Fight Shrub

Posted on 15 Feb 2015 @ 9:13pm by Petty Officer 1st Class Pieter Van Zyl Ph.D. & Ensign Arandon Khnailmnae Ph.D.

1,872 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 07 - Sojourn
Location: USS Galileo, Deck 4, Botany Lab
Timeline: MD 44 - 1200 Hours

[ON]

The idea that he may need to eventually share his lab with a fellow botanist wasn't a foreign concept to Pieter. Botany was a wonderful science, with many subspecialisations, so it was only natural that, eventually, what he'd begun to see as his space would become theirs. And the other part of that they seemed to be a Dr. Khnailmnae. After finding out the name of his would-be colleague, Pieter had immediately looked up his body of work and, from what he could tell, the man was a good scientist while not exactly the most imposing. All of that was perfectly fine with Pieter because the last thing he wanted was some boy in the lab spouting nonsense about how they were destined to be the next Mendel.

No, Dr. Khnailmnae seemed like a reasonable person on file, so Pieter hoped he was just as reasonable in person.

Arandon sat at the island of the Botany lab, reading over the notes the past few Botanists and the associated staff had left him. They weren't as meticulous as he would have liked but coming from a person who spent his off duty time hand writing notes and Punnet squares, such perfection could hardly be expected. Looking through the arrayed PADDs and the data on the terminal, he came across the reports filed by one Petty Officer Pieter Van Zyl. As they were comparatively recent, he could only assume that Petty Officer Van Zyl was still aboard.

The notes themselves were short but precise and clear, much like the man himself. By their content, it seemed his latest work was about the genetic expression of certain traits in heat stress.

Arandon looked up as the doors opened to reveal a rather striking man, muscular, but lean and handsome if he was any judge. In all likelihood this was Petty Officer Van Zyl, but he didn't wish to make that assumption just quite yet. Pushing himself up from his bent position over the metallic island, Arandon adopted a rigid stance and nodded to the man. "Hello."

Pieter stopped just inside the lab, watching the man curiously. Although they seemed to be the same height, give or take an inch, Pieter noticed that the other man seemed much smaller in frame. At the greeting, he raised up his hand in response before lowering it to speak.

"Dr. Khnailmnae?" he asked, taking a few more steps towards him. His eyes slid up and down the man quickly, as if sizing him up, but in reality Pieter just wanted to see as much as possible in the hopes of getting a better image of the young man in front of him.

Arandon nodded. "Yes, and I presume you are Petty Officer Van Zyl?" They stood about equal in height but it was clear there was considerably less lacked on to Arandon's frame than the bit older enlisted man. Where Arandon was perhaps boyish and 'cute', Pieter was certainly handsome. An interesting combination to be sure.

Pieter nodded. "Welcome aboard," he said, leaning against the nearby desk. "Are you settling in well?" Pieter wasn't sure how one goes around making someone comfortable, but he was willing to try.

Settling in 'well' was more a question of being able to deal with Mott's various eccentricities. Still with regard to everything else, it seemed to be going well. "Yes I believe so." His answer was phrased almost like a question, reflecting a certain uncertainty about his current assignment that still plagued him. "Would you like to bring me up to speed on what experiments you've been working on? I recognize most of the plantlife here, but there are several I haven't seen before," he said, looking about the room.

Pieter nodded, pushing himself off the desk and making his way over to an island with samples. "These," he began after motioning to a plant with red, furry leaves and a multicolored flower, "are actually members of the Malvaceae family. It's a hibiscus plant native to certain parts of earth, but it's been cultivated in the harsh conditions of Manu III.

"While the general morphology is the same, it's biochemical properties are very different. I'm working with the ship's chemists and biotechnologists to identify a compound we found. Unfortunately, it's sensitive and degrades very quickly, so I was charged with cultivating as many as possible to get a viable sample."

"It's artificial then?" Arandon asked, moving, stalking around the samples, trying to see whatever he could with the naked eye. Hibiscus was a lovely genus of plant, so many colors, Arandon could appreciate that.

"Yes," Pieter confirmed, watching Arandon walk around. "It took weeks to figure out the right conditions to perfect match the planet, but I think we've gotten close enough. I'd like to improve the efficiency of enzyme production, but I'm not a geneticist so isolating the specific gene is difficult. Perhaps you could see what you can do?"

Arandon gave a small, swift nod. "Perhaps, where are your morphogenetic projections, Punnett squares, genome maps, things like that?" Arandon asked, his tone of voice intent and focused.

"They're in the computer, but you're free to transfer them to a paDD," Pieter explained, pleased that Arandon wasn't one for too much chit chat. "Genetics has never been my forte. My field has always been ecology and horticulture."

