The Y Chromosomes

By Michael O Gregory

In the Year 2085, because of pollution of the environment and food chain, the world population is now fifteen percent male and eighty-five percent female. With marriage being abolished, love is lost between men and women. The only thing left is passion and need. Women are angry that they can expect no help from men for s

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bookside Press
• Release date: Apr 18, 2023
• ISBN: 9781778830679

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Dedication

Dedication

In writing a book you usually work alone. However, there are most often people in the background that give support, their expertise and encouragement. The first was my late wife, Jeanne who tolerated me spending so much time alone writing. The others were the Augusta Georgia writer’s group, led by Elizabeth Estes. They have been very helpful to me in developing my writing skills.

Prologue

PROLOGUE

For most of man’s history, since he gave up his hunter-gather lifestyle, it had been a struggle to make the land produce. The premium locations for early agriculture were the fertile river valleys where the land could be renewed annually by floods. As man’s population increased more land was brought under the plow. At first man could rotate the use so that the land could rest and become fertile again. Over time man’s population increased to the point where all land suitable for agriculture had to be constantly under the plow. Man learned that crop rotation would help, but the land needed nutrients. They learned to reuse plant matter, by plowing under what was left after the crops were harvested; and also, animal and human waist. This worked well for thousands of years.

With the beginning of the industrial revolution and the dawning of the twentieth century, man learned to make chemicals for use on the land. There were fertilizers to enrich the land, as well as pesticides and herbicides to kill insects and weeds attacking their crops. Now, with enough water, any land could be made productive. These chemicals were used first in the rich industrialized countries, and eventually, all over the world.

Just after World War II the first flaw in the new technology showed its head with the failure and recall of Dichloro-Diphenyl-Trichloro-Ethane (DDT). However, most people were not very concerned; the attitude of the time being that technology could overcome anything. It was the genie in the bottle. If there was a mistake from time to time, no problem, it could be corrected. Technology had the ability to overcome its faults. We had just won the war; we could do anything.

Thanks to technology the world underwent a population explosion. At the same time standards of living were being raised. Science and technology made man’s future unlimited. In 1950 the United States was in the middle of a baby boom. For every one-thousand girls born, there were one-thousand-six boys born. Not a significant difference; less than one percent. Life was wonderful. The American dream that all men were created equal; that a man’s station in life was limited only by his own ability somehow became the right to a three bedroom, two bath house in the suburbs, with three-quarters acre of green lawn; a spouse and two or three children, two cars in the garage, a dog and a cat. It was a time of fast cars, fast food and instant gratification.

Farming had also changed. It was now called agribusiness. Everything was mechanized. Now a score of men or less, worked land that used to be worked by hundreds of people. The hoe had become obsolete; weeds were controlled by agrichemicals. With chemicals man had finally tamed the land. With agrichemicals they also controlled pests and enriched the soil. Agrichemicals were used by agribusiness, and also by everyone with a three-quarters acre green lawn. Millions of tons of chemicals were dumped into the environment. They were used by the train load, by the truck load and by the ton. A lot of these chemicals mimicked natural hormones. Antibiotics and hormones were being used with poultry and livestock to control disease and to increase production. All this was being passed up the food chain to the human population.

By the late sixties medical science noticed that the sperm count in males had started to drop. Of course, most people didn’t pay much attention to it. After all it wasn’t much of a drop, and males had plenty of sperm anyway.

There was a further drop in the sperm count through the seventies and eighties, and more couples were experiencing infertility. In 1998 there were fifty-thousand less males and fifty-thousand more females born in the United States. A six percent difference between males and females. In the mother’s body we are all destined to become females, that is until conception, then about half are altered by the ‘Y’ chromosome to become male. Something had upset the balance. At the dawn of the twenty-first century, this trend started to reverse its self, mostly in under-developed, or as some called them, Third World countries. With ultrasound a female fetus could be identified while still in the womb. This led to the abortion of a large number of human females. This trend, however, could not last.

