Adagio Diplomatica

Posted on 20 Apr 2023 @ 9:29pm by Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast

1,683 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: Outbreak
Location: Antioch III
Timeline: The day before "Patient Zero"

Temerant Bast walked the corridors of the Antiocian Capital building at a brisk pace, trying to keep up with the long strides of Elder Miyà, of the Ambassadorial Guild. The Antiocian stood three heads taller than the Trill. Bast wondered of Miyà would be considered tall by her people's standards. Four days had passed since the Cygnus had made First Contact with the people of Antioch. Their presence was still not general knowledge, but with the number of staffers they had encountered in the Capital building, Bast was certain that word was beginning to spread.

The announcement to the population was scheduled for the next day. Bast and Elder Miyà were meeting now to oversee the final details of the announcement. The Tashi was going to speak to the population of Antioch early in the morning, before the Antiocians could get their day started. It just so happened that it would be the first ordinary day after the Festival - but also, Bast thought ironically, a day that would change the Antiocians' lives forever.

"The Tashi will be addressing the holocams from the stage," said Elder Miyà, stepping into the auditorium where the announcement was to take place. "Your Captain will be standing behind the curtain, and will step out as soon as the Tashi announces him. Holocams in the first row will turn to him, and we will also have holocams on the sides turned toward the crowd."

Temerant nodded. "Will there be a lectern?"

"Normally there would be. But..." Miyà hesitated. "I don't know how to put this delicately. Captain Bane would be hidden behind the lectern."

"We're not here to make any demands on how you want things done," cautioned Bast, somehow managing to conceal a smile at the image of Captain Bane's head barely protruding from behind a lectern. "You have to proceed however you think is best, and we will adapt." He hesitated. Over the past few days, he had developed a good working relationship with Elder Miyà, and something told him he could take a small risk with her. "But just between us, I agree. He would look a bit like a child."

Miyà smiled. "Then it is settled, no lectern." She turned back toward the stage, and they proceeded going through the rest of the planning for the announcement. The entire Council of Elders would be present, as would the senior officers from the Cygnus, and a few hand-picked crewmembers as well, selected to highlight the diversity of the Federation. Humans, Bajorans, Trill, Caitian, Orion and Andorian would be on stage, hidden from view until they were called forward.

As they were wrapping up. Bast took a few moments to examine the hall where they were standing. "This place is extraordinary," he said, looking up at the ceiling. "I've seen painted ceilings this vast on other planets, but very few could rival this one for its level of detail. Whoever painted this had extraordinary talent."

Miyà nodded in appreciation. "Indeed. It was painted by Elder Heloise. She was the Head of the Artisans Guild, some six hundred years ago. One of Elder Eliska's ancestors, actually. This room has seen some of the most important events in our history. Peace treaties were signed here. Revolutions began and ended here. The entire city was once destroyed, yet this ceiling remained intact. It is where the first Tashi of a united Antioch was sworn into office a hundred years ago, and where each successor has been sworn in ever since."

"Your people's devotion to history and its preservation is admirable," said Bast. "Not all species share the same appreciation for history."

Miyà tilted her head, uncertain how to respond. "How sad for them," she said finally. "To ignore one's history is to march blindly into the future. How can you know where you are going, if you are unaware of where you came from?"

"Exactly," agreed Bast.

The Trill strolled along the length of the immense room, taking in the breathtaking architecture. Elaborately sculpted wood benches, reminiscent of ancient church pews, were aligned in rows. Two sets of colonnades separated the aisles. Bast guessed that the room could seat close to ten thousand people, but he knew his estimate could be off, given the size of the Antiocians. The room reminded Bast of a nave, and the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, in Florence, sprang to mind, both due to the solemnity of the place, and the intricacy and level of detail in the artwork.

As he advanced, he spotted a strange-looking device to his left, half-hidden behind the colonnade. He stepped toward the thing, and found what looked like a cross between a piano, and a glockenspiel. The instrument presented two rows of stone-grey keys, and mallets which appeared to strike metal plates. Moreover, the instrument did not seem too oversized for Bast.

He looked at Elder Miyà. "May I ask what this is used for?" he asked.

