Some Love Affairs are Like Fivespout Violet Cup Flowers ...

A pure fractal made in Apophysis 2.09, mirrored and overlaid upon itself

How to stop two entire starship crews' worth of foot traffic in port without even trying: show them something in disembarking that no one imagined they would ever see, analogous to an alien flower they also, if Admiral Chenggis Chulalaangkorn had anything to do about it, would never see.

The crews of the Amanirenas and Farragut had gotten to know each other quite well in the time in which the Amanirenas had been towing the Farragut back home. The Farragut crew disembarked with us and they knew “the lore” around most people's families. It was no surprise to them that Capt. Rufus Dixon was waiting lovingly on me, or that Capt. Almira 'Action' Banneker-Jackson was waiting on Admiral Benjamin Banneker-Jackson with some hilariously loving hijinks. It was no surprise to them that the younger of the two Frau Allemandes, Ursula, was quietly waiting on Cmdr. Helmut Allemande, and that they quietly stole away from the eyes of others … the commander was a quiet man, and did not like a show.

However, the elder of the two Frau Allemandes was not Frau Allemande – that was a surprise by itself – .

“How did that happen – that dominating man did not even get his wife to take his last name?” Lt. Cmdr. Valentin from the Farragut asked.

Commodore Wilhelm Allemande was well-known by both crews for his massive command presence, immense voice, fiery temper, and boundless energy – at age ninety-five, so they struggled to even imagine him at forty-five and not being even more so. He just ate silly people in space like they were snacks – come incorrect with Wilhelm Allemande and you learned why that was the dumbest thing to do on this side of the Milky Way Galaxy.

Nonetheless, he was a perfectly wonderful commander for two captains to have, and had coordinated matters for the two crews in a way that had fostered team spirit and high morale to the point that newly-promoted Capt. Robert Smalls and still kinda new Captain Khadijah Biles-Dixon – that's me – were impressed that just maybe …

“Maybe,” Capt. Smalls said to me, “he's really a very kind man in disguise, but it's hard out here – you know how I became captain – it's hard out here!”

Still, nobody was ready for Wilhelm Allemande to take his disguise entirely off, even accounting for Frau Adele Wintergeboren's still-striking looks at age 90. She clearly had been well-kept up and had been a stunningly beautiful woman all her life. By 23rd century standards she still had perhaps a quarter of her life still to go, and she looked ready to be fabulous for all of it.

Lt. Cmdr. Doohan, my chief engineer, knew instantly.

“Oh, that's gotta be the commodore's wife!”

Indeed, and at the sight of her, he utterly melted, literally singing out as he put his hand over his heart: “Adele … ach, mein Herz, mein Herz!”

We knew some of “the lore” there too. She was his second wife, for he was a widower at 40 – an accident had claimed his Academy sweetheart to whom he had been married 20 years. He had not been intending to remarry, and had come home off a three-year mission and stayed to himself, but he enjoyed walking in the woods, and on some days felt well enough to sing. One day about a year into his walking and singing, a sweet soprano voice had harmonized him on the opening portion of Brahms's “German Requiem”: “Blessed are they that mourn,” the rest of the line being, “for they shall be comforted.” Their voices had guided them to each other, and they had not been separated for 51 years, 50 of those married. The fleet captain and the big opera star both had lost a mate, and found new love and comfort in each other.

It was as if the miracle for them happened again as they walked to each other, each dazzling the other with their smiles and singing to each other until they embraced, both in tears of joy … that kiss was so tender and sweet and lingering ... then he took her face in his hands and started the process all over, but with even more tender passion until finally they just clung to each other, weeping, as if they had found life itself again in each other.

“OK, what?” I heard one of my crew members say as time seemed to stop and traffic backed up.

“But I get it,” my husband said to me later. “There are some flowers in the Ventanan system that express their relationship perfectly, at least understood from the commodore's side!”

“Admiral Chulalaangkorn is having a fleet turkey shoot going on, keeping the Fivespout Violet Cup Flower from being shipped to other planets outside the Ventanan system, because the problems we are going to have if that gets loose are going to be serious. It has five sources of nectar, and only its local pollinators and small birds know how to get at that nectar without dying. It literally controls the entire insect population of its home planet by that – they drink from every spot not filtered and die in the enjoyment and the roots just gather them in, convert them to sugar, and start the process again. The only safe place are the purple nectaries -- the violet cups -- on either side, and only its local pollinators know!

“I imagine it is a slow drip there,” I said.

“Yes, because that's where the natural filtration is. Come correct, and you live. Come any other way, and you die, including – you guessed it – a nice number of human beings who noticed it looks like a goblet. They plucked it up, drained it, and died – but in ecstasy, so then people had to find what the lowest effective dose is. There isn't a drinkable amount, but put one drop in alcohol and you can get the same effects as a whole flower's worth before you die, so you can already imagine … .”

“Oh, if that gets out, that will kill millions,” I said. “The way humans and humanoids die for a high?”

“With no addiction or rehab costs,” he said. “The thing is, you keep killing your customer base, but that also means, no complaints. One and done. But the point I'm trying to make is, that's Wilhelm Allemande with his wife. He just devastates people, but that big voice and dramatic manner just melted into her arms, and some of your younger crew members were in shock! But they also knew they had better not say, 'get a room!'”

“Oh, no – who wants to die?” I said. “I see your point, Rufus, and you are just right. Love is the filter!”

“As it should be,” he said. “It's rough out here for a commander in business or in the fleet, but, we don't need to bring all that home.”

“Right, Captain,” I said. “Too much loving to do.”

“Right, Captain,” he said back. “I got you some boring flowers … just all your favorite roses!”