As I slowly regain my consciousness, I notice that I'm lying on a comfortable bed. My heavy eyelids are finally opening as the effects of the sedation are wearing off. Even though it is quite dark here, I can see that I'm currently in a tiny room. There is a door close to the foot of my bed, and a wall-mounted monitor with a blinking small, red light on my left. After about another minute has passed, I can finally think clearly again.

"My god, that sure as hell was a crazy dream!" I say out loud, to no one in particular. Only then do I notice that my voice is very different from what I remember and my memories have returned....all of them.

While still lying on the bed, I now see two modest protrusions on my chest where there were none yesterday.
"Crap! Don't tell me....?"  

I sit up straight and inspect my body, only now realizing that my dream was no dream at all. All of it is painfully real, those freaks have turned me into a woman, and one of theirs too!

My mind is racing to recall current events to piece together what I'm experiencing at the moment. First, I was on the Portland. Then there was a bright light, then another and suddenly my leg hurt. I also remember looking at my reflection, seeing myself as a woman.  

When I stepped out of that medi-pod as they called it, I felt completely normal. Even my appearance felt natural to me. I never once doubted that I was a woman. Was that the real me, when I woke up without memories?

I shook my head to get those thoughts out of my mind and coughed, trying to get my original voice back "hello, somebody help me!" I said. But my voice still sounded feminine without any doubt. 

"Oh god, how am I supposed to live like this?!" I said, sounding miserable,  "or maybe they can patch me up in that thing of theirs," now with some hope in my voice.

I tried to open the door, but it has no handle, and the buttons are utterly confusing. There are at least ten buttons on the panel with symbols I have never seen before.

"Ahmed, dude, if I ever get my hands on you, I swear...there won't be any light at the end of the tunnel!"

Then, somehow the lights went on in the room. Could it be...?

"Lights out" I spoke out loud. And the lights went out again.

"Lights on" I said. And of course, the lights went on. 

Maybe..."open the door!"

But nothing happened. "Crap, that's not working."

I paced around in this room for a minute and then noticed something that looked like a shower area and a very futuristic looking toilet. I am definitely not going to touch that!

There is no other wait out then through the front door.  

While I am trying to understand the workings of the panel close to the only exit, I notice a tall mirror flat on the wall, next to the door.

I slowly approach the mirror and focus on my reflection. It still shows the woman I had seen earlier in the medi-bay.

After a minute of observing my reflection, the current events slowly register in my mind, I was forced to accept my new reality. What if I wasn't going to change back? What if I didn't want to change back?

My reflection shows a woman, an alien looking woman. She moves exactly the same way I do. Is this a joke? No, I...I..think that really is me. I fall to my knees while staring into the mirror. I touch the mirror, it is real. It really is my reflection. 

"Why did you do this to me?...." <sniff>, I couldn't think clearly anymore. 

Oh god, I thought I had these feelings under control. But when all the ghosts of my past came to the surface of my mind to haunt me, I could no longer suppress my feelings. Being taken from Earth, transformed into a woman of another species, seeing my ship explode....accepting my new reality finally made me cry.

And crying I did, until there were no tears left. All these years of repressed emotions, trying to act tough, and now, now my prayers from many, many years ago have been answered. Somehow, someone smiled at me and performed a miracle. But why now? I had come to accept the Mark I used to be until...this happened to me.

 

My miserable thoughts are interrupted when the door gently slides open, and doctor Vayra enters this tiny room. Another woman is following her inside.

"Oh my goddess, you are awake. But....why are you crying?" the doctor asked in honest confusion.

"Get away!" I said coldly. "I trusted you."

"Yes, yes, I know. I am truly sorry, but I had to sedate you, you were not responding to reason."

"Leave me alone!" I said, glaring at her through my never ending stream of tears. 

She put up her hands in surrender, glanced at the other woman, and left us alone.
That doctor is definitely on my blacklist now. And so is that woman, I recognize her, she is that guard who made me see those god awful images.   

