Walking In Someone Else's Shoes

[Michael Aarons]

Aarons: "Are these really necessary?!"
Kedzie: "Considering your disdan for sickbay, we found this to be quite 'necessary' to keep you from leaving."
Aarons: "It's things like this that causes my disdain in the first place, Counsellor."
Trishta: "We probably should take that down; it does cause a problem trying to accurately examine the commander." With no objections, the field went down and the commander bolted up to the reactions of both ladies.
Aarons: "If you have no objections I would prefer to sit up Counsellor!" Kedzie let go of the commander and it sat up. Indeed it was easier to examine the differences to the commander. For starters the jaw had become more pointed befitting a woman's shape and the commander's dirty blond hair was now shoulder length. "Hir" feet and calves were more smaller but the thighs retained their bulky awkward masculine shape but with a more compact rear-end that fortunately didn't sway with movement. Finally, as best they could tell it was now a B-cup which caused alot of arm crossing.
Kedzie: "You know you're what the Prophets would describe as adversarial."
Trishta: "That's about all they could describe about the commander right now!" ;D
Aarons: "I don't give a crack about those wormhole aliens, I do not have to sit through this!" The commander got up and stormed off out of sickbay. The two women and those present to witness it laugh at the whole absurd thing.
Commander Aarons stormed down the corridor thoroghly peeved at the behavior of hir fellow officers. Within the hallways, the commander was watched better yet stalked by a menacing phantom prescence who drew closer with each step when suddenly...
Michael Aarons threw back hir fist connecting right the man's nose faltering him to his knee as the commander twirled around to connect hir foot to his chest disabling him on the deck.
Aarons: "Do. Not. Touch!" =^=To whom it may concern, I've snagged one of your predators outside sickbay.=^=
OFF: What in Gene Roddenberry's magnificent world is New Frontier?

[kedzie]

=^=To whom it may concern, I've snagged one of your predators outside sickbay.=^=

Because the comm signal wasn’t directed anywhere specific, and because Trishta, if not Kedzie, had an interest in this case, they were both able to hear the signal. Trishta immediately looked worried. “What kind of ship is this?” Kedzie asked. She had been told they desperately needed a counselor, but she had thought that would be because of personality differences and the way people adjusted to Starfleet, not because there were so many criminals aboard.

The two escapees from security had been caught already, and now there was this third person. Without much further thought, Kedzie moved to leave sickbay to help Commander Aarons.

She found that she and Trishta were the first ones to arrive, since even though they had probably taken slightly longer to make the decision, they were closest.

“Do you need help?” Kedzie asked.

“Yes, I’d like security help,” Aarons replied. “I doubt medical can help.”

Kedzie glanced to see that no one was coming down the corridors yet, and she turned to Trishta. “Aren’t there force fields that can be used to restrain him until security arrives?” Kedzie asked, looking distastefully at the man Aarons was keeping under control. She knew there must be one, since that was what had just been used on the Commander’s self.

[lizjaneway]

Trishta had heard the message, and grabs a medkit before going to see what is up. She hopes nothing major has happened, especially to one of the crew.

She and Ked were the first on the scene, and noticed Aarons was struggling with this guy. She heard his comment and couldn't believe her ears.

"I don't know anything about forcefields, but I do know that if Aarons can hold him, medical can help here." She says not happy with his statement. She pulls out a hypospray.

"You just have to hold him for a minute, and then he won't be any more trouble for awhile." She says, and notices Aarons has a firmer grip on him. She pushes the hypospray quickly to his neck, and within minutes he is out cold.

"Medical can't help huh?" She says, puts the hypospray away, and heads back to sickbay with the medkit in her hand. She knew she wouldn't be needed any further, or Aarons would have stopped her.

Trishta found sickbay empty, and she liked that. She had work to do on that food, and she hoped she could find out what had changed Aarons. She got to work on scanning the food.






A little bit later, the young man had spotted the captain. He was glad she wasn't alone right then, as he wasn't ready to make his move. He wanted to be able to seclude her better than this. He wondered when she would be going down to the planet. He used a device to listen in to her conversation, and was happy with what he heard.








Down on the planet, Liz wasn't happy with what was going on. She was trying to make the best of this situation, and had hoped to be rescued soonish. She saw they had some food for her, but she hesitated to eat any of it. She had no idea what it would do to her, and she realized it was the doctor and vulcan in her rationalizing this out. She wondered if she should let her Klingon side out instead, and rescue herself. She didn't want to hurt any of them, and she realizes it would be foolish to do so. She sighs, and tries to think of a better plan.

Liz notices the hut is nothing but wood, and decides she has had enough of this place. She goes over to the window, opens it, and rips through the wall. She smells the air, and doesn't know what smells so good. She runs toward where she thinks the beach is, and she hopes no one notices that she is gone.

Later she finds the woods are once again not easy to travel. She hears something a ways behind her, and she thinks its the natives trying to get her back again. She doesn't know what they want with her, but she finds she doesn't like it. She sees the moutains, and heads south of them hoping to find someone or get back to the beach.

