A Mistake To Remember Chapter 7 free porn video

Chapter 7 "Stop this immediately!" my ex-husband shouted. Diana practically leaped between me and the council table and stared down at the female abomination. "What if she's telling the truth? I won't have my daughters condemned to give birth without trying to verify what she says is true or not!" Henrietta bared her teeth and jerked her head towards the side. "Ask her afterwards. Step away!" "I will not!" Diana swung around towards me. "Charlene! Pay no attention to anything Henrietta or the rest of the council says until I say otherwise!" "Yes, Diana," I heard myself say from a distance. ~Way to go!~ From a place far away, I mused that it was an odd thing to see a woman as pretty as Henrietta burn with rage and sputter. It was so -- unfeminine. Diana asked me the same questions as before and a few more. The words came forth again, repeating everything I'd told them earlier. She asked me how I had escaped and how I had translated the Atlantean tubes. I answered. Dimly, I heard other questions from those on the council, and Henrietta shouted and ranted, but, except for Diana's voice, I heard nothing coherent. Diana's face and her questions were the center of my universe. Eventually, Diana turned away and the spell was broken. "I think that's enough," she said. "I think it's fair to say that this changes everything." Henrietta snarled something at me, but I'd been told to ignore her, and whatever her vile message was, it did not penetrate. Others from the council gesticulated and shouted. One came to his feet and pointed at Diana angrily. But Diana had told me told me to ignore everyone except her, and the argument muted into the mist, with only Diana's words coming through loud and clear: "Why go through with this when none of it makes any difference?" "Well, what did you expect her to do? You wanted to breed her and kill her." "My daughter will not become a tool to satisfy this maniac's ego." "Of course I mean it! Ever since Henry became Henrietta, she hasn't been unstable. She completely lacks objectivity." This went on long enough for the drug to begin to wear off. Gradually, except for the blonde in the middle, who remained red-faced and apoplectic, the counsel's tempers cooled. Diana came to my side. She and David undid my bonds and led me away into a guest room down the hall. "Charlene, all commands are countermanded," Diana said. "How are you doing?" "I think ... that's powerful stuff. I'm not thinking too well right now." I staggered to the bed and flopped down onto my back, squeezing my eyes closed, which hurt from not blinking enough, and then it hit me: it wasn't over! The council was still in session! "Diana! What's happening back there?" "Thousands of years of experience is a lot of inertia to overcome, but it's a solid four to one for you and the children. If what you told us isn't part of an elaborate trick, I don't think you have anything to worry about." From the worst kind of despair to safety; I looked up at her, unable to speak. David coughed quietly, drawing attention to himself. "You don't need me here," he said to Diana. The big guard eased around her and left the room, pulling the door shut behind him. I said, "I owe you a great deal." Diana crossed her arms under her breasts, and regarded me. "You don't owe me anything. It was a no-brainer. Of course, I was going to speak up. The children were in danger -- as well as you. I wasn't even taking a risk. The worst the council could have done was kick me out of the room." "Nonetheless, you stepped forward when the time came. You did well -- this time." She lowered her head and sighed. "Charlene, I would have saved you, just ... not on your schedule." ~You're saying that you would have waited to escape only after I'd done my family duty and had all two dozen or so children -- who would have to stay behind. Even if that is true, it's not good enough.~ "And about the council's plan to kills the wives -- I'm not sure the council would have done it. I don't think that most of the men knew about it, and when the time came ... well, I don't think they would have gone through with it. You have to understand that the council is intensely respected. For 4,500 years, the council has guided us through some very tough times. I couldn't have changed the council's decision." ~Excuses, red herrings and wishful thinking. The point is that when you were Leonard, you should have told me what was going on, and helped plan our escape. We could have left together with Larissa nearly as soon as you found out that I would be killed, and avoided all of this. Ultimately, you put the family first.~ Diana said, "When I came out of the pod, I hated you, but gradually I understood why you did ... what you did, and why you took the children. You may have gone about it wrong, but you were thinking of our girls, and mother, and the rest of the wives. I still don't think what you did was necessary, but I can't argue with the results." So, Leonard hadn't been a rat. He'd had a good heart, more or less, but Leonard had been no hero. Being a coward wasn't a crime, and not a problem 99.9% of the time -- until someone needed heroics. Leonard, I decided, had been a mouse and something of a jerk, although nowhere near Henry's league. I liked Diana more. She shared some of Leonard's flaws, but she was more vulnerable, more open, and most important of all, from now on, I wouldn't have to depend on her anymore. "I still hate you for forcing me into the pod at the point of a gun," she said. "I'm sorry about that. I was desperate." I resolved then to never tell her that I'd excised her manhood with a prop -- it would have only humiliated her, and it would have served no purpose. "Diana, what has the council been up to while I've been gone? Did they take a look at the Atlantean records, or have they been too busy the last ten years trying to find me and the kids?" "They stored everything you'd been working on when you left, and as far as I know, they haven't touched it since. The council looked for you, of course, but they were also looking for someone with the same Elowin DNA to take your place." "I see." It reconfirmed my opinion of the council. It hadn't entered their minds to investigate what they had. They lacked the vision to consider that sharing the Atlantean knowledge with humanity could be a solution to their safety. Their first impulse was to find another man with the right DNA. If my father had been alive and carried the genes, they would have kidnapped him, made him a woman and then forced her to have babies. Nice. "Charlene, will that team you spoke of be able to make a tree that could make me a man again?" That was a good question. I sat up and swung my feet over the side. "I'm not the genius most of the people on the team are, but I know enough to say that there are real problems going female to male. In some respects, it's easier to go from male to female." "So, it could take a long time?" "Maybe a very long time. I'm sorry." "Precisely what do you mean by, 'a very long time'?" I shrugged, unable to give her even a ballpark figure. "I don't know, several decades to centuries? Theoretically, it's possible, but there are genetic disorders we can fix right now. We're adding natural immunities to a variety of diseases. The team has limited resources, and a female to male tree is not one of the top ten projects right now." "I see," she said. I read her as disappointed or resigned, but maybe not devastated. If she was lucky, her hopes hadn't lasted long enough to do too