty eight D, back to a thirty two A. I chickened out at the last minute. The idea of someone fondling my breasts even if I really wasn’t a woman made me want to cry. How did women put up with it? I hated being a woman. I certainly wasn’t going to carry the extra package Sherry was describing.

“Won’t work.” Sherry put her petite little hands under her own full breasts. “The design is fluid. I imagine it was some pirate they received their information from. I also imagine he had returned from some bordello where that kind of woman was fresh in his mind. If that kind of woman was the ultimate turn on for mankind, then they would design the bait to look like her.”

“What do you mean won’t work? If you are telling me my breasts will grow to... Anyway, I can make surgery as often as needed. I’ll be damned if I’m going to look like the poster babe for some Trader’s Post.” Sherry was wrong on this one. I could put the brakes on the changes surging through my body.

“Brandy, you are fooling yourself if you think you can stop what is happening. This isn’t a little DNA manipulation like humans have been doing for thousands of years. This is definite coding for a specific body form. Who ever did this knew how to realign the genomes, telomeres, and nucleotides of the DNA.”

Sherry rose from the couch and walked over to the door. “If the life forms doing this figure out how wide spread the human race is and sends out those bio-mech balls to any of the busy traffic hubs, it wouldn’t take more than a few years to contaminate our species. In a way, we were lucky they sent their DNA weapon to an outpost like us. We were contaminated and found the cause before it spread.”

As I watched Sherry leave, I glanced down at my hands. We were lucky? Something had changed me into a damn woman without my consent and we were lucky? Funny, I didn’t feel so lucky! “Security, place all the men in quarantine in the lounge. They are off limits to all the women on this station. Medical, all women are to receive birth control shots immediately.”

Would it be enough to keep anyone from becoming pregnant? Up until now only the natural women had been inoculated against pregnancy. Military and company rules were, no babies and no children on an outpost station. Now most of the whole damn station was almost nothing but women. From my own feelings, I knew those women either wanted men, or soon would. Sherry was right, it was an ingenious war. And I hated it.

My door slid open as I was trying to get my emotions under control. I glanced up to see who it was. I was looking at Toni. Suddenly I hated her. God, did I hate her. She was immune to what we humans were suffering. I hated her for her slim lithe body, because she didn’t have breasts to speak of, nor wide hips, nor... I hated her for all she didn’t have. “WHAT THE HELL DO YOU WANT!”

She looked at me with pity. “I am not your problem, Brandy. I am only trying to help. If you...”

“DAMN YOU TONI! I don’t want your sympathy nor your pity. I certainly don’t need your damn help. We are screwed! Every damn one of us on this damn Out Post who were infected are royally screwed!”

My emotions boiled over as I walked up in front of Toni, screaming at her. “THAT DAMN DAVID DOESN’T MIND THAT HE’S A BITCH! I HATE THAT BASTARD! IT’S NOT FAIR! I DON’T WANT TO BE A... a... a...”

“Woman?” Toni said the word I couldn’t.

“DAMN YOU!” I was running on pure emotional hatred of what I had become as I brought up my right hand to slug Toni.

She easily caught my right wrist before I connected. I responded by bringing up my left hand to do the job. She easily caught my left wrist with her right hand. That made me even more furious as emotional tears of frustration streamed down my cheeks. “TURN ME LOOSE YOU FREAK!”

Toni easily pulled me to her chest. I was helpless as a kitten against her unbelievable animal strength. Screaming expletives and crying at the same time, I struggled in vain to be free. Never in my whole life had I ever been held captive against my will. My rage boiled into a fury of unGodly proportions as I struggled. A lifetime later, emotionally and physically spent, I stopped struggling as I cried.

Toni bent over to her right and swept my legs out from under me as she picked me up like a child. If I hadn’t been so emotional, I could have admired the animal strength she possessed.

She carried me over to the couch, gently laid me down and sat down by my waist. With her right hand she brushed my hair out of my eyes and wiped my tears. “Everything has a reason. There are some things ordained by an intelligence greater than you suspect.”

As she rose to her feet, I felt embarrassed by my emotional outburst and ashamed because I had directed my hate for what had happened at Toni and David. I was not a leader by any definition. I had let my emotions run wild. Leaders do not think with emotions, they think with logic.

“I’m sor... sorry. It’s not your fault. Please... forgive me. I always thought you were a beautiful woman. I can’t take back what I said and undo...”

Toni smiled as she winked at me. “Captain, I can feel your emotions. You don’t need to apologize. I understand the emotional flood humans experience. Pash feel emotions too though in a different way. Let’s keep this misunderstanding between the two of us. This station needs a Captain. There isn’t anyone any better qualified to do the job.”

“Tha... thanks.” I sniffled as I wiped my eyes. I was so ashamed for what I had done. Toni was treating it as if it was nothing. If I had displayed my little emotional temper tantrum in front of anyone else I would be locked up in medical right now.

“When you feel up to it, I found the source of your bio carriers. Sherry should ride along also. Meet me at my ship in two hours.” She walked out the door without waiting for an answer.

