DNA III

by Stephanie
( copyright 2000 by Stephanie )

Part 6

The pregnant young woman entered the room and looked at her friends seated there. Anne was staring out the window, obviously still very angry, while Paul and Jim were sat at the small table.

"What did Michael have to say for himself, Julie?" Jim asked her.

Jim and Julie had been using the names of the bodies they now wore instead of the ones they were born with for some time now, but she still found it odd. Though she had got used to living with an exact physical duplicate of her former body.

"He's protesting his innocence, vigorously." she replied as she eased herself into a chair. Her pregnancy was just past the halfway mark and she was beginning to feel the drain on her systems as the baby grew. She didn't resent it and she hoped she would be able to handle it when she was near full term. Jim had said several times that he was glad he would never have to go through the 'beached whale' experience, but Julie could detect a hint of longing in his voice. That was understandable, Jim had spent most of his life as a female, growing up in expectation that he would one day be a mother.

"He would!" Jim retorted bitterly. "We should never have trusted him!"

Paul shook his head, "I'm not so sure it was him. The only reason he's a suspect is that he has a less than unblemished past and the opportunity to do it. You all know how lax security is inside the base. Colonel Rigdon doesn't have the manpower to deal with the circus outside the base and everything inside. Anyone on the base could have done it. The camera crew, the base's medical crew, one of the soldiers, anyone!"

Julie shifted to make herself more comfortable. "It won't be the camera crew. They're CNN for God's sake! Maybe it was a spy for some foreign government?"

Jim shook his head, "If that was the case then why did they draw attention to themselves by switching the virus for Petrucci?"

"Maybe it's the government wanting to discredit us and take over the virus?" Paul mused. "They wasted no time in getting the Petrucci kid over to us and putting the virus in him."

"I don't think so," Anne said, continuing to gaze out of the window. "They already have full access to it and if they want to stay ahead of every other country they'll need my willing cooperation."

"It has to be Michael," Jim declared. "Maybe someone who worked with Quince still has a hold over him."

"Michael would have told us," Paul said angrily.

Anne turned to face them. "I don't know why you're defending him, Paul. You're the one who's suffered the most because of him. He betrayed you to Quince and you almost died!"

"It wasn't his fault!" Paul retorted "He was forced!"

"And he's probably being forced now. It doesn't make any difference. He should know by now that he can trust us. Now, because of him, some kid is stuck in God knows whose body!"

"No," Paul said quietly, "we're missing something. I can't believe he's behind it, in any way."

"You know, Paul," Julie remarked, "for a lawyer you are surprisingly trusting."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Mandy, wait up!" Tanya called.

Mandy turned around and waited while the other woman caught up. Since the two of them had broken the ice a couple of days before they had quickly become friends. At first Mandy had been very suspicious of the journalist, and had wanted to shield Jeff from her. After their first real talk it had dawned on her that journalists were people too.

Tanya had been virtually excluded from anything to do with the injured soldier. The colonel had wanted to keep the press at a distance as much as possible and Arnold desperately wanted to keep the best parts of the story to himself.

Mandy didn't want to have anything to do with Arnold Lester, but she had quickly grown fond of Tanya. "Hiya," she said.

"I'm glad I found you," Tanya said. "No-one will tell me anything."

"No offence, but I'm not surprised. Rigdon's absolutely furious that his security was compromised."

"That's understandable. Lester's been in there all morning trying to get clearance for us to leave."

"You're going already?" Mandy asked in a surprised voice. "I would have thought this is exactly the thing to hit the headlines."

"It is, but Lester and the cameraman are the only witnesses from the media to actually see and record what happened yesterday. Because the base is locked down he can't even report outside." She smiled. "He was really indignant when they confiscated our mobile phones. As he sees it, we have to get out now and run with what we have before someone else gets to the big scoop."

"So it's all been a bit of a wasted trip for you then? I noticed how he kept freezing you out of the big stuff."

"I'm lucky to be here at all really, but he's a typical ultra- vain reporter I suppose. Anyway, maybe it wasn't a complete waste. Give me a call in a few months and I'll help you write up your experiences into a book. You'll make millions."

Mandy looked dubious. "What? A kiss-and-tell book?"

"Yeah, why not? Was there a lot of kissing?"

"Argh! You're worse than Lester!" Mandy declared laughing.

"Hey," Tanya said with a shrug, "worth a try. I was being serious though. You've been a victim in all this, and if you cleared it with your friends first then you wouldn't have to risk alienating them."

"I'll think about it," Mandy said. She secretly quite liked the idea of seeing her name on a book. "You deserve something to put up with that odious toad, Lester."

"I'll see you around, then."

They embraced. "I'll give you call in a few weeks when this is all blown over."

Tanya gave Mandy her phone number and then hurried over to the colonel's office. By the time she arrived things had quieted down. When she had left Rigdon and Arnold Lester were bellowing at each other. Arnold left the office as she approached. "Well?" she asked.

"We'll have to submit to a body search before we leave, but I managed to talk him out of taking x-rays and doing a cavity search."

"Euuuu! That's good news at least."

"He also wants to strip down all the equipment and give our bags a thorough search. That'll drive Mike to hysterics, but I think we're lucky to get off that lightly."

"I'm surprised he's letting us go at all," Tanya said. Despite herself she was impressed that Arnold had negotiated their way off the base.

"Never underestimate the power of the press. He knows just as well as I do what the rest of the media would say if we were stopped from leaving. Plus we did a quick interview that showed him in a very positive light. At a time like this he knows he needs good PR."

"Are you going to use that interview?" she asked.

"Why not?" he replied. "If I really wanted to I could twist his comments any way I wanted to, but I don't want to do that. Despite what's happened here, the DNA virus is a fantastic discovery! Even now, it could double anyone's lifespan! Just think of that. Anyway, you go get packed. Every second we delay could mean we get beaten by another network."

Tanya could almost see the awards he hoped to get for this story flashing in his eyes. Typical, he was thinking of just himself again. She hadn't had that much contact with the big guns of national news, but even she had been surprised by the backstabbing she had encountered.

She headed back to her room. She heard raised voices coming from behind one door where Anne and the others were clearly arguing over Michael's guilt or innocence. She had been surprised by the way nearly everyone had turned on him after Petrucci had been turned into a girl. Mind you, his shady background would always make him the prime suspect.

The bed in her room hadn't been slept in as she had spent each night in Lester's. She quickly packed her three small suitcases and then headed out to the van. Mike was almost finished loading his equipment into their van. Tanya added her suitcases to the pile and then climbed into the van. Lester was inside already, dictating some rough notes for his exclusive.

When the van was loaded they drove a short way across the base to where the inspection team were waiting. There they were stuck for well over one and a half hours as the team worked their way through every piece of luggage. Tanya found herself wishing she had brought a book. Eventually Mike, Lester and Tanya were summoned in turn to a small white room where they were thoroughly searched. As Lester had promised they stopped short of a cavity search, but it wasn't that far away. Two women were waiting specifically to search Tanya. She was glad that it was women rather than men doing the search, but even she felt almost violated by the intimacy of their search.

Finally, however, they were give the all clear and escorted to the gate. The circus of media and lunatics were still outside the base. Tanya could see why the base had been empty enough for the sabotage to take place: Half the base had to be out there keeping order.

The soldiers had kept the road clear and the van had no trouble in sweeping out the base and onto the long journey home. Tanya let her breath out in a long sigh. Lester looked at her and smiled. "You look relieved to be out of there," he said. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

She smiled, "No, but the way they looked at me made me feel guilty as hell."

"I know what you mean. Once you've been through it a few times you'll learn to shrug it off."

Tanya nodded, but kept her thoughts to herself. He's trying to show off his experience again, she thought.

During the long drive back to the airport Arnold began typing up his report on his laptop. He suggested Tanya should work on her own article on Jeff, but she didn't see a point. With no interview footage there was no way her story would make it on air and she felt Mandy and Jeff had suffered enough at the hands of the virus without her adding to it. After half an hour watching the scenery go past, though, she did finally get out her own laptop and began typing.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Michael looked up when there was a knock at his door. "Come in," he called.

A small, black woman walked in. "How are you holding up?" Paul asked.

Michael could tell it was Paul almost instantly. You could put Paul and his now-identical twin Jeff in the same clothes and they would still be obviously different. "Fairly well, I guess. I should have known something like this would happen. Everything had been going too well recently."

"The reason I came is to offer my services."

"What?"

"As a lawyer. You're probably going to need one. As it stands the case against you is fairly flimsy, but it's best to make sure."

Michael gave a sour laugh. "We're back where we started. You defending me. The only difference this time is that I'm completely innocent."

Paul sat down on the end of the bed. "I believe you."

Michael arched an eyebrow, "You do?"

"Yeah. Me, Anne and the others were all arguing earlier and it occurred to me: If you were being leaned on, and that's the only reason we think you'd do this, then why didn't you confide in us?"

"Like I did the time you defended me?"

Paul nodded, "Exactly. The worst sort of client is the one who will never be truthful with me. I'm not allowed to tell anyone and it means I go to court unprepared. But you always told me everything."

Michael sighed. He was extremely glad he had at least one person willing to believe him. "Thanks, you don't know what this means to me."

"It's okay. I'll turn detective now and see what I can dig up."

Paul left and walked over to the lab. It now had a guard on duty twenty-four hours a day. A little late, he thought, but welcome. Paul surveyed the scene. This was the only way into the lab as all the windows were wired with sophisticated intruder-detection equipment.

He looked up at the ceiling and a small surveillance camera in the corner staring blankly back at him met his gaze.

Paul eventually found the colonel in his office. "Mr Roberts, come in."

"Could I have a word with you?"

"Sure, but I hope you don't mind if I keep it brief. This whole incident has generated a lot of paperwork."

Paul was sympathetic. The colonel was probably getting plenty of heat off his superiors and the press over what had happened to the young private. "I won't take up much time. I noticed you have a security camera outside the lab. Is it in working order?"

"Yes," the colonel replied, "and it did catch Michael when he sneaked into the lab the night before Petrucci was... transformed."

"Why didn't you tell us?!"

"The picture quality wasn't good enough and there wasn't enough light to positively identify him from it."

"So you don't know it was him?"

"Not from the video, but I'm still convinced it has to be him. It all fits, he knew there was a camera there and another in the lab. We've reviewed the footage from the day before with Dr Chamberlain and he didn't swap the vials then. He knew we'd see any substitution, so he sneaked back in the dark and did it then."

"Can I see the tape?" Paul asked.

"Sure, but you won't get anything out of it."

Colonel Rigdon summoned a soldier to escort Paul over to the security block. Soon he found himself alone in a room with a small combined TV and video set and the tape from the camera.

The colonel had been right; it was almost impossible to see the figure, let alone work out who it was. Paul let the tape run on as the view switched to the interior of the lab. The indistinct figure moved quickly over to the vials containing the DNA virus based on Petrucci. No matter how closely he looked he couldn't see the actual swap of vials taking place; the picture was far too indistinct for that.

After just two minutes in the lab the ghostly figure headed to the door and then out into the corridor. Whoever it was had clearly worked out which sections of the building was covered by security cameras and which parts weren't.

Paul watched the tape several times and then sat back with a frown on his face. His feeling that this wasn't Michael was now stronger than ever, but he couldn't say why.

The door behind Paul opened and a young soldier looked in. "Excuse me, miss, uh... I mean, sir. Sorry."

Paul waved away the soldier's embarrassment with a smile. "Don't worry about it." Many people had been unable to decide which terms to use with Paul. He himself didn't know and he had long ago dismissed it as the least of his problems.

"Thanks, Dr Stracken is looking for you."

"Okay, tell him I'm on my way."

