The impact woke me. I snapped my eyes open and lay still in the darkness for a long moment until I remembered to breathe out. The thudding in my ears began to subside, and other sounds crept back into my consciousness. Beside me, Julian was fast asleep, his breathing deep, soft, and regular, a sound that helped replace the terror of the dream. I listened to it for a few moments, synching my breath with his as I began to calm down. Then I turned my head to look at him, a silhouette in the darkness of our guest quarters. He was sleeping on his back, one hand on his stomach, the other buried under his pillow, his face turned slightly away from me. He didn't stir, because over the years that we'd been together, I had learned to wake and not wake him as well. Julian didn't require as much sleep as most humans, and when he slept, he normally slept deeply, but he was easily awakened by any disturbance. I suspected he had made himself overcome that, too, because sleeping in a bed next to someone meant that another body shifting, moving, making noise.

Expertly, I slipped out of the bed and checked the time on the small display that had mercifully been set for us to Bajoran standard time. It was what we used on Terok Nor, and what we were used to. Based on the time we'd gone to bed, I'd slept over six and a half hours, which was good enough. I probably wasn't going back to sleep anyway.

I rubbed my hands over my face, dispelling the remnants of the dream. It was the same one I'd been having a for a few years now, and all that happened was that I witnessed a shuttle crash. When I first had it, I thought it was a memory from Torias Dax's shuttle crash, but the details were all wrong. It wasn't Torias in the dream, it was me, Jadzia, and I was watching the crash from the outside, not from the pilot's seat. And it just felt different, as if this were something happening to someone else, not to me. I have often wondered, in this life and previous ones, if a host could catch memories of future hosts. Of course, it's never happened, but I've never been able to shake the feeling that this shuttle crash was something that was going to happen, but not to me. It felt like it involved me, but in a way I didn't understand.

I had told Julian about the dream, of course, and he believed that it wasn't a memory from Torias. In his very medical way, he told me we didn't know much about the way our brains conjure our dreams and that it might simply mean nothing. I understood that, but I didn't believe him. I stopped telling him that I kept having the dream, not because I thought he didn't care or I didn't want him to know, but because it became routine enough for me to stop being bothered by it except for in the few minutes after I awoke.

I moved silently from the bedroom and into the livingroom, led by the glow of the replicator. Like Federation replicators, these were wall mounted, but smaller than I was used to, probably because this was a living quarters. I ordered a tea, speaking quietly, and the machine provided one to me soundlessly. It was strange to see a replicator operate in total silence; even Julian said he could not hear the hum of running machinery on this ship.

I went to stand by one of the windows and watch the blackness outside. It was strange, being in a subspace tunnel, because the stars weren't visible. I wondered if anyone in the Trisepat was bothered by that, or if they had all so long ago grown accustomed to this type of travel that they didn't notice. I certainly missed the familiar pinpoints of light, even though, rationally, I knew they were not at all the same stars I normally saw.

Sipping the tea, I let my mind wander – which can be a dangerous occupation for a joined Trill, I might add. Julian and I had met more species than I could keep track of yesterday, although my husband did his normal wonderful job of cataloguing all of them in his mind. We had also gone through more Trisepat history, reading from the computer records in the evening in our quarters. I was still stunned by how much we had in common with the Trisepat, and how lucky we were that we found them in our forays through the wormhole, and not the Dominion that Weyoun had told us about. The history of the Trisepat was, of course, much more detailed and varied than the summary given to us by the legislator, and we had still so much to learn, but there was no way to do so in one day. Or even two, I mused, a smile quirking my lips. We'd be in the Trisepat core the following day, innundated with even more new species and new people.

I let myself feel a glow of pride at what I'd accomplished since arriving on Terok Nor. Benjamin and I were the ones who discovered the wormhole, the first stable wormhole known to the Federation, and now Julian and I were the first to make contact with a democratic political organization like the Federation. Considering that the Federation had made contact with several hostile organization, like the Klingons and the Borg, it was nice to meet another political entity that was interested in the same things we were. It took my mind back to the merger between the Alliance and the Federation and even further back to the initial contact, which had proven much more succesful that contact with the Klingon Empire.

