By Rigin, Trill Symbiont Guardian
80309.1500
After The Scientist, and then after Unanswered
-=Flashback to after February‘s Zhian’tara=-
80309.1500
After The Scientist, and then after Unanswered
-=Flashback to after February‘s Zhian’tara=-
Trill and Ex-Symbiont Guardian Rigin had passed out and lay in a crumpled heap before them.
"I take it you told him about the money?" Dabin said, as he indicated it was okay for TC, who had come to offer assistance, to return to the party as he and Bru each grabbed Rigin by an arm.
They took the small, slight man over to a booth to continue his recovery as he started to come around.
"Yup."
"So, Rigin, you just won the lottery! What are you going to do next?"
"I'm going to see the worlds!” Rigin answered, “Starting with the one just below us!"
"Good choice!" Reece grinned. "Where to?"
"I think I'll start with the famous caves I heard about." Rigin decided.
"Carlsbad Caverns?" February roared. "You're kidding me!"
"No! I've read about them and always wanted to go there."
"He spends his whole life in the symbiont caves," Dabin Reece's shoulders shook as he and February collapsed into slaphappy giggles. "And HE wants to go to Carlsbad Caverns to sight see!"
Rigin had no idea why they would find this amusing in the least.
-= End Flashback =-
-=Current location: Earth=-
-=Current location: Earth=-
It had been several months since February Grace had made sure Rigin was "set for life" by giving him a huge sum of money left over from Deveral Grace's fortune.
She insisted it was the least she could do considering he had given up his life on Trill as a Guardian to help protect her and the Grace symbiont from certain death.
Since that time Rigin had begun a meticulous tour schedule across the planet Earth, taking in a cave a day of exploration and guided tours, and never getting the least bit tired of it.
Holocamera..... check!
Helmet with light..... check!
Communicator..... check!
First aid kit, maps, hiking boots, warm clothes, emergency heat source and rations. Check.
Today's journey would bring Rigin to the California Cavern, on the Western edge of the North American Continent. He stepped off the transport, and into the Visitor's center for the 8AM tour. It was always best to catch the first tour of the day, so you had plenty of time later to explore on your own.
A group of ten had gathered, including Rigin, a Bajoran family, and several humans.
"Good morning everyone, my name is Clarissa, and I'll be explaining everything you would ever want to know about the California Cavern."
Rigin raised his holocamera and clicked the capture button. There was a bright flash Clarissa was not ready for. Her pupils dilated and she blinked several times, staggering back a step.
"Hi Clarissa!" Rigin said enthusiastically, lowering his camera back down.
He turned towards the Bajoran family, which consisted of a husband, wife, and young boy, about ten. "What's your name young man?"
"Dreelam Letrel sir." The boy said respectfully.
"Well, Dreelam. No wait, Letrel! Right? Yeah, it’s Letrel, because that engineer, her name was Lair Kellyn, and we called her Kellyn. Anyway young man, do you have a flashlight in case you get separated from your family?"
"He has a communicator." The wife said politely.
"Communicator? That won't help you find your way around in the dark will it? You need a flashlight young man." Rigin unzipped his vest to reveal every supply a cave explorer would ever need.... in triplicate. He plucked a flashlight, and stuffed in the pocket of the young man's shirt.
"Oh here, you'll need this for the gift shop too." Rigin stuffed several strips of latinum in the boy's shirt next to the flashlight.
"Thank you very..." The husband tried to say, and suddenly found himself blinded by the unexpected flash of the holocamera.
"No problem, such a lovely family."
Rigin saw that Clarissa, having restored her vision, was heading for the exit of the visitors center. He jogged to the back of the group, and observed the Bajorans staggering to keep up.
"Come on, you're going to miss the fun!"
The walked outside, to the mouth of the cavern. "This is the entrance to the original trail when tours first began in the 1850's. This entranced was closed for a great while and only recently reopened to the public." Clarissa explained. Rigin raised his camera and again blinded the poor young lady.
"Amazing! We get to see an area that's been closed for hundreds of years! Exciting isn't it!" Rigin nudged the Bajoran man, who smiled politely, and took a small step away from the Trill.
Rigin heard a beep coming from somewhere on his person, and began digging until he found his communicator.
"This is Rigin?" He half stated and half asked, after answering the silly little device.
"Pardon me sir, this is Ensign Freel from Starfleet Communications in San Francisco. I have a incoming priority message for you from a Dabin Reece of the USS Serendipity."
"Oh my! All right. Drat we were just getting to the good part here. hold on a moment, Ensign."
Rigin waved over the top of the group. “Clarissa! Sweetie is there a place I can take a subspace message?”
“There’s a terminal back inside the visitors center!” She said, sounding, Rigin noted, strangely relieved by this fact.
“Thank you! I’ll be back soon for the full tour, I promise!”
