Part 3
Blue Rescue
Some time later, Lieutenant Uhura confidently sat in the captain's command chair, overseeing the resumed flight path toward the Gliese 667 star system. The voyage looked to be a long and monotonous one, with at least sixteen full Earth Standard days looming before them. After taking a vote, it was decided by the crew that they didn't necessarily have to rush toward their destination. If something worth exploring was discovered, such as the rogue planet they'd skimmed over the surface of previously, everyone on board was willing to go sightseeing.
They weren't calling her Captain anymore, mostly at Uhura's continued urging. Both Cruz and Mario had discerned that it would be better that way. In the minds of her subordinates, Uhura's science officers argued, a sharp distinction had to be made between the man he was before, and the woman she had so recently become. Uhura understood the need for such measures; had her transformed crew been adamant at trying to preserve their former identities, surely some of them would have gone insane by then. As level-headed and by the book as she was, Uhura acknowledged and was even relieved that so many of the people under her authority had made the transition before she had. That way, she could mentally prepare her self for that inevitable moment when it happened to her. In fact, her crew wasn't even calling her Lieutenant much, but the shorter and friendlier label of LT.
At the moment, the Norse vixen Freya was scanning their forward proximity for signs of any unforeseen obstacles. Confidently, the blonde ensign went about her duties. To Uhura's right, the two women who had so far retained their original sex, Barbie and Cammie, were having an animated conversation over whether they would change or not, and if they did, how they would endure and react to such a change.
Because so many in her crew were having trouble with their uniform sizes, the Lieutenant had decided to forego their usage entirely. Instead, the entire crew was to wear looser casual attire or sweats. Both Uhura's wife and navigator were garbed in tee shirts and cotton shorts. More inclined to stick with traditional standards, Freya and Uhura wore long-sleeved sweatshirts and sweatpants. This was turning out not to be as good as an idea as they'd at first envisioned, as the temperature control for the hub was set at seventy-two Fahrenheit and already causing the two women some discomfort.
Every so often, Barbie would telepathically ask Uhura if she were okay. The black woman in the captain's chair would nod affirmatively in her direction every time. She didn't mind that her wife and Cammie were chattering and keeping her and Freya out of their talk, because Uhura had her own thoughts to dwell upon, and apparently so did the quiet Freya.
Earlier, the two science officers had given Uhura a complete physical. No problems were found, but they had taken a dozen pictures of her face and body. Uhura had two sets now, one of her in Washington's body, and also the new set of her as a woman. She spent some time comparing herself before and after. Of the other crewmembers that had shifted sex, most, like Freya, Mark and Mario, had simply become the same people in similar bodies of the opposite sex. Cruz had made the most significant changes, as her face and body were nothing like what they'd been before.
Uhura wasn't quite that radicalized, but she did come in a close second. When she was Captain Washington, her face had been more studious, amiable and even a little distanced and aloof. Now, Uhura's features had hardened a bit, giving her a countenance that came off as short-tempered and assertive. Uhura's skin tone had darkened by a few shades, from a dark caramel to a full chocolate. Her body had been athletic before, but that darker shade made her look strong and mean. Uhura smirked as she took in the images of her breasts and hips. She wasn't ugly; the others were right about that. In fact, if she were still Captain Washington, Uhura would consider this new female body as being highly doable.
She felt sensual in her sweats, as if her skin were more receptive to rubbing against the fabric than before. In fact, she liked rubbing her breasts over her top, as this instantly made her nipples prick up. Was it narcissistic, Uhura wondered, to stare at a picture of her own naked ass and get hot over it?
"It's too damned stuffy in here." Freya announced to the room.
A moment later, the blonde had pulled her sweater off and simply dropped it on the floor next to her station. Since she wore no support, her full breasts were left open for anyone's eyes to see. Uhura noticed that her wife was still casting jealous glances at the shapely blonde, but now openly glared upon seeing Freya go topless.
Uhura could have gazed at Freya's breasts for the entire day. It stirred up the masculine part of her like nobody's business. However, she also knew that a jealous Barbie would undoubtedly look to in her direction as if wanting to catch her ogling.
"Are you going to let her get away with that?" Barbie asked, just a few seconds after.
"I think we made a mistake when we put these sweats on." Uhura admitted. "If you wouldn't mind, Barbie, can I ask you to bring me a tee shirt from our bunk?"
"What about her?" Barbie sniped at the Viking woman.
"Freya, you can go grab a shirt too." Uhura said. "I'll take over the proximity scanners for the time being."
Clearly, the blonde was condescending when she replied. "I prefer to stay this way, LT. I have nice tits."