[Michael Aarons]

Trishta stared at the peculiar half-eaten 'fruit' from the mysterious world below. The molecular analyzer usually used on bacterial strains and viral growths was making its passes over the specimen. Commander Aarons was fortunate to have gotten scans of the population during hir time ashore and the biologist and pathologists and all others were busy trying to get the gist of what made this phenomenon happen.
Finally after a significant wait, an answer came in the form of a genealogical analysis. The average Attisian is born either in the standard XX female or impossible YY male style of chromosomes and the planet's food supply acts upon one or both of the Y chromosomes turning them into the other and vice versa for the X's. This was an almost preposterous discovery but no more so than Commander Aarons' transformation just without the humor. This would have to be announced most expediently so she wasted no time in rounding up everyone who needed to know.
OFF: Yes it is true people: Michael Aarons has written a short post.

[Kaylana Cornette]

Kaylana had purposely remained in low-profile mode during the recent jail breaks and subsequent mayhem. She'd given her Number One the orders to 'handle things in whatever way he saw fit' and monitored his actions from afar. In the end, she was pleased with how the Majesty was progressing back to normal. Yet, can things ever be normal aboard the USS Majesty? As if to answer her unasked question, the comm link in her quarters squawked asking her to make her way to sickbay to see something 'interesting'.

She had no preparation for what she now encountered sitting on the biobed. The Chief Medical Assistant was just trailing off in her conversation with... uh... him?

"He ... it seems to be exhibiting mood swings. You may be in for a hell of a session."

The Captain acknowledged the two women with a brief head nod. Knowing it was rude but finding it impossible not to, Kay studied the new and improved version of her CNO.

"What are you staring at!?" It demanded.

"I'm sorry... it's just that you look so... cute."

"It's not MY fault I look this way! If anything, it's YOUR fault, Captain. If you hadn't sent me down there, none of this would have happened! I'm ruined!" The Commander's voice tonally ascended as the emotional flood gates opened once more. "How am I ever going to explain this to my parents?" Aaron's shoulders shuddered as the sobs wracked through *heir (*I'll go with TEG's rendering of the shemale )

"It's not the end of the world," Kay attempted with reassuring pats on heir's hand. "Tell them they haven't lost a son... they've gained a daughter."

Aarons wailed loudly and sobbed all the more. Kedzie and Trishta scowled at their Captain. Cornette knew it wasn't the time or place for a joke, but it had been too tempting. She tried desperately to make amends. "I'm terribly sorry for my insensitivity. Can you forgive me, Michael?"

Her sincerity and request for atonement touched heir and the sobs started to wane. "Yes, I'll forgive you... if you... would please... Captain? Can you give me a hug?"

Never one to avoid being compassionate, Kay answered she would and lightly embraced her pilot. Aarons responded with an all-encompassing bear hug. Heir face still wet with tears, the remnants brushed along Kay's neck as the Commander pulled her close. After an embarrassing long time, Aarons finally released her.

"Thank you, I needed that."

"Not at all. Happy to oblige,"she said, hiding her uneasiness. Addressing Trishta she said, "I'm certain I speak for Michael as well when I say we need to find a cure for this and quickly." Kay's thoughts immediately went to her people planet-side. "Our crew will not tolerate unwanted gender altering, I'm certain. Before I can recall them, I need to know what's causing this... metamorphosis."

"I think it's in the food," Aarons postulated. "I sent out a call over my comm-badge telling them not to eat it."

"Good use of deductive reasoning, Michael," Kay complimented. "Your quick response may have helped many to avoid... contamination." Aarons blushed visibly. All of heir's emotions were working on overdrive.

"Keep me posted, Doctor. I need to return to the bridge and see if we can locate everyone. We'll need to be ready to yank everyone out of there as soon as you've found an antidote."


On route to the bridge, Kay felt a surge go through her body as if she had suddenly been injected with a stimulant. She halted for a moment and let the feeling pass. It didn't last long so she deduced it was meaningless and continued to the bridge.

[lizjaneway]

She hears the captain's joke, and is very displeased. She knows a time for a good joke, and wondered if the captain did. Trishta gave the captain a look, one stating 'I-can't-believe-you-just-did-that'. She is concerned for the pilot, and hopes that this doesn't hurt Aarons in spirit. She wonders how many people she will have to treat, and suddenly becomes very nervous.

This was her first assignment, and she didn't want to blow it. She felt like she was in over her head, and decides its okay to let Aarons go. She didn't see anything she could do for him right now, and he doesn't appear to be a threat to anyone.

"Well for now, I don't see any reason to keep you here, or to lock you in your quarters. If anything new arises, I want you back here pronto." She says, and goes back to her scans of the food. She wonders what could be the possible cause of this, and she sighs. She feels like she has been thrown into the deep end, and she wonders where the good doctor has disappeared to. She wishes Liz was here now, so the weight on her shoulders could be relieved.

She feels like a failure, and she hasn't even begun yet. She looks at the composition of the food, and finds nothing out of the ordinary. She has no idea where to begin, and she wants to help some how. She sits down in a nearby chair, and wonders what she is missing.




Down on the planet, Liz looks around to see if anything is recognizable. He had hoped the crew would had rescued him by now, but he realizes that he has to do this himself. He continues to walk the way he thinks the beach is, and he wonders something.

What could have caused me to change into a man? Could it be the air? I didn't eat anything, or at least I don't think they fed me anything. Could it be the mud? What would have caused me to change sex? This is so frustrating, if only I was back on the ship, I could use myself to figure this one out. He thought, and then hears some noises behind him. They sound like they are still far away, and he becomes very nervous. Liz suddenly takes a wrong turn, and slips on a rock. He tries to get up, and finds his ankle is hurt, badly. Being the doctor that Liz is, he knows that he can't outrun whoever is behind him.

