Athens

by Jennifer White

 

Eva sat in the boat with Nadia, oars in hand, waiting for the starting gun. If they won this heat, they would be in the finals, ready to compete for the gold medal. She took a deep breath. This was her big moment, which she had trained for all her life. She thought about the past, when things had been quite different.

* * *

 

Pavel picked up his luggage, and cleared Gendovian customs. Although he was born in Gendovia, he lived in the united states, ever since he went there to attend college. Now that the former Soviet-bloc country was independent, its economy was picking up. Since Pavel spoke the native language (and was still a dual citizen of both Gendovia and the US), the company he worked for sent him there at least once a month. Knowing the local customs as he did, he was very successful.

Pavel's family had money, and they were able to bribe the government officials, allowing him to leave the country to attend an ivy league college on the east coast. He had been a star athlete in college, lettering four times in rowing or "crew". He specialized in the 2-man competition. It was a sport where you needed strength to pull the oars through the water, endurance to last to the finish, and discipline to keep both oars even, and stay in a straight line.

But after he graduated, he gave up the sport. There were few places he could row with others, it was expensive, and he just didn't have time. So he was very surprised at the turn of events at the airport that day. After he passed through customs, he was going to head over to the rental center, to pick up his car.

Two men in dark suits stopped him.

"Pavel Kretchnov?" said one.

"Yes?" he replied.

"Please come with us."

It had been years, since the Soviets left, that such a greeting could be expected upon arrival. Did they think he was a spy? Were they going to jail him? He started to sweat. The influence of the KGB seemed to still be alive in Gendovia.

"What have I done?" he said, when they were in the black Mercedes, speeding down the road.

"No my friend, you don't understand" said the man. "We are not here to arrest you. We are here to take you to speak to the high commissioner for sports. Your country wants you on their Olympic team."

"I live in the US" he said, confused.

"Yes, but you maintain a dual citizenship. That means you can compete for your true homeland."

Pavel was in shock. He was not good enough to make the powerful US team, where star athletes trained year round. But in the poorer country of Gendovia, he had a chance. He knew he was good, but he was not great. Still, what a tempting offer. A chance to appear before the world in Athens, and go for the gold.

 

The car pulled up in front of the government building. Pavel was escorted by the second man inside, up the elevator to the 6th floor, and into an impressive office.

"Hello Pavel. I hope you enjoyed your trip" said the old man at the desk. From the photos in the lobby, and the sign on the door, Pavel knew who this was: Ivan Boralov, the Gendovian High Commissioner for Sports.

"Hello, nice to meet you" said Pavel, shaking his hand.

"My assistants have explained my offer, yes?"

"Sort of. Why don't you run it by me" said Pavel.

"Very good. As you know, we are a poor country. We do not have the resources to train year round for the Olympics, like we used to when our friends from Moscow gave us financial assistance. But we do intend to field a team for Athens. But we are short when it comes to the rowing competition. I have studied your records. You were star player in college, yes?"

"I was good, but not world class" said Pavel.

"Don't worry my friend. You will be very competitive, better than any other candidate in your country."

"So what exactly are you offering?" he said.

"With the games approaching, you would need to take a leave of absence from your job. Your American company will be very glad to have one of its employees go to play in the games, yes? Then you can return when games are over. In the mean time, you will live here, train with your teammates, and prepare for the games. What do you say? Do you want to play for Gendovia in Athens at the Olympic games?"

 

It was stunning. A chance to live out the dream of a lifetime. Pavel had rowed since he was a youngster. He had selected a college based on the fact that they had rowing as a sport. Now, he would go to Athens, and compete with the best in the world. And maybe by some miracle, he might do well. He could be on TV across the world! It was too much to even think of turning them down.

"I'm in" he said, without hesitation.

"I am very glad that you want to join our team" said Ivan. "Now all we need is to process the paperwork, so that you are registered before the deadline. My assistant will give you the papers to sign."

Pavel followed the man into the other room. There were a pile of papers there, all written in Gendovian legalese. After reading ten pages of the agreement saying that he would move to Gendovia for the duration of the training, and that if he left before the games, he would owe them the money they had spent on his housing, training, medical, food, and so on. He gave up and just signed it. There were a stack of documents, all equally thick and difficult to read through.

