Re: Earth
Siphon translated almost as soon as Ian finished his sentences, and as he did, Ian might catch a faint glimmer in Ashana's eyes that she knew the two were friends, and that whatever Ian was saying, Siphon was repeating so she could understand.
She rattled something off back, looking at Ian as she spoke, the glimmer in her eyes telling him that even though she knew he wouldn't understand her without Siphon's translations, her message would still get to him, and she wanted him to feel that she was responding back directly to him.
When she had finished, her gaze drifted a bit, and her body relaxed some, but Ian could tell just by the look in her eyes that she was still trying to cling onto life, despite the fact her entire body was shutting down. Meanwhile, Siphon translated for her.
"She says she's sorry she can't stick around to get to know you better, that she had been looking forward to learning your unique view on the language we all speak. None of you asked for the disease she carries, and she felt she at least owed it to all of you to try and help, especially since you brought her back to life when you thawed her out. She wishes things could be different."
There was a pause as he took a breath, then added, "she knows exactly what's happening to her Ian. She also knows what we tried to do as far as the Tokra, and she wants you to know that she's OK with it. She doesn't want you to feel bad for not ever asking her permission, she says she would have done the same in your position."
She smiled weakly at Ian as Siphon finished, perhaps understanding from the inflection of Siphon's voice what had been said. She rattled off something else, grimacing several times as the pain clearly was beginning to become too much for her, but still, she finished what she wanted to say. At the very end, she spoke two words that Ian might recognize, since he'd heard them before many years ago.
"Aveo ... Amacuse."
Siphon quickly translated, seeming to realize what was happening now.
"She wishes you the best, and is glad you won't forget her. She's glad that the life on this world she tried to help create has turned out at least one like her, I think she means you Ian."
At the last bit, he bowed his head slightly to her, his face an unreadable mask. He repeated the two words, and her name in Ancient, resting a hand gently on her shoulder. A moment later, for Ian's benefit, just in case, he translated, "Good Bye, Ashana."
With one final weak smile, Ashana closed her eyes, took a final breath, exhaled, and became still. Ian wouldn't need to look at the silent monitor flat lined, or Siphon's confirmation to know that she was gone.
"That's it. She's gone Ian. She was desperately holding on so she could say good bye to you. More than that though, she knew about Val Shara and there not being another host possibly. She was trying to hold on to give the symbiote a chance to survive, even if she couldn't."
Reaching for a radio, he activated it, allowing his voice to come across the radio Trel Vah had taken when he and Sho had left to greet Vanessa.
Trel Vah merely nodded, his words sounding carefully chosen.
"I will conduct a brief ... interview with her when she arrives, to make certain she is aware of what she is getting into, and that she truly is prepared for this. While I am hopeful we may be able to at least save the information Val Shara has, I will not do so if mentally Vanessa is not prepared for this. I will not add to the nightmare Nirrti inflicted upon her, nor would Val Shara ever agree to do anything that could potentially cause harm."
Soon enough they had reached the gate, and they didn't have long to wait before it roared to life. Before it settled down and could allow anyone through though, Siphon's voice came over the radio clipped to Trel Vah's belt.
"Trel Vah, Sho? This is Siphon. I just wanted to let you both know ... Ashana's gone. She held on as long as she could, she knew we were trying to save Val Shara as well. There must have been at least a partial success in the blending despite the internal damage. Either way, our timer just started."
As he finished speaking, Vanessa emerged from the gate, looking fresh and ready for whatever, a stark change to when Sho had last seen her. Then again, she'd had some time to recover, so it wasn't much of a surprise considering Vanessa tended to bounce back pretty quickly from most everything.