The Sex Gates

by Darrell Bain;Jeanine Berry

  “No.” I didn't even have to think about that one.

  “See? Let's face it; all those new women still retain a male outlook. They've all either heard or seen the pain women go through during childbirth. And they weren't raised with the desire to be a mother."

  I thought it over. “You're probably right. That doesn't speak very well of men, does it?"

  She reached over and patted me on the thigh. “Don't let it bother you. Men can't help being what they are. Besides, the drop will only be temporary. Eventually, the women who turned into men will go through a second time and turn back into women. What's more, if we really are on the verge of immortality, babies might become obsolete. No need to create a new generation when the old one is never going away."

  That startled me. “What about ours?"

  Rita laughed. “Don't worry. I have it scheduled in for next year sometime."

  “Has your implant expired yet?"

  “I think so. I may already be vulnerable."

  I put my arm around her and nuzzled the side of her neck. “Good.” “Hey! Don't make me wreck the car!” She grabbed my knee and shook it, laughing.

  I didn't mind the rest of the drive at all, country roads or not.

  * * * *

  We made the announcement to Russell and Donna that night while Russell was there. We had been waiting for his return.

  We both got enough hugs and kisses and congratulations to last until the next Millennium.

  “Hey, I wondered why y'all have been being so exclusive lately. No wonder!” Russell's grin replaced the slightly puzzled look he'd worn the last week or two. I hadn't thought about it at the time, but I now realized he was feeling left out. Although I'm not sure why—Donna had certainly been giving him enough attention. I think Rita clued her in on our plans earlier. Now I got it. Rita had been way ahead of me, as usual.

  We had a celebration that night. No one bothered to cook, and eventually we sent out for loads of pizza to soak up the booze. It was cold so I built a fire in the big great room fireplace. We threw thick comforters and blankets and rugs in front of it and laughed and talked. We even managed to agree on an entertainment program, a modern remake of an old film about genetically enhanced pets and the havoc they wreaked on earth. It seemed tame now in comparison to what the gates were doing, but there were some erotic sex scenes, including one sensuous lesbian interlude. Watching it revived Russell and me just when we thought we were finished for the night. It may even have done something for the girls. They giggled and tried to reproduce it for our benefit, then got carried away and ignored us. Finally, we parted company. Rita and I went to our room.

  We both took Nohang pills and showered together while they worked overtime neutralizing all the alcohol we had absorbed. Afterward, we lay side by side and made slow, easy love for what seemed like hours.

  “I love you so much, Lee. I wish this could go on forever,” Rita murmured, stroking my back in time to my short, easy strokes into her body.

  “Mmm, me too.” I leaned away from her far enough to bring my hand to her breast. She pulled me back to her, leaving my hand where it was.

  We went to sleep in that position.

  * * * *

  I remember the following week as one of the happiest of my life. Rita told me that she had conceived. I like to think that it was the night of the celebration, but it could have been a day or two later. No matter, I was as pleased and proud as a politician coming from behind to win his first election, and the others shared my feelings wholeheartedly. We had agreed long ago that when the time came we wouldn't select our first progeny for sex, but just take what came. As soon as Rita told the others, good-natured speculation began, as well as a friendly pool, which included the possibility of twins or triplets.

  We even began talking about names. I favored a junior if it were a boy, even though I hated my first name. Rita wanted to name her Rikki if it were a girl. She always thought ahead. If someday our child decided to go through a gate, there wouldn't be any problem about names.

  While the friendly bantering was going on, Mary called again. She wanted me to try more humor. She already had a contract ready for me, a series of amusing anecdotes and pratfalls concerning the gates. It appealed to me so I okayed the contract and promised her to get started on it in a few more days, as soon as the opening day festivities of the Ruston shelter and food center were over with.

  * * * *

  “You will all be seated right down in front with the mayor and police chief and county commissioner,” Rita announced early that morning. She was all bubbles and excitement. She had a right to be. In addition to working on her doctorate and traveling with me, she had put in a lot of hours during the shelter's construction and added more helping to organize the opening.

  “How large a crowd are you expecting?” I didn't really care but wanted to distract her and calm her down.

  “Oh, well, all our Fourth Worlders will be there, of course, along with the school board and all the members of the Chamber of Commerce and oh, lots more. All our neighbors, and the ranchers and farmers are coming in to see. The local ministers and their congregations. It's going to be wonderful!” She twirled in a circle, sending her skirt flying up around her thighs and giving us a glimpse of her panties.

  “Don't do that at the ceremonies,” Russell said. “You'll stop them in their tracks.” He was joking, of course. We were happy for her and her success with the project.

  I was proud of our little town, too. Businessmen and laborers alike had volunteered their time and money to make sure the shelter was a success, and the churches had contributed even more. Of course, the churches had a vested interest; in the last decade or two it had fallen mostly to their charity work to keep the destitute fed and sheltered and provided with emergency medical care. It would be a load off their shoulders. Nevertheless, I couldn't fault the effort they had put out. According to Rita, they had done more than their share.

  “When should we head out?” I wanted to get there a little early. I was planning to write a piece on the opening since it was one of the first.

