Post 347: Promises Part Three

Stardate:70803.0300
Title: Promises Made, Promises Broken Part Three
Author: February Grace
Scene: Symbiont caves at Mak'ala: Trill
Time: Following Part Two
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The thick, milky water of the symbiont pools was warmer than February had expected it to be. It seemed nearly the same temperature as her own body.

That was a relief. She had been afraid that she'd feel cold, which along with being wet and experiencing pain were the feelings she hated most in life.

Quite the contrary to being cold, she had the sensation she'd slipped beneath an overwhelmingly comforting wave of heat. Her skin tingled slightly as she felt the electrical impulses surging through the water around her, coming from and going to the symbiont within her.

She closed her eyes instinctively even though she was blind, and felt her body begin to tremble.

*I'm home. I don't believe it, at last, I'm home.* The thought resonated through her mind, but it was originating from Grace.

Several other symbionts swam nearer to her, and she felt the electrical activity in the pool increase as they started to communicate with Grace excitedly.

*Welcome home, we have missed you,* a symbiont spoke to her, as clearly in February's mind as if the words had been uttered aloud.

*At last the promise is kept.* Another added.

"Promise?" February whispered out loud, and Reece took note of every word. "I don't understand. What promise?"

*The promise they made to bring me home,* Grace informed her. *Before the last host. They swore to bring me home to the pools, to let me rest. It is long past time for me to rest.*

"I still don't understand, Grace. Who promised you?" February spoke aloud again, and Reece's stomach felt as if it'd dropped several stories suddenly. He was right, this was all about her manipulative slug.

All at once the gathering symbionts, at least half a dozen of them now including Grace, began to communicate with each other with greater speed than February's mind could process. She swooned, feeling dizzy and thinking she might pass out.

"Wait. I need to talk to Wen," she begged, asking for an audience with the last Grace host. "Please, just for a minute,"

The electrical impulses continued to speed up and intensify and she cringed in pain. "Stop it, you're hurting me!" She was desperate, and Dabin was about to step in and pull her out himself when the Guardian reappeared momentarily at the edge of the pool.

He spoke her name softly, and February moved over toward him so he could whisper in her ear. She nodded, waded back into the deeper water, and slowly repeated the words of the ritual chant he'd instructed her to say in their native language.

The other symbionts swam away, leaving February and Grace alone for the moment in the murky depths.

February's eyes were still closed and completely sightless, but an instant later she saw an image of a woman before her, as clearly as if she had 20/20 vision.

"Wen, it's you."

*It's me.*

Stunningly beautiful and elegant Wendolyn Grace reached out and touched February's face gently in her vision. *Oh, what has become of you, Grace? I'm sorry, I am so sorry. It's not fair to you, it's not fair to your new host. They lied to us all.*

*February.* Bru thought angrily. *I have a name, and it's not 'new host', it's February! Who lied?*

Wen ignored the last question. *You're sick, aren't you? They symbiont, it's making you sick.* she declared. *It made me sick too, but in another way. You must be,* she paused, *so much stronger than I was.*

February didn't feel strong. Not at all.

"What do you mean, Grace made you sick?" February spoke aloud again and Reece closed his eyes in horror at hearing her words. "Please, I need to know. To save us both."

*It's not the symbiont's fault. It was Deveral's. The life he led, the bad choices he made, all took a horrible toll on Grace. So much so that they promised the symbiont that it was going to come home, to the pools, and get a chance to rest and recover for a long time before being placed in another host.*

"Well then what the hell happened?" February was furious now, thinking that neither she nor Wen were ever supposed to be joined to this symbiont. No one was. "Why did they break that promise?"

*Many reasons. Too few symbionts. Too many initiates.* Wen began sadly. *But more than that, it was the fact that Deveral Grace was so famous. There was intense public pressure on the Comission to reveal who was going to receive his symbiont after he got himself killed falling out of that damned tree in a drunken stupor,* Wen sighed. *Then after I- I mean,*

"After you killed yourself." February spoke more coldly than she had intended. But this wasn't really Wen, only a representation of Grace's memories of Wen, so she wasn't afraid of hurting anyone's feelings at this point.

*After I tried to save Grace by sacrificing myself!* Wen corrected her angrily. *I thought that if I could break our connection, that they would have to return Grace to the pools. Finally give it the decades of rest that they promised.*

"You took the coward's way out! And you justified that cowardice by convincing yourself that it was best for Grace. You wanted to be free of your suffering, and hoped that they'd keep their word to Grace this time. But they didn't!" February shouted. "They stuck me with it instead!"

"Grace just wants to come home now." Wen whispered. "Yes. Home. To Stay."

"Well, it can't! Not unless it kills me first!" February suddenly felt sick to her stomach as the reality of her situation sank in. "Oh god. It is trying to kill me, so they'll have to send it home. Wen, what can I do? What should I do? Please, you have to help me."

The image of Wen faded slowly from view as the Grace symbiont began interfering with February's neural link to its memories; outraged that its secret was now exposed. This pushed February past the breaking point.

"Grace, I swear, if I die, I'm taking you with me," she shouted, a chilling exclamation that got both Reece and the Guardian up out of their respective corners and had them dashing into the pool toward her.

Each man took one of February's flailing arms, struggling to pull her out of the water as she continued to scream.

"Do you hear me, Grace?" She yelled hysterically. "If I go, you go! You won't ever do this to another host again! NEVER AGAIN!"

February shook uncontrollably, and gave a final, heart-wrenching scream. Then her body suddenly went limp, as she succumbed to neural shock and sank to the ground.

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Lt. (jg) February Grace
Helm/Flight Controller
USS Independence NCC-90791

NRPG: Talk about your all-out-slug-fest. (Sorry. That was Commander Reece's response. . .)