Triple X

by Amelia June

  "What about the crisis of infertility? There are reports stating that scientists within Health and Human Services have found some answers, but none are forthcoming. Does the White House care to comment?"

  "At this time, we have received no reports from researchers with definitive answers or solutions to the infertility crisis. We have the best scientists in the nation trying to uncover the cause and find a solution. However, the President has some information he would like to deliver to you in person. He will now make a short statement, with no time for questions." Reporters clamored over each other, trying to get the Chief to answer one more question as he left the stage, but settled down as the Secret Service escorted President Jones to the podium. Lights trained on him and cameras flashed for the evening news headlines.

  "My fellow Americans. At this time, we are in a deep crisis of spirit. Our hour of tragedy has passed along with The Reaper, and now we enter our hour of repentance. God is punishing us for our sins by making our wombs barren and our nurseries empty. Scientists here in Washington DC have discovered the source of our infertility, a slight change in our genetic code has, for now, rendered any man exposed to The Reaper unable to fertilize an egg. However, I have the strongest faith that this is a test from God. God knows we have sinned against Him, and God also knows we are trying to rectify our wrongs. God is aware of the new laws we have passed protecting the unborn, protecting us from the evils of science that seek to destroy life even as they create it. He is glad of these things. He wants us to go further.

  "Ladies and Gentlemen, I believe God wants us to return to a more simple time. A time when women remained in the home to raise their children. A time where a man was able to work, support his family, and discipline his wife and children when needed, how he saw fit. A time when God fearing people were allowed to punish those they saw commit transgressions against the Lord. A time when deviants were cast out of society. A time, my friends, when America revered and honored God as our Father and Jesus as our Savior. I have heard from on high that a change is coming to our great nation, and when God sees that change, he will grant us new life. My own wife has been struck barren, despite my many years of service to the Lord. I persevere, because I believe this country can be a great testament to His glory. Please, for your eternal souls, attend church, pray and follow the word of God. I believe that together we can rise up, and be rewarded not only in the kingdom of heaven, but right here on earth."

  Chaos erupted in the press room as every reporter shouted to the President, then each other as he left the room.

  * * * *

  Edan Jameson switched off the evening news after watching the replay of the speech. A small group of people sat in silence in Abby and Jordan's living room.

  Jordan had given up his lease months ago, and now they cohabitated happily in Abby's apartment. She had plenty of room for him, as she had a three bedroom place that was an accident of fate when she found it years ago. Now, one of her rooms that was full of boxes and the gathered detritus of single life was cleared out and working as Jordan's geek paradise--a killer computer with two flat screen monitors and wireless optical mouse. He had various types of equipment in there she didn't understand or care about, but had brought her into the twenty first century by networking and broadbanding his computer and her laptop so she could sit on the bed and work. Well, I spend more time beating Jordan at Tetris than working, but whatever.

  Cohabitation led to entertaining fairly quickly, since they both liked to cook and enjoyed company.

  "Thanks for letting us get together here guys," Edan said. "I wish it was under cheerier circumstances. But I'm glad I convinced you to come on board the Human Rights Campaign."

  "We are too." Abby spoke up, only a little shy now. "Getting together weekly feels like we're doing something, what little we can to oppose the current administration's agenda. Can you believe that speech?"

  "You know, when I heard about it, I thought it was just my friend overreacting." Carla, a poly activist, was sitting on the floor at her primary partner Tom's feet. They, along with Edan, were there to plan the next few months of protests.

  "That was no overreaction," Tom chimed in. "That was the scariest thing I've heard out of his mouth yet. What the hell is he thinking?"

  "If that son of a bitch thinks he will get away with this, he's sorely mistaken." Edan was up and pacing. Abby was once again struck by his energy. "We have to mount some kind of a response to the speech, guys. We can't just let it go by. I can throw together a press conference for tomorrow. Do any of you want to speak?"

  Jordan sat on the couch in between Tom and Abby. He sat with his face in his hands, but looked up at Edan. "Do you think making statements is going to change anything? We've been protesting and lobbying for years, and the country has gone even more in the opposite direction. Did you hear what the reporter said at the end of that broadcast? She practically agreed with him! And all the interviews they did of the public were in support of a 'traditional time'." His voice took on a sarcastic tone with the word 'traditional'. Edan quit pacing and sat down on the fireplace hearth, facing Jordan across a low oak coffee table.

  Abby put her arm around Jordan's shoulders. "Honey, I know you're upset. This is extreme, even for a right wing government. All that about women staying in the home? That's insane. It's like the country is taking a huge leap backward in time. But don't give up! What will happen if we stay silent?"

  "Audre Lorde said 'Your silence will not protect you'." Edan took Jordan's hand across the table. "Besides, the fact that people agree with the President has a lot more to do with his exposure and the country's recent crisis than actual fundamental belief in what he is saying. People are still in mourning for friends and family, and many are terrified of infertility. I don't think most of the country is concerned with civil rights at the moment. He's using their fear to manipulate them. We have got to increase awareness of the changes going on, Jordan. I truly believe in the good of people winning out over ignorance and fear."

