Author's note: This story is part of a loosely connected series of stories inspired by Slyc_Willie in a thread on Lit's Authors Hangout. Read Slyc's TMA stories for a background on the Temporal Management Agency.
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"It seems to me, that as employees of the Temporal Management Agency, we ought to be able to make this slow week go faster," sighed Susan. Susan was a long time agent of the TMA. She was very good at what she did and took great pride in the fact that twenty years before, she had been their first female agent. Women had not been encouraged to seek employment here.
Early on, when the science of time travel was new, there was a fear that time travel would disrupt women's delicate sensitivities, maybe even disrupt their cycles; fear of the unknown kept women from seeking this career. Fear of a disrupted woman, kept TMA management from considering them for the job.
Susan was young and aggressive, with the whole world laid out before her. She had always yearned to try non-traditional things. Her affinity for math and science opened many doors for her. The science of time travel was just too interesting to pass up. She was fortunate in that the manager with which she interviewed was recently divorced, this probably influenced his decision to hire a woman.
When she started out, the small group of older men were thrilled to have her on board. Sure, they took down a few "tool" calendars, but working next to the tall, blonde 23-year-old more than made up for it. They were already a close-knit bunch, and welcomed her in. They mentored her and shared their knowledge; she quickly became a competent and efficient time travel agent.
As her career blossomed, she gained more influence and power to direct which areas were to be studied and directed. Naturally, she was interested in feminist issues. Her research had led her to learn about a splinter group of the Mortal Minority. She suspected this splinter group, the Rectifiers, sought to reverse the sexual revolution. She believed their goal was to eradicate the strides in science and research into sexuality made in the 20th century.