Space Moth Or Butterfly
Posted on Mon Feb 17th, 2025 @ 9:30pm by Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren & 1st Lieutenant Marjani Smith
Edited on on Mon Feb 17th, 2025 @ 9:46pm
1,580 words; about a 8 minute read
Mission:
Episode 16 - Silent Cries
Location: Garden Cube - Deck 10 - USS Pioneer
Timeline: MD004 0800 hrs
It was morning and Marjani had just gotten done having breakfast with her Aunt. Yesterday's events had brought to her mind the migrating space butterflies or were they moths? She had in the back of her mind, to go talk to the Chief of Science, of the Pioneer, Alyssa Maren and see if she knew anything about them.
Tapping on her combadge, Marjani sent out a message. =^= Hello, Commander Maren? I was wondering if I could talk to you about something. I am 1st Lieutenant Marjani Smith and well I wanted to talk to someone in science about a phenomena I saw in space. Can we meet somewhere?=^=
Alyssa was taking a break of sorts to work on the vines draping the ceiling of her garden bay. "Of course. I'm currently in the garden cube. You could come here, or I could meet you in my office."
There was a garden cube on the Pioneer? This intrigued Marjani immensely. Also, to her amazement she had a place to stay on the ship as well. It hadn't occurred to her to even check on that. Shrugging to herself, Marjani made certain to answer. "I'll come meet you in the garden cube. I will be there shortly.=^=
A few minutes later the door to the Garden Cube hummed open and Marjani stepped inside. Her mouth dropped open as she saw the plants that were there. "Oh my gosh, this is amazing!" her voice echoing.
Alyssa was on the catwalk. When she heard the voice she called out. "I'm over here. I'll be down in a minute." She checked the last vine and carefully walked to the nearest ladder.
A minute later, she exited the cubby set aside for fruit-bearing vines and herbs. "It is pretty impressive. I can say that because this was a group effort. Scientists and botanists from every department helped design and build this place. We're using it to test hybrids to produce more berries and herbs. If we can, they can be used on smaller ships to augment the food supplies and to freshen the air." Alyssa grinned. "Sorry, probably too much information. How can I help you?"
"Nope not too much information in my book. I will definitely be coming on to the Pioneer from time to time. I'm dating Ensign Connor Turner. He is an engineer on this ship. Anyway, I had gone on a little test run with Connor for my fighter, Talon after he had done some upgrades. While we were out testing it, I saw an amazing sight, something that looked like large butterflies or moths. They were giant and had translucent wings catching the color of the planet they were near. They were so beautiful. I think I had sent a report to someone in Science, but maybe not to you. I think it was someone by the name of Ellery? She was on Poseidon Station."
Marjani pausing to look at a flower and taking the time to catch its scent.
"Ellery Rosa? I met her once at a conference. " Alyssa smiled. "But then, I meet a lot of archaeologists at conferences."
Marjani straightened up from enjoying the perfume of the flower. "Ah Ellery Rosa. I do have the information from the recordings my fighter, Talon. I also took images as well. Would you like to see them and have the information as well? " pulling out her pad. "They were so beautiful, reminded me of the migration of butterflies from where I am from."
"I would. I've heard of space-faring insects, but I've never actually seen them." She wondered if Ellery had done any additional research on them.
"Sending the images to you right now." Marjani pressing a couple of buttons and there was an indication of the delivery to Alyssa.
"There you go." Marjani grinning ear to ear. "I do hope they can be identified."
Alyssa pulled her PADD out of her cross pack and took a good look, appreciating the clarity of the images. "This is magnificent. Let's go into the workroom so I can see a larger image." She led Marjani into the back and through an access door into the workroom. In a corner sat a desk with a computer. She copied the image to the computer and then forwarded it to her office. Then she used the holoprojector to show a 3-D image over the work table. "That's better. I think I can find that..."
She pulled up a separate database and began a search. A minute later, an image of the same butterfly appeared on the screen. "Yes. It's a Stella Aurelia Bumblelily. It's partially named after the giant lunar moth from old Earth books about a man named Doctor Doolittle who could talk to animals. This, however, is more a butterfly than a moth."
Marjani was impressed at the image that Alyssa pulled up. "It is very beautiful. I felt like I had been blessed in witnessing the migration. There were quite a few! A Stella Aurelia Bumblelily how about that. Pretty name, fitting for that ethereal butterfly. Glad you were able to answer my question on that. I do wonder though where their home is or could it be in an asteroid field or, what they eat? Could it be stardust or a particular sort of flower they feed upon? Or even an energy?" she mused thinking things out loud.
"That's the question. Well, one of them. What they eat, where they migrate to and from, if they breed like planet-bound butterflies. To date there have only been a handful of sightings." Alyssa turned to smile at Marjani. "They probably don't eat flowers, but stardust, as you call it, is possible. There are a number of base elements in space. They could even chew on asteroids. Do you mind if I sent a copy of your images to Federation Sciences? These really are lovely images."
"I don't mind that at all, I felt it worth bringing someone's attention to the images. And thank you, I am rather pleased with how they came out. I would sure love to find out more about the Stella Aurelia Bumblelily's They are so fascinating, besides being so beautiful." Marjani feeling very much at peace. "When you do find out more, would you send me more information? And I would love it if sometime, to be a part of an expedition to find their breeding ground." the dark haired woman grinning broadly.
"I'll include that when I pass on the pictures. There are still so many things in space we don't understand--or haven't discovered yet."
"I will be looking forward to be included , and thank you. It makes me feel pretty good to know I got to pass this information along to someone." Marjani just beaming. "Uh so...just to let you know, if you want to keep in touch, I am on the USS Carthage now, as their helm officer. I'll be starting in a few days, after your shore leave is done. I do have a question for you. Have your ever wanted to do something else besides being in Science? " Marjani was leading up to something, maybe a little bit shy to ask as of yet.
"I've thought of teaching again." Alyssa shrugged. "I might at some time. I have gone from civilian work to Starfleet and back several times. Why do you ask?"
"Well, I was wondering if it would be too late for me to explore the idea of going into science, even if I am a marine. Most of the time I've had the love for flying but, maybe I should expand my horizons a little bit more?" Marjani, hoped that Alyssa had some words of wisdom for her.
"No. It's never too late. You can even take classes on the Carthage. It's one of the things I appreciate about Starfleet. They encourage growth and offer opportunities. Take some general science courses, then see what interests you most."
"Okay thank you." Marjani quite happy to hear what Alyssa had to say on that. "You have inspired me. I probably should go and let you get back to work, I do intend on keeping in contact with you." Marjani was feeling a bit giddy with excitement, a new path looked like it was opening up for her.
"Please do. I would love to hear about your progress." She would definitely pass on anything she learned about the space butterflies, too.
"I should get going, my boyfriend is probably wondering where I went to." She paused, Marjani looking at Alyssa. "Say do you like hugs? I would love to give you one, but didn't want to assume." having a hopeful smile.
"I do like hugs." It wasn't something most officers did, but Alyssa did enjoy a good hug.
"Oh good. I am glad that you like hugs." Marjani moving in with open arms, wrapping her arms around Alyssa in a near bear hug. "Thank you, just what I needed."
"You're very welcome," Alyssa replied, hugging her back. "I'm glad I was able to help you, and I'm glad you're sharing those lovely images of the Stella Aurelia Bumblelily. They're going to cause quite a flutter among the lepidopterists."
A Joint Post By
Lieutenant Commander Alyssa Maren
Chief Science Officer, USS Pioneer
First Lieutenant Marjani Smith
Pilot
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