After we talk to the men, Dad holds my commissioning ceremony, and we have a small celebration afterward. The day after that, I began learning my job and running simutions so that I could gain experience rather than risk people’s lives while learning.

  It takes a while for some of the men to come to a decision, with many of them hitting me up to talk to me about my experiences as a woman. I’m open and honest about it. I expin in detail the benefits, especially when it comes to sex. I y out the feeling of having an orgasm and how much better they are than they are for men. How men will quickly step in to help when you’re a woman. Etc…

  What I left out are the overt lewd leers that said they would love nothing more than to rip my clothes off and fuck me, and the extremely rude or explicit sexual comments, which made me want to go shower. Oh, and lest we forget, being groped ‘accidentally.’ Those men are now cleaning toilets or other such punishments when they aren’t confined to their cabins with a firm admonition that further ‘accidents’ will result in them being sent to the brig.

  In the end, some of the men realize there is little choice for any of us. So, over the next month, 87 men volunteer to transition. As Dad promised, at the end of the 30 days, he holds a lottery and chooses 66 more men to join us as women. More than a few have to be dragged down to the infirmary by the Marines. Of course, they donate sperm just as I did before they begin the process. With the men donating their sperm and then transitioning, the medical staff believes the colony will be fine.

  The course as id out will take us four months to make it into orbit around Terra since we’re taking a long spiral inward to survey the system as we go. We’ve also stopped a couple of times to gather rare resources from asteroids that will help us out when we make pnetfall.

  As for me, in between training and the long simutor sessions, I have free time which I spend sleeping or with Athena. One time when we were in the rec room, a guy named Max came up to us and introduced himself. He’s 22, a lot of fun to be around, decent-looking, and in good shape, since he’s an officer in engineering. We hang out quite a bit after that, and we both find that we like him. Of course, it’s obvious that he likes us. Hell, what red-blooded male wouldn’t? We’re both gorgeous and have good personalities.

  One evening after I get off duty, I clean up, put on some rather sexy lingerie, and dress in a cream-colored halter dress, along with some bck ankle-strap pumps, then head out to meet up with Athena and Max. He told us that he would pn our evening, so after we eat dinner, he takes us to see a movie. The ship has millions of yottabytes of digital media, so movies of one type or another are always pying.

  Max and I are off duty tomorrow and Athena has the day off from the infirmary, so after the movie, the three of us head over to the lounge, have a few drinks, dance, and generally have a great time. When we’re slow dancing, Max surprises me with a kiss that almost buckles my knees. Trust me here, I’m more than happy to swap spit with him. All I can say is, damn that man sure knows how to kiss! Athena also got some of her own from both Max and me.

  Later that night, the three of us end up in his quarters, and faster than you can blink an eye, nude in bed. Athena makes it perfectly clear to him that I’m a virgin, so they take their time to make sure that I’m more than ready, or else I’m sure it would’ve hurt much more than it did. For me, my first time is somewhat painful, and of course, it’s also awkward since I’m not exactly sure how to have sex with a man. In the end, I stopped thinking about it and simply let my body lead the way.

  I’m fairly sure what some of you might be thinking. Remember though, I identify as female, and I find that I’m attracted to some men as well as to Athena. Max is one of them. And yes, Max knows that I used to be Avery. I told him, and he merely shrugged and said, “All I can see is a gorgeous woman.” That leveled him up in Athena’s and my books.

  Max is much taller than me. I’m 170cm, and I’m taller than Athena, who’s 165cm. He’s 188cm, heavily muscled with gorgeous green eyes that you can get lost in, and has short brunette hair. Not to mention that he’s very sweet and attentive, so what’s not to like?

  Surprisingly, other than kissing, fondling, or oral sex, Athena never allows him to have vaginal intercourse with her. She expins to him that it has nothing to do with him since she does find him attractive and eventually does want to have sex with him. It’s just that she’s pregnant and being cum in makes the uterus contract. Therefore, she doesn’t want to take any chances that might cause her to lose our baby.

  Anyway, the second round is more pleasant for me, even if it’s still slightly painful. The third is quite enjoyable, and finally, in the fourth round, I have an orgasm. Albeit, it’s a small one, but it’s an orgasm nonetheless. The feeling of him cumming in me is like nothing I’ve ever experienced before and I find that I love the feeling.

  Athena never drank anything at the club, but Max and I put away more than a few drinks each, which left me horny as hell, so he obligingly and eagerly helps me with that little issue. Athena fell asleep at about 0400, but it’s almost 0900 when Max and I have had our fill.