The environment, both land and sea, continued to be saturated by agrichemicals and other toxins. It impacted not just the human race, but all species on earth. By 2038, the birth ratio was five females to four males; that was for all animal species on earth. By 2044, the birth ratio was sixty-two percent female to thirty-eight percent male. This disparity in the birth ratio had commenced to have a profound social impact worldwide. No world political or industrial leader could ignore the problem any longer. There was already a ban on most suspect chemicals for domestic use. However, with world population levels so high, they had to continue the use of them in agriculture in order to feed everyone. They needed to find alternatives before they could stop using these suspect chemicals.

In 2049, the birth ratio was seventy-one percent female to twenty-nine percent male. Males were starting to lose control of their political, industrial, religious and military institutions. Even the most male dominated societies had no choice. They had to let women have power; they no longer had enough men to maintain it. Were men used to wield power, they were becoming second class citizens.

Under social pressure, the traditional idea of marriage, as a monogamist paring of one man and one woman, was first discouraged and finally banned. Men were now expected to have long-term relationships with more than one woman; or at least make themselves available to many women. There could be no other way. Women had to share their men.

If you think that men were getting the best of everything, think again. Men were now too valuable to be risked. Their options were diminished. They were banned from all hazardous occupations. Men could still serve in the military, but they were banned from serving in combat arms, or combat support. In the police force, they were restricted to administrative duties.

Science and engineering were making great strides. Technology in engines and cryogenics had reached a point that deep space travel was possible. NASA planned a deep space mission that would last for years, but men would not go. Only women were allowed to go into space.

By 2061, the birth ratio had stabilized with males occupying fourteen to fifteen percent of the population. By 2064, all males were banned from any sport that could cause injury. This spelled the end to American football, rugby, boxing and many other full contact sports. They still had baseball and basketball, but most of the players were by now women. In numbers and influence, men had become insignificant. It was now a woman’s world.

When by law marriage had been abolished, one of the new family units was, for lack of a better word, a harem. It was a group of women associated with one man. They jointly owned property, and all had an equal voice in the group. When a person wanted to leave the group, they just sold their interest to another party.

This arrangement wasn’t universally popular with all women or men. A large percentage of women preferred to live alone, in pairs, or in small groups. They found the idea of a group of women living with and being serviced by one man annoying and demeaning.

A lot of men also preferred the single life style. They also saw the harem as annoying and demeaning, but for different reasons than the women. They felt that being the only man in a group of women, their vote wouldn’t count. They felt that the women would have the power over and dictate to the man. For them the single life style allowed them to be independent, and women were available whenever they were wanted.

Most single women from time to time would have an affair and move in with a man. However, with so much competition between women for the limited number of men, the woman in the relationship would be under constant pressure to keep her man interested. After a while the woman burned out from the stress and the affair would end.

After a while many women realized that they were playing a game that they were destined to lose and dropped out. Once they came to terms with reality, they found a celibate life less stressful. They now needed a man solely for reproduction; and they didn’t need the whole man, just the sperm. All men were expected to make regular deposits at the sperm bank, even men that were celibate for religious or other reasons.

The custom of children’s surnames was that all girls adopted their mother’s surname. All boys had their father’s surnames, if the father was known. Otherwise they had their mother’s surname.

Women now had sole custody and responsibility of their children. The ratio of men to women being what it was made it impractical for women to expect any meaningful support from fathers, even if their fathers were known. It was unfortunate that it had to be that way, but they had no alternative. Some women accepted it as the reality of the times. Most, however, felt that they were unfairly exploited and wanted someone to blame. They saw all men as having a position of privilege in the social order and resented them for it. Slowly the resentment turned to hatred.

In 2073, Nedra Granger, a Catholic Priest, broke away from the Catholic Church and founded her own church. She called it the New Christian Truth Reform Church. At first, she attracted converts by preaching the bible from a woman’s point of view. By 2079 she had a small following. It was then that she started to change her message. At first, she preached that the Bible wasn’t complete; that the men who had written the Bible hadn’t given women credit for their contribution. From there she went on to attack parts of the Bible as not being divinely inspired; and demeaned it as simply a historical document, with little or no religious value. She was slowly writing men out of her version of the Bible. When she was unable to write men out, she just excluded those parts from her version of the Bible.

