A Silence of Three Parts

Posted on 04 Aug 2024 @ 9:30am by Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast

269 words; about a 1 minute read

Mission: Stranded

Silence.

The Bast symbiont existed in a world of silence.

It was a silence made of three parts. The first part was obvious, as symbionts are naturally blind and deaf when not in their natural habitat in the caves of Mak'ala, relying on their Hosts for contact with the outside world.

This natural and physiological silence was closely related to the second silence. The symbiont couldn't see what the Host was seeing. And the symbiont couldn't hear what the Host was hearing. The last thing the symbiont had seen had been a Bajoran scientific officer, tapping commands into a console, which had ended in a brilliant flash. The last thing the symbiont had heard, was a deafening explosion, followed by a deep sensation of spatial disorientation.

The third silence stemmed from the fact that the symbiont had lost all mental connection to the Host. Bast could no longer hear Temerant's thoughts, just as Temerant could no longer hear Bast.

Bast had sensed the impact of the Host's body colliding with the bulkhead. It had sensed the heat coming from the explosion of the console somewhere to the side. Bast had tried to scream a warning to Temerant, but the sudden silence that had come almost immediately left little doubt in the symbiont's mind that its warning had not been heard. And for some time now, it had heard nothing from Temerant. Not even the soft, distant echo of a sleeping Host.

And that was the most frightening silence of all.

- - - - - - -

A mission post by
Lt. Cmdr Temerant Bast
Executive Officer
USS Cygnus

 

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