He looks around to see if there is a place he can hobble to to hide. He notices a brush not far away, and hopes he can get to it before he is discovered. He decides not to use his feet, and goes toward it as fast as he can on hands and knees. He makes it there quickly, and gets down as he hears them coming closer. He looks around for a weapon just in case he needs one, and finds a large stick nearby. He picks it up, and clutches it for dear life.




Back on the ship, Royto decides to make his move now, instead of waiting. His patience has run out, and he feels the need growing. He knows if he doesn't make a move, he will want to kill again, and he can't have that feeling lash out again. He watches for when he can take her, and notices she stops for a moment. He doesn't know why she stops, but he sees this as his chance. He swoops in, and uses a vulcan nerve pinch. She struggles a little, but then goes out. He catches her, and moves her to a more secure location deep within the ship.

(Kay)

[Kaylana Cornette]

A steady hum lulled her into wanting to sleep. She stretched her right leg a bit and her boot heel touched solid matter – something her semi-conscious brain knew to be inappropriate if she were in her bed asleep. Her eyes snapped open as she strained to make out her surroundings. The dimly lit room gave no easy clues. Trying to stand, she found the room to be incredibly small but the steady hum pounding in her ears was a dead giveaway. Kay was somewhere near the impulse engine manifolds and, as her eyes adjusted to the light, a storage locker for EPS conduits, by the look of it. Negotiating carefully, she made her way to the door and tried the latch. It was locked, just as she expected. Suddenly, she had an overwhelming desire to throw her shoulder into the door. She did and to her surprise, she had enormous strength. The door gave a tad which encouraged her to heave at it again. Over and over she banged until it finally relented and Kay found herself in the next room. It was another storage locker. Its only plus was it was a bit larger and well-illuminated. A person was at the far end of the room, a look of delight on his face and it took Kay only a few strides to cross to him. As she neared, his expression changed to one of puzzlement and then rapidly moved to abject horror.



Royto knew the locker held the Captain for he had placed her there himself. He had almost finished his devious work before he had heard her pounding on the door. He had speculated, wrongfully, that the door would hold and eventually she’d tire. She’d be much easier to handle if she were physically drained, he reasoned, and let her continue railing against it. Surprisingly, she had broken it down and her strong physicality had titillated him. But now, the person coming into view was not Kaylana. It couldn’t be.



Tugging at her tunic, Kay realized it was inexplicably too short to cover her midsection. And, for some strange reason, her sleeves were now 5 inches above her wrists. Continuing her gaze, she didn’t recognize her own hand for it was larger, clumsy and her knuckles were thick and covered with hair. Her mind reeling, Kay tried to quickly make sense of what she was seeing. She spoke to the unknown crewman and the resonance of the tones coming from her stopped her at the third word, “What has happened…?” She searched his face for some semblance of explanation but the man staring at her, mouth agape, looked as shocked as she.

[Michael Aarons]

Aarons had finally gotten out of the Godforsaken robes that the Quartermaster had devised for the away team and had suited up to the best of hir abilities as a Starfleet officer. Due to the change in foot size it had experienced, it was necessary to trade out the standard male loafers for the feminine boots which felt much more comfortable than the oversized loafers did. (S)he found it increasingly difficult to ignore the new amount of hair floating just above hir shoulders and found hirself playing with strands of it often.
(S)he was assured that the change was at best phenotypical and should in no way impede or affect the ability to perform its job; seeing as they weren't going anywhere soon it was decided to altogether forgo the bridge until otherwise or a solution was found. Nevertheless a starship navigator is more than just responsible for flying a ship; when needed, they are expected to help out in engineering or some other menial task as dispatched by the commanding officer. Speaking of which, Michael had not seen nor heard from any of them since Kaylana's insensitive little visit back in sickbay. The ship's counsellor had ask hir to meet with her to discuss the personal impact of the change on hir. Normally (s)he would respond by jumping out the airlock but it beat hearing Danny crack jokes.
Kedzie began by having hir lay back on her cliched couch.
Kedzie: "So commander, how have you initially felt so far?" She lacked a certain confidence she normally spoke with because she wasn't quite sure which of the faces of eve she was dealing with at the moment.
Aarons: "I can't stand living like this; no one takes me serious, I can't tell which bathroom to use, and my hands seem to have a mind of their own at times. How do you tolerate being this way?" Hir tone belied a sort of melancholy fused with sympathy towards the counsellor.
Kedzie: "I was born this way!" What an absurd question.
Aarons: "You poor thing-!" (S)he embraced Kedzie suddenly and unexpected who herself merely sat there incredulously, her expression implying 'this fool is crazy.'

[kedzie]

Kedzie was shocked, to say the least, by the hug, but more by the events leading up to the hug. “Being female isn't bad,” she said to Commander Aarons. “I admit, I don't have a clue how I would adjust if I was suddenly male, but I doubt being male if I had been born male would be all that bad. Being female certainly isn't.”

Kedzie realized that telling Commander Aarons probably wasn't the most helpful thing she could do just now, and it wasn't really what she was meaning to say, but she didn't seem quite able to make what she was trying to say clear. But Kedzie certainly hadn't expected to have to deal with this on her first mission holding a job that related to ship functions.

