Ejax-472:

I knew it was a dream because everyone and everything around me was behaving perfectly. It was an ordered universe based upon a simpler, more refined Newtonian physics, minus the jumble of relativity. The planets moved according to the inexorable laws of gravitation and the earth itself stood apart as a splendid sapphire in the black firmament above.

From several million miles away the blue planet looked small but inviting. War had been abolished there many millennia ago and there was no disease, no hate, no chance acts of nature to destroy life and limb because nature herself had been tamed eons ago. In fact, the reason why there was so much loveliness in the world was because my new drug "Perfectus 909" had made everything, well...perfect. And the best thing of all was that penises were of normal size and did not ejaculate more that a tablespoon of semen at best. Plus, their owners no longer suffered the shame and embarrassment of "involuntary ejaculation," so long the bane of the multitude of men. There was no such thing as erectile dysfunction and premature ejaculation, and sex was never better for both men and women. My drug was capable of all these things and more...

My alarm clock rudely woke me up from this dreamy pleasantry. It was now 6:00 AM and, surprisingly, I had slept fairly well considering the constant round of nightmares with which I had recently been plagued.

After I had washed, dressed, and eaten breakfast, I left for the Clinic around 7:30 AM feeling a sense of heightened anticipation coupled with mild apprehension. The logistics of the experiment had been carefully reviewed in my mind and I knew that my entire career was now hanging in the balance. So much was at stake, so many people's lives on the line. I tried to focus my attention on my driving. I had to keep my mind free of any negative thoughts, as these were inimical to rational thinking. And I would need to exercise every bit of reason in order to overcome the giant behemoth of a mystery awaiting me.

I arrived at the Clinic at 8:15 AM to find the place abuzz with people making the final preparations for the experiment. Over the course of the next half hour, I inspected every cubicle and piece of equipment in the lab to make certain that my directions had been carried out precisely as stated. Actually, all the preparations had been made the day before, but I had insisted that every aspect of the procedure be double and triple checked for any possible problems that might arise. I could afford to leave nothing to chance or human error, if at all possible.

"What do you think doctor?" said Lynette, approaching me from behind one of the prefabricated cubicles.

"It's looking good Lynette," I said approvingly. "The video cameras are all set up?"

"Yes, doctor, just as you specified. I have two of my crew who'll be working them from inside the adjoining lab."

"Your girls will most probably not be needed for any security reasons, but I think it wise to keep them on hand if we have an emergency."

Lynette nodded. "I have five girls at your disposal."

"I'll need them. Not to catch criminals, just sperm."

Lynette laughed. "Oh, they're gonna earn their pay today I can see!"

"There will be lots of the white stuff flying around," I said, laughing along with her. "Tell them to wear their plastic raincoats over their uniforms. You too."

"Okay. Should I lay down some plastic sheeting on the floor like we did last time?"

"No. It was more trouble than it was worth. If the girls can keep the beakers steady we shouldn't have a problem."

"I hope not." Her expression suddenly grew somber. "I know what's at stake here doctor. Rebecca told me everything last night. All I can say is, I'm here for you."

"Thank you Lynette," I said with affection. "You've always been a great help to me."

I then told her to prepare to receive the subjects who would be arriving shortly and watched as her powerful yet graceful six-foot frame walked away from me toward the front entrance of the building followed by two other girls from her crew. Of all the people in my employ, with the notable exception of Rebecca, I knew that I could always count on her to come through. It was a comforting thought.

I grabbed a quick cup of tea and went directly to my office where I found Rebecca seated at my desk. Sitting across from her were John Cardelli and his wife Ann, both looking tired and apprehensive. Even despite his apparent fatigue and unkempt appearance, the beauty of his face immediately captured my attention. I think his wife noticed the hint of admiration in my eyes as I gave his body an appreciative, but cursory, examination. She looked at me with disdain, putting out her arm to stop John from rising out of his chair.

"Don't get upset with him," she said to me. "It was my idea to come here early."

"They got here an hour ago," Rebecca said, "just as I arrived. I didn't want to leave them outside...just in case."

"You did the right thing," I said.

Rebecca relinquished her seat at my desk and stood to my right as I sat in the now vacated chair. John looked at me but said nothing. I took a sip of tea and tried to gather my thoughts.

