Changes: The Lives of Dax

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An anthology of stories focusing on the hosts of the Dax symbiont.

Summary

From the book jacket

Three hundred fifty-seven years. Nine lives. One soul.

Mother, father, engineer, ambassador, scientist, statesman, serial killer, Starfleet officer: At one time or another, Dax has been all of these things and more. The near-immortal part of a composite species known as the Trill, Dax is a sentient, wormlike symbiont joined body and mind to a succession of humanoid hosts, carrying the memories of each lifetime into the next. Each incarnation is different. Each has its own personality, its own triumphs, its own tragedies, its own dreams. And each one... is Dax.

Here for the first time are tales from the lives of one of the most unique and compelling Star Trek characters ever created, told by voices as diverse as the hosts themselves: Steven Barnes, Michael Jan Friedman, L.A. Graf, Jeffrey Lang, S.D. Perry, Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Simpson, and Susan Wright.

Much more than an anthology, this unique collection of stories weaves the tapestry of one being's life... through three and a half centuries of history in the Star Trek universe.

Imagine who she's known. Imagine what he's seen.

Excerpts of copyrighted sources are included for review purposes only, without any intention of infringement.

"Second Star to the Right..." (Ezri)

When her date with Dr. Julian Bashir gets interrupted by a medical emergency, Ezri decides to wander around in Vic's program. She gets herself lost in a junkyard of broken Las Vegas signs. When she wonders if she should end the program, Vic Fontaine appears and strikes up a conversation with her. Ezri opens up to Vic about her joining to Dax.

At the end of 2374, the USS Destiny is called to Deep Space 9 to transport the Dax symbiont to the Trill homeworld. As the Dax symbiont is transferred aboard, Ezri Tigan and Brinner Finok are questioned by Dr. T'pek about their suitability for joining. As Ensign Tigan never wanted to be joined, and never bothered with the usually requisite questionnaires, Ensign Finok is ordered to the vessel's sickbay to be on hand if a joining is necessary. When Ezri later goes to see Brinner, he begins to act strange and is revealed to be a Founder, who previously impersonated Dr. T'pek, intent on somehow joining with the Dax symbiont. Because of Ezri's involvement, the plan is ruined, but not before the Founder sends a signal to near-by Jem'Hadar fighters. The USS Destiny is attacked and the Dax symbiont needs to be joined to a host. With Ensign Finnok incapacitated, Ezri becomes the only Trill available to be joined. Instead of the years of training that Trill initiates usually receive, Ezri Tigan only has a fifteen minute briefing from the Destiny's CMO, a human named Franklin Solon. A cover story was created to hide the fact that a Founder had been captured, and so Ezri Tigan became the "only Trill" aboard the Destiny.

First Steps (Lela)

Dead Man's Hand (Tobin)

Old Souls (Emony)

When Sinnit Arvid enters a gymnast competition, his roommate, young Leonard McCoy comes to watch him. While the competitors are warming up, McCoy's and Emony Dax' eyes meet. The competition doesn't go very well for young Sinnit, as he fails to qualify for the finals. Later, after the semi-final, McCoy manages to get Emony to go on a date with him. After they make love, she tells him about her secret, that she has a symbiont inside her. McCoy doesn't know how to respond and he flees back to his dorm room. The next morning he realizes what an idiot he's been and he goes to the gym to apologize for his reaction. But as Dax is busy with the competition, he waits until she is free to speak to... when Sinnit appears and tries to kill Emony Dax. One of the other competitors manages to intercept a fatal blow, but is hurt badly as a result. As McCoy is forced to hold the athletes artery, he realizes that he enjoys saving lives. After Sinnit is arrested and the athlete is recovering, McCoy asks Emony if they could spend some more time together, she refuses but leaves him with the hope that they may one day meet again.

Sins of the Mother (Audrid)

In a letter to her daughter Neema, now joined to the symbiont Cyl, Audrid Dax explains what really happened to her husband, Neema's father, Jayvin Vod. Initially Audrid told Neema that her father had died and that the symbiont Vod lived on; but later, Neema investigated and found out that the symbiont had died as well, thus accusing her mother as a murderer and broke up with her.