Paul could tell the instant that he entered the medical wing why Dr Stracken had called him. Robert Petrucci's parents were there, both looking tired and drawn.

Dr Stracken walked over to Paul. "Glad you're here. I need you to talk to Robert for me."

"What for?"

"He won't see his parents. I think he's too ashamed. So I'd like you to talk to him."

"Me? What can I do that you lot can't? I'm not trained for this sort of thing."

"Robert's current form distresses him and he's equally uncomfortable around men and women, but you he can trust. I can tell by the way he talks about you."

"Well... okay. I'll see what I can do."

Paul knocked on Robert's door and then slowly entered the room. Robert was up and standing by the window, dressed in pajamas and a robe. Paul shut the door behind him and then walked over to the transformed soldier.

"Hi," Paul said, "how are you doing?"

"Fine, considering what's happened to me." he walked over tot the bed and sat on it. A strange look crossed his cute asian features as he sat down. "How do you get used to having a pair of... those on your chest? They shift and move with the slightest movement I make."

"I've been there!" Paul told him. "I couldn't get used to it at first and even now I get these moments when I catch myself just staring at my own breasts. You might not like it, but you are going to need some sort of support in that area."

"You're talking about a bra?!" Robert looked at him shock. "No way! I'm not stuck like you are, am I? I have the weaker form of the virus." A look of uncertainty crossed his face. "Do I?"

"Yes you do, but think about it before going for the stronger cure. You'd have a good chance of dissolving. I've seen the results and it isn't pretty. You should give Dr Chamberlain a chance to work on improving the virus. In time I'm sure you'll be able to revert to your old self without risk."

"Yeah, but how long will that take?"

"No-one can force you to stay the way you are. If you want to risk the stronger virus we'll understand. But take your time, don't rush into anything." Paul looked at the door remembering why he had come in to see Robert. "Your parents are outside, they want to see you. Dr Stracken told me you didn't want to see them."

Robert was silent for a moment, a look of despair on his face. "It's not that I don't want to see them," he said, "it's just that I don't want them to see me like this."

"You can't hide from them. They won't like to see you in this form, but excluding them will only make them feel worse."

Robert was fighting to hold back tears now. It was obvious to Paul that Robert was truly terrified by what had happened to him. "My father really wanted me to join the army. He often says that he enjoyed his time in the army more than any other part of his life. He always treated me differently from my sisters. He loves them, but he had a special place for me, because I was going to follow in his footsteps. Now I have tits and a pussy! How can I see face him like that?"

"He'll see his son going through a bad patch," Paul replied carefully, "but he'll know that his son will pull through. He's not going to reject you because you're temporarily stuck in the form of a woman."

"Okay," Robert replied quietly, "let them in."

Paul nodded and placed a hand on Robert's shoulder. "It'll be okay," he said. Robert nodded and gave a sad smile.

Outside, Robert's parents were getting anxious about the delay. "Well?" the father asked sharply. "Will he see us?"

"Of course he will," Paul replied. "He's just embarrassed about being in the form he's in."

"I'd be too, in his position." Robert's father said. "It's not permanent though. As soon as we can be certain Chamberlain won't fuck it up again we can get him changed back to normal."

Before Paul could reply, Robert's father had ushered his wife into Robert's room and closed the door behind them.

Paul was speechless for a few moments before turning to Dr Stracken. "He does know how dangerous using the stronger virus is?"

"I've spent the morning explaining every aspect of this as best I can." Stracken replied.

Inside the room, Robert was hugging his mom. If she felt any discomfort in hugging a physical stranger she was able to hide it. Robert's dad held back until they broke apart before asking, "How are you holding up, son."

"Okay, I guess. I still can't believe this is happening."

"Don't you worry. I'm going to have another set of doctors administer the stronger form of this virus to get you back to your normal self. I won't let the quacks here get anywhere near you."

Robert brushed a long strand of hair out of his eyes. He couldn't get used to the silky mass on his head, but he had been too distracted to ask about getting it cut. "If you think that's wise, Dad."

"Why wouldn't it, boy? You don't want to spend the rest of your life looking like a geisha girl, do you?"

"No, sir!"

Robert's father nodded. "Good. Just hang in their, son. This nightmare will be over soon. Just think about the large compensation you can expect for this mess!"

*************************

Part 7

Tanya leaned back from the laptop and stretched. The long hours in the van and in the plane were taking the toll on her body. She stood up and walked over to the windows. Despite herself, she had to admit that Arnold Lester's apartment was fantastic. It was spacious, in an upmarket part of the city and the interior had been very tastefully decorated.

Probably got someone in to do it for him, she thought, he clearly was not subtle enough to have designed it himself. The sun had just set as they had arrived and now she looked out at the lights of a city still very much awake despite the late hour.

She turned as Arnold walked in from the bathroom, yawning as he did so. "I just don't have the stamina I used to," he commented.

"I don't have any complaints," Tanya replied with a smile.

They kissed and then they settled down on the couch. He noticed Tanya's laptop on the table. "Do you mind if I have a look?" Without waiting for an answer he picked it up. His mouth slowly descended into a frown as he read the report she had written. "No, this is no good at all." he said, almost to himself.

"Why," Tanya replied innocently, "what's wrong with it?

"It's totally biased. You'd never be allowed to use this on- air."

"Why not? I see biased articles all the time."

"But this goes beyond just highlighting the negative and downplaying the positive. If CNN broadcast just half of this we'd have to pay out millions in libel costs alone. Your career will be over before it's begun and I'll be unemployable. You simply cannot state that Chamberlain tested her virus on her boyfriend without hard evidence. I thought you got on well with them. You were building up a good rapport."

"With Mandy and Jeff, yeah, but they're victims. Can't you see what will happen when this... this virus goes into full-scale production? Everyone's identities will be lost. No-one will be able to get a job without having their bodies transformed into the right shape for their work. You won't be able to get health insurance unless you agree to get a guaranteed healthy body. Anyone even reasonably well off will forever be in fear of someone with their face trying to steal their place and their money. Society cannot survive this! Within months of being released this virus will destroy us! That's why it's up to us to show the world what will happen. Everyone is too blinded by the promise of extended life to realize what that mad bitch is up to!"

Arnold leaned back, totally surprised by the tirade from Tanya. "No. You simply can't do it this way. If you have a message to sell, then you get out of journalism and set up an action group or something. I'm beginning to think you haven't got what it takes to work in television news. You obviously don't have anything like the level of detachment you need."

Tanya tried to relax and she pasted a false smile on her face. "I'm sorry, I was just writing what I think. I mean, I know there is no way that my 'report' will even be considered. I don't have any interview footage on tape and I only had a few meetings with Jeff and Mandy. Anyway, enough with the shop talk." Her hand snaked into the front of his bathrobe and down to his crotch.

Arnold smiled and reached round to pull her closer.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"This had better be important," the colonel said as he and Paul entered the video room. Anne and Mandy followed close behind.

"Believe me," Paul replied, "it is." He put a tape in the machine and pressed play. "It took me some time to realize what was wrong with this picture." He put a second tape into another VCR that he had moved next to the first. On the second screen was a video of Michael and Anne working in the lab. "This was taken the day before whoever it was broke into the lab."

"So?" Colonel Rigdon asked.

Paul paused the first machine and then let the second one play on until the image of Michael was standing in the same spot in the lab that the shadowy image was in the first. Paul sat back and looked at the colonel expectantly.

"What am I looking at?" the army man asked.

Anne gasped. "Our intruder is shorter than Michael."

"Exactly," Paul replied nodding. "It's difficult to judge height because the camera was bolted to the ceiling, but once you compare the two images standing in the same place, it's obvious."

Rigdon had a face like he was chewing a wasp. Paul was right, it was a significant nail in the coffin in the case against Michael Kingston. "So if it isn't Kingston, then who is it?"

"Someone fairly short," Paul replied. "Michael isn't that tall. You need to get someone to work out exactly how tall that figure is, but I'd guess it was someone around about my height."

"Which probably rules out all the military personnel," Anne said.

"There's something else I found as well," Paul said. He rewound one of the tapes and then pressed play. "Compare those two."

Another figure was standing in the same place the shadowy intruder was in the other picture. Anne leaned forward in disbelief. "You're joking, aren't you?"

"I'm not saying anything," Paul said. "I'm just pointing out how similar in size and build these two are."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Arnold's head lolled back as Tanya sucked him off. He wondered where she had learned to do that so well. He grabbed a clump of her hair so forcing her to slow down; he wanted to enjoy it for as long as possible.

Tanya squeezed his balls hard and Arnold gasped. Her tongue wrapped itself around the head of his cock and despite himself Arnold felt himself go over the edge. He held her head down so that she was forced to drink his cum. There was nothing better than having a lover's lips sucking on your cock, feeling her hair draped over your thighs, and then cuming straight down her throat.

He felt a strange discomfort and looked down to see a syringe sticking out of his crotch. Tanya had injected him with something while he still held her on his cock! "Tanya? What the fuck are you doing?!" he cried.

She looked him straight in the eyes and smiled around his penis still between her lips. She pulled out the syringe and threw it carelessly over her shoulder. Arnold started to feel a strange sensation of movement in his crotch. He pushed Tanya away in one sudden moment and staggered to his feet. "What was in that?!" he demanded.

"You know," Tanya replied softly, wiping her mouth. "It took me a lot of effort to get it, so I hope you enjoy it."

His terror had already caused his erection to fade, but now it started to shrink abnormally fast. He grabbed at his vanishing manhood, but it had already retreated into the folds of his crotch leaving what felt like a clitoris. Arnold's balls went the same way, shrinking and dividing leaving an all too familiar crease between his legs.

He covered his crotch with his hands, too ashamed at his new femininity. "Why?" he demanded. "Why are you doing this?"

"Because I can," she replied. She picked up a small glass bottle and threw it to him. He caught it and stared at it and the colorless liquid it contained. Tanya sighed. "If you want any part of you to stay male, you'd better drink that now."

"W-what's in it?"

"More DNA Virus, but based on you rather than me this time." She smiled. "Yes, you'll have access to my pussy twenty-four hours a day. Now drink up before you start growing tits!"

Arnold pulled the cap off the bottle. She could be lying, there could be something even more grotesque in there. But he had no choice, he had to do it. Holding the bottle with both shaking hands so he wouldn't drop it he gulped the contents down. He staggered as his pelvis reshaped itself into a wider configuration. He looked up at Tanya who was watching him with some mirth. "Please do something!"

"I've done all I can," she told him. "All you can do now is hope you drank the second vial in time."

Arnold felt his mouth tingle. the strange sensation quickly spread out through his head and upper torso. It felt similar to what had happened between his legs, but less intense. He breathed a sigh of relief; Tanya hadn't lied about the second vial.

He almost fell over as his legs started to change. As quick as he could he staggered over to a chair and flopped into it. The hair on his legs was receding and the legs themselves were growing thinner. Within seconds they had reassembled themselves into two very feminine- looking legs, identical in every way to Tanya's.

She walked over to Arnold grinning broadly. "That's much better. Let's see where the join is shall we?" She traced a line around the middle of Arnold's torso, where two very different types of skin met. "That was a close-run thing. Another few seconds and you'd have grown a lovely pair of breasts. As it is I think there is a very good chance you have a complete set of female reproductive organs inside you. Just think, Arnold, one day you could be a mother! You could discover first- hand what it's like to give birth! Isn't that fantastic?"

"You bitch!" he screamed and sprang at her.

Tanya jumped backward and avoided Arnold's awkward lunge. She was a lot steadier on her legs than he was. "Now, now Arnold," she chided him. "If anything should happen to me then certain documents will be released that'll put you in some really hot water."

"So what! All I care about is getting cured. Once I've dealt with you I'll go straight to the authorities."