The comment was meant to incite Barbie, and it did. The redhead looked back at her with malice.
"I wouldn't mind going topless." Cammie declared. She stood up long enough to discard her tee shirt and bra, and then sat back down. "There, that feels a whole lot better. Barbie, you have a decent pair of tits. Why should you hide them?"
The older woman must have also detected the animosity between the redhead and the blonde, Uhura decided. Cammie was simply being diplomatic while trying to calm both women down. In short order, Barbie went topless as well, but she did not get up to go find Uhura a shirt. The Lieutenant wondered if Barbie was defying her orders, or if her wife no longer saw her as a spouse to be respected, but more as a social peer. Since she didn't want to start up a row with the woman, and since her sweatshirt was too warm, Uhura went ahead and took her top off like the rest of them. That was something to take a gander at, she thought, as four pairs of unleashed boobies were running the ship.
Several minutes later, Cruz stepped into the hub with some sort of printout in hand. The Hispanic woman halted when she saw all the bare skin on display. "What's going on, LT? Why this extravaganza of ta-tas all of a sudden?"
"It's more liberating this way." Cammie mentioned. She bit her bottom lip at Cruz. "Your shirt looks a little tight, if you ask me."
"Are you mentally masturbating to me, baby?" Cruz set her paperwork down and took her top off. She wore one of Margo's old bras, Uhura noted, but still, those big melons of hers were straining to get out as much as they did when Margo wore that same item. Soon, a fifth pair of boobies was on full, open view. "Who am I to go against the popular consensus?" After a moment, Cruz took up her printout and approached Uhura. "I've run a few simulations on the computer, but I still don't have anything to explain why the two of us have changed more drastically than the rest. I keep going back to the Beagle and her captain. Do you remember that we noticed the exterior shape of the Beagle had changed?"
"I can pull up the spec sheet on the Beagle, LT." Freya spoke up. "We still have recorded images of the ship that we can compare them to."
"I don't think that will be necessary." Uhura shook her head. "We all understand that we did not see the Beagle we expected to see. Knowing that the ship changed doesn't tell us much past that it did change. It doesn't give us any answers."
"Well, it does tell us that whatever affected us did so on a molecular level." Freya replied. "And that it affects artificial matter just as it does on organic matter. This can help rule out Mario's theory that our conscious and subconscious perceptions may have changed, but not our physical bodies."
That was one of the more intriguing concepts, Uhura conceded. Mario's suggestion was that maybe they were in suspended animation and that their vessel was still back near Saturn. Everything they'd experienced since then might be a mass lucid dream they were having. How would they know the difference between reality and virtual reality, if the illusion were as convincing as their real senses?
"I don't like that scenario, personally." Cruz admitted. "We could spend the rest of our lives trapped inside of a collective lucid dream. You know, I believe we have books on such topics archived in our entertainment database. I think I'll go have a look at them."
"Before you go." Uhura said. "What are the only two men left on the ship up to? I don't want any surprises from either of them."
"Well, I know that Mark wants to bone me, and also you, LT." Cruz replied. "It has become sort of a challenge to him to see if he can do it or not. Mario doesn't care who he gets in the sack as long as he gets somebody. He doesn't want to make any first moves because he believes it will rouse up some resentment among all of us women. He thinks we'll all start fighting among ourselves once it sinks in that there are five of us and only two of them. Are you looking at my breasts, LT?"
"Sorry." Uhura said.
"It's okay; I look at them too." Cruz nodded. "They're actually fun to wiggle around when I'm standing in front of a mirror. Do you mind if make an announcement? Would anyone here like to have some fun time with Mario?"
Cammie and Freya both raised their hands.
"Oh, good." Cruz nodded. "I'll pencil you both onto the schedule. We'll have the finalized schedule posted on the fridge later if anyone wants to have a look at it. Now, what about Mark? Any takers?"
This time, only Freya gave a response.
"What is he like?" Cammie asked. "He seems like a big, rude man."
"Oh, he is." Freya confirmed. "Basically, he's Margo with a cock. He likes to shove people around and overpower them. If you can get past that, he'll show you his tender side. You can thank Mario for that. I don't think Mark even knew he had a tender side until Mario pointed it out to him. If you want my advice, let him toss you around the first time. After that, he'll calm down and become submissive to you."
"That sounds interesting." Cammie replied. "Cruz, you can put me down for Mark as well."
"Very good. Barbie, how about you? LT?"
"I'm still getting used to the idea that my husband is now a woman." Barbie admitted. "Let me deal with that first."