After ten minutes, everything had been signed in triplicate. It was official now: Pavel was on the Gendovian Olympic team.

 

* * *

 

Pavel was immediately whisked away to the national Olympic training center. There, he was housed in a dorm with the other athletes from Gendovia. He was barely unpacked, and had just finished putting on his team warm-ups, when the coach came in to meet him. She was tall, thin and muscular.

"Hello Pavel. I am Kristine Romanova. Please call my by my first name. My close friends call me Kris, which you can use too after we get to know each other."

"Glad to meet you" said Pavel, giving her a strange look.

"I know you were expecting a man as your coach, but we are saving money by having one single coach for both the men's and women's teams. I won a bronze medal for Gendovia back in the Seventies, if you can remember those ancient Olympic games."

Pavel laughed. It was a vague memory for him, the games in those days when he was a child. If Kristine was good enough to win a medal, then she was good enough to coach him!

"I'm glad to be on the team" he said.

"And I am glad to hear that" said Kristine. "Now let us begin with training. You are not in shape. Sorry, but I can tell you do not work out like an athlete."

"I run some, and I bike" said Pavel defensively.

"In our program, you will work out every day, for hours and hours. We will work on your endurance, your strength, and your overall fitness. You will need to drop twenty pounds at least to lessen the load in the boat. You will begin today by running ten miles, then reporting to me for weight lifting, aerobics, pilates, and wind sprints."

"All that in the first day?" he said.

"Not just the first day. Every day. And more. You will go on a strict diet. No fatty American foods. You will take proper vitamins every day. I only ask two things from you."

"What are they?" said Pavel.

"Number one, you promise me to give it your all. I do not train quitters. If you are in, then you will not quit on me. Give me your word."

"I swear, I will not quit" said Pavel.

"Even if things get difficult? Even if it is hard? Even if you think you cannot go on?"

"I swear I will not quit" said Pavel.

"Good. And secondly, promise me that you will not take any illegal substances. I want you to win the gold medal, but I will not do it by having you take steroids."

"I would never do that" said Pavel. "I swear, I will not take illegal substances. And I will *not* quit on you."

Kristine smiled.

"We will see. I hope so. Now you owe me ten miles. Go!"

Pavel went out the door, and broke into a run. It would be the first of many physically taxing days in his immediate future...

 

* * *

 

By the time a month elapsed, Pavel's body had changed. He had shed the extra pounds, and now he was thin and muscular. The time in the gym made his arms bigger than they had ever been before. His pilates classes gave him excellent strength in his back and his trunk, which he would need for rowing. His stamina was at the top too. The ten mile run the first day was almost enough to make him collapse. But now, he could do it with ease.

Between the long days of hard physical exercise and the diet high in protein, low in fat and easy on the carbs, the pounds melted off him. It was still many months before the games, but he had never felt better in his life. He was very proud of himself. No matter how hard Kristine had made it, he had never once even thought of quitting. And now, he was in top form.

After a hard day of training, he was ready for a soak in the hot tub, and a good night's sleep. But the coach asked him to go to her office for a meeting after dinner. This wasn't very unusual, they would meet every week or so to track his progress, look at his times, the weights he was lifting, and devise a plan for the following week.

"Herbal tea?" said Coach Romanova, giving him a rare treat: caffeine.

He gladly accepted, and started to sip the hot tasty beverage. Kristine started showing him a graph of his sprint times, and how he was improving nearly every day.

"We need to shave off three more seconds though" she said. "I know you can do it. We will work on your legs more this week."

Pavel nodded. Last week it had been the arms. The week before that, the shoulders. So now it was to be the legs. He was ready. He watched as she flipped through the charts. He was very tired from the day, and he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open. The coach didn't seem angry about it, she kept on smiling, praising him as she talked and continued onto the next chart.

Pavel couldn't open his eyes again. He felt dizzy. He felt tired. So tired. So tired.

 

* * *

 

Pavel woke up, and realized he was in a hospital bed. There was a tube going into his arm, with clear liquid dripping in. A heart monitor beeped. He could feel wires attached to his chest, which really hurt. He ached all over in fact. He tried to sit up, but found himself too weak to do so.

