Concerns (Part 2, Conclusion)

Posted on Mon May 23, 2016 @ 5:49pm by Commander Caleb Ryan & Civilian Aleczandra Naqiis-Ryan & Commander Caden Aldrex

1,341 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Pangaea (Wrap up)
Location: Deck 576/Security Offices
Timeline: MD 16/1400

Cade motioned to the chair next to his. "Hello, Aleczandra. Would you care to sit? You need to be in on this conversation." Then turning his attention back to Caleb he asked, "Fear for her life? What do you mean?" He was unaware of any threats to Caleb or Aleczandra. Up until today there had been plenty of which he had not been aware.

Aleczandra gave Cade a quizzical look. She’d never even really met the man, but he was Trill, so she was instantly wary. “What does anything have to do with me?” she asked, carefully sitting down on the edge of the seat.

Caleb took a breath and looked to his daughter. “He knows,” he said quietly.

Aleczandra instantly went pale and stood up again, backing away from Cade.

Caleb’s attention returned to his CO. “Yes, fear for her life, sir,” he said. “If they Symbiosis Council gets word of mah daughter’s illegal joining, they will come for Naqiis. The chances of survival for a disjoined Trill are abysmally low, Commander. Not only would Ah lose mah daughter, but Ah’d lose what’s left of mah wife.” Caleb’s voice trailed off in sadness and memories.

Cade put his hand up to still the young girl. "Aleczandra, it's alright. You're not in trouble, okay?" Then to her and Caleb he added, "No one's separating them. I agree that it would be dangerous at this point. They've been joined too long." He shook his head and added, "There probably will be some purists on the Commission who demand it, but they're all bark. I can deal with them. Why didn't you tell anyone? I imagine it's been hell for her to acclimate without preparation." He cast a sympathetic glance at the young girl. Not so young anymore. In a day she gained centuries of knowledge and life experience. Including her mother's. He sighed and rubbed his temple, thinking how surreal that must be.

“We’ve…done our best,” Caleb said. “But we couldn’t really trust a lot of people. The crew on the Nemesis helped, mah parents back on Earth, a couple people on Leto Colony. We were always worried someone would feel obligated to report it,” he admitted.

Aleczandra moved to sit down across the room, putting her head down, her rainbow hair cascading to hide her face as she tried to avoid the panic encroaching. This was what they’d always feared! She felt the roil of her past lives inside her head, especially the strong ones, Juheni, Kinony, her mother. They were going to be taken away from her!

“Ah got false medical records for Zandy,” Caleb told Cade. “We avoid doctors as much as we can so they have no scans of her. We get by.”

“Shut up!” Aleczandra hissed at Caleb. “Why are you even trusting him!” she demanded angrily. “He’s Trill! He’ll tell!”

“He already knows, Zandy-Bear,” Caleb said resignedly. “He’s got us over the barrel.”

Exasperated, Cade shook his head. "You're not over any barrel, but you do have to deal with this. Living a lie is not the answer. Aleczandra needs help adjusting to being a joined individual. If not, then she faces a long, hard road trying to reconcile all the memories and personalities in her head." He turned to Zandy and added, "Aleczandra, you have rights under our law. No one can compel you to separate from Naqiis if you have established a bond."

“Is that true?” Caleb asked. “Ah could never get anywhere with Trill authorities on the issue. They are not very open about symbiosis with non-Trill,” he said. “Especially since Ah was trying to be discreet. Everything mah research turned up said the Council only really cares about the welfare of the symbiont, not the illegal host.”

“Hello! Illegal host right here!” Aleczandra snapped, returning to her chair, but she moved it a good two feet further away from Cade.

Ignoring Zandy's outburst, Cade answered her father. "They do tend to be closed off to questions from outsiders," he conceded. "You have to remember that Symbiosis was veiled in secrecy for a very long time. It wasn't until about twenty-five years ago that it became known by more than a handful of non-Trills. The Commission is very protective of the symbionts. They're considered both a precious natural resource and a living heritage. But Aleczandra is no criminal. You know that and I know that. She did nothing wrong. She did not steal the symbiont. It was a horrible circumstance and you did what you had to do to keep Naqiis alive."

Then he turned to Zandy and said, "And you are not illegal in any way. You are one person composed of two distinct parts." Then in a sterner tone: "You're also over four hundred years old. Older and wiser than most people on this station. Start believing that and acting on it. You know, we met briefly two and a half centuries ago. Do you remember that?"

Aleczandra blinked. She stared at Cade.

Don’t look at him on the outside, she heard her mother say.

There was another faint voice in her head, one of the quieter, older ones.

“Ranel?” Zandra asked. “It’s hard, remembering that far back,” she said. “He was a doctor…”

"That's right," Cade said with a smile. "My host at the time was Serane, a journalist. She interviewed you at that conference where you were the keynote speaker. I think it had to do with some breakthrough in treating neurological disorders? Maybe it was something else. It's been a long time and the details are kind of sketchy to me, too. But he's still there." He tapped his temple with his index finger then pointed at her.

Zandra looked like she was about to have a migraine, but she said, “Treatment of dystopic neuralytic monoencephaly,” she nodded. “I remember…” Something warm and wet trickled and she touched her upper lip, coming away with blood from her nose. “I don’t…”

Caleb moved quickly. “Zandy-bear?” he asked, catching his daughter as she slumped. “What’s wrong?” he demanded of Cade as he settled her onto the couch. He grabbed some tissues to stop the bleeding.

“I’m fine…just…dizzy…” Aleczandra said, waving away her father’s worry.

"I've never seen this," Cade said, hovering over her with a concerned look. "Maybe we ought to get her to sickbay," he suggested. As he said the words an awful thought came to mind. What if Zandy wasn't compatible with Naqiis somehow? What if they did have to separate them? He didn't have the proper level of expertise to answer that, so for the moment he kept his mouth shut. "Has this happened before, Aleczandra?"

Aleczandra waved her hand. “No doctors,” she said. “Happens sometimes. Mostly when I go deep…farther back.” She gave Cade a wan smile. “I haven’t really tried to access memories that far back,” she admitted.

A quick scan from a medkit tricorder and a dermal regenerator later stopped the nosebleed and the teenager sat sipping some ginger ale as she recovered.

As much as Cade wanted to order her to report to sickbay, she was still a private citizen. The best he could do was encourage her father to take her in. "Convince her if you can. I really think she should get checked out. Amia will be more than happy to do it in a private room and keep the records sealed, top-level encryption. In the meantime I'll begin making some quiet inquiries back home. Maybe arrange counsel for you and her."

“Thank ya, Commander,” Caleb said. “We’ll consider it. We’re still learnin’ who to trust,” he admitted. He gave Aleczandra some water from the replicator.

"I understand," Cade said with a somber nod.

FIN

Lt. Cmdr. Caden Aldrex
Executive Officer

Lt. Cmdr. Caleb Ryan
Chief of Security/Tactical

Alexandra Ryan
Civilian
NPC Matthew

 

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