A soft noise distracted me from my thoughts and I turned to see Julian standing in the doorway of the bedroom, arms crossed loosely and smiling at me.

"You were a million kilometers away," he commented.

I smiled back at him and thought of the hundreds upon hundreds of billions of people in this universe and how we had still somehow managed to meet each other.

"Guilty as charged," I replied.

He slipped up beside me and wrapped an arm warmly about my waist.

"All quiet on the western front?" he asked.

I gave him a puzzled look and he chuckled.

"What?" I asked.

"It's an old expression from Earth. It means that nothing's happening."

I smiled, leaning over to give him a kiss.

"There's no military action, anyway," I agreed. Julian nodded, eyes twinkling.

"Hopefully there won't be," he said.

I cocked an eyebrow.

"Are you worried about that?" I asked.

"I bow to your expert opinion on the subject of diplomacy," he told me. "It's more the Klingons I worry about, and their reaction."

I nodded slowly.

"Good point," I sighed.

Julian pulled me into a one-armed hug and kissed my cheek.

"But not our problem," he said. "That's what we have diplomats for."

I winked at him.

"I used to be a diplomat."

Julian grinned.

"I know. And the captain may still call you an old man, but I certainly know better than that."

I kissed him again.

"Have I ever mentioned that I love you?"

"I can recall one or two occasions where you may have expressed that opinion," he replied. I chuckled, tweaking his ear, and he yelped. "Why are you up so early anyway?"

"Woke up from a dream and wanted some tea," I said.

"And then you were contemplating the universe?"

"Just this part of it."

Julian smiled again.

"The illustrious Trisepat. It's amazing what one day in a penal colony will do to a person."

I gave him a surprised look. He shook his head.

"No, I want to know if you're all right. I'm fine," he assured me.

"You're not just – what do the psychologists call it?"

"Compartmentalizing. And no, I'm not."

"I'm all right," I told him. "It was frightening, but all told, we weren't harmed and I have eight lifetimes of experience to help me deal with just about anything."

"Good," said Julian. "Want some breakfast?"

"I do," I replied. He headed to the replicator and ordered something Trisepat for us. I smiled, sinking down onto one of the plush chairs that surrounded the low tables that were used for eating. In this situation, another distinct advantage to being joined was the ability to easily appreciate new cuisines.

Julian handed me a square plate and sat down in the chair beside mine. In truth, I was more glad that I could say that he was there with me. When I looked back over the past day, I knew I could have survived it without much trouble, but there was something more solid about the experience knowing Julian had shared it with me. I had noticed that when I first met him. Back then, I had not been joined, had not had the same self-confidence I gained after becoming Jadzia Dax. Julian overflowed with confidence, and still did. And I knew that he now drew from mine as well.

I used to wonder if we would have stayed together had I not been joined, but I had stopped eventually, knowing that it didn't matter. I had been joined, and we had stayed together, and I could no longer fathom a past without Julian, nor really imagine a future. There would be a Dax, eventually, who had no Julian, but it was not this Dax, and not at this time.

"This isn't half bad," Julian commented, gesturing at his food with a fork, which we had painstakingly programmed into the replicator the day before. "Tangier than I'm used to."

"I could use a raktajino," I replied and Julian laughed.

"The trappings of home," he said.

"Of the Klingon Empire," I corrected.

"If they are going to supply us with trappings, we could do worse than their coffee. I wonder what addictive substances the Trisepat will supply to us."

"Diplomacy first, Jules, then trade."

"That's not how Quark would have it."

"And we are not the Ferengi Empire. Thankfully."

Julian laughed again and finished up his breakfast. He waited until I had done the same, then returned our plates to the replicator. As he did so, the door buzzer sounded, an alien sound that made my ears tingle. I got up and crossed the small room to admit our visitor. On the other side of the threshold stood a small kbsai woman, her skin tinged a faint green, her eyes the same colour, but a vibrant, darker shade, and her hair a shocking black with purple hints.

