Day Tripping: The Names of Stars

Posted on 29 Oct 2021 @ 11:09pm by Commander Calliope Zahn & Lieutenant Commander Lance Quinn (*)

Mission: M2 - Sanctuary
Location: Loki III
Timeline: MD 14 Evening
1463 words - 2.9 OF Standard Post Measure

The set of structures a few kilometers from the central hub of Kalara was a hidden gem. Rumour had it from the locals that it had once been a resort complex that had been used as a front for illegal people traffickers. Not long after Starfleet had taken up residence the entire operation had been shut down and the occupants moved on. Since then the resort itself had been through several owners before a Ferengi consortium had leased it back to one of the locals to run. After about six months it was starting to look like a reasonable establishment once again. Taking advantage of the incredible vista offered by the mountains of Loki III, the brochures had claimed it had the most wondrous sunsets in the quadrant.

Lance's view was that the brochure had exaggerated. Not excessively, perhaps, but certainly in the way that he could imagine there might be better ones somewhere else. The colour patterns were fascinating, for sure, but there wasn't a vast amount an engineer could say other than it looked nice. And their surroundings were at least peaceful.

He lay on an outdoor recliner on an upper balcony. Calliope was curled up next to him; she'd insisted on pushing together two of the recliners and snuggled into him immediately. He appreciated the closeness. Their tactile contact had been limited of late, and it was refreshing to taste open skies and the cool breeze of the mountain air. He absent-mindedly let his fingers slide through her hair, silently realising he was actually having a good time in spite of himself.

She felt so pleasantly greedy, and sighed contentedly. But then she couldn't help herself but to break the spell. "Did you ever have one of those color stick sets as a kid? With the two hundred and fifty sticks? I peeled all of the wrappers off mine so I could call them whatever I wanted." She traced one thin pointer finger through the clouds, and began to name the colors while squinting. "I see tangerine, copper, muskmelon and burnt toast."

Her creative interpretation of colour was something that he had never been able to grasp, never mind match. "I was never one to play with colours. Mother preferred I undertake more intellectual pursuits." He recalled never having a serious problem with that at the time. He had always been studious. Sensing that he should at least try to meet her, however, he pointed with his free hand. "Warp plasma exhaust purple?"

"Oh yeah, definitely. I see it! Incredible. See I would have said electric plum or something prosaic like that. That's exactly the name for it. You're a natural namer." Calliope said with approval. She shivered a little and curled in closer. The mountain air was very different than the deserts below. "If we watch long enough, and the clouds maybe clear a bit, we can name constellations too."

"Constellations?" he arched an eyebrow. "Did you know that only 17% of Federation member worlds have any history of the use of constellations in the use of celestial navigation? A great many cultures developed without using them in such a fashion. Although a considerably higher percentage associated them with deities and mythical tales from their own lore."

"Really?" Calliope propped herself up on her side, fascinated. "They used stars to navigate, but not groups of them?" She thought about her mother's advice that had stuck with her for years— to draw constellations to find your way home by. "I guess I always just took it for granted that people everywhere traveled and marked time by tracking constellations."

"A common misconception," Lance nodded. "Most species only used the stars in a directional sense, without linking or creating familiar shapes from them." He pointed to a cluster of distant blinking dots. "A stellar nursery of newly-formed bodies, around fifteen parsecs beyond the former neutral zone," he explained. "You could make an icosahedron...or perhaps an inverse irregular polyhedron..." he tilted his head and attempted to awkwardly visualise the shapes.

Resettling entirely in his lounger with him, Calliope laid her head back down on his shoulder and pressed her cheek against his to try to hone in on the stars he was grouping. With very few lights anywhere, the sky was developing brilliantly, and displaying the ever familiar stellar view of the Milky Way. "The one over there?" She pointed as she acclimated. She knew the stars twinkled with the atmospheric interference, but it was nice to forget the why for a moment and enjoy the sparkle. "I think it looks like a crooked tree."

He almost frowned at her creative interpretation, but realised quickly that their minds were once again working in different ways. His logical and mathematical approach was meeting her wild creative view. Strange how such differing approaches often complimented one another. Feeling her cheek brush against his, he turned a little towards her and softly kissed the corner of her mouth. "The Crooked Tree," he agreed.

From the corner of her eye, Calliope traced the outline of the profile of his face. It seemed to her that his brow was more relaxed than usual. The pattern of his breathing was slow and deep, as she felt the rise and fall of his chest under her hand. She second guessed herself- was it the scene, the moment, or was some part of it just pheromones. Did it matter? She wondered something else as she watched Lance and her heart raced, warning her against asking, but the curiosity ached more and demanded an answer. "We're a good match at this naming thing. Did you ever consider... naming children?"

There was an ironically pregnant pause as he didn't reply at first. Customarily for Lance, a number of response threads played-out in his head simultaneously, first pondering the statistical probabilities of her being with child - statistically low - and then whether she was about to query if he would be willing to take that step in their relationship, which was more likely. After a moment he shifted a little in the recliner. "I should think that is a step further than I...we are ready for," he said softly.

Resting her ear on Lance's chest, she was quiet. She bit her lip to prevent herself breaking the lovely moment and explaining that the doctors wanted to know. Fertility treatment was an additional series of steps to plan, thanks to the wreck she'd made of herself, but she didn't want Lance to factor that trouble against it if he really did want to grow a family. She decided that since he didn't baulk or say no directly that maybe it was something he might want and she'd check the box yes for Mazur to plan whatever was necessary.

"Yeah, I guess it is," she said, at last.

He let that one go. Whatever machinations rolled around his wife's mind, Lance rarely knew how to fully interpret them. Mostly because he couldn't rather than wouldn't. But a conversation about bringing children into their already challenging circumstances was not something he felt was appropriate. At least not yet.

About five minutes passed as they stared up at the wondrous starry night together.

"You're getting cold. Try not to catch a chill," he said quietly, rubbing his hand up and down her cool arm.

"I'm not cold, cold," she insisted, nuzzling her icy nose into his neck.

"Evidence to the contrary." He pulled her even closer. This was a moment they'd needed for a very long time. Just the two of them, no technology, no Starfleet, no judgement other than the twinkling stars that looked down on them from above. "This was a good idea," he said quietly. "This getaway. It's what we needed."

"Occasionally I have one of those." She'd sifted it out from much worse ideas for how to react to his absence... so she was especially pleased he was letting himself unwind, even if only for a spell until the thrall of his passion project took him once again. She shivered involuntarily. "You know, I've another good idea. Wait here..." Calliope spoke low. Peeling herself away and finding her feet.

It took her a minute but she came back with an armful of the bedding from their room, using her finger tips along the walls and rails for balance. "Blankets are transportable from the inside to the outside, as it happens." She resumed her place on his lounger and let the comforter settle over them. "I can have you, and the stars, and be warm. I want it all."

"Then all of it you should have," he acknowledged, slipping his arm around her, pulling the covers over them both a little more tightly, and snuggling down.