A moment later, a nurse came over to him.

"You're awake!" she said.

"What happened?" asked Pavel, not sure how he got there.

"Don't worry. Everything is fine. The surgery was a success, and you are recovering right on schedule. Here, this will help you sleep. You need sleep now, so you can recover."

She pushed a button, and he could feel a warmth surge through his veins. Everything faded into a pleasant warmth, and he could feel himself start to fall asleep again. As he faded out of consciousness, he heard one strange thing. He could have sworn that he heard the nurse say "She's sleeping again." Who was she talking about? Was there someone else in the room with him? He hadn't seen anyone but himself.

But as the blackness started to overtake him, he had not time to think of it anymore.

 

* * *

 

Pavel woke up, and felt very hungry. Like he hadn't eaten in days. He still felt a little sore, but not nearly as badly as he did before. He looked up, and saw a button to press to call for the nurse. He hit it, and a few moments later a different nurse came into the room.

"Look who's up!" she said, smiling.

"How do you feel?"

"A little sore. What happened to me?" asked Pavel.

The nurse got a funny look on her face. She turned away for a moment.

"Mr. Boralov is here to speak to you. I had better let him explain."

Ivan Boralov? The High Commissioner for Sports? Why would he be there? Pavel looked up to see both Ivan and Coach Romanova enter the room together. They looked at him and smiled.

"How are you feeling?" asked Kristine.

"Sore, and confused. What's going here? Why won't anyone tell me what happened? The last thing I remember, I was in your office. Then I woke up here. How long was I asleep?"

"Two weeks" said Ivan.

"Two weeks!" replied Pavel.

"Yes. You needed time to recuperate" said Kristine. "Now you are ready for rehab, and then you can get back to training."

"Quit talking in circles. *Why* am I here?" said Pavel, getting upset. The pace of the beep on the heart monitor increased, and the lines on the graph went more and more wild.

"Pavel, Pavel, you need patience" said Ivan. "Let me explain your situation. You have been training here for month, yes? And you are in your top shape. You row as fast as you did in college, yes?"

"Yes" he said. He had tied his personal best time in fact.

"With that time, you are good enough to make our Olympic team. But against the best in the world, you have no chance of winning medal. You are too slow. You will not make it past preliminary rounds."

"I'm afraid he's right" said Kristine. "You are working as hard as you can, but you are not a world-class rower. You are good, but not that good."

"Then why did you ask me to join the team?" said Pavel.

"So that you can win gold medal" said Ivan.

"But you just told me..." started Pavel, before he was cut off.

"I said that you cannot beat the best men in rowing. I did not say that you cannot win gold medal."

"Now I'm confused. How can I win the medal, if I can't beat the best men?"

"Your times are not good enough to beat the best men. But you could beat the best *women*" said Kristine.

"Big problem there" said Pavel.

"Not so" replied Ivan. "You see, there is new rule in Olympics. Athletes who have...how you say? Sex change operation? Yes. They can now compete."

"So women who become men can try to enter their sports as males" said Kristine. "And men who become women can enter their sports as females. You can't win as a man. But as a woman, you would be almost unstoppable. You would win a medal for sure. With hard work, you could win the gold."

"That's sick! You're proposing that I have a sex change operation?"

"No" said Ivan. "I don't propose such a thing."

"We've already done it" said Kristine, sending Pavel's mind into a state of utter panic.

 

"You can't do this to me!" he said, reaching down to feel himself between the legs. It was gone! His manhood was gone! They had just chopped it off. He was a woman now! No!

"Yes we can" said Ivan. "You signed legal authorization. In triplicate."

"No I didn't!" said Pavel.

"You didn't read the entire contract you signed?" he said. "That is too bad. You should be more careful in future."

Pavel turned bright red, with the surge of anger he felt inside. The heart monitor beeped wildly. They had turned him into a woman! And they had tricked him into signing authorization papers!

"Get me out of here. I want to go home" he said.

"You're not quitting on me now!" said Kristine. "You made a vow."

