Fruits

Posted on Mon Feb 21st, 2022 @ 4:39am by Lieutenant Avira zh'Kenarh M.D. & Ensign Nuna Lepine

Mission: Mission 5 - Babel
Location: Sickbay, Deck E
1541 words - 3.1 OF Standard Post Measure

ON:

Most people would describe Ensign Nuna Lepine as a humorless individual. Most of the time they would be correct. But even Nuna could see the humor in the fact that a giant squirrel had helped her select most of the fruits, roots and leaves in the two collection bags she was bringing into sickbay. That was a fact that she would keep to herself, however.

Still, there was a hint of a smile on Nuna's face as she entered sickbay, looking for Lt. zh'Kenarh.

Avira was leaning back in her chair and had been struggling to stay awake during her shift. The stress and long hours of trying to get the unfortunate souls that were trapped under the collapsing tower back up to health. Except for King, who had been declared dead back on the surface. The sudden parting of the doors startled the doctor, "Oh hi, hello." She got up from her seat a bit to quickly and her antennae darted around a bit to prevent her from losing her balance.

"Ensign.. Lepine." It took her a moment to recognise the person that just walked in, "What can I help you with?"

"Doctor zh'Kenarh," Nuna said solemnly, hefting the two sample bags upwards. "I brought you a sampling of the flora from the planet that might have some practical uses." Nuna paused before adding. "I can come at another time, if you prefer."

Avira looked over at her only two patients, currently both held in an artificial coma. Then back to the Ensign, "You can call me Avira, or just Doctor, or even Avi if you prefer." She always appreciated the crew trying to pronounce her family name, but there were too many nuances they missed and even then all it really did was remind her of home, which weren't happy memories at the best of times.

She looked at the bags that the Ensign was carrying, "You can't do that to me" She smiled a bit at that, "pique my curiosity and then leave without satiating it." She was happy that someone else was also looking out for the medical applications of the flora on the planet below.

"Thank you, Doctor," Nuna replied simply. Again hefting the bags, Nuna asked, "Is there somewhere you would like me to set these down?"

Avira walked over to Nuna and reached for one of the bags, "Let's check them on the desk." She pushed aside some PADDS that were on there. A beep from one of the medical monitors raised her attention but it was immediately clear it wasn't anything of note. "So, what did you bring me?"

Nuna pulled out a bag of leaves, each the size of her hand, that were shaped roughly like batwings. "These serve as a dispersal mechanism for an avocado like seed and fruit. Initial readings found a high content of L-ascorbic acids, flavonoid compounds and tannins in the leaves. I believe these leaves, through consumption and topical application, would convey certain anti-inflammatory and immune system benefits. I would, however, leave that to your medical judgment, doctor," Nuna concluded.

The doctor nodded along with the explanation of Nuna, "That does sound like potentially beneficial effects," she'd have to conduct some tests in order to make sure there were no adverse effects that the scanner may not have picked up on. "Did you bring some of the seeds as well?" If they were useful plants then it would be super helpful for them to be able to grow them. That was surely going to be a challenge with unknown alien plant life, and they only had limited space in the arboretum, but it would be nice to have the possibility to try.

Nuna produced an avocado-like fruit, save this fruit had a skin that was dirt brown, and was covered with fine hair. Nuna pulled out a knife and cut the avocado in half. Instead of a single large seed in the center, there were eight dark seeds, though each of these seeds looked to be miniature versions of the seed of an Earth avocado.

"We get a couple of tries then." Avira looked at the seeds, "did you taste it yet?" Her eyes narrowed a bit, wondering the potential benefits besides medical they could get from this. She wasn't much of a botanist but hopefully there were some others on the ship that could help out with that.

"Initial testing suggest there are compounds on the soft layer closest to the hard skin that may act as a mild directed aphrodisiac," Nuna answered. "That it is to say, if you already find someone attractive, you will find them even more so. The reaction should be mild, i.e., it will hot create an overwhelming compulsion to act on one's attraction. However, I did not care to put that conjecture to the test."

"I think there's enough drama and romance without that particular ingredient in the mix." Avira agreed, but it would be interesting to see exactly what compound would trigger that effect on humans, and also if it would be the same for Andorians or Vulcans. Though it would be unethical to properly test with double blind trials. "Perhaps best to liable it for medical use only then." She looked at the bag, "any other presents?"

Nuna produced several purple bamboo-like stalks. "The sap in these contains compounds similar to those found in Earth's aloe vera plant, though I believe they are more concentrated."

Avira was only familiar with the synthetic equivalent of aloe vera, used as an analgesic. "That's very helpful, there's a lot of plasma burns among the crew on the lower decks."

"There are a number of other plant products that you might find both useful and interesting, but this one I find most unique," Nuna said as she produced a potted plant. The pot itself was transparent, while the plant in it resembled a celery plant, though the "stalks" were spaced further apart and grew outward at a thirty degree angle. The stalks were a dull purple, while the leaves were a glossy light purple. "Doctor, are you familiar with an Earth plant called the pitcher plant?"

"Not in the slightest." Avira was familiar with the word pitcher, and from it assumed the plant would hold some sort of liquid.

"A pitcher plant is a carnivorous plant, that is to say, a plant that derives nutrients by trapping and consuming insects. In the case of the pitcher plant, the leaf forms a 'pitcher,' a container that contains a digestive fluid. An insect is trapped inside the pitcher and eventually breaks down the insect and consumes it."

"With this plant," Nuna continued, pointing at the potted plant, "A resin like substance is excreted at the top of each stalk and very slowly drains to the center in this basin like area." Nuna gestured at the area at the bottom of the plant. "As the resin slowly progresses downward each individual stalk. Along the way the resin attracts and traps insects and small arthropods, where they are broken down and consumed. It's here I want to point out that the organism is absorbed into the plant. Nothing gets carried down to the center. Nothing."

Avira frowned a bit at the carnivorous nature of the plant. She barely remembered her xeno-biology, but had always remembered one plant that captured small insects but not actually needing the nurishment from it, "Fascinating."

Nuna reached into her bag and produced several jewels. The jewels were different colors but all were translucent and all had a circumference of approximately twelve centimeters. "Approximately every three or four months --- Earth months," Nuna clarified, "Enough resin will collect at the bottom of these plants to form these jewels." Nuna handed the jewels to Avira for her to examine.

The small resin jewels in her hand were a bit cold. "It's very pretty for plant poop."

"I can determine no direct evolutionary advantage that these jewels give to these plants," Nuna told the doctor, emphasizing the word 'direct.' "They contribute nothing to the plant's ability to reproduce, to defend itself or to sustain itself."

Avira shrugged, there was a lot of leftover evolutionary stuff that didn't have a directly clear and obvious role. Humans and Andorians were riddled with vestigial stuff. "Resin is very helpful stuff, I'm sure we can find a good use for all of this stuff." It was amazing to see so many different things compared to what she had collected herself.

"Perhaps they will have some trading value," Nuna opined, as she held one up to her eye. "Anyway, Doctor, those are the more interesting plant parts I brought back from the planet, I'll give you my notes on the rest and let you go over them at your leisure,"

"Thank you for sharing this with me, Ensign. We'll put it all to good use." Avira gave her a small bow and smile. It was nice to have people in other departments also looking out for the well-being of the crew. It made her feel less alone in her job. She looked over the fruits that Nuna had left for her on the desk and heard the doors close behind the Ensign as she exited.