  Abby sat back and watched Edan. Amazing. He almost makes me believe that things will get better. He's so brave.

  "You make a compelling argument, Jameson. Damn you and your eternal optimism. How do you do it?" Jordan broke into his normal sunny grin, and Abby laid her head on his shoulder, relieved.

  "Prayer, Prince. Prayer." The five of them cracked up. Edan was a staunch atheist.

  "All right, enough gloom and doom, you drama queens. Can we get to work now?" Tom smiled broadly as he spoke, and all agreed.

  * * * *

  November 26th, 2007

  Jordan and Abby were working non-stop entering the data they gathered on their trip, along with the data gathered by other labs. Over and over, only one statistic jumped out of the mix. Women with more than one partner during their fertile period were getting pregnant. Age, race, class, location, frequency of intercourse, health status; none of it seemed to make any difference statistically. Only one point--being with more than one man--seemed to be a significant factor in fertilization. After hearing that the Department of Health and Human Services had come across a small change in the genetic code, Abby was even more convinced that fertilization was possible, just not in the traditional way. The President's outlandish speech had held no mention of the women who were pregnant, or getting pregnant. He ignored the entire issue and insinuated that the entire nation was unable to reproduce.

  Taking a break in her work, Abby sat back and rubbed her neck. Ugh, that speech. I know most of the country believes in God, shoot, I believe in God. Every person has the right to his or her own beliefs. But the last thing I believe in is a hateful and vengeful God who would punish anyone who does not adhere to the Bible word for word. After all, the Bible was written by men, not God. Gospels have been picked through and changed for hundreds of years. My God is more about tolerance and love. He would want us to be searching for the answer to this problem, not bogging us down with fire and brimstone judgments.

  "Lost in thought, babe?"
Jordan looked across the lab bench at her.

  "I was just thinking about how our work is all tied up with religion and politics. I hate that. I just want to be able to do my job. I would think Jones would want us to find an answer."

  "Yeah, well, logic is about as high on his list as tolerance and understanding."

  "Two of Jesus' best qualities, if you ask me." Abby rolled her eyes.

  "He didn't think to ask you. You're just a woman, after all."

  For that, Abby tossed a notebook at Jordan's head. He ducked, laughing.

  "You think you're being stunted? Just imagine how all the Jews, Muslims and Atheists feel!"

  "Not to mention a certain beloved bisexual polyamorist," she said, thoughtful. The atmosphere was quickly becoming one of panic, fear and retribution, almost as though people blamed the "non-faithful" for the country's infertility. News reports of temples being burned and people losing their jobs were starting to surface, though usually they were buried as tiny, insignificant details.

  "We can only do what we can, I suppose. And I can help solve this baby problem, damn it. I know I can."

  "Right on, babe." Jordan squeezed her hand briefly, then turned back to his own work.

  Why, why, why would it require more than one partner to get pregnant? Suddenly, Abby sat up straight in her chair.

  "Woah. I think I might have something here. What if the gametes themselves have weakened, thanks to the Reaper?" Abby felt a rush of excitement run up her spine, the thrill of discovery.

  "If that were true, then no one would be getting pregnant. We would be totally barren like the President is suggesting." Jordan rolled his eyes, as he did every time he said the word "President" these days.

  "No Jordan--what if we could still reproduce, but it takes more than two? Three or even more gametes getting together for extra oomph? Who knows, maybe an entire host of eggs and sperm are required to fuse. Some mutation leads us to a fetus only being viable if it has three or more different strands of parental DNA that are combined into one full set of chromosomes.

  "How could that happen? I can't think of any situation like that in nature now."

  "Well, we know, for example, that cats can have any combination of sex chromosomes resultant from sperm or eggs developing with two instead of the usual one. So baby kittens can be born with up to three sex chromosomes and still be viable. Even humans are born with multiple sex chromosomes now, a rare genetic defect. Maybe the virus somehow weakened our gametes and our DNA compensated by requiring three sets of chromosomes instead of two."

  "That still doesn't explain the multiple partner angle though. Men produce millions of sperm; women have hundreds of eggs in storage. Why would more male DNA be required?"

  Abby looked dejected. "Good point. I have no idea." They stared at each other, and all sorts of outlandish possibilities began to swirl in Abby's mind. Jordan suddenly got an electrified look.

  "Wait. Wait a second. Go backwards. What would have been damaged by The Reaper to weaken gametes?"

  "Well, likely the ovaries and testes. That is where the gametes mature."

  "Right. So imagine the virus did microscopic damage to the DNA binding sites in our bits and pieces. Something we can't readily see but alters us enough to make our gametes weaker than normal. And by weak, I mean there are holes in the code, missing chromosomes or defective ones. But remember--female gametes are present at birth. They only go through a secondary development process as they are released. So eggs are probably less affected than sperm. Sperm, being made on the spot, are getting the short end of the stick here. So--two or more sperm are needed because they are too incomplete to work alone. Two sperm, two different genetic sources to both patch holes and strengthen them for fertilization. Bingo, three parents."

  "Okay," Abby said slowly, digesting and thinking furiously. I feel like I'm on the edge of a cliff.

