Chapter One- Reporting for duty
On the morning after his graduation from the Academy, Ensign Thomas Walker woke up with one hell of a hangover. He felt like his head was going to explode, and should have known better than to let his roommate, Carl, talk him into a few more rounds of Orion Vodka.
As his eyes slowly opened, Thomas was treated to his first surprise of the morning. Something with a deep black color was covering his face, and it was soft and velvety. As a strand of it tickled his nose when he shifted in his bed, Thomas noticed that it was hair. He also noticed, when he shifted in his bed, that something else wasn’t right. He felt very, very confined, and had an odd movement on his chest. It also dawned on him that his whole body was both hot and cramped, which was weird since Thomas always slept in nothing but his boxers.
Raising his left arm, Thomas moved the mass of black hair from his face, and felt something tug on his scalp. That was when he knew his roommates must have attached a wig to his head. It was just like Carl to pull a stunt like this.
"Very funny..." Thomas started to say, but stopped when a rich sounding woman’s voice escaped his lips.
‘What the fuck!’ Thomas thought, as he became wide-awake and sat up in bed. He wasn’t ready for the rather large sway of his chest, or the jiggling sensation it created.
Looking down at his hands, Thomas noticed that they were encased in tight blue leather, and that these gloves on his hands had shaped them into the petite form of a woman’s hands, complete with long looking nails at the fingertips under the gloves. He also saw, while looking down, two twin blue masses of leather on his chest. Shockingly, when
Thomas moved, he felt a weight inside the leather outfit on him shift as well. Bringing a gloved hand to his encased chest, Thomas touched himself, only the chest didn’t move. It seemed solid, yet he was sure that he’d felt movement only moments before.
Somehow, his roommates had fitted him in the night with a bio-suit of a woman, and not caused him to wake up in doing so. And from the looks of it, a rather large breasted woman, too, he noted. This was a bit much for Carl, but Thomas had a good idea who might have helped his friend.
Standing up as he got out of bed, Thomas almost fell back down when he discovered himself in heels, and not just high heels, but unbelievably high heels. Steadying himself on his bedpost, Thomas looked down, but due to his large chest, he couldn’t see his feet. Cursing his roommates, he slowly walked from his bed. He rocked back and forth and felt a gel-like movement under his chest. It seemed that when he moved, the suit mimicked the movement of women’s breasts, but if he touched them, they remained solid. After what seemed like forever, he managed to reach the open door of his bathroom.
Closing the door so he could use the full-length mirror on it, Thomas got the shock of his lifetime.
There he was, dressed in a tight dark blue leather uniform of a female Ensign Second Class, with large full breasts, an almost inhumanly small waist, and standing in two towering six-inch heels. He looked at his forced tiny hands inside the compacted gloves, and then at his head. His face was that of a man on a woman’s body, but he had a wild, long mane of very feminine black hair around his head.
"Fuck," he whispered in a completely female voice. Thomas winced upon hearing it, and hoped that whatever Carl had done to it could be undone just as easily.
Suddenly, his vid-phone went off, announcing an incoming message. And Thomas spoke out of reflex. "On," he commanded, but the vid-phone continued to ring. So, Thomas repeated himself. And then again, and finally a fourth time it rang. It was only then that the phone stopped, and the message was received.
Slowly, the image of his roommate and oldest friend, Carl Wright, appeared before him.
"Hello, Cutie," Carl said with a smile, as his 3-D image floated in the center of the room.
"You asshole, what did you do to me!?" Thomas shouted, but his friend remained silent. It wasn’t until he started to speak again that Thomas realized that his vid-phone wouldn’t identify him, so no matter how much he yelled, Carl wouldn’t hear him. And due to that, all he would get was Carl’s message, and no chance to reply to his friend. Even the fact that the vid wouldn’t send his image to Carl was of no comfort, since Carl knew just what he looked like.
‘Damn that asshole!’ Thomas cursed to himself, as he waited for Carl to speak again. Finally, after a short wait, Carl’s visage showed more sign of life.
"I’ll bet you’re surprised, roomie," Carl said with a smile. Thomas couldn’t help but roll his eyes. That was a major understatement!
"Now, before you get your panties in a bunch, don’t freak out on me, nothing is permanent," Carl joked. Thomas wanted to clobber him.
"First, the suit is bonded to your skin for the next two hours, and that’s all," Carl added, much to his relief. He’d just lay low for the next two hours, and wait for the glue to wear off on him, and then change into his real clothes.
"I can tell you Liz had one hell of a time gluing you into that thing. You should have seen the way it went from a loose fit on your body to compressing you down into the shape of a woman," Carl laughed. Thomas didn’t see the humor in it. But he was willing to bet Liz laughed her ass off, along with her boyfriend, Carl, as it happened.
Thomas folded his gloved arms over his large chest. He wished Carl would hurry up, as he wanted to remove the wig and wait for the glue to loosen so he could get out of this monkey suit. Plus, he had to report for duty in six hours, and Command didn’t take to officers showing up late.