"This is a parasantìr," said the Elder. "It is a musical instrument."

Bast nodded. "I had guessed that much." His hand hovered over the keyboard. "May I?"

Miyà inhaled. "Normally use of the instruments in a room such as this is reserved for the Musicians Guild. But in this case," she added, glancing around the room, "I think we can make an exception. But don't tell Elder Elishka."

Bast smiled. He touched a few keys, registering the notes produced by the instrument as the hammers struck the metal plates. The instrument played true, and in short order he found the G note. He flexed his fingers, and played a chromatic scale as Miyà looked on. Rubber mallets struck the metal plates, which varies in length and width, resulting in various notes being produced when struck. A pedal controlled a dampener, which would stop the vibration.

"You are a musician?" she asked.

"I took a few lessons when I was a child. But one of my previous Hosts was a well-known classical musician."

Miyà tilted her head. "Host?"

Bast hesitated. It wasn't easy to explain the concept of a joined species to someone who'd grown up in the federation and been exposed to countless other species. But to explain the concept to someone who, up until a few days ago, had been completely unaware of life other than on their home planet was entirely something else.

"My species is known as the Trill. We are a joined species, made up of a host, and a symbiont - two beings who live in symbiosis, their thoughts and personalities merged. When the Host body dies, the symbiont is introduced to a new Host body. My memories, and facets of my personality, will live on in the new Host. By the same token, I carry the memories and experiences of my symbiont's previous Hosts as well. I am the third Host for my symbiont. My first Host, Lamorra, was a musician renowned all over Trill," he added, nodding toward the parasantìr. "She played at concert venues throughout the Federation."

Miyà tilted her head. "That is... Quite unusual. Are there many such species in your Federation?"

"As far as I know, the Trill are unique in this regard."

Bast stood before the double-tiered keyboard and started striking keys. At first he played a simple melody, a variation on a nursery rhyme that Temerant's mother Laurel sang to him when he was a boy. The notes flowed easily enough at first that he grew in confidence, and segued into a more elaborate piece, something that his music teacher would have had him practice for a recital. Temerant held some fond memories from his music lessons as a boy. Certainly he had acquired some knowledge of music theory, but the lessons had also taught him discipline, effort and practice at a very young age, something that lethani lessons had also consolidated later on.

But Bast had also been Lamorra Verani, Host to the Bast symbiont for over eighty years, classically trained musician, renowned all over the Federation. She had played concert venues from Vulcan to Kronos, served as cultural ambassador for Trill, and helped to seal vital partnerships both strategic and commercial. Soon the music flowing from his fingers wasn't a mere nursery rhyme or children's recital piece from Temerant's youth, but a concerto that had moved the Andorian Prime Minister to tears, flowing from the incarnation of Lamorra Bast. Temerant was but a spectator along for the ride, as the memory of Lamorra took over through Bast. The movements and variations came through his fingers easily as he discovered the proper way to communicate with this instrument. Through him, Lamorra resurfaced, and found a way to talk to this thing, to make it resonate with the half-century of repressed emotions, the joys and frustrations, the happiness and sorrow, the elation and the confusion she'd felt trapped in Wilem's body - Wilem who had not been interested in music in the least, who had turned his back on everything that made Lamorra who she was. Now, Temerant was a Host with whom she had something in common. If not a shared passion, it was at least a common interest, and this facet of her personality could manifest itself.

The music swelled and faded under his fingers, and by the time he reached the conclusion of the piece, a fine sheen of sweat covered his brow. He opened his eyes, which he hadn't realized he'd closed, and took a deep breath before turning to look at Elder Miyà, who stood there with her mouth agape.

"Are you sure you've neber played the parasantìr before?" she asked.

Bast smiled. "Quite sure. I've never seen one before in my life. But it is reminiscent of a Trill Meia'fàn, "it was just a matter of finding the right tone."

"Indeed." That was all that Miyà could think of. "It was most impressive," she said at last.

Temerant felt himself blushing. "Thank you. Now, should we finish with these preparations?"

- - - - - -

A post by

Lieutenant Temerant Bast
Chief of Operations
USS Cygnus

 

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