While Mike at last wanted to talk, it was difficult to grasp all the details. As usual he did not always complete the sentences he started, so this is an approximation of some of the conversation:
"I get these strange attraction to men", Mike said.
"You mean that you think you are suddenly homosexual?"
"Yes. While I was in Amsterdam, and tried to get you accepted in the guild of surgeons, you requested that I get you some drugs and products. I met a young apprentice-apothecary, and he looked at me, and I felt faint"
"It wasn't the result of you skipping breakfast?" I said, trying to be funny.
I was almost smiling, but managed to stay serious, as it is weird to see a person with breasts, and a vagina complaining about being sexually attracted to a boy.
"No, I had eaten that day, and I couldn't take my eyes off him, and he was sent away"
This required some time to analyse and Mike was crying - well - like a girl.

*_*_*_* Anna *_*_*_*
It wasn't that easy. I applied for certification as a surgeon to the Guild of Surgeons of Amsterdam. The answer was flourished, but in clear-text it said I was totally unqualified as a surgeon, and as a woman I could only aspire to be a midwife, and even then I would have to prove your skills, and "we" will never accept you. It was signed F. Ruysch Secretary of the Guild.

Fortunately the small community of Altena and vicinity was not important enough to have a surgeon much less a physician! It was not even in Holland, but in Friesland, and Frisian guild was not as strong, and rulings by the Amsterdam lodge of Surgeons did not affect this area. There was going to be a movement towards interdicting me practice in Friesland, but Paul was in the "Vroedschap" of the town, which now was growing in importance. He did build alliances, and it was also very convenient for him that I healed a number of family members of the representatives to the council. One of Pauls' enemies in the council experienced that: Paul denied him access to me when his oldest son was ill, while he had no such problems with one of the others
It was probably un-ethical, but Paul had some cynic sides. What more- he was quite charming, and when he proposed I saw there was a combination of love and convenience. It was a public secret that he had sex with a person who had VD. It was also known that I could cure TB and a hundred of other ailments.

Paul and Mike had these long philosophical discussions on the nature of the game they were in. While Paul was recovering they had one more of them. I heard them discuss it for the evening in a row. There was a recurring argument:
"There are far too many visible stars in the sky. The constellations don't look the same"
Feels strange to witness yet another discussion between two that come to the same wrong conclusion, I was surprised they had not understood that few places in modern world was far enough from electric light.
"You see a night-sky that is not affected by stray-light from civilization. The stars are the same."
They were stunned.
"I was fascinated by star-gazing when I was 9-10 years old", I told them.
"I can show you where to look for the Andromeda galaxy, or the Crab nebula"
Then came the next question: Are we affecting history?
We discussed it almost forever, but the un-escapable argument was that we as individuals would then cease to exist, as somehow one of our ancestors was not going to meet the one they married in the other reality. So this had to be a game we were inside, or a parallel universe, maybe even without a physical connection to ours.

At least I put this former hobby of mine to good use. Mike could produce silver nitrate, so we could make photographs, but the world was probably not ready for that, but it was very useful for other purposes. I suggested we make a star-map, and a star-catalogue that could compete with Nicolas Flamsteed's work, and which he refused to publish - thinking that knowledge was intellectual property. So I made a good reflection telescope - which we used to photograph the nigh-sky, and then I transferred the pictures onto copper-plates with high accuracy. The map of the stars with tables - entitled "Sterrenkaart bij A. Elkwijk, v Zevenhuis" with a subtitle of 'under guidance and supervision by M. Zevenhuis'. That way Mike got most of the credit. I didn't mind to be subordinate.

The silver-nitrate film was put on top of the waxed copper plate. Then with some adjustments I could draw the stars, and that work could be done during daytime, and checking Declination and Right-Ascension of the heavenly objects. Thus in the course of a year, I had enough data to produce the document, and thus make a book which was very useful for navigators.

