Prologue: The History of the Future Part Two
71201.00
February Grace
==========
December 1, 2468
=/\= Symbiosis Commission: Trill =/\=
"My name is Aidran Grace, I've had the Grace symbiont for six months now, and this is,"
"Your Zhian'tara. Might I also remind you young man that in addition to not being senile, I also am not blind." She pointed toward the altar, and Aidran blushed. "Though, I was blind once." She added as an afterthought.
"I know you're not blind, I'm sorry,"
"Oh god! Whatever you do, don't apologize for everything, please. Curious, Did you do that before you were joined?"
"No, actually," he said thoughtfully, "I didn't."
"You definitely got that from me then. Sorry about- oh hell." she stopped, realizing what she was doing.
She cocked her head to the side now, and looked down at her hands.
"Wow, this is a great body your friend is loaning me, please thank her for me later won't you? My hands haven't been this supple or flexible in years." She squeezed her hands into tight fists and then stretched her fingers out, several times in a row.
"Hey," she reached out and grabbed his arm, suddenly sounding as if she'd youthened by about 80 years. "Do you have a guitar around here?"
Aidran reached around the back of the couch, and he pulled out a pink Daisy Rock Heartbreaker, short scale electric guitar. "I thought you might want the chance to play it another time,"
"One last time," 'February' replied, sadness overtaking her features again as she took the instrument and began to tune it up.
"Amazing," Aidran shook his head. "Anya is as tone deaf as a rock. It's amazing to see her, I mean you, do that."
"You can do it now too, you know. A gift to us, from Sachal." She tugged his sleeve insistently. "Not Deveral. No matter what he may have told you."
Aidran laughed. Surely, she had not only had his symbiont before, but she had met the previous hosts and remembered them well. "Deveral tried to get me, and his host body drunk."
"Why does this not surprise me?" She looked the guitar over, and frowned. "If you do play in public, you might want to get one that's different, though. If you walk around with this thing, people might look at you funny."
"Duly noted."
She closed her eyes, strummed the strings, and smiled contentedly. She began without hesitation to play a song, but with her memories transferred temporarily from Aidran into Anya, the young man couldn't place it.
"That's beautiful, Bru. What's it called?"
"Later," she whispered, and suddenly there were the tears again. "I'll tell you later." The sound of her old nickname seemed to startle her. "Wow. No one has called me Bru in a very, very long time."
He waited for her to put the instrument down, but she did not. She simply continued playing, song after song, and finally during the fourth number, she looked up at him mid-strum and stopped, leaving the unfinished melody echoing up toward the vaulted ceiling.
"I'm sorry, I'm being so rude. It's just I wasn't able to play for years, and. . ." She smiled at him brightly now. "I thank you for giving me the chance. But this is your Zhian'tara. And I'm sure you have questions for me. I should have asked you before, are we in a hurry?"
"No, no rush at all, actually We can take all the time we want," Aidran reassured her. "Did you have any questions for me?"
"Yes- one." 'February' replied, as she stopped playing again for a moment and reached out for his hand. "Reece?"
Aidran was struck dumb a moment- it was the same, one word question she had asked him as she lay on the biobed next to his- her words reflecting her last thought before leaving this life was of him.
Aidran hadn't had a chance to answer, and so she asked him again now, still needing to know.
"Reece got a new host too, February, Right after Grace did."
'February' nodded gratefully. "Thank you."
She began to play again. "Well you've done your part for me, young Aidran Grace. What would you like to know about me?
"You were a pilot, right? Starfleet?"
"Yes, I was. You're wearing the uniform as well, I see?"
"Yes."
"And what do you do?"
"I'm a scientist. I'm in medical school, actually."
'February' smiled. "Grace and science. Wen must've been very proud when you told her. Dabin would have been," she stopped. The smile evaporated as quickly as it had appeared.
"You flew a lot of ships in your career, February. But there's one experience I am dying to ask you about."
"Well go ahead, dear. I'm already dead, so don't die waiting to ask me."
"What was it like. . .being a part of The Alchemy Project?"
February put the guitar down and leaned back against the cushions. "My, my. That is quite a question."
"I know. But it's all declassified now. . . well. . . most of it." Aidran excitedly took her hands in his. "But I need to know, what was it really like? Being there. . .with Salvek. . .and Zanh. . .he paused, looking away, ". . .and Reece."
'February's' eyes shadowed and she squeezed his hands tightly back.
"Dabin Reece was the love of my life- and I only hope and pray that you find a love like that, Aidran. One that lasts lifetimes, and seems to go on even after that." She stared out the window at the dark sky and stars above, remembering.
"We were so alike it was scary sometimes. But then when it came to our work, we complimented each other. No one could have asked for a better life than I had."
