Adagio for a Symbiont

Posted on 02 Oct 2024 @ 11:43pm by Lieutenant Commander Temerant Bast & Chief Warrant Officer Rommie Rath RN

1,408 words; about a 7 minute read

Mission: Stranded
Location: Bridge
Timeline: Immediately following The Bast of Time

Nurse Rath unfolded her medical tricorder, pulled out the wand, and ran it over the patient. It registered the commbadge, and identified the patient from it - a Trill male, 31 years of age. The symbiont was 167 years of age. The male host was showing evidence of blunt force trauma, the result of being thrown halfway across the Bridge and having the shit kicked out of him. Several fractures were registered - zygomatic fracture to the right of the face, fractured mandible, the right humerus was shattered, as well as three broken ribs, one of which had pierced the right lung, resulting in a pneumothorax. Another rib was threatening to puncture the liver.

The most pressing problem was the massive cranial trauma, and internal bleeding. Doctor Ravi had ordered the delivery of blood clotting agents to help stop the internal bleeding, which Nurse Rath had administered, but so far they were ineffective. The intracranial pressure was building up, and if they couldn't stop it soon, the host would suffer permanent brain damage - if he hadn't already.

The symbiont, however, exhibited signs of bruising, but it was otherwise uninjured. As it should be - the host body had always been meant to cushion the blow.

"Doctor Ravi," said Rath, "the subdural hematoma is getting worse," she called out, drawing Ravi back from tending to Chief Sorbek, who was also in dire condition, albeit not as critical as the First Officer.

Silence. Bast was still stuck in a world of silence. Of course the symbiont was blind and deaf, and being lodged as it was in the abdomen of the Host, it would not have been able to see or hear a thing even if it had not been blind or deaf. But now the usual merging of the minds between host and symbiont was completely absent.

Nurse Rath put away the cortical stimulator she had used to repair the ruptured blood vessel in Temerant's brain. The intracranial pressure was still elevated, but at least it was no longer increasing. She reported as much to Doctor Ravi, just as her tricorder started to beep again.

"Doctor Ravi, his blood pressure is dropping rapidly. His kidneys are shutting down, and I am reading signs of hepatic hemorrhage. Multiple organ system failure. Doctor, I think we may have no choice but to remove the symbiont."

Rath knew the weight of those words. If they were forced to remove the symbiont, it would mean the death of the Host within twenty-four hours, and the symbiont would have to be placed in a new host, or returned to the caves of Mak'ala within the week, or else both would die.

Deafening silence. Silence such as the symbiont had experienced only three times. When it had been removed from the life-nourishing fluids of the Caves to be joined with Lamora, when it had transitioned from Lamora to Wilem, and when it had been transferred to Temerant. Was this to be another of those times? Would it have to become accustomed to yet another Host?

Rath examined the tricorder readings. The hepatic hemorrhage which had been the most urgent problem was now under control. The medical cocktail ordered by Doctor Ravi seemed to be working. But there was still so much work to do before he was at the very least considered stable. At Doctor Ravi's request, she pulled out a phaser scalpel, and cut away the First Officer's uniform, exposing his chest and abdomen. His skin was dark with bruises, and bumps lined the rib cage that shouldn't have been there. She pulled out the bone fusion kit, and scanned him with the tricorder again, to determine the best place to apply the tool to repair the broken ribs. Doctor Ravi provided the correct settings for the fusion kit. Rath programmed the settings into the device, and activated it.

Music. That was what was missing the most in this deafening silence. Music had always been a huge part of Bast's life. Lamora had been the first to introduce music into Bast's life, through her own passion. She had been a professional musician, and had played at prestigious concert venues all over the Federation, sometimes at the invitation of the Federation Council and the Federation Diplomatic Corps. She had a way around her musical instrument that was unparallelled in her lifetime. Wilem had also greatly loved music, but this time it was as a spectator. Perhaps because of his experiences as Lamora, he had developed a great affinity for music, even though he possessed no natural musical talent of his own. Under Bast's influence, he had tried to play a few notes on the keyboard, to disastrous effect, much to the amusement of his wife. But that hadn't quenched his love for music, and more often than not, music had played when Wilem was working in his office or in his laboratory. With Temerant, music was a more discrete presence. Of course in his youth he had been to his share of night clubs and had danced to the popular songs of the moment, but that hardly qualified as music. Over the past couple of years, since the Joining, Temerant had begun rediscovering the classics. During their most recent mission to Antioch, he had come across a musical instrument, one resembling a piano. Instinct had taken over, and he had played, reviving the connection that Lamora had with the notes.

Music was what was missing from Bast's life now. There was no music to be heard.

Nurse Rath pressed the hypospray to the base of the First Officer's skull. They were running against the clock, and the risk of being forced to remove the symbiont was real. Rath moved as quickly as she could, as fast as Doctor Ravi was issuing her orders. But the Trill's body seemed to be shutting down even faster. Wheere he had seemed to be improving just a few minutes ago, things were now getting worse.

The tricorder beeped once again. Rath looked at the display, and breathed. Ravi's latest cocktail, a broad-spectrum anti-inflammatory concoction administered right into the cerebral fluid, seemed to be working. Intracranial pressure had dropped by five percent, alleviating the pressure on Temerant's brain, thereby decreasing the risk of permanent brain damage.

The silence remained. Bast’s consciousness floated in the void, disconnected from the host’s senses. The symbiont’s memories of music, of life, felt like distant echoes, unreachable in this moment of crisis.

Nurse Rath's hands moved with practiced precision as she continued to monitor the First Officer's vitals. The drop in intracranial pressure was a small victory, but they were far from out of danger.

"Doctor, his heart rate is stabilizing, but his oxygen levels are still critically low," Rath reported, her voice steady despite the urgency of the situation.

In the depths of silence, Bast clung to the hope that Temerant would revive. Their relationship was still too new, too fresh, so many symphonies were left to play. It was too soon to change the orchestra.

Another medical cocktail was injected. This time, medication to help the blood bind oxygen more effectively, which would improve his oxygenation and optimize his breathing.

Nurse Rath watched the monitors intently, her heart pounding in her chest. The battle to save Temerant and Bast was far from over, but they would fight with every ounce of skill and determination they possessed.

After precious few minutes, the First Officer's vital signs finally stabilized enough for Rath to roll back on her heels and take a deep breath. They weren't out of the woods just yet, but there was hope.

Despair. The silence had invited despair. The symbiont had felt the effects of several chemical compounds injected into the Host, no doubt in an attempt to save his life. The chemicals had breached the blood-symbiont barrier, and the symbiont was now feeling anxious. It was too soon to move on to a new Host.

Through the desperate silence, the symbiont now perceived something. Not something induced from the chemicals. The symbiont strained its perception, trying to understand what it was. It was something very faint, barely perceptible.

And suddenly, it understood.

It was a single note. More like a hum, really. A dull hum, very low, somewhat off-key. But it was there.

The music of Temerant's mind was not gone after all.

And the symbiont rejoiced.

 

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