JPL (Backlog)|Cpt. Dhej, Cmdr. Hunter, Cmdr. Rinehart, Lt.sh'Thrass,Lt. Quoicho, Lt. Entek|"Closure" Part 1

Posted on 241505.23 @ 2:03am by Commander Tierney Rinehart & Lieutenant Zhyalla sh'Thrass & Lieutenant Katilya Entek MD, PsyD

Mission: Agua Mala

[OOC :From memory alpha here is the description of the ceremony :

The zhian'tara is the Trill rite of closure, in which a joined Trill meets with the previous hosts of their symbiont.

During the rite the personalities and memories of the previous hosts are telepathically transferred from the host to the bodies of voluntary friends by a Guardian. The former hosts' personalities assert themselves and the new host can converse and interact with them; this allows the new host to "meet" the other hosts who had been, until then, only memories and emotions. The objective is to allow the new host to understand more completely how the past hosts influence the new hosts. It is up to the volunteer friends to decide when to release the consciousnesses back to the original Trill.

Zhian'tara is considered so important a ceremony that the Symbiosis Commission requires it be performed and will go to some lengths to see it done.]

=/\=Karim's Quarters=/\=

Karim sighed as he closed the message he'd been reading. Since the ship had arrived at the station, he'd taken some time off duty, and had tried to catch up on some personal messages he'd been ignoring. He'd changed into some comfortable clothes, and had tried to make himself relax. The message though had bothered him, and he knew he needed to act on it before it went too far. Tapping his combadge he said "Dhej to Hunter, Rinehart, Quoicho, sh'Thrass and Entek. Please join me in my quarters. Dhej out."

Nanee was in her office looking over charts the younger officers were getting better at charting but the physician mates were still doing their over the shoulder checks along the way making this job all the easier for Nanee. She knew she should be sleeping or at least relaxing but after her talk with her family well it had put her in a mood. Setting the PaDD down when she got the message to meet the department heads in the COs quarters which was a bit strange but shrugging her shoulders she stood grabbing her CPaDD she headed out. Hitting the chime she waited to be invited into the captain's quarters.

Hearing the chime, he said "It's open, come in."

Nanee stepped into the quarters and nodded to the captain, "how's the bump on the head?"

Smiling he replied "A bit better, thanks Doctor. Please take a seat."

Katilya had just finished a counselling session with a young Bolian crewman who had been missing home, among other things. The session had taken a lot out of her, and there hadn't been quite enough tissues strewn across her office floor. She sighed and rubbed her forehead as she looked at the mess and shook her head. Then the call from the CO came in.

"On my way," Katilya responded. A curse word in Cardassian escaped her lips once the com. had been cut. Her head was throbbing and she closed her eyes momentarily before sighing and pulling herself out of the chair and to the COs quarters. By now, she'd only just got to grips with the ship layout and found her way without having to ask too many directions. Standing outside, she pressed the chime and entered on being summoned, not knowing what the call was for.

Zhyalla had received the summons in the middle of changing for some time in the holodeck, and immediately went hunting for Tierney. She knew her friend was in a delicate place right now, and she didn't want to leave her unescorted to a large group meeting.

The trip through the corridor had been spent in idle chatter between the half-breed and the Andorian. Tierney's own concern had been settled on how the Romulan had behaved when tasked with disciplining the young Stenellian Princess, and then how the list had bloomed of Enterprise's cup of power as a whole... And then included Zhyalla. Her concern was that her friend had been burned, her cover blown, and the gig up. She wasn't yet ready to say goodbye to the quirky woman. Stepping inside Karim's quarters, however, set her concern aside for everything other than the Captain. "Captain." She acknowledged him quietly, setting herself on the far side of the room.

Adrian was the last to arrive as she had to finish feeding her son and herself before she set up the Nanny programme, "Sorry, sir. Had to sort out my son."

Once everyone was settled, he said "Thank you all for coming. Before we get started, I need to let you know you presence here isn't under orders. I have asked you all here for personal reasons which I will reveal soon. If after you hear what I have to say, you wish to leave, I will not hold it against you in any way."

