Where do we go from here?

Posted on 27 Dec 2021 @ 8:25pm by Commander Rhyan

1,649 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Empty Creche
Location: Starfleet Medical Headquarters, Earth
Timeline: ED5 0900

Commander Rhyan walked on to the intensive care ward of Starfleet Medical Headquarters with a renewed purpose after his meeting with Admiral Ashcart the day before. He was wearing a freshly replicated Starfleet science’s uniform, the first clean uniform he had worn in days – his last one laying in tatters on the floor of the temporary quarters he had been provided here on Earth. His hair was clean, his wounds were healed, and he had a new mission to fulfil – find Shrell and bring her to justice for all the death and destruction that lay in her wake.

The first task of his new mission was to get Aeryn released from Starfleet Medical and have her transferred to the USS Onyx Shadow, where the Colonel was waiting for them. Lucy had indicated he would be willing to release Aeryn, provided she passed a few final medical examinations required by the Trill Symbiosis Commission. The Vulcan chose to ignore most of the laborious paperwork that Lucy and Ulla were required to complete before Aeryn could be allowed to leave with the Zal symbiont joined to her consciousness.

“Commander,” a friendly voice announced as Rhyan stepped into the main bay area of the intensive care ward. Ensign Ulla greeted him with a warm smile. “Are you here to check in on the Lieutenant,” she said, referred to Aeryn.

Rhyan furrowed his brow slightly when he replied. “I am in fact hoping that you will be able to release Lieutenant Zal back into my command, so that the Onyx Shadow can depart orbit as soon as possible.” He did not want to rush the medics, but he was also eager to ensure that Shrell’s trail did not go cold on them.

“We are just waiting on the final biochemistry results on the symbiont, then she should be free to go,” she responded, “unless of course there has been some deterioration, of course.”

“Of course.” Rhyan lied – he would be leaving with Aeryn one way or the other, and he knew the Lieutenant would be similarly minded. The young Trill woman he had got to know over the last few days and weeks would be as keen to find Shrell as he was, given all that he Andorian women had put her through. And that was without factoring in the part of the Zal symbiont that had once been Elesa. Rhyan sensed that the symbiont would also drive Aeryn to bring closure to Elesa’s death, one way or the other.

Ulla nodded at Rhyan and gesticulated towards Aeryn’s biobed. The Trill was sitting on the edge of it, elegantly poised and seemingly lost in thought. She too now wore a crisp new Starfleet uniform, evidently ready to resume her duties as soon as the medics deemed her fit. At first, she did not see Rhyan, but as he drew closer to her, he softened her pose and turned to face him. “Good morning, Rhyan,” she said, continuing to use his familiar name instead of his rank, “how are you feeling today?”

“I am well,” he answered truthfully. He was well rested and eager to get moving. He then asked her the same question: “And how are you?”

She smiled back at him. “I am surprisingly well. The doctors tell me that the virus has now been completely neutralised within the symbiont, which probably explains why I can sense it more now.”

“You did seem lost in thought when I walked in,” he commented.

“Yes, I guess I was,” she started. “I was just remembering the time I – I mean, Elesa – was on board the Redemption for the mission with the Romulan refugees. It is odd to now have memories of the Redemption during a time before I was assigned to her.” Aeryn shook her head slightly out of either confusion or frustration.

Rhyan walked closer to her and rested his hand on her shoulder. “Most of us couldn’t imagine what it would be like to have four lifetimes worth of memories dumped upon us all at once. I am sure in time you will adjust to them.”

“Azan struggled with joining at first,’ Aeryn commented solemnly. Her face then dropped before she added: “He was the crazy one.”

Allowing himself a brief, reassuring smile, Rhyan then tried to reassure the young woman in front of her. “You are not going to go crazy, Aeryn. Just look at how self-assured Elesa was, as a Starfleet officer, diplomat and then Federation President.”

“Even she had her self-doubts.”

“We all do,’ Rhyan said, remembering all the times he doubted himself and his command ability. But over time he had grown to accept his new role as the Redemption’s executive officer, and Aeryn would soon accept her place as the next host of the Zal symbiont. “What would Elesa say to you right now if she were here?”

