Lifting my body from its position on the medical table was not only difficult but incredibly strange. I felt every movement of my body, as my chest shifted and my bare thighs pushed against the soft padding of the mattress. Hair much longer than I remembered fell into place and reached all the way just past my shoulders. I had always kept my fluffy brown hair cut short as men having long hair was completely inappropriate in the majority of New Eden. Much to my dismay, when Dr. Bennett had placed the hospital gown on me she hadn’t tied it to my body and it slid right off. My hands shot up to gather the top of the gown and pull it back up myself but in that process my hands brushed against my chest, sending a whole new array of sensations through me. I tried my best to ignore the sensations and quickly tied the gown in place.

  My eyes traveled down to find my legs devoid of hair, only my newly softened skin visible now. I couldn’t help my curious mind from wondering the reason that the hair on my head had grown but on my legs had been removed but quickly pushed the thought out of my mind. I had many more important things to think about. I was a girl! This was completely against everything that I had ever been told and my mind raced at how this would affect me.

  Would they be able to change me back? If they couldn’t, would I be able to return home? Would God reject me because of this? Would I have to live the rest of my life as a girl?

  I was strangely calm in comparison to how I knew I should be acting, I should be screaming and furious and forcing them to change me back. That’s what a man should do but I felt no compulsion to follow that. Maybe it was the shock that had set in and I hadn’t fully processed the situation so couldn’t react accordingly. Strangely, I didn’t feel as uncomfortable as I would’ve imagined, in fact, I almost felt more comfortable than I did before but that was an answer to be searched for after I sorted things out. A man had to take control of his situation first, that’s what my father had always said.

  Trying to ignore all the new sensations, my gaze traveled around the room before stopping at something that I couldn’t ignore. My eyes widened in wonder and excitement as I looked out the window to see the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

  Space.

  I struggled to my feet, needing to take it fairly slowly as my body still felt like it was traveling through jello but nothing would stop me from making it to that window. I rushed over as fast as my sluggish body would allow and stared outside to see something I thought I would never see in my lifetime. Down, far below, was the planet I had spent my entire life on, New Eden, and everything beyond it was the vastness of space that I had always wished to be a part of. Emotions started welling up in me as I pushed back tears that were struggling to escape.

  The thought crossed my mind only briefly that crying wasn’t acceptable for a man to do but it was just enough to bring me back to my current reality. I was somehow in a girl’s body from the magical technology that this ship seemed to have.

  I turned back towards the bed I had been lying on to inspect the room briefly. In the middle of the room was a normal hospital bed that I had woken up on but everything else seemed so much more advanced than anything I had grown up around. In one corner of the room was a set of lab equipment as well as what seemed like a stasis pod. I had heard of the pods before but they were strictly forbidden on New Eden as it was said that using one would separate you from God by altering your ‘perfect’ human form. My gaze continued to scan the room, noting the cabinets and the desk that Dr. Bennett’s computer was on. It was mind-bogglingly strange how normal this all seemed despite how far advanced it was compared to home.

  The door sliding open broke me out of my thoughts and Dr. Bennett and Captain Halloway stepped through looking nervous underneath their friendly smiles. They immediately noticed me by the window and I tried to give them a small smile to alleviate their worries. For some reason, I held no anger towards them and instead was simply excited to learn all I could before they sent me home.

  “Oh, you’re up! That’s very, very good,” spoke Zara, “I was afraid the process would’ve tired you too much to allow much movement for a little while.”

  “I’m still pretty tired,” the strange new voice said, coming from my mouth. It was soft, gentle, and almost melodic in its cadence, “I feel like I’m moving through pudding.”

  I could see Zara’s expression relax upon hearing how calm I was, as it seemed like she might think I would be furious. It was a reasonable assumption and I wasn’t entirely sure why I wasn’t furious at this moment. I almost felt calm, or even happy, if it wasn’t for the utter bewilderment.

  “That’s to be expected, your entire body was reconstructed from scratch,” says Zara, walking over to me.

  I had never found a woman taller than me before all this but now it seemed like this woman was a half a head taller than me. Judging from what I saw, she was also about the same amount shorter than Captain Halloway, which didn’t bode well for my height.

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  I don’t have much time to think about it as she guides me back to the hospital bed carefully and I end up having to lean on her due to having expended more energy than I thought I had.

  “So, you’ve probably already realized what’s happened,” she says in a calm and soothing voice. She seems like a very helpful and friendly type, almost motherly, “we’re not entirely sure why this has happened but you are most certainly a woman now.”