Tierney's brow furrowed as she crossed her legs and leaned on the arm of her chair. "My only concern is for you, sir. Everything else is secondary." She expressed, casting a quick glance to Zhyalla and then back at the Trill that had become one of her closest friends. "Are you alright?"

Nodding, Karim replied "I'm fine Tierney, really I am. I've called you all here with a personal request. I've chosen you, Nanee and Adrianna because I've learned to trust you, and consider you friends. I've asked you Zhyalla and Katilya to be here because I haven't had a chance to get to know either of you very well." Pausing, he took a breath and added "The reason I've asked you here is to help me complete a Trill ceremony, the zhian'tara, the rite of closure."

Katilya quirked a brow upwards as the CO made his intentions clear. She sunk a little further into the chair, a million thoughts and worries flew through her mind as the conversation continued around her.

The Starling nodded, her brow still furrowed as she considered the options at hand. The truth of the matter was there wasn't anything she could deny him. "I'm not familiar, but I'll do whatever needs to be done." She agreed and offered him a small, reassuring smile.

Nanee had only heard of this rite and it only being done a few times even though nothing bad had happened during those times she still didn't like the idea of multiple sets of memories and emotions crossing. Nanee closed her eyes and nodded, "it would be an honor sir." Nanee said opening her eyes and giving the captain a smile as she wondered why the male Trill was doing this now.

Smiling, he replied "Thank you Tierney, Nanee for your support. I will further explain my reasons for calling you here, I promise."

Adrian shifted a little uncomfortably, but had to admit, her curiosity was getting the better of her.

Sighing, he said "I know you are probably wondering what the rite is, and why you are all here. For those of you that don't know, I was joined with Dhej rather... suddenly, and after joining, recovered at Starfleet Medical rather than back on Trill. I won't lie, adjusting to being a joined being was difficult, and as some of you know, I am still having issues with proper tenses and genders when I speak. Also sometimes memories of other hosts seem to cloud my own." Pausing, he took a breath and added "On top of all that, I've gone through a lot of changes very quickly. My last assignment was as Chief Medical Officer on the Hera, and then suddenly I was Executive Officer of the Enterprise, then Acting CO, then now Captain and Commanding Officer. It's been a lot to process."

"That being said, the Symbiosis Commission has strongly been pushing me to complete the zhian'tara ritual. They have insisted that I complete it very soon to help me deal with everything that has happened. To that end, they have sent a Guardian to meet me at the station to oversee the ritual." he continued. Pausing, he added "In basic terms, the ritual consists of friends and colleagues of the host to telepathically allow the previous hosts memories to inhabit them. You will be aware of the experience, but more as an observer, and it will be up to you to decide when to give the memories back to me. The guardian has randomly selected hosts for each of you, and is waiting aboard the station to begin. Does anyone have any questions?"

Nanee did have one seeing as she was joined as well this could be interesting, "what do they say if one of the participants is a joined Trill? Seeing as I would have my own memories and emotions of past hosts." Nanee said looking at Dhej she would still do anything to help the captain but she wasn't gonna risk or her own sanity.

Shaking his head, Karim replied "I've been assured that the ritual won't affect you due to being joined. The memories of my past hosts will be separate from those of your past hosts."

Nanee just nodded feeling slightly reassured but still nervous as hell about this.

Nodding, he said "Ok then, if there are no further questions, then I appreciate you all being willing to participate. I will summon the guardian to meet us in a meeting room on the station and we can get started."

TBC

=/\=End Log=/\=
Captian Karim Dhej
Commanding Officer
USS Enterprise NCC 1701-F

Commander Adrianna Hunter
Executive Officer
USS Enterprise NCC 1701-F

Commander Tierney Rinehart
Chief Intelligence Officer/Second Officer
USS Enterprise NCC 1701-F

Lieutenant Zhyalla sh'Thrass
Chief Helm Officer
USS Enterprise NCC 1701-F

Lieutenant Nanee Quoicho
Chief Medical Officer
USS Enterprise NCC 1701-F

Lieutenant Kailya Entek
Chief Counselor
USS Enterprise NCC 1701-F