"You think they're going to help the man who brought a thief into their base? Do you think they'll help a man who because of his stupidity caused a young soldier to become a really cute young girl? I might have twisted a few events to make you look like you really were in on it all, but no-one believes reporters have any honor anyway."

"Why did you do... _this_ to me?"

"Because I need you under control. Just do what I say over the next few weeks or so and I guarantee I'll give you the antidote."

"A stronger form of the virus? That could kill me!"

She shrugged. "So don't take it. No-one will force you to." Sure she had him under control she walked over to him. "Now put some clothes on and sit down. There are a lot of instructions I have to give you and I want to make sure you understand them, and if you ever want to be fully a man again so will you."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The colonel looked at the two images on the screen. He'd been so sure Kingston had been behind the break in. "You seriously expect me to believe one of the reporters broke into the lab and stole the sample?" he asked Paul.

"Who else could it be?" Paul replied with a shrug. "It can't be coincidence that Tanya matches the intruder so closely."

"She works for CNN! I'd expect someone from the National Enquirer to pull a stunt like this, but not CNN. It's why we let them in at all!"

"Oh shit," Mandy said quietly.

"What is it?" Anne asked her.

"She doesn't work for CNN, she's a freelancer. This was her first big break. Tanya went on about how she had to sleep with Lester to get the gig. She hated doing it, but she said the rewards were worth it."

Rigdon glared at her, "And you didn't think it worth reporting?"

"Well...no. I thought you already knew she wasn't fully with CNN and I thought she was talking about getting a big scoop."

"Alright," the colonel grunted, "I'll have it checked out." he stood up and walked to the door.

"What about Michael?" Paul asked him quickly.

"For now he stays right where he is. I want proof that this reporter is behind it first and that Kingston isn't involved." Rigdon turned and strode through the door.

"What more do I have to do to get Michael released?" Paul asked Anne in astonishment.

"You can't blame him for being cautious. It's his career on the line over this." Anne caught herself wishing it had been Michael. How was she going to face him now after turning on him like that?

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Arnold clasped the whisky with shaking hands. What was he going to do? He should go to the authorities, they wouldn't believe the lies Tanya would tell about him if he did... would they?

Even if they didn't believe Tanya there would still be the fact that he lied about her working with CNN to get her into the base. He cursed himself for being so stupid. It had never occurred to him that she was using him to steal the DNA Virus. He had just been letting his cock do all the thinking for him. Not that he was going to be able to do that again for the time being at least, he thought grimly.

But what was the alternative to telling the authorities? Surely doing what Tanya demanded would be worse. It would wreck his reputation and career in five minutes flat. At least he'd get his manhood back, though. That had to the most important thing. What would be the point in a successful career in reporting if he had to do it with a pussy between his legs?

As soon as the initial shock of the transformation had worn off, he had pulled on a pair of shorts and done his robe up tight. Tanya had laughed at his attempt to cover his new anatomy. Then she had given him his instructions before leaving.

He looked down at his legs. Despite his best efforts to drink himself into submission he was still painfully aware of every difference in his lower body. The robe was lower off the ground than he had remembered; he had lost a few inches in height when his legs changed. Even his feet looked smaller, daintier, more feminine. Under the robe he knew he now possessed Tanya's shapely smooth legs. He tried to push the image from his mind, but found himself unable. He had to see. He had to know exactly what she had done to him.

Arnold climbed to his feet and wobbled uncertainly, partly from the drink and partly due to his unfamiliarity with his new hips and legs. He walked slowly to the bathroom. Even this simple action made him aware of a thousand differences between his changed lower half and what he used to possess. His stride was shorter and his wide hips swiveled far too much for his liking.

He reached the mirror and stared at his reflection. With the robe pulled tight his new physique was all too obvious. His hips flared out before pulling in to a tight waist. Opening his robe and dropping it to the floor left him just dressed in his shorts. Now the change was even more obvious. His shorts were stretched tighter than normal by his feminine hips and there was clearly no male bulge between his legs.

In one swift motion he yanked his shorts down and revealed his new anatomy. Tanya hadn't been lying to him, he realized, the feminine mound he possessed was an exact copy of hers. Even his pubic hair had changed from black to blonde. Gently, he placed a hand on it, snatching his hand away when he felt it resting on his... his... pussy.

A part of him had hoped that this was some elaborate trick, but there could be no doubt. He was now half-female, and all-woman where it really counted.

He held back tears as he considered his fate. He was going to have to do what Tanya told him to do; it was his best chance of becoming normal again. He absentmindedly ran his finger over the mound and slipped it inside. He found and began to gently massage his clitoris. A wave of pleasure rushed over him and his crotch began to tingle with arousal. He realized what he was doing and whipped his hand away.

"Stop it!" he told his reflection. "You're not a fucking queer!" he pulled his shorts and robe back on doing his best to ignore his new physiology.

Then he went and drunk every last drop of alcohol in his apartment.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

There was a hesitant knock at the door. Michael didn't bother answering it, but waited to see who it was. Finally the door opened and Anne looked in.

Michael was surprised to see there was no hint of anger in her face. "What do you want?" he asked sharply.

"Well, I... um," she stopped and composed herself. "Can I sit down?"

Michael shrugged.

She sat down and took a deep breath. "We've been reviewing the security footage and Paul made an important discovery that--"

"That it wasn't me," Michael interrupted.

Anne looked down. "Yes. I'm really sorry, Michael. I've made a grave mistake. Will you forgive me and come back to work."

Michael was silent for a moment. "I've been working with you night and day for months now. Does that count for nothing? The first sign of trouble and I'm suddenly the scapegoat. The colonel out there I can understand; he's been suspicious of me since I got here, but you? You're a scientist! You know that you shouldn't jump to conclusions without the evidence to back it up! How can I ever trust you again?!"

Anne found herself unable to meet his gaze and with nothing to say.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Federal Agents quietly entered the apartment building through a side door and climbed the stairs with as little noise as possible. At this early hour of the morning they encountered none of the residents, but they were prepared to silence them if any discovered the heavily armed men.

When they reached the correct floor they carefully swept the area in case an ambush was waiting. After several tense moments they moved down to the apartment door. The officer waited until all his men were ready. They had been thoroughly briefed on the way over to the building and each had his assigned task.

Satisfied everything was in place, the officer nodded to the agents holding the battering ram. They swung it at the door instantly shattering the flimsy lock, before quickly pulling away to one side as the rest of the unit rushed into the apartment.

The officer was the last into the apartment. The soldiers were quickly and methodically searching every possible hiding place in each room.

"Sir!" the voice was coming from the bedroom. The agents in the room were fanned out around the bed that clearly contained someone.

"Put your hands up and you will not be hurt!" The officer bellowed aiming his own gun at the form.

The figure struggled into a sitting position and squinted at the officer. "Timmy? Is that you?"

The officer cursed softly and lowered his gun. This wasn't the woman they were looking for. Not unless she had aged sixty years in one night. "Test her just in case," he told his men and then checked the rest of the apartment.

It seemed the old woman was the only occupant. It had always been unlikely that Tanya Carter would be at her registered address, but it looked like she had never been there in the first place. Unless the old woman had any information this was a complete dead end.

************************

Part 8 Arnold was awake for over an hour before he got out of bed. As dawn burst through the cracks in the curtains he barely moved. In all that time he tried to ignore the awful truth of what had been done to his body, but like worrying a bad tooth he couldn't stop thinking about it.

Finally, he hauled himself out of bed. He shaved and showered almost on autopilot. It was only as he looked at his underwear as he was about to get dressed that he was filled with an overwhelming feeling of sadness. They felt strangely out of shape as he pulled them on, but he knew it was him that had changed not his clothes.

He chose one of his baggier suits. The jacket just about covered his hips, but he could see that his body didn't seem right. There was little he could do about it, he realized glumly; he was just going to have to hope that no-one else noticed something was wrong.

He studied his image in the mirror more closely. Inevitably his gaze slid down between his legs. The lack of any sort of bulge there was blindingly obvious. He rolled up a sock and pushed it down his underpants until it was just resting over his new feminine equipment. The bulge didn't look quite right to Arnold, but it was going to have to do.

Arnold was surprised to find his shoes no longer fitted him. It was obvious why that was when he thought about it, but he had been distracted by the terrible loss of his manhood. Several more thick socks on his feet helped to make the shoes wearable, though they left his feet feeling very hot and itchy.

As he was stepping out the door of his apartment, Arnold was struck by a sudden attack of nerves. It was impossible to shake the idea that everyone knew that he was now really a woman. He walked slowly to the lift trying to stop his hips from moving about so much. How could he get away with this? Everyone would instantly know that he was half-female. How could he have thought he would get away with it?

He stopped and leaned against the wall, breathing deep and slow. The panic attack slowly eased and he was able to make it over to the elevator.

His nerves returned when the elevator arrived and it wasn't empty. Be calm, Arnold told himself. He had to make sure no-one suspected anything and ruined Tanya's plan. The other occupant of the elevator was a younger man. Arnold walked into the elevator and avoided eye contact.

For once he was thankful that he wasn't recognized. The last thing he could have dealt with at that moment was a fan. Arnold felt envious of the other man. He was fully male, not emasculated like Arnold had been. What would happen if he could never turn back into his old self? Would he end up lusting after men? He broke out in a sweat as he thought about turning queer. He had a pussy now, he reasoned, maybe it could affect his thinking and make him lust after men. He felt ill as an image of him flat on his back with a man between his legs flashed through his mind.

Finally the elevator reached the parking lot underneath the building and Arnold staggered to his car. The familiar routine of driving eased the tension in his body, though it was hard to ignore the fact that the pedals seemed farther away than they used to be.

He arrived at the CNN building and composed himself. This was going to be the ultimate test. Many of the people in there knew him well and if anyone was going to see through his disguise it was them. The walk through the foyer to the elevator seemed to take forever, but if anyone noticed any difference in the way he walked they kept it to themselves.

Arnold's heart was hammering as he reached the twelfth floor. He prayed that Tanya kept up her end of the bargain. He couldn't live like this.

"Here he comes! The conquering hero!" Arnold recognized that booming voice. Tom Skibow walked across the room and slapped Arnold on the back. "We've got the 8.00pm slot and everyone is waiting to see what juicy secrets you've uncovered!"

Arnold smiled back, though for once he wished Tom would just leave him alone. "I've got the goods," he assured Tom, "Everyone will be talking about it tomorrow."

"Good, good! I expect to see a rough cut in three hours, then."

That was one advantage that his experience gave him. He had proven over the years that he was able to get on and do the work necessary.

For the next two hours he worked on the story, selecting images from the hours of video shot. The transformation of the unlucky soldier was the centerpiece of the story. The news that the first proper test of the virus on a human being had gone radically wrong had swept the world. When the army had started hunting a saboteur the pressure had really increased. The public wanted to know what was going on inside that base. Wild conspiracy theories had criss-crossed the internet and, in the absence of any real information, made their way into print and on television.

CNN had been heavily trailing the special Arnold would be presenting and he knew the entire world (or at least those bits that counted) would be watching.

Arnold had already prepared the special in his mind and he quickly pieced together the tape he needed. He got so engrossed in the job that he was only reminded of his predicament when the sock down his underpants would shift against his feminine crotch.

As soon as he was satisfied with the rough cut he took it over to Tom's office and gave him a quick run through of the commentary he would record over the top.

"So this virus really is as good as it seems?" Tom asked.

"Yeah," Arnold replied, "As long as some psycho doesn't get their hands on it."

"That's true of everything, Arnold." Tom said as he watched the video of the soldier transforming into the busty asian girl again. "You didn't get any of that DNA virus the soldier got, did you? I could do with some of that for my wife."

