I had been a slave to the Qharr nearly my entire life, but one fateful day
everything changed. I joined up with a group of rebels, and through a twist of fate,
no one could have ever foreseen, I became the woman I am today...
Author's Note: Please note I am posting this as a serial, and while the bulk the story does need some final edits it is more or less done. I can't promise a set schedule, but I will try to post each part in a timely manner. The total length of the story is well over 200,000 words so please be patient.
Although, it's a bit spoil-rific I feel I need to warn people that I do kill off a lot of characters throughout this series. I make no apologies as I believe in staying true to the story even if it means putting my characters through hell.
Thanks to the following people for pre-reading the story and helping with grammatical edits: Beyogi, Maggie Finson, Loki and Zapper.
Chapter Seven
"Ah, Jellfree, sit, sit, sit!" the doctor said patting at the scanner bed as Mara and I stepped into the lab. Jaysen, my guard for the day, peeked inside, frowned, pulled something out of his jacket then let the door close in his face.
Mara gave me an encouraging smile, but didn't say a word as I plopped down where Vakrexid had indicated. I stared at the doctor apprehensively as he moved about the lab and caught a glint of metal as he grabbed something off the counter then spun back around to face me. "Before you humans perfected the body scanner, your forebears used another means to find illness and infirmity within their bodies," the doctor said holding out a plastic tube from which protruded a long metal needle.
"Well doctor!" Mara smirked. "It looks like you're finally going to get a chance to use one of those things."
"What the hell is it?" I asked, staring at the wicked looking thing in complete confusion.
"It's a syringe, they used to use them to draw blood," Mara said suddenly the very barest hint of a smile touching the corner of her lips.
"Draw blood?" I asked then I realized what she meant and turned sharply to eye the doctor warily. "You're going to stick that thing in me aren't you?"
"That is the function of this particular instrument. Vakrexid has practiced using it in the event of equipment failure, it will only be slightly painful but the pain will be gone quickly."
"Damn, try to make it quick, just looking at that thing gives me the creeps."
"Why did Vakrexid's not cogitate with my dlepebur!?" the doctor proclaimed slapping an open palm against his forehead. "Vakrexid needs a tourniquet and something for sanitation!"
The doctor scrambled across the room and pulled open a drawer, grabbed something out of it, then quickly returned to my side with a sort of flexible rubber tube, a bottle filled with clear liquid and a white cloth. "Vakrexid needs your arm," he said looming over me.
I sighed and held it out. The doctor slid his hand up my wrist and pushed the sleeve of my shirt up my arm. He cleaned the crook of my elbow with the cloth and liquid then grabbed the rubber tube and tied it around my arm. He held the syringe over my arm then plunged it into the vein. I gritted my teeth and as I felt a very brief sharp sting and I swear I could feel the needle inside my arm as blood filled the inside of the tube. Then it was all over, the doctor released the rubber tube and pulled the damned thing out.
"Vakrexid shall have the computer analyze this sample," the doctor tooted.
I grunted. "Well that was fun... let's do it again sometime."
Vakrexid cocked his head, "Truly?"
Mara laughed, "No doctor, remember our little discussion on sarcasm?"
"Yes."
He blinked his eyes and stroked his hand around his center face tube, "Humans! Vakrexid is continuously perplexed by your kind! Why do you persist in saying things and meaning something else entirely?!"
"Doctor, even humans sometimes have trouble understanding why we behave the way we do."
"How strange," he tooted then suddenly turned his back and walked out of the room.
I really, really hate awkward silences, so as you might imagine I was pretty miserable after the doctor left and I found myself languishing within such a ticklish situation. Silence. Mara didn't say a single word, and I couldn't think of a damned thing to say. I opened my mouth, thinking that maybe I might say something, but soon thought better of it and snapped my jaw back shut. Thankfully, the doctor wasn't gone long and burst back into the room lugging a large cylinder about a quarter of a meter around in both his arms.
He let out a high-pitched whistle and lifted the cylinder onto the counter opposite me. "That is most cumbersome.”
“Vakrexid has put the computer to the task of examining your blood. It is very old and it shall take some time before the results are given. I wonder, have you given any thought about what Vakrexid said earlier concerning the continuation of your changes?"
"Shit, you're not going to give up on this are you?!"
I dropped my face to my hands and slowly shook my head.
"Maybe it would be for the best," Mara said suddenly.
"Oh god! What the hell has gotten you two so eager to let this damned thing have its way with me?!" I demanded letting my hands fall away from my face as I glared at her.
"There is a certain logic to it. Without letting it near a source of energy how long will it take the K'teth to change you weeks? Months? The sooner you are transformed the sooner we know if it will be able to take control of your body. I think that if I found myself in your situation and that horrid thing was changing me into a man, I'd rather have it over and done with. That way I wouldn't have that horrible weight hanging over my head for so long. At least then it would be over!”
"Yeah, well it's not happening to you!" I yelled. "What if by feeding that thing we give it the opening it needs to gain control of me?!"
'I can only gain control if you give it to me and only then for a limited time,' the symbiote's voice echoed suddenly within my mind.
'Where the hell have you been?! I demanded immediately aware just how much more well-spoken the creature seemed.
'I haven't gone anywhere. I have been working to complete the joining process so that we may better communicate because of this our minds were temporarily... disconnected, but that will no longer be an issue,' the K'teth replied in an almost matter of fact manner.
'You seem so much more well-spoken now,' I noted.
'A result of our bond being complete. It is very difficult to communicate when the joining process has first begun. Fortunately, once our minds are tied communication is no longer a problem.'
"Great, we can communicate. Just what I always wanted a damned voice in the back of my head. Fuck, this still doesn't mean I can trust you.'
'Trust must be earned. At the moment, you have no reason to trust me or I you, but perhaps we can find some common ground. We both want the same thing, after all.'
'And that is?'
'Freedom from the Qharr!'
"Jellfree!" A voice called urgently as a hand latched onto my shoulder.
I blinked and found Mara standing there next to me, her eyes were wide with worry as she spoke, "Jellfree, dear, what is it? What's wrong?"
"It's the K'teth it was speaking to me," I mumbled reaching up to touch her hand.
'She... call me she I am female,' it suddenly insisted.