"I didn't know you were going to turn me into a woman!" he said.

"Things are hard now, huh? And as soon as it gets hard, you quit?"

"I didn't ask for this!" he said.

"You want to win. We have given you a way to win. You *will* return to training as soon as you are released. And you *will* complete the program, in time to compete for the Olympics."

"Please!" said Pavel.

"You need to settle down, and get more sleep" said Kristine, pushing the button for the sedative. "Just remember when you wake up, you are no longer Pavel. Your name is now Eva. Eva Kretchnova."

Pavel cried a tear as he started to fall asleep under the influence of the drug. They had turned him into a woman. He was a woman now! He was Eva. And there was nothing he could do about it.

"See?" said Ivan, as he faded way to sleep, "he has only just become a woman, and already he whines like little girl."

 

* * *

 

When Pavel woke up, it was still hard to believe all that he had learned. He was a woman now. His country, in a bid to win a gold medal, had turned him into a woman! This wasn't at all what he had bargained for when he signed up for the team! How was he supposed to live his life as a woman? That was impossible!

A pretty nurse came to him, smiled, and gave him an injection.

"What was that?" he asked.

"Female hormones" she said.

"What! Why would you do that??!!"

"You are a transgendered person now Eva. You lack ovaries like those of us who were lucky enough to be born female, have inside out bodies. So you need a little help. The estrogen will really help you adjust. In a few weeks, I think you will come to *love* being a woman."

"But I didn't want this" he said, starting to cry.

"There, there" said the nurse. "It is going to be all right."

 

But it wasn't all right. Pavel's manhood was gone, chopped off by the surgeon's knife. And how he had large breasts. And wide hips. He felt terrible about himself, but when he saw his face, and the work they had done on that as well, he felt even worse. They had changed his nose, his chin, his cheekbones. They were making him look more and more like a woman.

When coach Kristine Romanova came to visit, he was so upset that he started to yell at her.

"Now Eva, settle down!" she said kindly. "You are being way too emotional. I know that your brain must be struggling to cope with the flood of estrogen, and you must be overwhelmed by all the new feelings you have inside. But you must learn to control them Eva. There isn't much time to lose. We need to get you out of here this week, and back into training before your muscles get too weak from all the time off."

Pavel just stared at her. He had no intention of competing. He didn't want to even live anymore. He wasn't himself anymore, he was a woman. He had no idea how he would go on like this.

"While you have been asleep, you have been barraged by female hormones, and by tapes whispering into your ears. It is a subtle effect, but one day in the very near future, you will forget your sorrow, and become joyous that you are a woman."

"They brainwashed me?" he said.

"Something like that. Now listen Eva. We don't have much time. Today, a trainer will come by, to teach you about how to dress as a woman, how to do your makeup and your hair. She will work with you all week, until you are released to my care. You *will* report on time for training, and you *will* do so as an eager woman. Do I make myself clear?"

Something happened in Pavel's mind. A strong female giving orders somehow melted down the inner anger and resentment he was feeling. When she became strict with him, the training his mind had undergone while he was asleep kicked in. Pavel was very passive and obedient now. The brainwashing had made him unable to resist orders from a strong woman.

"I will be there" he said.

"That's the spirit!" said Kristine. "I will see you then."

As soon as she left, Pavel started to cry. He realized that the brainwashing had done this to him. He was unable to resist her, in any way. She would have complete control over him now. She would be able to order him to believe he was a woman, and he would not be able to stop it from happening.

 

"Get up!" said a female voice. "Stop crying!"

Pavel found himself standing up, and wiping off his face. He was looking at Tasha, who would be the one training him on how to be a woman. She was beautiful beyond words, with her thin body, and her long blonde hair. But just as with his coach, her strong female self triggered his inner training, and he found that he was compelled to obey her. In fact, he obeyed her before he could think.

"I have three days to turn you into a woman" said Tasha. "Your training begins now."

Pavel eyed her with a feeling of inner horror. He wanted to run. He had to get out of there! He turned to the door.

"Stop!" ordered Tasha, and he found that he froze in his tracks.

"You will not do that again Eva. I didn't want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice."

