We entered the throne room, and I had Spire show me what was going on outside the station. We saw Queen’s Rage firing on three ships that had come into the system. “Spire, get me in contact with Admiral Stook.” A separate screen flashed up showing Admiral Stook in the command chair.

“Admiral, what is going on out there?” I asked.

Chapter 2

I had kept up with the newspapers and wasn’t unaware of the reputation my hometown had as a gay center. I had read articles, both for and against, and was well aware of what I was about to embark on. As a writer, myself, the second verse of the song now had more meaning to me. I needed to keep my eyes wide, because this was the one chance to get it right and not become a laughingstock.

Toni met Steve during the week, even mothered him in his worry over her, but now it’s time for her and Steve to get back to the routine of being friends. Except with Toni as a woman.

They’re meeting early in the morning to watch a football match in the same bar they always watch football matches in. Whether it’s weird for her, or Steve, or the same it as it always was is a different matter. Toni certainly isn't making predictions of what might happen.

Chapter 38

By the time we got near Christmas, again, there had been another shift in focus. Ali had been invited to apply for the Juilliard School in New York, a singular honor for one so young. She, however, wanted none of it. In the middle of the year, she would have finished high school and was certain that if Wayne County was good enough for her Aunty Pet, it was good enough for her.

The Trial

I had all the members of the church and those in positions of power within the station lined up in the throne room. I made sure that this trial was broadcast throughout the Empire. Minsha was sitting next to me upon the dais. Looking down at all the people that I needed to judge and sentence, but I had to seem like a was not a malevolent ruler.

Chapter Two – Day Two - Day Three - Day Four

Transgender detective Julie Sanderson begins to break down detective Tommy Lomax's prejudices and they actually begin to trust each other and bond. As they get closer to finding out who murdered Stephanie Carter the investigation turns dangerous

Everyone at the table was talking, while carefully leaving me out of it. I was happy about that and grateful. I'd already embarrassed myself enough by not knowing what to say, saying the wrong thing, having my RTS kick in making me look bustier and curvier, and knowing that the Stirling's knew what had happened earlier in the day. I didn't want to make it worse.

Chapter 35

Tony went back to the studio to prepare for a band that was booked for this afternoon and evening. Alan, Helen, and I hugged before they left. I invited them for Christmas lunch and Helen told me that if it was as good as lunch today, she would be happy to come.

That left Josie and me, so I sent Becky off, and made us a cup of coffee each. We discussed the farm business, and the Josie told me that she had picked up her guitar again and was re-learning how to play.

That night in my room Minsha and I lay on the bed, she told me about her life, and I told her more about Earth. I now understood why Tagnor wore so little clothing, Minsha was hot. I would never freeze with her next to me. Her fur was soft, she let me feel it last night. I think we also made a good start to a great friendship. We may not have similar pasts, but we have similar ideas for the future.

Chapter 34

I waited for the rejection, but she swallowed and smiled and asked if the plain was much different. I told her that they were just “fishier” and picked out a small one for her to try, taking one for myself and showing her that these are eaten straight from the shell. She made a face when it was in her mouth and didn’t chew much before swallowing. She thought for a few moments and then reached for another.

After a lot of fun Toni really knuckles down to work. She’s been given the freedom and opportunity to really show what she can do in her job, maybe the opportunity to keep her job. However the freedom comes in extraordinarily handy when she faces her first crisis, all alone and anxious for reasons she can’t understand.

The question is whether the nascent Toni is strong enough to handle this? And whether she can even begin to handle it? What she does could determine where she goes next. Is Toni ready for what Toni? Or is the warning Big-G gave her about setbacks coming true faster than she could ever have expected?

Chapter 33

Wilhelm led the three of us off and the orchestra followed. Over some refreshments Kelly announced that tomorrow afternoon was a full-dress rehearsal with the press attending, starting at three so that we could stay dressed for the Friday night performance, if we didn’t spill any drinks on our outfits.

Chapter 6

For the rest of the day, they continued sorting out the evidence and transcribing the recordings they had made. Sally rang Laura.

“Laura, it’s Sally. I do have one question for you. How long was it after your mother got her reminder note before she was killed?”

“That was a week, I think. The note was in the post on the Monday, and she was found the following Tuesday. How are you going with it?”

“We have the name of the smaller man. Would you believe that their nicknames are really Horse and Cart?”

Chapter 5

They didn’t get to talk to the daughter on Friday. When Sally rang her in her shop, she refused to discuss anything over the phone. She would only talk to Sally, and only on Sunday, in Saint Georges Park, near the centre of Manchester, by the slide. She said that she would be there at one and have her toddler in a black stroller.

Sally asked who had Sunday free, and Ben put his hand up.

“My partner, Anne, has a toddler, about five years old. We could take some recreation time there, after a fast-food lunch. Is it on overtime?”

Toni’s weekend is over, which means it’s back to being boring old man Tony at work, right? She’s had a lot of fun from Friday to Sunday but doesn’t know if it’ll be enough to see her through to clocking out at the end of the week, when she gets to live her life again.

It really is a case of putting her head down and getting through the week, the same as it ever was, except now there’s something to look forward to at the end of that tunnel. Has Toni been changed, though? Is it possible for her to parcel away all that happened? Can man Tony simply get on with a normal five days of work when woman Toni is itching to get out? Or is Tony now more Toni than even they realise themselves?

Friday night at Lads Night In was explosive, in a variety of ways, with Tony discovering the Toni part of himself, or more now herself, along with two new, female friends, Jess and Sally. The day after was an emotional roller-coaster, where people actually smile at the new Toni—no-one ever smiled at boy Toni—and she discovered a wonderland bar where everything ended in tears. But tears for Sally, not Toni! Before Big-G took Toni home to be held and simply rest.

With Toni’s life finally filled with joy and fun, NO BORING!!! is it all going to stop when the big man, Big-G, says it’s time to take things seriously? Or is Big-G correct and will treating things properly as the new Toni be as fun, fun, fun as the partying and drinks? And will Toni end up back in Light Avenue?

"I called Anson — or I thought I was calling Anson —
and I asked him the age-old question: Who was that lady I saw you with?
and he replied, That was no lady — that was Anson Charpont!"
Ross followed his narration with a throaty chuckle.