"It spoke to you? What did it say!?" Mara demanded.
"Among other things it... she says she wants to be free from the Qharr," I responded.
"She?!" the doctor exclaimed suddenly stepping between Mara and myself. "The symbiote, it is female?"
I nodded. "That is what it claims."
"Fascinating!" Vakrexid said then suddenly backed away from Mara who was glaring at him. "Apologies!" the doctor tooted shuffling away, "please continue."
"I don't care what that thing says. I do not believe it can be trusted... Maybe accelerating your changes isn't such a good idea."
Mara glanced over her shoulder, frowning at the doctor.
"No..." I said surprising even myself with the sudden change of heart. "Shit... I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I don't think I want to prolong this any longer than I have to. If she takes over me then I'd rather know sooner rather than later. Just don't hesitate to pull the trigger if you think that thing is the one calling the shots."
Mara nodded, "Very well, I would be loath to terminate your life, but should the worst happen I will not fail to do what is necessary."
The doctor made some strange comment, but I wasn't paying attention I was too focused on what I knew I had to do. My eyes locked on the large cylinder which the doctor had toted into the lab. I was pretty certain it was a powercell, but there was no way to be sure. Well, there was only one way to find out I could try touching it and see if the symbiote reacted. Before anyone could so much as mutter a word of objection I leaped across the room and slammed my hand into it. For a moment, I thought that nothing was going to happen, but then I heard the K'teth's voice howl in my head and it began.
Just like before light filled my vision and my ears started to buzz and then the pain came. It burned through my body like a wildfire and I screamed out in agony. It started out in my scalp and I felt it burn as hair gushed from my head in a single great eruption of blue that went flowing down my back in a shower of wavy ringlets and got so long that it flowed down past my waist. I could feel my skin ripple and gritted my teeth as the flesh on my neck and inside of my throat begin to twist and change. For a very brief moment I couldn't breathe, and I clutched at my throat gasping for breath, but then air flooded back into my lungs. The pain seemed to subside for a bit then suddenly flared back to life and I let out a loud high-pitched wail when the bones in my right shoulder started to crack and snap.
The transformation gradually trickled down my arm and every bone, every muscle sizzled with pain until it finally stopped at the end of my finger tips. I gasped as my vision cleared just a little bit and brought my hand up so I could look at it. My entire arm was smaller and the hand itself was too. Before my fingers had always been short and stubby, but now the transformed one was long and delicate and it was very much the hand of a woman. The area around my right nipple started to tickle and I grabbed at it as it began to swell. There was a very brief flash of pain, but as the right side of my chest gradually bulged outward, the pain was almost nonexistent. When the tingling started around my left nipple I gritted my teeth and prepared myself for the left side of my chest to start growing. Sure enough after another very brief burst of pain the left side began to grow too. In very short order I had two full-sized breasts sticking out from my chest.
The changes rippled across my body and continued to my left shoulder and down my other arm. It hurt like hell and I fell to my knees my hand still latched onto the powercell as the transformations cascaded down my body. After my left arm came my abdomen and as my insides twisted and turned I felt my stomach rebel. I turned my head and spewed a seemingly never-ending stream of vomit all over the place. Then the pain hit my waist which produced even more cracks and pops before the ripples moved down into my crotch and hips.
I gasped and reached a hand into my pants and felt my penis retract into my body. I shuddered and slid my hand out of my pants as the changes continued. After that my hips swelled out then my legs shrunk one at time until finally it was over.
My hand fell away from the powercell and I slipped it into my shirt and felt a pair of lumps--'no', I corrected myself 'they're breasts'--sticking out from my chest. Hot tears stung my face and I gritted my teeth as I muttered the words, "Oh god, how could I have been so damn stupid?"
"Jellfree?!" Mara's voice asked and I felt her hand on my shoulder.
I shuddered, reaching up to touch her hand. Everything felt so very different, even her hand on my shoulder. Not because she had changed in any way, but because the size and shape of my entire body had been altered so drastically.
"Dear lord... Jellfree are you alright?"
I shuddered anew and put my hand on the ground to push myself up, but quickly snatched it back up when I felt it touch something wet. I brought it up so I could look at it and found it covered in a thick brown, almost black, sludge and holy hell did it stink. I looked around and found that a large pool of it had formed around my body. My now over-sized pants and boots were drenched in it. Well, that and my vomit. I was amazed that I hadn't noticed it sooner, but I think the pain from my transformation and the shock of finding myself so suddenly in a female body had been what had kept it from becoming immediately apparent.
"Dead flesh left over from the transformation process.”
A new voice said suddenly and I looked up to find the K'teth's female human form, standing over Mara and me, seemingly made flesh.
"What the hell?!" I said suddenly blinking up at her.
The K'teth looked down at me and smiled. "Don't worry Jellfree, I haven't gained physical form. The image you are seeing is an illusion that you and you alone can see. I thought that if we could interact this way it might be less disconcerting for you."
"Well, how considerate of you!"
"Jellfree?" Mara cut in. "Who are you talking to?"
I closed my eyes and shook my head. "That damned K'teth... She's not just talking in my head anymore... She's chosen to appear as a full-blown spook."
She folded her arms across her chest and looked at me with a thoughtful expression, "Interesting." She glanced down at my feet and frowned.
"What is it?" she said reaching down to touch the black goop on the floor, sniffed at it then scrunched her lose in disgust.
"Vakrexid would surmise that it is discarded tissue from the transformation process. The K'teth likely expunged it through Jellfree's pores or perhaps her anus," the doctor tweeted walking through the illusory form of the K'teth and kneeling down next to me.
I groaned at the doctor's use of 'her', but didn't try to correct him. Vakrexid may be the first person to use a female pronoun, but I knew he would not be the last. I certainly looked like a “she,” and had the body to boot, but hell I certainly didn't feel like one. I still felt like myself on the inside; I'd just been stuck into a pretty little wrapper.
"I... shit I'm a mess."
"God," I added looking at my long and delicate-looking fingers. "It's done... I'm really a woman now."
"Amazement!" the doctor proclaimed flailing his arms wildly before turning to examine Mara's face. "It is most remarkable, but Vakrexid believes you bear a striking resemblance to Mara."
