The Epicene Effect
By Jerry Leckie

Chapter Ten

    Toby managed to call Doc Cunningham before making his way to the master bedroom. Tom, panting from his dead run half way across the valley, found him kneeling on all fours in the middle of the bed. "Toby! Are you all right?" he asked, breathlessly. Toby nodded his head. "Perhaps you should lay down."

    "No, I tried, and I can't. Help me take my clothes off." He sat on the edge of the bed while Tom undressed him.

    Tom was the attentive mate. "Do you feel any pain? Do you feel sick?"

    "No," Toby croaked. "It just feels like every gland in my body is running wild. It's a little unnerving."

    "Did you call Doc Cunningham?"

    "Yeah." Toby crawled to the center of the bed and stood on his knees. "Tom, please come kneel behind me. Put your arms around me. I need you near me Love." Tom understood immediately. He undressed and knelt behind his mate. He placed his arms around him and kissed and nuzzled his neck, supporting him both physically and emotionally. Toby relaxed into his arms, resting his head on Tom's shoulder.

    This is how Cunningham found them. At first, he protested the position they were in, but Toby assured him that he must remain upright. The doctor acceded to his wishes and spread several layers of towels on the bed in front of them. At that moment, Doc Kennedy entered the room, then Nick, John, David and Jeffrey. They quietly took chairs or sat on the floor, no one saying a word. The boys smiled at them, comforted by the loving presence of their friends.

    Toby closed his eyes. His breathing became deep and regular. He began to croon softly as if communicating with the child. Tom closed his eyes also, his face relaxing into the same serene expression as his lover. In a few minutes, his breathing matched Toby's. Holding Toby with one arm, he began to stroke the swollen belly with his other hand. His fingertips described circles near the navel, then lower and lower until they reached the scar.

    "Yes," Toby breathed.

    "He's going into female phase," Nick whispered, as Toby's genitals slowly receded into his body.

    A few minutes later, Tom wrapped both arms lightly around Toby's chest. Toby sighed and the pseudo-scar began to open. He shuddered and it distorted and commenced to dilate. He took a deep breath and a small head appeared at the opening, then the body, then the legs, delivering itself into Cunningham's waiting hands. He looked down with wonder as the doctor laid the baby on a towel and cleaned it. It was perfectly formed, with a full head of blond hair. The look of wonder on Toby's face morphed to a smile as the child took its first breath and began to wriggle about.

    The first child bred by Epicenes had been born.

    Tom claimed a kiss from his mate as the birth opening closed and the pseudo-scar reappeared. Cunningham wrapped the baby in a blanket and held it out to Toby. Toby took the squirming bundle and sat in Tom's arms against the head of the bed. Everyone gathered around, talking at once. Instinctively, Toby brought the child's lips to his nipple and it began to suckle. Conversation ceased. He looked up in surprise at everyone's astonished expression.

    He grinned up at them. "Didn't you all think I would be able to feed him? I felt my breasts fill the minute he was born."

    Everyone started jabbering again. Cunningham requested and took a sample of the secretion for analysis. Tom's curiosity overcame him and he took a sample with his lips. Publicly, he announced that it tasted like watered down honey. Then, he leaned close to Toby and whispered that it really had the same flavor as his semen, sending the boy into a bevy of giggles.

    Someone retrieved drinks and everyone sat down for quiet conversation. Looking down at the small form, Toby mused, "My child is both male and female. Will it be known as 'he' or 'she?' I absolutely refuse to refer to him as 'it.'"

    Everyone laughed and Doc Kennedy offered, "Well, if a gender specific pronoun is demanded, then I suggest you refer to him as 'he,' since his exposed genitals are male."

    "Yeah," Nick quipped. "Didja see the whanger on that kid? He's going to be a stud as well as an accountant/engineer." Then, he had to explain his earlier joke, much to everyone's amusement.

    "What are you going to name him?" Jeffrey asked. Tom and Toby looked blank. Obviously, they hadn't considered a name.

    John mused, "Your child is a pioneer, the first of his kind, an original creation in the universe. Does that give you any ideas?"

    Toby paused a minute in thought, then smiled and nodded. "I'll name him Leonardo, after Leonardo da Vinci."

    "Who?" David asked. "I flunked history and social studies in school."

    Toby laughed. "He was a renaissance man: an artist, scientist, engineer and a thinker for the ages." He kissed Tom. "And, our Leonardo will be all of those things too." Tom nodded his agreement.

    "Since both of you have different last names, which name will Leonardo carry?" Jeffrey wondered.

    The question attracted Kennedy's immediate attention. "Good question Jeff. We need a naming convention. There are several hundred Epicenes pregnant now. We must be ready with a name registry for the children as they are born."