The reason for Audrid not telling the truth to Neema is that the incident that lead to Jayvin's death was classified by both Trill and Starfleet. Here's what happened:

On Stardate 1230, when Audrid was head of the Trill Symbiosis Commission for just about a year, a comet was discovered that would bypass Trill pretty close. On the comet, life-signals somewhat related to Trill life signals had been detected by Starfleet - but as no one outside Trill knew about the true nature of their species, Starfleet scientists were unable to tell that the life signals were in fact related to those of a Trill symbiont. When Trill scientists discovered this, Starfleet and Trill assembled a joint expedition to the comet - including Audrid, Jayvin and starfleet veteran Christopher Pike.

Upon landing on the comet, they discovered a labyrinth of holes, caves and tunnels. Following the life-signature, they eventually found a basin, somehow resembling the ones in the caves of Mak'ala, but still very different. When Jayvin approached the basin, a creature jumped out of it and joined with him. He turned against his wife and his friends, killing three starfleet officers and hunting down Audrid - until he himself was killed by Pike.

With the dead Jayvin, Audrid returned to Trill, where it was discovered that the creature, now called a Parasite, had cut the symbiosis between Jayvin and Vod, and was controlling Jayvin by directly attaching to his brain. Because of the danger that Vod potentially was also controlled by the parasite creature, it was abandoned to die, too.

Trill classified the material and never released the knowledge of the symbiont-related creatures to public; and Christopher Pike, as one of the only outsiders at that time to finally know about the Trill's true nature, promised to Audrid that he would never tell anyone.

Audrid's letter concludes in regretting that she was never able to speak to Pike again, as around one year after the incident, he had an accident himself that left him paralyzed (see TOS: "The Menagerie, Part I"). But the letter ultimately served its purpose in bringing mother and daughter back together.

Infinity (Torias)

Torias Dax is a young pilot working with a group of scientists, including his wife Nilani Kahn, who are testing a transwarp drive that, presumably, will reach warp 10. The shuttle that will be used to test the warp drive is called the Infinity. Though the scientists have observed some potentially dangerous energy fluctuatons in simulations, many Starfleet dignitaries, including Admiral Kirk, turn up to view the test run. Torias and the scientists decide that even if the energy fluctuations, which are in a safe margin of error, turn out to be dangerous, the emergency transporter suit that Torias will be wearing will take care of any problems. When the Infinity goes to warp, the fluctuations cause it to explode. Though the ETS does its job, the doctors, though able to save Dax, cannot save Torias, and Nilani watches in horror as he dies.

Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor (Joran)

The Music between the Notes (Curzon)

Reflections (Jadzia)

"...and straight on 'til morning" (Ezri)

Background Information

"Sins of the Mother" tells how the neural parasites from TNG: "Conspiracy" are encountered for the first time.
This anthology, along with A Stitch in Time, was retroactively inserted into the ongoing "DS9 relaunch"; making it, technically, the first release in that series. To make this clearer, the anthology was reprinted in mass market paperback format with the new logo representing the relaunch series.
The events from "Sins of the Mother" find a conclusion in the novels Unity and Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume 2.
An extract from "Reflections" appeared in Star Trek Monthly issue 58.

Characters

The hosts of Dax

Other characters

T'Pau
Skon
Leonard McCoy
Christine Chapel
Captain Styles
Odan
Benjamin Sisko
Odo
Worf
Quark
Kira Nerys
Julian Bashir
Cal Hudson
Vic Fontaine
Captain Raymer
Kejjis Nar, Trill Athlete
Sinnit Arvid, Tessman Athlete

Sins of the Mother

References

External link

Template:NCwiki-title

Previous novel:	Series	Next novel:
The Dominion War #4: Sacrifice of Angels	Pocket DS9 Unnumbered novels	Millennium #1: The Fall of Terok Nor
First novel in series (retroactive)	Relaunch series	A Stitch in Time
The Left Hand of Destiny, Book Two	Chronological order	As release order