I was all nervous for the wedding, and the wedding night. I also had qualms about the whole thing. Was I really in love with Paul, or was it just an opportunity to be close to Mike, who I like a lot. Paul was never was willing to discuss deeper feelings with me. He was so eager, and I did what I had to do. We have all our secrets. Secrets we do not share with everyone. Secrets that sometimes only you know, sometimes only family members or very close friends know. In order to preserve it we lie, and I lied.
Lucas was not Lucas or Odd, but Anna, and I was Lukas. We had decided to stick with the lie some time ago. Lucy loved at least to try out to be a boy, and be considered a young man when he got that far. I didn't mind waking up as girl and lose my cock. I was first quite excited about it. I had dressed up, and at one time I had considered becoming a nurse. I realized at the time that I had to separate my desires with reality. I had used my access to medical literature to read a lot about transsexualism.
To play this game was for a short while a dream come true. But again reality catches up. What irritated me without bounds was to be considered a lesser person. First I thought it was because I was in the body of a child, but quickly I discovered the social rules that permeated the society. The differences may seem subtle, but Lucas was allowed to talk back, when I was chastened. My brother was given freedom to roam, and play at an age where I was limited to work and serve.

Why didn't I tell the truth when I discovered that Mike was not an effeminate guy but a girl? First maybe stupidity, then when I was alone with Paul some time after he told me this:
"It was good we were brother and sister, because I would never dream of fucking a person I knew was a guy in his mind, and a girl in body. That is just too gross"

I was attracted to Paul, in spite of his narrow minded attitude. No logic about it. Even when I knew he had VD. The intense blue eyes. That short beard. He was good-looking, like a star from Hollywood. The scar he got wasn't charming, but his other side made up for it. I should have noticed that he was shallow, and … I will not be the last one to fall for looks, and forget the whole picture.
They were so different. Mike was a well of knowledge, even adapting an idea on how to produce antibiotics from bacteria in soil, the technology that saved the population of our world, as the bacteria grew all resistant to penicillin and similar
Paul was the antithesis, and yet sometimes so much the same as Mike. It is possible I fell for Paul because he saw me, while he actually did see me as an opportunity to gain access to important people.
We started our flirt while was recovering, and I was his doctor and nurse at the same time. No wonder we got intimate. He was praising his luck to find a modern qualified doctor in medicine available, but without Mike and Mike's chemical knowledge I couldn't have achieved what I did.
Thanks to Mike we had the stuff to treat him, and hundred of other poor buggers. Mike was the real miracle maker, a true magician, earning his nickname. Remembering how to make basic and advanced chemicals that really did miracles. Already hydrogenperoxyde is a powerful disinfectant, and ether is better than chloroform for general anaesthesia, (the problem is danger of fire/explosion) and then there were these magic tricks; like making glowsticks. With access to large amounts of Nitric acid, you can make photographic plates, mercury fulminates, liquid rocket propellant, nylon and so on. No wonder he was making a fortune faster than he could spend it, but then he was very dedicated to save the United Provinces, and create democracy, out of an oligarchical society.

~o~O~o~

It was a bit of a shock waking up as a girl. Strange, but it wasn't the shock you would expect. I didn't flip out, but Anna did … she was a boy, and that made me do everything to calm the lad. That was when I discovered that it was Anna, and she had become my brother. So much for playing a computer-game with your niece, and selecting the 'siblings' option. I walked more or less in a daze the next days. Mom and Dad noticed we had changed, but didn't have time - Dad was working all day in the fields or at the sawmill that cut the large trees into planks that was shipped to Holland. Mom was busy with the babies, and the best baker in the district. To supplement our meagre subsistence she was hired to come and do the baking.
I had no possibility of wearing trousers, even if I would have wanted to. My brother, formerly my niece, was the only boy in the family, so I had no older sibling to purloin trousers from, and days were so busy from sunrise to sunset that I hardly had time to think about it. Only when the work was very tedious, or the flock of animals was more concentrated, and they didn't stray.

People thought I acted strange, so it was a good thing I was sent off up in the hills and mountains to tend sheep, goats and cows, make butter and cheese, chase away wild animals. It was hard work, and I barely had food. I survived I think by drinking milk primarily, but I also used a trick learned when I worked for the Red Cross in Kenya: the herders there could drink blood from the cows, as well as the milk to supplement their diet.

