| “ | You don't understand. We mean you no harm. We seek peaceful coexistence! | „ |
| ~ The Neural parasite mother communicating through Remmick. |
The Neural Parasites are a species of alien antagonists from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Conspiracy". They would also appear in some other works, such as a few DS9 novels, where they were given the name "Bluegill".
History[]
The parasites were small alien beings who could take over the bodies of those they had infected, who included Admirals Quinn, Aaron and Savor, as well as Captain Tryla Scott and Lt. Commander Remmick. When Picard's old friend Captain Keel attempted to warn him of a possible conspiracy in the upper brass of Starfleet, his ship was subsequently destroyed. Picard returned to earth, and the infected Admiral Quinn came aboard the ship. While aboard, Quinn attempted to infect Dr. Crusher, but Riker caught his attention first, and he tried to infect him instead. Riker attempted to fight him off, but was easily overpowered, as were Worf and Geordi La Forge. He was only subdued when Dr. Crusher shot him repeatedly with a phaser set to stun. Upon inspecting Quinn's body, Crusher found that Quinn's body was his own, but he wasn't in control of his actions.
Down on Earth, Picard had dinner with Remmick, Scott and the Admirals, who ate bowls of mealworms, revealing themselves to him. Riker entered the room, and was apparently infected as well. Riker looked as though he was going to eat the worms, but suddenly pulled out a phaser, and he and Picard successfully subdued all of the infected members of Starfleet in the room, causing their parasites to leave their bodies. They followed a parasite that came out of Admiral Aaron to a room where Remmick was sitting. Remmick, it turned out, was infected with the mother creature of the parasites. The mother creature speaking through Remmick boasted it wanted peaceful coexistence, but Picard and Riker turned phasers on it, successfully killing it, though Remmick was killed as well, along with all other parasites infesting the Federation.
Back on the Enterprise, Picard noted that Admiral Quinn was expected to recover fully from the experience, that there was no longer any trace of the parasite that had infected him.
Riker revealed that Dr. Crusher had placed a fake gill on the back of his neck to simulate the infection and fool the other parasites. As the Enterprise moved on into space, Data theorized that Remmick had been transmitting a homing beacon before he died and that should the parasites receive it, they would know where to find Earth.
Novel Continuity[]
It was later discovered that the parasites were actually genetically altered Trill symbionts. Many centuries ago the Trill colony on Kurl had performed alterations on the Trill symbionts to cure them of a disease that had already killed ten percent of the colony. The alterations changed the shape of the symbiont and also positioned the altered symbionts on the brain stem instead of in the abdomen after research indicated that it would improve communication between host and symbiont.
However the virus adapted and after years of facing the disease and the alterations the symbionts had gone mad, becoming a race of psychopaths. The Trill committed genocide on Kurl via remote orbital bombardment, however they failed to wipe out all the parasites. A few parasites survived and set themselves to destroying the Trill.
Spawnmothers looked much like soldier parasites and would also position themselves at the base of the brain. They would often grow a secondary body in the victim's torso that was connected to the spawnmother via an umbilical cord. When spawnmothers began to prepare for a mass spawning, they would leave the host body under the control of a soldier parasite while they exited the host body since mass spawnings required them to grow to sizes much too large to be contained in a human body.
If a parasite left a host body soon after infecting it the person would usually make a full recovery. However, if a parasite remained in a host body eventually the host's original personality would be completely destroyed, and the host body would suffer extensive internal injuries - especially if the parasite was a spawnmother.
Some years after the attempt to take over Starfleet the Bajoran First Minister Shakaar Edon stumbled on a parasite spawnmother who had been lying in wait on Minos Korva while Shakaar was on a goodwill tour of the Federation. The spawnmother took over Shakaar and began moving to take over the Bajoran system. Her children infected people all over Bajor and Deep Space Nine. The parasite infestation was discovered when Shakaar's body was assassinated. By then his personality was long gone. The spawnmother had left Shakaar's body prior to the assassination, leaving the body under the control of a soldier parasite.
During the parasite invasion of the Bajoran system, it was found that Cardassian physiology was totally incompatible with the parasites, and that parasites simply could not bond with Cardassians. This led Bajor and the Federation to request Cardassian assistance in locking down the Bajoran system in order to keep the infection from spreading.
The spawnmother was preparing to do a mass spawning in a temple housing the Bajoran Orbs when Kira Neyrs opened all nine orbs up in front of the spawnmother. The Bajoran Prophets sent Captain Benjamin Sisko to tell her that she picked the wrong planet before transporting her to a realm occupied by the Jem'Hadar who had been taken and placed there by the earlier in the war. The Jem'Hadar promptly slaughtered the spawnmother. Meanwhile the entire parasite colony active in the Bajoran system fled their hosts and died soon afterwards, ending the parasite threat.
Bajor entered the Federation after the ending of that parasite threat. It was not known if other spawnmothers still existed, waiting for the right moment to strike. The spawnmother that had infected Shakaar believed herself to be the last spawnmother in existence.
Online Continuity[]
In Star Trek Online they are given the name "Bluegill" and are revealed as bio-engineered creations of the Solanae, who had created them for their Iconian masters.
