The Dream of Planet Bloom — Jessie Jasen

In the Orion Nebula, 1,500 light-years from Earth, Starship Scorpio of the United Star Fleet journeys on an exploration mission. With the crew of men and women of human and alien origins is a ghost called Mother's Milk. Mother's Milk sees and tells stories of events taking place in deep space.

These are Mother's Milk's space stories.



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A deadly accident on Starship Scorpio forces Captain Megan Ashley to forbid further usage of the dream resonator, a powerful alien technology that allows the crew to visit parallel dimensions by placing themselves in a state of wakeful dreaming.



First Commander Sy Rikes supports Ashley's decision, but changes his mind when he realizes he can create his own actual worlds with the help of the dream resonator and use them to advance the exploration mission.



He talks the Captain into changing her mind and goes on to create a dream program of a fictional alien paradise he calls Planet Bloom.



When the experiment proves successful, Sy Rikes invites Commander Ku-uhala, an alien woman of the ancient Hoola species which had had contact with humans in distant past, to accompany him for a dinner date to planet Bloom.



*Explicit descriptions of interstellar encounters. Reader discretion is advised.*