Then again, reminding Commander Aarons that this might or might not be curable probably wasn't the best idea. Kedzie smiled weakly at Aarons. “Is there anything I can help with?” she asked.

<Tag Aarons>

[Deleted]

Several Hours Ago: Kay and TEG were on the bridge, before she had visited sickbay. They were comparing notes on the security situation when a very young Warrant Officer Approached and handed TEG a PADD.

"The report on Ensign T'Rok's rescue sir," Darian stammered, 'i-is there an-anything else I c-can d-do?"

"Well they seem to make Warrant Officers younger than I remember." Commented TEG, "I think we have everything under control for the time being."

With that Warrent Officer Darian Ako left the bridge for a little R&R...

Now:

TEG was sitting on the bridge, studying a padd, trying to find a way to locate Dr. Janeway. The captain's chair began to become more uncomfortable, he stood up, to notice his hips expanding, and he was growing breasts. "Great," he muttered, "another annomoly causing a physical change to me."
He gave Cmdr. Greenwood the Bridge and left to Sickbay to add heirself to the patient list.

[lizjaneway]

Royto was taken by surprise by the captain beating the door down. He didn't realize it was her that immerged, and he wanted to run for his life. He knew this guy was going to beat the tar out of him if he didn't make a run for it, or at least try. He remembered that it was the captain, and couldn't be anyone else. He had locked her in there himself, and he knew there was no other way in or out. What happened to her to make her like this? He thought at a loss for words.

Soon the captain has him, and he doesn't know what to do. It asks a question, but he is too terrified to answer, or even fight back. He looked up at it horrified, and he couldn't help but show it on his face. He grabbed it's wrists, hoping for mercy.

"Please.... please..... don't... hurt.... me....." He managed, realizing what his victims must have felt.

[lizjaneway]

OOC: Joint post between Kaylana and myself.

IC:

He grabbed it's wrists, hoping for mercy. "Please.... please..... don't... hurt.... me....." He managed, realizing what his victims must have felt.

Violent, foreign thoughts creeped into his/her newly masculinized brain... and he wanted to squeeze the man's pencil-like neck until his eyes bulged.

Royto wasn't sure why this thing was suddenly looking at him like it was contemplating what to do with him. He didn't like this at all.

"How did I get here?" h/she demanded, releasing the crewman's neck slightly so he could answer.

"I brought you here when you were a woman," he said telling the truth hoping it wouldn't get him into any more trouble than he was in now.

"Please, don't hurt me... I will do whatever you say," he said feeling more afraid than he had in his entire existence.

The words rang strangely in Kay’s ears – ‘when you were a woman’ – and h/she again looked at the alien-looking hands. A bulkhead directly ahead had a panel, dark and reflective, and h/she got a glimpse of a person h/she’d never seen before. The shock of the image relaxed the choke hold and Royto wrenched himself free.

“How did you do this to me?”

He landed and quickly started to run for the door. He started to undo the latch, regretting he locked himself in with this thing. "I didn't do anything to you!" He wailed, as he struggled with the lock.

"Then explain to me how I got in here?" H/she moved toward the man and, with satisfaction, saw the fear in his eyes.

Royto realized It wasn't going to hit him like he thought. Then he had an idea and hoped that he could escape It when they got there. "I know what can cure you though; the planet. If we go down there I am sure I can cure you. I am a doctor." he said while hoping this worked.

A cure was certainly what Cornette needed… and Aarons too, for that matter. “So, you’ve dealt with this… condition before… and you have an antidote?” His/her thoughts flashed to the Navigator and those who were still down there on Attis. He/she couldn’t kill this man, or lock him up in the brig, if they were to find the fix for this ‘Aarons Effect’.

"Yes, I have and the antidote is down on the planet. I’ll bet your whole staff has been infected," he said, not meaning to open his mouth that big.

Cornette stepped closer and grabbed the man again. “If you’re right and my whole staff is infected, then you will cure them… or you will be extremely sorry, little man.” The Captain pushed Royto away with a flourish, staring coldly at him. “Now, lead on… and you had better be right.”

"The cure is down on the planet. I can lead you to it and then, with the help of your doctor, I can heal everyone," he said. Then, he thought, maybe they will never know what evil I have done. He hoped it would be that way. He knew he had to convince It to go down to the planet.

With much convincing, and usage of Cornette’s command codes, TEG was finally persuaded to believe Kay was Kay, despite the gruff, male voice, stubbly face and clothes that were definitely not fitting. He sent word to Sovas, Rhymer and T’Rok that they were to join him for immediate transport to the planet… Captain’s orders.

Still, TEG was not prepared for the sight that met him in Transporter Room six. The Captain was nearly a foot taller and the long arms and legs protruding from the too-small uniform almost made him laugh. Kay looked like a gorilla stuffed into a child’s outfit.

Royto was glad It decided not listen instead of pound him. He had never been transported this way before and was very nervous. "Can't we take a shuttle instead?" he whined.

Stifling a desire to roll his/her eyes, Kay snorted, “What a wimp! Suck it up and be a man, will you?”

He didn't like being treated this way, but found it was only going to get worse. It picked him up and put him on the transporter padd.

"Hey you!" Was all he managed to get out.