  “I have to leave now. You guys can come along in about an hour. Don't be late.” She gave us each a quick kiss and ran out the door, like a young doe at her first mating call.

  “I wish I could tell her now, but I'm afraid she's already excited enough,” Donna said, watching her disappear through the still open door.

  “Tell her what?"

  “Russell thinks he may have made a breakthrough with some of the work he's been doing. It may turn out to help the Fourth Worlders as much as anything the government is doing."

  “What? Have you found out something about the gates?” After all this time!

  He quickly disillusioned me. “No, the gates themselves are as enigmatic as ever. But you remember me telling you how studying them was inciting some really wild thinking? Well, we may have one of our first payoffs if everything goes like we think it will in the lab next week."

  “Great. Can you tell us what it is?"

  “Not the theory; that involves too much math, and I don't want to get into trying to tell you in English until the experiments are over with. It's looking good, though.” He glanced at his watch. “Shucks, I can't stand waiting around here on pins and needles. Why don't we go on?"

  “Suits me.” I raised my brows at Donna.

  “Give us a minute or two,” Dona said. She disappeared into one of the bedrooms.

  A few minutes later she returned, wearing a dress toga with shoulder wrap. The ceremony was going to be held outside. The shelter had been built right beside one side of the sports field, only a few hundred feet from where the Ruston gate still sat and maintained its dark secrets. A local businessman had donated the land, even though the government would have bought it from him. The facility would be named after him.

  Ruston didn't have a lot of Fourth Worlders in proportion to the larger cities, but we had our share, and it looked as if they were all on hand. A few representativ
es had been picked to sit with the other dignitaries on the small raised platform. The rest were scattered through the crowd, clustering together in little groups.

  We mingled with our neighbors for a half hour or so, then began working our way forward to the reserved seats in front of the stand. Rita spotted us and came down.

  “Hi, guys! Isn't this great. I think nearly the whole county is here.” She was dressed in a simple conservative white suit with red piping along the seams and looked as pretty as a spring flower.

  The band struck a chord. “Oh, we're getting ready to start. You sit down, and I'll join you as soon as my part is finished."

  “Don't you want to stay up there with all the nabobs?” I teased.

  “Of course, but there's too many of us. We have to rotate. ‘Bye for now.” She was right. Some of the dignitaries were sitting in the first row, right in front of us. The empty seats presumably belonged to individuals already seated on the platform.

  The high school band struck up a tune. It wasn't good, but it was enthusiastic. Most of the band members were Fourth Worlders, as were most of the students. Parents who could afford it had their kids educated through the web and with private instructors where necessary. Public schooling was abysmal, but it was all they had. Taxpayers had long ago gotten fed up with the lack of results and quit voting for anything other than minimal funding for public schooling.

  The mayor made a speech, mercifully short, followed by the commissioner, the police chief, the high school principal, a dignitary from Washington, and a host of others. Most I don't remember. Then came an interlude where the volunteers were introduced. At last Rita's turn to speak came.

  “Thank you,” she said with quiet dignity. “Thank you all. I hope and pray that what we have begun here today will be only the beginning of a new era in our beloved country, an era where everyone will have a chance to participate to the full extent of their abilities in our society. Please, all of you, remember and hold in your minds the memories of how we have worked so hard together these last few months.” A tear trickled down her cheek. A ball of emotion grew in my throat until I thought it would choke me. I was so proud of her. I felt tears began to gather in my eyelashes, blurring my vision. From beside me, I heard Donna choking back happy tears.

  Rita couldn't go on. “Thank you. May God bless you.” She wiped her eyes and hurried off the stand and began working her way down to the second row of seats where we were waiting. She looked down at a scruffy white male with braided hair, one of the Fourth World representatives. I recognized him as a groundskeeper who had recently been laid off.

  “Excuse me,” I heard her say. The man moved his legs to let her pass. As she stepped in front of him, he jumped to his feet. I saw something glinting in his hand as he brought back his arm, then swung it forward.

  “Rich bitch! Motherfucking uppity cunt!” He buried the knife up to the hilt just under her left shoulder blade.

  “Rita!” I screamed. I swung a balled fist and shoved people out of my way in my rush to get to her side. Behind me, I could hear Russell pushing his way through the screaming crowd, too, yelling out Rita's name.

  Blood was gushing from her mouth by the time we got to her. Someone bent over her, blocking my vision. I kicked him in the side, sending him sprawling.

  “Doctor, let the doctor through!’ someone shouted.

  A lane parted as spectators kicked away overturned chairs. Old Doc Tyson, ran down the lane. Russell almost slugged him, before he saw who it was.

  Tyson bent over Rita's body. Blood was still pouring from her mouth and nostrils. She was already turning white.

  The doctor took one look and shook his head. “I can't save her. It's in her heart. She'll never make it to the hospital.” Nevertheless, he bent over her, yanked the knife loose and gathered folds of her blouse to try to staunch the bleeding.

  His words hit me like a sledgehammer. I felt gorge rise in my stomach. Rita retched and more blood poured out of her mouth. I looked up in anguish, and saw the glittering green facade of the gate, no more than two hundred feet away. Suddenly, I knew what we had to do.