  "Here's my difficulty now," Jordan continued, "if all this is true, then in at least some places three different sets of chromosomes are present at fertilization. Babies like that wouldn't be viable, would they? They abort early, or die soon after birth. There's no way that a baby could survive an extra number eighteen chromosome, for example."

  "That is where my idea of the genetic mutation comes in. We know that spontaneous mutation does happen in nature. One generation can be entirely different from the next in extreme cases--environmental catastrophe, for example. What if, in one fell swoop, cells mutated in response to the virus and three sets of chromosomes are no longer a defect but required for reproduction. Thus, the human race continues, despite The Reaper."

  Jordan sat staring at her for several beats. Suddenly he started to laugh.

  "What's funny?" asked Abby.

  "You know what this means? It means that monogamy really is antiquated! If it takes multiple men to reproduce, then who needs one-on-one relationships?

  "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, now," said Abby, but she had to laugh with him. Wouldn't it be interesting, especially in such a restrictive time, if having multiple sex partners was the only way to get pregnant? She got online immediately and started sending emails. She requested amnio results from every obstetrician who had sent her data for the original research. With some luck she could get to the bottom of this soon.

  "Look what time it is, sweetheart, we have to get out of here." Jordan pried her away from her computer. "We're expecting company in an hour, including your boyfriend! Your brilliant realizations will have to wait until morning, since you-know-who is coming over."

  "Yeah, yeah." Abby blushed, unable to hide from the truth in Jordan's tease. They were expecting four or five members of the HRC over for dinner and to discuss plans for a sit in at the White House. They wanted to show the President a group of people who were happy with their "non-traditional" lifestyles.

  Jordan teased Abby constantly about her little crush on Edan. But she loved Jordan, and wondered, not for the first time, if she wasn't getting her just desserts for criticizing his lifestyle all those years. Here she was deeply in love with one man and intensely attracted to another. She felt ridiculous, but couldn't help it.

  "You can't tell me you don't find Edan just a bit alluring yourself, can you, dear?" She shot back as quickly as she could, smiling craftily.

  "Oh I never said that, I've watched that man's ass for years. I'd love to have him in our bed someday, but I'm not sure he could keep up with both of us."

  Abby had never really considered that option--to have Edan join them in their relationship. She could feel the heat rise in her belly at the thought of the two men in bed with her, touching and kissing her.

  "Hello! Earth to Abby! Hm, I think I lost you back there. Now who's the slut?" Jordan put his arms around her waist and hugged tight. "Just as long as I'm in that fantasy of yours, I'm good."

  "Oh, I wouldn't worry about that," said Abby, fiercely embarrassed but also quite turned on.

  * * * *

  Once home, Abby busied herself around the house while Jordan worked his magic in the kitchen. She put some Melissa Ethridge on the stereo and they grooved around together in a practiced, familiar dance. After vacuuming and making sure the house was presentable for guests, she went to the kitchen for table setting supplies. She could smell Jordan's roasting chicken and vegetables, with an undertone of cornbread that she assumed was cooling somewhere.

  "It smells fantastic," she said. "You remain the lord of the kitchen!" Jordan did a little jig then bowed slightly to Abby's applause.

  "Do you think we have enough food?" Jordan had told her he was worried, wanting to make a good impression on the company. He especially hoped to catch Edan's attention a bit. He saw some potential for the three of them, and wanted to capitalize on it. Abby knew he was pulling out the stops for dinner, so she helped by taking out the best dishes and flatware they had, and laid a nice table complete with candles. Without discussing it, they dressed nicely, with a bit of a flirt. Her skirt was short and her top plunged deep into her cleavage. Jordan
was resplendent in a silky button down shirt and black slacks. Both of them stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, paying extra attention to their looks. They were putting the final touches on everything when both of them stopped and looked at each other.

  "We're like giggly little schoolgirls, aren't we?" said Abby. "What's going on here? Are we seriously considering this guy?"

  "Um," said Jordan, but before he could finish his thought the doorbell rang.

  * * * *

  December 15th, 2007

  Abby paced circles around the lab, impatient as if she was waiting for a child to be born. She could not wait to see the results of the information gathered over the last several days. Obstetricians had been sending in data in droves, and all of them seemed to support her theories anecdotally.

  "Well, there you have it," said Jordan, reviewing the final results of the analysis he had done on countrywide data. "It looks like all the babies conceived after The Reaper actually have three sex chromosomes. The patterns are as you would expect. XXX is a female child by external and internal examination, XXY and XYY are male children. The four babies that have been born with this genetic variation in the last year seem to have none of the usual problems children with a third sex chromosome have. As far as anyone can tell, these babies are healthy and able to produce children of their own someday in the same way, assuming our theory of fertilization is correct."

  "So, if we take this theory to the next level, we're basically saying that it takes two sperm to fertilize one egg now, two sperm from two different men."

  "And, numbers-wise, the ratio of boys to girls born will be two to one now, which makes sense given that it takes two men to make a baby. The population is going to slowly shift to include twice as many men."

  "I don't know, Jordan, this is like something out of a bad science fiction novel. I can't believe the human race could have changed so subtly but so fundamentally."