Scott was on his way west to meet up with his friends to start a new life in L A. What he came across in the desert after his car broke down would change him forever. He wondered if his friends would recognise him once they finally met again. He didn’t think this was what his friend’s intended when they said, "start a new life."

Chapter Seven

Sara was swimming, when the others arrived. Margaret was wearing a light sundress beneath which, one could see her swimming costume through the gauzy material. Julie and Janet were just wearing swimsuits with a towel tossed over one shoulder. Margaret played the mother role, by taking the towels from the girls and arranging them on the beach next to her beach bag. Both girl's raced into the ocean and slowly made their way over to where Sara was floating. To anyone watching, this was a picture of innocence. A casual meeting, where they could talk without being over heard. Facing away from the beach, no one could read lips or use directional microphones to pick up their conversation. There was enough wave action to mask their voices beyond a few feet.

"Go get Kevin, he needs to hear this as well," Sara spoke, once Julie had got close enough.

"Okay, nice suit you almost have on," Julie said, smiling in appreciation, before swimming into shore.

Sara watched her put on the 'come on in, the waters fine,' act with Margaret/Kevin, pulling on her arm insistently.

Sara saw Kevin gracefully slip off her sundress, revealing her lilac coloured swimsuit underneath. Sara thought she looked spectacular in the suit, as it didn't leave much to the imagination. Margaret still had a very good body, despite being older. She was glad that her own skimpy bikini in hot pink made the most of showing her own assets. For some reason, she didn't want to feel out done in the fashion sense.

"Nice suit," both Sara and Margaret chorused together, as they met in the water.

Laughing, at the simultaneous comment, they splashed each other in mock battle, while the girl's squealed on the sidelines.

"You sure took enough precautions against being overheard. I guess you have something serious to tell us." Margaret began. "Are you sure that those seagulls aren't wearing a wire?" Margaret asked, pointing to some loitering seagulls floating nearby. "One of them could be a CIA plant, you know."

Sara giggled, disagreeing, but said she had seen a suspicious flounder by her feet a while back.

"Oh don't worry about him, he's one of ours. He won't tell a 'sole,'" Margaret said straight faced.

Sara cracked up laughing, at the pun, and feeling much better now that she was with her friends, despite their outwardly changed appearances.

Sobering up, Sara managed to tell they about the situation with what Ken had found out. Despite the seriousness of the situation, they maintained the appearance of a group of women frolicking in the surf, with no care in the world. Sara had warned the others about keeping their true selves hidden from public view until the situation resolved itself. She made mention that being in the female bodies with their enhanced intelligence, a solution might be easier to find. The others agreed, Daniel and William seemingly unconcerned about being women although, Kevin was concerned about the acclimatisation factor of being female for an unspecified duration.

"I haven't told the others yet, about your decision. You rang just as they got home, so I haven't had time," she whispered privately.

"Leave it till I tell them myself, after all, it's about me, so I should be the one to tell them. I'll come over tonight when we can put our heads together to plan our next move. I'm concerned about Jennifer, we may have to go to Australia ourselves, if she has problems," Sara finished.

"Damn, that creates more problems, none of us has a passport, and I'm not sure these bodies do either," Margaret cursed, as she made her way to shore.

Wading in with her, Sara mentioned that the airports would probably be on alert for their old bodies to show up. Should they try to get a flight out.

Sara went up to her condo, picking up her towel on the way, while the others made there way to their own towels, to do a bit of sunbathing, before heading home. This was to further the impression of this being just a chance meeting by two unrelated parties.

Sara showered and changed, before heading out onto the deck with a drink. She watched the beach carefully, to see if there was any interest in Margaret or the girl's, as they lay in the sun. She didn't see anything suspicious, but admitted to herself that she wasn't an expert in spotting covert surveillance.

She saw them making tracks, after about an hour sunbathing. Sara stayed out on the deck, to give Margaret and the girl's to drive home, before she made her own move. First, she removed her bracelet. She didn't know if the car's own power would work on her if she had it on, so a few tests were in order, before she went too much further. She headed for the garage, making a careful search for any hiding surveillance gear. Luckily, the garage was pretty much clear of places to hide anything, so she began her first test.

The bracelet didn't seem to be effected by the car changes. It remained on the seat where Sara had placed it prior to her changing the knob setting on the Trans Am. She then placed it on her wrist and left it visible. Once the cars setting was changed so did Sara's body, but if the bracelet was in its invisible mode, her body form remained the same while only the car changed. Armed with this new information, Sara set off into town, leaving the bracelet in its visible mode.

