View source for Story 3: The Changeling

{{Infobox Scavenger Story
| title = SS Scavenger DX-1017: The Changeling
| image = Kessa's Award.png
| author = Daniel R. Bingamon
| published = 2025 (Independently Published)
| isbn = 979-8266837690
| series = SS Scavenger Universe
| story_number = 3
| preceding = [[SS Scavenger DX-1017: The Water World]]
| following = [[SS Scavenger DX-1017: The School from Hell]]
| period = Narosi 10 – Narosi 22 (Annuli 3428)
| location = Prose, Cycronox, G254-29, Groombridge 34, CD-46 11540, Altair 3, Wolf 1055, Barnard’s Star
| theme = Identity, transformation, cooperation, and the cost of healing
}}

'''''SS Scavenger DX-1017: The Changeling''''' is the third canonical story in the [[SS Scavenger Universe]] series by [[Daniel R. Bingamon]].  
When identity itself is rewritten, the crew of the {{Ship|Scavenger}} must race across the stars to find a cure—before the change becomes permanent.

__TOC__

== Overview ==
Following the events of ''[[The Water World]]'', the {{Ship|Scavenger}} returns to base at Prose for refit.  
Aboard, engineer **Alan Dathan** awakens transformed into the young woman he once rescued at Cycronox.  
Within hours, Admiral Sorell tasks Captain [[Elan Drex]] and his crew to trace the origin of a viral epidemic spreading across the Alliance.  
What begins as a medical mystery soon entangles Alliance and Tonan forces alike, revealing that both species are victims of a shared contagion.

== Acts and Chapters ==
=== Act I – Shadows at Home ===
* '''Ch 1 – Night on Narosi 10''' – Alan Dathan’s transformation shatters the ship’s calm.  
* '''Ch 2 – Hospital Revelations''' – Alliance doctors confirm an epidemic; Drex is ordered to find patient zero.  
* '''Ch 3 – Orders and Outfits''' – The ship refits as a mobile lab; Kessa Rin and Terev help Alan adjust.

=== Act II – The Search Begins ===
* '''Ch 4 – Cycronox Salvage''' – Dr. Heli Naska is found transformed and unrepentant.  
* '''Ch 5 – Questions and Clues''' – Conference records point toward G254-29 and archaeologist Alaren Lor.  
* '''Ch 6 – Groombridge 34 Escape''' – A Tonan cruiser confronts Scavenger; Drex bluffs his way out.  
* '''Ch 7 – CD-46 11540: Enemies in Crisis''' – A Tonan crew, also infected, agrees to a desperate truce.

=== Act III – The Carrier ===
* '''Ch 8 – Altair Transition''' – The heavy-gravity colony reveals links between the archaeologists and Wolf 1055.  
* '''Ch 9 – Wolf 1055: Ruins & Patient Zero''' – The team discovers '''Daya Lor''', the unaltered carrier of the viral code.

=== Act IV – The Cure and the Cost ===
* '''Ch 10 – Barnard’s Star: The Hospital Hub''' – Over 2,000 cases overwhelm Alliance facilities.  
* '''Ch 11 – Splicing the Cure''' – Kessa’s antibodies and Daya Lor’s DNA form the first working serum.  
* '''Ch 12 – Race to Prose''' – Using the ship’s [[Transit Window]], the crew mass-duplicates the cure.  
* '''Ch 13 – Shadows Remain''' – The epidemic ends; Kessa receives Prose’s highest scientific award.

== Principal Characters ==
* '''Captain Elan Drex''' – Commanding officer of the Scavenger.  
* '''Dr. James Drex''' – Ship’s physician; Elan’s brother.  
* '''Kessa Rin''' – Science Officer whose antibodies enable the cure.  
* '''John Rin''' – Operations Officer; Kessa’s husband.  
* '''Alan Dathan''' – Engineer transformed by the virus; first restored patient.  
* '''Velka Ereen''' – Records Officer and chronicler.  
* '''Arei Moltan''' – Chief Logistics Coordinator.  
* '''Terev Saikah Gillings''' – Prosian engineer.  
* '''Brennen Gillings''' – Third Engineer; Terev’s partner.  
* '''Dr. Heli Naska''' – Transformed archaeologist who sees her condition as a “gift.”  
* '''Daya Lor''' – Carrier of the original viral sequence (Patient Zero).  
* '''Admiral Sorell''' – Alliance Fleet Commander who commissions the mission.  
* '''Tonan Commander Kuegon''' – Rogue captain later seen hunting Scavenger in subsequent stories.

== Locations and Events ==
* **Prose / Prosiana City** – Homeworld and final destination for mass distribution of the cure.  
* **Cycronox System** – Origin of the changeling virus within an archaeological wreck.  
* **Groombridge 34 and CD-46 11540** – Key encounters with infected Tonan crews.  
* **Altair 3** – Heavy-gravity colony; links the archaeologists to Wolf 1055.  
* **Wolf 1055** – Site of the ancient ruins containing dormant viral code.  
* **Barnard’s Star Hospital Hub** – Alliance’s primary medical center and site of the cure’s creation.

== Themes ==
* The fragility of identity and body.  
* Cooperation between enemies under shared threat.  
* Scientific sacrifice and the moral cost of salvation.  
* Renewal – both biological and cultural – reflected in the Prosian proverb:  
: ''Akora jenekwa, na torrenwa.'' (“In reflection, I find strength.”)

== Appendices ==
* '''Appendix A''' – The Prosian Language and Alphabet.  
* '''Appendix B''' – The Prosian Calendar (Annuli 342-day system).  
* '''Appendix C''' – Cultural Notes of Prose.  
* '''Appendix D''' – Key Crew of the Scavenger.

== Visual Plates ==
* '''Kessa’s Award – Prosian Science Ceremony''' – Depicting the medal presentation following the cure’s success.  
* Additional proposed illustrations:  
: * ''Scavenger Docked at Prosiana Base''  
: * ''Wolf 1055 Ruins''  
: * ''Transit Window Duplication Array''

== Canon Status ==
* Officially cataloged as '''Story No. 3''' in the ''SS Scavenger Universe'' timeline.  
* Immediately precedes ''[[The School from Hell]]'' and follows ''[[The Water World]]''.  
* Introduces the Alliance-Tonan truce and the first practical use of the ship’s Transit Window for molecular duplication.

== Prosian Saying ==
:''Akora jenekwa, na torrenwa.''  
:(“In reflection, I find strength.”)

[[Category:Scavenger Universe Stories]]
[[Category:Prosian Culture]]
[[Category:Alliance Era]]