The Dragon Egg
"Thank you very much, Ms. Wildman," Captain Janeway said with a smile, taking the stack of PADDs Naomi had collected for her. "I'll let you know when I have something else for you."
The young girl beamed at her a moment before resuming a serious face. "Yes, Captain," she said, standing at attention.
To match the mood, Janeway replaced her smile with a stern stare and said, in a no-nonsense command voice, "Dismissed."
The grin returned when Naomi turned to march dutifully from the ready room. That girl was going to go far.
However, she wasn't going very far at the moment. She stopped just short of the door and looked at the object on the table beside it.
"Problem, Ms. Wildman?" Janeway asked, quirking a brow.
Naomi blushed slightly and turned to face the captain. "Er, no, Captain," she answer, shifting a bit from foot to foot. "Only, I guess, I have a question."
"Yes?" Janeway prompted.
"Is this a dragon egg?" the young girl blurted, gesturing at the beautiful red object.
Janeway's eyes widened somewhat in surprise. Naomi was a science girl through and through, even at her young age. A reference to mythical creatures seemed out of character. But Naomi's expression was earnest.
In reality, the object was just blown glass filled with raw elements from a nebula. It was pretty and interesting, and Janeway just liked the way it looked in her ready room. However, Janeway decided to play along. "It sure is."
Naomi's eyebrows rose so high, the spikes on her forehead moved as well. "Did you get it from a planet full of dragons?"
Janeway's smile was wide enough to show teeth, and she shook with a bit of suppressed mirth. "Yes, from the constellation Draco," she replied, throwing in a bit of ancient terminology.
"Will it ever hatch?" Naomi asked, turning to examine it more closely.
Janeway rose from her desk and came to crouch beside the girl. "Not anytime soon." She took Naomi's hand in hers and brushed it against the surface. "Feel how cool it is? It'll have to be much hotter than that to hatch."
"Would putting it in a fire work?" Naomi asked, thoughtfully.
Janeway shook her head. "Not hot enough." She leaned in to whisper secretively in Naomi's ear. "The dragons of Draco are born in supernovas."
"Oh wow!" The words were said with almost reverence. Naomi placed both hands over the glass. "This must be super rare. There can't be very many dragons. Supernovas don't just happen every day. It takes years and years."
Janeway stood and shook her head again. "Dragons live forever, and they hatch in great big batches. And really, dragons are very irresponsible with their eggs. They'll leave them lying around anywhere. But I guess I was a little lucky to find this one."
It had been a long time since Janeway had played pretend. She was very much enjoying it.
Alas, the fun was brought to an abrupt end when Ensign Wildman called Naomi over the comm. "Naomi, you're late for your afternoon lessons. Hurry."
"Coming," Naomi replied quickly. "Thanks Captain, for telling me about your egg." She beamed before hastily exiting.
Janeway ran a hand over her "egg" before returning to her desk and duty. It took a long time for her giant smile to fade.
