The Eleusian Effect

Neither one of us slept really well. Today was the day I was heading back to space. “Can’t you wait a few more days?” Bill was not happy.

“Now or a couple of days. It’s not going to make much difference. It will just put off the inevitable.”

“Yeah.” Bill grumbled.

“I could eat one of your famous breakfasts, though.”

“Aye, Aye ,Sir!!” Bill smiled and in a sudden comic moment, he leapt out of bed and ran into the kitchen. I got up and set out my work uniform. I packed everything else I was taking; more clothes and makeup than I thought I would. I also packed some trinkets that reminded me of this romantic summer. “Bill, I’m hopping in the shower.” “Okay. Food should be ready by the time you come out.”

I washed and used some lotions and scrubbed my hair. I noticed it had gotten fuller and thicker over the summer and I really did nothing to encourage that. I put on my work uniform, did my makeup and spritzed on some of Bill’s favorite perfume that he bought for me. I came out and Bill stopped to stare. “I never get tired of looking at you.” “Stop staring and let’s eat.” Bill set the food down and stole a kiss. I began to wonder if we could get together one last time before I left. My GASA shuttle was coming for me at noon so we ate and then entertained ourselves.

September 4, 2169 1100 Hours

There’s nothing like watching a star ship leave spacedock. Its majesty, its gentleness as it eases out of its mammoth cage is a sight to behold. I don’t know of a piece of music that could capture the awe of the event. It was like a ballet with the grace and style of a 5-million-ton ballerina. The USS Kennedy was state of the art when it was built 3 years ago and now it was the most advanced piece of technology mankind has ever created. Since the government released the funding last week, 3 more ships are slated to be finished in the same manner: the USS Solaris, the USS Destare, and the USS Logan. The USS Vonnegut was just finished when the funding was pulled and now it’s already orbiting Mars.

I was pleased and very excited with the upgrades to the Kennedy. The medical lab was like a playground for me and I have already completed several experiments that would have taken months in the old lab. I decided I should do full medi-scans of every one assigned to the Kennedy including those of us who were affected by the Eleusian Virus. GASA made sure all of that information was classified. I spent the first few days on board overseeing the decontamination of the ship. We wanted to make sure the male crew members were not affected by lingering viruses. Once I was satisfied with the ship’s decon, I met with Captain Tanner and First Officer Felloner. We spent several hours reviewing health protocols and making sure we’d depart for Mars on time. Tanner seemed to be back to her old self, so to speak. She was all business; much of the commander I remember was still in the 5’ 10’’ brunette. Tanner was statuesque and seemed to be a little more buff. Felloner also seemed all business but gained a bit of sass in her new female, persona. “I will handle the staffing changes.” She was laser-focused on the job at hand. “Let me know if you need anything, Doctor.” “Thanks. I will. Any word on the hardware updates?”

“No but I will have Harrison touch base with you later.”

“That’s fine. Please let me review the list when you are done.” She headed towards the bridge to get the staffing issues done. Once Felloner had sent me the current report, I found it in order. I noticed that about 30 former crew members did not return. About half of them opted for earth assignments and the other ones resigned from GASA. Several good people we lost, not to mention the crew members that Lieutenant Morrison was going to take with her. Several new members needed to be medi-scanned. It was critical to have a healthy DNA imprint of each member, in case we run into any unknown pathogens, or even to grow new tissue in the event of an accident. I had my work cut out for me.

Since we returned from furlough I had not seen much of Harrison. She decided to come back a week early to monitor the ships upgrades. I hadn’t been able to accomplish much other than the initial medi-scan after the change. She very dark skinned, darker than me. She graduated top of her astro-engineering class and had the pick of any ship in GASA’s small fleet. Harrison was a history buff and chose the Kennedy because of the history of the name. I am actually surprised she didn’t visit me on the Cape, knowing that Hyannisport was Kennedy family stomping grounds. As a man, he was competent, stern and lived a very Spartan existence. I only briefly saw him as a woman. She went back home for a weekend and I thought it would be a good idea to check in with her. I called her on the ship’s com and a beautiful, well made up face appeared. She was in very good spirits. “Hi Doc! How are ya?” She was uncharacteristically upbeat.

“I am doing fine, Telman.”

“Oh, I’m going by Terry, now. Have you seen the Engineering section?”

“No, I haven’t been down there yet.”

“You need to see it! I’ve made some really great changes!” Harrison briefed us on the computer core updates and some of the new hardware that will help process the Eleusian data faster. She was slender and sinewy. She still had a nice figure, though. “Terry, can you let me know when we can bring the Eleusian drives online? We’ll want to start prepping the new labs for continuing research.” “Actually we just finished last night.”

Harrison was as tall as she was as a man but curvy. She was still very agile, but definitely full figured. She had lightened her hair to a strawberry blond (it was redder before the gender change).

“Okay. I have a medi-scan in progress. It will take about an hour. I will come down after that.”