In sickbay Trishta thought she was closing in on a cure. She had hoped that things wouldn't be so rocky. She noticed something strange, and wondered if anything was going on with Ked too.

=^=Trish to Ked, are you experiencing anything different happening to your insides?=^= She said, and hoped the answer was no. She didn't want to become anything. She liked being a woman, and hoped that she wouldn't change. She thought that maybe it was a fluke.

(Ked)

[Michael Aarons]

After an 'awkward' counselling session, Commander Aarons was resolved to go to the bridge. Having mentally prepared for the hell that it would endure from those present, was surprised to find it practically empty; this was going to be a lot easier than imagined! Figuring 'why not?' it sauntered over and took the captain's chair and got quite comfortable. This was a nice chair it thought as it surveyed the bridge from the center position.
Aarons: "How go the active scans of the planet?" It asked of the duty officer for the science station.
Duty Officer: "The wha...!?"
Aarons: "The active bio-scans to find the doctor down on the surface that should been going on since she was first reported missing!"
Duty Officer: "Oh...we didn't know..."
Aarons: "Narrow the parameters for Klingon/Vulcan blood signatures, particularly Copper-based codons; we don't want to pick up T'Rok by mistake. Begin at the beam in site and work out in a radius from there, then set the secondary sensor array for passive scans at 10Km passes just in case we miss her."
Duty Officer: "But what about our Vulcan crew?"
Aarons: "We only have 3, all of which are on board."
Duty Officer: "Yes ma'am."
Aarons: The duty officer got to work immediately.

[Deleted]

Hawk was still on the planet with Greenwood and noted it soon would be dark so he suggested that the commander headed for the beach area where he believed he would find others from his ship. Hawk told Nik he would follow him shortly as he wished to explore the forest a bit.

He could feel strange changes beginning to take place inside his body as he walked along. At first they were merely tingling sensations which quickly turn to enormously painful ones. He could feel his chest swelling in spots and many of his muscle cramping and contorting. Each attack lasted only seconds but seemed like minutes to Hawk.

Daylight soon slipped below the distant mountainous skyline. Hawk’s mind became confused and lost within the dense forest. He felt the need to ask for directions but he could find no one around him. With each passing moment and step Hawk became weaker and his mind more clouded until he could no longer continue. He fell to his knees and pasted out on the ground.

** A few hours later **

Hawk awoke screaming. He soon thought that it all had just been a bad dream. This thought was quickly followed by the realizations that he was cold, it was dark and he was wearing very little. He sat up to survey his surroundings. He was on the beach, sitting on the cold wet sand. He looked down and realized that he was wearing only a thin white toga. He walked to calm pool of water and gazed at his reflection only to find that he was not a he but a she it seemed. The strangest thing was it was the middle of the night. No one else was around.

As the horrid memories of the dream became clear, the realization of what was going on dawned upon Hawk. He/she had made her/his way to the beach only to awaken and find his/her body to have transformed into a female. The worse thought of all was that white was not his/her color.

Hawk looked up at the night sky. The moon was full and its light bathed the beach in an eerie glow. He/she found himself/herself staring at the silvery sphere for a while as he/she had done many times on Falconia. She looked at the flickers of light in the sky and thought to himself/herself. It looks like the stars are so close to the moon when in reality they're billions of light years away. I wonder if the moon is as lonely as I feel right now. Hawk found it hard to believe that anyone, or anything, could be lonelier than him/her. Still, he/she realized that the other Majesty crew members should be near by.

As Hawk walked along the dark lonely beach he/she began to quiver. He/she tried to convince himself/herself it was because it was cold but inside he/she knew that it was really a fear that was new to his/her mind set. Hawk was not accustomed to this type of fear and it left him/her quiet uncomfortable. He/she decided to concentrate on the beautiful night sky and the diamond like sparkles upon the water until he/she could hear voices in the distance.

As Hawk grew nearer the voices were familiar yet different in some way. Once he/she could see his/her friends in the moonlight he/she felt as though all their eyes were upon his/her body. Never had Hawk felt so alone yet so surrounded at the same time.

[Kaylana Cornette]

The quartermaster had managed to get everyone into gender-specific togas before the bridge crew beamed down. Kay, formerly a woman, didn’t mind the free-flowing fabric bouncing around his knees since he was used to skirts. TEG, however, was still in his original gender, so far, and he didn’t look as happy with the flouncy garb. He tugged and snarled at it trying repeatedly to cover his knobby, protruding knees.

Kay looked around at his motley crew. “Where’s Aarons?” he questioned. Everyone shook their heads. Kay plucked out his communicator, discreetly tucked among his ruffles, and contacted his ship. Aarons voice, or a reasonable facsimile thereof except much higher, came back.

“I’m minding the store for you, Captain,” she said with a lilting quality.

“The antidote is down here, my good Navigator. If you want to be a man again, I suggest you put on your toga - female version - and head down here. Captain out.”

Cornette ordered the detail to fan out and find Hawk and Greenwood. Once they met up with them, they would set out to find the Doctor.

The going was easy, Kay found, with his new, longer legs. The strength was a welcomed change and, surprisingly, he found himself wishing to keep this body. In times past, Kay had often wondered what it would be like to be male. Honestly, he’d always thought the masculine gender had it remarkably easy in life, or so it had always seemed. He toyed with the idea of not taking the antidote.