I locked gazes with Mara and saw her eyes grow wide in astonishment then she abruptly blinked and shook her head, "God, you're right. How is that possible?"
The K'teth's image rolled its eyes, and she knelt down next to me between Mara and the doctor.
"I used her genetic code as a partial template when remaking your body, is it really that hard to deduce?"
"You used her as a template?! And what gives you the right?! Why the hell did you do this to me?!" I screamed my hands shaking with sudden rage.
"Jellfree," Mara said reaching out to grab my shoulder.
"I did what I felt was necessary. You don't know what it means fo r me to find a host among a species other than the Qharr. It could mean freedom for my kind!”
She reached out my face and I suddenly jerked back when I felt the touch of her hand as if it were real.
"And... making me female? That was just for shits and giggles?!"
"That is a discussion for another time once we've gotten a little better acquainted," she grinned then abruptly vanished.
"Dammit!" I cursed.
"What did it say?" Mara asked finally joining the doctor and the K'teth on the floor beside me.
I relayed what the symbiote had said about using Mara as a genetic template and her successive refusal to explain herself. Mara's eyes widened slightly upon hearing the news and I got the sense that she found it very distressing despite the lack of emotion displayed on her face. I caught a flash of concern in Mara's eyes as she let out a long sigh.
"Come, Jellfree dear, let's get you cleaned up then we'll try to help you through this."
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I wobbled on my feet and gripped the sides of the cupboards as I struggled to gain balance. I tried to take a step forward, but my foot slid and I nearly went tumbling to the ground. Thankfully, Mara was there to catch me.
"Crap..." I gasped and fought down the sudden urge to run away screaming like a mad... woman. It would have ended disastrously anyway I couldn't seem to keep my balance in this damned new body.
"I think it would be helpful if you removed those boots of yours. At the very least I think you could move a little easier.”
"Vakrexid will help!" the doctor suddenly proclaimed.
The boots were coated in that god awful goop left over from my transformation, but the doctor didn't show any hesitation as he moved to unlace the boots and helped me slip them from my feet. It didn't do much to improve my balance, but at least I wasn't wearing those huge clodhoppers anymore. My pant legs were coated in it as well and the doctor looked up at me, but it was Mara that spoke. "I think you're going to have to remove your pants or else you'll track that muck all over the place."
I swallowed hard looking down at my pants in dread. My newly expanded hips were all that was keeping them from falling to my ankles, but removing them would leave my crotch bare for both Mara and Vakrexid to see.
"Oh, hell," I said reaching down to the waist on my pants with shaking hands.
I closed my eyes, unfastened the button then undid the zipper and pushed my pants down from around my hips. I opened my eyes and looked down to see a full formed --and for some reason hairless-- vagina resting between my legs. I wanted to weep, but I forced back the tears and gritted my teeth. As much as I hated it I was going to have to live with that infernal body for the rest of my life and I was going to have to accept it.
"The goop soaked all the way through your clothes." Mara said, craning her neck to look over at the doctor. "Doctor, I don't suppose you have any rags laying about, do you?"
The doctor blinked. "Nothing suitable to this task, Vakrexid is afraid."
Mara sighed looked from me then to the doctor and then over to the door. She walked across the room then slid the door open a crack and poked her head out the opening. "Jaysen, do be a dear and go retrieve a towel or two."
"Yes, ma'am," came Jaysen's muffled reply through the door.
"Oh, and Jaysen," Mara added suddenly. "Why don't you find Kaya while you're out and have her retrieve an extra set of her clothes for young Jellfree here?"
Mara slid the door shut and I looked down at my bare crotch my cheeks burning bright red with embarrassment as I realized I'd been standing around the whole time with my privates exposed. I quickly covered up by yanking down on my shirt and pulling the ends down over my new vagina.
"Why'd you ask him to go get Kaya? I'd prefer to keep away from her for the time being."
"I can understand how you must feel, dear, but I need you two to get past your personal issues if you're going to be working together. We have a planet to retake, and as much as I can sympathize with your predicament, I can't have these sort of problems getting in the way of what must be done.”
“I’m so sorry to have inconvenienced you. I didn’t ask for any of this, all I want is just a little space. Is that too fucking much to ask for?” I glared at her and felt hot tears sting the corner of my eyes.
She smiled and put a reassuring hand on my shoulder and I cleared my throat before clearing my throat. I bit my lip and quickly changed the subject. Quite frankly, Mara confused the hell out of me and I didn’t know how to respond to her.
"You really think you can do it? I mean the gray skins have such a stranglehold on Earth. Even if you somehow managed to form a large enough force to drive them off they can call in reinforcements and quickly retake the world."
"We will retake Earth, it's just a matter of time."
Though she didn’t raise her voice, her conviction almost made me believe, almost. She smiled coyly and I got the sense that there was something she wasn't tell me, but I never got a chance to ask her as it was about that time that the door swung open.
"Hey, Maya I got some towels and clothes like you asked," Jaysen said stepping through the door followed closely by Kaya then his eyes darted to the corner of the room where I was standing. "Oh," was all he said as he stared at my with his jaw hanging open.
"Jellfree?" Kaya gasped bringing her hand up to her mouth. "God! Is that you?"
"I-I'll just set these down right here," Jaysen muttered his face bright red as he practically threw them onto the counter and fled out the room.
"I probably should have told him to knock before entering," Mara grinned before turning to frown at Kaya. "Help me towel the bo... girl off would you?"
"Vakrexid will never understand this human obsession with... what is it you call it? Oh, yes modesty," the doctor muttered absently. "On my home-world it is considered completely natural for-one to walk about unclothed supposing it is warm enough."
I glared at the doctor and held up my arms so that Kaya--who had just finished toweling me off--could pull the shirt over my head. The fabric running against my nipples felt odd, and I shuddered as it came free. The exam room was cold and I folded my arms across my naked chest, to help cover them both for warmth and modesty.
"Damn!" Kaya proclaimed as she stared fixedly at my breasts.
"What?!"
Kaya shook her head and sighed."Well, it's just that you're bigger up top than me."
"I don't think any of the women in my family were ever that busty if that creature used me as a template it certainly took some liberties."
"If you two are through staring at me chest, can I have a damned shirt please?" I growled feeling very self-conscious as they stared at me.
