The next day passed without incident. Jamie followed through with the inspections and interviews with her team. The captain accepted her report and made several references to it in the meetings with all department heads. She noted that each team had worked on their respective areas but Jamie was the only team leader who had looked at the larger picture and made recommendations based on that.
Jamie was pleased with the captain's praise but embarrassed by the way she had received it. The captain had put her on display as the model researcher and team leader. The fact that she had only just arrived and the way she had changed only made Jamie want to slide into the background and do her job. She was itching to get inside the sphere and see what engineering marvels were waiting to be discovered and translated.
After the meeting they still had another day to go before they reached the sphere and Jamie sought out Carol for an official meeting. She popped by her office and found the councilor deep in paperwork.
"Hey, have you got a few minutes?" Jamie asked, sticking her head into the office. "I need to ask you a couple of things."
"Sure, you know I always have time for my roommate, what is on your mind?"
"Something you said last night has been running through my mind and I need to talk to you about it."
"Shoot."
"You said yesterday that I had massive amounts of hormones and estrogen surging throughout my system and that I was experiencing puberty again." Jamie said slowly.
"Yes and..."
"Well how could I have massive amounts of hormones and estrogen in my system when I don't have any ovaries?" Jamie asked. "They create and monitor them, so where are they coming from?"
"They are coming from your food." Carol replied calmly.
"My food?"
"Yes, when Dr. Sportan set up your caloric limit he also set the replicators to add the necessary levels of female hormones and estrogen to keep your system balanced."
"What do you mean balanced."
"Jamie, your body has changed dramatically and it needs time to settle down to its normal routine. Without these hormones and what not, your male mind would begin to reject your female anatomy. The testosterone produced by your testicles would begin to battle with your mammary glands and your whole body would start to shut down due to massive internal failure."
"What would cause the failure?"
"Your female cell structure and organs would be looking for the estrogen and only find testosterone and androgen. The internal shock would cause organs to eventually fail. To prevent this and keep you healthy Dr. Sportan started you on a preemptive course of female hormones."
"Then that would explain why I am starting to notice men more."
"Yes, your body and your mind are learning to co-exist together and the female side of the makeup is starting to push to the surface. It is not anything wrong or scary, just your body trying to find its way."
"Well, it would have been nice if someone informed me earlier. I have been fretting about this for days now."
"I am sorry, we should have discussed this sooner, but in sick bay you were not in the best frame of mind to find out that you were taking hormones and since then it hasn't come up."
"Yes, I see your point." Jamie replied.
"Now, I want to cover another thing, the incident yesterday morning in the shower." Carol said, and Jamie blushed scarlet. "Now there is nothing to be embarrassed about. I told you that yesterday and I stand by it. I want to know how it made you feel."