much damage. "You're keeping the Atlantean science secret, aren't you?" "Most of it. A nuclear weapon is, in the end, just a big bomb, but Atlantean biology in the wrong hands could wipe out all life on the planet. We're keeping the team together and everything under wraps. It'll slow progress down, but it's better than the alternative. Think of what governments would do with the knowledge. The potential for corruption would be incredible, and then there's the ideologues, fanatics, and elitist do-gooders who think they know what's best for mankind." "Well, I think that long life for everyone is marvelous. I've lost count of how many friends I've had to say goodbye to." She slid her hand over mine and gave it a light squeeze; then she brought it to her lips in the old-world gesture Leonard had used when he was feeling especially friendly. It didn't feel the same, but it reminded me that we'd made some fond memories together. I took her in my arms. With Diana's breasts jutting into me, it didn't feel like the old Leonard. I didn't mind at all, in fact, I preferred to think of her as Diana. "You said that you wanted a clean slate?" she asked when we broke apart. "Very much so -- if you can handle it." She produced a wan smile. "Get some sleep," she said, pushing off the bed and rising to her feet. "You'll have some clean clothes when you wake up." "What about the kids?" "I'll check on them, but they should still be out. If they wake up before you do, I'll wake you." "Thank you." I fell asleep wondering how I would explain all this to the children. *** When I woke up, my suitcase was there, with the clothes I'd worn when we were abducted already washed and pressed. I took a shower and dressed. About the time I was ready to find out what was going on, there was a knock on the door. I opened it, expecting Diana or a guard. They were there, along with the number two member of the council, Sergei. I waved my arm inwards. "Come on in," I said to everyone. "Make yourself at home." They entered, but ominously, none of them sat down. "We've decided to let you and your daughters go," Sergei said. "Excellent! I knew that you would see --" "... conditionally," he finished. ~Why am I even surprised?~ "What now?" "We need to verify what you said, of course." "That's ridiculous. I was under the drug. I wasn't able to lie." "Ordinarily, that would be good enough, but you demonstrated a resistance to the drug in the past. The council has decided that the stakes are too high to take any chances. Until this is resolved you and your children will be guests here. We'll provide tutors so they won't miss any school and you will be permitted to go outside the grounds on supervised trips -- not together, of course." He jerked his head towards David and nodded. David pulled a silver bracelet out of his pocket and showed it to me. The thing was slim and pretty, in two halves connected by a hinge. I could only imagine what it could do to a wearer they decided was out of line. "There is no way I'm going to voluntarily wear a tracker again." "That's up to you, but none of you will be leaving the premises without wearing one." Sergei produced a fairly disarming grin. "There's nothing to worry about, they need only be worn when you are off the estate. You will all be released unharmed as soon as we have proof that the trees are real and do what you said they do. How long did you say that would be, a couple of months? I think that a short time spent lounging in luxury is a modest return for the hundreds of years of life that we gave you." I glanced at Diana. She only made a face as if to say, "Well, what do you expect me to do about it?" The bastard had me; on the surface, it was all oh-so-reasonable. "Sergei, just out of curiosity, do the words, 'U.S. citizen' or 'kidnapping' mean anything to you?" "Not today. Oh, there is one more condition. We want you to help translate the Atlantean records for us." By some miracle, Diana's interrogation hadn't forced me to reveal what I'd done to some of the Atlantean tubes, but if they found out.... Blood in veins, freezing! "No." I raised my palm to my face, then held it out. "Wait, wait, that's not what I meant to say! I should have said, 'Fuck no!'" Sergei frowned. "Charlene, you are in no position --" "This is where I draw the line. I've kept the family a secret from the world up until now because it's in the world's interest to do so, and if we are all released in a reasonable amount of time that will continue. I'll accept the months and the bracelets, but not that. You kidnapped us, and I won't be your slave labor just because translating the Atlantean documents yourself is inconvenient, and if you harm me or my kids, the team will find out about it sooner or later and then there'll be a hot time in Georgia! " He regarded me with narrowed eyes; then shrugged. "Very well, I won't insist on it. We have the expertise inside the family." He turned abruptly on his heel, and left with David trailing just behind, leaving me alone with Diana. My heart did its best to pound its way through my rib cage, but I stood easy, pretending that mortal threats and counter threats were just a normal part of a day in the life of one Charlene, mother of two. My ex wasn't so detached. Diana put her hand on her hips and leaned forward into my face. "What the hell is the matter with you? If you want to risk yourself, that's up to you, but what about Larissa and Karen?" "You have to learn to stand up to these people or they'll run all over you. Besides, what could he do about it?" Diana rolled her eyes. "You're crazy. Whatever!" she exclaimed. "Come on. Larissa and Karen are awake. We have to make up a good story to tell them." *** "... So you see, we have to hide out here at this safe house until the rest of the terrorists are arrested and sent to cages in Guantanamo Bay." "Mom, are you saying that you're a spy?" Larissa asked, not buying it. Karen looked on with her head cocked to the side, equally incredulous. "No, I'm saying that I work on a sensitive biological project that some terrorists thought would be useful to them. They captured us, but brave government agents who were watching them saved us." "You mean you're like that Dr. Death, that Iraqi woman?" Larissa asked me. "Mommy Death!" Karen added. Larissa turned and scalded her with disdain. "Are you one of the agents that saved us?" Larissa asked looking up to Diana, who wore a black business skirt and coat over a white blouse, a sort of female Men in Black look. Diana straightened. "Yes, I am," she declared with a ring of authority. Larissa swept forward and wrapped herself around Diana, locking on like a drowning girl with a life buoy. "Thank you! I was soooo scared!" "Me, too!" Karen joined her in a hug, hard enough to push them back half a pace. Diana held them against her and closed her eyes. When she opened them, there were tears in them. She looked at me, torn between happiness and frustration. Diana and I explained the rules and the tutoring schedule, then we let them go. Predictably, they took up where they left off in Florida, heading straight for the pool to bask in the sun, leaving Diana and me alone to sip drinks while we watched them from the shade. "You know," I said, "Larissa looks a lot like you." Diana hadn't noticed before, and took a long hard look. "My God, she does," she whispered. "Charlene, I have to tell them who I am. I can't stand to be with them and pretend to be someone else." "As soon as this is over, we'll come up with something to explain why their father is a woman. I suggest