Mara snorted then grabbed a shirt from the nearby stack and tossed it into my arms.
I held the shirt in my hands and looked down at the two balls of flesh poking out from my chest. They were pretty big, I had to admit, but not so huge that they appeared freakish. In fact, if they weren't sitting there on my chest I would have found them to be quite glorious, but they were there and that was a pretty big problem or at least I certainly thought so. Hell they weren't really much bigger than Kaya's, but God who would have thought I'd end up with bigger boobs than my ex?
I slipped the shirt on and grimaced as my hair caught in the back of my shirt. It was insanely long and had grown down to the back of my knees. The end of it had gotten a little dirty from the black goop on the floor, but Kaya had toweled it off which had dried it up a bit. I slid the hair out of my shirt and shuddered a bit as the damp end slid up my back. I held a big handful of it in front of my face and grimaced.
"I don't know why that thing gave you such long hair... and really blue? What's that all about?" Kaya said her nose all scrunched up and her lips pursed.
"The hair I can handle," I muttered glaring at Kaya irritably as I cupped my breasts in my hands. "It's these damn things that I'm a little more concerned about, them and the freaking slit between my legs."
Kaya grimaced. "Yeah, well... I can't really say I know what it's like on the other side of the fence, but I don't think I'd be exactly thrilled if my chest flattened and I suddenly grew a cock and balls. I can’t say I’d really miss the periods, and it might be nice to be a bit stronger.”
“You sound almost like you might like to be changed.”
She shook her head and sighed. “There are a lot of things in my life that might have turned out a little differently if I’d been a man, but honestly being a woman is part of who I am. I wouldn’t trade it in for anything.” She rubbed the back of her neck and cleared her throat before blushing and glancing around the room as if she’d said something she thought was embarrassing. “Well... all I can say is welcome to team girl."
"Yeah, thanks just what I always wanted," I responded dryly. "Can I have those pants now?"
"Oh! Right!" she Kaya responded tossing a pair of slacks at me.
"Thanks," I said gratefully as I quickly grabbed them out of the air and pulled then up my legs.
"You know..." Kaya said crinkling her nose. "I think you need a bath. You really stink..."
I grimaced then held my hand out to her, "Lead the way."
“It seems like such a waste to get dressed only to have to get undressed again." I grumbled staring across at Mara and Kaya who both had their arms folded across their chests in near identical disapproving poses.
"Well," Kaya grinned. "You could have walked through the hallway naked. I'm sure the guys would have liked that."
I crinkled my nose and looked around the shower room and let a long sigh. I knew I smelled absolutely horrible, but I wasn't all that eager to get naked again. It was strange, I know, but when I had clothes on I could almost pretend like I hadn't been changed. Once, I stripped down I knew that I'd be confronted with my new feminine body and I didn't know if I could handle it. Logically, I knew that all the parts were the same whether I was nude or clothed, but having to see my bare breasts and those damned vaginal lips between my legs... Hell, it wasn't exactly something I was looking forward to.
I shuddered ever so slightly then I started to strip down to my birthday suit and walked toward the nearest shower stall. The room itself wasn't much different than the one back at the compound. The walls and floors were covered with plain white tiles and maybe half a dozen shower stalls. That really was the only big difference, the stalls. The Qharr didn't really understand the human sense of modesty so they built shower rooms for humans slaves without any separators or dividers. They did at least have separate shower rooms for men and women, but that was only because they had this weird superstition about bathing in the same water as the opposite sex.
I looked down at my naked breasts then back at Kaya and Mara then made my way for the nearest of the stalls and closed the door behind me. I pressed the indentation in the wall in front of me and gasped as hot water come cascading down the shower head above me.
"Here," came Kaya's muffled voice and I looked down to watch as a bar of soap slid across the floor into the small gap at the bottom of the stall. I retrieved it from the ground and started to soap up my body. I tried to ignore the strangeness of it all, but the unfamiliarity of my new form prevented that and it wound up being the most unforgettable shower of my life.
I ran the soap over every nook and cranny and when I got down to my crotch my hand hovered over my pussy and I pursed my lips. I looked down and scowled at the damned thing before tracing my fingers across its surface. God! Those damned lips didn't belong between my legs and as my hand came away I leaned against the side of the stall weeping silently.
"No, no, NO!" I screamed gripping the side of my head. How could I live like this? The body the K'teth had forced upon me felt so foreign and above all just wrong.
"Jellfree?" Kaya's voice called through the door. "Is everything alright?"
I blinked away my tears and shuddered. "No, not even remotely, but I'll live."
"Jellfree..." Kaya's voice called again.
"Just... let me finish," I snapped. "The sooner I get out of here the better."
Kaya didn't say another word and I sighed looked down at the pair of boobs on my chest and moved to soap off the rest of my body. When I reached the end of my toes I grimaced and reached for my hair. It was way too long and I held the soap in my hand in front of my face realizing just how inadequate the little bar of soap was to the task, but did the best I could with it. I ran the soap through the hair, particularly at the bottom where it gotten saturated with that goop.
"Hey, Jellfree," Kaya said suddenly. "You need something for your hair?"
"Now, you ask,” I grumbled under my breath. Why did she have to ask after I was done washing my hair?
"What was that?" she asked.
"No, don't worry about it. I got it covered," I replied back pursing my lips and staring at the soap before dropping it and shaking my head. Well, at least I was done. I flipped the stall door open and I stumbled out. My sense of balance was still a little off and I was pretty wobbly on my feet.
Kaya held a towel out for me and I let her wrap it around my shoulders as I approached. "Where's Mara?" I asked looking around the room and shivered as Kaya started to rub me dry.
"She left... she said there were some things she had to take care of," she shrugged with a slight frown.
Kaya's hands reach down to my crotch and my eyes grew wide as I let out a high-pitched squeal, "Kaya! Good God woman! Could you be just a little more rough with that towel, please?"
Kaya's cheeks turned red and she looked down to the floor. "Sorry."
"Damn." I muttered grabbing a fistful of my hair and holding it in front of my face. "Do you think you could lob some of this off? It's driving me nuts!"
Kaya threw her head back and laughed, "Yeah, let's get you dry then we can see what we can do with that hair of yours."
