Time to Get Down to Work

Posted on Mon Apr 8th, 2024 @ 10:03pm by Luminous Traite Ms & Lieutenant Azrel Vox

0 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Mission 5: The Price of Paradise
Location: Ship's Cafeteria

After a decent nights sleep in her new quarters, Luminous was fresh and ready to start mingling with the crew of the ship. It was her current assignment, what she gets paid for. But first there was the matter of breakfast, she really was hungry.

Her outfit this time was less outlandish than yesterday when she had made her grand entry onto the star fleet vessel and had been briefed by the captain. She liked to come on with a splash, over the top but very deliberate. It went alright, he seemed decent for one of the Star Fleet brass. Most admirals she had met were ass holes.

It was not very crowded in the cafeteria when she arrived, though honestly she did not yet know when the busy hours might be. Probably depended on crew shifts.

There were empty tables but what fun was that. Seeing one table with a single occupant, she decided to do the bold move (her usual really) she approached, food tray in hand and stopped at the table edge.

"Good morning! Would you mind if I sat here? Breakfast is boring with no one to talk to," she flashed a big grin.

"Oh, good morning." Aze replied. Looking up at the young woman. "Please, take a seat. " Aze added. As the young women took a seat, Aze continued. "Best way to make new friends is to sit with others and strike up a conversation."

"Thanks!" Luminous plopped right down then took a second closer look at the young officer. Not that she understood how to decipher ranks and such.

"In case you are wondering if I'm out of uniform, I'm not. I don't own a uniform. I am a civilian who just came aboard yesterday. Name's Luminous Traite," she stuck out one hand in case this woman believed in that sort of thing. She recognized her to be a Trill, she'd never met one before.

Aze shook her hand. "Oh, a civilian. Interesting. What is your role aboard the Midway?" Aze asked, taking a sip of her fruit juice, which was dark blue in colour as it was of a fruit found on Trill, the Yareni Berry.

"Role? If you ask the captain, probably Annoyance. But if you mean why am I on a military vessel - well the FNN has contracted me in my capacity as investigative journalist to spend some time aboard a Star Fleet vessel and then explain to the average viewer what it is like and what the crew do and what they are like."

"Sounds like fun. Before I joined Starfleet, I did a short stint at the local news for the province where my family lives, on Trill. I'd be happy to help if I can. " Dee added.

The Trill seemed friendly enough though she still had yet to introduce herself.

"Fun might not be a word I'd use a lot in the job but it certainly is interesting and varied. I am on the move a lot though for this assignment I will be on this ship for quite some time," Lume started her reply with that.

"Yes, I recognized you are a Trill. You are the first Trill I have ever met though I do know some basics about your race. Are there any more of you on this ship?"

"No, so far I am the only one aboard the Midway. As far as I know, there are only 37 Trill's in Starfleet at the moment. "

Lume was surprised, "Oh wow! You keep track of the whole fleet. Interesting."

"Excuse me but.......I still do not even know your name. So you have me at a bit of a disadvantage here."

"Well, being part of a race that has only just started being part of Starfleet, I find it interesting." Aze replied. " I'm Lieutenant Azrel Vox, Chief of Communications. ".she added.

"It is interesting," Luminous nodded, "And nice to meet you, Lt. Azrel Vox, Chief of Communications."

"So, tell a nonmilitary person like me what exactly does a Chief of Communications do on board this ship?"

"In basic terms, I am responsible for all internal and external communications, which also includes the maintenance of the Universal Translator and should there be an issue, I am fluent in English, Trill, Vulcan and Andorian. You probably haven't heard Trill spoken before. " Aze added "Helgamo hubealc cho verja" she continued this time in her native Trill.

She recounted those duties pretty rapidly, hopefully Lume could either remember them all or look it up in the ship data base when it came time for sending an entry to the FNN.

"No, I certainly have not. I hope you are not swearing at me now, not that I would have a clue what you just said" Lume smiled.

Aze laughed out loud. "No, absolutely not. I actually said a motto I once read in a Federation history file about old Earth sea going vessels. One ship had the motto 'Fortune Favours the Bold' or 'Helgamo hubealc cho verja'" Aze replied. "I am not one for swearing, to be honest. " she added.

"Oh I know that saying. My father loves Old Earth sayings," Lume nodded.

"Don't be embarrassed about swearing. When I get mad I can swear a blue streak.," she pointed out.

"Alright then, how about this for a question? What was your most risky incident on the Midway and relate how it turned out for you?"

"Well. I can't go into much detail on this but I was recently on an away mission and we barely got out alive. It's amazing how the adrenaline keeps you going despite the fear that is welling up inside. I had faith in my colleagues that, together, we would make it. "

"Yeah...short on the juicy details there but let me ask you this: If you had to narrow it down to one or two main reasons, why did you join Star Fleet?" Lume now asked.