Now he understood why Carl and Mitch laughed when he showed them that he’d been assigned to the USS Raven. It was a well-known fact that of the one hundred and six crewmembers, all were women. They both must have planned this little joke as a follow up to teasing him about getting in touch with his real self. He knew from the records that other men had served on the Raven, but as of right now, he was the only male assigned to the crew.
"Don’t worry, I taped it for you, and I’ll show you sometime," Carl added, and Thomas couldn’t help but be overjoyed at that news.
‘Right, and T’gr pigs will fly!’ Thomas thought, picturing the recording Carl had made.
Thomas would try to destroy the tape recording, but he was willing to bet Carl was going to have an extra copy or two that he could tease him with down the road. So it would all be a waste of time. Still, he had no desire to view the recording.
"Mitch thought at one point that you’d wake up on us, but the knockout spray I hit you with while you slept should have kept you out until ten minutes ago," Carl began again.
‘Bastard!’ Thomas mentally cursed his friend.
"Anyway, after that, I used the growth enhancer, along with some very strong DNA bonding dye, to give you that dark RAVEN colored hair. I think it’s perfect for the new job, and it will last your full four year duty on the ship," Carl added.
‘I’ll kill the fucker,’ Thomas vowed to himself. He liked his true hair color.
"Should be a blast when your blonde beard grows in, or they see that light patch of chest hair you have," Carl added, to spite him.
The first thing Thomas was going to do was find a machine to undo the dye job, if it could be done, and then he was going to start plotting his revenge.
"Or if your next sweetheart sees your blonde pubic hairs. Mitch and I both agreed, dying your hair on the top of your head and eyebrows was the limit to what we could do," Carl continued, as Thomas plotted his revenge.
"Besides, it will give your new crewmates something to talk about on your down time," Carl said for his own amusement. "Oh, and before I forget, when you go to take off the suit, watch your crotch area," Carl added, and Thomas reached down and felt a flat female crotch and started to panic. He couldn’t believe he had missed that when he looked in the mirror!
"Now, don’t worry, we didn’t cut anything off, buddy," Carl laughed.
‘Oh, FUNNY!’ Thomas thought.
"Liz thought it would be a hoot if we glued your balls and cock down nice and flat so that you looked like a normal woman when the suit shrunk down, plus I figured this way, it wouldn’t hurt like hell when you moved," Carl explained. "And for the record, we let Liz do that; she thought it was the least she could do for you," Carl laughed, mentioning his girlfriend. Thomas again rolled his eyes, and blushed slightly, thinking about the very lovely Liz Harper touching his manhood.
"By the way, both Liz and Mitch tell me that the glue on your crotch area will hold for twenty-seven hours if not treated with the removal agent, so you’ll have to sit to pee a couple of times," Carl joked.
"Not fucking likely!" Thomas vowed out loud. He might have to go once, maybe twice, but he was sure he could hold out until he was out of this mess.
"Liz said to tell you that with the built-in corset of the suit applying pressure to your bladder, and the fact that she injected a chemical that will make your bladder piss every hour and a half for the next day, means you’ll be using the bathroom quite a bit, I guess,"
Carl added with laughter.
Thomas took that chance to look at his bed, and it was then that he noticed a very large wet spot on his sheets. He guessed that the chemical worked all the time, whether he was awake or asleep. He’d have to make sure Liz got was due her, as well.
"The last thing we did was reduce your Adam’s apple, using a med-shaper," Carl said, and Thomas reached up and touched his now slender, womanly neck with his leather covered right hand.
"This is used to reconstruct a damaged vocal center and pattern. In most cases, it’s a one shot deal. That means, old buddy, if we hadn’t recorded your med-scan of your vocal pattern, you’d have that sexy voice until you got back," Carl told him.
Thomas was starting to get very pissed off. He was going to have to call his advisor, and see if he could postpone his assignment to the Raven. No way was he going to report for duty dressed as a man, but talking like a woman. And he also noticed a building need to use the bathroom; no doubt due to the chemical Liz had given him.
"Oh, yeah, we also reset all your clocks, so as this message is going off, you’ve only got an hour and half to report for duty. Plus, you’ll be happy to know your advisor left a day ago for his vacation, and should be deep in hyperspace travel by now," Carl told him, and
Thomas saw his only hope to not have to face his new crew fade. But Carl wasn’t done yet.
"He wouldn’t have helped," Carl began. "You see, I altered your orders before you got them so that until today, it wouldn’t show that they were leaving Mars Base tomorrow instead of today," Carl finished.
That was when Thomas knew he was sunk. Carl had no doubt been planning this for some time. He also knew that if word ever got out that Carl had messed with official records, wealthy father or not, he’d be in deep shit!
"It’s taken me three months to set everything up, old buddy, so I hope you enjoy all this," Carl told him.
‘The fucker!’ Thomas’ mind cursed.
"Now, you’ll find that Liz’s big sister Tonya is the senior med-officer on the Raven, and she has been given a pre-recorded copy of your true vocal prints and coding," Carl began, telling how he was going to get out of this mess.