In 2078, Nedra Granger elevated herself to grand Bishop of the New Christian Truth Reform Church and established a priesthood. To make her priest distinctive, she rejected the cassocks and robes of the Catholic Church with the colors of black, brown, red and white. She chose for her priest an emerald-green caftan with navy-blue trim, embroidery and waistband. The sisters of the church wore an emerald-green caftan without embroidery or trim and an emerald-green waistband. As a bishop, her caftan had golden-yellow trim, embroidery and waistband. There was a navy-blue cloak with hood for wear when needed.

Nedra Granger sent her new order of priests and sisters out to get converts for the church. They concentrated on schools and college campuses. The church was for women only; no men were encouraged or wanted. They found that there was no shortage of converts. By now most women wanted to have nothing to do with men. They even felt that the human race would be better off without them.

Chapter I: The Harem

I

THE HAREM

April 17, 2085, the rain had started early that afternoon. A heavy-driving rain with strong wind and lightening. The heavy overcast blocked out most of the light, making it almost like driving at night. As usual, there were slick roads, causing the hydroplane condition sensors on all vehicles to force them to drive slower. The rain was drumming so heavily on the roof of his vehicle, that he couldn’t even hear the almost silent electric motor. Stewart Vaughn, in preparation for a right turn, had moved into the outside lane. He would be home soon. He longed to be warm, dry and comfortable in his private quarters.

Stewart Vaughn, an agent of the Texas Department of Agriculture, had spent the day checking soil conditions with farmers northwest of Amarillo. The trip only had purpose until the rains came, then the soil quickly became saturated. His clothes were soaked, despite the raincoat with hood he wore. He was cold and miserable, but he had at least kept the mud off his boots by wearing overshoes. It had been a terrible day to be out in the weather, but worth it. The winter had been dryer than normal. If the rains continued, there would be a good harvest this year. Even with all the advancements to science, man still couldn’t control the weather.

Tomorrow he had to go to the L S Ranch north of Vega. He needed to check on a new hybrid maize growing as a test for the agriculture department of the Texas A&M Amarillo campus. He liked going out to the L S Ranch. They were hospitable people; and if he timed his visit just right, he could expect to be invited to an excellent meal. Perhaps, he could even get invited to hunt pronghorn this fall. It was really good hunting there along the Canadian River.

He cut his speed and pulled off the main road, into the entrance to his home. Everyone living in the building had finally agreed on the parking grid for the parking lot; and the addition of a portico to the entrance of the building. He should manually park his vehicle, and plug in the charger. However, just as he pulled in, the skies opened up with lightning and thunder. Sheets of rain was being driven across the parking lot by strong winds. He looked again at the torrents of rain sweeping across the parking lot and debated it he really had to put the vehicle on charge now. He decided to let his vehicle park its self. He had to go into the office early in the morning anyway. He could put it on one of the quick chargers at the office.

Coming to a stop under the portico, Stewart got out of his vehicle and gave it a verbal order to park. The vehicle pulled out from the portico and following a preprogramed order, drove remotely to the proper parking space.

Stewart turned and spoke his name into the speaker at the door then entered the main lobby of the building. Once inside the main lobby, he removed his raincoat and overshoes, then shook off as much rain water as he could.

When he was ready, Stewart turned to the elevator doors and said, Elevator going up.

After a few seconds the elevator doors opened. He stepped into the elevator and said, Third floor.

The elevator doors silently closed. The elevator operating system had recognized his voice. Good afternoon, Mr. Vaughn. How was your day?

Stewart didn’t like machines that inquired as to his well-being; as if they really cared. He said, Who cares.

The elevator stopped moving and the doors opened. Have a nice day, Mr. Vaughn. The electronic voice of the elevator said.

Go to hell! Stewart said as he stepped out of the elevator. He wondered why he even bothered to say anything to the elevator. Afterall, it was just a machine. It didn’t care if you said anything or not. He didn’t even know if it had been programmed to listen.

Standing in the third-floor lobby, he turned to the entry to the apartments and said, Open door.