"How did it all happen? Where did it begin?"
"If you really want to know the story, I'm afraid it is going to take a long time to tell."
"I'm not going anywhere." Aidran suddenly folded his left leg under him as he was sitting, and February laughed out loud.
"You get that from me, too."
He laughed as well when he realized that she was, in fact, sitting in that position even now.
"What was it like. . .being part of The Alchemy Project. . ." she repeated his question, rose, and moved to the replicator.
"Club soda, with lime." She requested, and took a sip after the glass appeared.
She circled the room in slow measured steps and then finally sat down again, drink clutched between her hands.
"I'll tell you one thing, honey. It was a hell of a ride, and I was the driver. Yeah. I was the 'driver'."
A secret sort of smile crossed her lips, and she took another sip of liquid to moisten her throat.
"Listen up, Aidran Grace. This is the history of the future."
Aidran's attention was completely fixed upon her- hanging on her every word.
"Reece and I had been married only days, when everything was turned upside down, in a split second.
"I was, in all honestly, pretty sick of change at that point in my life. Having been through so much in such a short span of time. . .finding out the truth of the medical manipulation of my symbiont. . . losing my sight, barely surviving. Then my recovery and my Zhian'tara happened. Falling in love, getting married all so quickly." she paused and smiled again. "So quickly."
He nodded, his eyes urging her to continue.
"The last things were good changes, of course, but still left me feeling a little disoriented. After Reece and I married in that hurried, secret ceremony on a freezing and desolate world, not knowing if we were ever going to go home. . . I'll tell you, kid, we were lucky. The cavalry came and we did get to go home. And I felt that I had finally surrounded myself with a safe and strong structure of people- that each had a special and specific place in my life. Everything was finally beginning to go right for me."
"And then?" Aidran prodded gently, as she drifted into the silence of her own thoughts and stopped speaking.
"Then once again, everything changed."
She set the glass on the table beside the couch, and folded her hands, settling in to tell the tale.
"It all started when Zanh Liis was taken captive, and a handful of volunteers were assigned to take the barely tested and unknown to us, still very unsafe Alchemy on a mission to bring her back.
"Starfleet had already begun working behind the scenes to assemble a team for the Project, and we had no idea that as soon as the Alchemy had left its docking bay, they had all of our belongings packed and sent to Earth, knowing we wouldn't be going back to the flagship again. Whether our rescue mission succeeded, or failed."
-----------------------------------------------------
February Grace
Voice from the Past
"Your Zhian'tara. Might I also remind you young man that in addition to not being senile, I also am not blind." She pointed toward the altar, and Aidran blushed. "Though, I was blind once." She added as an afterthought.
"I know you're not blind, I'm sorry,"
"Oh god! Whatever you do, don't apologize for everything, please. Curious, Did you do that before you were joined?"
"No, actually," he said thoughtfully, "I didn't."
"You definitely got that from me then. Sorry about- oh hell." she stopped, realizing what she was doing.
She cocked her head to the side now, and looked down at her hands.
"Wow, this is a great body your friend is loaning me, please thank her for me later won't you? My hands haven't been this supple or flexible in years." She squeezed her hands into tight fists and then stretched her fingers out, several times in a row.
"Hey," she reached out and grabbed his arm, suddenly sounding as if she'd youthened by about 80 years. "Do you have a guitar around here?"
Aidran reached around the back of the couch, and he pulled out a pink Daisy Rock Heartbreaker, short scale electric guitar. "I thought you might want the chance to play it another time,"
"One last time," 'February' replied, sadness overtaking her features again as she took the instrument and began to tune it up.
"Amazing," Aidran shook his head. "Anya is as tone deaf as a rock. It's amazing to see her, I mean you, do that."
"You can do it now too, you know. A gift to us, from Sachal." She tugged his sleeve insistently. "Not Deveral. No matter what he may have told you."
Aidran laughed. Surely, she had not only had his symbiont before, but she had met the previous hosts and remembered them well. "Deveral tried to get me, and his host body drunk."
"Why does this not surprise me?" She looked the guitar over, and frowned. "If you do play in public, you might want to get one that's different, though. If you walk around with this thing, people might look at you funny."
"Duly noted."
She closed her eyes, strummed the strings, and smiled contentedly. She began without hesitation to play a song, but with her memories transferred temporarily from Aidran into Anya, the young man couldn't place it.
"That's beautiful, Bru. What's it called?"
"Later," she whispered, and suddenly there were the tears again. "I'll tell you later." The sound of her old nickname seemed to startle her. "Wow. No one has called me Bru in a very, very long time."
