Commander Blakers yelled at Luke: "That's not the BBC! It's some kinda weird science-fictiony channel like what Armstrong likes to watch."
"No, sir! It's the BBC, I'm sure of it!"
"Then why the hell are they reporting on something that could not possibly have happened, huh? Tell me that!"
"At least now we know why the airwaves were full of soap operas," Armstrong remarked dryly. "If the world has changed the way the BBC claims it has, I'm sure soap operas are much more popular."
Luke grinned at the older scientist. "A world full of women, you mean? I think I could get used to that... sir."
"Don't tell me you two believe this 'change' really happened," Blakers snarled. "Sex changes across the globe, at the speed of light? Just what the hell could cause something like that, Armstrong?"
"Space aliens? Magic? I have no idea." He cocked his head as Luke cycled through some more radio feeds from the planet. "But notice one thing, Jonathan. On every station, the only live voices are female. DJs, news anchors, even sportscasters for godsake! And I don't believe Ani Defranco was ever so popular before: I heard her music at least twice just now, on different stations."
Blakers stroked his chin and considered Armstrong's point. The commander was a loud, boisterous man, but he was not stupid. He could recognize a good argument when he heard one, and he remembered something about Okham's Razor.. something about the the simplest explanation...
"Suppose you're right, Armstrong. Suppose every male on the planet is now a girly girl, and younger besides. What do we do about it?"
"'Do', Jonathan?"
"You know what I'm talking about. Do we complete the mission or not?"
Luke spoke up. "But without assistance from GC..."
"Fuck GC," the commander growled. "You know there was not one woman in the ground team for this mission. They probably don't even know how to work the radios anymore, if they've become like most women. We can do it without them."
"Maybe," Armstrong admitted, touching his salt-and-pepper beard the way he always did when he was nervous or lost in thought. And now he was both. "Maybe we could, but _should_ we?"
"I don't see why not. Look, the government of the United States is full of men.. if they've all become girls, then the country is probably now more disorganized than GC is. What if our enemies took this moment to attack us?"
"But wouldn't they have become women, too?"
"We don't know that for sure. And, anyway, suppose that the ragheads in Iran have all become girls. They think women are inferior. They'll probably try to bring about the end of the world, just to escape the shame of having to deal with being on the rag."
Armstrong, too, could spot a good argument when he saw one. And no one on the Protagoras knew the full extent of the Change. They did not know that women could exercise mental domination of the ex-men. Even if they had, that wouldn't have changed Blakers's mind about going ahead with the mission.
After telling Luke to prepare for an engine burn, Blakers left for the cargo hold. Inside, behind high security, was the reason for their mission. Under orders directly from the president, Commander Blakers and his crew had been sent into space to carry out a task of critical national importance. If the Russians, the Chinese, or even France or the UK found out what they were doing, under the guise of satellite maintenance, the president would likely be impeached and the credibility of the United States irrevocably damaged.
Their mission was to...