These are the voyages of two captains upon whom Fortune has looked upon. Whether she smiled or frowned would depend on your point of view, but however you look at them, their lives were drastically changed by a single event.
Year 2400, Drozana Station, Donatu Sector
"What a delightful game," Alaric Brandes thought to himself. "I should come here more often. Such an amazing experience."
Unlike the other seven players in this game of Tongo, an exciting game of cards and dice the Trill's symbiote had never played despite hundreds of years traveling the stars, Alaric was having fun despite the massive amounts of latinum he was losing. His trip to Drozana had started as an unfortunate detour when the passenger ship he was riding on experienced engine failure and needed to get repairs before heading back to Trill, but he had made the best of it to experience a side of galactic society he hadn't any memory of.
A couple of players soon dropped from the game, fleeced of every scrap of latinum by a large reptilian man, a Gorn if he wasn't mistaken. The massive lizard man simply hissed a sarcastic sorry-not-sorry as he raked up their money, but one of the aggrieved players seemed to take umbrage and cocked his fist back, smashing his elbow into Alaric's face in the process. A broken nose wasn't a new experience in itself, but as part of a game it convinced the Trill academic to go find other diversions for the rest of the day. Doing his best to stem the flow of blood from his nose, Alaric gathered up his remaining funds and left the table.
Unlike the other players at the table, Alaric had no friends to watch his back. The sentient who had lost his money but hadn't elbowed him - the one who had was likely nursing a few nasty cut's from the Gorn's sword - decided to engage in an ancient pursuit of funds: an old-fashioned mugging. Alaric, a stone's throw away from the safety of the vessel he had flown in on, found himself experiencing a sudden stab wound from behind, draining his strength and forcing him to the deck.
"Such a unique experience," he thought to himself as he fell screaming to the deck.
Before his funds could be removed, the assailant was now the assailed as two of the ship's crew, hearing the guttural cry of pain, came to the rescue, brandishing long-barreled rifles that spat blinding stun bolts into the ne'er-do-well's chest. Cries for a medic were quickly answered and Alaric's pain was soon gone.
~
"Is it just me or does this suck?"
14 year-old Trill student Rebecca Solveig looked up from the magazine she was reading to look at the speaker. Her human best friend and current travel companion, 16 year-old Vina Sealander, was pacing about their cabin, pausing to look out the viewport at Drozana Station, long blonde hair swishing back and forth with each step. The two teens were en route back to Trill after a vacation/school trip to Bajor but found themselves stuck on the ship while it performed repairs.
"I agree. Absolutely," Rebecca absolutely agreed. "You know why they won't let us off though."
"For our own good," Vina said in a passable mimic of the ship's captain. "Don't you want to try anyway?"
"Of course I do!"
"SO LET'S!"
"YEEEEEAH!!!"
The two teens, fueled by youthful invincibility, boldly stepped into the passenger ship's central corridor and walked towards the airlock as if they knew what they were getting into. The airlock irised open, showing them the interior of Drozana's docking area. That was the moment they heard the scream and saw the blood flowing from the victim's back.
"Like I said, that's a comfortable cabin we have," Vina gulped.
"Absolutely, I agree," Rebecca gulped in turn.
Both girls quickly turned about to find something else to partake in as the ship's medic dashed past, first aid kit in hand. A grim feeling overtook Rebecca and she paused, lowering her sunglasses enough to watch the victim - a fellow Trill, she noted - be treated. Two crew members carried the man aboard on a stretcher. Rebecca turned to watch until she felt her sleeved being tugged insistently.
"As long as we're out of our cabin, let's go get a snack," Vina suggested. "I think an ice cream or a slice of cake would be good right about now."
Rebecca lowered her head, green pig tails sagging. "I-I don't think I want any food right now."
~
Hours later, Rebecca lay in their cabin trying to read as Vina wrote a letter to her folks about the trip. She'd gotten the magazine on small flight craft before the trip and had managed to read it enough times to memorize it, but the stories of pilot daring, pictures of new upgrades to the Federation's Peregrine fighter, and technical summaries she barely understood thrilled her too much to find something else. Like the craft she adored, Rebecca's head was in the clouds until a loud rapping on the cabin door stirred her.
"You've reached the suite of Solveig and Sealander," Rebecca answered through the door. "Solveig speaking."
"Good afternoon, ma'am. Ship's surgeon Fenton Alton," the caller said. "May I have a moment of your time?"
"Sure, if you don't mind talking through the door."
"That'll do, ma'am," the surgeon agreed. "The passenger list says you're a Trill, correct?"
"I've got the markings to prove it, yes. Why do you ask?"
A few beeps made it through the door as if Fenton was checking a PADD. "Another passenger, Dr. Alaric Brandes, was assaulted earlier today and injured badly. A Starfleet vessel was docked at the time and offered to examine him, but they fear his wounds are fatal."
Rebecca's gut chilled. She and Vina had SEEN it happen. "I'm sorry to hear that, but I don't know a lot of burial rites-"
"It's not that that we need your help with," Fenton interrupted. "Dr. Alaric is bonded to a symbiote named Brandes, who the Starfleet doctors have told me is unharmed."
