SeXXX 101
Chapter 52
LII
Varec turned the fluffy little creature upside down and pushed the fluff aside with his fingers, then, thinking that maybe he had had it right to begin with, he turned it back over and checked the other side. Then he turned it around and checked the other end.
"I'm sorry, Zan. I can't tell you if it's a male or a female. The scans didn't show anything, either. I guess I could dissect it."
"No!" both Max and Liz said at the same time.
"No," Max repeated. "That won't be necessary. We'll find some other way to tell.
"Well, if it's a male, you'll only have a problem if you get another one and it's a female. If it's a female… I can't be sure what will happen. I'm not familiar with this species. But I can't find any evidence of sexual organs anywhere. I have no idea how it reproduces."
"Thanks, Varec," Liz said. Then she turned to Max. "Do you think Kryys could tell? You know… if he turned into molecules and, like, checked it out… or something."
Max smiled then started to laugh.
"What's so funny?"
"Just the picture that left in my head… of Kryys turning into atoms and checking out the sex of a tribble… or whatever this crazy little thing is."
Liz smiled. "Well, I didn't mean it to be funny. I just thought that maybe he could check it… sort of… you know, internally."
"We can ask him, I guess… if he wants to do it."
"That's what I meant."
"Thanks for trying, Varec. We'll run over to Michael's and see if Kryys can tell us what it is."
"Okay. Sorry I couldn't help, Zan. I'd be interested in knowing what it is myself if you find out."
"I'll let you know."
Max and Liz left Varec and Amy's house and drove to Michael and Maria's place in the country, not far from the Valenti estate. Maria saw them coming and came out to meet them.
"Hi, Liz! Max! What are you guys doing way out here at this time of day?"
"We were looking for some
information," Liz said.
"About what?"
"Sex," Max said.
Maria grinned then turned around and yelled into the house. "Michael, you're wanted!"
Michael came out of the house wearing a chef's apron and carrying a spatula.
"Hey, guys. What's up?"
"You barbecuing, Michael," Max asked.
"Not yet. Just getting ready to."
"Michael makes great barbecued yegg steaks," Maria said. Then she turned to Michael…
"Max said he was looking for information about sex."
Michael grinned. "Well, you came to the right place, Max. I'm glad to see you know where to go. I didn't know you needed a tutorial, though."
"Get real, Michael." Max raised one eyebrow slightly. "We just wanted to know what sex Harold is."
"Oh. Well, you see, Max, you turn 'im upside down and if…"
"Yeah, yeah! …Never mind that, Michael."
Michael and Maria both laughed.
"We tried that already. We couldn't tell. Neither could Varec."
"Varec couldn't tell? What is it… asexual?"
"I don't know, Michael. Maybe it reproduces some other way. We wondered if Kryys could tell us what it is."
"Probably. I explained all this to him already." Michael snickered. "I'll see if Kryys wants to explain it to you."
Michael gave Liz a sad look.
"Laugh it up, Michael," Max said. "You won't be able to tell, either."
Michael went into the house to look for Kryys, still snickering to himself. In a couple of minutes, he was back with Kryys.
"Dad said you need to know how to tell a boy from a girl."
Michael grinned.
"I think Max already knows that, Kryys," Liz said, smiling. "What Max… what we need to know is what sex Harold is."
"You don't know how to tell?"
Michael snorted, and Maria smiled in spite of herself. Max turned slightly red.
"We know how to tell, Kryys," Liz said. "But Harold is sort of… different. You see, we already tried the usual methods, and we can't tell. Varec couldn't either. Even his scans couldn't tell."
"So… you want me to check 'Harold' out… inside…"
"If you wouldn't mind, Kryys… Would you mind checking him… her… whatever?"
Kryys looked at the little ball of fluff and shrugged. Then he began to dissolve into atoms. The atoms swirled around the little creature tightly then passed into and through it as Max held it in his hand. After a few seconds, Kryys reappeared.
"What is it," Liz asked.
"It's neither one," Kryys said. "It's not a boy or a girl."
"How does it reproduce, then," Liz asked.
"I don't know," Kryys said. "I didn't see anything that might function as reproductive organs."
"See, Michael," Max said. "It's not just me."
Michael grinned.
"We appreciate you're checking Harold out, Kryys," Max said. "Here." He handed Kryys several coruns, equal to about two dollars each. Kryys smiled, and his eyes lit up.
"Thanks! Any time you want to know what sex something is, just bring it to me, Uncle Max!"
Michael was struggling not to laughing out loud again, but only because Maria was threatening him if he did.
"Well, thanks Michael… Maria…" Max said. "I appreciate you're letting Kryys check it out for us."
"What you gonna do with it now," Michael asked.
Max shrugged. "You can't 'fix' something that you can't find the… find the… you know…"
Michael broke down and started to laugh again. "Have you thought about asking Andya?"
"Andya? Why Andya?" Max asked.
"Well, she's the one who created it, right? Maybe she knows what it is."
Max looked at Liz, and Liz nodded. "It's worth checking. Alright, thanks guys. We really appreciate it… especially your help, Kryys."
Kryys smiled.
Back at the palace, Max and Liz called for Andya, who came running from the VidScreen room.
"What is it," Mom?"
"We need to know something, honey. When you made Harold, did you make him a boy or a girl?"
Andya thought about it a moment then looked embarrassed.
"I didn't think about it. I didn't make him either one. I made him like the ones on the VidScreen."
"They weren't real," Liz said.
"Oh. That must be why they didn't… why they weren't real boys or girls."
"Makes sense," Max said. He looked at Liz. "I guess Harold can't have babies then. We won't have to worry about the palace being overrun by little tribbles."
"It looks that way," Liz agreed.
"Is that okay, Mom?"
"That's more than okay, Andya. That's… perfect!"
"So I did alright?"
Liz and Max both nodded. "Very alright," Max said, smiling. Liz nodded her agreement.
"You can go back to whatever you were doing, dear," Liz said. "Here. Take Harold with you."
"Sure Mom." Andya headed off to the VidScreen room with Harold.
"Problem solved and everything back to normal then?" Liz asked, looking at Max.
"Partly."
"What do you mean?"
"I'll never be able to face Michael again."
tbc
Coming next: Maya has a vision of someone in need of help… someone who has already been horribly hurt… and who is in danger of being hurt again and possibly killed… and she believes it is her mother… Liz.