Planetfall Ch. 02

"Sure!" she said happily and hopped onto a couch.

"Lay there as still as you can. This might take a while."

Richard pulled up his pants and sat back down at the main console fingers flying over the controls. "Sylvia, please commence a multi pass ultra high resolution scan of the subject's pelvic region with additional focus on the ovaries and uterus."

"Commencing scan," the voice purred. "This will take approximately fifteen minutes to obtain."

The minutes passed and Richard quizzed Kira about her life so far from the main settlement.

"I've taken over the role my mother held until she moved back to the town a few years back," she recounted. "It is our tradition that the daughter or daughters if one is very lucky carry on the tasks for the community when the one blessed with children can enjoy greater status and responsibility in helping to lead and guide our people."

"So you maintain the skills and knowledge from generation to generation?" he queried

"Yes, as best we can. Sometimes a child needs to learn more than one skill as there is no daughter to pass it on."

"Are skills ever lost?"

"No, nothing is ever lost. Everything is meticulously written down. If there is no one to maintain a given task either someone is retrained or we work around the problem as best we can. Trade helps fill the gaps and the elders are wise with foresight and plan ahead so we can continue, even with our shrinking communities."

Now he knew the importance of every new life this people created and Kira's extraordinary emotion at the chance of becoming pregnant. Life was more precious and valued here than perhaps anywhere he had ever been.

"Doctor Jensen," Sylvia announced, "I have results from your semen analysis. Would you like to review them."

"Yes please Sylvia."

"There is an unusually high sperm count, over three hundred million per milliliter. Motility is over ninety five percent and volume in excess of twenty milliliters. Chromosomal analysis indicates an imbalance between viable X and Y gametes that is statistically significant."

Richard's brow furrowed. "Zoom in on a non-viable Y cell please."

The display shimmered briefly and then showed a cluster of sperm cells before a targeting reticule appeared on screen and the image started to zoom in on one particular cell.

"What is the numerical difference?" he asked as the cell grew larger on the display.

"Zero point five percent after account for normal variations. Generating synthetic image."

The cell blurred as the computer constructed a 3D nanoscale representation of the cell content. "So this cell is motile, but non-viable?" he asked as the image finally resolved.

"Affirmative. The scan of the female subject is complete"

He looked over at Kira, "All done honey. Come and watch if you like."

She got up and sat on the edge of the couch next to him. Her eyes were wide with wonder.

"Represent as interactive holograph please."

The space in front of the screen suddenly came alive with a holographic image. Kira jumped and put her hand to her mouth.

"Ohhhhhh! How did you do that? Is it magic?" she whispered with awe.

He chuckled, "No, just a bit of technology. Advanced technology, but just something from a machine."

She titled her head to one side, "It looks very pretty, the colours and shapes. What is it?"

Richard looked at her, "It's what you just swallowed and have in your pussy from this morning baby."

"That?" she said pointing wide eyed at the object hanging in mid air, "that's sperm?"

"Yep, that's the one half of how to make babies."

"This is very confusing," she commented unable to tear her eyes away from the image. "Why are you looking at it?"

His voice became serious, "There's something wrong with it. I need to look closer." His hand reached in to the image and with a few subtle gestures quickly zoomed it further and navigated to the aberrant chromosome. The genes rotated and zipped left and right as he seemed to manipulate it till suddenly he stopped at an irregular point.

"So what's this?" he muttered to himself. "Sylvia, do you have a construct for the virus you found in my blood sample?"

"Yes Doctor, would you like to see the internal or external model?"

"Internal please."

An image of the viral contents appeared next to the Y chromosome holograph.

"Hmmmm, negative-sense RNA; interesting. Sylvia see if you can match up the section of RNA on this gene sequence with any piece from the virus." He highlighted the section under study which glowed brightly.

The process took barely a second, "Match confirmed," the sultry voice chimed.

"What section is this gene sequence the RNA is attached to Sylvia?"

"It appears to be the SRY gene. It is responsible for testis development in the fetus."

Richard's eyes narrowed, "So if this fused with an ovum there would be no testicular development thus rendering the child a chromosomal male with female characteristics?"

"Affirmative Doctor. It is a genetic condition that has not been seen for the last two hundred years."