Source? “WAIT!” But the door had closed behind her already. Two hours? I was ready now. Surely we could reverse engineer the code if we had the original code. I didn’t know if I could wait two more hours. Her ship? I had no idea if any human had ever been inside a Pash starship? There was no mention of it in any of the scant information we had in archives.

After I pulled myself together, I touched my com link. “Locate Sherry and have her meet me at Toni’s ship in two hours. Tell her to pack for any contingency.”

“Affirmative, Captain.” It spoke back to me.

I made good use of the two hours. I changed into a jumpsuit and boots as I tossed Brandy’s dress and flats into the trash. When I returned, I was going to be Bill or die trying. After Toni pointed out who had done this to me I was going to accept nothing less.

After making sure my sidearm was operational and charged, I picked up a spacesuit from supply and added an emergency pack to my load. I was gasping and wheezing as I stepped off the lift where Toni’s ship was docked. Damn! I had never noticed everything being so heavy before. Next time... I caught myself. There wouldn’t be a next time like this. Bill wasn’t a wimp. Before this was over I would be Bill, not some weepy, teary eyed, weak little woman named Brandy.

Sherry had beat me to the bay. She was a beautiful woman, there was no doubt. Extreme in the plus measurements like the women who frequent the Traders Posts. Which, I had become acutely aware, I was one myself. I glanced down at my huge breasts. Soon to be rectified I was sure.

A door appeared and a landing ramp materialized beside Toni’s ship. “Molecular flow.” I was standing beside Sherry as I studied the ramp.

“Has to be. We might as well go have a talk with the enemy and see if we can come to an agreement for ceasing hostilities.” Sherry took a short glance in my direction before she picked up her bags and headed up the ramp.

I was following her up the ramp as I struggled with my bags. “Has Toni told you what this is about?”

“Brandy, Sherry, welcome aboard. This is a personal ship, not a passenger ship, so it’s going to be a little cramped. Drop your gear by the hatch and please sit in the chairs in the aisle.” Came from my right as I boarded Toni’s ship.

Gladly, I did as Toni suggested with my bags as they were heavy. Toni was reclining behind a console at what I thought was the rear of the ship. She pointed toward my left. “Brandy, if you will step to your left and stop, a seat will be waiting for you.”

Sherry had already stopped a few steps up the aisle to my left. I watched as a recliner materialized under her. She sat down and then laid back.

“Some ship.” She remarked.

“Yeah.” I stepped up behind her and looked before I sat down in a recliner that wasn’t there a millisecond ago.

“Relax while I move away from UF-2.”

I was waiting for the sound of energy being thrust so we could start moving, but I didn’t hear a thing. I wondered when we were going to start moving? “Take long to warm up this ship?”

“Not long.” Came from behind me.

“Please stand up.” Toni put her hand down on my shoulder.

“Change of plans?” I was wondering why we weren’t moving. I stood up as Sherry rose in front of me.

“No, we are at my home. Please, won’t you follow me. Leave your equipment on the ship, if you don’t mind. There is no threat to you here.” Toni was stepping off the craft as she was talking.

Did Toni call our cargo bay her home, or did I misunderstand? The aisle was narrow and Sherry couldn’t get by me until I moved. Our recliners had formed back into the ship, or wherever they materialized from. “We must have engine problems or something?” I looked back at Sherry before I turned to leave the ship.

“Something.” She had a laugh in her voice.

“My God! Are we inside a hologram?” Standing in the door I was looking out across an expanse of a lush green world.

Toni was standing at the bottom of the ramp. She waved her hand around her. “Brandy, please, welcome to my home.”

I didn’t understand? Toni called a hologram her home? I was positive we had never left the docking bay. I was also positive we never jumped to hyperspace. We had the most advanced starships in the intelligent world. It took a lot of computer power and maneuvering to get ready to jump into hyper drive, going from star to star. Much less the braking on the other end of the trip.

I turned to look back at Sherry. “Holograms look so real don’t they? Pretty good to generate one inside a docking bay.”

Sherry laughed as shook her head and pushed me with her hand to get me moving down the ramp. “Brandy, you’re fooling yourself if you don’t believe you are a couple billion light years from UF-2. If you don’t mind, I would like to see Toni’s home. We are the only humans to ever visit.”

“Billion?”

Sherry managed to push me to the bottom of the ramp and walked around me. “Plus, some dimensional side travel tossed in for good measure. We couldn’t phone home if we wanted to. We aren’t in our dimension any longer. Earth and all the worlds mankind has populated don’t exist any longer.”

“WHAT! YOU’RE KIDDING!” I was thinking about a hologram and some weird joke between Toni and Sherry.

“Brandy, don’t get me wrong. Humanity still exists, but not in this dimension. Toni’s species travel not only from star to star but through dimensions as well.” She motioned me to follow. “Let’s go see Toni’s home. It’s a rare invite. We are the only humans to be invited to a Pash home.”

“O… kay.” I followed Toni and Sherry into what I would call an Ivy covered entry.

Where are they? Who are they? What in space is going on here? All will become clear in the next exciting installment, entitled "Secrets? We don't need no esteenking secrets" or "Holy crap! _I_'m the alien?"

Please be so kind as to comment and kudo the story. Barbie and I greatly appreciate your interest the story and thank you for reading.