"Would you stop moving!?" Kaya yelled grabbing hold of my chin.
"Well if you hadn't clipped my skin I wouldn't have jerked!" I yelled back touching the side of my neck gingerly. It wasn't a serious injury, in fact I doubted that it would even scar, but god it hurt.
"Alright, let's see," she mumbled reaching up to pull my hand away. Then I heard her gasp and proclaim "Holy fucking shit!" as the pain in my neck suddenly faded away.
"What!? What is it?" I asked grabbing her shoulder.
She pursed her lips and shook her head. "Your neck just healed itself!"
"Oh, yeah that," I muttered. "I guess the symbiote can heal injuries. I had a broken arm from killing the Overseer and after I woke up here for the first time it was fine."
'You're welcome,' a voice whispered inside of my mind.
'Go to hell," I shot back. 'I'd rather live a few months with a broken arm than be infested with you!'
"Damn," Kaya cursed. "I could see that coming useful."
I shuddered briefly cupping my breasts before looking up to Kaya. "Yeah, but I think the price is a little too steep."
Kaya nodded then resumed cutting my hair. She was silent for several minutes then startled me by suddenly speaking, "It's my fault."
"W-what?!"
"If you hadn't stepped in to save me, you never would have had that parasite jump inside of you," she said wiping tears away from her eyes.
I bowed my head and let out a weary sigh. "Kai, don't... It's not your fault. It might have happened even if I hadn't knocked you out of the way. It’s not good to second guess ourselves we could have all been killed. Besides, the K'teth is a thinking reasoning being, she's responsible for her own actions just like you and me."
"I-I'm sorry not just for that, but because of everything else. I feel horrible for the shit I've put you through. You probably won't believe this, but I still love you. When I kissed you, after you started to change, it just felt so wrong. I... can't be with someone I'm not attracted to. No matter how much I wish it could be different!’
I bowed my head and shed a few tears of my own before speaking. "Kai, I can't forgive you... not yet. I can understand why you chose to keep the truth from me, but it doesn't make it right."
"I know.”
"It will be a while before I'll be able to trust you again, but I don't think we can go on avoiding each other. That's probably why Mara left when she did because she knew it would force us to talk. I want this to end, if we can't be lovers, maybe we can at least be friends."
Kaya smiled wiping away the tears. "I'd like that, and... I'll find some way to make up for what I've done, I swear it."
I closed my eyes and nodded, "Now, do you think you can finish this haircut?"
"Yeah," Kaya replied reaching up to grab a fistful of hair. "I still don't get it... Why blue?"
'It's the mark of a host that has been joined with a K'teth,' the symbiote said.
I ignored the K'teth and glanced at Kaya, but didn't say a word as my ex-lover continued. "Still... It is sort of a pretty color and it doesn't really subtract from your beauty... If anything it makes you look exotic especially with those eyes."
"Oh, boy, I'm exotic, just what I wanted to hear.”
Kaya chuckled and clipped a few more hairs before stopping and proclaiming, "There I think that just about does it!"
I wiped all the excess hair away then climbed back onto my feet and carefully walked across to the north wall where a large mirror took up nearly the entire wall. I stopped, carefully studying the face I saw reflected back at me. The woman in the mirror was beautiful, a real knock out, and I could hardly believe that what I saw was actually my reflection. I ran my hand through my hair which now stopped just past my shoulders and watched in morbid fascination as the woman mirrored my movements.
"That... that isn't me!" I screamed at the woman in the mirror and turned my back on her unable to stomach the very visual reminder of what had been done to me. Of course, it didn't change anything I was still trapped in the wrong body and though I'd only had it for a very short time, I was becoming increasingly aware of just how strange it felt. Every time I so much as crooked a finger I could feel the difference.
"I'll catch you later Kai," I muttered under my breathe seething with rage. "I think, I'd like to be alone for a while."
Chapter Eight
"Dammit!" I cursed throwing the blankets off of me and springing out of bed. I couldn't get comfortable no matter what position I got in, my breasts and hips kept getting in the way. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair--briefly entertaining the idea of putting it into a ponytail-- before moving across the room and swinging the door open.
A shadow appeared in the doorway and it took me a moment for my eyes to adjust enough for me to be able to tell what it was. "Felix?" I asked squinting into the light.
The figure nodded and stepped out of the way. "Yeah."
"Look, I can't sleep... I thought I might take a little walk. Is that alright?"
"Fine."
I stared up at Felix thoughtfully realizing for the first time that he had to be a good twenty centimeters taller than me where before he'd only had about seven or eight centimeters on me. In my new form I was tall for a woman--about a meter and a three-quarters--and I was even taller than Kaya and Mara, but many men, except Jaysen of course, towered over me and it was something I guess I was going to have to get used too.
I took one last look at Felix then turned away and started walking down the hallway with no real destination in mind and Felix trailing a little way behind me. I don't know how long I walked, but the whole time I just kept thinking about what had been done to me. I briefly considered that I might attempt to summon the K'teth and try to grill it for more information, but I wasn't in the mood to confront her at the moment. So, I just wandered and pretended that Felix wasn't following me. Eventually, I found my way to the kitchen and I took a good hard look at the doors before pushing my way through them.
There came a loud clatter and a figure with a shock of red hair swirled around to face me. "Oh, thought you were Pyr and Ferris the two of them have been looking to filch my stash for a while now, but as yet haven't managed to find it," Straffen grinned then he furrowed his brows and stared at me for a moment. "Jellfree?" he asked his eyes growing wide in disbelief.
"In the flesh," I said pursing my lips and did my best not to wither under his gaze.
"Well... I think you need this more than me, but--" he said digging through the cupboard and setting a large bottle of amber liquid on the counter in front of me. "--the good news is there's enough for us both to get good and drunk."
"Drunk?" I blinked.
"Yeah, drunk... You know as in intoxicated, inebriated, under the influence, looped, smashed, tanked, loaded, bombed..." he trailed off grinning like the rouge that he was.
I put my hands on my hips and sighed. "I know what drunk is... I just... I've never..."
"Been drunk? Well, Jellfree, my good..." he trailed off looking at me thoughtfully, "...woman tonight that's gonna change."