It was not me drinking blood that started the evil rumours about me. I was very careful when I did it. Surprisingly it was the fact that I milked the cows from the side. A goat you milk by more or less riding it back to front, under your skirt, and hope that the nanny-goat was not about to send droppings in the milk. For some weird reason the cows were also milked from behind, and sometimes with the same accidents, and that is not just small turds that fall down. I did it from the side, and was noticed as someone who did things in strange ways. Only witches would milk a cow that way, I heard when I was arrested later.

I had an older sister Sunniva that took most of the chores at home, then she was hired by a farmer, and I got those tasks in addition to the other tasks. Then she got in trouble with her employer, and that was a serious problem, as Sunniva would be indicted and fined for leaving service at the wrong time of the year. Father managed to talk to some contacts on the boats that bought timber. Dutchmen that needed the timber for shipbuilding in spite of the war going on, and the captain was willing to take her to Holland, and he knew someone who needed a servant. She just had to come on-board last minute after customs clearance.

We got a letter from her in Dutch. She never could read nor write, so she used a town-writer. It stated she was alive and well, working for a brewer. I even managed to read that letter myself. There was a name there. While applying for a license in the medical guild, I did also look for my sister. The problem was that it was some years before and the had been the plague, and there had been building in the area. No trace of her. Nobody remembered her, everybody assumed she was one of the many victims of the bubonic plague. Not even a trace of a brewer with the name similar to the one I read about in the letter.
...
When Lucas and me were included - there was one that became a bit jealous. Els was the caretaker of the home of the two young men, deaf and sometimes mute, and she fancied her position threatened by me. It took a while to get a working relation with her. As Mike was far too busy to continue to give her speech training, beyond what he had done, and Paul didn't have the patience, it fell on me to try to make her control the pitch and some of the sounds. Not easy while I was still learning the language myself.

Setting up a business around healing depends very much on the willingness of patients to come. A bad reputation will kill the income. However as a woman I was more accessible to a special group of persons. Sometimes I was called to help with childbirths. When the birthing process took too long, then the midwife could become too desperate and made someone call me, but I quickly gained a favourable reputation among the midwives as I did not compete with them. I showed them a trick or two, and thereby gained their respect. The mothers felt it natural then later to call me when their kids were ill. When pregnancy goes wrong there is urgency, so the help I could offer was only local. Often the messenger arrived too late. Sometimes there was not much I could do, but armed with antibiotics and herbs that actually work wonders, particularly with puerperal fever. I repaired tears in the vagina after birth. I treated pre-eclampsia cases, with extract from the bark of the willow-tree, and with Epsom salt. I could also lower the death-rate among the smallest ones. Suddenly the infant mortality was drastic reduced, and that was very noticeable in such a small town or village, when it previously had been close to 40%. I treated successfully urethritis amongst women. There were some industrial accidents. A stonemason got his foot crushed. I missed X-ray as a diagnosis tool.
After a while even men came to me with their woes. I tried to have some of the studies made published in Journal des Sçavans but was refused on the grounds it was written by a woman. Jean Gallois, the editor, was adamant, that his paper needed to keep some standards, but when the criteria is what gender the author has, instead of what is written, then the paper does not merit to survive.

But if I felt the strain of being considered less apt, and less responsible, I was more than happy as being a girl and then a woman, and when Paul proposed I was genuinely happy. It was also very convenient, because under the name Zevenhuis I could get a new type of acceptance.

I loved the evenings when Mike and Paul discussed if they were in a game or alternative universe.
"Frank Tipler had this theory that ...", Mike would say.
"I have heard about him, and he died half a century ago, and he is still considered a foney", Paul cut in. I was amazed how he remembered such things, as he seemed oblivious to other knowledge of his previous life; while I had salvaged so much medical knowledge that I could function as a medical doctor.