"I'll take that antibody shot now Sylvia," he held out his bare arm and a small device appeared like a snake out of a panel next to one of the nearby couches. The end touched his arm and there was a small hiss as the contents were injected under pressure into his system.

"Wow!" Kira exclaimed. "What was that!"

"The answer to the problem Kira. I know what happened to the people who colonized this planet, although there are still a lot of unanswered questions."

She held his arm looking at his concerned face with empathy, "I don't understand Richard. Are you going to be okay? Are we going to be alright?"

He smiled and stroked her pretty face, "Yes baby. Things will get a lot better from now."

"Doctor," Sylvia interrupted, "did you want to review the analysis of the female?"

A sigh hushed from his lungs, this day was already interesting. He wondered how much more there was to come. "Yes please."

"As indicated in the previous scan there is a significant population of viral bodies in the region of the ovaries, however this scan does not indicate any damage to gamete or gamete production. In fact it seems to be up regulated by some unknown function possibly of the virus."

"Up regulated?" came the quizzed reply. "As in more or more often?"

"Both I believe. It is possible the subject experiences an almost continual ovum release, on the order of a weekly cycle. Scans of follicle maturation appear to support this."

"What!" he exclaimed. It was like the virus was causing her to pump out eggs in an attempt to get the host pregnant, but without male sperm how could it be achieved?

He turned to Kira with confused look on his face. "Kira, the animals you keep and the ones here in the forests and plains, how do they procreate?"

She thought it strange she was having to explain the obvious to of all people, a doctor. "Well, they just get pregnant and have babies. Like we do, although they have many more than us."

"You mean," he searched for a way to explain himself, "that there is no mating like you and I have done. No males to copulate with?"

"No," came the expect reply. "As long as there are two or more of the same animal together, one or more will eventually have offspring."

"Occam's razor be damned!" he hissed under his breath. 'It couldn't be!' he thought, "the whole planet? Humans included?'

He had to confirm his hypothesis. "Kira, your mother, does she look like you? A lot like you?"

She smiled, "Of course! All daughters are of the same likeness as their mother, down to the smallest detail."

He looked her in eyes as he spoke to the artificially intelligent machine around him. "Sylvia, what are the chances that all the animal life of this planet reproduces by parthenogenesis?"

"The method is not unknown amongst certain insect and animal groups on Earth. For it to be the only method of reproduction would imply a vector that instigated itself into the genetic code of a species very early on in evolution."

"And humans?" he added

"There is no recorded instance of natural parthenogenesis in humans. It has been achieved with limited success in experiments, but the science is still not well understood, not withstanding moral issues that limit the exploration of the subject."

"Sylvia, this virus that inhabits the sex organs of Kira, is it possible that this is responsible for the parthenogenesis of the humans living here?"

The computer was indecisive, "Without further data I cannot make a positive determination. However the data collected to date and the unknown actions of the virus on the human reproductive system do not rule out the possibility."

He sat in silence for a few moments until Kira looked at him questioningly, "What have you been talking about with Sylvia?"

"Well," he started to explain slowly, "without being too technical it appears that your people have achieved the impossible in a natural sense. This planet has enabled you to have babies by making your eggs fuse together to form a new life. It's no wonder it is so difficult, the whole process is completely against what a human should be able to do."

"I think I understand." She held his hands in hers. "This is why we need a man and his seed. It is the way it should be."

"Aye," he nodded in agreement, "but it's never as simple as that," he added cryptically. "Is that all Sylvia?"

"No," the ethereal voice continued smoothly, "I have also detected a release of two ova, a somewhat unusual event as you know, that are already descending her fallopian tubes. There is also a significant amount of motile sperm in her uterus. The female will impregnate within a few hours."

He smiled at Kira as he addressed the computer, "Thank you Sylvia. Continue to try contacting the probe. Let me know as soon as you have anything."

Kira smiled back at him, "You are happy! You have good news?"

Richard stroked her face, "Something wonderful is about to happen. Let's get back to your house, I think some fun in bed is needed, it's been a long day." She grinned and hugged him close.

As they made their way back on the large beast Richard knew his work had only just begun. There were so many unanswered questions and there was also the looming problem of how Kira's people would react to him and what he had to say. Tomorrow was another day however and tonight he would enjoy the pleasures of Kira's exquisite body before facing the big issues.