“Sir,” Rhymer addressed Kay, and then flustered momentarily, thinking. It dawned on him that the Majesty crew had always addressed Kay as ‘sir’ so, with no apologies needed, he went on. “I think I see someone coming just ahead.”

Indeed, it was Commander Hawk… or was it? The figure moved closer, pulling away the headscarf and revealing the tell-tale feathers of their COO. It was Hawk but the feathers were finer and more delicate as were his/her facial features. Embarrassed, he/she searched the ground. “You’re from the Majesty?” The voice was light and uncertain. “I was to rendezvous with the Captain here.”

Kay stepped forward. “Good to see you again, Hawk.” He stood tall and still letting Hawk drink in this new version of his/her Captain. “Yes,” he continued, “We are all infected with this planet’s version of Dr. Janice Lester’s vendetta for Captain Kirk. But, we need to forego our physical challenges and find Dr. Janeway.” Looking around, Kay asked, “Where is Commander Greenwood? Once we are all together, we’ll set off for those mountains over there. Her last known location was somewhere in those caves.”

“It’s beginning to get dark,” T’Rok noted. “We should probably set up a camp and wait until planet dawn to proceed.”

“Quite right, Lieutenant, let’s see how much we remember of our field survival training, shall we?” Kay began scanning the layout of the area. “On that rise over there, under the cover of those trees, we’ll set up a camp. Remember, only primitive technology is to be used. We don’t know who may be watching us.” He looked intently at Hawk, who was quite a fine looking female. “Where did that thought come from?”, he inwardly questioned. “Commander Hawk, please find us some firewood.” Hawk nodded and Kay watched him go, the slight swaying of her toga giving rise to several new thoughts the Captain had never experienced before in quite the same way.

[Deleted]

Darian stood still on the bridge of the Majesty, PADD firmly clamped into his hands. He hadn't been surprised at all when TEG just left the bridge, ignoring him altogether. The young Trill was used to being invisible and most of the time this suited him just fine. However when nobody relieved him of his report, he was seething.

On top of that most of the senior staff seemed to be missing. "Who'll relieve me of this report!?" he then cried, waving the PADD above his head.

When nobody replied, Darian then tossed the PADD onto the captain's seat, for him or her to retrieve when it suited them. Annoyed, the Trill science officer crossed to the operations station, roughly shoving the duty officer asside. "Where are they?" he muttered, accessing the sensors and scanning the planet's surface for the senior staff.

The readings that came back were very confusing, and Darian had no idea what to make of them. He knew that some officers had been male and some female, though he still didn't know whether the captain had been male or female. Now that he thought of it, he accessed the ship's personnel files and figured out the official commanding officer was a Commodore who had gone missing in action, and a female commander first class had been assigned as acting captain.

Now that he had figured that out, he turned back to his readings, and to his utter horror discovered that the captain no longer was female, but male...and that several others had seemed to have changed sexe too. The Trill stumbled back from the console, tripped over his own feet and fell flat on his back, air knocked from his lungs.

He lay there gasping like a fish on dry land, trying to comprehend what he had seen. Then he scrambled to his feet and dashed down to sickbay, after downloading his readings onto the nearest item he could find: the PADD he had tossed into the captain's seat.

"Doctor!" he cried, as he dashed into sickbay, not caring that he was bruising his arms as he worked his way through the doors before they were fully opened. Again he tripped, this time over a small cart and he pitched forward, sliding to a halt before a person unknown to him. The PADD had gone flying from his hands, and he heard it clatter to the floor nearby.

Embarrassed, Darian got back to his feet and dusted off his uniform, then quietly retrieved the PADD. "Something's wrong," he gasped, the horror of what he'd seen still quite visible in his eyes.

[trok]

T’Rok’s situation was no different than anyone else of the senior staff. Upon waking up from his nap he had grown a few inches of hair on his head, his breasts had grown to atleast a C cup, and he had lost atleast 3-4 inches in height. Though he was flustered to say the least he didn’t have time to mope around. Before leaving his quarters he trimmed some of the extra hair off his head and tried to wear a toga loose enough to atleast somewhat hide the chest he had grown overnight.

After being ordered down to the planet T’Rok arrived a little later than the others. But when he did arrive he had to stifle an uproar of laughter which normally had he not been in a similar situation he probably would have been doubled over in laughter at that very point. With a slight smirk on his face he went up to the Captain.

“Captain..” T’Rok quickly stopped himself as his voice was about as high as it could get. After clearing his throat he started again “Captain, it’s beginning to get dark. We should probably set up a camp and wait until planet dawn to proceed.” The Captain agreed and the group headed off to the camp site.

When they arrived everyone began to get the camping gear set up. T’Rok began pitching a tent with Kaylana and TEG. The area was very secluded. There wasn’t anyone in their visual range but you can never be too sure where someone could be hiding.

T’Rok, Kaylana, and TEG worked on getting the tent secured as quickly as possible. As it started getting darker it would become more and more difficult to get things set up. Especially since they didn’t have any firewood yet. T’Rok started sweating as he nailed down his side of the tent. “Eww, my toga is all sweaty. I need a shower and a glass of bloodwine.” T’Rok continued working for a second and then realized what he had just said as Kay and TEG stared at him in bewilderment. “Uhh.. I mean a bottle of bloodwine.. Of course.” T’Rok went back to work hoping they would do the same.