Before the wedding I spent the time in their residence in Amsterdam. It was important to keep a good reputation, and people who marry do not live under the same roof if they want to be considered honourable. Quite a good real-estate investment. The price of the land doubled and doubled again, and Mike had bought and then sold some sections on Kaisergracht, but he kept the Prinsengracht house. He may not have understood it when he bought it, but to own property in Amsterdam made him respected in circles that didn't care about intellectual achievement. I spent quite some time reading Mike's various works. Some were impressive, some rather dull. I knew the maths behind Tractatus ... He wrote political papers on ethe evil of using slave labour, on the stupidity of granting a long term monopoly of trade. Until now, this had been a kind of pass-time but we were later to use it for the betterment of society. Ever active, Mike wrote articles on the political organisation, and the problem of giving the VOC a monopoly on trade to half the world, in a long-term perspective, and the problem of corruption. Another political pamphlet or small book was on the necessity of improving the defences of the country, and a criticism of the lack of common defence-plan on land. There was one arguing for the need of re-instating the position of Stathouder, and a sharp criticism that in reality Holland's and Zeeland's defence relied on the other provinces represented the landward - so they should be subsidized, as Holland and Zeeland reaped the benefits of the Marine power, and that was financed mainly from a common budget.
Paul had to distance himself from some of this in the Frisian council where he was just a rookie member.

I would say I had a marvellous wedding. All my best nurses, some of whom I think could become genuinely good doctors if they were allowed, were invited. important persons, and young men were also invited. Some declined, but Mike had one of his special shows, and we saw the wonders of science. So everyone that declined then were sorry for not attending. Mike even produced a special batch of dye for the wedding dress, a golden shine - that became the talk of the town, and further away. It was a fantastic gift, and the silk factory making the fabric was located in Bremen, which tied the economy of Bremen closer to ours, and giving a strong support for the Calvinistic protestants, that opposed the re-institution of Catholicism, and the pressure from Lutheran Swedes.
Both Mike and Paul were obviously anti Catholics. If I understood right they were refugees from the persecution of protestants by the Catholic bishops that took power after 1648.

~o~O~o~

Paul had a strange, but wonderful present: he had me admitted to the University of Groningen. It had required some encouragement, a donation to the university, and it was later said that the rector thought he was accepting Mike, and Paul is supposed to have said
"Do you think you get more a man by rejecting Anna?"

I have to admit I was a bit weak on the Latin grammar, and so bad in ancient Greek. Modern medical curriculum does not require a very advanced knowledge of these things. Paul helped me by sponsoring a tutor on that subject. There was quite a stir in the student body when I attended, but I could quickly show that I was more than capable, and soon I could shine. the professor let me expand on the growth of stones in the kidney, and the relationship to gout. Gout becoming an increasing problem among the wealthy, particularly noble men so its treatment was very lucrative. Then there was these antibiotics he provided me with. The recipes for the production of these was top-secret as it was a very strategic advantage. Mike said that it might not be used actively for the political gains of the Netherlands, but he wanted medical knowledge to instigate equity between genders.

On my way to the University of Groeningen, I once met a young girl - she was about 14. She stopped me
"Excuse me Madam; may I ask a question?"
"Yes dear"
“You are the woman that is studying to become a physician?”
I felt I was a bit renown.
"How do you get to the University?"
She spoke with a strong German accent. I understood she meant how to be admitted.
"What is your name, dear?"
"Catharina Schrader, Madam"
"Well my dear Catharina- it will probably require lot of hard work, and even more luck. Why do you ask?"
"We have just fled Germany, and are planning to move to Leiden, but I heard from the others that you are studying to become a physician, and I want to do the same. I want so much to heal people from all kind of diseases"
"So I do, but let's face it, the world will probably never be fair to the fairer sex, and you will need more that the average good fortune to access one of these places he men jealously guard against women. Try to convince your father to let you educate yourself, you must learn at least Latin and maybe some basic Greek. You are welcome to inform me how things are going. When the day comes, I could maybe make a difference between gaining access, or being denied access, but you have to qualify yourself"
I could see hope, but she was also resigned as I think she knew what a woman's lot was. Most likely she would marry, have kids, and die without leaving a lasting impact in history.

