The Ynnuf Civilization endured cycles of peace and war as knowledge grew.

Those with power sought to keep and grow it. Cults controlled their followers. Politicians and business magnates then subordinated the cults. Wars erupted, each iteration bloodier as weapons became more powerful. After each bloodbath the females forced the surviving arrogant males to make peace. Their last war killed 75% of their population altering gender balances with 80 percent of the survivors being female. The long frustrated women easily overrode the battered male survivors making them see that no one truly wins a war, at best they achieve a pyrrhic victory. With little opposition from the dazed survivors, the fed up females created laws forbidding single person leadership in positions overseeing the economy, politics and military. Tripartite command was mandated for all leadership positions consisting of 2 female and 1 male. Each served a term of 3 years with one position changing each year with no reelection/reappointment. In addition they capped the population with the 3/1 ration of females to males.

While males faced no restrictions on how high they rose, females dominated all aspects of Ynnuf life, intelligencia, teachers, researchers, doctors and engineers. With extended peace they made huge steps in every aspect of science. With hyperdrive propulsion systems they spent 800 years searching the universe for new opportunities and intelligent life. Many planets supported intelligent life yet every intelligent species were physically similar to all others such that medicines and even cross breeding were compatible. Sadly nearly 1/3 of those the “intelligent species” had exterminated themselves with half of those being near lifeless contaminated waste lands. Half were pre-industrial following the familiar pattern of the Ynnuf’s past. These planets they observed the growth of civilizations, quietly tweaking them to suppress their war-like tendencies and prepare the primitives for interstellar contact, making contact once they developed flight. The remaining 1/6 were exploring their solar system. Unfortunately each such contact quickly resulting in extreme fear and violence forcing the Ynnuf to crush them to a point they became subjects or were virtually eradicated in ‘us or them’ confrontations.

The Ynnuf discovered all life gave off waves of self created energy. The higher the intellect the more powerful the emanations. Instruments to detect auras had been developed as they learned the emanations were actually emotions. Every intelligent species they encountered shared the same emotions and nearly identical DNA. Improved detectors projected selected emotional stimulation to target individuals or even crowds to induce or tamp passionate emotions. Auras existed in a 1 foot range such that in close proximity they could interact hyping an aspect. That explained the hive minds of crowds where emotions often ran wild.

The Earth was making the first steps into space so contact was due but there were too many factions. Much damage had been done earlier by over eager explorers. An ill fated tweak catapulted communists to power in the 1917 Russia revolution. Another tweak to counteract them brought the Nazis to power in 1930s Germany. The use of projectors was now heavily restricted to use only on individual humans. Illicit drug makers had been tweaked to create powerful drug concoctions in the hopes of tamping down human volatility. Unfortunately greed led to drug cartels corrupting politicians and law enforcement. The illegal drugs were turning many people into living zombies if not outright killing them. Other tweaks often resulted in racism and all the headaches that entailed with ultra liberals or ultra conservatives with highly bigoted humans propagating anger and hatred amongst the downtrodden. Even that limited use was now restricted since one jerk had zapped an obnoxious self important narcissistic multi-millionaire to desire to become more powerful so he ran for US President... and won!

Researchers had taken delight using the projectors just to watch and observe chaos. A favorite target was the crowd at already emotional sporting events or celebrating a championship. Tsej hated those researchers stimulating hatred and violence as evidenced by the ever climbing assults, shootings and protests. However it was the use in Russia that currently had earth teetering on the edge of armageddon. The arrogant, pompous narcissistic president had been zapped to propagate his previously expressed desire to reclaim Ukraine into Russia. Those ex-researchers, along with the one who zapped the wealthy businessman to seek the US presidency were now in isolation cells in the brig of the mothership. Any requests to use an individual emotion projector had to be cleared through the on duty officer in charge of earth operations though a bit of leeway was allowed.