[Kaylana Cornette]

A feminine version of their Security Officer was almost more than TEG and Kay could comprehend. They continued working until the shelter was erect and they all ducked inside. T’Rok resumed working and straightening a bedroll, meticulously folding, unfolding and refolding it until it was perfect.

“TEG,” Kay asked, “Did you see that?”

“I did, Captain and I don’t believe what I saw.”

Not amused, T’Rok demanded, “What? What did you see?” Desperately, she grasped the front of her toga, fearing the worst.

“I definitely saw it,” Kay went on, coolly, “a hair flip. I definitely saw T’Rok do a hair flip!”

T’Rok boiled over as TEG and Kay exchanged a belly laugh.

“You need to leave… NOW!” T’Rok screamed, fuming.

Still laughing lightly, Kay admonished, “Look, I understand you’re upset with our embarrassing you… but I’m still your commanding officer, whatever gender I may be so you need to…” Kay was cut off.

“It’s not that, sir. You can’t stay here with us… you’re a … guy!” Gingerly, T’Rok smoothed down the skirt of her toga.

It suddenly dawned on Kay that until Kedzie beamed down or they met up with Liz, he was the only shemale present. “You’re right. Looks like I’m bunking alone tonight. He bowed politely. “I’ll take my leave then… ladies.” With a smirk of a smile and one long, lingering look at his former crewmen, Kay exited.

The outside air was cooler and had a sweet scent. The faint smell of salt water could be detected. In the shadows, Kay saw a svelte, wispy figure and headed towards it. As he neared, the feathers atop the head became visible.

“Hawk, how goes the firewood hunt?”

In a voice still sounding foreign to the both of them, Hawk replied, “I found several pieces of driftwood.” Bending down, Hawk began arranging them. She worked for some time while the Captain looked on.

“Interesting… I’ve never seen anyone build a fire in that configuration before and it’s definitely not standard field training,” Kay commented. “Is that the way they do things on Falconia?”

Suddenly, it dawned on Kay exactly what Hawk was doing. The branches were piled high on the sides and a perfect, Falconian-sized depression was in the middle. She was making a nest.

[lizjaneway]

Trishta was working hard on the problem, and wondered what was the cause. She pushed herself a bit, and hoped to have the answer soon. She noticed she was alone again, and was a bit happy at not having to talk. She wasn't interested in anything but this new dilemma. She sighed got something to drink from the replicator before continuing.


Liz was feeling let down as she noticed no one came after all. He wondered where his crewmates were. He didn't fret about not being able to move. He hoped someone would come soon, and that he wouldn't be stuck for long. He settled in for the night, not wanting to.


Royto didn't like the conditions he was put in, and found himself under lock and key. He had hoped to get away from these people, but found that wasn't happening. He sighed and hoped that when they went looking for the plant they thought they needed for this phase of his get away plan that he could actually slip out. He found himself sleeping standing up as he was tied to the nearest pole. He closed his eyes and started to dream of freedom.

[Deleted]

Hawkette looked down at the nest like pattern of fire wood and thought how wonderful it looked. She finished the final touches before addressing the Captain.

“Indeed Captain, on Falconia we do it exactly this way just before we mate!” she said looking very passionately at her Captain.

Cornette’s jaw dropped in shock and surprise while he tried to think of a quick way out.

Hawkette closed the gap between them and cooed as she circled her Captain closely. She would lightly brush against the Captain as she moved. Cornette was beginning to get a bit nervous and looked for a safe way out but found none.

Just at that moment in time Rhymer and Greenwood approached from a distance yelling for assistance from the Captain who was more then eager to accommodate them. He had no idea what they were in need of and may have chosen to take a swim when he found out the nature of their distress.

Rhymer approached first holding something familiar to KC although he wished he was somewhere else at this moment.

“Captain I had the ship beam down a few of these female harnesses for us,” she said breathing hard from her long run.

“Those would be brassieres Commander,” Nik said as she caught up finally.

“Yes well the point is Captain that I can fix anything on a starship that can break but I can not for the life of me figure out how to get this thing on. It latches from the back and my arms are not that limber,” he stated in frustration.

The Captain just stood there with a benignant look on his face.

Hawkette feeling ignored stomped by the Captain and others saying in a invidious tone, “Well I don’t know about you girls but mine are firm enough not to need one!”

[Deleted]

TEG was transforming much more slowly than the rest of the crew. He noticed his increased bust size, and slightly wider hips, but no one else was noticing as much s/he was. It had to do with the transformation he and Nik went through a few months ago. S/he never thought that anything would be worst that reverting to his chunky self at 21, but turning into a woman was a scary prospect. S/he was worried that a cure wouldn't be found. He sensed that Kay on the other hand welcomed this change, aside from advances that Hawk had been making toward the Captain. Lord help us all.

[kedzie]

=^=Trish to Ked, are you experiencing anything different happening to your insides?=^= Trishta said.

=/\=Yeah, I'm experiencing something different happening to my outsides as well=/\= Kedzie said, more amused than dismayed by the current situation.

Kedzie walked to the main part of sickbay, and glanced at Trishta, who seemed to start at the appearance of Kedzie. “Do you have a mirror?” Kedzie asked.