That meant, if he was lucky, he might be able to get on board with no one talking to him, and get his male voice back before reporting for duty. So, worst case was that he’d have to wear this outfit on board, and let a few people see him, but have Liz’s sister be the only one to know who he was under it. Of course, someone might place him with his normal looking male face on this sexy body, and at that point, the joke might well be known to most of the crew. He’d have to cross that bridge when he got to it.
"Funny thing is, the Raven’s at the Gentra Sector Space Dock, and you’ll have to keep your voice a bit longer than you’d like," Carl explained, to Thomas’ dismay.
"But don’t worry, her roommate will remove the bonds on your uniform so that you won’t have to be dressed as a woman for too long. Plus, you can then trim your hair back down, but she can’t do a thing about you peeing a lot, the color of your hair, or your voice. However, she can treat the glue on your groin," Carl added, much to Thomas’ dislike.
Thomas knew he’d have to live with that. Still, he couldn’t help but wonder how the Captain of the Raven was going to take to having one of her new crewmembers come aboard pretending to be a woman. And he was willing to bet Tonya’s roomie was going to make sure everyone knew. He was also guessing that Carl might have timed all this so Thomas would have no way to get away without meeting Captain Hale as a woman.
From what he knew of the legendary Captain Hale, she wouldn’t like it a bit.
"Don’t worry about Hale getting all pissed; my Dad’s half-sister is her second-in-command, and she has a coded message from me, to give to Hale when you get halfway to Gentra, that you had no desire to do this, and that it was all a graduation stunt I pulled on you," Carl assured him. "And don’t worry, my Grandfather, Admiral Carson, will bail me out if needed, so don’t let Hale sweat you, buddy," Carl added.
And despite all that Carl had just done to him, Thomas believed him. Still, he wouldn’t wait that long to tell the Captain or someone else in command. No way was he going to let one of Carl’s stunts get him in hot water with his new commander, Admiral or no Admiral.
"By the way, Mitch gave you a going away present of his own," Carl added with a smirk.
Thomas had a really bad feeling now. Mitch Carson was the top psi-cadet at the Academy. Plus, he was a master in the field of mental readjustment. He had been assigned after graduation to Psi-Ops to help create false identities for intergalactic spies.
"Mitch knew you’d try and tell too early that this was all a stunt, and mess up all the planning we did," Carl said. This was not starting to sound good to Thomas at all. He had a very good idea what Mitch might of given him to prevent him from blabbing on the stunt.
"So he injected you with an implant, and worked his magic on you. By now, the implant has broken down in your neural pathways, and given you the training Mitch wanted you to have," Carl added.
He was right; this wasn’t going to be good. He also hoped Carl would hurry up, as his bladder was about to explode, and Thomas was sure he wouldn’t last much longer.
"You’ll find that for as long as you remain in this form, Mitch and Liz added female habits to fit it," Carl told him, and Thomas felt his head spin.
‘Those BASTARDS!’ he thought.
"That means, buddy, that you’ll be able to walk in those heels of yours perfectly. And Liz gave you an echo of all her female knowledge. But don’t worry, Mitch told me that once you are treated with the removal agent, you’ll never get to see what she gave you," Carl added.
That was a relief! Thomas didn’t want memory echo of a life growing up a girl mixing with his. He knew that since it was an echo, it would make him transform events from his own past as a boy, into those of a girl, and not be actually Liz’s life he would recall. But still, it was a very scary thought.
"Still, from what he and Liz said, you’ll walk, talk, and act like a natural female, until her sister destroys the implant. And Mitch told me no scanner can pick up the implant in your brainwaves," Carl told him. "Plus, as an added bonus, Mitch made it impossible for you to tell anyone your real name or what we did to you for the next 24 hours, and even then, only after a coded phrase from Liz’s sister," Carl informed him. "So, in other words, my friend, until she gives you the phrase to destroy the implant, you’re stuck as a girl," Carl laughed.
By now, Thomas was fuming, but then he felt his bladder go, and his rage turned to humiliation as the warm urine leaked out of his uniform and down the leather encased leg of his. It seemed the suit let his body waste leave his body, so he guessed it was all part of its designs.
"Liz told me her sister will have the removal agent for your programming with her, as well as everything else. But on the odd chance that something happened to it, Mitch said that he only dumped the false implanting to last two months, and I’ll see you in three weeks, anyway, so I’ll have all the back ups," Carl explained, and paused to give Thomas a smile.
"Once this message is finished, the coding will kick in, and the apartment will take commands from you again," Carl said with a sly grin, and Thomas wanted to reach into the vid and knock the smirk of his friend’s face. "But if I was you, buddy, I’d hurry up. I hear Hale hates to run behind," he went on, and Thomas saw his friend’s smirk grow.
"See ya pal," Carl added, and then the vid-phone went dead, and Carl’s image faded from sight.
Thomas stood in the empty apartment for a moment, and thought about what his buddy had done. If this backfired in his face, Thomas could be looking at one hell of a long tour with Captain Hale and the Raven. And if that happened, he vowed to make sure everyone in this plan paid.
Looking at his wall clock, he saw that given the time, he would be cutting it close to get to the Raven on time. And looking down at the wet crotch and the smell of urine on his leather, Thomas knew he’d have to shower before leaving. If he was lucky, he could still trim his now long wavy hair before heading out.