  Russell was trembling and looked as if he were about to collapse on top of Rita. His eyes were darting around, searching for her assailant. He spotted him, being restrained and cuffed by a pair of policemen. He uttered a strangled oath. I knew where he would head in the next second, if I didn't stop him.

  “Russell! Help me!” I bent and shoved my arms under Rita's legs and back and lifted her up. Her head rolled forward as I picked her up, pouring a swath of blood down my chest. I thought I felt her go slack, but then she retched again and sprayed more of her blood over me.

  “Russell!” I shouted again. “The gate! We have to get her to the gate. Help me.” I began to run with her in my arms.

  Russell came to his senses and moved to take her feet so that we could hurry. I felt her body go slack.

  “She's stopped breathing. Help, her, Russ, help her breathe.” I didn't slow down. Russell tried to breathe for her as I ran, but he couldn't keep his mouth on hers.

  “Please, Rita, don't leave us! Don't leave. Hang on, please, just a few more seconds.” I was babbling like a madman.

  I kept running. Even if Rita had stopped breathing, there was still a chance. Her brain wouldn't die from lack of oxygen for a few minutes. All I had to do was get her to the gate in time. I felt my heart and lungs straining with the effort of carrying her body, but I could no more slow down than a runaway train going down the side of a mountain.

  I staggered the last few steps to the gate on sheer will power. I gasped and stopped, intending to push her limp body into the gate. I was covered with blood. It had run all down my front and covered my boots with a sticky red film.

  Some of the Gaters had built an attractive little flagstone walk the last few yards, pointing the way into the entrance side of the gate. I gasped and tried to hold Rita upright so I could give her a shove. Her upper body was a dead weight in my arms. I looked frantically for Russell and saw him sprawled yards away where he had tripped in his hurry. Donna moved beside me to help.

  Just as we were getting Rita in position to give her a shove forward, my foot slipped on the bloody flagstone. My feet begin to slide out from under me. Rita pitched forward as I fell against Donna. Rita disappeared into the gate, and Donna began to fall backward toward it. Donna reached out a frantic hand, and I grabbed at it to keep her from falling into the green nothingness behind her.

  I caught her hand and yanked hard, spinning her away from the gate. But the force of my movement hurled me in the other direction.

  I fought to regain my balance, but a shimmering green wall was rushing toward me. I was still falling. I closed my eyes in horror as it enveloped me.

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  * * *

  BOOK II

  VENUS

  [Back to Table of Contents]

  * * *

  Chapter Seventeen

  I felt myself fall into the shimmering green face of the gate. But before I could so much as blink I was standing upright, stunned into immobility. In front of me, a tall, naked man with black hair twisted around to stare at me. He looked familiar, but I wasn't concerned with him; Rita was the only person on my mind.

  I heard running steps behind and to my right. I turned and saw Russell racing toward me from around the edge of the gate. He looked bigger somehow.

  “Russell! Where's Rita?” My voice sounded strange and shrill, as if my throat was raw, though I felt no pain.

  He scanned the area, his eyes frantic with worry, then stared at me and the naked man behind me.

  “Oh, God!” His body staggered and he gripped a nearby light pole for support.

  “Where's Rita?” I took a step toward him. Something bounced on my chest, and I looked down, startled.

  Behind me, the naked man said, “Oh, no! Lee, is that you?"

  I turned around. The man had one hand covering his genitals and the other hand pressed against
his mouth. His eyes were wide with disbelief.

  I felt goose bumps popping up on my body as a breeze rushed over my bare skin. I wrapped my arms around myself, and felt soft warm flesh yielding to the pressure of my arms. I stared down at my chest and saw two breasts. The world swam as I looked down at the pink nipples, but I fought off the dizziness. I remembered falling into the gate.

  My God, I was a woman!

  Russell let go of the lamppost and took a step toward the two of us, his eyes darting back and forth as if he could not believe what he was seeing.

  My concern for Rita was the only thing that kept me sane. She had gone through the gate before me. Where was she?

  “I was standing right here, and these two were the only ones who came out,” I heard an adolescent voice say.

  “You're certain? No one else came out?” I yelled the questions at the boy.

  “No madam, I didn't see anyone else, and I was looking right at the gate when you two came out."

  He pointed at me and the nude young man at my side. He blushed as he pointed in my direction and averted his eyes. Like everyone else who had ever gone through a gate, I was now completely naked, but that was the least of my worries.

  The naked man shivered. Someone threw a cloak around my shoulders. I pulled it closed, not from embarrassment but because I was trembling in the chill wind. I murmured my thanks.

  Another Gater approached the nude man, with a cloak to cover his body. He took it, all the time looking at me, his dark eyes full of sorrow and fear. Wrapping the cloak around his shoulders, he approached me and spoke in a low, urgent voice. “Lee? Don't you know me?"

  Now that he was closer, I could see the intelligence in his eyes, and the spark of a soul I knew and loved. I moaned softly, unable to deny the truth any longer. It was Rita I saw in those eyes. But Rita, the woman, was gone. I felt as if my whole world was exploding around me.