(Trishta)

“I'd like to know what about my appearance is so disturbing.” Kedzie realized that she was now a he, but self took that in stride. Self had expected dangerous things to happen upon deciding to working with Starfleet, dangerous things seemed to follow Starfleet ships around in storms. Not that self had expected precisely this, but...it didn't really seem all that out of the ordinary.

Kedzie glanced down at self, the clothes seemed to be ill-fitting at best. “Look, I'm not sure I can be of much help here,” Kedzie said, noticing that self was disturbing Trishta, which wasn't what Kedzie wanted to do. “Look, I'll go to my quarters, let you keep working.”

(Trishta)

In her quarters, Kedzie quickly changed to gender-neutral civilian clothing, before tapping the commbadge that had been granted self on insistence of the Captain. =/\=This is Shikako Kedzie to Captain Cornette, I heard you were looking for a cure to this...affliction. Would I be a bother if I came down to the planet to help in whatever way I can?=/\= Kedzie asked.

(Kay)

[Kaylana Cornette]

The deep voice was promising on the other end of the comm link.

"So, has it happened to you too, Counselor?"

Glancing down again, just to make sure, Kedzie answered, "Yes, so I'd might as well join the rest of you." The temptation to make a joke about it all was excruciating but Kedzie decided it may not become her counseling role to poke fun at gender-bending.

"By all means, please get down here as soon as possible... I really need a bunk mate." An awkward pause followed and Kay grew nervous that Kedzie had misunderstood the intent. "They're all females down here. I'm grossly outnumbered," Kay added. He needed Kedzie, if for nothing else, to help put some distance between himself and Hawk's amorous advances. Another pause followed and Kay thought he'd scared the Counselor off when finally there came a response.
"I'll be there as soon as I can arrange it with the quartermaster. What is the native dress? Togas?"

"Unfortunately, yes. They don't cover much but you get used to it." Kay flexed his forearm making the flimsy fabric dance atop his bulging bicep. He repeated the action over and over watching the cut of the muscle under the skin. He never felt so confident - so good looking.

"Captain?"

"Uh... yes? Did I miss something you said? I was distracted... some night creature was scurrying through the underbrush."

"I asked if I should bring any additional supplies."

"No, Counselor. We can't risk exposing this world to any advanced technology. Utilizing our communicators is already a huge gamble."

The two closed the link and Kay went about setting up the second tent all the while keeping one eye open for any nighthawks.

[Deleted]

OFF: *waves* Hello? I was in sickbay too.....

From his crouched down position, Darian watched the counselor rush out of sickbay, leaving a woman - or was it a man? - behind. Shyly, the Trill scientist scurried forward, presenting his PADD to the individual. "Hello," he managed, his skin flushing scarled, making his spots stand out more.

Darian had observed strange things happening, and it scared the living daylights out of him. He watched Trishta work, obviously not having noticed him. The Trill shrugged, though by now it was starting to bother him that nobody actually seemed to notice him, not when he had important information.

"Hello?" He called again, this time a little louder, and tapped the woman on the shoulder. Once he did so, he noticed that his uniform tunic wasn't quite fitting right and he tugged at it. Looking down, he saw something and he blinked, hoping what he saw was only his imagination: he was growing breasts.

Mouth agape, he watched the woman with utter horror crossing his features and he shrieked. "No!" he cried, "no, this isn't happening!"

(trishta?)

[Michael Aarons]

Aarons: "How come the scans of the planet?"
Duty Officer: "We still haven't found any trace of the doctor. There is a cluster of natives but we have yet to cut through the bio-signs to get a possible trace."
Aarons: "Beware my Hammer of Smiting."
Duty Officer: "Huh?"
Aarons: "Nothing."
=^= Commander Aarons, please come to Sickbay. =^=
Aarons got up and left the bridge. Before it arrived, there was a strange little episode going on outside of Sickbay.
Darian: "No! No, this isn't happening!"
Aarons: "Hey! Who are you?"
Darian: "You can see me!?"
Aarons: "Of course I can see you, you're not a Jem'Hadar are you!?"
Darian: "Darian Ako, I'm a scientist aboard..."
Aarons: "A scientist? Well quit crying and get up to the bridge and show those people how to make a planetary bio-scan."
Darian: "What are you?"
Aarons: "An officer and a gentle-hermaphrodite. Now get going!"
Darian: "Aye, aye!" Darian took off.
Aarons entered Sickbay where Trishta was waiting for hir.
Trishta: "Commander, I've made some discoveries about your predicament."
Aarons: "Is it a cure?"
Trishta: "Well no..."
Aarons: "Where's my Hammer...?"
Trishta: "Huh?"
Aarons: "Nothing. What is it?"
Trishta: "Well considering you are not a full conversion it seems something unique has happened. As you know, true hermaphrodites or intersexuals are sterile, well it seems with you, your 'other parts' have grown in intruding on your 'natural parts' and they have blocked each other off. The others are also sterile because they are Human, Klingon, Falconian, etc. and not natural to these gender swapping principles of Attis."
Aarons: "So this is a good thing?"
Trishta: "It means that what has happened to all of you is repairable. Ever since the 23rd century we've had pills that can grow new kidneys, right? Well this is essentially no different and with a bit more research into the principles behind organ growth, Liz can find an answer."
Aarons: "You mean you can't do it?!"
Trishta: "Has 'Deus Ex Machina' meant nothing to you this entire mission?"
OFF: Happy Liz ...Darian?