“Make it a Wednesday!” She said, smiling through gritted teeth. “That’s my day off.” She said softly to the rest of the group.
Rigin asked the polite young Ensign to route his message to the terminal in the visitor’s center. He made his way back, and found the terminal, which displayed the Federation incoming message logo. He stabbed at the screen, and the logo disappeared, replaced by Dabin Reece.
[Whoa! Dude, you’ve put on weight! You must be enjoying Earth.]
“I’m up to 55 kilograms. Can you believe it? The food on this planet is so diverse. Especially this ‘Cajun’ food. I went to this place called Brennan‘s a few days ago. The food was so spicy I though I was going to die. It was wonderful! Want to see a picture?”
Rigin picked up his holocamera and began shuffling backwards through the archived images.
“Perhaps another time Rigin. Friend, she needs your help.”
Rigin didn’t have to ask who “she” was. He lowered the camera back down and snapped back into the serious demeanor of a Trill Guardian.
“What’s happened, Dabin?”
“Our link, it’s lost. She was exposed to some pretty severe radiation recently. Physically she and Grace are fine, but we can’t seem to get our link back.”
“How is she taking it?” Rigin asked.
Dabin just shook his head slowly. “She’s sad.”
Those two words associated with February Grace felt like a kick in the stomach to Rigin.
“When can I beam up to your ship?”
“Soon, we are en route. I’ll hail you when we arrive.” Dabin said.
“I’ll be ready.” Rigin nodded. The screen went blank as Dabin ended the transmission.
-=Later, after the events of Unanswered=-
Rigin packed away his cave exploration equipment, and dug out his Guardian’s robe. He slipped it on, and waited for transport. Reece made his call as promised, and Rigin indicated he was ready.
Moments later he found himself in the transporter room of the USS Serendipity. He greeted Dabin Reece with a hug, and got the condensed version of the Beta-626 mission and the letters Dabin had just found regarding February’s parents, as Reece walked him to the science lab. They entered the lab, where Doctor McKay and Jariel Camen were gathered to discuss the issue.
“Rigin, you know Vedek Jariel, and this gentleman is our long term medical hologram, Doctor McKay.” Reece handled the introduction, and Rigin shook hands with each man.
Rigin took up a seat at the circular console at the center of the room. “So, Dabin, it sounds to me like you thought the radiation was responsible, but now there may be more to it.”
“Right,” Dabin said, “The Doctor and I couldn’t figure out why the link wouldn’t return, but now that I’ve seen what’s happened between February and her parents, I’m guessing stress may be the reason she cannot reestablish a connection. In my research I’ve already seen that extreme stress can temporarily disrupt our link, but never anything this severe.”
McKay brought up a medical scan on one of the monitors to show Rigin. “But never any stress this severe either. This poor girl is wound up tighter than a June bug at a pesticide convention. I figured it was just because she was so upset over losing her little telepathic deal with the science guy over there, but it looks now more like the cause of the problem, not a side effect.”
[[She’s going to have to deal with this somehow.]] Camen signed. [[If the issue with her family is causing her this trouble, than no medical procedures or medicines are going to repair it. It must come from within her.]]
Dabin translated the Vedek’s words, and Rigin nodded slowly.
“He’s right. Grace will not fully open up again to February if the symbiont feels it is threatened by something happening to the host. It is a defense mechanism of the symbiont. February is going to need to work through this, and then I believe I can serve as a conduit between Grace and Reece to reestablish your link.”
“Now wait just a toad tossin’ minute!” The LMH interrupted. Let’s not forget that girl almost died recently from radiation poisoning. Is it the best idea to put her under that much mental stress? And what kind of issues can we expect from this link Rigin?”
“It is similar to the connection I provide during the zhian’tara. The physical strain of February will be minimal.” Rigin said.
“Yeah minimal, meaning not zero.” McKay scoffed. “I’m all for helping February out but you have to understand that as a doctor my first duty is to not make my patient any worse, and I can’t, in good conscience, authorize any procedure that may do so. Right now she is as healthy as she has ever been, minus one telepathic link.”
[[Is she really that healthy Doctor? When I saw her earlier she was sitting on the floor huddled into a ball. Not the bright young angel I’m used to seeing around the ship.]] Camen offered.
Rigin crossed his arms as he stared at the medical readout on the screen. “A neural monitor can be used for myself, Dabin and February. If there are any signs of a serious problem, I can easily stop the connection between us without any further risk. But...”
“But,” Dabin picked up. “Before we can even get that far, something has to be done about.... Mother and Father.”
Dabin’s face reddened again with anger as the memory of the messages he had read flooded his mind. “That’s a battle February is going to need to fight.”
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Rigin
Trill Symbiont Guardian
Rigin
Trill Symbiont Guardian