"Good morning," she said, turning her head slightly to the right, then inclining it, first to me, then to Julian. "I am Navord, Legislator Weyoun's Companion. One of our agents, Ava, would like to meet with you. She is a Changeling, and the legislator has told her that you have Changelings on your space station."

I glanced back at Julian and he gave me a questioning glance. I was, of course, the superior officer, and I had much more diplomatic experience than he did. I nodded, turning back to Navord.

"Of course."

"Excellent. You may accompany me."

Julian joined me and we fell into step behind the woman. There was no guessing at her age, because she was the second kbsai we'd met and I had read the night before that they lived up to ages of nearly two hundred Federation years.

"What is it that a companion does?" Julian asked as we followed her down the well-lit corridor. She glanced over her shoulder at him, smiling, and I resisted the urge to smack him lightly on the shoulder.

"Perhaps it doesn't translate well," Navord agreed. "Because it is not of a personal nature. I act at Legislator Weyoun's telepathic aid. All non-telepathic politicians have them. It is disadvantageous in the Trisepat to be a non-telepath, yet we are a democracy, so we try and eliminate this inequality. Because there are several telepathic races, very little can be kept secret for long, but it is in Legislator Weyoun's best interests to be kept abreast of any new information by someone who works directly for him."

Julian nodded and I had to agree that it made sense. There were a total of four fully telepathic races in the Trisepat. The Gri'Thethi were among the three founders of the Trisepat, and the kbsai had been the fourth race to join, marking the beginnings of the expansion of Trisepat space.

The Trisepat ships were far more colourful than Starfleet vessels, and I found myself enjoying the differences as we passed them by. Some of the windows, although not all, were decorated with intricately painted symbols, the meanings of which I could not even guess. When I stopped to admire on in closer detail, Navord told me that they were all hand-painted. There were also small nooks in many of the corridors into which were nestled chairs, small tables, and various art objects. I wondered if some of the long-term assignment Starfleet ships would benefit from similar set up; after all, they were meant to be cities of a sort. The Enterprise had some of the same luxuries, but very few other exploratory ships did.

Navord eventually stopped at a set of doors like our own and requested entry. She left us there when the door opened, admitting us to a very similar set of quarters, and I wondered in passing how many guest quarters there were on this ship.

Ava, the Changeling, was waiting for us, and I noticed her quarters were smaller than ours. Perhaps because we were diplomatic guests, or perhaps because she was a Changeling and did not require as much space as we did. On the station, Odo had quarters the same size as all other personnel, but there wasn't much choice on Terok Nor.

Ava looked somewhat different from Odo: her features were more defined, and she seemed more at ease in her environment. Odo always seemed to hold a part himself back, whereas I did not get the same sense from Ava. She beckoned us in with a smooth gesture, stepping back and extending an arm. I wondered if this was a universal gesture, or if she had somehow instinctively understood the gestures Julian and I were used to.

"Thank you for coming," she said as we took seats on the low, comfortable couch. Her voice was low and melodious, matching the dim, warm lighting of the room. Odo kept his quarters much like this – at least, he had the few times I had been inside of them – and I wondered if this was a preference his race shared, or just the coincidence of personal preference.

"It's our pleasure," I replied smoothly, falling back into the comfortable rhythms of diplomacy I'd inherited and learned from Curzon. "It's a privilege for us to meet another Changeling."

"Yes, I understand that the one you call Odo has been on your station for some time," she commented, perching lightly and comfortably onto the arm of a chair.

I nodded.

"Yes, although the station was technically under the jurisdiction of the Bajoran and Cardassian Alliance when he first began living there. It has only more recently come under Federation administration. Odo is legally a Bajoran citizen and has lived in Bajoran space as far back as he can remember."

Ava nodded.