Pavel was shaking, as she walked around him, assessing the situation. What was she going to do to him?

"You will repeat after me" said Tasha. "And you will believe what you say. Now let us begin. I am Eva!"

"I am Eva" said Pavel, to his surprise.

'No! Don't say what she wants!' thought Eva. 'No!'

He realized that against his will, he had not only repeated her words, but they went right into his brain like a dagger. He now truly believed himself to be Eva. He used to be....he couldn't quite remember. He was Eva now.

"I am a woman!!" said Tasha.

"I am a woman" echoed Eva.

She looked at Tasha, and nodded her head. She *was* a woman. It was true. She was a woman named Eva.

"I *like* being a woman!" barked Tasha.

"I like being a woman!" repeated Eva, who wondered why Tasha would want her to say something so obvious. Of course she liked being a woman! What woman didn't? She was glad she wasn't a man.

Tasha smiled, knowing what her student was thinking now. It would be reinforced over and over, as she went through the next few days of training. Pavel was no more, and Eva's life had begun.

 

* * *

 

"Eva Kretchnova reporting for training!" said the woman who used to be Pavel, as she carried her bag into the women's dorm of the Olympic training center in Gendovia.

"Eva, right on time" said coach Kristine Romanova, as she smiled with a broad grin. "I'm so glad to have you back."

"Glad to be back coach. I'm ready to start training."

"Good. You have put on a few pounds. We women have to be careful about what we eat, eh?"

"It just goes right to your hips" said Eva.

"Get unpacked, and put on your training outfit. You can't run ten miles in a dress" said the coach.

Eva went to change. She took off her dress, and hung it on a hanger, so it wouldn't get wrinkles. After putting it away in the clothes closet, she took off her underwire bra, and replaced it with a jog bra. She replaced her silky panties with a pair of cotton ones, which would be cooler and breathed better. Then she put on her shorts, jogging pants, tank top, and sweat jacket. She pulled her long hair back into a tight ponytail, and pulled it through a pink scrunchie. Now she was ready. She checked her lipstick, and went out to meet up with the coach.

"All right girls, give me ten miles. The last one to finish has to run extra wind sprints tonight. Go!"

Eva took off. The other women were slimmer than her, but she had bigger muscles, and was a good three inches taller than the others. Soon, she was out in front of the pack. Even with reduced stamina, she would easily win the race. The only thing that bothered her was the unfamiliar feeling of her breasts bouncing as she ran. But no problem. She would get used to that in no time.

It was the same in the weight room. Eva could lift far more than the other women. She could do a heavier weight, and she could do more reps. She pounded through the drills with ease, and over the following days she grew stronger and stronger.

"We are teaming you with Nadia Korsikova" said Kristine. "She is the greatest woman rower ever to emerge from Gendovia, until you that is."

"*I* get to row with Nadia?" said a surprised Eva. She had thought she would get a weaker partner, so that there would be two teams with a shot at winning.

"Yes. We are putting our two best together, so that you can with a gold medal. Now lets see what you can do together."

With Eva and Nadia in the boat, their very first practice run together was faster than the national record by a full second. By the end of the day, they were coming in faster than either the Olympic or world record. Both were excited. If they could pull together as a team, and push themselves harder in the last bit of training left, they could really set a record that would stand for a long time...

 

* * *

 

Nadia and Eva sat in the boat, awaiting the start of the race. When the gun went off, they started rowing. In their weeks of training together, they had become a strong team, acting and thinking as one. Nadia was strong, but Eva brought power to a new level. With her larger (formerly male) body, and the muscles that had grown up under the influence of testosterone, she was bigger and stronger than any other woman in the world, for her sport.

Not only did they beat the Americans and the Russians, the team from Gendovia took first place! They had won the gold medal! All the hard work, all the training, it had paid off. Eva stood on the podium next to Nadia, as the band played the glorious national anthem for Gendovia.

She held a bouquet of flowers, and cried a tear as they put the gold medal over her neck. It laid there on her chest, atop her large breasts. All the estrogen she had been taking had made her skin soft and smooth now. She had become expert at applying makeup. Other than her large shoulders and bulky muscles, you would never have known that she hadn't been a woman all her life. Hanging out with and training with women every day for months, she had picked up their mannerisms and speech patterns too. She had become indistinguishable from the other women athletes.