"Have your memories returned?" the guard asks.

"Yes," was my only response, while carefully analyzing her intentions.

"I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the doctor said she won't be able to restore you to your former form."

"Oh crap! You've got to be kidding me!" I said, shaking my head in disbelief. One surprise after the other. But I must focus now, focus on survival! 

The guard is approaching me, so I take a step backwards to create some distance between us, then lean against the wall. Should I try to run? No, I don't recognize this place, and I might end up in a dead-end again. I should first try to get more information and then think my way out of this situation.

I don't say a word to her, I only glare. She is definitely the one from that team who have brought me here.  After a minute of staring, I try the more sophisticated approach, "am I a prisoner here?"

"No," she said. Not adding another word. Her expression is cold and focused. She doesn't want to spend any time with me, that much is clear to me.

"Why did you abduct me and for god's sake why did you need to change my body?" I asked.

"You were taken from the planet as we needed some answers. You seemed the only one who responded to our verbal communications. We put you in the medi-pod to heal your wounds, and what happened then is an honest accident. My blood must have entered your wounds and somehow the medi-pod got confused."

"Your blood entered my wounds?"

"Yes." Again only a short answer.

"Are you now completely healed?" I asked, trying to make her think that I care. 

"Yes, I am fine. Thank you for your concern."

"Tell me, are these real, or am I still dreaming?" I asked.

"Eh, I think those are very real, yes. Definitely normal for a woman," she said.

"So, I am really a woman?" I asked.

"Yes, of that I am completely sure. The doctor scanned you, so trust me when I say that you are a woman."

"So I am no man, but really, really a woman?" I said, more tears slowly flowing down from my eyes.

She nodded, then motioned me to sit next to her on the bed. I sat next to her, but I was the closest one to the door, my only way out of here..

Without warning, she then embraced me. "Aww, come here. I can't even imagine what you are going through. You are safe here, cry if you want, I will protect you."

For the next four or five minutes I cried non-stop, all of my raw emotions lay open for her to see. I had no idea what to do or where my new life would take me. Finally, the last deep emotional tears, tears that cleansed my heart and mind left my eyes.

"Are you feeling better now?" she asked.

"Not really. This is so confusing. In my past I have always wanted to be a woman, and now...somehow I became one. It took a long time for me to finally accept who I was before and now I am confronted with these feelings again, this really hurts. I don't even look human anymore, and now I'm suddenly a woman too. But..I...I feel normal. I feel good. Oh god, this is so confusing."

"I think I understand. But...maybe you want to talk to the doctor?"

"No....I...I..think I will be fine. This is just going to take a looong time to truly accept." I said.

"Sorry, I can't help you with that. But you are one of us now....just know...we won't abandon you. We will be there for you, whatever happens" she said, giving me a warm smile. She really is warming up to me.

"Thank you, just give me some time to process this, alright?" I said.

She nodded and released the embrace.

 

"How about this, I will give you some answers, then you let me go," I proposed. Rule number one, get the hell out of wherever this place is.

"Yes, we need some answers. But you won't go anywhere."

"So I'm really a prisoner here then?" I was confused.

She then took a deep breath. Somehow that also relaxed me a bit. 

"Relax. You are no prisoner here, nobody will harm you. I'm not used to these kinds of discussions, I am only a soldier in the team that rescued you from the planet. And by the way, I'm sorry for forcing those images onto you. Doctor Vayra filed a complaint, which infuriated my boss for me doing that to you." 

"..eh, thank you, I guess?"  I wasn't really sure I could forgive her for that. But none of my feelings are making sense at the moment, so whatever.

"Thank you for trusting me. Let's try to help each other here. I want to talk about your future. The reason you can't go back to that planet of yours isn't because we don't want you to. The reason is simply you no longer look like a....what is your race called again?" She asked.

"Human."

"You don't look hue-man anymore, but you look like a Shalna, my race." Her eyes showed pity for my situation. 

