How many years had it been? How many generations had gone by? Commander Neil Talcon was one of the first volunteers to man a mission to colonize planets outside of our own solar system. It was going to be a long journey, so scientists had come up with a clever way to keep their trained crew alive with limited rations. Brains and bodies were kept in stasis for the duration of the trip, requiring little food and energy. However, the bodies would still age, requiring artificial insemination for breeding purposes for several generations until it was nearly time for landing, at which point the original crew’s brains would be transplanted into their descendants’ bodies -- a direct descendant would reduce the risk of rejection. The brains were delivered low electrical stimulus to keep them active. It was like a constant dream. Commander Talcon thought he was still dreaming as his new body opened it’s eyes in the stasis chamber. He soon recognized the ship and realized he wasn’t dreaming. But his body felt strange. The ship had mechanisms to prevent atrophy, but he wondered if they had malfunctioned; his body just didn’t feel right. Finally, the facts dawn on him. He hadn’t even thought that he might end up in a woman’s body. However, it was probably a 50/50 chance each time that his descendant would be a woman. It was a weird feeling, but he wasn’t about to let that compromise his mission!
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