He waited for her to put the instrument down, but she did not. She simply continued playing, song after song, and finally during the fourth number, she looked up at him mid-strum and stopped, leaving the unfinished melody echoing up toward the vaulted ceiling.
"I'm sorry, I'm being so rude. It's just I wasn't able to play for years, and. . ." She smiled at him brightly now. "I thank you for giving me the chance. But this is your Zhian'tara. And I'm sure you have questions for me. I should have asked you before, are we in a hurry?"
"No, no rush at all, actually We can take all the time we want," Aidran reassured her. "Did you have any questions for me?"
"Yes- one." 'February' replied, as she stopped playing again for a moment and reached out for his hand. "Reece?"
Aidran was struck dumb a moment- it was the same, one word question she had asked him as she lay on the biobed next to his- her words reflecting her last thought before leaving this life was of him.
Aidran hadn't had a chance to answer, and so she asked him again now, still needing to know.
"Reece got a new host too, February, Right after Grace did."
'February' nodded gratefully. "Thank you."
She began to play again. "Well you've done your part for me, young Aidran Grace. What would you like to know about me?
"You were a pilot, right? Starfleet?"
"Yes, I was. You're wearing the uniform as well, I see?"
"Yes."
"And what do you do?"
"I'm a scientist. I'm in medical school, actually."
'February' smiled. "Grace and science. Wen must've been very proud when you told her. Dabin would have been," she stopped. The smile evaporated as quickly as it had appeared.
"You flew a lot of ships in your career, February. But there's one experience I am dying to ask you about."
"Well go ahead, dear. I'm already dead, so don't die waiting to ask me."
"What was it like. . .being a part of The Alchemy Project?"
February put the guitar down and leaned back against the cushions. "My, my. That is quite a question."
"I know. But it's all declassified now. . . well. . . most of it." Aidran excitedly took her hands in his. "But I need to know, what was it really like? Being there. . .with Salvek. . .and Zanh. . .he paused, looking away, ". . .and Reece."
'February's' eyes shadowed and she squeezed his hands tightly back.
"Dabin Reece was the love of my life- and I only hope and pray that you find a love like that, Aidran. One that lasts lifetimes, and seems to go on even after that." She stared out the window at the dark sky and stars above, remembering.
"We were so alike it was scary sometimes. But then when it came to our work, we complimented each other. No one could have asked for a better life than I had."
"How did it all happen? Where did it begin?"
"If you really want to know the story, I'm afraid it is going to take a long time to tell."
"I'm not going anywhere." Aidran suddenly folded his left leg under him as he was sitting, and February laughed out loud.
"You get that from me, too."
He laughed as well when he realized that she was, in fact, sitting in that position even now.
"What was it like. . .being part of The Alchemy Project. . ." she repeated his question, rose, and moved to the replicator.
"Club soda, with lime." She requested, and took a sip after the glass appeared.
She circled the room in slow measured steps and then finally sat down again, drink clutched between her hands.
"I'll tell you one thing, honey. It was a hell of a ride, and I was the driver. Yeah. I was the 'driver'."
A secret sort of smile crossed her lips, and she took another sip of liquid to moisten her throat.
"Listen up, Aidran Grace. This is the history of the future."
Aidran's attention was completely fixed upon her- hanging on her every word.
"Reece and I had been married only days, when everything was turned upside down, in a split second.
"I was, in all honestly, pretty sick of change at that point in my life. Having been through so much in such a short span of time. . .finding out the truth of the medical manipulation of my symbiont. . . losing my sight, barely surviving. Then my recovery and my Zhian'tara happened. Falling in love, getting married all so quickly." she paused and smiled again. "So quickly."
He nodded, his eyes urging her to continue.
"The last things were good changes, of course, but still left me feeling a little disoriented. After Reece and I married in that hurried, secret ceremony on a freezing and desolate world, not knowing if we were ever going to go home. . . I'll tell you, kid, we were lucky. The cavalry came and we did get to go home. And I felt that I had finally surrounded myself with a safe and strong structure of people- that each had a special and specific place in my life. Everything was finally beginning to go right for me."
"And then?" Aidran prodded gently, as she drifted into the silence of her own thoughts and stopped speaking.
"Then once again, everything changed."
She set the glass on the table beside the couch, and folded her hands, settling in to tell the tale.
"It all started when Zanh Liis was taken captive, and a handful of volunteers were assigned to take the barely tested and unknown to us, still very unsafe Alchemy on a mission to bring her back.
"Starfleet had already begun working behind the scenes to assemble a team for the Project, and we had no idea that as soon as the Alchemy had left its docking bay, they had all of our belongings packed and sent to Earth, knowing we wouldn't be going back to the flagship again. Whether our rescue mission succeeded, or failed."
-----------------------------------------------------
February Grace
Voice from the Past