  That feeling I had before when making love with Athena, the one where I felt as if something was missing, I find that Max being inside me and cumming fills that need. I can’t say that I prefer sex with him over Athena because both are great and even better, I’m not being forced to choose between one or the other.

  Athena understands, just as I do, that we’ll be artificially inseminated at times, or maybe even required to have multiple partners. We talked about it at length, and us being inseminated artificially by whoever, we don’t really mind, per se, but frankly, Athena and I would much prefer to pick and choose who we have sex with. Neither of us wants someone, to whom we aren’t attracted, rutting inside of us. Just the thought of that grosses us out! No, thank you very much!

  From then on, Max and I, and occasionally Athena, would meet for dates and such, and most of the time end up with us having sex, which only got better and better for me. Of course, Athena and I still had our alone time as well.

  I might mention that I also take birth control just like the other female crew members, so there’s no chance of me getting pregnant. We still have a lot to accomplish after we make orbit and nd on Terra, and our being pregnant would make our jobs that much harder.

  As time passes, Athena’s pregnancy is obvious to everyone, and at one of her checkups, we find out that we’re going to have a daughter. Both of us are excited by the news and toss around names for her, although we never come to a decision and simply table the discussion until a ter date since we have roughly 5 months before she is born.

  Max, Athena, and I are in the observation lounge when we finally make orbit. We’ve all seen the telescope views, but this is the first time we’ve seen it with our own eyes, and it’s simply gorgeous. This is also the first time I have ever seen anyone, other than Athena, Max, and me, use the observation lounge.

  The next morning, my job begins in earnest. The first thing I have to do is have the combined communications/weather control satellites removed from storage, prepped, and then unched. Two of them had their drives fail, and they burned up in the atmosphere. Fortunately, we have plenty of spares.

  The astrobiologists and astrogeologists begin their survey of the pnet to find the best site to set up our colony. They decide on a site that’s fairly close to the ocean in a part of a continent that shouldn’t have any drastic weather changes due to being in the subtropical zone. For any possible hurricanes or the like, the weather control satellites should be able to easily control them.

  ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇ ◆ ◇

  Several days ter, Athena and I are heading to the nding bay. My station is there, and she’s part of the initial nding team as their medic.

  Of course, I’m worried about her and tell her, “Don’t take any chances down there. We know very little about Terra’s flora and fauna, so don’t get separated from the others, especially the Marines.”

  She gives me a small smile. “Sheesh, April. You worry too much.”

  Of course, I worry. After all, I love her, and she’s four months pregnant with our baby! Who wouldn’t be worried in this situation?

  I quirk an eyebrow. “Too much? More like you don’t worry enough. We have no idea what you may come across.” I reach out and pce my hand on her abdomen as I look her in the eyes. “I want you and our baby to come back safe.”

  She leans in and kisses me, then pces her hand on my cheek. “Rex, Babe. I’m not going to take any chances. We’re taking bio gear with us, and we’ll all be in them before we crack open the hatch.”

  “See that you do. I love you, and I couldn’t bear to lose you.”

  She smiles brilliantly. “I love you, too. Now, come on, I still have to check to make sure they have all my gear before they load it.”

  She kisses me again, takes my hand, and leads us into the docking bay.

  She squeezes my hand, winks at me, and smiles before saying, “See you soon.” Then she makes her way over to the cargo piled beside the access to the shuttle as I turn and walk to another door that leads to my station.

  [Athena’s POV]

  As I’m checking my equipment, someone comes up behind me and asks in what I deem to be a rather sexy southern drawl, “Ms. Mayes?”

  I turn to look at him as I say, “That’s me.”

  The man smiles and offers his hand, which I shake. “I’m Captain Vale, I’m the pilot of the Mohawk.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” I say with a warm smile as I think, ‘Damn, he’s cute.’

  “We still have a couple of the scientists that are running behind, so there’s no hurry.” He looks at my pregnant belly, then gestures to the equipment I’m checking against my list. “Do you want any help?”

  “I’ve got it, but thanks for the offer,” I reply.

  Within 10 minutes, I finish comparing my equipment against my inventory list and find that everything is here.

  The Tern-css ships might be designated as shuttles, but they’re much bigger than your standard shuttle. As such, it’s not actually inside the docking bay. They’re in recessed ports on the exterior of the ships since they’re 45 meters long by 20 meters high by 25 meters wide.

  They are able to be outfitted with various drop-in work or sleep pods. They also each have their own little vehicle bay with space for two cargo vehicles and several ATVs.