“Great! See you then!” I noticed some bright colors and artwork behind her as we talked. The medi-scan took a little less time than I thought so I checked the data and went to engineering. I didn’t come down here often, but I remembered that it was somewhat drab, Spartan like Telman-Terry used to be. I waited for the lift doors to open and walked out. The drab memory I had of engineering melted away and a flood of pastel colors filled the room. I also noticed plant life intertwined with the new décor and some type of irrigation system to feed them. I walked over the engine core and found three women and two men attending the consoles. A strawberry blond beauty was directing the others. “Terry?” She turned around and had very glamourous makeup on. “Hey Doc! Looking gorgeous!!”

“Likewise. How was your furlough?”

“It was amazing. Let’s go into my office.”

We left the area and went into her private office. “I had an incredible time. I never knew being a woman could be so liberating!”

“I understand. I had an surprising time, too.”

“I had all these emotions, ideas, things that just never occurred to me as a man. I took an art class and discovered that I love art and color! Fresh flowers! Mosaics! It was like a party in my brain!” “That’s wonderful, Tel-Terry.”

“What about you? Why was your vacation amazing?”

“Well. If I tell you, you must keep it a secret.”

“I swear.”

“I met someone. We fell for each other. Hard.”

“I’m so happy for you!” She paused, thinking for a moment, “Isn’t that going to make this harder?”

“Yes, but he’s willing to wait. I figured I have a year to work out my wanderlust and then, who knows?”

“Well you secret is safe with me.”

“Thanks. So I get the new paint job in engineering but what’s with the plants?”

“That’s an another neat idea I had. I was thinking that the varieties of food we’ll be eating is going to get old, and I mean boring pretty quick. The food generator just rearranges the organic soy compound to what we ask; a burger tastes like a burger but it’s soy. Since the nutrients are put into the soy matter already we get the nutrients we need but there’s a synthetic feel to it.” “But it’s all organic isn’t it? I mean that’s part of the medical department’s weekly inspection, to make sure the food base is clean and maintained.” “Yes, and we will still need that. But I did some research and found a way to have fresh vegetables and other organic foods. I even found 3 ways to recycle water while we are in space!” “That’s fantastic! You know, I’m so glad you’ve found a passion.”

“Engineering is still my passion but I’ve been able to expand some theories to other areas and create some neat stuff.”

“Keep me posted, I may need your muse.”

“You betcha! There’s something else.”

“What?”

“I met someone, too. In my art class.”

“Is it serious?”

“Kind of. I told him if we still felt the same way in a year then we’d do something about it. Time will tell.”

“I’m happy for you.”

“Thanks. Catch you later.”

“Will do.”

I decided to visit the bridge. They were still working on it during the upgrade so I hadn’t been up there since. I walked onto the bridge and noticed that it was brighter and a similar color scheme to engineering. The pilot’s console was noticeable different as was the med station. I went over to it and fired it up. It took only a moment to download the 100 exabytes of medical data from sickbay. I’d be spending more time on the bridge for future missions. Troy bounced onto the bridge and came over to me. “Hey Doc. How are you?” “Hey Troy. I’m doing great. How are you? Did you have a good furlough?”

“Sure did. I’m going by Tracy now.” She was in her normal work uniform and she looked fresh with minimal makeup. It seems the virus thoroughly feminized all of us.

“Okay, give me time to get used to that. I was going to go by Daria but I had to use Endana. So I am now Endana Obama.”

“No middle name?”

“Not yet. Wasn’t a high priority.”

“I hear ya. Have you seen the Commander?”

“Not since this morning. Did you check the ready room?”

“Not yet. I will see you later.” Tracy headed to the ready room. We used to call it a conference room but the Commander, much like several high ranking members of GASA, love that old television show, Solar Missions. Much of the style and verbiage of GASA culture mirrored the language of that show, mostly because of its optimistic view of the future (which is now our present), but also much of its ancient nautical references are still applicable. The ready room was a combination of the Commander’s office and a small meeting room. The main conference room was moved to next lower deck. I found Tanner in the shuttle port. “Is everything ready, Doctor?” “Yes, Ma’am. The medical lab is ready to go, we are about 75% done medi-scanning the new crew members and the sick bay is stocked, computers are updated.” “Excellent.” The Commander was pleased. She cocked her head, “Did you see that most of the new crew are men?”

“Yes. I am concerned that they may ask why there are some many women on the ship.” I pondered.

“Good point. Well if it becomes an issue, we’ll need to tell them truth.”

“Okay. One other thing: you must have noticed that our libidos have become very strong.”

“Yes, I partied pretty hard on furlough. Harder than I did as a man.” Tanner grinned a little, then continued. “The new crewmen may have trouble with super-pheromones. So we will need to be extremely careful.” “I have an idea. I can come up with a compound that can make it easier for us to control our urges. I am still finding useful data from the Eleusian hard drives.” I was looking to sink my teeth deeper into that alien data.

“Sounds good. Didn’t they integrate them into the ship’s mainframe?”