She drove normally not trying to do a James's Bond, or in her case, a Lara Croft act of trying to avoid a possible tail, by weaving rapidly through the traffic. With the power of the car, she didn't need to do any of that. Finding an underground car park near a mall, she pressed for a ticket and drove though the now raised barrier arm to one of the lowest least busy levels, where she selected a setting that would change the Trans Am into a form she knew would throw off the most ardent follower.

She, for her new form was still female, drove the little Suzuki motorcycle back up to the exit. How the aliens managed to break the law of conservation of matter, with the reduction of mass from the Trans Am to the motorcycle, she couldn't begin to guess. Maybe it was done with wormholes, or pocket universes where the vehicles and bodies were stored just a dimension away.

Possibly the changes were triggered by the knob, to exchange the stored vehicle with the one in this reality. Trying to work backwards to come up a plausible theory of the mechanics of the change was near impossible without the alien's knowledge. The thought of having four people in a car and turning it to the bike setting, made her wonder what happen to the extra people. Would they disappear, or was there some failsafe that would prevent the change. Maybe it was possible that you might end up with two bikes, each carrying a pillion passenger.

She had thought of changing to one of the other male options, but something inside hated the thought of returning to a male form, even for a temporary stay. Sara, or rather Susan, referring to the name of the female form she had adopted, was garbed in soft leathers in a striking mixture of yellow and white, with a white helmet. She marvelled at her ability to handle the bike, having never driven one before. She felt slightly cheated knowing her ability was initially aided by the programming.

The vibrations coming through the frame were pleasant to feel as they moved up her body via her firmly planted crotch, as made her way out past the barrier arm. She didn't need to pay as her ticket was only several minutes old, so she gunned the throttle, as she accelerated into the traffic, hearing the motor scream in the typical tinny sound that Japanese two strokes all have.

Margaret was surprised to see Susan instead of Sara, but took it in her stride, as she hugged her friend.

"Nice outfit," Margaret said, as Sara/Susan stood her bike on its stand. This immediately reminded them of the scene at the beach, making them both giggle.

"Oh it was just something I switched on," (more laughter) Sara/Susan casually remarked.

"So Miss Margraves, what do you have up your sleeve?" Margaret's banter accompanying them, as they went inside.

"I'll show you inside, once I get these leathers off," winked Sara/Susan.

The others were still in girl mode, although there was a change in bodies. Daniel was wearing Jennifer's body, while William was trying out a culture change by adopting Mieko Toshiko's slender Japanese form.

"Gather round everyone, I have something to say, before we get down to our problem with Ken." Sara/Susan began. She waited till everyone was sitting down on the couch, before telling William and Daniel of her decision to remain as Sara. There was silence following her admission, silence that weighed heavily on her, as she waited for their first comment. Daniel sighed, and gave Sara a tremulous smile.

"Thank god, I thought I was the only one that was feeling that way," she finally admitted.

To say shock followed that admission was an understatement.

"Well, I guess being a woman is a pretty attractive package and one that two of us have decided to try and buy." William was the first to say. He shrugged, seeming to accept that two of his mates had made a major change in the way they would live. "Having seen both sides of the coin, I can see how the attraction in being female can change one's thinking. I must admit a certain envy of the female form, but I think I'll stay male for now, if that's okay? I can still have a testosterone vacation if I want too," he added with a grin, as he hefted his own modest breasts.

"Well, now everyone's finished confession time, lets get to the problem in hand," suggested Kevin.

Sara was relieved that it was all over without any outbursts or condemnation. She wondered if everyone being in female form had helped in some way, to be more accepting. Sara gave Daniel a look that said, "We'll talk more later." Moving along, they started to put out ideas on how to circumvent Ken's interest in Kevin and William, seeing that both Daniel and Scott would not be reappearing anytime soon. They figured Leanne would be in the clear if she just said that she offered her cousin a place to stay while the guys found a place of their own. Just then, the phone rang. Looking at the time, Sara figured it must be Leanne/ Jennifer calling.

"Hi Jennifer," Sara answered; keeping to the name belonging to the body Leanne was wearing.

"Sara?" came a questioning voice, as Jennifer heard a strange female voice answer her call.

"Oops, sorry Jen, it's Susan, if you know what I mean," Sara/Susan apologised. "I'm in 'a' fine form, tonight," Sara added, hoping Jennifer would twig.

"Ah! I understand, boy trouble?" She asked, giggling a little.

"You could say that. Um, was there a problem on the flight over? We found out that you should be several years older than you appear. We only found out after you left." Sara explained.