"Uh... thanks but I---" I started to say, but stopped abruptly when Strave suddenly called out.
"Felix, my good man! Care for a drink?!"
Felix... Shit I'd completely forgotten about him. I looked over my shoulder and watched as Felix silently folded his arms across his chest and frowned at Strave disapprovingly.
"Ah Felix, my friend, chatty as ever I see!" Strave grinned before turning away and began to dig through the cupboard again. Finally, he poked his head out and slammed three glasses down on the cupboard just to his side. "Felix man, you sure you don't want a drink?" Strave said pouring some of the amber liquid into the first glass.
Felix shook his head with a disapproving frown as he replied with a very firm, "No."
“Your loss." He shrugged and turned to look at me with a glass full of booze.
"Thanks, but I..."
"Trust me, you'll thank me later. There ain't no better way to drown yourself in your sorrows and believe me I think if I'd just been transformed into a woman, and a devastatingly beautiful one at that, if you don't mind me saying, I'd drink myself stupid."
I stared at the glass and hesitantly took it from his hands before bring it to my lips.
"God that tastes awful!"
I proclaimed after taking a very small sip. It tasted like... crap I didn't know what it tasted like, but I do know that it burned going down.
"You drink this stuff... willingly?" I coughed holding the glass in front of my face and scowled at it.
Strave laughed. "Its damned god awful I'll give you that, but it's not really about taste now is it? The goal here is to get blind stinkin' drunk."
I jiggled the cup in my hand for a second, sighed, shrugged and then downed the rest of the glass. It didn't taste any better going down the second time, but it didn't seem to burn quite as badly. I shuddered, then held out the glass to Strave and coughed. "More, please."
"That's more like it!"
I don't really remember much after the first couple drinks. I remember talking to Strave a little bit about the K'teth and my life before meeting up with the rebels, but the rest is all murky. After the final glass, I do remember having enough presence of mind to stagger back to my room and collapse into bed.
Chapter Nine
"Jellfree!" a familiar voice called urgently drawing me out of the darkness.
"Kaya?"
I groaned and fought to open my eyes. My lids felt far too heavy and it took all my willpower to just to get them to open a tiny little sliver. A bright light filled my vision and I moaned before bringing up a hand to block it out.
"Jellfree," Kaya's voice repeated. "God, I've been trying to wake you for almost five minutes."
I sat up slowly. "What time is it?"
"Almost ten thirty... Are you alright? You really don't look so good."
I palmed my face with both hands blocking out the light. "I feel like I got ran over by pack of dre'ks."
"Are you gonna be alright?"
"God... if I'd known when Strave offered me that drink that I'd wind up feeling like this I never would have accepted," I grumbled brushing my hair out of my face.
Kaya snorted. "Well that certainly explains it, you're hungover. Although, I think you really could have displayed a little better judgment. Strave is only out to cause trouble. Spend any time around him and you're bound to get burnt."
I collapsed back onto the bed. "Come back later... Jellfree's not home right now."
Kaya let out a long sigh and I could practically hear her roll her eyes as I felt her arms on my shoulders. "Come on get up. You need to get hydrated and then you need to get into the shower. Trust me, it helps."
I gritted my teeth then let Kaya help me up off the bed. "I think I'm going to puke," I said and promptly did just that spewing bile all over the floor in front of me.
"Well fuck, there's no way in hell I'm cleaning that up," Kaya muttered just before guiding me out the room.
"Feeling better?" Kaya muttered taking a seat next to me.
I gripped the side of my head and nodded. "Just a little."
"Isn't that thing inside of you supposed to help along the healing process?"
I nodded taking another long sip from my glass.
"Then why did this hangover hit you so hard?"
"Well, I'd say it's because alcohol effects me as much as it does you,” a voice pronounced suddenly from my side.
"Holy hell!" I proclaimed and swirled around to find the image of the K'teth staring at me with a sardonic smile on her illusory face.
"Oh, great you again," I groaned clutching at my head and willed the pain to go away.
"What is it? It's that thing again, isn't it?" Kaya asked, clamping down on my arm with claws made of iron or at least that's it felt like.
"Yes, it's her. Now, would you let go of my shoulder, freaking crap Kaya!"
"Sorry," Kaya muttered with an apologetic smile as she released her talons.
"Do me a favor... don't ever drink again. The headache is just a killer!" the K'teth sighed reaching around my shoulder to trace her arm across my back.
"You have a head?" I blinked.
"No, my physical form is..." she trailed off looking thoughtful. "Well I'm pretty much shapeless. Before my kind first join with a host our bodies, for lack of a better word, are a milky-white formless goo that's just thin enough to be malleable. Now as far as the headache goes, I feel whatever you feel."
"Oh, well that's just fascinating, really." I replied dryly. "But can you shut up now and leave me alone!?"
"Jellfree, what is it say--" Kaya started but I cut her short.
"This is difficult enough without having to recap everything, Kai. Just be quiet and I'll fill you in later," I growled irritably.
"Okay," Kaya muttered looking hurt.
"Jellfree..." the K'teth said thoughtfully. "You know that's such a masculine name you should really think about changing it."
"Is there a reason you're here or have you just come to pester me?"
"Jellfree, Jellfree, Jellfree," she muttered, absently stroking my face.
"Would you cut that out!" I yelled grabbing at her arm, and grumbled as my hand passed right through hers. "How the hell are you doing that anyway?! Why can you touch me, but I can't touch you?!"
"I'm not touching you in the truest sense... I'm merely manipulating your senses to make it seem as if I am." She smiled running a hand down my neck.
I scrambled off my seat and moved halfway across the room. "Stop it!"
The K'teth rolled her eyes held up her arms then tucked them under her pits. "Oh, very well. I'll keep my hands to myself, I swear."
"That's better," I said retaking my seat between the K'teth and Kaya. "Now, you're going to answer some questions."
"Oh, very well. I suppose I owe you that much, at least," she replied back letting out a long sigh.
“For someone who claims to want freedom for her people, you sure have an odd way of showing it. If it were me I’d be as forthcoming as possible.”
She smiled, and her lips cracked into a smile before she replied. “Why is it so hard for you to understand? You’re human and until recently we were enemies. Would you be so quick to give me information if you were a voice in the back of my mind? Be that as it may I’m willing to give you some answers. Perhaps you should take advantage of the situation.”