Entering his shower stall, Thomas looked at the nozzle and hoped Carl was telling the truth. He didn’t much like the idea of showing up for his new command smelling like piss. That would not make a very good impression, but then, showing up on an all female ship dressed as a woman, wasn’t going to help matters. "Shower on," came his now musical voice, and Thomas couldn’t help but wince at his temporary voice.
Luckily, Carl was good to his word, and the shower began pouring warm water on his leather-clad body. He used the bar of soap on his face and uniform, and it wasn’t until he caught the smell of it close to his nose that Thomas noticed that it was a flowery smell. He was betting this little added treat was from Liz. But it was too late to stop cleaning up now. Since he was in the shower, Thomas washed his hair, too. And again was treated to a flowery shampoo, and this time he was sure it was Liz, since it smelled like the kind she used.
Once his shower was over with, Thomas used the wall dryer unit to dry off the uniform that was locked on his body before stepping out of the stall. However, his long hair was left soaking wet, since the drying unit didn’t reach that high. He’d have to use a towel for that, and the top of the uniform.
Stepping out of the stall, Thomas went to the bathroom cabinet looking for his trimmer and a towel. He had decided to cut his now long hair off before leaving, while it was nice and wet. But when he opened the drawer, all he saw was a pink hairbrush and a matching pink towel. Everything else of his was gone. Then he felt a tingle in his head, and before he knew what he was doing, Thomas found himself styling his long raven colored hair with the comb after drying it. Nothing he seemed to do could stop himself from making it into the most flattering feminine style his new implanted knowledge was trained to do. He knew Mitch had been the one to enforce this programming. It was only the thought of getting back at Liz and Mitch for this treatment that allowed Thomas to get through it all.
Since Carl had told him that he could cut his hair once on board, Thomas was guessing that Liz’s sister’s roommate had a keyword to remove the feminine styling of his hair from his implant. So, he’d just have to wear it like this until he got onboard the Raven.
He couldn’t help but imagine how Liz was going to like his idea for her, that as her punishment, she would have the urge to shave her head bald for the next year, and how pissed she’d be to lose her long red hair. And for Mitch, he would add the same type of hairstyle and length he was now sporting. Thomas knew the Rovians believed that only women should allow hair to grow on their heads, and in his culture, Mitch would be thought of as half a man if he had hair on his head. Thomas already knew his friend had to live with the fact that his mother had mated with a human, and he was a half-breed. Thomas knew that even giving Mitch long hair for a short period would humiliate his friend. So, he’d have to think of a few different ideas for Mitch’s punishment.
But it was like the old Earth saying, ‘payback is hell’!
After finishing his hair, Thomas marveled at how easily he was now moving in the heels on his feet. Then something else dawned on him. He was in six-inch heels for sure, yet everything in the room was the same height as before. But how could that be? When he wasn’t in heels, Thomas stood five feet ten inches. The only way he could be the same height was if Carl had...
"No, he wouldn’t," Thomas gasped out loud. But he knew it was the truth. Carl had used cellular degeneration to shrink him down in size. The very thing Thomas had wanted to do his whole life, and had been saving for, but only in the reverse.
Thomas had always hated being short, and he was slowly saving money off to the side to get his genetic code for height changed. Since it took three years for a body to recover from genetic recoding, he was now going to have to be forced to wait even longer to reach his dream height. Plus, on top of that, he’d have to be five feet four inches tall for the next three years.
He vowed then that Carl would pay a heavy price. And with a wicked smile, he knew the perfect idea. He just hoped that Carl didn’t get re-coded in the next three years. He couldn’t wait to see super-stud’s reaction to having a two-inch cock!
Blocking out his plans for revenge, Thomas noticed one other thing about his apartment. All his things had been moved out. Every wall was sterile, blank silver metal, just like when he moved in. The only thing in the whole apartment was his bed, with wet sheets and a lone bag next to the door.
Thomas also saw two small pads on top of the bag. No doubt, messages from his so-called friends.
Walking over to the pads with fluid grace, Thomas discovered something else. His uniform was becoming more fluid, meaning he could feel weight shift on his padded chest and butt. Even when he had just been standing still a second ago, Thomas had found himself aware of the weight of his chest, and the size of his enhanced backside. What else had those bastards done to him?
When he clicked the first pad, nothing happen. That meant they had coded times into the pads. Looking at the time, Thomas called a transport to pick him up, then set the first pad down, and picked up the other one.
Luckily, the second pad worked. It was an image of Mitch this time.
"Greetings, friend," Mitch said to him.
Thomas looked at his green skinnned friend, and the black dots on his face. He tried to picture Mitch with long red hair, and couldn’t wait to get back at his alien friend.
"You will by now have noticed several things that Carl forgot to mention," Mitch calmly told him. Thomas noted that, like always, Mitch’s face remained void of emotion. Not that his friend didn’t have emotions, it was just that he controlled them very, very well.
"First, let me begin by explaining the suit you have on. The bonding agent will last five more hours, so you’ll be free of the suit about halfway into the trip," Mitch told him.