  For this mission, the Mohawk is set up with two science bs, two sleeping pods that will accommodate the sixteen people going down to the pnet, both cargo vehicles, and eight ATVs. Not only does it have normal sublight engines, but it also has hyperspace engines and is VTOL capable. Basically, they are designed to be used for long-term missions in addition to being cargo carriers.

  Finished, I tell the cargomaster that he can load my equipment. I climb down the access dder into the cargo bay, head up the stairs to deck one, which is the crew deck, and find an empty seat by a window, not that there’s anything to see at the moment.

  Finally, everyone is on board, and the shuttle is buttoned up. The pilot announces that everyone should strap in because we’ll be undocking in a few minutes.

  The ship is jostled a bit as the docking arms move us away from the Avalon. When the arms release us, the pilot turns the ship toward Terra, which gives me a great view. The trip from the Avalon to the atmospheric entry point only takes us about 15 minutes.

  The ship turns around, fires up its main engines to slow down, then turns back around and noses up for atmospheric entry, and soon, my view of Terra is repced by psma as the air is torn apart by the heat of our passage. 12 minutes ter, we’ve slowed enough that the psma disappears, and we begin a series of long S-curves to slow even further. After the final S-curve, we’re near our nding site, where the pilots circle, looking for a rge clearing to accommodate us since the survey area is heavily forested. Spotting one, they fly over to it, hover, and slowly settle down to nd.

  After nding and the pilot shutting down the engines, we unbuckle ourselves and stand up.

  Cpt. Vale, followed by the co-pilot, Lt. Harvey, exits the cockpit and comes back to us. “Okay, folks. Everyone knows what they’re supposed to do, so let’s get to it. We only have 4 days to make our preliminary report to the Avalon. Everyone, remember, safety first, so stay suited up, keep your sidearms with you at all times, and no one is to wander off alone. If you need to go somewhere, let one of the Marines know so that someone can be assigned to go with you. They are here to keep us safe.” One of the scientists has a sour look on his face. “Jackson, don’t give me that look. I’m giving you your one and only warning right now, if you take off on your own, I’ll confine you to the ship, even if I have to chain you to a bunk. Understood?”

  He still has the sour expression, but he nods, and replies, “Yeah, I got it.”

  “Good. I know y’all can’t wait to get started, so let’s suit up and get to work.”

  We all head to the equipment locker to retrieve our bio gear. Basically, it’s a form-fitting suit with a clear helmet. It can also double as a spacesuit if you add an EVA pack. For now, it’s simply outfitted with a high-density battery pack to run the communications gear and air filtration system.

  We have to strip down and put on a bodysuit, think of a leotard or a one-piece swimsuit, and you’ll get the idea, and then the bio gear. I don’t really mind that, but I hate that there’s no room for privacy, and a couple of the men actually stare at us as we strip. When they make no moves to change into their briefs and simply continue to stare, I turn to gre at them, grab my boobs and lift them, then ask, “Have none of you ever seen a nude woman before?”

  The other women ugh, and those men quickly break out of their trance and sheepishly begin to get ready. Seriously. Just what they find so enticing about staring at a woman who is 4 months pregnant is beyond me.

  Once everyone is ready and has had their suit double-checked, we head back to the airlock. The two Marines there are wearing their armor, and they again check everyone over. When they’re satisfied, we step into the airlock, and the inner door is secured behind us. Then the outer door is opened, and the ramp is lowered.

  I ask the cargo master where my equipment is, and he tells me it’s in lockers 12 and 13. Part of my equipment is a self-erecting medical shelter. It even has its own airlock and air filtration system. Asking one of the Marines for help, he comes over, picks up the shelter as I gather some of my other equipment, and we head down the ramp.

  I look for a decently close, yet out-of-the-way spot to set it up. We end up setting it up on the port side of the ship about 5 meters from the ramp. The Marine sets it down, taps the activate button, and steps back several meters. 10 seconds ter, it begins, and it takes about 2 minutes to fully erect itself.

  I thank the Marine, who merely gives me a thumbs up and heads off while I make my way back up the ramp to collect the rest of my equipment so that I can finish setting up.

  I’ve barely gotten it all set up when a panicky call comes over the emergency channel. Apparently, Dr. Jackson, the know-it-all idiot that he is, took off his gloves to collect some samples, and seconds after he touched some flora, he began convulsing. I pull up his vitals on my helmet dispy and see that his heart rate is erratic and dropping quickly, and his blood pressure is beyond stroke level. I order them to immediately bring him to medical and gather the equipment I’ll need to find out what is wrong with him.