"Centuries ago, we sent out one hundred newly formed Changelings – infants, to you – to explore the universe. Since the fall of the Dominion, we've been trying to find them and bring them home, but it can be difficult, as you may be able to imagine. It's a big galaxy."

"Isn't it just?" Julian replied.

"I know you must have many questions for me," Ava said, leaning forward slightly, and I saw a glint in her eyes that told me she wanted something from us. "But please, can you start by telling me everything you can about Odo?"

We left sometime later, and my brain felt like it was packed to its limits with information. Ruefully I wondered if I could take over the memory space that former hosts were taking up for this new knowledge. We had so many answers, but with each one came dozens of new questions. The mere hours we'd been with the Trisepat were nowhere near enough for us to learn everything we wanted to know, and compounding that was that they wanted to know everything about us. I had never experienced such a collision of cultures before. Even Curzon, when negotiating between the Federation and the Alliance, had a long history of contact between both sides. This felt like running full tilt, eyes closed, into a bright unknown. I could tell Julian was equally as overwhelmed, because he altered between excited outbursts and impatient, barely restrained pacing when we were on own our, his eyes bright, his mind obviously whirling. I didn't even want to contemplate what that must be like for his genetically engineered brain.

The days until we arrived in the Trisepat core were filled with meetings, both on the ship and via subspace with diplomats and politicians on the core planets. When we weren't having official meetings, we were the subject of social engagements on the ship. Everyone wanted a glimpse of us, and it would have been exhausting had we not felt the same way – and had I not had some exposure to it thanks to Curzon's experiences. It was obvious fairly quickly that the Vorta were one of the most social races we would encounter, because Weyoun was always in the public eye, and obviously very good at his job as Legislator, smoothing our way during meetings when necessary and keeping an eye on us during social events to make sure we weren't overwhelmed. Despite the vast interstellar distances that separated the Trisepat from the Federation, politicians were politicians everywhere.

On the last day of our voyage, Weyoun and Ada escorted us to the ship's large observation lounge. There were crew members there relaxing and chatting, obviously happy to be back in the core, but nowhere near as apprehensive and excited as we were. Julian laced his fingers through mine as Weyoun led us to the floor to ceiling viewports. There was nothing to see for a moment until we dropped out from the subspace tunnel and normal space reasserted itself. A single bright star in the near distance obscured every thing else for a moment, and I could tell immediately that we were inside of a star system. A moment later, we sailed silently past a planet which had three moons in various orbits, and some local traffic. Another moment and we were passed by a smaller ship that was inbound as we were.

"I promise you a view unlike anything else you'll see in the Trisepat," Weyoun said. "The fourth planet is Elte, the homeworld of the Gri'Thethi and the seat of government for the Trisepat."

Julian squeezed my hand and shot him a quick smile and a glance out of the corner of my eye as we negotiated a small asteroid field and approached an obviously M-class planet. The system traffic had picked up considerably as we headed toward the star, and our ship was slowing noticeably. People were drifting over slowly, taking up places near the view ports, all of them giving off an air of muted interest. A few of them were talking, but most were just watching.

Another ship slipped into a path below us and then we were pulling into orbit above Elte, a satellite drifting slowly past, its green and blue lights winking.

Then I saw it and gasped, hearing Julian mirror my unrestrained sentiment. My hand flew to my mouth as I stared at the mass of lights spiraling out below us. It was night over this half of Elte, and our arrival had probably been timed just for this.

Below us was a vast city, its curves of light exactly mirroring the spread of the Milky Way galaxy. Here and there were brighter lights corresponding to stars that I recognized. Instinctively, I oriented myself and was able to pick out the arm in which Trill and the Federation were located.

"My God," Julian whispered, taking half a step forward, his eyes fixed unerringly on the wonder below. I tore my gaze away, looking up at Weyoun, and found his eyes twinkling and his smile bright.

"Welcome to the Trisepat, Commander, Doctor," he said graciously. "There are many, many people down there waiting to meet you. Won't you come with me?"