I stared at her for a moment, and then slowly started to shake my head. "Do you have a name? We could be stuck together for a long time. I just can't keep calling you 'the K'teth' can I?
She smiled and stroked her chin thoughtfully. "A name? I've never had one... My previous host, the Overseer, called me, g'tel the Qharr word for pet. I've been called many different things by my hosts, although most just called me K'teth. No member of my species has a name; at least none that I know of; the masters do not see a reason for us to have one."
"Well, you better come up with one because I'm not going to call you g'tel and I'm certainly not going to keep calling you K'teth!"
She grinned then let her hand fall away from her chin and land in her lap. "Name myself? What a novel idea! The more time I spend with you Jellfree the more I like you. I think I'm really going to enjoy being joined with you. Now let's see a name... Oh! I've got it. 'Khala' it's an old word in one of the many ancient Qharr languages. It means freedom."
"Alright, Khala now you're going to tell me why you did this to me and this time I want a real answer! Don't pussyfoot around! "
"Should have figured you'd ask me that! You don't understand... you could never understand what it means for my kind to find another race to which we can become joined. For over ten thousand years we have been the faithful servants of those you call the gray skins and what do we get in return for our service?! We are treated little better than trained beasts to do their bidding!" She yelled her eyes alight with rage as she spoke her anger seeming to build with each syllable, but it didn't just show on her face. It swirled around her in whirling ribbons of fire and great bursts of illusory smoke.
"You think I don't know what it's like to be trampled under the feet of the Qharr!? They invaded this world, my home, and murdered billions of my people. When I was four years old I watched a hunter murder my parents right in front of my eyes and was forced to serve that same bastard as he rose through the ranks of the Ascendancy for over twenty-four years! Don't tell me I wouldn't understand!" I screamed that all too familiar rage bubbling inside of me.
"I suppose you do..." she admitted staring down at the floor and biting her lip. "If we worked together maybe we could--"
"Okay stop right there!" I interrupted. "I'm not buying the act. You expect me to trust you?! For all I know this is just some big show put on for my benefit! And you still haven't explained why you did this!" I proclaimed grabbing at my breasts.
"I was getting to that... I didn't want to just spring it on you without an explanation," she said standing up and started to pace back and forth. "The truth is I'm no ordinary K'teth. I'm a H'ra, I guess you could call me a queen, I'm one of only a handful of my kind capable of reproduction and I need a female host along with her womb and ovaries in order to breed."
My insides froze and I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up, "Oh God. Oh hell... you can't I won't let you! You're not going to use my body for that!"
"Use your body for what?" Kaya interrupted suddenly and my eyes shot toward her having completely forgotten that she was there.
"To spawn more of those... things!" I howled.
"Oh god! How?! Why!?" Kara asked her eyes growing as big as saucers.
"Yes, why?!" I said rounding on Khala.
"The K'teth were engineered so that our ability to reproduce was contingent on whether we were joined with a host. Because of thast we have always been dependent on the Qharr, but now..."
"But now you have me," I finished folding my arms across my chest and clutched at my gut feeling the bile rise in my throat. What the K'teth wanted to do with my body made me want to run away screaming, but there was no running from the K'teth. Anywhere I ran I'd be taking her with me.
"So you understand now why having a human host would be important to me. You've brought hope were before there was none," she said grabbing me by the shoulder and stared into my eyes intently.
"Oh, I understand... I understand that I have absolutely no reason to trust you or to believe anything you said. You could just be telling this to try and gain my sympathy and if you are telling the truth I'm not going to let you use my body to create more freaking parasites!" I shuddered screaming at the top of my lungs.
Khala glared at me, before disappearing with a suddenly flash of light accompanied by a loud boom, like a thunderclap. 'It is already too late. My daughter was already growing within Jahal for nearly three months when you killed her. I was able to save her by bringing her into your body' the symbiote's voice reverberated through my head howling with inhuman intensity.
"Oh god!" I yelled out loud and clenched the side of my head.
My hands shook and I looked over to where Kaya was still staring with her saucer-like wide eyes. God, she was so beautiful and I wanted so badly just to lose myself in her comforting embrace, but I couldn't. Oh, I had no doubt she would comfort and hold me, but our relationship had been changed dramatically. When she held me it wouldn't be as a lover, it would be as a friend. I couldn't hold the tears back and longer and they come pouring out of my eyes as Kaya grabbed hold of me and held me in her arms.
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"You must know that I find this revelation particularly disturbing," Mara said thrumming her hand against the desk her lips pursed in a thoughtful expression.
It had been almost two hours since Khala had dropped her bombshell on me and since then I had this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach that just wouldn't go away. It had been Kaya's idea to tell Mara, and while I had resisted at first I was beginning to think that maybe it was for the best. If I was going to gain the rebel's trust I had to be upfront and honest with them, but a part of me worried that they'd turn me out and leave me to fend for myself. I didn't have anywhere else to go and I think Mara knew that. If I allowed the Qharr to recapture me I kind of doubted that they would take too kindly to a human joined with a K'teth.
"Yeah," I muttered folding my arms across my chest. "You're not the only one."
"I can imagine."
She pursed her lips then let out a long sigh. "Well, I appreciate you coming to me with this. It shows you're willing to cooperate."
"So what exactly do we do?" Kaya asked her hands clasped in her lap.
"To tell you the truth, I have no idea. This is an unprecedented situation... I suppose we'll have to wait the creature out and see what happens when the infant K'teth fully matures," Mara replied as she continued to tap her fingers against the surface of the desk.
"Since you are here, there is something I'd like for you to try." Mara abruptly stood and slowly moved across the room.
"This belonged to your uncle Harold," she said setting a small cylinder about as wide around as my index finger on the desk in front of me.
"What is it?" Kaya asked reaching out to touch it.
"The both of you are probably too young to remember, but before the invasion these were quite common. It's called a biometric key, it's keyed to the genetic code of the owner... in this case your uncle Harold. He and I both had one, but mine was destroyed during the invasion. Because we never had any children he had the key imprinted with both you and your sisters genetic patterns as a failsafe. There were a total of five keys, one each for both Harold and myself and three others for the other founders of the resistance," she said picking it back up and twirled it around in her hand.