some sort of accident -- unless you want to tell them the story of how mommy pushed daddy into the pod." She choked on her drink. "We'll spare them that." *** It was quiet at the estate. After I had escaped with Larissa and Karen, the council, Evalyn, and the rest of the support staff lost their reason for being there and moved out. Just after we were taken arrived, Thaddeus took his wife on an extended vacation, which would last as long as we were at the estate. Except for Diana, the girls, and me, there were only the guards and a couple of council members who doubled as tutors. It settled into a routine: get the kids up; do a few laps around the track; swim in the pool, usually with Diana; then, after the tutoring sessions, spend the afternoon and evening with the kids. If our lives hadn't been on the line, I might have been bored. At least I knew the team was safe. When I missed three consecutive call checks, they would have gone underground following the contingency plan, the exact details of which even I didn't know. That was the good news. The flip side was that Professor Price would have read the contents of the package I'd given him years ago, and I didn't know what he would do. Professor Price and I were the team within the team. I respected him, of course. He was the driving force and the bond that held us all together. We'd kept it professional for the most part. He was always "Professor," never Steven, but inevitably, in a relationship where we were around each other most of the day, where we laughed at the same jokes, shared confidences, and exchanged opinions, it became more than that, although, it was difficult to define. He was the only one who knew who I was. I had aged nine months since my time in the pod, but I was chronologically forty. I hid the difference with make-up, but it was easy enough to see beneath the artifice if you knew what you were looking for. As he aged, the visible differences between us increased, until subjectively, I could have been his offspring. I'd catch him switching his perspective now and then, from long-time colleague to father-daughter, which could be both mildly endearing and infuriating at times, and would have to remind him that I was the same age he was when we first met. When I thought of him, I didn't think "father" -- I already had one of those -- I envisioned a man of integrity and responsibility. Within those honorable traits lay my greatest fears. I hadn't painted the family in pretty colors. The Professor was perfectly capable of acting when provoked, and I could think of nothing else that would provoke him more than a clan that used mind-warping drugs and murdered women -- like me. So, what would he do? If he assumed that I was dead, he might tell the government about the family. That approach had its points: The family would have forewarning through their connections, but it would make them scramble likes rats, and it might be years before they could fully reestablish themselves elsewhere. Naturally, if he exposed them, Larissa and Karen might be okay, but my life wouldn't be worth a cow pie in July. The Professor was also reasoned and measured. He would think it through and consider the the possibilities. As my heart pounded taps and tattoo considering what could happen, I realized that I couldn't do a damn thing to improve my odds that I hadn't done already. I would have to rely on the Professor to make the right decision. All I could do now was sit tight and hope -- and maybe try to do some good. That morning, the girls moaned as usual in ways calculated to bring sympathy. The council members who taught them actually treated them like gold, but they had been brought up in an age when learning combined books with the switch. They didn't beat them, of course, but as tutors they tended to be taskmasters who demanded more than girls were used to giving. When the girls were gone, I asked Diana to walk the trail with me. Diana had mentioned that places on it were away from the cameras and out of the guards' hearing range. I wasn't so sure if there were such a place, now, but as long as she believed it, I didn't think it mattered, and the trail in autumn looked private and quiet enough. I waited until we came to one of those places she described, in the shade of an oak a few hundred yards from the house. It was that time of the morning when the haze had cleared, but most of the bugs were still lethargic. "Diana," I said, "I want you to be all right when I'm gone." She stopped walking. "What do you mean?" "You're still angry with me about putting you in the pod. I understand. Go ahead, punch me if you think that'll help." "Don't tempt me." "Now or never. I'd rather not wait around for a fist in my face." "I'm not going to hit you, although sometimes I think you deserve it." "I don't want you to be bitter about being a woman. I wish you would use me as a resource. I won't be here forever." She turned away from me angrily and continued up the trail. I went with her. We walked on for a few dozen yards or so before she spoke again: "Evalyn thinks that the joys of being female are self-evident," Diana said, her voice strained and distant. "She told me that even if those joys weren't obvious to me, they were still there, regardless, waiting for me to discover them. Damn it, Charlene, it went against the grain, but I did what she told me to do. I tried. I rubbed silk against my skin. I wore nighties. I destroyed all my male clothes and only wore feminine garments. I learned to make myself pretty. I admitted to Evalyn that I, or my body, to be precise, finds some men attractive. But with all that, I have blocks in place." She threw me a steely glance. "So you see, you are not me. At this point, I'm not at all sure that I want to 'fix' what's 'wrong' with me." "You've had a rotten time, but before you make any final decisions, let me tell you about my first day." I recalled my fury at being made a woman, losing any chance for Modesty, and fearing for my life. Then I told her my biggest secret: remembering when she, as Leonard, forced me to go down on him, which still pissed me off whenever I thought about it. Diana's cheeks turned a flaming pink. "Ah, about making you go down on me --" "Don't even try to justify it. Yeah, yeah, it was supposedly better than realizing that you'd made a mistake later, and I wasn't supposed to remember it, anyway. I know. Fat lot of good that did either one of us. I still say that deep down, we're not so different, but maybe you have a few more issues than I did. I think that you believe that women are inferior, and that's part of why you can't stand being one." Diana opened her mouth, but said nothing, which suited me fine. After being married to Leonard, I had been ready to jump down her throat if she had denied it. "Hey, it's not so surprising," I said. "You had legitimate reasons to feel superior. Elowin males were the only people in the world immune to the drug. If you didn't like your wife -- or any woman, for that matter -- you could shape her personality, make her believe anything, make her your plaything if you wanted. As an Elowin male, you were the unquestioned top of the food chain, long-lived and more powerful than anyone else on the planet. Fortunately for you, that dynamic is changing; very soon your prejudice against women will make no more sense than a basketball court in a retirement community." "So, we're going to be brutally honest, are we? What about the drug?" "What about it? You and Henrietta are immune to it, the same as Larissa and Karen." "But