"Unzip me then!" she said. "I want to slip into something more comfortable." She was wearing a pink double knit straight shift with a Peter Pan collar which made her look so elegant. I did as she wished, modestly turning my head as she stepped out of it in a semi-transparent slip, until I realized what I was doing.

She caught my embarrassment and chuckled. "It's going to take a while for you to adjust to what you are now, isn't it?”

"It sure is Julie. Many times I wanted the opportunity to watch you undress, when I was Barry. Now . . ."

"You're going to get used to seeing my body while we wait for yours to be cured," she said. "You'll have the advantage on me." She boxed me on the cheek in a display of affection. "So don't go feeling sorry for yourself. I'm the one who ought to feel slighted."

I shook off the mood that had descended, and asked her to help me undress. We put on sleeveless shells and matching white nylon stretch pants. With our feet shod with white sandals, that displayed our painted toenails, and our hair fixed reasonably alike, we could pass for sisters. Thus began my life as a girl. The days passed quickly for the next three months and were filled with fun. I did adjust to being a girl. We dated, though I resented the boy she was with every time. Nothing seemed to bother her, but one afternoon, Dr. Gilmer called for me. When I picked up the phone he said pleasantly: "We have some news for you. Would you come up to the hospital office?"

Nervously we dressed and met the doctor in his spacious quarters. After we sat down in the comfortable chairs, he came rightout with the word. "We are not going to be able to save your old body. It started to disintegrate the moment we tried to thaw it. You have sacrificed a body but by doing so we know that Mars is alien to earth flesh and that we had best leave it be. You saved many lives, by your action. Now . . . I have called you here to talk about your future."

"All is not lost. We can do something to return you to being a male again. It would not have been feasible, if we could have repaired your male body, but now that we know we cannot, we will take action to make you a male so you can marry your sweetheart here."

"You mean sex-change?"

21