"Shalna? Okay, whatever.....now what will happen to me?"

"Mmmmm, I will first tell you what happened on the planet. Then we will see what we can do for you, is that acceptable?" She is starting to sound a bit more relaxed now.

"Yes, please continue." 

"Good, first things first, my name is Rianna. What is yours?"

I decided that being polite might help me in the long run, but I am still mostly acting here. 
"Nice to meet you Rianna. I am Petty Officer 1st Class, Mark Chapman of the United States Navy. But you can call me Mark."

"Warm greetings Mark. So, that is a military rank designation?"

I nodded, "yes, it is. Or rather it was."

"Good, that military part, we have that in common. My rank is First Defender, currently assigned to Rescue One." 

I nodded, then Rianna continued, "Our ship is currently in orbit around your planet, and don't worry, my people have determined that your people with your current level of technology cannot possibly see our ship. 

Two hours before we arrived here, we were on a training mission right outside this solar system. After analyzing the source of the distress signal, we needed approval to visit your world because your world was classified as not being able to transmit using atom based communications."

I nodded.

"I see you understand what I am talking about. After the approval was given, we hurried to your planet, but in-system flight was slow, so we needed a total of two hours to get here. Can you tell me why your people sent the transmission?"

"The transmission was an accident. It is a new invention on my planet. Something went wrong with the temperature control, that is at least what I understood from our scientists."

"I see. That explains why your communication had only a clear...eh hydrogen profile without an ID signal embedded into the datastream...or something. That is at least what our science officer told us. My team and I were then ordered to investigate and offer assistance when requested. But we were attacked. We realized too late that we had provoked the attack by boarding your vessel without permission. Usually the term Rescue One would clearly show our intentions, but your people were unaware of this. Luckily your people gave the order to cease fire. When we were about to explain our presence, the Groknac arrived above your vessel as well."

"The Groknac?"

"Yes, a vile reptilian race, who take what they want. They probably detected that your planet has developed the capability of long range communications, and most likely just wanted to leech off your technologies. Then, claim your planet as one of theirs."

"I see, so then what happened?"  Reptilians? You gotta be kidding me!

"Your people were caught in a crossfire between our races. We are not at war, but skirmishes like these happen frequently. We took you aboard our ship so we could learn from your distress call and your race in general. We had never expected your people to use deadly weapons so soon after our arrival. They surprised us by obliterating the Groknac ship."

"And then? How did you escape?"

"Our ships are all equipped with shielding. We were never at any serious risk. But you should know that when you were aboard our Rescue One, the last thing the Groknac did, was to blow up your vessel."

"Yes...I remember your images. All those people. Did you pick up any survivors?"

"Apologies, no, there were no survivors. The Groknac destroy whatever they cannot acquire, that is their way."

"That is really bad." All my colleagues were wiped out in an instant without even knowing why.

"It could have been worse, they could have attacked the rest of your planet. We were not allowed to intervene, we only protected our own team from their attack. Lucky for you the Groknac don't have shielding on their scout ships or fighters. Their other, larger vessels however, do."

"This is so much to take in. And what about me then? I have nowhere to go."

"Mmmm, I see you are in a medical uniform, not really appropriate but it will have to do. Can you walk?"

"Of course." I may be leaning against the wall, but I can run away from here as soon as I get the chance.

"Then walk with me, I want you to talk to our second in command, or SO for second officer as we call the rank."

So an SO is basically their version of our XO, got it.

 

 

Rianna then made sure that I looked a bit more presentable, and taught me how to use their version of a toilet.  
After I had finished washing my face, she said, "Are you ready? We need to see the SO."

I gave her a weak smile and nodded. Things finally started to feel right again, the first time since I had arrived...wherever here is. 

Rianna then guided me towards the ship's bridge, where someone would be able to help me.

The last thing I saw before leaving the tiny room, was the reflection of my true self in the mirror, and she finally smiled at me.