women, in general -- even you -- can be controlled by the drug. You're asking me to become a 'sister' in a group that is easily controlled, and to possibly mate with men who have the same weakness." "I suppose there's no harm in telling you now. The team knows about the drug. There's a section in the records about how the Atlanteans created it. The fruit you make it from is a genetically modified lemon. Elowins produce a natural enzyme that defeats it; humans do not. We know what causes it and eventually," I said, waving my hand, implying a span of years, "the drug will be rendered completely useless." It wasn't quite a lie, but I didn't tell her was that we had already isolated the gene from Larissa's blood that produced the enzyme and added it to the genetic code for the trees. Everyone who went into a pod from now on, and their descendants, would be immune. The next time someone in the family tried to use the drug on a newly restored wife or human, they would get a rude surprise. Diana darted a glance at me, her face pale, then shuffled to a nearby bench and sat down. "Oh my God," she whispered. "If that happens...." Diana's reaction pissed me off. As one who had been mind-screwed with the drug a couple of times, I hated it like nothing else, and Diana should have known better. But there she was, believing that the drug was the family's right, the "secret sauce" in their legacy. She caught on, finally, and attempted to explain. "You don't understand. The drug has been the family's only protection against the humans. We would have been murdered many times over without it." I granted her a point, but that didn't excuse using it as a cure-all. I said, "In a few years, the differences between Elowins and humans won't be worth spit. All women, Elowin and human, will soon be just the other side of a balanced equation. Any Elowin men who think differently will have a huge problem. So, you see, the only thing stopping you now is your attitude. You can do this, the same as I did. Just want to, Diana." "I'm not sure if I can anymore. I ... I feel that if I'm going to be a woman for hundreds of years then, logically, I should be one, but it's scares the bejesus out of me. I was Leonard too long. To become female in body and mind...." She shivered. "I wouldn't be Leonard any more, would I?" "It scared me, too, but perhaps I have something to motivate you." "What could possibly inspire me to take on the woman's mindset?" she said angrily. "I've heard what mother says. Oh, yes! I've heard this before. Periods are 'celebration of life.' A thong is a sensual --" "Geez! Evalyn must have been desperate to say those things. Periods are a curse, and a thong defiles the crack of your ass. Forget about that and listen to me. The only thing that's keeping me alive is the threat of exposing the family. With malevolent bitches like Henrietta and jerk-offs like Sergei running the show, my confidence in the council to live and let live is at an all-time low." She gave my face a thorough going-over. "You don't trust the council to keep its word?" "They've already ordered me brain-warped twice. For whatever reason, if they ever decide that the plusses outweigh the minuses, I'm a goner. If they off me, I want you to take Larissa and Karen, get them out of here, and raise them somewhere safe. But I don't want -- they won't need -- a father struggling to be a man in a woman's body; they'll need a role model, a mother." "Charlene!" I took her by the shoulders. "Try again, Diana. Be Mommy #2 in their lives. What are your options? Even if I get through this, I know the kids would love you like that." Diana's expression showed her adrift in a world where she could watch her children grow and take a natural place in their lives. I reached up and cupped my hand to her cheek. "Do it for them, and do it for yourself. Please." Diana heaved a ragged sigh. Her eyes were raw; they looked back at me, worn out and ready for a little peace. "I don't know. Maybe." "Great. And tonight I think I can give you another reason." *** When Diana and I stepped outside that evening, the black Mercedes awaited us, gleaming under the parking lot lights, David and two other guards by its side. Diana took her seat in the front on the passenger's side. The guards and I, however, had other business. One of the guards wanded me. David waited until he was finished, then pulled out the bracelet from a pocket in his suit coat. He snapped the bracelet around my wrist. It was a snug fit. There had to be a tracker in there, certainly, but what else, a paralyzing agent to drop me in my tracks, or maybe a taser to twist my muscles into knots? There was nothing in its smooth surface to give me a clue. I rolled it around, looking for a pressure point or a button that might release it, but found nothing -- not that I'd expected to, the family didn't make many mistakes, and never the same twice. "Why David, three guards and the bracelet? Isn't this overkill?" "You fooled us once. It was a good job, too, well planned, ruthless, and fairly well-executed." "Stop it, you're making me misty." He cracked a grin. "Just letting you know, you won't get by us again." "Like I'd try with you holding my kids. Rein in the hounds for a second and listen to me. This could be an important night. I hope I can count on your cooperation." David became the calm professional again. "I'm listening." "I'm trying to help Diana accept her female side, so you're going to have to give us a little space." He glanced towards the car, where Diana was looking back at us. "All right. I can guarantee that you'll never be out of our sight, but we'll see what we can do." "Thanks." David drove. My place was between two guards who sat with their thighs pressed against my knees, where they could feel any shift in my body immediately. "Come on, guys, who are you kidding?" I said. The guard on my right twitched his lip up at the corner. The other rolled an eye down at me. "Fine." I supposed that I couldn't blame them for being sore with me. The council wouldn't have been serving them ice cream after I escaped. We pulled into one of the larger parks in South Atlanta and got out. The weather was a tad cooler than normal, with a breeze that hinted of changing weather. The park was relatively quiet: a Little League team was having a cook-out after-game party; a few families were out for a stroll; there were the joggers with headphones; and the cicadas made their usual racket in the trees. The winding asphalt walk ways snaked through oak and maple, creating spaces and unexpected hollows. The overhead lights made the trail safe enough, but cast deep shadows. Diana and I passed a few groups: some solitary walkers, a string bean man in his forties with his potato wife, and a several teenagers rollerblading together. I said, "You're closer than you think, you know. You can't help being feminine to some degree. Our bodies don't move the same as men, and we have to react to men and women differently than we did before. It changes us." "I can hardly deny it, can I? My mother used to look for signs in me and praise me for it. So what?" I believed I understood her hostility: She was willing, but she was likely frightened out of her mind that she could succeed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to try to talk you into going to the mall or tell you to wear bikinis. I'm not going to ooh and ahh that you're so pretty, and isn't it so wonderful, yada, yada. It wouldn't have worked for me, either." "All right. I'll shut up and listen for a while, as long as you're going