He was an interesting man to be sure, at least on the surface. "Where did you study?" Arandon asked as he walked over to the computer terminal, pulling up the relevant files.

Leaning against the work table once again, Pieter watched Arandon. "I did the majority of my theoretical studies during the war while serving on the USS Triumph and, when the war finished, I went to Earth and got my Master's degree. That's when I transferred to the Science Corps," he explained, not going into too much detail. He knew his course, from Engineering to Science wasn't a typical one, but it was one he was proud of. "I still take the occasional shift in Engineering to keep my skills sharp and to relax."

An engineer and a botanist both, yes apparently mister Van Zyl was interesting underneath the surface as well. Turning back towards the center island, Arandon looked over the data the man had assembled on the flower. It's genome had been mapped but not necessarily well catalogued. "Are you sure it's a cellular problem? Environmental factors also effect enzyme production."

"If it's an environmental factor, I still haven't found it. The conditions the samples were kept it were equal to those on the planet. If the production doesn't pick up within the next 24 hours, I was planning on introducing the planet's local microbes to see if the enzyme is produced as an immune response," Pieter explained. Perhaps working with Arandon wouldn't be as difficult as he'd originally thought.

Arandon continued to look through the genome sequencing. "Are any other catalysts not performing well? The specimen doesn't appear to be unhealthy. What parts of the UV spectrum are replicated in these lights?" Arandon asked, looking upwards.

"Blue and green. That seems to be the best range for growth and flowering, but not much else. I've put another load of samples into a special room with another light source for an incubation period of a week, but we won't have the results until five days from now."

"I assume the light sequence is keyed to the star it orbited?" Arandon asked, continuing to pore over the data. "What was the temperature of its climate? The environ of its discovery? What was the composition of the atmosphere?" Arandon asked in rapid fire succession, still not looking up from the data.

"How about I give you the lab reports I submitted to the Chief Science officer and you can look over them before you next shift?" Pieter asked instead of answering. As for the first question, he didn't even want to dignify it with a proper response.

"As for the light sequence, yes, it is. I am actually a Botanist who has done this job before," he couldn't help but say, a little offended by the Arandon's question.

Arandon brushed off the man's 'outburst' and continued to look over the data. "Were there any other plants that you picked up from this location? If they all display the same problem than it's most likely environmental, probably something minute like atmospheric ratios." Arandon looked over the specimen. "Possibly the way the light 'hits' the plant or maybe even the soil..." He mused to himself.

Narrowing his eyes at the man, Pieter thought that this was quite enough. "I'll send you the overview for you to read, if you're interested," he said, wondering how much it was worth to stay diplomatic. "What experiments will you be running when we set off?" he asked instead, hoping the other botanist will get his meaning.

On Mars there was an overflow of work and Arandon rarely ran his own, independent research projects. Other than those for his Doctoral thesis. This lab wasn't equipped or even suited to study sentient plant-life, so it begged the question of just what, if anything Arandon would do with his time here in his own field of study. He had brought samples aboard, though those were for simple genetic and breeding experiments. Hardly substantial work, even for a lab of this size. "Whatever I am assigned, whatever time, materials and space are not allocated to those experiments, are those to do with as you wish."

"I know that," Pieter told him. "I was just curious to see if you had anything planned. I prefer to work by myself." Apparently, Arandon needed that to be said outright. Pieter didn't appreciate someone poking their nose into his work, even if it was to help. But that's what he got for being diplomatic, Pieter figured.

"As I said, Mister Van Zyl, I will work on the projects I have been assigned, nothing else is of interest to me. All other resources are yours to do with as you see fit. Your autonomy, shall be preserved." Arandon's words were clear, terse and exacting, an unusually commanding tone.

Being as he was, the tone as well as the other accents of Arandon's words was completely lost on Pieter so he simply nodded. Pleased at the agreement the two shared, he nodded to him. "Good. Then I have some work to do in the Arboretum. Good day, Ensign." With that, the Petty officer gave the hybrid and curt nod as one does to a superior officer before turning on his heel and leaving.

Arandon was left to the lab, exhaling at his sudden burst of authority. It wasn't something that came naturally to him and he could feel another headache coming on. Goddess, this ship was starting to get to him, not even two days in. Maybe he should make an appointment with one of the Counselors, talk to someone about it. Well Arandon could do it later, he still wanted to crack Mr. Van Zyl's problem with the enzymes.

[OFF]

Ensign Arandon Khnailmnae
Botanist
USS Galileo

&

PO1 Pieter Van Zyl
Botanist
USS Galileo
[PNPC by Idris]

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