  Though I already knew the second part of her statement, many questions flew through my mind at the fact that they didn’t know what happened. I was on a strange spaceship with little understanding of the situation and was now in the body of a woman. They had to at least have some idea of how this happened, right?

  “You don’t know why I’m…a girl?” I ask, flinching at my new voice. If my father heard it then he would have an absolute fit.

  This time, Captain Halloway stepped forward to answer. “We don’t. The program should have reconstructed a body based on your ideal image of yourself.”

  “Samuel,” Zara continued to speak in her soft voice, “Is there any chance that you might be transgender?”

  I stared at her in confusion. “What’s that?”

  Utter bewilderment flashed across their faces but they quickly composed themselves. I wasn’t sure why it was such a shock, if I hadn’t heard of it then it couldn’t be that big of a topic.

  “Well,” Zara looked like she was struggling to find the words to explain this with care, “it’s people who are born one gender but realize that they belong in the body of another gender.”

  This time it was my turn to act bewildered, I had never heard of such a thing on New Eden. I wondered if that was normal in space and how many people were like that. Sure, I hadn’t been very manly growing up, I enjoyed girl things but I was a man and that would never change.

  “Of course I’m not, God doesn’t make mistakes.”

  The two glance at each other with a look I can’t recognize, almost as if it were a mix of worry and pity. I don’t believe I said anything wrong but their reaction said otherwise.

  Zara turns back to me with the same gentle smile, “Okay, I understand. Well, Samuel, Captain Reed has something to say that might be upsetting for you to learn. Let’s have you sit down for this, okay?”

  Well, that was most certainly worrisome. She helped me to sit down and get my feet back up while lifting the bed to allow me to sit comfortably. I looked at Captain Halloway the entire time, wondering what he had to say. I had an inkling of what the words that would come out of his mouth would be, but I prayed I was wrong.

  “Okay, well,” Captain Halloway cleared his throat, looking as nervous to say his next words as I was to hear them, “Miss–er…Mister Viera, we would like to be able to help you with this predicament, however therein lies a problem. We would have to pick up the necessary fuel for the medical pod to do so and the closest place we can buy it will be in the Beta Quadrant.”

  My jaw dropped and the room began to spin. I leaned my head back against the bed’s pillow only to be reminded of my height by the fact that I couldn’t quite reach the pillow fully. I would have to wait for them to go all the way to a different quadrant of the galaxy and back to be restored to my original body, I didn’t even think that I could go home in the first place like this.

  “However, as this is our fault we will be taking full responsibility and paying for everything to get that fuel,” Reed continued, “And we will do everything in our power to take care of you until then. If you wish to stay aboard for the journey, you have full permission to.”

  One revelation to one new despair, I could come on a space journey but I had no idea what I would tell my family.

  My family!

  “How long have I been out?”

  “I believe it is coming on 132 hours now, or 5 and a half days standard time,” Zara replies this time.

  My family hasn’t heard from me for over five days. For all they knew I could’ve run away or died. I sit up as fast as I can (which is rather slowly at the moment,) and look at both of them with pleading eyes.

  “Does my family know what happened?”

  Zara shakes her head solemnly. “We wish we could’ve informed them, however, we had no clue who you were until you said your name just now. I’d be happy to help you contact them but…”

  The look she gave me instantly reminded me of my situation and my expression dropped.

  “I’m sorry, hun. I know that people on New Eden aren’t exactly fond of the technology we’ve used, but it was either that or let you die.” She then asks a question that I’m completely unprepared for, “do you think your family would be accepting of you?”

  I think about this for a long moment, considering all the possibilities. David would likely be able to get over it once I convinced him that it was me, he’d probably be happier that I was alive than upset about the reconstruction. My parents were a different story. Even if I was able to instantly change back, the moment they found out that I had this kind of tech used on me I would be a servant of the devil in their eyes. We had just been in a fight about my masculinity too, if I returned home as a girl I can’t imagine what would happen.

  After a long moment, I slowly shake my head. I wouldn’t be accepted and I knew it. I tried to hold back tears that were threatening to escape but a few flowed down my face despite my protests. I turned my head away from them, it wasn’t right for a man to cry. They would probably be disgusted if they saw it.

  It takes a long moment after my response for either of them to say anything but the Captain speaks up first.

  “Well, that settles it then, you’ll come with us, we’ll let your family know that you’re okay but requiring medical care, and we’ll go find a solution to this problem.”

  I tried to wipe my eyes discretely but I knew they saw the movement. I felt Zara’s hand place itself on my back and start rubbing in a comforting motion. I had wished for this but I didn’t expect it to come true in such a complicated way. I don’t know if I would ever be able to go home.

  “Okay…”