somewhere with it." "I don't think we were that different coming out of the pod. You hated my guts for making you female. I hated the family. After that, our paths diverged. I had to learn to be female or die. I had to put aside my anger and open myself enough to the idea of being a woman, and I had to give you another chance. And you know what? I found out that a gun pointed at your head makes you concentrate. I found out that when I managed to push aside all my fear and fury, that you weren't so bad after all. For the most part I liked being your wife -- until the council reared its hood and spat at me. "You, on the other hand, had it much worse. You had the freedom to choose what to do, but you had nowhere to go, no genuine future to look forward to. Elowin men didn't want you, and you weren't about to 'give' yourself to an inferior, short-lived, drug-susceptible human male. Your fate, it seemed, was to remain bitter." I nodded toward a couple in their thirties approaching us up the path, leaning against the other. The woman was a brunette, her hair a shade lighter than jet black, loose around her heart-shaped face, in khaki shorts that set off her trim figure and Mediterranean tan. She held hands with her husband, who was also better than average looking. I said, "You think they look happy? Think of them in a year or so when they pop out of the pods. The woman will look our age, that good- looking guy will look even better, and they'll live as long as an Elowin. I dare you to imagine yourself as a woman something like her, with her own destiny, inhabiting the same world that woman over there will soon be in. Diana, I want it so badly it hurts. When it arrives, I won't have to see a lover grow old and die before his time. I won't have to keep secrets from my friends, and I could be myself. That's your future, too, if you choose to embrace it. Think about it. The family doesn't know what to do with you, but the human race will welcome you with open arms. Join me. Join us." "I..." Diana gazed at them as they passed, her eyes frozen wide and round, like a rabbit ready to bolt in any direction. I grabbed her arm to gain her attention. "Well, how about it, Diana Mengstrom, are you ready to join the rest of us six billion inhabitants and start living?" "Charlene, I ... I, believe I'm motivated now." I took her in my arms. She hugged me and didn't hold back. *** We started off slow, talking about it at first to get her used to the idea, but quickly, Diana wanted more of a challenge. With narrowed brow and fire in her eyes, she chose her crucible, a sports bar she had once frequented as Leonard, but hadn't been back to since her change. Before we went inside, David loomed over me, forcing me to back up against the car. He lifted his finger in front of my face and said,. "Keep your hands where we can see them, stay in plain sight, and don't do anything suspicious. Never go to the ladies room without Diana, and always return at the same time, no exceptions." "Ferchrissakes, what you're worried about? With the bracelet on, I wouldn't make it across the street." "It's nothing personal. I'm just making it clear. The only reason we're in a place this public is because Diana chose it. At the first sign of trouble from you, we'll return to the estate." "Oh, really? Well, rattle those chains all you want, warden, but when the time comes, I'd better have enough slack to be there when Diana needs me, or when the shit comes down, it'll be all over your head!" His threatening mien slid away to reveal a faint grin. "Yeah, sure. Relax, both of us can get what we want, as long as we understand each other." David pushed through the door first, with Diana and me following him, just ahead of another goon. "Sport's Night" was a glitzy place with a friendly atmosphere and a varied clientele, from regulars to one- timers that would come in for a big game. I liked it as soon as I saw it: it was an establishment where Diana could meet men and women on any number of levels. At that moment, adults with beer and liquor were laughing and shouting at the football game on the hi-def projection TV, and I began to see why David wasn't thrilled about being here. To my untrained eye, with the size, number of exits, and the occasional chaos, it was a security nightmare. "You've been to places like this as a woman," Diana whispered in my ear. "What do think I should do?" "Be friendly and have fun. We'll start out by splitting a pitcher of beer. There are really only two things to remember: First, what you see is reality. In a short time, these men and women will be the same as you and I -- you can make lifetime friends with them right now if you want. Secondly, get used to thinking of yourself as Diana Mengstrom, woman. It will seem strange at first, but that's because you have over a hundred years of male reflexes to unlearn, and always remember that I'll be there to protect your flank." "Right," she said, turning her gaze towards the ceiling. "It's not as if I've never spoken to men since I came out of the pod," she said to herself. "You know, sometimes I still hate you for doing this to me." "Well ... what if I buy the beer?" She snorted. "Come on -- and you will buy," she added before she joined the new world. Nothing dramatic occurred that night, nor two nights later, when we came again, but I recognized the signs: when she forgot herself, her reactions with men and women grew less Leonard and more Diana, and she was forgetting herself more often. While I witnessed Diana's transformation, which fascinated me because it must have paralleled my own to some extent, I behaved myself under my minders' watchful eyes. I also did some watching -- and worrying of my own. It had been some time since Professor Price had opened my packet about the family, long enough to decide what he would do. When I thought about what the family was doing to us, I fumed. How civilized they were! They would send courteous guards to kidnap me and my kids, would bring me before a cold-blooded council that thought little of killing, brainwashing, and force-breeding, but also provided personal tutoring, a temperature-controlled pool where potential victims might work out the kinks and bake under the sun, and all the luxuries of a quality hotel. It was easy to forget momentarily how precariously we perched, how swiftly it could change with a word. If the Professor had gone this long without trying to expose the family, he could be waiting it out until the trees were ready, or he could be in a pod with the first wave. He wouldn't know where we were. The envelope contained a detailed description of the estate and locations of the other places I knew the family owned, but there were many I didn't know of. It would be a difficult task to track me down at any time, but with the end of the project in sight, this was the busiest time of his life, and yet, I couldn't imagine the Professor being passive. A month passed. Gradually, the sense that each day could be my last subsided, and I began to believe we would make it through. If everything went as smoothly, then, with a bit of luck, in less than a month the team would make the big announcement and we would all go home. I came to the pool that afternoon and had just settled in on a lounge chair. Diana came out of the house with a towel and shades, wearing a white two-piece that set off the tan she'd been getting with me. "Looking good, Diana," I said. "Thanks. Mind if I join you?" "Of course not. Pull up a chair." I watched her drag it over. A month ago she had strained to