Tsej sighed with frustration as she did several times a day. The Ynnuf mothership was cloaked and hidden behind the moon. She was an anthropologist who regularly descended to the planet to observe, and with permission from higher levels attempted to tweak human development. Unfortunately sometimes observers had not been as stealthy as they hoped. The news of UFOs and extraterrestrials was not uncommon on Earth threatening to become a cult of UFO-ologists. Most of the human population believed there were visitors from space.

Tsej was flying her cloaked scout ship at 10,000 feet to find powerful group emotions. She hit the jackpot over a baseball stadium as the 7500 strong crowd cheered their team on to victory. That emotions were contagious was still puzzling with the main theory being the entanglement of adjoining auras somehow created a feedback loop. Hovering above the stadium she collected data. She expected a drop in emotion when the game finished. As people left the stadium the emotional concentration dissipated but for many remained high.

Tsej was puzzled to note that even before the game ended a gradual exodus began. These people exuded an aura of anxiety and frustration as they rushed to their vehicles. Many more people began to exit once the game was over. Many of these also beamed auras of anxiety combined with aggression as well as impatience. Once in their vehicles, they impatiently jostled for priority exit from the parking areas often leading to auras of anger. The blowing of horns and flashing of angry hand gestures and yelled invectives increased in frequency. She just could not understand how humans could go from happiness to anger over trivial matters. This was her first close observation of rapid changing human emotionality. As the congested traffic exited from parking lots from both sides of Center Avenue, traffic gridlocked despite having police attempting to control the impatient drivers. She noted a few of those that had attended were still in their seats or wandering around the ball park talking and laughing with none of the impatience and anger of those in their vehicles. When the honking angry horns faded those who had patiently relaxed in the stadium began to make their way to the parking lots making leisurely exits.

Tsej selected a family from this last group to follow home to monitor their fading excitement to determine how long it would last. The family, father, mother and two older boys exited the stadium for their vehicle. The adults were clearly pleased with their outing as they oozed happiness while the boys maintained the competition component of the their happiness. Flying 200 feet above the family SUV she followed them for 10 minutes. The level of excitement faded faster than happiness which began to morph into the mutual familial love of the foursome. The aura of the youngsters in the rear seat slowly morphed to a soft blue that represented relaxing into sleep.

As they neared the crest of a hill an intense glaring aura of heated emotion appeared about a mile ahead of the family. Other detectors aboard the scout ship automatically focused on the rapidly approaching aura that diverged into 2 side by side auras. As the auras neared they again diverged into 4 excited auras exuding roiling mixtures of adrenalin fueled excitement and competition in a pair of side by side cars racing at very high speeds towards the family she’d been following. Fear of what was about to happen swept over her but she was helpless to stop it.

The detectors revealed the metamorphosis of the excitement/competition auras in the racing cars quickly turned to burgeoning fear and inevitability as they realized they were in big trouble. Within seconds the four dark bluish grey emotion dots exploded as the sparks of life popped out of existence in intense black flashes outlined by pale lilac light as the lives were snuffed out. As the black consumed their sparks of life, the pale lilac outlines darkened as the black collapsed into barely detectable midge-like flittering pinpoints as their immature, arrogant and somewhat corrupt souls skittered away in different directions.

Simultaneously in the innocent family’s vehicle, the emotions of those in the front seat flashed from the happiness and familial love to a momentary surge of fear and inevitability. Brutally but almost instantaneously 3 auras popped out of existence in black flashes outlined by a gold light as the spark of their lives was snuffed out. Unlike the street racers, the gold metallic light of their souls coalesced into bright shiny butterfly-like fragile iridescent wings that held their spiritual energy. The 3 magnificently beautiful ethereal entities circled each other above the wreck as they were drawn skyward. They tried to resist as they seemed to look for their fourth. They struggled to go back to the SUV they’d emerged from until they saw the aura of sleep tinged by pain of their missing fourth in the back seat of the crushed vehicle. As they watched the aura color changed indicating the survival-oriented will-power of the life spark and soul was still fighting death. The three hesitated, then stopped resisting the upward draw as they rose to join the planetary magnetosphere.