"You shouldn't joke about stuff like that," Arnold told him sharply. "A person's physical identity is very important."

"Relax, I was just joking."

A knock at the door was immediately followed by it opening to reveal Tom's secretary and a man in a dark suit.

"Mr Kerrigan wants to have a few words with Mr Lester." Tom's secretary said quickly. "He's from the FBI."

"What have you been up to, Arnold?" Tom asked jokingly. "I assume this has to do with the saboteur?"

"Yes, sir." the agent replied. "If I can have a few moments alone with Mr Lester..."

"Sure," Tom said, getting out of his chair. "You can use my office, but don't take too long he has the most important news program of the year to finish this afternoon."

Arnold managed a wan smile, but the agent didn't reply. He merely shut the door behind Tom so he and Arnold were alone.

"So what's this all about?" Arnold asked the FBI man. "We answered all the questions back at the base."

"Some new questions have arisen, Mr Lester," the man said as he sat down. "The most important one is: Where is Tanya Carter?"

Oh fuck, Arnold thought to himself. He hoped the shock hadn't registered on his face. "I don't know. At home?"

"You mean, apartment 36b on Harrow Avenue?"

"Yeah, that sounds right."

"She's not there, Mr Lester. In fact, she has never been there." The FBI man leaned closer. "So I'll ask you again: where is she?"

"How the fuck should I know?" Arnold replied in exasperation. "What do you want her for anyway?"

"She is our prime suspect at the moment. The fact that she has lied to us, at least, about where she lives suggests she had an ulterior motive."

"Yeah, well I'm sorry I can't help you."

"Mr Lester, the only reason she got into a base under that tight a security was that you vouched for her and said she worked for CNN. It never occurred to them that you'd only met her a few days before and the only reason you wanted her in the base was so you could keep on fucking her."

"I checked her resume!" Arnold declared hotly. "I had no reason to doubt her!"

The agent leaned back. "If you'd checked a little closer you might have discovered that a promising, young, local reporter by the name of Tanya Carter died in a auto accident over a year ago."

"So who the hell was the Tanya I was with?" Arnold wondered out loud. It was only just dawning on him that he had no idea at all to Tanya's real identity. She could have been anyone. Now she had the DNA virus she could be anyone at all. How could he know that 'Tanya' hadn't assumed the form of Tom, or the FBI agent in front of him, and was just waiting for him to try and betray her?

"We've been watching you since you left your apartment this morning in the hope she would make contact again."

"She's not in my apartment."

"We know."

Arnold was about to ask if the FBI had a warrant, but realized that he could not risk provoking the agent. If he wanted to regain his masculinity he needed to be able to make the broadcast.

The agent stood up. "If she tries to contact you again, or if you remember anything, I want you to call me." The agent handed Arnold a card.

Arnold turned the card over in his hands as he fought an urge to confess to the FBI agent. He knew he couldn't take that risk, especially with the possibility of Tanya being very near and watching over him.

He stood up after the FBI man had left and suddenly felt himself drenched in sweat. He wiped his face with a tissue and adjusted the balled up sock in his underpants. He felt like he had gone through hours of vicious interrogation. It was only his position as one of the top reporters around that had spared him from being hauled in for questioning and instead just getting a short visit from the FBI. He did not feel that relieved about the fact though. There was also going to repercussions for his unwittingly helping Tanya, or whoever she was, get into the base, but that was irrelevant against regaining his manhood.

Tom opened the door and walked back into his office. "What was that all about?"

"Oh, they just want to find Tanya Carter to ask her some more questions. Apparently she's not at home."

"I saw some pictures of her on the footage you brought back. She's quite a fox, isn't she? I don't know how you do it, Arnold. You always seem to have the chicks after you."

"Just lucky, I guess." Arnold said as he retrieved his tape and heading back to the editing suite. Some luck, he thought to himself sourly.

He told his editor running the editing suite he wanted to work alone on the story for a while. She gave him a funny look but did as she was told.

Arnold pulled a piece of paper from his pocket and unfolded it. He didn't really need to look at it again as the contents were burned onto his mind. It went against every journalistic fiber in his being to do what he was about to do, but he knew he had no real choice. His life would be unbearable if Tanya released her doctored evidence showing that he actively helped her in transforming the soldier. It would be very easy for the authorities to deny him the stronger dose of the virus in the name of safety; condemning him to life as a half-female freak.

He sighed before setting to work.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Arnold shifted under the hot lights and listened to the voice in his ear counting down the seconds until he went live. Back when he had started in journalism, getting in front of the camera had given him a real buzz. After so many years it had become routine and then boring. He much preferred being out in the field rather than stuck in a studio.

"We're live in five seconds," said the voice in his ear, "four, three, two, one."

Arnold turned towards the camera, "Good Evening, I'm Arnold Lester. Tonight I will take you to the heart of what has to be the most important scientific discovery of this generation.

"Until a few months ago, Dr Anne Chamberlain was just one of many unsung scientists pushing back the frontier of knowledge. That all changed when she discovered the DNA Virus. A virus that was capable of rebuilding every cell in a person's body. Many people have called this a scientific miracle: Overnight, our possible lifespans have doubled, perhaps trebled.

"Others have said that it will lead to terror and fear. No longer will criminals be just able to rob you or your home. Now they'll be able to steal your very identity.

"In a moment I'll show you what life is like inside McDaniels base, where Dr Chamberlain and her team are under virtual siege from the world's press."

The light on the camera blinked off and Arnold relaxed. The producer's voice in his ear checked the running order and then counted down the time remaining until the adverts ended. Then they ran the film he had prepared earlier that day.

So far, so good, thought Arnold. Everything was going according to plan. Tanya's plan. He watched a monitor showing his film.

"McDaniels research base was constructed back in the late seventies," Arnold's voice over ran over a long shot of the base and the press camped around it. "It was dedicated to military research in the cold war, but has now found a new purpose in the dawn of the new millennium."

"It was here that I conducted the world's first in-depth interview with the woman behind this new discovery." The scene shifted to a head and shoulders shot of Anne.

"Doctor Chamberlain, how have you dealt with the media pressure that you have been under these past few months?"

Anne smiled, "It hasn't been easy, Arnold. I've spent years developing the virus and I never really thought about how the world would react to my discovery."

"But this is a world shattering discovery. You must have had some idea of the reaction?"

"I tend to be a bit single-minded at times," she replied, "Occupational hazard for a research scientist, I guess."

"There has been sizeable minority campaigning against the DNA Virus. Jack Montwell of the American Christian Brothers Alliance claims that it is an affront to God to try to rewrite the bodies God gave us."

"There has always been people who have protested against things they do not understand. The DNA Virus will bring many, many benefits. It can save lives, and I can assure Jack Montwell that however much the body is changed, the soul remains the same."

"Ah, you're referring to Paul Roberts, your boyf--um life partner."

"Yeah, that's been pretty hard on both of us."

"There has been some accusation that Paul was initially deliberately infected with the virus as a test by you."

Anne shifted in her seat and tried to keep the anger from her voice. "That is categorically not true! I know some people like to portray me as a modern-day Frankenstein, but there is no way that I would ever use this virus on someone without getting their informed consent first."

"And what do you have to say to those people who say we shouldn't be playing God?"

"This is a totally new form of treatment. We shouldn't turn our back on it simply because we've never seen anything like it before. At a fundamental level this is no different than organ transplants, blood transfusions or simple drugs. If we have to give up the DNA Virus we'd have to give up every major medical advance of the last three thousand years."

The scene shifted to more pick-up shots of the base. "Dr Chamberlain is not the only civilian hidden behind the barbed wire fence of the base. Easily the most famous of the others there is Paul Roberts. Like Dr Chamberlain he has rarely spoken directly with the media."

The picture cut to another anonymous barracks room with a slightly wary-looking, young, black woman sitting in it. "Paul," said Arnold from off-camera, "your story has been told many times over the last few months. Of how you were accidentally infected with the DNA Virus and how you panicked and fled across several states to Michael Kingston who had been forced to work for the drug-baron Quince."

The woman gives a small laugh. "Yeah, it makes me sound really stupid, doesn't it?"

"You managed to cope and survive where many would have just given up. What has life been like for you and Anne since then."

"It has been very difficult. Anne has the entire world watching and criticizing her every move. The media pressure as well as what happened to me has made it hard to have a normal life. I'm still the same person inside and we still love each other very much, and that helps a great deal."

"What was it like when Quince tricked you and effectively trapped you in that body."

"That was one of the worst days of my life. Research into the virus is at a very early stage, though, so I don't think I'll be spending the rest of my life in this form."

The scene cuts to an ambulance being escorted through the gates of the base. "Paul is far from alone in that fervent hope. Robert Petrucci is a young private in the army who had a bright future ahead of him. A loading accident had left him in a critical condition. His only hope of survival was the DNA Virus. The virus did indeed save his life, but in the process condemned him to a living hell. Find out how this happened, after these messages."

In the studio Arnold tried to avoid showing the apprehension he felt. This was where the tape he had prepared would diverge from the approved script. He wished he could see what was going on in the control room. If they had checked the tape and seen what was on it then his one chance of becoming male again was lost. None of the chatter in his earpiece suggested that they had checked the tape, but it still worried him. He could patch up his career after this, but no-one could give him dick back apart from Tanya.

The voice in his ear counted back down and he was back on the air. "The DNA Virus was given its first official test on a mortally injured soldier. The tension on the base increased dramatically as they prepared for the operation. I was allowed to sit in the viewing gallery with the soldier's parents. Dr Chamberlain had planned to give the dying Petrucci the DNA virus based on his own DNA in the hope that it would repair the damage his body had suffered."

The tape started running and Arnold watched the monitor as it showed the footage his cameraman had shot of the operation. A single injection was made into the broken body on the operating table and the transformation started. Almost immediately it was clear something was going wrong. The soldier's body was quickly replaced by that of a curvy asian girl.

A cry of anguish caused the camera to turn to its left to focus on a middle-aged woman hammering on the glass. The soldier's father was rooted to his seat, his face ashen with shock and disbelief. Petrucci's mother grew more distraught and it was at this point that the colonel of the base escorted her gently, but forcefully from the room.

"The unthinkable had happened," Arnold's pre-recorded voiceover continued. Someone had tampered with the sample. Suspicion quickly fell on Dr Michael Kingston. A man with a dubious past who was only allowed onto the project because he had the most experience with the virus after Chamberlain herself.

"But was Kingston's actions those of a terrorist, or a patriot? Before I left the army base I came into the possession of some disturbing evidence that proves that Kingston's actions were the last desperate attempt of a trapped man to wake the world to a new global threat." In the control room several voices talked urgently all at once. "The DNA Virus will be used and regulated exclusively by the government and it will use it to control the population. Democracy will become irrelevant as they will replace any elected official with their own men and women."

Tom's voice came over the earpiece, "Arnold, what the fuck is this?" Arnold was too ashamed to reply to his friend.

Arnold's tape was still on the air however. "What rights can we have in a world where anyone, your husband, your wife, your children, could be replaced at any moment by a government agent? We must act now, before our very lives are stolen from us."

Finally, someone had the sense to punch the stop button and the station cut hastily to an ad break. Arnold could hear Tom yelling and cursing in the control room. He pulled the earpiece off and looked around him. Well, he'd done it. He'd sacrificed every last bit of journalistic integrity he had for a few inches of flesh, but he doubted that anyone else in his position would have done anything different.

Tom stormed down from the control room. He grabbed Arnold's arm and dragged him out into a corridor. "Have you gone fucking mad!"

"Sorry Tom, I had to do it."

"If you had evidence like that why the hell didn't you bring it to me? You _do_ have evidence?"