pick it up and carry it. This time, she grabbed the end, her rear end pointed towards me, and pulled, a tad noisy, but a more efficient method for a woman of her size. I doubted that she would ever be "girly," it was more that Diana had made some peace with her body, had become more in tune with its strengths and weaknesses. She might have become a bit proud of it, too; the bikini she wore was a week-old addition to her wardrobe. "Are you planning to go to the sports bar tonight?" I asked her. "Yes. This could be the last time I'll need you there. I think I'm almost ready to solo." "Whatever you say, but if you need me again, you know where I am." "True. Charlene, there's a guy there...." she said, turning a shade of pink under her tan. "I have eyes, too. It has to be Derrick. He's cute, and he's been coming on to you for weeks. You like him, don't you?" It only occurred to me after I said it: my ex-husband wanted to see guys, and I wished her only happiness. Somewhere along the way I had become her girl friend. *** The Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets were playing UCLA that night, and the place was bedecked with Georgia Tech's colors of yellow and black. As soon as we made it inside, Diana abandoned us for Derrick at the bar. Diana's potential Beau was a fairly big guy with large hands. As Diana and Derrick clinched in what began as a greeting between friends, he slipped one of those mitts down over her skirt and goosed her. Diana, who was partially facing me, shot me an outraged glance over his shoulder. I held up my hand to cool her jets and sat back to watch. I'd been watching this dance for weeks. While Diana had been learning, she'd been a semaphore of mixed signals, especially to Derrick. This, I thought, was maybe Diana's first true test. How would she react, I wondered, with her bottom still warm and feeling his hand? Derrick said something to her, friendly but direct. Diana gaped at him open- mouthed, then licked her lips and answered. Derrick beamed at her reply, kissed her on the cheek, and turned towards the bar, raising his hand for a couple of beers. Was it the start of a new phase? It looked promising. With Diana occupied with Derrick, that left David with me. One other family goon stood in the opposite corner with a beer in his hand, which I knew he wouldn't finish until it was time to go. With David discouraging others around us with his jealous boyfriend look, there wasn't much to do. "Yea, Tech!" I shouted when Tech's senior star guard sunk a three pointer. David looked at me curiously. I usually wasn't the cheering type. I shrugged a "why not?" The first half ended with the score tied, which lead into a series of truck, beer and snack commercials. Diana was still with Derrick and looked to be in no hurry to get back, so I shifted my attention to my ersatz boyfriend. "So, play much basketball?" I asked, expecting a "no," as David was born in the eighteenth century. "I played with John Wooden in the pro's back in the thirties," he said. That was interesting enough that I nearly what happened next. A middle-aged man entered through the main entrance wearing a long- sleeved Yellow Jacket shirt, the kind with the horizontal black and yellow stripes. Ordinarily, with the color-coordinated black pants and dark sunglasses, I'd have figured him for a serious Tech fan. But I thought I knew who he was, and the slight hitch in his walk from his bad knee made him. It was the Professor! David cast a sharp eye at me, alerted by my reaction. David had two hundred years of reading people on his side, but he was up against a genius. The Professor hadn't dressed that way on a whim. His costume was a built-in reason to stare. "Will you look at that guy," I said. "With deely boppers, the man could be a wasp." I ordered another beer to keep my hands from shaking, and considered what it meant. How did he find me and who was with him? He couldn't have possibly be here alone. I didn't think the rest of the team was in on this. They were mainly soft body academics who would almost surely already be in the first pods, as planned. So who was out there, an army of private detectives? I doubted it. He'd have had to hire some serious manpower to cover places around the world and to track cars with darkened windows. PI's had to play tag with the legal profession, too, and dealing with the family effectively would require guns. I was betting on mercs. They'd have the expertise and the moral ambiguity to get it done. Contracting their services would have been as easy as reserving space for them in the first available pods, a priceless advantage that would mean decades of added life span. There could easily be a half-dozen mercenaries in the parking lot and under tarps on nearby buildings, and fingers over the trigger guards of .50 cal Barretts. They would know who the family guards are. Hell, it was probable that they were ready to try a rescue. The family were prepared to be exposed -- to the government. They could count on forewarning from any drugged and brainwashed fifth column in the government and military, but they might not get a whiff from a private operation. I could imagine how it might come down. The best time and place for a snatch and grab would be in the parking lot after we left the bar. If the Professor had enough mercs on board -- and why not, turning them away would be the problem -- he might be planning to swarm the estate at the same time. It was horribly dangerous and daring, and it made me tingle in exciting places. It even had a chance to work. The Professor had to be in the bar because he wanted to let me know that was ready to swing that hammer, but waiting around meant that he was giving me a chance to say yea or nay. I couldn't let him go through with it, not with my kids in jeopardy and a good chance that we'd be let go anyway, but I wanted him close by just in case the worst happened. So, how could I tell him? The solution was as easy as following the big screen. "Yeah, the man's a professor!" I shouted when the Tech guard made a between the legs bounce pass for an easy lay up. I swilled my beer in a few gulps to get it out of the way. When the waitress came by to pick up the empty bottle, she looked at me to see if I wanted another. I shook my head and said, loudly, "No thanks, I'm okay -- for now!" I figured that was all it would take, and some minutes later, when I had an excuse to look around, the Professor was gone. Three cheers for testosterone! Who needs drugs or the Rocky Mountains to get you high when there's an army of killers on your side? I was still floating at the end of the game when Diana slipped back to our table, just long enough to imply that I should visit the ladies room with her. The instant we were alone, she unloaded on me: "Derrick asked me to see him this weekend!" she hissed. "That's supposed to be good, isn't it? And I saw you say that you would." "I'm not sure why I did. He took advantage of me. He grabbed my ass!" Diana turned away, covering her face with her hand. "I can't believe I'm saying this! I sound like an idiot." She sounded like a girl, to me, although I couldn't dare tell her that yet. Derrick had already done the deed, and she'd agreed to go out with him anyway. This was venting to a confidante, a girl friend. Me. "If you were so upset about it, then why didn't you tell him to piss off?" "I don't know. I was thinking of slapping him until you signalled me to calm down." "I think you do. These past weeks, you've been spinning his head so many ways, I'm surprised it's still