‘Big relief!’ Thomas thought to himself. That meant he was going to have to report for duty as a woman. This nightmare was getting worse with every second Thomas felt.
"Now, the suit will, after your shower, start phase two," Mitch informed him.
Thomas was wondering if he wanted to hear what phase two was or not.
"The second phase is that the gel in the suit becomes active, and lets you be aware of the weight and feeling a body like this would have. This was not Liz’s idea, but mine," Mitch explained to Thomas.
"Bastard!" Thomas cursed out loud.
"Lastly, as you’ve seen, I’ve given you a preprogrammed set of habits and traits that I believe females have. Liz helped me by offering herself as a template, but she and I did add a few tricks to your mental coding," Mitch added, and Thomas groaned. He just knew he wasn’t going to like what those two cooked up for him.
"I won’t spoil all the surprises for you just yet, my friend," Mitch said to Thomas, and smiled for the first time on the vid-pad before adding one last thing. "Until we meet again, ASHLEY," Mitch said, and Thomas felt the programming kick in. He knew that when asked his name he would answer Ashley, but at least he was still thinking he was male. That little thing was going to save Mitch when he paid his green friend back.
As the message ended, Thomas saw the vid-pad go blank again. And no matter how many times he hit the buttons again, it wouldn’t repeat the message. Thomas knew Carl or Mitch must have added a virus to cover their tracks after each message was done; the fact that the vid-pad hadn’t overheated told him that Mitch had one or two more messages for him.
Noticing that he was running dangerously close to being late, Thomas opened his door and headed down to the lobby for his transport. He managed to get lucky, and didn’t see anyone he knew as he proceeded.
As the hum of the transport’s engine sounded from outside the lobby, Thomas knew his ride was there. As he was walking out, he caught his reflection and noticed that despite the hairdo he’d done, and the curves of his uniform, that he had a rather plain male face.
Everything from his large nose to his thin lips gave him a mannish look. Still, from some angles, he did look a bit like a woman, but once up close, the illusion faded.
"Space dock 132," Thomas sang in Ashley’s soft voice. He noticed the transport android look at him blankly. No doubt, Thomas guessed, trying to determine if this passenger was male or female.
"Yes, Sir," the droid said as it punched in the location. Thomas knew it had to have been a sensor reading that the droid gave him upon getting into the transport. He looked down at his bag, and noticed one of the pads was flashing a message for him.
It came to no surprise that this one was from Liz.
"Hello, Tom, or should I say, Ashley," the blonde girl said to him. If she weren’t so damn cute, Thomas would kill her. And if things kept up like this, he just might.
"I’ll bet you’re pissed about the hair and crotch thing, right?" Liz asked him. Thomas couldn’t help but nod at her question.
"Sorry, but when Carl showed me what he was planning, I just had to help," Liz said with a smile on her rosy lips. "Well, I talked to Sis last month, and she has everything set up on to undo all this. She has her roomie set to fix up things once you get on board. Since the Raven isn’t outfitted for transporters, you’ll have to fly from the dock up to her. But they have been ordered to be refitted at Zegar Five for transporters," she added.
Thomas rolled his eyes. That meant he had to walk across space dock to get a shuttle. He had been hoping to use the filters at the space dock to beam up with his old hair and voice pattern. The thought had come to him when the android scanned him as a male. Since he’d gone up to spaceport last month, the computers would still have his old recording in them, and he would be free of Carl’s little plan.
It would even undo Mitch’s programming. He’d thought his friends had made a mistake, but it seemed that dock 132 hadn’t been updated yet for transporters. Still, he could just walk over to one of the other docks, use a transporter to beam up to spaceport, and see if a shuttle was going to the Raven. It might make him late, but at least he’d get a chance to be male again. Plus, his older brother Rick was working at the port, and might be able to help him.
"Now, Carl gave Central Command your bio-readings as female, but didn’t let the filters on the transporter lock onto them. The same will hold for all the Raven’s computers. Tonya just altered your record, but blocked the main computer from keying in on the error in your anatomy," Liz explained.
Thomas knew that meant that the ship’s logs would list and show him as female, and that if he used another transporter, it would still beam him in as Ashley, complete with all the programming and hairstyle. He had to say, they sure as hell went all out on this joke. He would just have to take a shuttle from the dock, and hope for the best. Besides, even with the transport and shuttle, he was going to be cutting it down to the wire to get onboard the ship on time.
"Make sure Tonya gets you de-coded when she gets onboard. Mitch and I gave you implants, but if they remain in for too long, some of the traits can and will bleed into your mind," Liz warned him.
‘No shit,’ Thomas thought; that was why he couldn’t believe they’d touched his mind. What if something went wrong? He knew that after four months without some down time from the implants, they would bond with him, and he’d have to go thru complete deprogramming.
"As to the rest, enjoy the ride, Ash," Liz added, giving him a nickname, and then her pad went blank; unlike Mitch’s pad, hers burned out on him, destroying her message and his only proof so far that others had done this to him.
"We’ve arrived, Sir," the droid said, as it pulled to a stop at the dock 132 landing pad.