I also practised in Leeuwarden, and Heerenveen of course, as my local fame grew, while the guild of gentlemen surgeons in more well-known locations kept on denying my existence. The reputation of the academy in Groningen was about to explode, as this was the place to have serious surgery done, after I trained a dozen nurses into administrating ether-vapour - giving the surgeons time to perform excellent jobs. I did show that when sedated with ether it was easy to perform surgery on a scale not possible by the other surgeons. The actual substance was a trade-secret. A major area of surgery was the treatment of stones. Kidney stone is incredibly painful, and people were not squeamish about the post-op pain, the miracle was to sleep through it, and just have a scar, which even women did not complain about as they were not about to go around half naked. The nurses I trained became known as anaesthetist, and it was deemed a suitable ward type of job, as it did not interfere with the more "serious" surgeons job.

I soon discovered I was pregnant. Paul was proud. He talked about postponing the trip across Germany and Poland to recruit. He did postpone it. There were some challenges of political nature. How do you raise an army on foreign soil? Mike said money would probably fix the issues.

I was worried about Mike. "He" kept a very strict diet. In order to hide his gender, he had to keep very thin, and in addition he avoided the monthly flows, which I had accepted, and actually liked, now that I enjoyed Paul. There was no doubt in my mid he was developing Anorexia. However how do you treat a "family member"? Everything you say with the best of intention may be twisted back. I tried several times, and most of them with quite vicious discussions. When Mike collapsed it was my job to patch him/her up. That was quite a challenge. Mike was not not happy in his "borrowed" body. I think he would have developed hormone blockers and synthetic testosterone if he could do that, but that was still outside his capabilities. No amount of psychiatric treatment can make someone truly accept that your body is not how you see yourself. Mike was working himself to death, and also starving his body.

While Mike at last wanted to talk, it was difficult to grasp all the details. As usual he did not always complete the sentences he started, so this is an approximation of some of the conversation:
"I get these strange attraction to men", Mike said.
"You mean that you think you are suddenly homosexual?"
"Yes. When I was in Amsterdam, and tried to get you accepted in the guild of surgeons, I met a young apprentice-apothecary, and he looked at me, and I felt faint"
"It wasn't the result of you skipping breakfast?" I said, trying to be funny.
I was almost smiling, but managed to stay serious, as it is weird to see a person with breasts, and a vagina complaining about being sexually attracted to a boy.
"No, I had eaten that day, and I couldn't take my eyes off him, and he was sent away"
This required some time to analyse and Mike was crying - well - like a girl.

So Mike was completely confused. He was struggling with daemons he had created himself. Maybe that could be cured?
"You told me ... - that you occupy the body of Paul's sister - her name was ... Maria?"
"Y..Yes"- Mike was still sobbing.
"So ... Is it possible that you as Mike , you are heterosexual male, and ... your brain - that originally belonged to Maria ... is also heterosexual"
I could see I had given him a bait that was an intellectual challenge, and I continued by saying: "Would it be possible than that Maria's brain sometimes takes over. You are now experiencing the conflict between your own brain-pattern and Maria's - and may I warn you..."
I needed to catch my breath before I said the following:
"All evidence in psychology- as little evidence here actually is, and not just a general opinion elevated to science because it is said by someone with authority, indicates that the primitive brain is sexually oriented, and impossible to over-rule by social convenience, prayers, Voodoo and well-wishing. It is possible we are just in a computer-game, but I think this is something more like time-travel, and anyway we have to play the game when it is there, or die. My guess is - and it is only a guess - that you are a 'straight' woman. But - I think you have to figure out who you are - and if you are really Maria, then that part of you will eventually win, you must accept it or loose your mind."

Mike took some time to answer.
“Could be - I am not ready to accept it yet. So please consider me still male”
I respect that, and therefore I use male pronouns for Mike.