While other Ynnuf had observed and recorded auras of human and like species, none had recorded anything remotely like what Tsej had just witnessed and recorded. That the spark of life ended at death was easily accepted. Now she had proof that the soul was related to the life spark but was a separate entity. The anthropologist in her was excited. Tsej was also sickened by the senseless deaths. But the fact the youngest of the family lived made her determined to do what he could to help the youngster.

The Greenawalt family was still pumped up after watching the Reading Fightin Phils win at First Energy Stadium in Reading, Pa. Nathan, 36, was driving the family SUV at 45 mph along the 2 lane blacktop road with wife Leah, 35, beside him. Amos, 13 sat behind his dad while his younger brother, Korbin, 12, was seated behind his mother. The excited boys slowly relaxed as the excitement of the outing had worn them down drifting off to a pleasant sleep. Their vehicle entered the cut out top of the hill in the west bound lane seeing 4 side by side headlight appear from the other side of the cut approaching way too fast. Nathan cursed as he instinctively yanked his wheel to the right stomping on the brakes as Leah screamed. The slumbering boys didn’t see what was happening nor time to awaken after hearing the screams, frantic steering and brakes. Both eastbound speeding drivers turned towards the right while slamming on their brakes as they and their passengers screamed.

The Corvette and Ford GT convertibles were racing eastward on the otherwise deserted road. Both were going 110 MPH. Their approach speed was 155mph, meaning they were approaching each other at 227 feet per second. The skid marks from panic braking of the 3 vehicles were 500 feet, just 2.2 seconds apart. In the cut-out the shoulders were 18 inches with 2 feet of gravel leading to rather steep cut out embankments.

The Corvette was in the eastbound lane while the GT was in the westbound lane. The GT driver turned to the right as the racers slammed on their brakes. The GT slammed into the side of the Corvette causing the GT’s front wheel to ride up the Corvette’s front fender. As the vehicles ricocheted apart the GT launched into the air. The Corvette slammed into the embankment, bounced off flipping upside down as it spun across the road into the westbound lane.

The airborne GT impacted the left front roof support of the SUV punching through the windshield while peeling the roof up and back. The mangled front end and engine of the GT entered the interior of the SUV breaking the backs of the front seats before smashing the door post between the passenger side front and side doors causing the sliding door to pop open and slam backwards, lifting the drivers side of the SUV 3 feet. The back end of the GT had too much momentum to stop so it folded over the front end buried in the SUV separating behind the firewall. The GT’s rear end and entire passenger compartment impacted upside down on the embankment rupturing the fuel tank before rebounding toward the road behind the SUV. The SUV’s lower third on the passenger side, including the wheels crushed under the body as it was violently thrust broadside into the embankment.

The upside down Corvette spun 3 times across both lanes stopping as it hit the embankment 6 feet behind the SUV. As the GT landed atop the Corvette it’s fuel splashed all over the Corvette. The red hot engine exhaust pipes of the Corvette ignited the spilled fuel with a mighty WHOOSH!

Nearby residents heard the nerve shattering rending of the crash. Rushing outside the were just in time to see the horrific flash as the fuel ignited. Several calls were made to 911 to report the hellacious crash asking for police, fire fighters, and EMTs. Others rushed out to see the carnage with cell phones out. As they neared, the fuel tank of the corvette exploded spewing gas in all directions keeping the bystanders at bay.

The police and fire trucks arrived at nearly the same time. The fire crews did what they could to extinguish the inferno of flames as the sickening smell of burning tires and nauseating reek of burning human flesh permeated the air. Traffic was diverted to bypass the wreck. The wreckage was scattered across all lanes for a distance of 50 feet. The fire personnel set up floodlights to illuminate the area. At first they thought there had been only 2 vehicles in the horrific crash. Once the fires were out they realized there was a 3rd vehicle that had been torn in 2 pieces

The fire fighters directed a hose to the rear of the SUV to prevent it from igniting. As soon as the heat dissipated from the fires they rescue teams moved in. Several quickly stepped back and retched at what they saw under the front of the GT. The SUV driver and front passenger had been crushed and beheaded by the GT’s engine which sat atop them both. Peeking in the 2nd row seat on the drivers side, they spotted another lifeless crushed bloody body. With the SUV pinned against the embankment, the wreckage of the GT inside the passenger compartment prevented them from seeing the passenger side of the 2nd row seat. From what they could see, it was highly unlikely anyone who sat there could still be alive.