"Not yet. Give me a day or so and I'll be able to tell you the whole story."

Tom's jaw dropped. "You've just accused the government of the largest conspiracy in history and you've got nothing?!"

Arnold backed away. "You don't know how sorry I am about all this. I've got to go now, there's an appointment I absolutely have to keep."

"You get back here, you asshole!" Tom bellowed.

Arnold just kept his head down and virtually ran from the building. Back in his car he sat there for a few moments. Even now he still couldn't believe this was happening to him, but he could feel the sock pressing against the new alien contours of his crotch. He started the engine up. After all this he couldn't let himself be late to the meeting.

Halfway across the city Tanya sat back in the chair and sipped a small celebratory glass of champagne. As she had expected the broadcast had been terminated almost as soon as Arnold had deviated from the agreed text.

But it had done enough. The country had been waiting for this report from the heart of the DNA story ever since the operation on Petrucci had gone wrong. Now they had a respected journalist giving dire warnings before being yanked from the air. Tanya smiled; she couldn't have timed it better if she had been in control of the broadcast.

She raised her glass to the screen. "Good girl," she said.

********************************

Part 9

"How's Anne taking it?" Michael asked.

Paul sighed and pushed a strand of hair out of his eyes. She's absolutely incensed. I don't blame her. CNN pulled the show and issued an apology, but the damage is done."

"You think he was working with this Tanya person after all?"

"Arnold Lester? He's a distinguished broadcaster with a crate load of awards over the years. I just don't see why he'd do that."

Michael looked at Paul, "Assuming it was Lester who made the broadcast, that is."

"Don't you start. The FBI are already going down the extremist terrorist group idea." Paul stood up and headed to the door. "Do me a favor, will you? Talk to Anne, she feels really guilty over what happened."

Michael was silent for a moment, "Okay, but she has to learn to trust me."

"Give her time, Michael."

Paul headed through the accommodation block to where two guards and Jeff was waiting. Paul looked into his twin's face and felt like he was looking into a mirror. He still found it odd to think of someone wearing the same face as him, but he found it even stranger to realize that he now felt the sweet african-american features were his real face. The time when he would look into a mirror and see a forty year-old white male looking back seemed so long ago. People adapt to the craziest of situations, he thought. How long will it be until I'm perfectly at home as a young black woman?

"You ready, Jeff?" he asked his twin.

"Yeah, I don't know what use I'll be though."

"Robert Petrucci has been through a lot. I thought it would help him to meet others who have been through what he has and show him we can survive it. You went through far worse than him and you survived."

Jeff shrugged. "If you call this survival."

"What happened to you was terrible, but you are recovering. Each day, I see more and more of the man who bodily carried me out of Quince's building all those months ago."

Paul patted Jeff on the shoulder and she smiled back. "Alright, lets do it."

Paul knocked and then he and Jeff entered.

The dainty Asian woman Robert Petrucci had become was looking out the window. He was dressed in pyjamas and a robe pulled tight around him that only served to show off the feminine curves of his body rather than hide them.

"Hiya, how are you doing?"

"I really don't know," Rob replied, "it feels like a really weird dream... or nightmare." He coughed. "Damn, I keep trying to clear my throat 'cause my voice sounds wrong."

"Are they keeping you up to speed?"

"About the fake reporter? Yeah. That's the problem with those people: They don't care how many lives they ruin, just about achieving their aims."

Robert turned to Paul's twin. "Oh, you must be Jeff. I heard what happened to you. It sorta puts thing in perspective I suppose. So what can I do for you?"

"It's more what we can do for you," Paul said. "In this room is virtually everyone who has undergone the DNA process. We've both been where you are now, Rob. I know how bleak everything seems. Your life might seem like it's over, but it will get better."

"I talked this over with Dr Chamberlain. I've got the weak strain of the virus, so I can take the stronger one and get back to my old self. Problem solved."

Paul walked over to him. "You know how dangerous that is. There's about a one in three chance you'll dissolve into a pile of goo. I've seen it happen and it ain't nice."

"Look, you may not have a way out of this because you had the stronger form of the virus, but I don't see why I should be crippled for the rest of my life. I've got a good chance to live if I take the stronger form."

"That's your father talking," Paul said hotly. "What do you want?"

"I want to go back to the way I was before. I don't want this, I never asked for it!"

"I've only got the weaker form of the virus," Jeff said. "Despite every effort they never got a unusable sample of my own DNA from my old apartment.

"But that doesn't mean you couldn't take a DNA Virus based on another man, does it? Why wait a moment longer than you have to?"

"Anne is a fantastic woman and a great scientist. She developed the Virus. Every day she comes closer to making the stronger virus safer. One day she might even find a way to restore me. You have a young, able body. Yes, its female, but you're alive. Please, Rob, don't allow your father to throw you into a reckless gamble."

Rob looked away. "It's impossible to forget I'm in the wrong body. Bits of me jiggle and do you know what it's like to reach down between your own legs and find a pussy instead of a cock?!" He was silent for a moment. "Sorry, of course you do."

"It's okay, Rob," Paul replied with a reassuring smile.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Anne rubbed her forehead and wished for a simpler time when all she had to worry about was research and getting funding instead of the added burdens of the media and now terrorists. "What do you mean 'gone'?" she asked the FBI man.

"We searched his apartment, but there was no sign of him, or any indication that he packed. It's as if he just stepped out for a few minutes. He never returned to his apartment after the broadcast."

"Are we even sure it was really Lester doing the broadcast?" Colonel Rigdon asked.

"It seems probable he was. He knew everyone there and knew his way about. We've drawn up protocols to try and identify how someone impersonating someone else with the DNA Virus would act. Your discovery has caused some headaches, doctor."

"Yeah, I know. I'm getting one myself. So Arnold Lester, for no clear reason, has joined this mystery woman in some crusade against me?"

The FBI agent shrugged. "No one knows. Until we get more information, I wouldn't even like to speculate."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Mandy was beginning to feel bottled up in the army base. Sure, she could go outside, but she would have put herself under the scrutiny of the press who had been driven into a frenzy by Lester's strange performance the previous night.

Who'd have thought that old goat would suddenly go psycho in the middle of a broadcast? Still, that hadn't been the greatest of the shocks. Mandy had been unable to believe that Tanya was the terrorist. She had treated Mandy and Jeff with great respect and compassion and Mandy had thought she had made a genuine friend there. Just went to show that you could never tell.

Bored, she wandered down to Anne's lab. The disruptions of the previous few days had meant that Anne hadn't had any time to restart her research, but the place was busy. From the door she saw Dr Marcus Belmont directing the setting up procedure. She remembered seeing him on her first day on the base and the way Jeff had reacted to him.

Apparently he had been recruited by Anne fairly recently to work with her on her DNA research team. An idea popped into her head and she smiled. She knew Jeff was attracted to Dr Belmont, though the transformed man was fairly embarrassed by the fact. Mandy wondered whether the feelings went both ways. She slid through the door and walked over to the doctor.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I am not wearing _that_," declared Rob as forcefully as he could with his new voice.

"Look, it's just a functional piece of clothing." Paul replied. "Its got no frills and its not made of silk. It is just a functional sports bra."

"I don't care what type of bra it is. I'm not wearing one!"

"We've been through this. You want your new anatomy to stop jiggling then you need one of these."

Rob looked at the twin black women and seethed. The worst thing about the situation was that they were right. But putting any piece of female clothing on, especially a bra would be a step down the road to accepting his new-found femininity. What would his father say?

Well, his parents weren't on the base at the moment, and it would reduce the strange shifting and jostling sensations he got with every movement. The way to think about it was as if it was any other normal, functional piece of clothing.

"Alright, I'll wear it. Give me a minute to change, okay?"

"Sure," Paul replied and the twins left him alone.

Rob looked at the pile of clothing on the bed and started to remove his robe. He had been stuck in the small bedroom ever since he had woken up after his transformation and he was starting to go stir crazy. Sitting there hour after hour and thinking about his predicament was getting to him and he hoped that a walk would at least stop him worrying so much.

He stripped off the ill-fitting pyjamas and picked up the bra. It was designed to fasten at the front for which Rob gave a silent thanks to Paul. Working out which way up it was supposed to go challenged him for a minute and then he slipped it on.

Steeling himself, he pulled the bra together over his breasts and then did it up. The bra was a good fit and after some adjustment of his new, alien protuberances he felt fairly comfortable. They certainly reduced the jiggling of his chest, though the strange weight and bulge was still there. He wondered if he would ever get used to being a possessor of such a perfect pair of breasts. The sensation of being held and supported there was very strange, though.

Next came a pair of briefs. They were large enough to fit the hips, but were very baggy around the crotch. Rob knew panties would fit better, but Paul had guessed rightly that the last thing the soldier wanted to face right now was more feminine clothes than was absolutely necessary.

After that was a thick white shirt. Rob was momentarily confused by the buttons being on the wrong side before he remembered that was how most womens clothes were made. It wasn't particularly feminine, but it fitted him well. He pulled on a baggy pair of light grey pants. He was actually quite happy with the way they hid the shape of his legs, though nothing could hide the curve of his hips or his ass.

The final touch was some socks and a battered pair of trainers. He looked at himself in the mirror. God, he thought, even with this on I don't even look that butch. The masculine cut of his clothes totally failed to mask his abundant femininity.

He stood by the door and tried to calm his nerves. He felt like he was about to go into battle, when all he was actually going to do was walk around an army base. Paul and Jeff were waiting for him outside. He gave them a small hesitant smile and they headed off to the main lab complex.

He followed the two black women through the base. Despite the feeling of being watched by every soldier he passed he was feeling better having got out of his room. He studied the twins as he walked. Paul was easily the more assertive of the two and yet he tended to dress more femininely, though while his clothes were designed for a woman, Rob had not seen him a skirt or dress. Jeff was quieter and more pensive. Her hair was cut very short and her male clothes didn't fit as well, though even she was obviously wearing female undergarments.

Their walk was feminine, though not outrageously so. Rob realized it was more a simple case of anatomy. He could feel the way his own hips swiveled as he walked and the different center of gravity of his new form meant he had to hold himself differently.

They reached the labs and Paul persuaded the guard to let them in.

In one corner Michael Kingston was taking several of the new researchers to the team through the basics of the DNA Virus. Anne was nowhere in sight, probably still having to deal with the fallout from Arnold Lester's incredible outburst. Rob had been very angry to see footage of his transformation used like that, even if he could see the point behind some of Lester's warnings. One of the other doctors was talking to a small, confident, young woman. She smiled when she saw them arrived and ushered the doctor over.

"Hiya, Paul, Jeff," She walked over to them. "And you must be Robert, how are you doing?"

"I really can't tell to be honest," he replied.

"Don't worry, I'm sure Anne and her team will sort the problem out soon." She pointed at the doctor. "This is Marcus, he's very clever and with his help they'll soon have the problem cracked."

Marcus was tall, fit and in his mid thirties. His refined features and framed by wavy dark hair made him quite attractive. Rob's stomach lurched as he realized the direction of his thoughts. Paul had warned him that he was now thinking with a genetically female mind and had told him of the subtle changes that would occur over time, but it still shocked him to look at another male and feel attraction.

Jeff wasn't the only one affected by Marcus' presence. Jeff had a strange look on her face, an odd mix of anticipation and fear. Rob knew Jeff had suffered far worse than he had when she had been transformed into a woman, but was that all that was responsible for her obvious desire for this man or would Rob soon be thinking that way?

"Let me show you around," Mandy said brightly and herded Rob and Paul away from Jeff and Marcus.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Paul asked when they were far enough away from Jeff and Marcus.

"I think its best for her. She still has to get to grips with her feminine desires."

"So do I, but do you think its wise? Jeff's mental state is still very fragile."