"Why did you disobey my instructions?" I said to Ann.

"I thought he was going to have another one of those ejaculation problems, that's why I had to bring him here. You've got to do something to help him. This is ruining our lives."

I could sense her mounting desperation. John watched me intently but remained silent.

"How are you feeling John?" I asked him.

"How do you think he feels?" Ann interjected. "Look at him. Look what your drug has done!"

"Shut up, Ann." John said suddenly.

"No, she's got to..."

"That's enough!" he shouted.

Ann looked at him surprised and with hurt in her eyes. He kept his head down refusing to look at her.

"I need you both to calm down right now," I said firmly. "I am going to help you, but I will need your full cooperation. Am I understood?"

Ann looked at her husband and seeing him offer no response, she said, "Doctor, you don't know..."

"Am I understood?" I said emphatically.

"Yes," she said, almost as a whisper.

"John? Are you listening?"

Slowly, the handsome man raised his head up, his large green eyes looking misty and distant, giving no hint of what was lurking within.

"I heard you," he said softly.

"I don't mind telling you both that I also am under great stress to find a cure for this problem," I began. "Many others are suffering from the same symptoms you have John, and if a solution is not soon forthcoming their lives, too, will be compromised. Not to mention my own career and the fate of this Clinic."

Cheryl popped her head in the door just then.

"They're starting to arrive now doctor," she said.

"Thank you. Go back and help Maria. Rebecca will join you shortly."

Cheryl darted off.

I turned to Rebecca. "I want you to escort Mr. and Mrs. Cardelli to the room we've prepared for him. I'll meet you back in the lab in ten minutes. Our colleagues should be arriving shortly and they will need to be prepped."

"Understood."

John and Ann rose simultaneously, but he continued to stare absentmindedly around the room.

"Have you had breakfast, either of you?" I asked them.

"I did, but he refuses to eat," Ann replied.

"John," I said. "After you have had a chance to clean up I would like you to take some breakfast. If you don't eat, I'll make certain that my assistant Lynette feeds you herself. You remember her don't you?"

"I'll make sure he eats something," Ann said, putting her hand in his.

"Very well. I'll meet you both in the lab in about an hour. My assistants will take care of all your needs in the meantime."

Rebecca escorted the two of them out of my office. What John was feeling I could not imagine. His expression was one of preoccupation bordering on incoherence, and it seemed to me that he was wrestling with some problem that defied solution. I sympathized with him, as I, myself, faced a similar quagmire. But I could not afford to linger on their mutual discomfort, as I knew there would be many others who would be demanding my attention in a very short while.

After all the subjects had arrived and were being attended to by my staff, I went to the conference room to meet with Rebecca and the three doctors who would be assisting me. I found them sitting around the conference table drinking coffee and trading jokes.

Upon seeing me, all the women grew silent at once, only Michelle venturing to speak.

"This is not an autopsy Christiana. Why the long face?"

"I think you know why."

"As your friend I'm going to give you one word of advice: get rid of it. Your patients won't appreciate your crabbiness and neither will we. Snap out of it."

I was not in the mood to argue with her, knowing her intent to be well meaning.

"All right. I'll try," I said, forcing a smile.

"That's better," she said, pleased at my attempt. "Now say good-morning to Sheila and Jennifer."

"Ladies..." I said, acknowledging them.

"Everything is going to work out fine Christiana," Sheila said. "There's no need to despair."

"I can hardly wait to get my hands on that big, black man!" Jennifer exclaimed suddenly. "What's his name?"

"Barney Cole," Rebecca answered.

"Oh yes, 'Big Barney'" she giggled. The man with the amazing prick."

A dreamy look came over her face. The rest of us looked at her as though she belonged in a girl's locker room instead of a medical clinic.

"For Christ's sake Jennifer!" Michelle said, "You talk about this man as though he were a piece of meat."

Jennifer remained unperturbed. "Well, isn't it...I mean, he?"

She started laughing at her own joke and soon all the girls were laughing right along with her.

"I knew I made a mistake asking you to take part in this thing," I said, trying to stifle a chuckle.

Jennifer laughed all the more. "Oh come on Christiana. Let it out."

Despite myself, I started to laugh.