The entry door to the apartments recognized his voice and opened to admit him. After sensing that he had passed through the door, the door closed automatically. In the entry hall he put his raincoat and overshoes in the cloakroom next to the front door.

Stewart Vaughn was a large man, six foot five inches tall, two-hundred fifteen pounds, light-brown hair and azure-blue eyes. He had a high forehead, with prominent straight-bridged nose and a strong jaw line. His lips were not so full and he had a dimpled chin. He had the look of someone who spent a lot of time outdoors. He was twenty-eight years old.

The building where he lived had been an old three-story warehouse, that had been converted to domestic use. A family group, or harem occupied each floor. The living quarters were laid out with a cloakroom, two parlors, a family room and game room, kitchen, dining room and laundry room in one wing. The individual living quarters took up the rest of the floor. Stewart had a sitting room, one bedroom and a bathroom. The women each had a sitting room, two bedrooms and a bathroom.

The harem was not the image that the word called up; that being a group of women dominated by one man. The harem could more accurately be called a commune, with each member contributing to the upkeep and sharing the work.

The female members of the harem were, Charity Engle, Serena Bassett, Betty Tredway, Theresa Fuentes, Alberta Singletary and Patricia Key.

Charity Engle was a forty-eight-year-old department store buyer. Her hair may be graying, but no one could tell; she kept it dyed a brassy-red and short styled. She had had an excellent figure in her youth, but she was now thick in the waist that she tried to hide with loose fitted clothing. She had two daughters, Cassandra, age nineteen a college student and Crystal, sixteen, a high school student.

Serena Bassett was thirty-five and a travel agent. She had brunette hair, cut above the shoulder and styled. Being before the public, she always took good care of herself and dressed well. She had one daughter, Virginia, age thirteen, a student.

Betty Treadway was a thirty-three-year-old police detective. She had chestnut-brown hair that she wore long, below the shoulder and straight. She had an athletic body kept in excellent shape by working out at the gym and lifting weights. She dressed conservatively, in keeping with the requirements of her job. She had been able to keep the stress and pressure of her job from impacting her open and caring personality. Her fourteen-year-old son, Thomas Owens was a student.

Theresa Fuentes was twenty-nine and an air traffic controller. Her long-raven hair hung in loose curls half way to her waist. She had a petite-compact body with accentuated curves. She had a high-stress career. To cope with the stress, she liked to run when the weather allowed. She also liked to paint with watercolors and was quite good at it. Stewart had one of her paintings displayed in his private quarters. She had two daughters, Juanita, age nine and Carmen, age seven.

Alberta Singletary was a twenty-three-year-old auto technician. She had short-light-brown hair and was of average height and build. She had a youthful, but otherwise unremarkable appearance. Her only interest outside of work were her girlfriends and her daughter. She really enjoyed being a mother to Daisy, age two.

The last member of the harem was, Patricia Key, sixteen, with long-ash-blonde hair and attractive-youthful appearance. She was a high school student. She had inherited her position in the harem from her mother three years ago when her mother died of breast cancer. Since the death of her mother, she had been the ward of the harem. Along with her share in the harem, she had inherited enough in savings and insurance to meet her needs and provide for her college education. Even with all her advantages, the loss of her mother meant that she had to learn to grow up fast. She was already tall at five-foot seven-inches and would most likely add a little more to her height in the next couple of years. Her slender figure would fill out as she matured.

Stewart had started to walk toward his private quarters, to get out of his wet clothing and into something more comfortable, when he smelled the aroma of food coming from the kitchen, and made a detour to see what was for supper. He entered the kitchen and found Patricia, Crystal and Virginia cooking the evening meal. He looked into the dining room; Thomas and Juanita were setting the tables for dinner. Stewart looked to see what they were having.