In the process of making Mike at least accept life, I decided to take his attention off the things that worried him. He was adamant about being referred to in male terms. I think he needed a hobby to make him forget the gigantic task he had assumed. My work as a surgeon and doctor gave me a separate income, so I could buy two riding horses. Mike rode in trousers, and astride as a man, while I actually enjoyed riding with a side-saddle. One day he even was willing to try side-saddle. "Never again" was his reaction, as he strived gain the right balance. I felt as if my main job was to give Mike a new purpose, something more than saving a country facing a terrible foe. For several years he was so focused on the one task that he had not laughed at life. I was tempted to tell him about myself, but a secret is a secret, and there was also the case of keeping my "brother's” secret a secret.

I even made Mike try on a dress, stressing that it was voluntary, and it wasn't that dangerous. He didn't dare try, as he was scared of being discovered. But with more food he started to get menses...

When expecting a baby it is wonderful to have a hot water bath. It relieves the ache in the back, and brings sunshine to grey days. Mike hadn't had a complete dip in water since - yes since his first day here. Oh , he was clean- he cleaned himself, but with a wet towel. I asked Els provide more hot water. Good we had a very large stock of peat to boil the water. Mike even helped with the cooking, which was considered a very feminine task. I had to coax him into accepting to help us, as it could blow his cover.
Els found out about Mike, one evening he washed himself, and she entered because the door was not locked. A little bit shocked, and at the same time not really surprised, while I explained he was a she. At least she now understood why Mike was immune to her charms. We laughed a bit about it, although it was tragic, in many ways. Although Els would not gossip, for obvious reasons, it was more and more apparent that Mike's days as acknowledged male was nearing an end, and that he would have to come out one day or another. Paul had sworn an oath to never divulge the situation. Greta knew, and kept quiet about it, but more and more people would eventually notice.

I don't know if I said and did the right thing for Mike/Maria. At least there is no doubt that I was a woman. The fear of pain. Fear of death even, as childbirth is statistically the most dangerous thing women can experience in the year 1671. Yet there was that wonder of creating a new life. My belly was protruding, a week later I went into labour. Few women here were more knowledgeable about births than me at this age and time, and I can say knowledge is no help. Actually it made it worse. Paul was absent, still in Germany somewhere. I was worried, knowing all things that can go wrong. I had a long and painful period, but I experienced the many miracles that a birth often is. Afterwards all the pain was forgotten with the little boy in my arms. William Michael Cornelis weighed almost 10 Frisian pound, and was a Frisian foot and 10 inches long. A large and vigorous baby, and I discovered I loved the little brat with feelings that I didn't know I had in me.

Mike was curious about the little boy. I needed help anyway. With Paul away , it was only natural that “uncle Mike” carried the wailing monster as he needed to belch. He looked at me while I fed the hungry child. We were both fascinated by the fountain of milk spewing from my nipples. I sometimes felt like a cow; probably postnatal depression. I sometimes felt great.

Mike took charge of training the female volunteers that I had trained before my belly got in the way. He insisted on teaching them basic survival techniques- hand-to-hand combat, and he wrote a poem to them in Frys, which went to a tune that I knew was not Mike's- but it was all new to them here. Mike was also not so sure this was a game. He said the consequences of the conjecture was mind-boggling. The few times we discussed this without Paul's presence was more fruitful as Paul always cut the discussion to force his opinion. Typical male behaviour. But then Paul was the only one who tried the modified game console several times. We would change history, although I proposed we were in a space-time that spawned off whatever we called the "main" branch, but there would be no way to determine what the main branch was.
"Then history could become a true science - as multiple scenarios could be evaluated, in stead of just analysis of what happened for which reasons", said Mike, as he explained Frank Tiplers theory without getting interrupted by Paul.
Anyway - Mike liked to play, and he made ten paint-ball BB-guns. In that respect he was still a boy. One type of BB gun took about as long to load as a musket. Everyone that played the game saw the advantage of the automatic loading of the cartridge, and the necessity for the gamers to stand further apart than standard military tactics dictated. So - the musket version was a punishment, as the one handling the musket would be hit by hundred coloured pellets. . Mike kept his clothes on, but he was accepted as one of the girls, and they had really a good time. Yet he was always pondering issues. His male mind was working overtime to solve the issue of strengthening the hull of naval vessels while helping out cleaning and peeled carrots, which was a new kind of vegetable in Europe. He stood there and peeled, and then suddenly shouted “Eureka” as another Archimedes.