“Troy’s, I mean Tracy’s idea. Pretty ingenious.”

“Tracy! I was hoping she’d use that name. I suggested it.” Tanner bubbled. “She and Braddock are working together to blend our system to the Eleusian drives. Oh, and another thing, Braddock didn’t change his name.” I was puzzled. “He’s going by Jim?”

“No he always preferred Jamie. Said his mother called him that.”

“Ah. Makes sense. Well, let me get to work on that compound. Dinner?”

“Sure. Are we dressing for it? It’s a habit I developed on furlough.” Tanner pondered.

“Let me see how the day goes.”

“Okay, see you later.” Tanner had fully embraced her womanhood. I guess we all had. I can only imagine who else has boyfriends. “One last thing,” “What?”

“Did you pick a new name?”

“Certainly did. Deidre.”

“Deidre. Nice.”

“My friends can call me Didi.”

We both smiled and parted. As I headed back to sickbay, I felt a real sense of urgency to develop that compound. I knew that our enhanced bodies could generate an inordinate amount of pheromones. The men, could become aroused to the point of psychosis, if unprotected. I had to work fast.

The first thing I did was increase the amount of oxygen in the ship’s ventilation system. I estimated that would work for about twelve hours. I accessed the Eleusian drive and searched for some type of pheromone blocker. I was hoping the Eleusians had run into the same problem and had a ready-made solution. I found something close. It looked like a chemical that could cancel out the pheromones, but it had a highly toxic molecule, close to a barium-mercury hybrid. I had to find a less lethal compound that could be as effective. I decided to get the entire research staff involved. Time was of the essence. I had my original team plus three new members. All top of their class. Two of them were men. I spoke with Tanner and got permission to tell them about the Venus Mission and everything that happened from it.

“You have to be kidding me!” Petty Officer Second Class Neil Case was manly enough. He was understandably shocked. “You used to be a man?” “Yes. My name was Darius Obama. We found the cure too late for us. Most of us, that I know of, have accepted it and moved on. We had to keep it a secret from the public. Right now as long as an affected person receives the antidote before a month’s time they will revert back to normal.” “That’s the most incredible thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Well the upside is that we have data from the Eleusians that is far more advanced than anything man has come up with. We have a wealth of knowledge and we’ll be spending a lot of time going through it.” Another new crew member, Petty Officer Third Class Harlan Billis, was also surprised. “Ma’am, how many other crew members know this?” “All those affected, the Captain, Chief Engineer. That’s why all the new crew are men. Now listen, all of you: under no circumstances are you to reveal any of what I told you. The survival of everyone aboard the Kennedy depends on it. If anyone asks what you are working on, tell them the projects I’ve listed on this mission task list.” “Are you asking us to lie, Ma’am?” The third crewman, Seaman John Flowers, was pensive.

“Crewman, I am ordering you to lie. As I said, our survival depends on this.”

“Aye, Ma’am”

The others returned to their stations and Flowers hung back. “Something I can help you with, Crewman?”

“Well Ma’am, I joined GASA to explore and experience space. I felt it was an honorable service and I like that about it.”

“Go on.”

“Well, I’m not sure if I can lie about something like that.”

“Consider it classified information. We can’t let the population of Earth know that a virus exists that changes their gender. At least until we understand more about it. It just keeps everyone safe. At the very least, it a secret.” “A pretty big one. I will comply, Doctor.”

“Very good. Thank you, Flowers.” I understand his hesitations. I felt the same way about GASA and the whole reason we are out here. “Mr. Flowers, if you ever have problems or any issues, feel free to come to me. My door is always open.” “Thank you, Doctor. I may just take you up on that.”

Flowers went back to his station and seemed to relax. I didn’t like having my people lie about a thing, but there was really no other option. There was still so much about the Eleusians we didn’t know. The xeno-archaeology department had months, maybe years of research left on the Eleusian drives. They would be hailed as heroes for just for working on it.

I continued to look for a suitable pheromone blocker compound for the ship. I thought it would take longer, but after only an hour, I found a possible alternative for the toxic elements in the Eleusian formula. Sodium. It had similar molecular bond with the other elements and sodium is palatable to humans. I had to start testing immediately. I need people to test it on and the only one who can authorize that is the Captain. I called Tanner on the com. “Commander do you have a minute?” “Sure, Doc. What’s up?”

“I’ve found an element I can use for the pheromone blocker but I need to test it. On a subject.”

“Doctor, you know how I feel about human experimentation. My gender may have changed but my beliefs have not.”

“I realize that, but this is a critical point. If I can’t test the compound, I can’t guarantee that the men won’t go nuts.”

“Is there no other way?” Tanner found any kind of human experimentation abhorrent.

“If I had more time, maybe. By the time we get to Mars the crew will be tearing itself apart, literally.”

“All right. Ask for volunteers first. See how you make out and let me know ASAP.”

“Aye, Captain.”

“Endana,“

“Captain?”

“Be careful. You’re the best doctor in the fleet.”

“Thanks. I will.”