Without a sense of urgency, the police halted clean-up for 2 hours to map out the wreckage to determine what had happened. Only then were the rescuers allowed to begin removing the burned fiberglass and plastic of the wreckage. A wrecker rolled/pulled the rear end of the GT off the corvette revealing 2 crushed crisply toasted nearly cremated bodies. Next they flipped the corvette over to reveal another pair of crushed crispy bodies.

At that point they tugged the SUV away from the embankment to allow access to the passenger side. As the grim rescuers began to use power shears to finish removing the roof of the SUV, they were able to see a 4th body through the mangled open sliding side door.

“There’s a kid in the rear seat,” the man using the power shears called out in a choked voice.

A hopeful EMT rushed over to see if there were any signs of life. “THERE’S A PULSE AND HE’S BREATHING!” the man excitedly called out.

Those words electrified everyone as they attacked the SUV to get to the lone survivor. After 7 dead, they fervently hoped they could save the trapped youth.

Before they could reach the kid they had to get the front end of the GT out of the way. The wrecker lifted the front end/engine of the GT out of the SUV’s passenger compartment. The crushed and decapitated husband and wife were then removed so they could remove the broken backs of the front seats freeing the crushed body of the boy. It was only when they removed the wife and cut the back of her seat off they could reach the kid. The body was jammed into the rear floor under the broken back of the front passenger seat but when the side door opened it allowed just enough room for the unconscious youth to be forced into the space. As fast as they could they secured the boy and rushed him to the nearest trauma center. The fact he continued to breathe heartened everyone.

Tsej was horrified at the brutality of the unnecessary deaths. The virtual instantaneous deaths rattled her as she saw their auras flare to near incandescent before their life sparks were snuffed out. Even as the spilled fuel ignited, she could see one aura was still alive. The survivor's aura reflected serious and possible deathly injuries. Without thought she opened her first aid kit and pulled out a hypospray, filling it with a large dose of potent damage repair and vitality enhancing nanobots that would begin healing critical injuries. She placed the filled hypospray into a small drone and sent it to the wreckage. The drone was too small to have it's own cloaking field but with the fire furiously burning at least 8 feet downhill from the boy, Tsej guided the tiny drone to the wreckage. The onboard sensors were accurate enough to allow it to slip into the opened side door to administer the dose to the boy fighting for his life. After the successful mission, she brought the drone back to her ship, accomplishing the deed without detection.

During the rescue effort Tsej hovered above the mangled SUV. She'd seen nanobots save and rejuvenate what would have been fatal damage so she was pretty sure he'd live. She didn't worry that the humans would discover the nanobots because they were designed to disintegrate once away from their patient. She could almost feel the nanobots repairing broken and fractured bones and healing ruptured and damaged internal organs. In fact, she could feel sympathetic tingling in her organs as the boy healed. Suddenly fear gripped her as she realized she'd made a potentially serious error. The nanobots and medications in the first aid kit of each scout ship had recently been genetically tailored for the pilot for greater and faster effect! While they would work on others, they somehow created a psychic link between the patient and the person for whom the med had been tailored that altered the recipient’s DNA to be totally compatible with the donor’s genetics. The more the nanobots repaired, the stronger the link grew. She could ‘sense' the broken bones and ruptured internal organs had been repaired. Stunned, she silently returned the scout to 10,000 feet to follow the ambulance, hovering above a tree at the hospital as the healing progressing. By then the efficient nanobots had 3 hours to clean up the mess of the victim‘s body. The doctors and staff at the hospital had seen pictures sent by the EMTs of the wreck and how the boy had been trapped. Thus they were surprised to discover the boy had only been bruised in the fatal crash.