Eva hugged Nadia, who was also crying. They were fast friends now, and would always be. They smiled through their tears, not believing that it was all over. They had won. They were the Olympic champions at their sport. The best women in the world.

 

* * *

 

"Very good work Eva" said Ivan. "I knew you could do it. You are champion now."

"Thank you" said Eva shyly.

"Now that your athletic career is over, we have new tasks for you" he said.

"What is that?" said Eva, not understanding why she couldn't come back in two years for the world championships, or in four years for the next Olympics.

"You are national hero. Worshiped by girls all throughout the country. You are role model for them. And now you need to serve your country by showing them what good Gendovian girl should do."

"And what is that?" said Eva.

"You are to find man, get married, stay at home, and be mother."

Something inside Eva didn't like this at all. In the depths of her soul was a wild cry that this was wrong. It could not be! She couldn't marry a man! She couldn't be a mother! NO!

It was her former personality as Pavel, struggling to take over again. Ever since Coach Romanova had ordered her to be a woman, her brainwashing had overridden Pavel's thoughts, feelings, and desires. She had been Eva, completely and totally. But now, from the shock of being told to marry a man, Pavel's inner anger was rising, and he was in danger of taking back control of his own mind. For just a moment, *he* was back in charge. He wanted to hit the old man as hard as he could, and run off.

But Pavel (nor Eva!) had noticed who was standing in the back of the room. Coach Kristine Romanova.

"Eva, you are a woman!" she said in a harsh commanding tone.

"No!" said Pavel, as he felt himself being pulled back under, and the woman inside him reasserting herself in full control. She was in charge again, and he was nothing now, just a shadow of a memory deep inside her, never to be awoken again.

"Eva, you will forget everything you every knew about Pavel. Now!"

If Pavel could have cried, he would have. He was being erased, wiped out. Soon, there would be nothing left of him at all. He was Eva now, in mind, body and spirit. Forever.

 

"Eva, in the next room is Boris Rowkowski, the bronze medal shot-putter from your Olympic team."

"I know of him" said Eva. Who didn't? He was in all the papers, along with her, as a national hero. She knew that two years ago his wife had died in a car accident, and he alone raised his three children.

"Eva, you will go meet him now. You are in love with him! With all your heart, you love only Boris!"

Eva felt flush inside. She had more than just a crush on the strong handsome man, she loved him! And she was going to meet him now! Her heart beat faster.

"You will use all your abilities to seduce him, and make him love you. You will take him home tonight, and make love to him, doing *anything* he wants."

Eva licked her lips. She was going on a date with Boris, and he didn't know it, but he was going "to get lucky" that night. The woman always knew, even if the man didn't. She couldn't wait.

"You will make him fall in love with you, and make him propose marriage to you!"

Eva took a deep breath. She was going to marry her handsome lover one day.

"You want children more than anything in the world You will stay at home, and raise *his* children as if *you* were their mother. You will do everything in your power to keep him happy, and to make sure that *your* children grow up to be healthy, intelligent and strong, like their father!"

Eva just loved children. Once she married her heartthrob, she would be *so* happy to raise his children. She always wanted ones of her own, so she would treat them like they were hers.

"Go now Eva, and meet your future husband."

Ivan opened the door, so that Eva could go meet Boris in person for the first time. She had to control herself to keep from running out of the room which represented her past as an athlete, and into the room with Boris, which represented her future, as a loving wife and mother. She passed through the threshold, and the next chapter of her life began.....

 

Author's note: When writing a story, you have some idea what you want to have happen. But often, as it unfolds, you find that the story itself dictates what happens next, and what you can (or cannot) do. Personally, I detest the idea that all a woman is good for is to stay and home and watch the children! However, in many societies more traditional than ours, that is viewed as a woman's only role. Since Eva now lives in Gendovia, she has to fit into society there. So the way the story turned out, I was pretty much forced into this ending. Maybe one day I'll write a sequel, where Gendovian society is 'enlightened' and the women take over.....

  

  

  

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