The Science of Socializing (Part 2)

Posted on 02 Nov 2018 @ 9:31pm by Commander Marisa Wyatt & Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri & Lieutenant JG Sofie Ullswater & Petty Officer 1st Class Heinu Reteif & Petty Officer 1st Class T'Lin & Petty Officer 3rd Class Raine Ni-ya & Cadet Senior Grade Jemima de la Coeur & Petra Varelli Ph.D. & Viola Avalon PhD
Edited on on 03 Nov 2018 @ 6:33am

1,795 words; about a 9 minute read

Mission: Episode 17 - Crystal of Life
Location: USS Galileo-A - Deck 4, Science Office
Timeline: MD -175, 2016 hours

Previously...

Matt looked at all the food and whistled, "Whewwww!! I haven't had watercress in....a long time. Look at all this stuff!" He said as he helped himself to a spoonful, or two, or three of the freshest vegetables he had seen in a while. There was fresh basil, coriander, parsley, lemongrass, sage, red kidney beans, snow peas, kohlrabi, taro, radishes, the hugest strawberries he'd ever seen! Fresh melons, onions, turnips, parsnips, sweet potato, cauliflower, cabbage, broccoli, and eggplant. The buffet table had a wide variety of foods but it looked like not too much as to waste it. He helped himself to perhaps more than his fair share of broccoli and spinach. On the table, bottles of fresh Altair water awaited them. He sat down and twisted off the bottle top and the released effervescent air was so nice. He took a long drink, "Aaahhhhh!"

And now...

[ON]

Having almost filled her plate with kale Sofie began to consider the meat. Uneasy might have been a good word to describe how she felt about the fish she was looking at and she prodded hesitantly at one of the bake fish with the serving spoon. Once she was confident it was not going to do anything drastic she scooped it up and put it on her plate next to the pile of kale (which frankly dwarfed the poor fish). She took a seat at the table next to Plumeri. "I rather like kale." She said and gave him a sheepish grin. "It reminds me of home."

He scooted over and nodded approvingly at her plate, "I gots to get me some of that next plate. Oh yeah? Where are you from?" He forked in his mouth a piece of cabbage and some broccoli. The food tasted so good and one could really tell that whoever managed the aquaponics bay was spot on terrific.

"In the Sappora System," Sofie mumbled out through a mouthful of the lush green vegetation "Not particularly known for its veg. My father always cooked with it though."

T'Lin briefly glanced at the offerings but decided that she would not partake. Too much food muddled the mind and made it less sharp. Instead she quietly took a seat away from the crowd and waited patiently.

Raine had glanced at the food before she moved away from the crowd, glancing over at T'Lin with interest before she sat down. Her gloved hands rubbed together for a moment before she took the PADD she carried with her and started reading through it.

Jemima took a helping of everything and sat beside Raine. "Hi. I'm Jemima."

Raine looked at Jemima, taking in her features. Dark. Beautiful and dark, her long hair a complete opposite to Raine's almost reptilian paleness and baldness. "Crewman Ni-ya," she said softly and nodded. "You seem happy here, Cadet."

"I'm in space," Jemima replied happily. "It's not every cadet that gets to go on a starship, especially a science ship. And I'll get to graduate from here. It's going to be awesome!"

Raine watched the woman, taking in her energy before she smiled gently. "I think it is a unique opportunity. You will do well," she said before she looked around. "Apply yourself to what you love and don't let anyone else try to divert you from your path."

Jemima appreciated the other woman's words and grinned. "Thank you."

Viola looked over everything with interest. She was familiar with the fish and the sea plants and was curious to see how they turned out. She, too, took a bit of everything and sat at the table.

Heinu waited for everyone else to dish up before he filled two plates with a helping of each and every dish. He loved food, and thought he recognized most of the dishes being served. He ate purposefully, savoring the flavor of each bite and identifying the best parts. There were a few improvements he would have made. Some earth herbs he would have swapped out for more flavorful exotics. Even so, it was thoroughly enjoyable.

---

When everyone who wanted food had taken some, Marisa took a smaller portion and sat down. "This food is from our aquaponics lab. The plan right now is to produce enough to serve one meal each month to all three shifts so that all the crew can enjoy the fresh food. Eventually, we'd like to expand the program and test it on colony ships. Enjoy the meal. Afterwards, we'll talk about where we're headed."

"I would be interested on how the soil microbes are controlled. As one might remember from history, the Biosphere Two suffered from the microbes metabolizing too fast the organics along with reaction with the concrete. This resulted in depleted oxygen levels as well as an increase in Dinitrogen Oxide. That resulted in loss of synthesis of Vitamin B12 which got to the point that the crew nearly suffered brain damage. In addition the imbalance in the air resulted in the near extinction of all the invertebrates and all the insect pollinators."