Mandy sighed. "Look, I've been with Jeff since the whole Quince affair. Look at her, she's a mass of contradictions. She wears only male clothes - though I've managed to convince her of the sense of female underwear - she wants to be referred to with the feminine pronoun, but she refuses to accept her form. She'll talk to Marcus, maybe something will happen and maybe it won't, but it will help her get to terms with her new existence."

Rob walked over to the thick glass window that looked into the clean room. At the center of the room was the store of the DNA Virus. As soon as he had signed the consent forms he could take the stronger virus based on his original male body and, even if it killed him, his nightmare would be over.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"I am a hunted man. Government agents have already raided my home and CNN in their search for me." Arnold Lester composed himself before continuing. "But the danger to me is irrelevant, the government has taken control of the DNA Virus and together with the collusion of the Virus' creator, Dr Anne Chamberlain, they will use it to subvert the democratic process and keep control.

"What is to stop them replacing senators or even the President with an imposter? If we stand by and do nothing one day you will wake up and you will have lost your identity!"

The video cut out to static and the presenter turned back to the camera. "This video has been sent to every news organization in the US. The White House has categorically denied that the DNA Virus is out of control or that it is being used for illegal purposes.

"It is not only in America that the DNA Virus is making news. Several European countries have voiced their disquiet at the development and a special session of the European Parliament has voted for a resolution on destroying all samples of the virus. China has started a policy of testing all of its citizens returning to the country to make sure they have not been replaced."

The camera switched to a close up of the presenter. "There have always been those fearful of what the DNA Virus may bring, but when someone of Arnold Lester's status feels he has to go on the run then the time has come to look much more closely at how the Virus is being used. Is it being used for the benefit of mankind, or to control it?"

Anne cursed as she switched the TV off. "Why don't they suggest Lester had been replaced?"

"He's one of their own," Paul replied. "They're convinced they'd know if he had been replaced."

"I'm going to have to go to Washington. There's a growing group of senators who want to shut down the DNA project while they debate about its use." She sighed, "God, I hate politics. Why can't I just be left alone to get on with research?"

"Because the world isn't fair."

Anne turned to the black woman slowly undressing beside her. Paul had on a beautiful white bra that contrasted wonderfully with his dark skin. The bra itself was of silk and lace and designed to be sexy as much as it was to be comfortable.

Anne marveled again at how she could now accept this sexy young woman as her lover. At first it had disconcerted her to see the old Paul in the looks and actions of the black girl when she tried to make love with him in his new form, but now she had come to cherish them. For all the changes he had been through, Paul was still the man she had fallen in love with.

She reached over and gently pulled him to her in an embrace, feeling his bra-clad breasts pressing into her. Their lips met and parted as the kiss grew more passionate. Her hands slid down over the smooth skin and started working to get Paul's pants open. He helped her before undoing the clasp on her skirt and letting it drop to the floor.

Anne guided her transformed boyfriend over to the bed and then knelt over him as he lay down. She fumbled with her blouse and pulled it off. Slowly, she leaned forward, making Paul wait until she made contact. Anne moved her face down to lightly brush the soft slopes of Paul's breasts. His nipples thickened and grew as her hot breath caressed them, pressing into the silk of his bra.

Without warning, she sucked one into her mouth and gently bit down, rewarded by the arching of Paul's back and a sharp, ecstatic, intake of breath. She lowered herself on top of him and pressed her thigh between his legs. Through his silky panties she could tell he was already wet.

Through all their lovemaking since Paul's change they had never used toys. It was a subject that had never been raised though not through fear of what the other might think. Anne smiled as she wondered how Paul would react if she presented a double-ended dildo one night. For the time being though, each other's body was more than enough to satisfy them.

Anne felt the smooth rounded curve of Paul's stomach as she moved her hand down and into her lover's panties. Paul instinctively spread his legs to give Anne better access. She slipped two fingers inside him and began lightly stroking his soft flesh. She worked his nipple clear of the top of the bra as she put her other arm under him to hold his hot, lithe body still.

Paul gave an inarticulate groan as she played his body. His fingers pushed through her hair as he held her head to his breast. His other hand ran gently up and down her spine, increasing her own arousal.

Paul arched his back under her and gave a small cry through gritted teeth as he came. Anne slowed her pace a little but did not stop. She slithered up his warm body and they kissed again. "I don't know what I'd do without you," she said.

"Good," Paul replied happily.

***********************

Part 10

Yet again, the strangeness of Rob's delicate female body struck him as he awoke. As he turned over and felt his breasts shifting on his chest he wondered if he would ever get used to his new form and what would happen if he did.

For the first time he was seriously asking himself if he wanted to take the stronger DNA sample. It was a risky thing to do, but either way, as his father had said, it was better than staying a girl. Paul had told him to stop going on what his father had said and think for himself. Paul didn't have to deal with his father, though.

He slowly climbed out of bed and dressed; the bathroom facilities were just at the end of the hall, but walking around in just a towel or robe wasn't an option anymore. The briefs still didn't fit well, but he couldn't bare the embarrassment of asking for panties.

He ignored the guards as best he could as he walked down to the bathroom and locked himself inside. The shower felt good even as it invigorated his strange new body.

Could he really delay taking the stronger virus? Taking the virus and risking killing himself was almost the easier option. Despite the obvious extent to which Paul and Jeff had adapted to their new female status, would life as a woman really be so bad to him. He wouldn't have to tell anyone that he had already found several men on the base attractive and simply because he had didn't mean he was at all likely to do anything about it. He could fight to retain his masculine outlook on life and wait until Anne and her team had made the stronger virus safer. Of course, if they never got close to succeeding he could always take the stronger virus at any time.

He sighed as he towelled himself down, trying to avoid the sensations it was generating. Making that decision was one thing, actually telling his father would be quite another. He dried off his long hair, giving himself a mental reminder to get it cut short. To his annoyance, the doctors wouldn't leave him alone with a pair of scissors after the change, just in case.

He left the bathroom just in time to see Paul in a smart business suit carrying a briefcase out of his and Anne's room. "You going somewhere?"

"Yeah," Paul replied. "I was going to see you in a few minutes. Me, Anne and Michael are on our way to Washington. This whole terrorist thing is really causing problems. Politicians and the press are becoming convinced there is something in what Lester has been saying, so we need to run a damage limitation exercise."

"You really think you can make a difference?"

"There's more to this than meets the eye. I don't know why Lester is doing this, but we're missing something. The FBI is going public with its hunt for Tanya Carter. That should slow down the critics for a while at least."

"I-I want to go with you." Rob said before he quite realized it.

Paul stopped and looked at him. "Are you sure? We're going right into the middle of the storm here."

"I'm the best person to defend you. I know how the media are portraying me, as a guinea-pig test run for the government's plan to subvert democracy. The best way to counter that is for me to say that it isn't true." And I can avoid my father for another few days, he added to himself.

Paul nodded. "Okay, if you're sure, but it's going to be rough."

"Don't worry. I'm trained to withstand combat conditions."

Paul smiled. "I wish I was."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Just two cars?" Paul asked sceptically.

"It'll attract less attention than a helicopter or a fleet of trucks," Anne replied. "With luck, we can get to the airfield and be on our way to Washington before the press finds out." She looked at the nervous young, Asian girl. "Are you sure about taking him along?"

Paul shrugged, "He wants to go and the Colonel said okay. If we can get him to talk on our behalf it will really help our case."

"Okay, but don't push him, Paul."

Anne, Paul, Michael and Rob got in one car, while a security team followed closely in another. Rob flinched at the flashbulbs of the press cameras as the cars pulled out of the base, but the smoked glass made certain that none of them could be seen.

The ride to the airport was quiet as everyone was tense. Rob was wondering if he had made the right decision. If his father thought he was running away from the cure to his femaleness then Rob thought he'd be disowned by him. Being in the army meant taking risks at times, but something that was always emphasised was that you only took necessary risks. He wasn't in any danger of dying or even disablement in his current position. How could he justify taking a virus that had a one in three chance of killing him?

He became aware of a battered red car that had overtaken their security team and had pulled alongside their car. The driver glanced left and swore. Before he could do anything the red car swerved and smashed into the side of their vehicle.

The car span off the road and only the skill of the driver kept it from flipping. The red car was still on the road and it roared off down the highway as fast as it could go. The security team knew better than to pursue and pulled in behind the main car.

"Everyone okay?" Paul asked.

The other passengers were unhurt but shaken.

"Looks like security wasn't as good as it should have been," Rob commented. He looked out the window. There were several ramshackle buildings alongside the road, from which he saw a semi-automatic weapon pointing.

"Down!" he yelled as the gun opened up. The security team scattered as gunfire raked both cars.

Everyone huddled down in their seats while the driver struggled with the engine that steadfastly refused to start. The driver radioed the other car and it pulled up alongside the dented car. The guards sprang out of their car and arranged themselves around it to give covering fire, but they could see no targets. Anne was first out and into the waiting car.

It was as Paul was scrambling out that the second attack began. Something ricocheted off the car while something else thudded into his side. Paul looked down to see a dart sticking into him. He pulled it out and threw it to the ground as the guard next to him was hit by another one.

They ducked down behind the car. "I don't feel tranquillised," Paul said. "What was in that?"

The guard shrugged, but then dropped his gun as he ripped open his shirt. Thick gray hair was spreading out from the puncture wound on his chest. Paul realized with a sick fear that he was watching the DNA Virus at work once again and this time it wasn't based on a human. That wasn't hair, it was fur.

The guard shrieked in terror as the patch grew in size. As he watched his torso was reshaped into something inhuman. Paul put a hand to where the dart had hit him, but his skin was unchanged. For once he was thankful that he already had the strongest form of the DNA Virus in his bloodstream.

The guard was not nearly so lucky. His ribcage had expanded to a much more rotund size, splitting his shirt open in the process, and his skin was now covered in gray fur. The virus reached the guard's hips and he was thrown forward as their configuration altered from that of a two- legged animal to a four-legged one. His pants ripped as his hindquarters grew and Paul was shocked to see a tail pushing through a gap.

"Christ," said one of the other members of the security team, "he's turning into a donkey!"

Another dart smacked into the disabled car shielding them and everyone ducked.

"Help me!" cried the guard in a voice that was already more guttural and less human. The virus had passed his shoulders and was now well on its way to turning his arms into another set of legs. Paul watched as one of the guard's shoes fell off and he saw a foot twist itself into a hoof.

The guard's pleading descended into braying as the neck altered and changed. No one could look away as his face started to be covered in gray hair and push out into a more equine shape.

The hands were the last to go, folding up and hardening into another pair of hooves. There, changed in under a minute, stood a donkey in the tattered suit.

"We're surrounded!"

Paul turned at the sound of the shout from one of the remaining guards and saw that several dozen men had appeared from their hiding places all around them. They had been waiting until the distraction of the guard's transformation before emerging.

"There's no way we can get into the other car and get out of here," Paul hissed. "Get Anne out of here, and come back for us later."

The leader of the security team agreed with Paul. Any attempt to get more in the surviving car would only result in their slaughter or horrific transformation.

Anne realized what was happening only as the car pulled away. She had to be restrained by the other guard in the car as the driver floored the gas.

The attackers turned on Anne's car, but they were hadn't been expecting it to abandon the others. Several bullets smacked into the car, doing no damage to its strengthened shell. One of the attackers stood his ground, aiming a shotgun right at the driver.

The first shot frosted the windshield with cracks and Paul knew it couldn't withstand a second. But the attacker had miscalculated and before he could get a second shot off the car rammed him with a sickening thud and threw him across the hood and onto the ground where he lay, still and broken.