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{realworld}}
 {{Sidebar novel|
-| Image             = The Lives of Dax.jpg
+| image             = The Lives of Dax.jpg
 | Author            = ''various''
 | Publisher         = [[Pocket Books]]
 | Editor            = [[Marco Palmieri]]
 | Series            = [[Pocket DS9]]
-| Published         = {{d|1|December|1999}}
+| Published         = {{d|1|December|1999}} (trade paperback)<br />{{d|31|December|2002}} (paperback - relaunch reprint)
-| Pages             = 347
+| Pages             = 347 (trade paperback)<br />367 (paperback)
-| Year              = [[2218]]-[[2375]]
+| Year              = [[2075]]-[[2375]]
 | Stardate          = ''various''
-| ISBN              = 0671028405
+| ISBN              = 0671028405 (trade paperback)<br />ISBN 0743456823 (paperback)
 }}
 An anthology of stories focusing on the hosts of the Dax symbiont.
@@ Line 31: / Line 31: @@
 When her date with Dr. [[Julian Bashir]] gets interrupted by a medical emergency, Ezri decides to wander around in [[Vic's lounge|Vic's program]]. She gets herself lost in a junkyard of broken [[Las Vegas]] signs. When she wonders if she should end the program, [[Vic Fontaine]] appears and strikes up a conversation with her. Ezri opens up to Vic about her joining to Dax.
-At the end of [[2374]], the {{USS|Destiny}} is called to [[Deep Space 9]] to transport the Dax symbiont to the [[Trill (planet)|Trill]] [[homeworld]]. As the Dax symboint is transferred aboard, Ezri Tigan and [[Brinner Finok]] are questioned by Dr. T'pek about their suitability for joining. As Ensign Tigan never wanted to be joined, and never bothered with the usually requisite questionnaires, Ensign Finok is ordered to the vessel's [[sickbay]] to be on hand if a joining is necessary. When Ezri later goes to see Brinner, he begins to act strange and is revealed to be a [[Founder]], who previously impersonated Dr. T'pek, intent on somehow joining with the Dax symbiont. Because of Ezri's involvement, the plan is ruined, but not before the Founder sends a signal to near-by Jem'Hadar fighters. The USS ''Destiny'' is attacked and the Dax symbiont needs to be joined to a host. With Ensign Finnok incapacitated, Ezri becomes the only Trill available to be joined. Instead of the years of training that [[Trill initiate]]s usually receive, Ezri Tigan only has a fifteen minute briefing from the ''Destiny'''s [[Chief medical officer|CMO]], a human named Franklin Solon. A cover story was created to hide the fact that a Founder had been captured, and so Ezri Tigan became the "only Trill" aboard the ''Destiny''.
+At the end of [[2374]], the {{USS|Destiny}} is called to [[Deep Space 9]] to transport the Dax symbiont to the [[Trill (planet)|Trill]] [[homeworld]]. As the Dax symbiont is transferred aboard, Ezri Tigan and [[Brinner Finok]] are questioned by Dr. T'pek about their suitability for joining. As Ensign Tigan never wanted to be joined, and never bothered with the usually requisite questionnaires, Ensign Finok is ordered to the vessel's [[sickbay]] to be on hand if a joining is necessary. When Ezri later goes to see Brinner, he begins to act strange and is revealed to be a [[Founder]], who previously impersonated Dr. T'pek, intent on somehow joining with the Dax symbiont. Because of Ezri's involvement, the plan is ruined, but not before the Founder sends a signal to near-by Jem'Hadar fighters. The USS ''Destiny'' is attacked and the Dax symbiont needs to be joined to a host. With Ensign Finnok incapacitated, Ezri becomes the only Trill available to be joined. Instead of the years of training that [[Trill initiate]]s usually receive, Ezri Tigan only has a fifteen minute briefing from the ''Destiny''{{'}}s [[Chief medical officer|CMO]], a human named Franklin Solon. A cover story was created to hide the fact that a Founder had been captured, and so Ezri Tigan became the "only Trill" aboard the ''Destiny''.
 === First Steps (Lela) ===
@@ Line 38: / Line 38: @@
 === Old Souls (Emony) ===
+When Sinnit Arvid enters a gymnast competition, his roommate, young [[Leonard McCoy]] comes to watch him.
