Chapter One—Retirement (Stardate: 75225.14 ~ Tue Jun 06, 2400, 13:42:00)

A gentle breeze blew through various colors of flowers and bushes and over the white sand and purple waters of a beach in the dim morning light. In a nearby bungalow, two women slept peacefully. Their previous months have been spent peacefully away from the frontlines of the Federation as they have retired from service.

Vausees lay with her head on Debrah’s chest. Her wife’s chest, the slight rise and fall, is soothing as she sleeps with her. A gentle stirring from Debrah causes Vausees to open her eyes. She sees that it is morning and rolls away from the warmth of Debrah’s body. The movement causes Vausee’s body to rebel, so she stretches to relieve the tightness. She gets out of bed, walks into the adjoining bathroom, and the sound of the shower wafts into the bedroom quietly.

Debrah lies there for a moment, but the splashes and general sounds of the running shower cause her to groan. She opens her eyes and stares at the ceiling of the bungalow for a moment before she slips from the warmth of the bed and joins her wife in the shower.

A short while later, Vausees stands in front of a mirror as she brushes out her damp hair. She sees Debrah in the reflection. “So, sweetheart, what do you have planned for today?” she asks as he continues to brush her hair. Debrah looks up from her shoe and smiles as she thinks about what Vausees had asked her. “I think I will tend to our little garden,” she replies.

Vausees nods as she sets down the brush and then gathers her long brown hair and pulls it back behind her, before slipping it into a tight ponytail. “The guardians at the symbiont caves have asked me to return to assist with the symbiont,” she states as she stands up and turns to face Debrah. “One of them is not doing so well.”

“That’s not good. How are you handling that information? Seeing as you have a symbiont yourself.” Debrah points out as she asks the question.

Vausees stands there for a moment before she replies. “I am lucky to have been chosen by Vax, but to know that there is another that is not doing well and could possibly die and not continue on with experiencing life through another Trill. It makes me feel even more responsible to do what I can.”

Debrah moves from behind the bed and embraces her wife. “I don’t know much about the symbionts, but I have gotten to know yours from the times that it’s shown itself through you.” She states as she continues to hold Vausees.

Vausees looks into her wife’s eyes and smiles before gently kissing her softly on her lips. “Thank you for understanding just how much this means to me.”

Debrah slowly releases Vausees after the kiss and returns the smile. “You are my universe, my galaxy, my sun, and my world. I don’t think I would have existed without you being in it.” Her voice is soft as her green eyes look into the light, pale blue eyes of Vausees.

A soft smile creases Vausees’ lips at the words that Debrah had given. “You’re too sweet. How did I even end up being so lucky to have not only fallen in love with but ultimately married someone like you?”

Later on…

Deep within the Caves of Mak’ala, one of the Trill guardians stood within the milky pool where a troubled symbiont resided. The guardian turned their head at the sound of someone approaching. A smile reached their eyes, if not shown on their face. They reached a hand out for Vausees to join them within the pool, as the troubled symbiont moved around their body.

Vausees took the hand of the guardian and slipped into the pool. The milky pool was cool to her skin, as it always was, as she entered the ionized fluid within the pool. As she bends down, her hands slip into the pool, and the symbiont moving around the guardian changes direction and heads from Vausees hands.

A soft electrical current caresses her skin as the snakelike creature moves between her hands. Vausees cradles the creature with gentle hands and brings it up to hers. Vax peeks out of the pouch that is within Vausees abdomen. As the two symbionts start to communicate, Vausees can sense the thoughts of the troubled symbiont. Her eyes close as she focuses on both her symbiont and the troubled one.

Images of the violent death of the symbiont’s former host echo throughout the creature’s mind. A fight with an unknown assailant and then the sudden feeling of crippling pain writhes around the creature’s mind, intertwining with the images of its host bleeding out and the initial attack.

A few moments later she releases the troubled symbiont back into the milky pool and slowly leans back against the warm rocky edge of the pool. Her pale blue eyes open, now with unshed tears, and look out into the pool as the troubled symbiont surfaces.

Meanwhile…

Back at the bungalow, Debrah was kneeling on the sunny side of the building. Her once short bob-cut hair is now long and is still shaven on the one side, tied back into a ponytail. Sweat beaded down the side of her freshly shaven head. She was toiling in the dark brown soil of the garden that she had built shortly after arriving on Trill.

Most who knew Debrah would have thought this to be way out of character for the former Executive Officer and former Security Tactical Officer. When she had begun the task of turning the soft, sandy ground into what it was now, she had found it to be relatively relaxing.

Nowadays if Debrah isn’t being escorted around Trill by her wife, she can be found in her garden of fresh Trill vegetables, ground fruits, or flowers that she has planted, weeding. Her fingers are currently stained black from the soil. Reaching up, she wipes away a bead of sweat that threatens to spill into her eyes. She leaves some of the soil on her face as she returns to the task at hand.

A soft beep echoes in the common area of the bungalow, but no one is there to answer the call. Shortly after, a holographic image floats above the communication device, the icon of the federation, and more specifically, Starfleet Command.

Back at the Caves of Mak’ala…

Vausees sits near the edge of one of the pools used to house the symbionts. Every so often one of the symbionts would surface near the rocky edge and appear to look up at her.

Vausees was deep in thought over the recent events that she had witnessed through the telepathic connection that her symbiont had had with the troubled one that she was here to help. She couldn’t put together what had truly happened to that symbiont’s host, as the images were too shattered and scattered. However, she knew that something was wrong. That the death of that host was not natural or, for that matter, accidental.

As she sat there deep in her thoughts at hand, one of the guardians came down on her shoulder. She looked up at the guardian and nodded, knowing that her time there was up. Standing up, she dusts off her pants and starts for the entrance to the caves.

Back at the bungalow…

The sound of a shuttle approaching drew Debrah’s focus away from the garden. She knew who was approaching and stood up. As the shuttle landed, she approached and greeted her wife with a loving embrace, leaving behind some of the soil on the side of Vausees cheek.

Vausees playfully pushes her away with an irritated look on her face. “Babe, you’ve gotten me dirty.”

Debrah grins, “It’s just the evidence of my love, for you and my garden.” She replies.

They both head in, and it is then that they notice the floating icon on the communication device. Debrah turns her head to look at Vausees, who is transfixed by that Starfleet Command icon that is floating and spinning above the device.

A soft sigh leaves Vausees lips as she looks down and shakes her head. “Even retired, it seems that we can’t escape the calls.”

Debrah places a soiled hand on Vausees’ shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze. “We don’t have to reply, but what could it hurt to give it a look and listen?” she states.

“If I know Command as I do, this isn’t a message of greetings but a callback to service because of something drastic that has happened,” Vausees says as she turns to look at her wife.

Debrah couldn’t deny the facts that were stated just then. “We could just ignore it.” She spoke.

“No, you and I both know that we belong in space, even if we want to be on solid ground and away from the fleets,” Vausees said as she turned back to the communication device and walked towards it, followed by Debrah.

As they took a seat in front of the device, Vausees reached up and tapped on the flashing button on the device. The icon changed to an audio-only message.

“This is a Priority One message for Captain Vausees Vax and Commander Debrah Fergouson-Vax.”