"How much?" Thomas asked, as he reached over to the payment pad in front of him. Then he smiled, the pad would give him a printout with his male ID number on it, but would it also need a fingerprint? How was he going to do that? Then Thomas turned his right-gloved hand over, and saw the outline of a thumbprint on it. He was sure it was going to pass, but he was also betting the print-out would be for Ashley from some dummy account Carl would have set up for him.
"Six hundred credits, Sir," the droid said. Thomas keyed the thumbprint and ID number in, and sure enough, it printed out for one Ashley Dodds, Ensign Second Class. He also noticed that Carl had only given him credits for the ride and nothing more. That meant until he was free of this nightmare, he was broke. Thomas was so caught up in checking the amounts that he failed to notice the significance of the name on the printout.
Slinging the bag over his shoulder, Thomas walked out of the transporter, and toward the nearest shuttle bay. He about freaked when he walked out into the hall and saw the first person, but other than a brief look from the alien, Thomas caught no sign that they knew he was male.
In fact, as he walked through the dock, Thomas became aware that no one he saw was human, and none looked too closely. That was, until he got to the shuttle. The pilot was human. And female. She had short red hair, and was wearing a green version of his suit. That meant the woman was of the rank of Lt. Commander.
Thomas had a sinking feeling that it was going to be a very long flight.
Yet, other than one brief flat look, the woman did nothing, nor did she say anything to him. Thankfully, the woman just asked dock control for permission to leave, and didn’t say anything else as she flew to the shuttle bay.
Once they docked, Thomas stood and waited to get out of the shuttle. To his surprise, the pilot picked up a bag too. "Just coming aboard?" the woman asked him as she stood.
"Yes, Ma’am," Thomas said, saluting the woman of Lt. Commander rank for the first time, and hoped his salute came off perfect.
"At ease, Ensign," the woman told him with a warm smile.
Thomas looked at the tall redheaded woman. She had a lean build to her, and he guessed her to be part of ship security from the red circle above her left breast. The one thing Thomas did notice was that the woman was three inches taller then him in his six-inch heels.
"So what’s your name, Ensign?" she asked him, as she walked toward him with her brown bag.
"Ashley Dodds, Ma’am," Thomas answered, with his programmed name; now he noticed the last name Ashley had. He was not happy to see that Mitch had programmed him with a completely different name. What about his orders? He wasn’t looking forward to telling this woman the truth later.
The woman seemed to look at him for a very long period before answering.
"Sorry, Lt. Commander Carol Hawkins," the woman said, revealing her own identity to him.
Thomas must have dropped his jaw, because Lt. Commander Hawkins started giggling at him. He couldn’t believe this was the hero of the Sector War, and that she was so young.
"I’m half Borm," she said, as if reading his mind, which for a brief second he wished she could. If the ship had a psi-active person onboard, then she might be able to see past Mitch’s programming.
Since Bormians look human, Thomas would never have guessed. That meant if she looked twenty-five, then she was sixty standard Earth years. It was then that he noticed the small green earrings in her ears; they seemed to bring out the color of her matching green eyes. "It’s an honor, Ma’am," Thomas said, and saluted her.
That only made her chuckle at him. "At ease, Ensign," she told him again, as she moved to the door in front of him.
"Sorry," Thomas said to himself out loud. Then he wondered how she was going to react to when he revealed his true identity. It just made wanting to pay his friends back even more necessary.
Thomas got directions from her for the med-bay, and headed off to get out of the damn outfit he was in, and asked if Commander Wright was onboard. He was going to make sure that the Commander had Carl’s message for the Captain. It was then that the Lt. Commander told him that Commander Wright had been transferred to the Falcon late last night in a rush, and that she had left space dock over three hours ago in command of the new ship, and with the rank of Captain. She also told him that the new Commander was not on board yet, that they would pick up the new Commander at the next port call.
Thomas felt the pieces of his friend’s master plan falling apart on him. Now he needed to get to med-lab and out of this uniform, and fast. He was hoping that something onboard would break the glue down.
The Lt. Commander told him that, as a new Ensign, he had two hours before he was to report to the bridge for his shift, and that she’d see him there. Thomas had learned that she was not just part of ship’s security, but in command of it.
Walking into the med-lab, Thomas saw a woman dressed in white slacks and a white lab coat. The woman was human by looks, and in her late fifties. Thomas also noticed that she had just a touch of gray to her brown hair. He also noted that her hair was pulled into a tight bun, and that she was working with several crewmembers.
"Yes?" the woman asked him, turning to him as the door sounded his arrival.
Thomas didn’t want to tell her what he really needed, with a room full of people. He was thinking the fewer that knew about his real identity, the better.
"Yes, Ma’am," Thomas said, and looked around the room. "You see, Ma’am, my roommate at the Academy played a gag on me, and bonded my suit to my skin, and I was wondering if you could remove it?" he asked her.
The Doctor nodded her head, and gave him a warm smile. Then she scanned him with her hand held scanner. As the thin red beam moved up and down his chest area, the woman’s smile faded, and she shook her head. Then she set her scanner down before speaking to him.
Thomas had a sinking feeling he wasn’t going to like what she said.
