Folks, I thank all of you who have had the patience to put up with my long intro. Finally, it looks like the story is going somewhere. Not far, but at least a few questions get answered.

As usual, feedback is appreciated.

Part 7:

I awoke to the sound of gentle snoring. I looked around for its source, and found a pretty young woman snoozing in the chair opposite the sofa. She looked to be about 25, had auburn hair, a slight build, and that 'girl next door look' about her. As if she could sense my gaze upon her, she suddenly opened her eyes and looked at me.

“Hello, Aleena. My name is Rachel. How are you feeling?” she asked. Her voice had an ever so slight Irish lilt to it. Very nice.

“I’m fine, but not really”, I replied.

“Understandable, given the circumstances. I’m here to help you adjust to your new life. Phil figured it would be better if I talked with you, as you may have a bit of hostility towards him.”

I couldn’t help but smile a bit at that. “Yeah, I may just be a bit angry towards him. I understand what he is trying to do, and I sort of respect it, but at the same time…” I paused, to gather my thoughts. “I am a bit pissed about what has happened to my body, and my life, and this future that seems to be preplanned for me without my consent.”

“Of course”, Rachel responded. “However, you should know a few things about what is going on, and why, and the changes that are taking place.”

“Do tell. It would seem that I am not going anywhere soon, and I have an empty schedule.” Rachel looked like a nice girl, and I hated sounding sarcastic while talking with her. It seemed, however, that it would be a while before I was completely sociable again.

She smiled again, and began her explanation of what was.

“First of all, I should tell you that I am essentially in the same position as you are. Basically, I was abducted from my life, and brought here without permission. I guess because I have adapted so well, and because I have a Masters degree in psychology, I am sort of a “transition social worker”.

“I had a thriving psychology practice, a nice house, a cottage, and a few very good friends. However, I also had a penchant for crossdressing. You should know, however, that is not the only reason I was brought here, and the same goes for you, as well.”

I raised an eyebrow at this, and motioned for her to carry on.

“You see”, she continued “the psych profile they used, based upon data obtained from the internet and email records, indicated that I love kids, which is very true, I wanted to have a family, but various factors got in the way of that.”

“Your profile indicates that you also wanted to have a family, even if you didn’t admit it to yourself. Any photos of you and, say, your best friend’s kids reveal a great deal about your personality.” She paused to hand me a folder that was sitting on the coffee table.

I opened it up, and looked at pictures that were taken five or more years ago. They were of me hanging out with Frank (my best friend from high school) and his family at their cabin by the lake. I was having a water fight with his son and daughter in one photo; riding a bike with his son in another; and reading a bedtime story to his daughter in the next photo. Now that Rachel told me, I could see how happy I was around those kids. Thinking about it brought a tear to my eye — I would not likely ever see Tim or Ginny again.

There were other pictures in the folder, along with what appeared to be printed copies of
emails. I didn’t feel like looking at them at that moment. Rachel had since moved to sit beside me. She put a comforting hand on my shoulder, then said, “I know — I will miss my friends’ kids as well. Still, I had to show you that, just so you understand some of the logic of why you were chosen. It’s more than just men who can be women — it’s family oriented people who can raise the children of the future.”

I nodded, and did my best to put my sorrow aside. “Okay, it does make more sense now. I had some fear that they were just looking for sex objects for the men of the future. Still, how does all of this work? I understand the why of it, but where do I fit in?”

“Simple: you have the opportunity to be the ‘maternal surrogate’. And you will notice that I used the word opportunity in that sentence. No one will force you, or brainwash you, or anything along those lines. However, it is doubtful that you will refuse. One of the other criteria for choosing maternal surrogates is that they must be compassionate people. And you are that — despite your quirky nature” she said, your eyes glittering with amusement. It was disconcerting that someone I didn’t know seemed to know me so well.

“So, what does a ‘maternal surrogate’ do, exactly?” I asked.

“Well, you take over the care of a child after it is born. You are effectively his or her mother. Depending upon the circumstances, you may choose to raise the little one in the birth mother’s home, or at a dormitory where other surrogates live. Or”, she said, wagging her eyebrows, “you may end up raising the child along with the biological father. All sorts of interesting possibilities there, si?”

“Um, you mean…?” my voice trailed off as I considered the last part of her sentence.

“Absolutely! Why not?”

“Well, I’ll give that its due consideration. Moving on, then; why would I voluntarily become a maternal surrogate?”

“Well, think about it — there are a lot of children being born… well, they are going to be born. Damn these time paradoxes!” she looked momentarily confused before continuing, “Anyways, they will need proper care. They will need a mother. Despite how you may feel about it right at this moment, as the hormones change your body and your psyche, you will eventually become much more like a woman. You will feel maternal instincts. You can fight that, and stay out of it, or you can give in to what will happen, and make the right choice. There will be other factors to be taken into account, but those will be discussed as they become more relevant. I will only say this — it will be next to impossible to turn away. They have planned it as such, without the use of thought control, or force. In a way, it is sheer genius.”

“So, have you been to this future? You seem to know a lot about it.” I asked.

“No, not yet. I should have been on my way, but like I said before, I am needed here to help newbies adapt. Probably I will be in a pod in about a year from now.”

“I’m sorry — a pod?” I asked. “What is that all about?”

“Well, they could transfer us to our destination via time travel, but it is somewhat dangerous, and uses enormous amounts of energy. That much energy is not readily available in this era. So, we are each placed in an advanced hibernation / transformation pod. While we are going ahead over one hundred years in the future, we will only age about one and a half years. In that time, we can learn what we need for our future jobs, and our bodies will complete their transition their sexual transition.”

“So, we become women?” I asked?

“Some do, but only a few. They are the ones who wanted to be women before they were brought here. They won’t be genetic women, however, due to fears of the virus that annihilated most of the females. All changes are done by surgical methods. The rest of us will become what you would refer to as pre-op transsexuals. Unless someone was to look at your genitals, however, they would be very hard pressed to tell you from a ‘real’ female.”

“Ah, I see”, I said, after a few moments of contemplation, then asked. “So, when does my ‘journey’ begin?”

“In about a week”, Rachel replied, then smiled. “You are so lucky!”

“Yeah, real lucky”, I muttered to myself.