"My main reason for joining Starfleet was to be part of something greater than the world I came from. But I also joined so I could see what was out there beyond the confines of my homeworld. I would like to tell you more about my recent experience but I am not sure, without checking, what I can disclose at this time. " She added.

Pretty much stock answers regarding why she joined but that was fine, Lume felt the Trill was being genuine about it. As to what she can disclose...

"No, I do understand the whole security bit, the captain was quite explicit about violating any Star Fleet security. So don't worry about it," she smiled, "Wouldn't want you to get into trouble."

"I appreciate that, thank you. There is another reason I joined Starfleet. I had just enrolled as an initiate at the Symbiosis Commission and hoped to be successful and eventually joined, which I did. So I wanted to ensure, if I was successful, that my life would be meaningful and could be enriched with experiences. " Aze added.

"Ahh, yes! I have heard a little about your race's symbiosis. Would you care to tell me more about that? Most people in the Federation are no doubt woefully ignorant about the whole thing," Lume inquired.

"Well, that's a news topic all of it's own. To be clear though, not all on my world are joined, for two main reasons. The first is that there is simply not enough of the symbionts for everyone who wishes to be joined and second, not everyone is a suitable candidate for reasons including medical and psychological. When joined, the consciousness of both symbiont and host are combined. I have have own memories and experiences plus the knowledge, memories and experiences of Torbin Vox, the first host. "

"Whoa! Start at the beginning, please. Joined? What exactly does that entail?" Lume interjected.

"My apologies. On my world there are two principle Trill lifeforms, the Humanoid Trill, like myself and the symbiont. A symbiont is a sentient vermiform lifeform. Until they are mature and able to live within a host, they live in pools in a cave network on the Trill homeworld. "

"Almost like a parasite, no offense," Lume observed but let her continue.

"The humanoid Trill can live between 90 and 115 years whereas the Symbionts can life up to 550. Basically, the symbiont is placed inside the body of the host and two become one mind through a symbiotic telepathic relationship. " Aze paused. She looked at Lume. She wasn't sure if she had, again, overdone things with too much detail.

"Incredible. But I got some questions. If the human dies suddenly, say in an accident or a battle, what happens to the symbiont? Is it dead then too?"

"No. If the symbiont survives the accident then they are transplanted to a new host. For example, Tobin was the first host for Vox. He passed away aged 113 after being joined for 83 years. I then became the next host. "

"Hmmm, so how does the symbiont survive if the body that housed it is suddenly dead? How is it transplanted? Is it like a physical specimen inside the body?" Azrel's answers only brought more questions from a naturally curious Luminous.

"The symbiont is a sentient vermiform lifeform, a separate being just like the host. If the host dies and the symbiont is unharmed then they can be removed and transplanted to a new host and continue living. The symbionts can live up to 500 years. The symbiont is placed in the abdomen "

Aze said placing her hand on her own where Vox was.

" Then they form both a physical and telepathic connection to the host. Once a symbiont has been joined for over ninety-three hours, the symbiont becomes dependent on its Trill host and vice versa; the Trill host would die within hours without a symbiont, and the symbiont would also unless a host is found. "

"Ninety-three hours? Hmmm, amazing. How do they know this? That is a rather specific exact time. Do your people know how far back in history this symbiont connection has gone on? I wonder about it's ancient origins?" Lume found it all quite the strange mystery but then the universe was a vast theoretically endless place.

"Come to think of it, I am not entirely sure how the 93 hours came about. My guess is, that over the centuries it was discovered somehow. As for how far back in history has there been this symbiosis connection, I honestly don't know. You would have to speak to someone at the Symbiosis Commission on the Trill Homeworld, specifically the Historical Society."

Aze replied back.

"I probably don't need to in order to do my article. I'm concentrating on what the crew person has to say. Speaking of which, is there anything you'd like to give me that you would like to get into an article. I still reserve the right to decide if I use it but who knows, I just might?" Lume now offered.

"Well, not really to be honest. When is your deadline? If I think of something I might be able to let you know before that date. " Aze advised.

"Oh that is fine. I am not sending in anything yet. I will assemble some interviews, then work on articles. So feel free to contact me if you do come up with something," Lume was good with that.

"Ok. If I do think of something, I will get in touch." Aze replied.

"Very well, fair enough. Well, I think we can wrap it up here then. Thank you for talking to me, it was enlightening. And a pleasure to meet you," Luminous smiled.

"Likewise. I look forward to reading this and other future articles." Aze replied.

 

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