Paul, looked at the panicked look in the donkey's eye and he wondered how much the former guard could understand, how much he remembered.

"Drop ya guns and surrender!" Shouted one of the attackers. "If ya don't then your friends are goin' to find a whole herd of donkeys by the time they get back here, understand?"

Paul, looked over at Michael and Rob, both of whom were crouched in the disabled car, and then over at the two remaining guards.

"We have to surrender," Paul said.

"Are you crazy?" Michael hissed. "Reinforcements will be here in minutes."

"They have us cold," one of the guards said. "By the time back-up gets here, we'll all be dead or worse. I hate to say it, but Mr Roberts is right."

"I'll do it," Paul said, "in case they're still trigger happy with those dart guns."

"And if they shoot real guns?" Michael asked.

"Then it won't be the first time, will it?" Paul tried to steady his nerves. Slowly he stood up with hands up. "Alright, we surrender!"

"Move away from the car with ya hands up!" The lead attacker replied, without lowering his own weapon for an instant. "It feels nice to say that for once instead of bein' told it," he remarked to the other gunmen with a grin.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Anne had demanded to go back with the troops, but she had been told to stay put in no uncertain terms. The image of Paul's face, shrinking into the distance as her car had pulled away was etched into her mind. She had lost him once, she was determined not to let it happen again.

"We have to go back!"

"I know how you feel," the guard sitting next to her said, "but Mr. Roberts was right, we can't risk your safety. The crash team is going in now. They'll be on the scene in the next few minutes."

A minute later Anne watched a military helicopter clatter overhead, but she knew it was already too late.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Half an hour later Anne was sitting shell-shocked in Colonel Rigdon's office. They were both listening to the radio chatter of the search crews.

"Who the hell were they?" Anne demanded

"I won't lie to you," Rigdon replied, "I think we're dealing with the worst sort of terrorist. They're not in it for the money, they believe the DNA Virus is a threat and they will do all they can to destroy it."

"They're going to want me, aren't they, in exchange for Paul and the others."

"We can't let that happen. There's a chance they'll let them go, they'll see them more as victims than enemies. But if they ever got hold of you... well, we know they have the DNA Virus. God alone knows what they'd do to you with it."

"They don't seem to have any moral problems with using it themselves," Anne pointed out. "That doesn't make sense."

"They're terrorists," Rigdon told her. "The end justifies the means in their book. Don't expect rationality from them." He was silent for a moment. "Look, uh, I know how pre-occupied with Paul and everything, but the guard infected with the DNA Virus will be arriving within the hour."

"Don't worry, Colonel. I'll do what I can, but until I've examined the Virus they injected him with I don't know I can do anything for him."

There was a knock at the door and the colonel turned to see Anne's assistant Jim poke his head around the door. "There you are, Auntie. I just heard, are you okay?"

"I don't know." Anne replied, losing her fight to stay in control.

Jim walked over to her and held her. "It's going to be okay. They're going to turn up safe, you'll see."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The three guards, Paul, Rob and Michael were switched from vehicle to vehicle over the next hour. Rob tried to get his bearings, but he was unable to work out where they were or where they were going. The corpse of the one terrorist fatality had been taken with them, but none of the other gunmen seemed bothered by the death of their accomplice. The last switch, to a battered red van, had been in a dingy back alley. Their captors were an odd assortment of street thugs. They didn't appear anything like the anti-DNA Virus terrorists he had been expecting. They were on a high from having successfully pulled off the raid without any real problems and were laughing and joking among themselves.

Rob was sandwiched between two of the captured security team and he was very glad that they acted as a sort of barrier between him and their captors. Some of the gunmen were looking at him with quite obvious lust on their faces. He felt fear welling up inside of him when he thought about what they obviously wanted to do with him. He looked down at the floor and couldn't help noticing his large breasts rising and falling with each breath.

After what seemed like hours the van shuddered to a stop and the rear doors were opened. From the quick glimpse Rob got they were in some derelict industrial park. One of the gunmen grabbed Rob and held him tight with one hand while pressing the barrel of a gun in his back. All the other captives got similar treatment and were dragged inside one building and down a flight of stairs to a basement.

Rob felt the hand moving from his waist up to his abundant bosom. The hand slipped over one large breast and squeezed hard. Rob gasped despite himself and felt utterly afraid for what might come next.

The hand was suddenly knocked away by the captor's ringleader. "What the fuck do ya think you're doing?" he demanded of the man holding Rob. "You know what we were told!"

"It's just a little fun! That bitch isn't in control."

"As far as you are concerned," a female voice said from the darkness of the far corner of the basement, "I am. I answer to Lazlo and you answer to me."

The woman walked forward and into the range of the one dim bulb in the room. Beside him, Rob could hear Paul whisper, "Tanya."

"Now," Tanya said to the thug holding Rob, "unless you want to be _very_ intimately acquainted with her body you will do as I say. Is that clear?"

Rob could feel his captor tense then quickly release his grip on Rob's breast.

Tanya turned to the gang ringleader. "Where's the scientist?"

"They had two cars, we could only disable one. She fucked off leaving the rest behind."

The woman grimaced, "No matter, we'll get her here soon enough." She turned and walked further back into the basement.

The six were dragged down a dark corridor into a small room, one half of which was behind rusting iron bars. "Everyone in, bar him," Tanya said with venom pointing at Michael.

The door was opened with a squeal and then everyone except Michael was bundled inside. Rob saw a figure huddled at the back of the cell under a blanket. With a start, Rob realized it was the CNN reporter Arnold Lester.

Tanya also noticed the reporter. "You know the rule, Lester. No covering up!" She told him with a sick grin.

With a look of utter defeat on his face, Lester removed the blanket. Rob couldn't believe what he saw. The CNN reporter was wearing white silk stockings attached to a garter belt, a matching pair of panties and a pair of small white high-heeled shoes. The legs looked very feminine and shapely and Rob saw that the lacy, figure hugging panties didn't look right. There was no familiar male bulge. He has a pussy! Rob realized with shock. The lips of his new gender were clearly visible.

"That's better," Tanya said grinning, "good girl." She walked closer to the cell. "Now, if you do as you are told, then you may just get out of this alive." She pointed to Rob, "You're not involved in this, I'll release you in a few hours. You are going to deliver a message for me."

She narrowed her eyes as she contemplated Paul. "I haven't decided about you, but I will not rest until I get your mad-scientist girlfriend and what I plan to do her will be punishment enough."

Tanya turned around and faced Michael, the only captive still outside the cell. "I've been waiting for the right time to get you. It's been so long." She pointed at the floor and one of the thugs kicked Michael's legs out from under him. Before he could get back up Tanya drove the toe of her high-heeled boot viciously into his ribs.

"I read the police and FBI reports, you bastard!" Tanya screamed at the scientist. She aimed another kick at his face, but he blocked with his arm. "It was you!" She kicked him again several times, clearly at the point of losing control.

"Please!" Michael pleaded. "I don't know what you're talking about!"

"Oh, yes you do." she replied with venom. "Do you remember when you broke into Quince's house? You were there to rescue your friends, but that didn't stop you from switching vials in a case you found. My case! It wasn't my fault Quince did what he did! Yet you made very sure I suffered."

Michael looked up in shock. "Simonds?" he whispered.

"Yes. I worked for Quince for the same reason you did. There was no one else who would employ me. I was nothing more than another of his pawns, yet you condemned me to this fate. You should have killed me, because what I have planned for you will make what I've been through seem like paradise."

"Quince was a drug smuggler," Paul whispered to Rob, "and that bastard Simonds was his second in command. Between them they killed a dozen policemen and turned me and Jeff into twin, black girls. Far from innocent."

Tanya visibly restrained herself as she stood back from Michael. "Take him to the room prepared. I'll be along in a minute." She smirked at the occupants of the cell. "Take a good look, you'll never see him again. Well, not in that body anyway."

************************

Part 11

Michael was dragged down a dingy corridor to a small brightly lit room at the far end. He was still hurting from the vicious kicks Simonds had given him.

He remembered back to when he and Paul had sneaked into Quince's house. Quince had used the DNA virus to allow members of his gang to replace local police officers. When Michael and the others had gone to report Quince they had walked into a trap. Jeff and Mandy had been captured and it had been up to Paul and Michael to rescue them.

Michael could remember the suitcase Simonds was talking about. It had been filled with cash and a vial of the DNA Virus. The Virus would provide the perfect disguise. So Michael had swapped the vial in the case for one of the many Quince had had him produce. The case had disappeared when Quince and Simonds had escaped separately, and while the police had a good idea what had happened to Quince, Simonds had apparently dropped off the face of the Earth.

The room he was dragged into was lit by one powerful lightbulb and contained a heavy metal chair. He was pushed into it and his arms and legs were strapped tightly to it. Then the thugs left and shut the door behind them.

Michael's heart was pounding. What was Simonds going to do to him? What sort of twisted revenge had she come up with in the months since he had last seen her?

After what seemed like an eternity the door opened and Simonds walked into the room. She was carrying a small case which she placed on the floor. She closed the door behind her and just looked at Michael with a small smile on her face. "You have no idea how long I've waited for this moment," she told him.

She walked towards him. "Do you know what happened to me after your little joke with the vials?"

Michael said nothing. He felt a helpless terror welling up inside of him, but he refused to let it show.

"Cat got your tongue?" Simonds asked and then smiled. The smile quickly evaporated. "I'll tell you then. I took the DNA Virus in a back alley. Thanks to you I ended up with this body. Then I was set upon by a street gang. They took all my money-"

"It wasn't your money," Michael retorted.

"I never heard a complaint when we paid you with it!" Simonds virtually screamed in his face. She visibly restrained herself and then continued the story. "Worse than losing the money was what they did to me. They raped me over the next few hours. But I survived and I moved on. But with no money and no legal identity my options were limited.

"I survived those first few weeks by walking the streets. I had to put myself under the control of a pimp just to get a place to sleep." Her face contorted at the memory. "But I got my revenge. When I got this little outfit organised," she gestured around herself, " I went back for him. He spent the last weekend of his life in a copy of my body 'servicing' man after man."

Simonds ran her hand up Michael's bound arm. "Now that I have both the weaker and stronger versions of the virus I can be far more creative with you. Do you have any idea of what it is like to wake up Every day confronted with a pussy and tits that are forever part of you? To have men drooling all over you and treating you like an idiot because you're a female? You're the one responsible for me being stuck in the body of a woman, so I should return the favor."

Michael shuddered. He had often wondered what it would be like to have to go through what Paul and Jeff had, but he had never really worried that he ever would. Now he faced the real possibility of losing his manhood and the face that had been his all his life to this madman. A thought occurred to him, "Why are you still in that body?"

"What?"

"I used the weaker form of the virus on the sample I placed in your case. You could use the stronger form and become male again if you hate it so much."

She had no answer to this and seemed disconcerted by his question.

"You're scared, aren't you?" Michael exclaimed. "You know that one simple injection can restore you to manhood and you're more likely to live than die, but no matter how much you hate being a girl you are still more afraid of dying!"

She moved forward and slapped him hard across the face. She was trembling with rage now. "You'll be able to understand my position in a minute. Perhaps, you might."

She walked back to the case she had brought into the room and removed a loaded syringe and a pair of scissors. "As you must have guessed this is DNA Virus based on a woman. A very special woman, however. Simply changing you into a girl is too good for you. Ever since I started planning to get in and steal the Virus I've been working out exactly what I was going to do with it."

Simonds bent down and started pulling Michael's shoes off. "You would really love to meet that woman. She's got large, gravity-defying, perfectly natural tits. The sweetest pussy you'll ever find on a woman, flawless skin and curves in all the right places. A real beauty with platinum-blonde hair."