"Why didn't he have his key imprinted with your genetic code?"
Mara smiled. "These keys are designed to hold a maximum of three patterns. My key was encoded with mine along with my sister and her son's patterns. We felt it was better to imprint the keys with the maximum possible number of genetic patterns rather than have redundant ones. Unfortunately, since my key was destroyed and the other three are unaccounted for this is my last hope."
"And my sister is the only one who can use it," I added. "What does it open, if I might ask?"
Mara frowned and I felt her eyes on me as she studied me thoughtfully, "Something important to humanity's survival."
I bit my lip and fought down the urge to ask her for clarification. I knew she was holding back and I really wanted to know what the key opened, but I had the feeling that she was holding out because of Khala. If she didn't want the K'teth to know it was probably best that that she didn't even if it meant keeping me in the dark.
I grimaced then reached up to touch the key. As soon as my fingers wrapped around the small cylinder I could feel its energy pulsating from a tiny power supply encased within just begging for me or rather Khala to drain it all away. I fought against the sudden urge and flipped the cylinder around in my fingers before holding it out to Mara. "How can you tell if it works?"
Mara let out a long weary sigh and picked it out of my hand. "The end would have lit up if it recognized you, but I would venture a guess that there isn't enough of your original genetic pattern for that to happen."
"Shit, well... I hope it's nothing too important," I said staring up at her and cursed Khala silently.
"More than you could ever know," Mara said with a very slight tremor. She bit her lip then turned to Kaya, "Kaya, I hope you don't mind I'd like some alone time with Jellfree here. There are some things I think the two of us need to discuss."
"Sure, I mean, why wouldn't you? I bet you two have plenty to talk about.”
"I have something you may be interested in," she said pulling open a nearby drawer once Kaya had left.
"I don't have many possessions left over from before the invasion, but I did manage to squirrel away a few photographs among other things. This one in particular, I think would be of interest to you," she added holding out a plain off-white envelope.
I took it and glanced up at her before carefully opening it and pulling out the photo within. As I examined it, I found myself looking upon the face of a vaguely familiar looking woman and a man who shared a striking resemblance to my former male self. I took a sharp intake of breathe and traced my hands across the image of my parents. I felt tears well up in my eyes then reverently slide the picture back into the envelope and gently set it down on the desk in front of me.
"Thank you," I muttered, wiping the tears from my eyes.
Mara picked the envelope up then help it back out to me. "Take it. It's yours."
"Oh no!" I protested. "I couldn't!"
"Jellfree," Mara said looking at me flatly. "That photo has more meaning to you than it ever will to me. Please, I insist."
"Thank you," I said smiling gratefully then grabbed the photo off the desk and looked up at Mara thoughtfully. "What were they like, my parents, I mean. I don't remember them that well and I was hoping that maybe you could tell me something about them."
"Oh, child," she whispered softly. "I wish you could have known them better. Your mother was one of the kindest and most caring people I've ever known. She was one of those people who could light up a room just by stepping inside. Your father, was a quiet man, but when he spoke it usually to say something important," she paused a moment and a smile touch the corners of her mouth. "He had a way of unexpectedly saying the most insightful things at the most pertinent times."
I swallowed hard trying to fight down the surge of emotions that threatened to overtake me. All my life I'd wanted to know more about my parents, but now that I had the opportunity I couldn't think of anything to ask or say.
"Were they good people?" I finally managed to choke out.
Mara nodded. "They were wonderful people and they loved you and your sister with all their hearts."
"Thank you," I whispered. "And...Harold, your husband, what was he like?"
Mara frowned and smiled wistfully. "Harold was a colonel with the United Earth Defense Fleet and he was a good man. Stubborn, like your father, but that's where the similarity ended. Never, have I met a set of twins who were so different yet they were as close as any two brothers could be. Harold was outspoken, the man had an opinion about everything," her smile expanding into a grin. "Sometimes I thought he never closed his mouth. There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about him. I miss him."
"He died during the invasion?" I asked.
Mara shook her head. "He died about about ten years ago when the gray skins attacked the base he and his team were hiding in."
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be. One day soon they will pay for what they did to Harold, and your parents... and all the other people they murdered!”
"God, I hope so," I muttered staring back at her.
"Now," Mara said finally. "Enough about that. I think I'd like to hear a little about you, Jellfree. Tell me about yourself."
I pursed my lips, closed my eyes then told her about my life being with the death of my parents and my enslavement to the gray skins. I took me a long time and when I was finally done, I felt almost as if a weight had been lifted from my shoulders. I'd never really told anyone my story, save Kaya, and to do so now... in a way it felt pretty good to get it all off my chest. It wasn't easy, I'd witnessed a lot of horrors and had suffered a great deal at the hands of Qharr and by the time I was done, I couldn't keep myself from sobbing.
Suddenly, I felt Mara's arms around me. "Oh Jellfree, I wish I could take some of your pain away," she whispered then with a trembling voice she started to tell me her story.
During the war she served as an intelligence operative, and when it became obvious that humanity was going to lose, she and a small group of others, including my uncle, began to stockpile weapons and supplies. They searched through old historical records and found mention of places like the old shelter Mara had made a home, where they could hideaway and start their rebellion.
They continued to fight against overwhelming odds never giving up and never letting setback destroy hope. Then about ten years ago, they were betrayed and the gray-skins found many of their bases, including the one run by Harold. In just a few days the rebellion had suffered a terrible blow and only a handful of the original members remained, including Terreth Roggin, Mara, a woman by the name of Soula Marcone, and a fourth known as Alica Penrod.
It was only recently that they'd begun to recoup their losses and pose a threat to the Qharr again. They recruited from the slave populace often selecting members who were old enough to remember what earth was like before the invasion or else young men and woman who still hadn't had their spirits broken by their masters.
The strike against the Overseer hadn't been the first offensive after those gray-skinned bastards had decimated the rebel's numbers, but it had been one of the most bold in some time. Time would only tell if taking down such a prominent official within the ascendancy would prove to be a boon or bane to the cause. I just hoped if things went sour I wouldn’t be around to find out just how bad they could really get.
To be continued...
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