    "He could take your last name Toby," Tom offered. "Lawrence is a nice name."

    Toby frowned. "But, our last names are meaningless. They were just given to us at the centers. They have no more significance than a serial number." He looked down at Leonardo. "Our child is not meaningless."

    "Let me suggest something," Cunningham spoke up. "There's an ancient Scandinavian tradition of naming children after the father, some form of which might work here. For example, the name Anderson comes from that tradition: Ander's son, becomes Andersson. Following that tradition, your child would be named Tobias' son, or Tobiasson. And your child Tom would be Thomas' son, or Thomasson. What do you think?"

    Toby smiled at Tom and cocked an eyebrow. "Leonardo Tobiasson? Whatdayathink?"

    Tom grinned. "I like. What do you think Doc Kennedy?"

    "I like it, and I think the Council of Enclaves will too. It's the best suggestion we've had and we've been kicking the issue around for months. I'll poll them tomorrow."

    Toby held the child up to eye level. "Hello Leonardo Tobiasson. Welcome to my world. You're going to love it."

    Nick asked, in a little boy voice, "Can we call him Leo for short?"

    Three weeks later, Tom, Toby and Leo, along with nearly the entire population of the valley were gathered in the brightly lit and cheerfully decorated meeting hall for a reception. Everyone was anxious to see the child and pay their respects to Toby and Tom. Video cameras were positioned around the great room to beam pictures of the festivities to the thousands of enclaves around the globe. Doc Kennedy acted as master of ceremonies. He gave a short speech, as did Toby and then Tom. Toby held the baby for everyone to see and introduced him to the world.

    Later, back at their home, the boys hosted another small reception for their friends. Leo was asleep in his cradle, while the friends enjoyed food and wine in the torch-lit back yard.

    Doc Kennedy rose and refreshed everyone's drink. Holding his glass aloft, he announced, "I wish to make a small speech and then a toast."

    The guests acknowledged that he had the floor. "For eons, since man first stood and walked erect, the male of the species has represented reason, while the female has represented feeling. And, in every culture, it was thought that reason and feeling were in conflict."

    He paused for effect. "Now, God, The Creator, Nature, The Great Spirit, Universal Intelligence, whatever you wish to call it, has acknowledged that mankind has progressed to a new plateau. Man has evolved to the point that he understands that male and female are a blending of reason and feeling, and that they are not in conflict." He gestured toward Leo, Toby and Tom. "And, these glorious beings represent that knowledge."

    He smiled down at Toby. "You once asked me what you are. Now, I'm going to tell you." He held his glass aloft. "Here's to The Epicene, the next step in evolution. The new species of man!"


EPILOGUE

    Tom and Toby sat on lounges next to the newly installed swimming pool in their back yard. Doc Kennedy joined them after turning the steaks on the grill.

    Tom laughed, watching Leo and Marco Tobiasson and Chris Thomasson romping in the shallow end with Nick and John. "Nick once told me that he and John would enjoy spoiling our children rotten. Look at them. I wonder who is spoiling whom."

    Toby snickered. "It appears that our offspring have those two exactly where they want them. John and Nick actually pout if they miss a day seeing the kids."

    Kennedy laughed along with them. "Your children are growing up fast. Leo and Chris are six and Marco is five. And, all three of them are more mature mentally and physically than non-epicene kids of the same age. The other 123 born here in the last six years are maturing just as quickly."

    "What's going to happen when we outgrow this valley?" Toby wondered.

    "We'll reclaim the land outside, some of those abandoned towns. The other enclaves will do the same."

    "Won't that be dangerous?" Tom asked.

    "Not by the time we need to expand outside this valley," Kennedy sighed. "There won't be anyone left there to fear. The old species is dying out. They won't have any strength left to fight. The land outside the cities is abandoned almost entirely now."

    He gave them a bright smile. "Actually, the reclamation process has already begun. I heard from Father Benton yesterday. He will stop airlifting people to us, because he and some of his confederates have established another enclave about 50 miles from his city. He is moving as many Epicenes as he safely can there. All of the other operatives are doing much the same."

    Kennedy gave them an encouraging look. "The last female that we know of was born three years ago. In another forty years, she and all other females will have passed child bearing age. Then, the authorities will stop pumping the males full of hormones and the Epicenes among them will be revealed. Meanwhile, we have a job ahead of us: to nurture children who will grow up as strong leaders, confident in their epicene heritage, so they can guide their brothers on the outside."

    He gazed off into the distance. "Those poor devils out there think their world is dying, when a glorious new species of man is growing up right under their noses." He gestured to the children in the pool. "Their children and their brothers all over the world will inherit the Earth."

© 2007 Jer