attached to his neck." She looked at me askance. "I was making up my mind about him." "I know that, and Derrick was telling you that he was tired of dancing. He likes you a lot to hang on so long without getting a clear message from you, but he finally lost patience. He must have known that he was taking a chance, but he went for it anyway; you kind of have to admire him for it." "Admire it? Hah! That was not the act of a gentleman." "Probably not, but he's decisive, and honest in his own way. Deep down, I think you can appreciate a brave man who will tell you in no uncertain terms that he wants you. A guy like that is likely to be there when it hits the fan." Diana winced, probably thinking that I was comparing Derrick to Leonard. Maybe I was, or maybe I was projecting what I wanted or what I was feeling when I'd seen the Professor. I didn't analyze it; it just came. "It's what women have desired in men since the beginning of time. Why not give it a chance? When you see him again, let him take the lead, and when he tries to kiss you, as he surely will, you foxy thing, remember that he's a man." Diana exhaled sharply. "Ah! This is happening so fast." she said, clenching her fists. "I didn't think Derrick would do that!" "Sometimes guys can be like the Spanish Inquisition. Tell me, was it so bad?" Diana hemmed and hawed before spitting it out: "I was more taken by surprise, but I still say that he's a half-grade above a Neanderthal." Diana was pensive on the way back to the estate, and I caught her looking at her reflection in the window. She went out with Derrick that weekend, then three more times more in a space of several days. She wouldn't volunteer much of what went on, but I knew something had to be happening, else why would she continue to see him? ***. A week after her first date with Derrick, Diana stopped by my door. When I let her in, she had trouble meeting my eyes. Diana normally dressed casually, but that evening she wore a short pale pink dress that showed off the tanned length of her legs, lengthened with heels, which I knew she hated to wear. Gone were the studs in her ears, replaced by silver earrings that dangled and bumped against her neck when she moved her head. She wore more makeup than her usual minimum, making her face softer. That was change enough, but the greatest was growing on top of her head. Diana averted her gaze completely when she saw what I was looking at. "All right! I had my hair styled, and they added hair extensions. It's not permanent, and.... Oh, hell." She lifted a section of her locks over her shoulder and out of the way. "Derrick told me once that he liked long hair, so there it is. Let me sit down. The less time I have to stand in these pinching, pointy contraptions the better." "You look fantastic." My compliment drew a faintly jaundiced expression. "It was a lot of trouble, and sometimes I still hate you." "Yeah, I know. Is this a special occasion?" She turned shy all of a sudden. "Maybe." "Do I have to beg? Are you finally going to tell me what's been going on between you two?" "It ... our relationship hasn't been what I expected." "It couldn't be too bad if you're dressed like that." "Honestly, I don't know what this is," she said with a tepid smile. "I want to be normal again, Charlene. I want to be comfortable again, like you. I went after Derrick because I was physically attracted to him. I liked him, too, but he wasn't supposed to be anyone, just a first step, a way to get used to men. But it's impossible to ignore that he's a guy who likes me the way I am, and I think I like him more now, and it's confusing, and terrifying." "You're beginning to believe, aren't you? You feel the world changing around you." "Charlene, it's not that I don't believe you, but Heaven help you if what you've been telling us doesn't come to pass." "Oh, it's real, all right. If the team stays on schedule, it's a matter of weeks, maybe days before they make the announcement. I like what I see in you, partly because, in you, I see something of my own dreams coming true. Derrick isn't just a short-lived human anymore, is he? He's becoming a person, an equal. Believe me, I understand. I never let myself get so bound up with a guy that I couldn't leave him, and you had it worse than I did; you watched someone you loved die of old age. This is wonderful." "Do not make it more than what it is," she said, pointing her finger at me, which I noticed was painted the same shade of pink as her dress. "A true relationship between us is still impossible. I'm five times his age and sometimes, as you've seen for yourself, he can be crude." I thought this nineteenth century debutante protesteth too much. "Oh? So tell me again, Miss Sophisticated, why are you wasting your valuable time dressing to impress this bumpkin?" Diana rolled her eyes towards the ceiling in irritation. "Yes! I like him, but this wouldn't ever work. I took your advice and let him lead, not, it turns out, that I had too much choice in the matter. Derrick does that on his own. He's thirty-one and thinks that I'm only twenty- three. It's making me crazy. He's so damned sure of himself." "Why should you care so much? You said that he was only 'a first step,' didn't you?" "I did, and he is -- he has to be -- but when he's around ... well, no one has ever looked at me the way he does. I lose myself sometimes in his arms, and in his kisses -- and then the century and a half of being a man catches up and wonders what the hell I'm doing!" "I can't help you with the age difference, but as for the rest of it, this 'gay' feeling you have, that goes away." She looked at me warily, then hung her head. "I should hate you for putting me through this woman thing. I'm dressed up because I know that Derrick would love to see me like this. The hair, the clothes, the make-up -- is this really worth it? He'll look at me, and smile that goofy grin, and tell me that I'm pretty or beautiful, and then maybe I'll forget all about -- everything for a while. Being the primitive that he is, later tonight, he'll be sure to try to take off my clothes, and if I don't panic, this time, I might let him." "Woah! Are you sure you're ready for this?" "Don't read too much into it. This relationship can't work, but there isn't any reason why I shouldn't take what I can get from it. After everyone looks young, he'll have so many girls to choose from, he'd probably dump me anyway. Charlene, could I ask you a personal question?" "Fire away." "What was it like the first time you made love -- as a woman?" ~Well, you were there.