"The Red Menace continues to spread! But don't you worry! Our boys run on Milktec Milk! Boris doesn't hold a candle to the strength of a Milktec Man!"
—
The secretary looked up from her desk as they approached. "Hello, welcome to Milktec Industries! What is your name, please?"
Mirabelle smiled back nervously, "Hello, Mirabelle Hawkins."
"Now, don't be nervous dear, " the secretary said. "What you're doing is a service to your country, and there's nothing to be more proud of."
"Oh, yes, well, I really just need the money," Mirabelle said with a blush.
The secretary smiled sympathetically, "And that's nothing to be ashamed of either. Now just have a seat Miss Hawkins, and I'll let Dr. Phillips know you're here."
Mirabelle took a seat in the empty waiting room. Posters all along the walls showed soldiers with milk mustaches or crude depictions of Soviet soldiers on their knees beside goats. A television set in the corner showed Milktec trucks rumbling down supply lines while soldiers posed for the camera with their half empty bottles.
"Mirabelle?" the secretary said, stirring her from the daydream. "Dr. Phillips is ready for you now. Step through that door there." The secretary gestured gracefully to a brown wooden door on the left.
Mirabelle followed the direction, stepping into an exam room. A nurse waited for her with a plastered on smile. "Hi! I'm Sandy, and I'm going to get you started. Now I'm sure you have a lot of questions about how this whole process works, and Dr. Phillips is going to answer everything. He really is one of the best. Why I've helped hundreds of girls transition with him and, let me tell ya sweetie, he's one of the nicest Milktec doctors in the company. Aren't you a pretty little thing?"
Sandy guided Mirabelle over to a scale and weighed her. She pulled a rattling metal lever up on the scale and made a note of Mirabelle's height. "So, lots of girls do this?"
Sandy had her nose buried in charts. "Yes, of course. It's not like they say in the gossip magazines, you know. Why, my neighbor is one of those women, you know the type, the kind who never worked a day in her life. Looks down her nose at any woman who leaves the house every day. She sits on her patio with her new hairdo and fancy new diamond necklace that her husband bought her. That woman wants the world to think that her life is the best thing and couldn't be better. Wouldn't dream that her family would have anything to do with Milktec. That is until her daughter showed up here on her eighteenth birthday. Good girl too, wanted to do her part for her boyfriend who joined up with the army about that time." While she spoke, Sandy continued to make notes about hair color (blonde) and eye color (blue) and age (23). "That poor boy is in Albania or Croatia or something that ends in an -ia. Fighting Boris in the trenches with all those other young men. Hope it gives 'em comfort to know the young ladies back here are doing their best to help. Here, put this on."
Sandy handed her a light cloth gown. "Did she go through with it?" Mirabelle asked, meekly.
"What's that dearie?" Sandy asked. "Oh, Judy went through with it all right. Why I think she's still in the program, and it's been over two years now. Sweet thing, first thing she asked me is if that boyfriend of hers could get one of her bottles. You know, I told Dr. Phillips about that, and he said he'd pass it along. That it would be good for morale. Maybe we'll see some stories about it on the news reels soon. Wouldn't that be something? One of Sandy's daft old ideas on the movie screen." Remembering the task at hand, Sandy started gathering up her papers. "You can just leave your things in that tray, Mirabelle. We'll hold on to them for safe keeping until you're done. All set?"
"Ready as I'll ever be," she said with a slight quiver in her voice.
"Alright then, follow me."
***
Sandy led her through a short hallway into a new room. This one lacked any scales or charts or any kind of normal medical paraphernalia. In the center of the room stood a raised, padded exam table. Beside it was a metal platter with various needles on it. On the walls a variety of charts showed different angles of female anatomy. Every third chart was one of the propaganda ones she'd seen in the lobby. Finally, on a counter was an odd machine that looked like a combination of bicycle horns and a tea kettle.
A middle aged man in a white coat washed his hands at a sink in the back of the room. As they entered he smiled over his shoulder and said, "Just one moment."
Sandy nudged Mirabelle toward the table and shut the door behind them. The man dried off his hands and came toward them with broad steps. He was handsome for his age, with grey at his temples and sparkling eyes. His smile comforted Mirabelle.
"And who do we have here, nurse?"
"Dr. Phillips, this is Mirabelle Hawkins," Sandy said while handing him the chart.
"A pleasure, Miss Hawkins. Why don't you hop right up here, and we'll get started." He dropped the chart on the counter while pulling out a wheeled stool. He sat down and spun around to face her. "Now then, I see you have all the consent forms signed and your history down here. Good, good. Before we start I have to tell you some things due to the regulations and all that. Nothing serious, and if you don't understand something just stop me and I can explain it some more.