Paul told me he had seen Mike pee standing in public. Having seen what Mike looked like down there that sounded like a direct lie. I asked Mike about it, and he smiled: “Paul has never heard of a FUD- Female Urinating Device”, and he pulled out from the coat a scoop-shaped thing. “This is said and shown under patient-doctor confidentiality”

I take responsibility for giving Mike the idea that he could stomp on misogynous attitudes by anticipating work by great minds.
"We could try out a What if scenario - for example What if Isaac Newton was a woman ... "
It was one of those thoughts that sprang to our mind when we chatted and were having fun. I think it was Mike that said it, although I was of a like mind, and we laughed, but the idea seemed to give him a new purpose. After all - Isac Newton was not "all" creativity, and some of his work would have been discovered by others like Leibnitz if he hadn't done it a bit before. Steve Jobs is supposed to have said that "creativity is just connecting things", and this scientific progress was in the air at the time.

Spurred by this, Mike finished the Tractatus Mathematica , and had it printed in Amsterdam.
I also tried to contribute. I made the corrections that always pop up when someone writes alone.
I was inspired enough to publish a rather short document by "A. Zevenhuis" referring to the work of Nicolaes Tulp (The most famous surgeon in Amsterdam), showing the terrible effect of tobacco smoking on the lungs, and I advocated banning tobacco. Not a trivial matter as there was a lot of money in the tobacco industry.

Always active also on some political arguments Mike had another small book printed with a demand of democratic reforms within each province, and a sharp criticism of slavery in the colonies. "He" even stated that equal rights for all men, including women, was a necessity for the progress of the nation. Then there was preparation for a doctorate thesis on light and one on gravity. When I pointed out that he was leap-frogging Isaac Newton, he said that that was only fair, as Isaac Newton is notoriously slow in publishing his ideas. He claimed to have his ideas on gravitation from the period when he fled London because of the plague in 1666. He could have published it all, by now, but NO – Isaac Newton had to ruminate.
It was the work of numerous other giant in science that made it possible to produce the chemicals, like smokeless powder, dynamite and triethylaluminium. It was the result of others that we now were producing repeating rifles, and fibreglass masts, and it was based on the learnings from numerous wars, we were training an army of civilian fighters- both men and women.
"In the broad scheme of things, I don't see the difference between reaching new heights by standing on the shoulders of a giant, or many thousand Lilliputians."

From prognosis of doom for the respect of the academic institution, the University of Groningen actually became the place to be if you had a serious ailment. While Mike was in France I think I performed a hundred operations. I had made a deal: I kept the secret of anaesthesia, but let the professors and learned colleagues operate, giving them credit, as four-five nurses that were in a way female doctors in training took care of the pain, and the aseptic conditions. One rule I had- which was absolute was that all instruments - knives, needles, retractors were to be boiled. The statistics of survival from the ordeal that an operation entailed was telling it was the right thing to do, and I got a cut from every operation, be they dental or more advanced, making it a very good income. An other area I became a reference was in treating troubled minds. There was particularly large amount of inquiries by families with girls believing they were boys. While I didn't cure them, I put them into our service

Just after Mike left for Paris, Paul came home. In a momentary good mood he had news to tell about his past. During undercover operations in an area called Walden, he had met a man that brought some memories back. The man who had once been a falconer knew that Paulus and Maria were the children of Graf von Arnsberg zu Siebenbergen. A nobleman impoverished as his lands were at the mercy of Tilly's troops, had during a period been one of the leaders in the resistance to the Bishop of Munster, in the Walden area. Graf von Arnsberg was murdered, and the whereabouts of his family was unknown. There were so few survivors of the religious cleansing in the area, so this was a chance encounter. Paul requested that I should never mention this to Mike, as he thought it may have been the traumatic experience at the time that made it difficult for Mike to remember his Hosts' memories.

Paul was celebrating and got drunk. I should have stopped him. I learned the hard way that men who drink can change personality.