"There are about three hours left on the glue before it breaks down, and I’m sorry to say that it seems your friends have used a new bonding agent that my tools can’t remove," the Doctor said with a pause, and gave Thomas a smile before going on with what she had to tell him.
"So when it breaks down, you will need to take a shower once the suit is off, if you want to get the glue out of your system. Also, clean the suit out before putting it back on, or the remaining glue might re-bond to your skin," the Doctor told him.
"Thank you, Ma’am," Thomas said, and turned to leave the med-lab. What he failed to notice was that the Doctor’s badge marked her as the new senior medical officer. Or that she was checking, making a medical update to check his skin for left over bonding agent.
Walking along the corridor of the ship, Thomas stopped a few times to ask the ship’s computer directions to his quarters. Thomas had to stop a few other times when other crewmembers asked his name, and due to Mitch’s implant, Thomas was forced to answer them with his new name. By the time he entered the hall to his quarters, Thomas had seen ten crewmembers. Each had given him an odd look, and shook their heads at him. He had the growing fear that Carl’s little joke was going to blow up in his face very soon.
As he rounded the corner to where his room was, Thomas almost ran into two women rounding the corner in the opposite direction. He noticed one of them was Lt. Commander Hawkins, and to his horror, the other was Captain Hale!
"C-Captain," Thomas choked out. He really didn’t want her to see him like this, and not be able to explain himself. Thomas found himself lost in the erotic beauty of his Captain. She was tall, about six foot four, and a brief look down let him see that she was even wearing three-inch heels that pushed her height up to six foot seven. He saw that she was wearing a solid black version of the type of suit he had on, except for a few things. On the top, the skintight suit stopped just above her large crimson breast, creating a very eye-appealing amount of cleavage. It left her red shoulders bare, along with her hands. Thomas saw that she had well toned arms, and at the tips of her hands where long, slender, black colored two inch long nails. Looking back up at her, Thomas found himself lost in her face.
Thomas knew that the Captain was from Delta Nine Sector, and a full Norian. He looked at the third eye on her red forehead, and was drawn in by the dark eye shadow she was using. Each of her three eyes were a deep green in color. Topping off her face was her almost bald head, except for the long braided black hair at the back and her two pointed red ears, each having five gold earrings in them. Thomas was lost to the sight of her beauty completely.
"What is your name, Ensign?" the Captain said in a harsh tone, as she eyed him up and down with each of her now narrowed eyes. He could tell from the look on her face that she was not happy with him. He could see the points of her fangs as she spoke to him.
"A-Ashley Dodds, Ma’am," Thomas stuttered, and gave a weak salute. He saw Lt. Commander Hawkins shake her head at him.
"I trust, Ensign, that before you report for duty, you will comply with my ship’s dress code," the Captain said to Thomas, and pushed by him, letting him see the back of her uniform. He was shocked to see that the back of the Captain’s uniform was exposed to the middle of her back. He also saw the long, three foot pointed demon-like tail coming out of a hole in the tailbone of the Captain’s uniform. She was breathtaking.
The Lt. Commmander gave a low whistle as the Captain moved by him.
"If I was you, I’d stay low for the next day and let her cool off," the Lt. Commander said to him.
"Yes, Ma’am," Thomas said, and looked over her shoulder and saw his room. As he walked to it, the Lt. Commander spoke again.
"Looks like we’ll be bunkmates, girl," she commented.
Thomas spun back around. "Ma’am?" he asked.
"Yes, with my transfer onboard, I’ve been assigned to your room until Chief Azalea gets around to finishing the remodeling of the senior staff quarters," she said.
"There was no other room, Ma’am?" Thomas started to say, and then caught himself. "I mean, officers always get single rooms, and couldn’t the Captain given you a private room?" he added, digging himself a deeper hole. After all, Thomas was betting that the Chief would have the remodeling done by the next port.
She looked at him flatly; he realized he was pissing off the woman that was to be his brief roommate until he went back to his male identity.
"No, every room was full up on ship, with all the remodeling that was getting done in Earth Sector, and the Chief’s crew only got the Captain’s, and three other senior officer’s quarters done. Mine should be finished in a week," she said.
Then it hit Thomas that if the all the rooms where full up, then how was he going to get his own room when he went back to being a man on the Raven? The only way he could think of was to reassign one of the senior officers to bunk with the Lt. Commander until her room was finished.
"Oh," he said, seeing yet another part of Carl’s joke falling apart. Thomas was going to have a hard time straightening all this out.
"Don’t worry, I won’t bite," she said, and moved off before he could say anything else. That was when Thomas noticed that she had been flirting with him. Now he was sure she was going to be pissed off at him when his true sex was revealed.
Opening the door to the room, Thomas saw that the center living space was done up with a feminine decor, and when he walked into his bedroom, it matched. Sighing to himself, he threw his bag down on the bed, having no desire to unpack it until the rooming assignment could be straightened out, and walked back out to the living area. Seeing the door that had to be to the bathroom stall, he noted that his bladder was dangerously close to release, and walked into it.