Tsej stayed on station to monitor the boy while filling out her incident report. She openly admitted she had violated rules of contact by treating the boy to save his life. The nanobots had even cleaned up the blood and other fluids that had escaped from the numerous ruptures. As the hours passed, Tsej napped with sensors set to awaken her if communications arrived or the boy was released. When the communication from the mothership arrived, she felt terrified. Her report had been forwarded to the top of the command chain! The reply was from Admiral Hgual herself!

The sarcastic response was so polite she shivered. The fact she’d realized her error and promptly reported it while staying on station was an ameliorating factor. Details of her violations were appended to her personal file. Her mission was adjusted to monitor the youth to see if earth authorities would detect the extraterrestrial meddling as well as to monitor the linkage between the boy and herself.

The next few days were muddled. Those who saw photos of Korbin in the wreck couldn’t believe he had not been seriously injured. None of the myriad cuts and bruises were serious. Fortunately Korbin recalled nothing about the accident. By the next afternoon he was released to his grieving paternal grandparents. Martha and Abram took Korbin to clear the family home and gather Korbin’s clothes and other possessions. The fact he’d somehow survived left him with survivor’s remorse but the unyielding and nonjudgmental love the grandparents shared helped him to keep going. The mangled bodies of his family were unable to be viewed so their remains were cremated with the ashes in a single urn carton. The reduced family hiked from the back of their farm up to the Pinnacle, the highest point in Berks County, where Korbin climped the highest rock to sprinkle their ashes into the nearly continuous wind to float across the lush mountainside.

Martha and Abram Greenawalt were delighted to accept responsibility for Korbin which did nothing to relieve their grief over the loss of their son, daughter-in-law and other grandson. The family came from Swiss Anabaptist traditions migrating to America in the late 1600s. While maintaining their faith the family abandoned their strict church when a son was shunned by the church for marrying an Lenape Indian maid in the mid 18th century. Martha was a medicine woman who practiced herbalogy, natural healing, laying on of hands often with mumbled incantations and various hand and finger motions. The Greenawalt family had combined the healing lore and practices of the Lenape Native Americans with the Pennsylvania German faith and folk healing traditions from the anti-Catholic reform Protestant 17th century Palatinate in Germany.

Korbin was in a functional fugue during the process. Korbin truly missed his family but “if onlys” were not a part of the familial traditions. Since school was 2 weeks from the year end, ths school didn’t even ask for him to return, especially since he had A’s or B’s in all subjects. Korbin bid his classmates and friends goodbye as he abandoned his all too often rushed pre-accident urban life for one of easy going contentment with nature on the family farm.

Tsej silently watched Korbin as he helped his grandparents on the farm. She discovered her genetic psychic link had a range of 2 miles. Carefully she was able to piggyback her mind on his, seeing, feeling and learning what he did while staying hidden. She could tickle his mind to ask for more details about subjects. It didn’t take her long to realize that the nanobots were genetically altering Korbin’s DNA to closer match hers. By the end of the month she confirmed her concerns, Korbin’s XY male chromosomes were rapidly changing to female XX. She guesstimated the conversion would be complete in 9 months

Korbin was allowed some space and freedom but also kept busy helping his grandparents. The farm was on the valley flank of the Kittatinny Ridge or Blue Mountain. Pine Creek that ran by the 165 acre farm. About 2/3 of the fields had been allowed to reforest. Three quarter miles southwest of their home but elevated 1065 feet was the Pinnacle with 4.5 miles to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. The 2,200 miles long Appalachian Trail crossed between the 2 sites. Martha was a skilled herbalist with a large field devoted to herbs and medicinal plants that also served as a flowery butterfly garden. Abram raised vegetables that Martha jarred. An orchard of various fruits was well maintained. He was also a highly skilled chainsaw artist an beekeeper. Everything they grew was done organically.

Korbin was no stranger to the family farmstead, having spent many weekends with his brother while his parents took weekend getaways. Abram and Nathan taught the brothers woodland lore and map orientation. At least once each year in early spring the family hiked up the steep ridge behind the farm to the Pinnacle. They all carried canteens and backpacks with spare water, snacks, and first aid kits and cell phones for emergency use. At the age of 8 the boys were given a sheath holding a machete to clear vines and weeds from their path.