Aeryn seemed initially stunned by the question, but soon seemed to find the answer from within. Her face initially showed great sadness as she spoke, but then a warm smile appeared as Aeryn dug deeper into the memory she began to recall. “In her last moments joined to Zal, Elesa was immensely grateful to me for risking everything, including my life, to try and save her, and ultimately in saving the symbiont. She couldn’t think of any person, Trill or otherwise, that she seemed more worthy of being her successor.”

“I think you have your answer, then,” Rhyan commented. He could see a new sense of calm wash over Aeryn as she continued to grapple with her new identity.

A few moments of silence passed, then Aeryn faced Rhyan once more. “She also thought the world of you, Rhyan,” she said softly. “Elesa saw in you an officer that was always willing to do what needed to be done. And she trusted you implicitly. That is why she turned to you, and only you, when she found out she had been infected with the Ee virus variant.”

“I did always think she had unrealistic expectations when it came to me,” he replied.

Aeryn laughed for a moment. “She also found you to be overly modest,” she said pointedly. “You need to learn how to take a compliment, Rhyan.” Her eyes sparkled in the harsh lights of the surgical bay, and for a moment Rhyan thought he saw President Zal looking back at him, chastising him in the way only she ever did – both playfully and truthfully.

“I am sorry to interrupt you both,” Ensign Ulla said as she walked back into the bay to join them. She studied the padd in her hand as she spoke. “I am pleased to inform you, Lieutenant, that your isoboramine levels are completely normal. I can also see no traces of active virus in your system.”

“Does that mean I can finally get out of here,” Aeryn said as she pushed herself off the biobed and eagerly stepped towards the doctor. Rhyan noted that the lieutenant seemed more like Aeryn in those few seconds than she had been since her joining to Zal.

Ulla looked up from her padd. “Doctor Inverness still has her reservations about letting you go gallivanting across the sector with Commander Rhyan here, but as a representative of the Symbiosis Commission I can see no need to hold you here any further. I am therefore returning you to active duty.”

“Thank you,” Aeryn said, stepping towards Ulla and giving her an awkward hug. Ulla looked both confused and mortified by the action, stepping several paces back when Aeryn released her.

“You are welcome,” she replied. “Make sure to let us know if you experience any problems in the coming days. And the Symbiosis Commission will be expecting you on Trill at some point in the next few months for additional assessments. Apparently these unexpected joinings are becoming more frequent, and so they have set up a specialist service to follow up those individuals.”

“I will speak with them as soon as Commander Rhyan and I return to the Redemption.”

“Be sure that you do. As you know, one of my previous hosts worked for the Commission and I know they get a bit cranky if you don’t do what they tell you to!” Ulla returned her attention to her padd and walked away from the two science officers.

“So, Commander,” Aeryn said excitedly, “where do we go from here?”

Rhyan studied the woman in front of him for a moment. In many ways she was the same Aeryn that he had grown familiar with on the Redemption and Aoraki, but there were also fragments of Elesa’s personality, and other Zal hosts, starting to assert themselves within her. The biggest change he noticed was the surge in confidence she seemed to radiate. It would take time for him to get to know this new person joining him on the Onyx Shadow, but he remained hopeful that she was as conscientious and loyal as Aeryn Tigan had been – perhaps more so with Elesa’s influence.

Setting his ponderings aside, Rhyan answered the Lieutenant’s question. “We are to report to the commanding officer of the Onyx Shadow immediately. We have been granted permission by Admiral Ashcart to track and apprehend the Confederacy of the Underdark agent known as Shrell. I think I speak for both of us when I say that we have unfinished business with her.”

“That we do,” Aeryn added, her jaw tensing and expression becoming more determined at the thought of catching up with the Andorian woman. “I have a score to settle with that bitch.”

Rhyan allowed his left eyebrow to rise slightly at the Trill’s comment, then he tapped his comm badge firmly. “Commander Rhyan to Onyx Shadow. Two to beam up.”

And with that single command, the Starfleet officers disappeared in a shimmering of light.

 

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