Patricia stood in front of one of the stove tops, stirring the contents of a pot with a large wooden spoon. Crystal and Virginia were busy with other tasks to get dinner ready. Patricia was dressed in a gray sweatshirt, faded denims, an old pair of running shoes and a red and white apron with pink ruffled lace trim. She looked really cute standing at the range. On impulse he gave Patricia a pat on the behind, wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss on the back of her neck. Releasing the spoon, Patricia, with a warm smile, turned in the circle of his arms, wrapped her arms about his neck and kissed him on the lips. Stewart felt her lips part and the tip of her tongue search the inside of his mouth, as she slowly rubbed her pelvis against his. He felt the soft-warmth of her body as she pressed up against him. She really knew how to excite him. He could feel his manhood starting to become erect from the rubbing.

Conscious of the children around them, he broke the embrace. Good God, woman! What will the children think?

Patricia’s eyes flashed as laugh lines appeared at the corners of her eyes, her nose crinkled and a smile lit up her face. Oh, don’t worry about the children; they’re just getting a lesson from their older sister on how to take care of their man.

Stewart gave Patricia another pat on the behind. You’re incorrigible, what will I ever do with you?

Patricia just laughed and kissed him on the cheek. The other girls looked on. Virginia with a smile of approval, Crystal with a look of indifference. As Patricia went back to her cooking, he said hello to the other girls. He then lifted the lid from the pot. What are we having for dinner?

Patricia looked up from the pot that she was stirring. We’re having salad, spaghetti with meatballs, green beans, garlic bread and apple pie with vanilla ice cream; and put that lid back on.

Replacing the lid on the pot, Stewart gave Patricia a quick smile. Yes, Madame.

Patricia gave him an amorous look. He knew that she had strong feelings about him. Being young, she still believed in love between a man and a woman. He knew that she loved him; and if it were possible, she would want him all to herself. He tried to return her affections as much as he could. He didn’t want to ruin her youthful fantasies if he could help it. Reality would eventually catch up with her, but why rush it. He embraced and kissed her again, then gave her a parting pat on the behind that made her giggle.

He left the kitchen and headed back to his private quarters to take a hot shower and get into dry clothing. As he went through the living quarters of the harem, it didn’t take long to see that this was a habitat for women. Everything, the furniture, furnishings, drapes, curtains, paintings, other art works, even the color of the paint and wall coverings exhibited the feminine idea of beauty and scale. His private quarters were the only male bastion within this female enclave. He had it decorated in a style and in colors that suited his taste.

The time that he arrived home from work, until dinner was his own time to be alone. Back in his private quarters he relaxed for a minute, then got out of his wet clothing and stepped into the shower. The hot water banished the cold and relaxed his tense muscles. He spent a few more minutes in the shower just luxuriating in the hot water running over his body. When he had determined that he’d had enough, he turned off the shower and toweled himself dry.

After the shower and change of clothing, he fixed himself a bourbon and water and turned his attention to one of his hobbies, collecting kachina dolls from the Hopi Indians. He also had several pieces of American Indian pottery, some artistic pieces of silver and turquoise jewelry, dream catchers in the sitting room and bedroom and other Indian artifacts. His hobbies were important to him. He made the most of the little private time he had.

Dinner was the time when everyone in the harem got together. After dinner, they had a social hour in the family room; then they were free to stay in the family and game room, or go to their private quarters. Stewart sometimes had one of the women visit him in his quarters, or would visit them in their quarters, depending on what arrangements were made. Sometimes the visits were intimate and other times they were simply social calls.

The relationship that he had with each woman was different. With Charity Engle, the oldest, there was no intimacy, just a cordial relationship. She planned to sell her financial interest in the harem, and move to a private residence as soon as her youngest daughter, Crystal, started in college.

He and Serena Bassett were good friends, there was occasional intimacy, but they had little in common. The infrequent times that they were intimate it was urgent and frenzied. There was never love or romance involved, just an overwhelming need for sexual gratification; like she had an itch that only he could scratch.

With Betty Treadway, he had a very close relationship. In some ways they were like a married couple, that had been together long enough to be very comfortable with each other. Their love making was slow paced and romantic; taking time and effort to satisfy each other’s needs. They were close in age and they both liked the outdoors. Betty also shared Stewart’s interest in pre-Columbian history and artifacts. Stewart had also taken an interest in her son, Thomas Owens, and she appreciated that. Stewart and Betty were intimate on a regular basis.

