It could only have happened one way. Of this I am utterly confident, even in light of contrary "evidence" as presented by the Senator from Atropos.

I was there when it happened, was among the many minds that struggled with the bleak images from the vapors of our own sub-conscious that told us to forget the whole silly endeavor, when instead we stood and took our fates into our own hands. We could even then see no other recourse, no other action to take. It was with sobering dissatisfaction that we chose one among our ranks to carry out the task.

Still many ask why we chose a woman to do this thing. Why we chose her should be most obvious to the opposite number of the species, for it was very obvious to her and to us: she was stronger than we men. In the face of so daunting a task, even the best trained marine, I believe, would have resigned his mission. Only a female could have pulled herself together at the last moment, and committed herself to the task with an almost malicious delight in the thing.

At the time, men the universe over were in mortal fear, unable to move from their place for fear of silly superstition. Women, too, felt the twinges of this lower emotion, but far less than their male counterparts. Later, many of them would actually report envy of her! Quite simply put, no man would go willingly into this thing, and no man could be bodily forced, and that was that.

Truly, a great number of men have come forward today to state that they were only awaiting their call to duty, but this is pure balderdash, and they know it. They sat shivering in the dark like rest of the male populace.

Still they press on, insisting that they should have gone in her stead, recalling the old axiom -we had never forgotten it, despite the other things our ancient culture had forgotten- that men are physically stronger than women, and are therefore more suited to the task. Each time I hear them step forward and proclaim in their manliest voices that they could've done the thing twice, I must shake my head and say a silent prayer for her.

Maybe once, in the Early Times, before we reached the stars these men could have done it. Perhaps in the days before we left our home planet and lost ourselves among the stars, before we lost our ability to reproduce at will, before we forgot our way home, before we lost our histories, perhaps then men could do it. Physically we seem capable, but mentally I think modern man could not handle the strain of giving birth to a child!