The sound of nervously-shuffled feet made it through the door. "I hate to ask this of you, but you're the only Trill on Drozana; will you accept the Brandes symbiote? We sent word to Trill and they're sending a trained candidate, but we need to perform a transplant within the hour or else the symbiote will die as well."
If Rebecca had been nervous before, she was on the verge of panic now. On Trill, being bonded with a symbiote was something only adults did after undergoing years of training to prepare them for the experience. Only 1-in-1000 Trills could even bond, making it a privilege and an honor many of her race would fight for if given the chance.
It was not something she wanted though.
On the other hand...there was the being's life at stake and it was her obligation to try and preserve it.
"It'd only be temporary, right?" Rebecca asked, trying to keep fear from her voice.
"Absolutely. The permanent host should be here in a couple of days, well before the bond with you becomes permanent," the surgeon said with relief.
"O-okay, I'll do it then," Rebecca reluctantly agreed. "What do I need to do?"
"Come with me to the transporter room and we'll beam over to the Shelby," Fenton said.
"Woah woah woah!" Vina protested, leaping up. "I need to come too! For moral support!"
Rebecca silently thanked her friend for volunteering, a refusal on her lips is Vina's request was turned down.
"Of course," the ship's surgeon agreed. "That's a great idea. We'll bring you back here once the operation is complete, so you won't need to take anything."
Rebecca grabbed her magazine anyway, tucking it into her pocket, trying to ignore the black hole that seemed to have formed in her stomach even as Vina excitedly jabbered about being aboard a real Starfleet vessel.
~
U.S.S. Shelby, Sick Bay
After a hurried explanation of the procedure by the Starfleet doctor, Rebecca had been placed on an operating table. She turned her head to look at the injured academic, Alaric, whose skin had gone pale and whose expression suggested great pain despite the presence of several pain killers. She tried once or twice to say something, anything to the dying man, but she was too afraid of what was going on. A machine hooked to her wrist told the doctors of Rebecca's elevated pulse and adrenaline levels, prompting one of them to give her an injection of some sort that put her to sleep for the duration.
Vivid dreams assailed Rebecca's mind as she slept, images of herself giving speeches before a mixed-species audience, of herself sifting through a pile of dust to find trace amounts of valuable minerals, of herself belting out song lyrics in a language she'd never heard as she drove down a dusty road. They'd begun so suddenly, but she had no idea that it was due to her new passenger, the symbiote Brandes.
An unknown amount of time later, Rebecca could finally open her eyes again. The lights were dimmer than in the operating room, but still she flinched. They looked an awful lot like the study halls on Vulcan, she decided as she sat up. Pain caused her temples to throb, reminding her of that time she was forced to escape a cave-in and got clobbered with a falling chunk of malachite.
Wait a second...she'd never been to Vulcan. She didn't even know what malachite was.
Except she had been. She did know.
Or rather, Brandes had been and did know. The realization that her thoughts weren't entirely HER thoughts filled Rebecca with panic and fear, a maniacal sense of violation that caused her to scream. She'd screamed like that when she'd gotten stabbed on Drozana too. No...no, she hadn't been stabbed! SHE hadn't!
She was soon aware of a pair of strong hands grabbing her shoulders, a worried voice begging her to calm down, and golden locks rubbing against her face. Rebecca soon realized that her best friend Torres...no, Vina. VINA was her friend. Torres had been ages ago. Vina was holding her tightly and trying to calm her.
The sound of Vina's voice was like an anchor to a ship set adrift on the sea, holding it place long enough to get its bearing. Rebecca's thoughts began to quiet until her mind was still.
"V-vina..." was all she could croak at first.
Rebecca was suddenly caught in a squeeze as Vina hugged her tightly, thanking the Prophets and the Organians and the Q that she was alright. Rebecca gently reached up and returned the hug.
"What's going on?" Rebecca managed to ask.
"We're on our way back to Trill," Vina reported, releasing all of Rebecca except her hands. "We're still on the Starfleet ship, but they let me grab our stuff first."
"W-why not the ship we WERE on?"
"They said the Shelby would get us there faster but....they're still too slow," Vina answered, looking away.
"Too..late?"
"That ship that was bringing the permanent host was attacked by pirates on their way here. Something called a Badi Dea intercepted them, shot out their engines, and left them drifting. It's...it's been three days since the operation and even at Warp 9 it'll take them another two days to get us home."
The implication hit Rebecca like a speeding truck. After 93 of being joined, a symbiote and host were bonded permanently. It was a simple fact all Trill knew. And with 72 hours gone and more than 21 before the Shelby would reach another Trill, Rebecca was no longer Rebecca Solveig.
In accordance with Trill tradition of hosts taking on their symbiote's name, she was now Rebecca Brandes.
Even with Vina's support, Rebecca began to wail hopelessly until her strength was depleted and she fell once more into the embrace of sleep.
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