"Yeah, there were one or two comments made. One of the other stewardesses asked if I had got some work done. I wasn't sure why she asked, so I just nodded. She said it made me look years younger, so I figured that there was a slight glitch. I'm just heading home now, so I'll call you when I get there. The taxi driver is giving me strange looks-byeeeee."

Sara hung up the phone and relayed Jennifer's story to the others. Kevin/Margaret got up to check the oven, saying she had made dinner. Sara raised her eyebrows at this, as Kevin had never shown any culinary expertise before. Daniel, seeing Sara's surprise, laughed.

"Don't worry, it's not his usual burnt offerings, I think it's Margaret's entertainment skills coming out. I watched her myself, seeing I'll be doing my own share of cooking in the future. She surprised me too, but remember the alien Margaret entertained lots of people, so her skill levels would need to be good."

Dinner was good, and Sara asked for the recipe much to Kevin's embarrassment. There was much laughter over the suggestion Kevin stay as Margaret just so they could eat well. They had almost finished, when the phone rang again. Suspecting that it was Jennifer again, Sara took the call in the other room, allowing the others to finish dinner.

"Hello. That was quick."

"Susan, I'm in trouble. I've been uncovered." Jennifer's voice was tight with stress.

"What happened?" Sara asked, feeling a sinking feeling in her stomach. Sara heard some muffled voice demanding the phone, before an angry male voice barked in her ear.

"Whoever you are, I want my Jennifer back, not some impostor." The voice demanded. "I want her back now or you'll not see your agent again."

"Hold on there, calm down," Sara started to say.

"CALM DOWN!" Screamed the irate voice. "I get to my girlfriends place to find a woman who looks like my Jennifer, but is clearly not. Why should I calm down, what have you done with my girl?"

"Look, she's safe okay, it's a matter of life and death, please let me talk to my colleague," Sara insisted trying not to sound scared.

There was a sound of the phone being handed over, before Jennifer's voice came back.

"I'm here."

"You okay?"

"For now," Jennifer answered.

"Is he listening?"

"No, but..."

"He's nearby right?"

"Yes."

"Have you told him anything, anything about you know what?

"No."

"He called you an agent?"

"Yes, I had to tell him about my mission, you know, the terrorism stuff?"

"Good thinking, okay you're an undercover agent. Working for the um... CIA. The real Jennifer witnessed some terrorist activity aboard one of her flights, and she was taken into protective custody, after the perpetrators were nullified and arrested you took her place to see if the threats made against her life were real or just some excuse to get better treatment for the terrorists. Now let me speak with him again. Oh wait, does your memory assist tell you what his name is?"

"Robert Calvini."

"Okay, put him on."

"I want to tell you something," Sara said, as the phone changed hands. My agent is a rookie; I only selected her for her uncanny resemblance. I value my agents and I hold you responsible for her safety. I don't want you harming her. Is that understood?"

"Then get my girl back here right now, or you wont see your precious agent again." He snarled back.

"Listen here punk," Sara forcing as much assertiveness into her voice. "I could have people from pine gap, (a place she had heard in Australia which had been in the news, concerning CIA involvement there) come and find you in a hour. Don't push me or I'll push back. I don't want my agent harmed. We will get your Jennifer back as soon as we can, it may be 48 hours at least before can get our hands on her. Do you understand me?"

"Yes, okay."

She heard a lessening in his belligerence. "I suggest you take her to your place, as she could still be a target. We will phone her using her cell phone, when we arrive, got that?"

"Yes."

Sara hung up, sagging against the wall near the phone. She fumbled, dropping the hand piece to the floor as she went to put the receiver back on the wall mounted cradle. The noise brought the others in and they immediately saw the tears in Sara's eyes after she stood up after retrieving the errant receiver, and placing it unsteadily on the cradle.

A clamour of, " what's the matter?" "Was that Jennifer?" "Why are you crying?" Came from all sides, as the girl's surrounded her concernedly as she broke down in tears.

""It's all my fault, I shouldn't have let her go alone," she sobbed, making the others worry about what had happened to Leanne in Australia.

The girl's coaxed her to the couch, where Kevin/Margaret gave her a shot of brandy to calm her down. Haltingly the conversation she had had with Leanne and her 'boyfriend,' finally came out amid a flood of self-recrimination.

"Stop that, it's not your fault." Demanded the others, in a joint rebuttal. "You couldn't have foreseen this, no one could." Kevin in his soft Margaret's voice reassuringly offered. "Your reason for sending Leanne instead of one of us was sound, besides Leanne went in with eyes open. She knew there would be a risk, but she chose to accept it. Both you and Daniel are proof of what might have happened to either William or myself, had we gone there instead. I can't talk for William, but I was sorely temped, and still am for that matter, to stay female too. In fact there was only one thing holding me back from that, and that was your decision to remain as Sara." Kevin blushed at this admission, making Margaret's face seem younger. She looked away for a moment before looking deep into Sara's eyes.