She began cutting off his pants. "What's up, Michael? Did you think I'd make you really old, or an ugly woman or a very young girl? Did you think I might make you an animal just like Quince? Don't think I didn't consider them. All of them have advantages and disadvantages, but Miss America has one unique advantage which I'm just going to love watching.

"She has a mental age of four."

Michael's terror finally got the better of him and he began struggling to be free of the metal chair. The thick leather straps did not give and all he succeeded in doing was hurting himself. Simonds had stood back and waited until Michael had stopped struggling and hung dejectedly. Then she resumed cutting away his shirt. Finally she cut away his shorts and left him naked in the chair. "I don't want to miss a second of this," she explained to him

She put the scissors well out of reach and then picked up the syringe. "This is going to be so good. You won't have the brainpower to dress yourself properly, but you'll know. You'll know what you were once capable of and why you are the way you are. Now, this is the stronger form of the virus, so there is a fair chance you won't live, but I'm willing to take the risk. If this works, you'll know there is no hope you'll ever regain your old body. You'll stay a brain damaged slut for the rest of your hopefully long life."

She leaned down and jabbed the syringe between the toes of his left foot and injected the contents of the syringe. "Not too much," Simonds said, "I don't want you to transform too fast."

Michael listened for signs that the building was being invaded by a SWAT team. If Anne got to him before his head was changed he still had a chance to live a somewhat normal life. He could hear no sounds that suggested they were under attack. He found himself hoping the DNA Virus would kill him.

He felt a tingling in his foot and he looked down to see it writhe and change into a smaller and more delicate shape. Simonds let out a sigh. "It's working!"

Michael caught himself wishing the virus had dissolved him. Seeing how Paul had put his life back together had shown him that changing sex was not the end of the world, but Paul's mind hadn't changed. To be mentally crippled like that would be a living death to Michael, and he knew that Simonds would make sure no serious harm came to him.

The creeping sensation was moving up his leg now, slowly gaining pace as the virus multiplied through his body. Simonds had been as good as her word regarding the flawless skin of the form he was turning into. His leg shortened as the change progressed and was pulled tight in the restraints.

Michael looked up to see Simonds watching eyes wide and clearly very excited. "Think, Michael, while you can, of what your life will be like as every man's greatest fantasy: A dumb blond. A really dumb blonde. Just enough of you left inside to know what I've done to you."

He looked down at the creeping line of change making its way across his thigh towards his manhood. This is not happening, a part of his mind repeated over and over. No matter how hard he tried to believe it he couldn't stop the relentless change coursing through his body.

The feeling of strangeness as his pelvis started changing shape deeply disturbed him, but there was no pain. He watched in total denial as his penis and balls shrunk and folded themselves into a woman's sex framed by light blonde pubic hair.

His waist shrunk just as his hips had widened and the virus continued its march up through his body and down his other leg. Michael watched the creeping line of change as it advanced, making smooth, feminine curves out of his slightly hairy, male form.

He felt like begging for his life, but one look at Simonds told him that he wouldn't get any mercy. Crying for mercy was just what Simonds would be hoping for. A strange pushing sensation in his chest made him look down.

Michael struggled to hold back his panic as he saw his breasts starting to grow. His nipples had already grown significantly and were now decidedly female teats. The pull on his chest grew heavier and heavier as his chest expanded into an abundant bosom. Michael's head swam as he tried to grapple with the fact that these sensitive weights would be a part of him for the rest of his life. His nipples sprang erect as the cold air washed over them, but he was concentrating on the feeling of change that was now approaching his neck.

"You're not going to get away with this," he said to Simonds with a steady a voice as he could, but already he could hear it cracking and rising in tone. "They'll find you and they'll make you pay!" The last few words were spoken with a totally female, high-pitched voice that removed some of the impact of his words, but his anger was unmistakable.

The virus entered the base of his head and he felt his lower jaw change and shrink. The upper jaw followed swiftly and Michael knew that the DNA Virus was now at the base of his brain. In seconds it would do its terrible work and his intellect and personality would be permanently crippled. A living death.

His vision rippled as the virus passed his eyes and then long blonde hair was cascading in front of them. As the virus transformed the last few cells. Michael was gripped by a panic that consumed him totally and he started screaming; a piercing screech of pure terror.

Simonds walked forward and looked into the large, blue - and very frightened - eyes. Despite herself, she felt very turned on. This is what Quince had been addicted to: Power. It was rare that she felt aroused these days. Sex, since her transformation had been nothing more than a commodity; sold to gain and hold power. The few times she had been aroused during intercourse had only led to denial and self-loathing.

But it had been worth it. The first part of her revenge had finally been carried out. Simonds watched the panic-stricken, large- busted woman with glee. Now Michael Kingston would learn what it was like to have man after man violate and penetrate his body, but he - unlike Simonds - would no longer have the brains to use sex to his advantage.

Simonds' hand slipped under her skirt and stroked herself through the slippery fabric of her panties - one of many pieces of sexy lingerie Lazlo had given her as gifts. The thought of Lazlo dampened her ardour a little, but she refused to let even him break her mood.

She grabbed Michael by his delicate chin and stared into his very- frightened eyes. "You're going to have men fighting over the right to fuck you."

"Fuck?" Michael said in a voice almost like that of a little girl's.

"You know what it means. There's enough of you left to understand that. Do you know what's worse than all that? Your body will make you love it. Fight it if you want, in time you'll be begging for it."

Simonds stood back with a smirk on her face and walked over to the case she had brought with her. "That reminds me, you need a dose of 'fixer'." She picked up a second syringe and walked back to Michael.

As soon as Michael saw the syringe he pulled at the straps holding him down. "No more. No more change!"

Simonds laid a hand on Michael's soft bare leg. "It's okay, it won't change you. It'll just make it highly unlikely you'll infect anyone else with your DNA. The last thing I want is for Lazlo's people to all turn into busty girls with the IQ of cabbage. Not that they're that much brighter to start with." She injected the contents into Michael's leg.

"There. All done. It'll probably be a few days until I get my hands on Anne Chamberlain, so we'll have plenty of time to enjoy your predicament. We are going to have so much fun."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Paul watched the single guard. He was on the far side of the room to the cell Paul, Rob and the three survivors of the security team had been locked in and sitting next to the one exit from the room. Paul knew that the building was full of thugs working for Tanya... Simonds, he corrected himself. Even if they could get out they'd be heavily outgunned. None of his captors, with the exception of Simonds, seemed to fit the stereotype of terrorists, more like hired thugs.

Paul moved to the back of the cell where Arnold Lester sat forlornly on a rickety bed. He made a very incongruous sight to Paul. His upper-body was that of the reporter he had grown to know and despise. Yet from his waist down he was dressed in only white, and very sexy, lingerie that emphasised rather than hid the very shapely form he had from the middle of his torso down.

Arnold had said very little since Michael had been dragged away to God knew where by Simonds. Paul sat down beside Arnold, who didn't acknowledge his presence. "So," Paul began, "do you want to talk about it?"

"No."

"Lester, you are responsible for us being here. You're responsible for what happened to Rob. You owe us an explanation."

"I-I never meant for any of this to happen. I was as shocked as you probably were when Tanya turned out to be the saboteur."

"You should have come to us when Simonds tried to blackmail you into helping her," Paul said, fully aware of the personal hypocrisy. When he had been initially transformed into a half-man/half-woman he had not believed Anne and had got as far as way as he could, only to end up in the hands of the drug-runner, Quince.

Simonds had obviously got the idea of how to blackmail Lester from the half and half form Paul had worn, though Lester's body was male above the waist rather than below it like his had been.

"Maybe you're right," Lester replied defeatedly. "Anything would be better than being held by that madman... woman, whatever."

"Has she done... anything to you since you disappeared."

"Nothing apart from this," Lester said, his hand touching his stocking clad thigh. But she's been playing with me, telling me how she was going to enjoy seeing me fucked by a man. It was only when you lot showed up that she lost interest in me."

"Don't count yourself lucky just yet," Paul told him. "If we don't get out of here soon she'll soon use us up and turn back to you."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jeff wandered aimlessly around the army base. Its population had only been reduced by six people, but it seemed empty to her. She had only known Rob for a short time, but she found herself liking the transformed soldier. Her greatest fear was for Paul who was virtually family these days.

Thanks to Paul and Mandy she was beginning to feel a little like her old self. Whereas a few weeks before she would have prefered to hide herself away in her room she was off around the base on her own.

Lost in thought she reached the end of a small corridor and looked at the door in front of her. 'Dr Marcus Belmont' had been written on the door's name plate. The thought of the tall, young doctor made Jeff's stomach flip. The idea of being attracted to men was one that she still found very difficult to face. Yet it had been there from the day she had first emerged out of her drugged state following her transformation.

Mandy had urged her to live life to the full and make the best use of whatever she'd got, however different it was from what she had started with. She looked at her arm which still felt very small and weak beneath her shirt sleeve compared to the muscled one she had worked hard to achieve in her male body.

The old Jeff had been independent and confident. Since the change she had been the exact opposite, but Paul was right. The confidence was returning. She wasn't exactly the old Jeff - her experiences had changed her as much as her body had been - but she wasn't terminally afraid of the future now.

On impulse, she knocked on the door.

"Come in," a voice said distractedly.

Jeff looked up the corridor to see if she had been seen and then slipped inside the office. Marcus Belmont was going through a large box of notes and his office was covered in unopened boxes and scattered papers. "Sorry," he said. "I'm not known for my tidiness at the best of times."

Jeff saw him in a totally different way than the old Jeff would have. The old Jeff would have been able to recognize that Marcus was handsome, but, of course, would not have felt any attraction to him.

Mandy had been very transparent in the way she had got Jeff and Marcus talking the day before. Jeff didn't mind. As ever, the small, exuberant Mandy had had the right idea.

"I was just passing," Jeff said hesitantly, "and, well, I could do with someone to talk to."

"Has there been any word?"

"Nothing yet. Look, about yesterday."

"Did I overstep the mark? I know you've been through a lot and--"

"Don't worry about that. I'm not made out of glass. You know my history and what I used to be?"

"Well, yeah. Anne Chamberlain is a world leader in the field I work in, so I followed the whole case closely."

"Doesn't that worry you? That I am - was - a man?"

"Not really. I've always been open-minded."

"And are you involved with anyone at the moment?"

"No. I feel like I'm being interrogated," he joked.

"You are," Jeff returned with a smile. She looked around for a seat, but the only other chair was covered with boxes of paper.

"Hang on a minute, I'll clear that for you."

"Don't worry about it. I'll sit here." Before Marcus could move, Jeff had sat down in Marcus' lap.

"Are you sure you want to do that?"

"I'm just sitting on your lap, nothing more. I'm not going to move that fast." She put an arm around his neck and leaned on him. "This doesn't feel that bad - very weird to be in this position and liking it - but not bad." She wiggled her bottom and smiled, "You seem to be enjoying yourself too."

"Um, sorry."

"Don't be. I know no man can control that part of them. They say a person is shaped by their experiences. You've helped me realise that I have to stop running away from my new self and embrace the changes." The smile faded, "And with Paul and the others missing I've already got plenty to worry about."

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

Simonds stepped back and looked at the confused blonde bombshell still strapped into the chair. The next few weeks were going to make all her own degradations over the past few months almost worthwhile.

The door was thumped several times behind her. "What is it?" she asked irritated.

"Lazlo's here and he's not happy."

"Shit," Simonds remarked to herself quietly. "I'll be right there." She walked to the door. Just before she left she turned and looked at Michael again. "I have to go now, but when I come back I'll bring some playmates who'll just love your sexy little body."

Michael watched Simonds smile and leave. He heard the door lock and he was left alone with his barely suppressed terror.

TO BE CONTINUED...