+While the competitors are warming up, McCoy's and [[Emony Dax]]' eyes meet. The competition doesn't go very well for young Sinnit, as he fails to qualify for the finals. Later, after the semi-final, McCoy manages to get Emony to go on a date with him. After they make love, she tells him about her secret, that she has a symbiont inside her. McCoy doesn't know how to respond and he flees back to his dorm room. The next morning he realizes what an idiot he's been and he goes to the gym to apologize for his reaction. But as Dax is busy with the competition, he waits until she is free to speak to... when Sinnit appears and tries to kill Emony Dax. One of the other competitors manages to intercept a fatal blow, but is hurt badly as a result. As McCoy is forced to hold the athletes artery, he realizes that he enjoys saving lives. After Sinnit is arrested and the athlete is recovering, McCoy asks Emony if they could spend some more time together, she refuses but leaves him with the hope that they may one day meet again.
 === Sins of the Mother (Audrid) ===
@@ Line 52: / Line 55: @@
 Trill classified the material and never released the knowledge of the symbiont-related creatures to public; and Christopher Pike, as one of the only outsiders at that time to finally know about the Trill's true nature, promised to Audrid that he would never tell anyone.
-Audrid's letter concludes in regretting that she was never able to speak to Pike again, as around one year after the incident, he had an accident himself that left him paralized (see {{TOS|The Menagerie, Part I}}). But the letter ultimately served its purpose in bringing mother and daughter back together.
+Audrid's letter concludes in regretting that she was never able to speak to Pike again, as around one year after the incident, he had an accident himself that left him paralyzed (see {{TOS|The Menagerie, Part I}}). But the letter ultimately served its purpose in bringing mother and daughter back together.
 === Infinity (Torias) ===
+[[Torias Dax]] is a young pilot working with a group of scientists, including his wife [[Nilani Kahn]], who are testing a transwarp drive that, presumably, will reach warp 10. The shuttle that will be used to test the warp drive is called the Infinity. Though the scientists have observed some potentially dangerous energy fluctuatons in simulations, many Starfleet dignitaries, including Admiral Kirk, turn up to view the test run. Torias and the scientists decide that even if the energy fluctuations, which are in a safe margin of error, turn out to be dangerous, the emergency transporter suit that Torias will be wearing will take care of any problems. When the Infinity goes to warp, the fluctuations cause it to explode. Though the ETS does its job, the doctors, though able to save Dax, cannot save Torias, and Nilani watches in horror as he dies.
 === Allegro Ouroboros in D Minor (Joran) ===
@@ Line 71: / Line 75: @@
 ==Background Information==
 * "Sins of the Mother" tells how the [[Neural parasite (24th century)|neural parasites]] from {{TNG|Conspiracy}} are encountered for the first time.
+* This anthology, along with ''[[A Stitch in Time]]'', was retroactively inserted into the ongoing "DS9 relaunch"; making it, technically, the first release in that series. To make this clearer, the anthology was reprinted in mass market paperback format with the new logo representing the relaunch series.
 * The events from "Sins of the Mother" find a conclusion in the novels ''[[Unity]]'' and ''[[Worlds of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Volume 2]]''.
 * An extract from "Reflections" appeared in [[Star Trek Monthly issue 58|''Star Trek Monthly'' issue 58]].
@@ Line 102: / Line 107: @@
 * [[Vic Fontaine]]
 * [[Raymer|Captain Raymer]]
+* '''Kejjis Nar''', Trill Athlete
+* '''Sinnit Arvid''', Tessman Athlete
 ==== Sins of the Mother ====
@@ Line 109: / Line 116: @@
 ==References==
 ==External link==
-*{{NCwiki}}
+* {{NCwiki-title}}
-{| table class="browser"
+{{Novel nav
-|-
+|series      = [[Pocket DS9]]<br />Unnumbered novels
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-|}
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-[[Category:Novels|Lives of Dax, The]]
+|next2       = ''[[A Stitch in Time]]''
+|chrono      = Yes
+|prevchrono  = ''[[The Left Hand of Destiny, Book Two]]''
+|nextchrono  =
+}}
+[[cs:The Lives of Dax]]
 [[de:The Lives of Dax]]
+[[Category:Novels|Lives of Dax, The]]