Sara stopped crying, to see a strange look in, well, Margaret's eyes, as she turned back to look into her soul. There was still something Kevin like in her look. One she hadn't seen before.

"If I'd gone to Australia, I don't think I would have come back, only Jennifer would." Kevin/Margaret stated flatly.

William was nodding his head in agreement, as Sara glanced around at them all. Suddenly, she felt great. Her friends had stuck with her, accepting and not judging or laying blame. Despite the circumstances, she felt as nothing could stop them now. There was one thing she needed to ask, Kevin, but that could wait for now.

"Thanks, I needed that. With your support we can achieve anything, so let's work on a plan to rescue Jennifer."

They decided that one had to take on the role of the older Jennifer that left three, who needed bodies that had passports, as it was decided that all of them were going to go to Australia. Sara would let Ken know that she was going away for a while to think about their relationship and where it was going.

Margaret would notify the real estate agents and drop in a set of keys, to enable them to show potential buyers the place in their absence. She would tell them that any offers were to be phoned through to her on her cell phone.

Sara remembered a thought that she had, when she first used the motorbike. Where would the passengers in the car setting go, if it were changed directly to the bike form? Sara had to find out, so she explained to the others. They first loaded the car, having reverted it from the bike, with suitcases of clothing. Changing it back to the bike and back, they found out that the cases disappeared while in bike mode, but were safely restored once the car was back. Next Sara offered to be a passenger for the next test, but she was out voted. Daniel and William offered to be the guinea pigs, while Sara remained the driver. The trust they showed and their unhesitating offer, brought tears of gratitude to her eyes.

The test was scary. One minute they were with her in the car and the next, they had both disappeared. She waited for the agreed five minutes that seemed like hours, before switching back. Both Daniel and William seemed unaware that the test had been completed, and were openly surprised to find out that they had been gone for five minutes. A check of their watches confirmed that they were both now five minutes slow. One watch was a digital one and the other was an original spring/escapement type.

"It didn't seem like any time passed," William stated. I watched you reach for the knob; then you looked at me and said, "Welcome back."

Daniel agreed, saying it didn't seem like they had lost five minutes of their lives.

Sara was happy with the results, and explained why. The others laughed, hearing her plan.

"Better than being dogs," William suggested, grinning hugely, after hearing that the dog option had been Sara's first idea. "Just think if they mated, what would happen then? If they could be changed back, what would happen to the puppy's?"

Sara opted to take on the Jennifer role, which left the others to find alternative bodies. They decided to wait till tomorrow, before trying Sara's idea. Sara, again in her body, stayed at the Ellery's that night, not wanting to leave her friends.

Dealing with the real estate agents was easy; dealing with Ken was less so. He wanted to know where she was going and with who. Sara got angry with him, saying it was those kind of questions that made her want to rethink their relationship. If he didn't trust her, then maybe they should call it quits. This made Ken back off dramatically, seeing he had no choice. He asked her to ring him when she got back, which Sara promised to do.

While plans for the next stage were being carried out, Jennifer was dealing with her own problems. Her flight had gone over relatively easy. She had managed to draw on the memories of Jennifer to aid her in the job of airhostess. Some of the crew had known her from previous flights; the others were introduced on board. One of the stewards had remembered her and commented on her new look. This had Jennifer worried, what new look? It wasn't till a stewardess from the rear of the plane had recognised her on one of her breaks, and where she'd come up to Jennifer and complimented her on her surgery, that Jennifer realised something was amiss. Jennifer had bluffed her way out of the tight spot, and carried on.

Arriving at Perth and going through customs had been a breeze, despite the increased security since 9/11. She refused an offer by one of the crew to drive her home. Her memory had provided her with the address, so finding it wasn't a problem. She just didn't want to show unfamiliarity in her own home, in case the woman invited herself in. She'd called a cab and then called the others at the Ellery's to tell them she was safe. Hearing that she was supposed to be older came as no surprise, it did add a complication that she didn't need right now, but she thought she could deal with it okay.

She hadn't been in her home more than 10 minutes, before a knock sounded at the front door. She hadn't had time to check for any gadgetry the departing aliens may have left; even her clothes were barely unpacked when she answered the door. At first, the guy just stood there, looking down at her, before asking her a question. He was huge and made her seem like a doll in comparison. His words were slurred with the effects of alcohol, and his showering habits left much to be desired.