Korbin assisted in weeding the vegetables, herb and butterfly gardens. He also began to learn about herbal and naturopathic healing arts. When the weather was good he’d pack his gear and hike up to the Pinnacle in the cooler mornings returning in early afternoon to catch up on his chores. Several times he felt a bit spooked as if someone was watchin him. Often he’d stop and look around to see if someone was spying on him. It was about a month after the crash when he felt an annoying itching around his nipples, especially if he was sweaty. On a trip to the Pinnacle he couldn’t stop himself from scratching.

{Korbin, please sit down. We need to talk.}

Korbin froze, then cautiously looked around but no one was there. Then he shook his head afraid he was suffering an after effect from the accident.

{Please sit down, I must apologize and have a lot to tell you.}

“Who are you? Where are you?” Korbin trembled.

{My name is Tsej. I’m a space alien.}

“Yeah, right! Who ever you are, this isn’t funny,” Korbin spun around as he was gripped by fear. Suddenly he felt his body move on it’s own, unable to control his body as it sat on a nearby rock which clearly shocked him.

{I’m not going to hurt you but we need to talk.}

Korbin felt a panic attack coming on but suddenly found his body calming down and relaxing. Suddenly he saw the air shimmer in front of him and a woman wearing a militaristic uniform with numerous pouches and equipment on her belt appeared.

“I’m not going to hurt you. My name is Tsej, and I’m an alien.” With that she sat on a another rock. “My people have been watching the earth for centuries. We try not to interfere with you but sometimes we do. I was observing a baseball game watching how the people behaved.” With that she explained her actions and their impact on Korbin including his altering DNA.

“So I’d have died with my parents and brother?” Korbin asked as he tried to absorb what she said.

“Probably within an hour or two,” Tsej answered.

“I’m turning into a girl,” Korbin mused now knowing his emotions were reacting to the news but were being checked by Tsej. “The nanobots did more than just heal me. They were designed for you, a girl. They're still at work in me... turning me into a girl. This gives whole new meaning to ‘alien abduction.”

As a myriad of thoughts and emotions flashed through his mind, Korbin felt light headed but then felt his body react bringing him back to normal realizing she was keeping him from freaking out. “I guess there’s no way to stop me becoming a girl... and this constant itching is my breasts budding?”

“Yes,” Tsej said. “That is why I must apologize to you. Your DNA is changing from the typical XY of males to the XX of females,” Tsej explained. “Your XY chromosomes have changed to XXY, which while unusual is not uncommon. Our computers estimate it’ll take another 8 months for the ‘Y’s to be deleted. Tell your grandparents you’re having issues and need to see a doctor. They’ll discover your XXY markers and understand your puberty will be a that of a girl. You’ll have to tell them you you’re okay with that.”

Korbin nodded. “You’ll keep me from freaking out?”

“Yes, just like I made you sit,” Tsej sighed. “The nanobots have given us a psychic link. I can read your thought and emotions and as I did today, control your body. According to our doctors once your change is complete, you’ll be able to do the same with me.”

“This is just weird,” Korbin sighed. “I’m turning into girl and have a mind link with an alien. You’re not controlling my thinking, are you?”

“No,” Tsej answered. “Unless it’s an emergency, I’ll always ‘knock’ before I enter your mind.”

“So I guess I can’t tell anyone about talking to aliens, either, huh?”

“I’m afraid that’s right... at least for now,” Tsej replied. “But once you’re certified a girl, you and I can start working together. My people have been around for centuries and our knowledge is too great to be learned in simple schools. We have developed the ability to “download” knowledge directly into your brain. We’ll get you set up on a self learning home school program then help you fly through the knowledge. I’ll be able to take you in my scout ship up to our mothership and show you around. Together, we can eliminate the hate and violence that seems to be ripping your civilization apart. My people and yours can become friends and our peoples can interbreed to become a new ‘US’.”

Korbin laughed. “At least now I know what to do with my life!”