~ I knew what she meant, though; she wouldn't want to hear about the slipping and the sliding. "Of all the nights since I left the pod, that was the most important, because after that night, I couldn't even dream of pretending that I was a man anymore. It defined me." She heaved a shuddering sigh. "That's what I thought." It occurred to me that this might be the last time I would see Diana from this perspective. Leonard had taken my virginity, such as it was, and in many ways, had made me who I am. I thought of Diana with a man inside her, moaning his name as she clung to his back, her legs wrapped around him. It would be hard to see Leonard in her after that. *** Two weeks passed.. Diana returned from a night out and joined us at breakfast with a manhandled look, a huge improvement over that first night with Derrick. As I feared, she hadn't been ready for sex. Diana had come to me late that night in tears and shaking, and it took me until morning to convince her that she would come to enjoy it very much. When Diana recovered her nerve, she tried again, with more success. This last night was her third, and from the satisfied expression planted on her face, it was the best of all. I was happy and relieved for her, but with the children around, I'd have to find out the details later. "Mom, do you know anything more about when we'll leave?" Larissa asked me while poking at her food. Karen looked up at me, too. The school year had started in Boulder long ago, and they wanted to go home. "Not yet, but I have a feeling it will be soon." We'd been at the estate for exactly two months, the time frame I'd given the council. I wasn't too worried. Even if I was a little off, I'd told them from the beginning that it was an approximate figure, still, I wondered where Sergei and Benjamin were, the council members who normally stayed at the estate. I asked David, our guard for the morning, but he shrugged, meaning that he either didn't know or he wasn't permitted to tell. I found out why in the afternoon. The kids were inside playing video games and Diana was taking a nap, so I was alone with David, toweling off after a swim, when the entire council approached us across the patio. They were in formation, like a flock of migrating birds, with Henrietta in the lead. None of them looked pleased, but my nemesis seemed particularly out of sorts. Her red face combined with a white blouse and blue pantsuit to produce an odd patriotic theme. "You will come with us," she hissed. "Sure. Do I have time to change?" I still wasn't worried. If they were really angry, they would have had the guards haul me away, and I had the mercs, who had to still be watching the estate, as my ace in the hole. Sergei said, "You have five minutes," he said to me. "In the main lounge. It would be best not to be late." "Right." When I returned, everyone at the estate was there. Larissa and Karen were at opposite ends of a sofa, sitting straighter than they usually did, sensing that something was up. Diana gave me an inquiring look, meaning that she was out of the loop. David checked his watch, and then used the remote to turn on the overhead television. "Breaking News" the scroll kept repeating. Two news anchors in a studio: a former beauty queen blonde, just the wrong side of thirty, stared at the teleprompter, either waiting for her cue or too stunned to speak. A man with perfectly coiffed hair, perhaps twenty years older, looked off-camera, repeating, "Is this a joke?" Men and women scrambled behind them, talking, shouting, waving and pointing. Two women hugged each other, crying. Finally, the woman news anchor began: "This ... this, if true, is the most incredible news in the history of mankind. A private, international team of scientists has developed a process to stay young and drastically lengthen human life. For now, they are called, simply, 'trees'." A picture of one popped up in the corner. "Scientists in Asia, Africa, South and North America, Europe, and Australia have independently confirmed these amazing claims ..." And so it began, and I had played a major part in it. I regarded Henrietta in triumph, daring her to say a word, then glanced at Sergei to see how he was taking it, and then on to David and Diana, likely grinning like an idiot. Within two years, everyone on Earth would be through a pod. Unfortunately, some had been born too early. A senior corespondent in the back of the newsroom was slumped over her desk, weeping. One or two others said something to her, but she was inconsolable. She was pretty, but with plastic surgery so common in the profession, her age was probably sixty. She could be made young again, but she would live out her normal lifespan -- or what was normal a few minutes before. I don't think it was real to the kids. The young think that they're going to live forever, anyway. "Mom, what does this mean?" Karen asked. I placed my arm around my youngest daughter's shoulder. "It means that you and Larissa will live a very long time, several hundred years. It also means that we're going home." "Not so fast," Henrietta snapped. ~Enough.~ I stood. "Larissa, Karen, start packing now. We're leaving here this afternoon." They know when I'm angry and they nearly jumped out of their seats to obey. I waited until the kids were moving in the right direction, then said to the council, "Let's get this over with." I started off towards the council chambers, making them follow me. I had a good idea why they were so pissed at me. It was just my bad luck that they found out while I was still here. ~Well, isn't that just too bad.~ I was at the council chambers first. It took only a moment until the rest were inside. The instant David shut the door, I said, "Go ahead, speak." Henrietta screeched at me, a truly earsplitting, annoying thing. "We know what you did to the hard drives and the Atlantean tubes! You won't get away with this!" I waved my hand at her. "Sit down, you old bitch. You aren't going to do a damn thing." I've been wrong before: She came after me screaming, reaching for my eyes with her thumbs. I didn't want any part of that and dodged behind a chair, keeping it between us until David grabbed her by the arms from behind. "You will die for what you did!" "I've been a bad girl," I said, "but I only scrambled the biology data. The tubes -- well, again, it was only those on biology. You know, it's amazing what a chlorine-based cleaner mixed with an ammonia-based cleaner and water can do to aluminum. It made a slag of the inside, didn't it?" "I'll kill you!" she bellowed, and tried to leap for me again, but David still held her securely. I shook my head as she panted and strained against David's much greater strength. "Kill me? Oh, I don't think so. I once thought that if the family were exposed, it would be more of an inconvenience to you than a catastrophe. You could simply get up and leave, and establish your fifty new identities somewhere else. The trouble could be worth killing me, you might think, but you'd be wrong. As of a few minutes ago, there are billions of people who bitterly regret that the trees didn't come out when they were younger. If they knew about the family, you'd have to answer to them why, when the technology to read those tubes has been around for nearly fifty years, you kept the knowledge to yourself. There wouldn't be an acceptable answer to that angry mob. You'd never have a safe place anywhere. Those billions would hunt you down and gleefully rip you to shreds." From their sickly expressions, it was working, and why not? Everything I'd said was likely true. "Relax," I said, "I won't say a word. Exposing you would benefit no one. As a goodwill gesture, I'll make sure that the family has priority to the trees. You and your wives can be young again with the first wave. Now, I think I've been detained long enough. Does anyone have a phone I can use to call a cab? I want to get to the airport." "I'll drive you," David said, after a glance from Sergei. Henrietta snapped her head around. "What? You?" "Think about it for a moment," Sergei said, his voice making it a warning. "It is not necessary." Grinding her teeth, Henrietta willed herself -- not calm exactly, more like rigid, but enough not to lunge for me again. I left the room with blue-eyed daggers on my back. A moment later, David joined me in the hall, closing the door behind him. It seemed the council had more to discuss. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me what that last comment was about?" I asked him. David smiled as if I'd said the funniest thing. "No."