Sitting down in his uniform, Thomas waited for his bladder to relax. It didn’t take long, and he felt himself go. After his bladder was empty, and before he noticed what he was doing, Thomas wiped himself like a real woman would. It was only after the fact that it hit him. He had barely even noticed himself doing it. Mitch had done one hell of a job. After making sure that he had cleaned himself off, he stood and left the bathroom area. He’d get one last chance to piss before leaving to report for duty on the bridge. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do about his pissing problem while he was on duty.
Walking back out to the living space, Thomas noted the time, and headed back into his bedroom. He doubted now that he’d be out of his Ashley role for the next day, so he’d have to stay her tonight, and that meant unpacking. He’d also have to wear the uniform tomorrow, so he’d have to shower it tonight after he removed it. Thomas then recalled the Captain’s warning about complying with dress code, and walked over to the wall computer. "Computer, on," he commanded.
"Welcome, Mistress, please state your name and rank for initializing command functions," the computer answered, making Thomas growl at the thing. He knew that his programming was going to kick in for the answer.
"Ensign Ashley Dodds," Thomas said, and waited for the computer to match his file.
"Hello, Mistress Ashley, how may I be of use to you?" the computer asked him.
"Please list the dress code for the Raven," Thomas asked the machine.
Slowly, one by one, the computer began to list the dress code for any crewmember, female or male. Thomas felt his stomach turn as he saw the command listed. He was going to kill his friends for sure now.
So, after he saw all that he had to do, Thomas walked to the bathroom again and began to plot a deeper more painful revenge for his friends. Some of the things on the list he couldn’t do, but a few he could. He just hoped that Captain Hale didn’t dock him too much for not getting everything right.
Once in the bathroom, Thomas stepped in front of the mirror and opened one of the drawers. He was happy to see that Lt. Commander Hawkins had unpacked her things. Picking up the facial trimmer, he felt some of the implanted skills kick in, but unlike the hair routine, this time he found he could control himself. Carefully, he slightly trimmed his eyebrows and light facial hair.
Seeing his face a bit more to requirements, Thomas looked back in the drawer, and found a make-up kit. He found himself lost to the implant this time, and before he knew it, his mannish face had been transformed into something more womanly. He could still see traces of his male identity, but he looked a lot more feminine now than before.
But that was all he could do. He had no earrings, and was sure that Lt. Commander Hawkins locked her room, and doubted the woman had clip on earrings anyway, since her ears were pierced. He also looked at his gloved hands, and knew that was going to cost him. The code required that the flesh of the hands be uncovered unless the mission required otherwise, something to do with some crewmember species needing contact with bare skin for greetings.
After he’d done the best he could, Thomas again left the bathroom.
Walking into his bedroom, Thomas noticed the pad from Mitch that was attached to his bag was flashing. Removing it, he hit the pad and awaited his friend’s message.
"Hello again, Ashley," Mitch began. Thomas just groaned.
"By now, you are onboard the ship, and about to report for duty. Since
Liz gave you that chemical, this might have caused you problems for your first shift of duty, but don’t worry, I’ve added a blocking command that will kick in for the next several hours that will prevent that from happening. However, once your shift is finished, you will need to use the bathroom very fast, or your bladder and bowels with release themselves as you are walking to your room. By my guess, the pill counter agent I placed in you for time release should give you ten minutes from the end of your shift to return to your quarters," Mitch added.
"Now, down to the last bit of news. The last thing we all did for you was to pack your bag for your first night onboard the Raven. I hope you like what we picked out for you, but don’t worry, Liz’s sister has all your male clothes, and after Captain Hale gets the message from Carl’s aunt, your assignment time will be moved around so that you won’t have to report for duty the second day in the same uniform. I’m sure when this is all over with, you’ll see the humor in it all, and I look forward to seeing what you’re planning as payback," Mitch said, and like Liz’s pad, it melted down after going blank.
Thomas looked at his bag, and had a sick feeling at what they packed for him. As he opened the bag, he saw a pink slip of cloth of top. Pulling it out, he found a transparent nightie. Tossing it off to the side, he looked inside for other clothes, but found nothing other than several other nighties in the bag, along with matching sets of panties.
Each was like the first, but in different colors. He had black, green, red, and blue ones, but nothing else.
That was, except a large black box with an ID pad on the top, locking it. He tried to use the imprint on the glove, but nothing happened. Thomas was willing to bet that it would take his naked flesh imprint to open, or that it was time locked until after his duty shift.
Picking up the nighties, Thomas walked over to the dresser and placed them in there, along with the box in his bag. He then tucked his bag into one of the other drawers, and looked up at the wall for a clock. Seeing none, he opened his mouth.
"Computer, report time," Thomas asked, and learned that he had twenty minutes before his shift started. Since he didn’t feel like he had to go, Thomas guessed that Mitch’s blocking agent was working, but he was going to make damn sure to get to a bathroom after his duty shift!
So, not seeing what else he could do, Thomas headed off for this first shift onboard the Raven. All he could do was hope nothing else went wrong. He somehow wasn’t sure though that his wish was going to come true, and that his duty on the Raven was going to be a very, very long and trying one.
© 2000
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