"Whers my Jenny? Whosh the hell are you?" He threatened. He pushed past her and grabbed her arm, before pulling her inside, out of sight of the neighbours.

"I'm Jennifer, who are you?" She asked quickly, before realising her mistake.

"I'm Jenny's boyfriend, ash you should know if yous wass her." He muttered, pushing her backwards into the couch.

Cursing her scared response, that showed she didn't know this stranger, she tried bluffing.

"You're not my boyfriend, I don't date drunks," she responded, trying to sound angry. Unfortunately, it came out sounding more scared, as the guy leaned closer and got in her face.

"Shut up bitch, you ain't my Sheila, that's fer sure. She's much more respecting of my needs. Now tell me whas you is doing here in her place, are you some kinda spy, trying to get info from me? Fess up, or do I has to play rough with you." He shouted, squeezing her arms in a vice like grip.

Belatedly, she found his name in her borrowed memory. Robert Calvini, one of the members of the Italian underworld that resided in this part of the world. She remembered a nickname he had acquired from an English TV program for kids. 'Bob the Builder,' although in his case it was 'Bob the Wrecker for obvious reasons, seeing he was huge and had massive hands.'

"Okay, stop. I'll tell you," Jennifer cried, fearing for her life, as 'Bob' continued to manhandle her. Thinking quickly, and using Robert's suspicions as a guide to what he might believe, coupled with a recent news item she had heard; she told him that she was an undercover agent.

"I'm on a case against international terrorism in the flight industry. Let me ring my superior, and I'll let her explain." She gasped, as he continued to shake her about.

He stopped, as slowly, his brain decided that the sort of terrorism she was talking about didn't have anything to do with his organisations type of terrorism.

"Okay, but you don't say anything, about nutting, you know bout me, cappish?"

If things weren't as serious as they were, she would have laughed at his poor impression of the 'Godfather.' Getting out her phone gingerly out of her purse, conscious of the way Bob was eying her movements, she rang the number of the Ellery's, hoping they were there.

Susan/Sara answered, and quickly Jennifer said she was in trouble and had been uncovered. She had stressed the 'uncovered,' hoping to wise her up. Fortunately, when Bob wrestled the phone away, and started yelling at Sara, he mentioned the word agent to her. Jennifer held her breath, praying that Sara had picked up the clues. All seemed fine, as Bob reluctantly relinquished the phone to her. He hovered near, while Sara outlined her plan. Bob was quiet, after talking to Sara for the second time.

"Get your things, we are moving to my place." He said, still seeming angry, at the deception. Jennifer quickly threw her clothes back in her case, realising that Sara didn't want Bob staying here, in case he found something he shouldn't. It also gave Sara a place to stay and plan when she came over to help her. Going with 'Bob the Bulk,' as Jennifer had personally renamed him, was scary, but she knew Sara would come to rescue her, that was never in doubt.

Robert drove erratically from her place at Scarborough near the beach to the less affluent Armadale. Once Jennifer was ensconced at Bob's less than salubrious home, Bob became more demanding, saying that if she was a substitute for his real girlfriend, then she should take over all her duties, as well.

"Well don't just stand there, clean up this place. It's a mess." He demanded, shoving her towards the kitchen. "Oh, get me a tinny, while you in there." He added.

Jennifer looked at the mess in the kitchen and nearly threw up. The place was a pigsty, and she doubted the former Jennifer had ever been here, much less cleaned up. She wondered why the alien had hooked up with this lout, but there was no figuring alien beings. She sighed as she got Bob can of beer from the grubby fridge, her mental assist, helping translate Bob's request.

Bob tried to grab her for a kiss, saying Jennifer should play the role properly. She shuddered hoping he didn't mean to have sex with her, but his next words sent a chill through her, as she dodged his grasp.

"We can see if you're as good as she is in bed. I can't wait to break that rookie body of yours in."

Jennifer escaped to the kitchen, the smell, and sight of it looking better than what awaited her in the other room. Several hours later, the kitchen looked somewhat better, considering the gross lack of cleaning products.

Dinner was a pizza, ordered on the phone. Jennifer had on appetite and only nibbled on a section. Bob ate the rest, belching frequently, s he watched TV. He washed it down with beer, his huge body absorbing the alcohol like a sponge, albeit a dirty one.

The moment she was dreading came as he dragged her to a filthy bedroom that smelt of a mixture of socksegen, (the smell dead socks give off) B.O. and urine. He tore her clothes off and flung her on the bed, unmindful of her cries of protest. He undressed only slightly slower and pinned her to the bed with his weight. This was too much for Jennifer, who then fainted, as Bob entertained himself with her unresponsive body.

To be continued.

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