"That's it! Look girls she's laughing!"

Once again, my friends had found a way to alleviate my natural inclination toward the saturnine. I laughed long and hard.

"You have to admit it Chris," Sheila said. "He does possess one hell of a kielbasa!"

"She should know," Michelle chimed in. "She gave it a few good pulls herself!"

"I'm jealous!" said Jennifer.

The merriment soon subsided as we got down to business. It was nearing 10:00 AM and I had Rebecca go over all the procedures we would be following during the course of the experiment, making certain that each woman knew exactly what to do. After everyone had been briefed, I asked if there were any last-minute questions before we headed for the lab.

"I only have one question," Michelle said. "Whatever became of that dwarf with the elephantine scrotum and that little Latino asshole Luis?"

"From what Bonnie told me, Joey Balls is out of the country. She doesn't know where he's headed."

"To hell I hope," Rebecca said.

"As for Luis...God only knows."

"He gave you a lot of trouble, I understand," Jennifer said.

"Yeah," said Rebecca, "that's the thanks she got for trying to help the son of a bitch."

"All right," I said. "Let's not dwell on the past. It's time. Let's go to work."

The women followed me into the lab. There waiting for us were all the subjects and their significant others. Each of the men was dressed in medical gowns. I saw my sister Bonnie and her husband Philip talking by themselves in one corner of the lab. It appeared as if she were reprimanding him for something.

Jeffrey Ames and his wife Priscilla were locked in an embrace, she offering him words of encouragement. John and Ann Cardelli sat on one of the couches near the far exit, each absorbed with their own thoughts. Not far from them Stuart Borg and his girlfriend Denise were cracking jokes with one another, lifting up various paraphernalia in an attempt to discern the purpose of each.

I saw Adam Hildebrand, the extremely handsome 19-year-old boy, engaged in an animated conversation with Lynette. I could tell she was enamored of the young man by the way she often drew close to him as he spoke, touching his arm every so often and reminding him that only a few weeks ago she had performed a very intimate act upon him. And there, standing on a raised, circular, metal disk—what I loosely termed a "milking platform"—was the black beauty himself, Barney Cole, looking every bit the part of a champion muscleman. His smallish wife Janine sat on a chair next to him, her legs stretched out before her. She was wearing the same bored expression as the day I first met her.

"Somebody seems to be missing here," I said to Rebecca.

"If you're referring to Craig Lundquist, he's right over there."

She pointed to a changing screen a short way off to my left. Someone was standing behind it because a man's shadow was partially discernible.

"Craig Lundquist?" I shouted.

A handsome, boyish face sprang into view from behind the screen.

"Right here Dr. Swensen!" he called back. "I had to adjust a couple of things."

Cheryl looked at me and chuckled. She pointed to her own genital area as if to indicate that Craig was adjusting none other than his own privates. He soon came out from behind the screen and began to mill about the cubicles, asking Maria and Cheryl all kinds of questions about the nature of the experiment. Both girls seemed delighted by all the attention he was showering upon them.

Satisfied that everyone was now present and accounted for, I asked Lynette and her crew to assemble everyone together so that I could make some announcements. In a few moments they formed a loosely knit group, Bonnie and Philip standing arm and arm in the center only several feet away from me and my colleagues.

"Everything's in order Dr. Swensen," Lynette said, as she approached me. "Here are your notes."

She handed me a sheet of paper.

"Thank you."

I quickly looked over the paper and then began.

"First of all, I would like to introduce to you my colleagues Dr. Michelle Olson, Dr. Sheila Ford, and Dr. Jennifer Barlow. Most of you already know Rebecca. They are here today to help me conduct this follow-up experiment. I don't need to tell you that "EJAX-472 has been acting erratically. Some of you have been experiencing an involuntary ejaculation response and up to this time I have not been able to isolate the cause. I'm hoping today's tests will shed some light on this problem."

Ann Cardelli stared at me intently.

"You're hoping?" she asked incredulously. "Are you saying you have no clue?"

"There is, I believe, a link between the level of testosterone and the production of semen induced by EJAX-472. It's just a theory at this point, but the tests should reveal some relevant information that may lead to a cure."

"And what happens if this test is just a waste of time?" she said angrily. "What are we going to do then? Can you get my husband back his job? Can you?"