"That's just sloppy work," Heinu interjected, "the staff on Biosphere Two tried too many new theories too quickly. If they had established a proven system and introduced changes slowly, they would have caught the DNO and O2 levels before they reached dangerous levels."

"We're using tanks of salt water for both the fish and plants," Marisa said. "The water is monitored for salinity, plankton, and mineral levels to ensure proper growth. Oxygen levels are checked every half hour. We've learned a lot since the early days of biospheres. We used a lot of research from generation ships and current terraforming processes. This application works in theory, but we expect a few hiccups during the application process."

Raine watched in silence, taking it in. Truth was, as a Scientist's Mate, she would not be very much involved in anything. Perhaps for the best, she did not exactly lend her skills out well.

Matthew listened as people spoke and when an opportunity presented itself he inserted, "If this technology can be scaled up to large agri-farms it will be a game changer for future contacts with technologically interested peoples to adopt. I'm reminded of the Zartanos asteroid rings. The atmosphere on these ring worlds is very thin, too thin and unstable; subject to solar winds and...gosh...the inherent problems of living in and among an asteroid belt that makes growing food a challenge. If what we're doing here can be adopted, implemented on other ships, the Zartanos themselves could grow their own food and be self-sustaining - at least in part. They have..." here he paused a moment not wanting to open the political can-of-worms that was their 'ethnic cleansing'. "...other issues to deal with as well."

"Indeed," T'Lin remarked. "I would like to follow along with how the experiment is going."

"You're welcome to follow along, or assist if you like," Marisa said.

Matthew asked, "I don't know many of you; being the new guy and all. If I may, would you introduce yourselves? Tell me your names and what your current project is?"

Since she was close, T'Lin nodded and said, "I am Petty Officer Second Class T'Lin, general science mate."

Matthew nodded, "T'Lin, I'm pleased to meet you. What are you working on?" Since she was kind of away from the table, he looked over at her as he sat up straighter to get a better look at the Vulcan science officer.

Raine looked at them before she gave a small nod. "Crewman Raine Ni-ya, Scientist's Mate. I do not have any projects, I make sure that everyone has the equipment they need ready and monitor the projects of the scientists' that are on other shifts during mine. In case something catastrophic happens."

"Crewman Raine Ni-ya, that makes you very important. I'm Matt Plumeri and I'm happy to meet you. With a brandy-new starship everything, at least for now, ought to be in good working order. Thank you crewman."

T'Lin waited until the exchange was over and then added, "As the crewman indicated, I do not have my own projects but mostly assist others with theirs. I find it a way to have a hand in many different aspects of science."

"That's good to hear; never a dull moment in the Science department then. It is good, I think, to have a broad base and foundation. Find out more about what you like and what you don't" he said and took a drink of water.

"Assistance is just as important as those doing the experiments," Marisa said, adding in her two cents. "I don't think any of us could do our jobs properly without it."

"I'm Jemima de la Cour. I'm a Senior Cadet and I really don't know what I want to specialize in," the New Jamaican said. "But I'm sure looking forward to learning from all of you."

The woman next to her smiled. "And I'm Viola Avalon. I'm a Marine Biologist. I'm one of the civilians working on the aquaponics project."

"Senior cadet Jemima de la Cour, that's a lovely name. Well, from what I can tell the Galileo is the place where you an find out what you want to specialize in. Over the next three years, I think you'll have a better understanding of the field; what a great opportunity for you!" he spoke with an undercurrent of expectation and excitement. To be a senior cadet again and have the whole galaxy at your feet onboard a Federation starship. Simply amazing and his voice carried that feeling through.

"Thanks!" Jemima said, practically bouncing with happiness. "I'm really excited to be here."

Turning his attention to Viola, "Then we have you and your team to thank for the amazing variety of food! This is so good and the potential and promise do help people grow their own sustainable food supply is an incredible gift. I'm curious, how would you like to see the aquaponics bay used? What are your next steps?" he asked.

To be Continued...

[OFF]

--

Lieutenant Marisa Sandoval
Chief Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

Lieutenant JG Matthew Plumeri
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

Ensign Sofie Ullswater
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A

Cadet Senior Grade Jemima de la Cour
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

Viola Avalon
Marine Biologist
USS Galileo-A

Petty Officer First Class T'Lin
Science Officer
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Warraquim]

Crewman Raine Ni-Ya
Scientist's Mate
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Vansen]

Petty Officer Second Class Heinu Reteif
Botanist
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Ghoc]

Petra Varelli
Anthropologist
USS Galileo-A
[PNPC Sandoval]

 

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