95 She opened the door, looked in, then motioned
Bullet to step by her. As he entered, he nearly dropped, for lying on
the bed was one of the most gorgeous women he had ever seen! She looked
up at him in surprise. "Well," she said, "hello! Let me put this work
away and we'll get acquainted!"
96 Bullet looked at the Guard and she shook her head. "I know," she
sighed. "It seems impossible but THAT IS A MAN."
97 The woman on the bed shot her an angry look. "That's a matter of
opinion," she snapped.
98 The Guard shook her head, stepped outside, and locked the door. The
woman on the bed undid the two top buttons of her shirt and took up a
very feminine pose. "Now, what can I do for you?" she cooed.
99 "First of all," instructed Bullet, "you can sit up, button that
shirt, and while I am in here act as what you are."
100 The woman sat up, angrily, and buttoned her shirt. "Damnit!" she
snapped. "I am acting as what I am. I'm as much of a woman as any of
the Guards walking around the halls; more than some!"
101 "That's not what your birth certificate shows!" Bullet argued.
102 "I can't help the mistake of my birth," the woman snapped. "I can't
help it if nature made a mistake and put me in the wrong kind of a
body. I should have been born a woman. So that's what I've been made
into, and that's what I am. What they're doing to me is indecent and
unfair. They're denying my basic needs. They give every man female
companionship, but they won't let me have a man.
103 In two seasons they're going to take me up to the hospital, put a
needle in my arm, and then I'll know for sure if I'm right or you're
right. If I can't live as a woman, at least I'll die as one, but until
then I need what every other woman needs. And it isn't right for them
to keep it from me."