"Dr. Swensen is going to do everything she can to help your husband and everyone else here," Rebecca said. "You've got to give her a chance."

She turned to her husband. "I don't think we can trust these people John. We should go and see your own doctor. Maybe he can help us."

"No," he said quietly.

"John, please!"

"There's nothing he can do!" he snapped.

John looked at me and for the first time I saw a spark on life in his eyes. "I kept quiet about the drug because I knew that if the police found out about it, my chances—all of our chances—would be shot to hell. I think I can speak for all of us when I say that we trusted you once, and you helped us. Now, we have no choice but to trust you again. Just don't let us down."

He hung his head down and stared at the floor. No one said a word, not even his disgruntled wife, who now, amazed herself that he had spoken as he did, tried to comfort him.

"I promise you John, I promise all of you," I said, "that I will not stop until I find a solution to this problem. I give you my word on that."

"Your word is good enough for me doc," Stuart said.

"Me too," Jeffrey added.

The rest of the men nodded in agreement. Bonnie gave me a warm smile, hugging Philip closer to her.

"That may be all

you

need," Janine said to Stuart, "but I ain't gonna be happy until I see some results."

"We're all gonna see some results baby," Barney said to his wife. "But we gotta give the doctor a chance to do her thing. All right?"

"Whatever you say. But she better do it fast 'cause I don't want you goin' out the house thinkin' you're gonna have one of them jerkin' off attacks."

"But so far your husband hasn't suffered from that," I said, ignoring the bluntness of her remark.

"Some of these other men have," she said.

"That is exactly why we are here today. The issue we face is not so much

if

involuntary ejaculation is going to occur, but

when

. Your husband is not immune. He produces testosterone like every other man, and that chemical is the catalyst for EJAX-472."

"Well, then maybe guys who have a higher testosterone level in their bloodstream are going to show these symptoms first, right doctor?" Jeffrey remarked.

"No. The level of testosterone is only one factor, and that's the problem. Without going into all the medical details, I can tell you that it's going to be a painstaking process to find a cure. And eventually, when the effects of EJAX-472 are completely eliminated from your bodies, your individual sexual dysfunctions will return."

"Jesus Christ doc," Stuart bellowed. "Denise and I are getting married next month and we want to have a baby. Your drug is the only thing that can make that possible short of adopting a kid, and neither of us wants to go that route."

"I sympathize, believe me. That is why it is imperative that we get to work right away. Life without the drug would be bad enough, but life with a drug whose effects you cannot control would be far worse. That is why I need your full cooperation. My staff is going to take over now and help all of you get prepared. I would like everybody else to sit in the observation area. Let's get started."

As the men were being escorted to their respective cubicles, I had Lynette admit the group of women observers into the lab. There were several rows of chairs positioned on two elevated platforms, allowing the women a completely unobstructed view of the subjects and the examination area. Jill, Sheila's daughter, seated herself next to her girlfriend Laura, and for a time Sheila spoke with them. The rest of the audience was composed of colleagues of mine from Stockholm University who had not had the chance to witness the first experiment. As my staff began taking each subject's blood pressure, I took the opportunity to provide an overview of the experiment to the group.

"I'd like to thank all of you for coming today," I began. "As some of you already know, my experimental drug EJAX-472 has not been performing as it should. In some cases, several subjects have been experiencing involuntary ejaculation wherein the influx of vast amounts of sperm into the testicles occurs accompanied by an extremely heightened sense of pleasure in the brain. Normal sensory inhibitors are blocked and the need to masturbate overrides any and all physical and psychological barriers. The subject literally becomes subservient to the drug."

"Are any of these men taking the drug now?" asked Sylvia Bjorn, a geneticist friend of mine from the University.

"No. It's been a full week since they took their last dosage."

"What was the dosage doctor?" said an unfamiliar-looking woman in the second row.

"I don't recognize you," I said looking her over. "Who are you?"

The woman was about 40 years old and very thin. Her face was long and her features irregular. Her light brown hair was arranged in a bun, and she reminded me of an old school mistress who looked like she belonged in a nineteenth century one-room schoolhouse rather than in a modern medical clinic. The most striking thing about her was her long, hooked nose, which looked like the beak of a bird of prey.