With Theresa Fuentes, there were intimate relations on a regular basis. Their love making was very lively. She always wanted the top position to be in control, as she put it, of her own orgasm. They both liked to play cards and spent a lot of time doing so with each other. Theresa’s daughter, Carmen, was Stewart’s first child.

With Alberta Singletary, there was no interest in common. She preferred the company of her girl-friends. Her only interest in him was his sexual services, which she required on a regular basis. Her interest in sex tended to be very creative. She liked to play fantasy rolls, sometimes dressing in costumes and experimenting with various positions. Her daughter, Daisy, was also his child.

Patricia Key, after turning sixteen and reaching the age of consent, took full advantage of her rights of membership and became sexually active with Stewart. When Patricia’s mother died, he had taken on the role of big brother to her. He had wondered at first if it was wise to also be her lover. His concern turned out to be unfounded. The change seemed to have no adverse effect on their relationship. She was in love with him and looked to their intimacy as being very special. She was inexperienced in love making and let him take the lead. He always took care to make it a tender and fulfilling experience.

At 7:00 PM, everyone was seated in the dining room except Daisy, who had been fed earlier and now slept in the family room in her playpen. The dining room was large enough to accommodate two dining tables that seated up to twelve people each. Everyone agreed that the two-table arrangement was better than one long table. They had no formal seating arrangement at the tables. Everyone just sat where they pleased. Cassandra said the blessing that evening. After everyone served him or her selves, the dinner conversation began.

Cassandra was sitting at the same table with Stewart, Charity, Crystal, Theresa, Juanita and Carmen. Casandra, being fervent in her religious beliefs, kept telling everyone at the table about the new reform movement that she was into at the college. I tell you; the Reverend really knows what she’s talking about. We were talking about the New Testament today and do you know that it’s incomplete.

She gave Stewart a spiteful look, just waiting to see how he would react. She had no interest in what he had to say, as such. She was just interested in making a scene.

Stewart had just taken a sip of wine and put his glass back down on the table. It was obvious that she wanted him to respond. She was trying to bate him again. He took his time to answer. He knew that it would be useless to try and debate her. She only wanted to rub her hatred of men in his face. He had tried before to ignore her, but to no avail. She would just become disruptive to the point that no one could enjoy their meal in peace. By now all conversations at both tables had stopped. Everyone looked at Stewart and Cassandra to see what was coming. Stewart decided to meet it head on. So, she said that the New Testament is incomplete. How is it incomplete?

A cunning smile came upon Cassandra’s face. Her ploy had worked, Stewart had risen to the bate. It’s about the twelve disciples. They are the only ones mentioned in the Bible.

Stewart looked at Cassandra with a forced smile to hide his true feelings of rage at her disruption of the evening meal. She was getting ready to make her point, whatever it was. Stewart was getting tired of the constant negative rhetoric against men in general and him in particular. With a condescending tone in his voice, he said, As far as I know, there were only twelve disciples.

That had been the response that she had been waiting for. She jumped right on it. ‘That’s according to the male version."

Stewart raised his eyebrows in mock surprise and responded with levity. Oh, I didn’t know there were more than one version.

The effect on Cassandra was immediate. She slammed her fists down on the table and words exploded from her. Don’t give me that patronizing look! You know damn well there’s only one version, and that’s the problem! Christ had women followers; and they worked just as hard to spread the gospel as the men, maybe more! Are they mentioned? No, because men don’t value women!

Cassandra’s mother, Charity, reached out to take her daughter’s hand and gave her an imploring look. Cassandra angrily threw her mother’s hand off. Charity was embarrassed by her inability to control her daughter. Everyone else at the tables felt uneasy at having to witness another confrontation between Stewart and Cassandra.

Stewart looked at the ceiling. Here we go again. I have to hear this male domination of women crap again. If anyone is being dominated its men, being that we’re out numbered six to one by women. Now Cassandra has this new religious crap to back up her argument. Where does it come from? He thought.

Patricia became incensed by Cassandra’s behavior and