JP: Doctor Erin Reynolds & LtJG Jocelyn Marshall - So, There's This Girl... (Part One)

[Jo Marshall]

(( Officers Quarters, Deck 13, USS Gorkon ))

:: Having climbed out of a welcomed shower, and reluctantly dressing in clothes she could leave her quarters in, Jo pulled her undershirt over her head and walked sleepily into the main living area of her quarters, her thighs coming into contact very quickly with the front end of her car. She blinked in confusion and stumbled back slightly, then remembered the Thunderbird had somehow engaged its own engine, let itself out of its own storage container, and managed to board a cargo transport heading off planet.::

:: She patted the black hood. A very smart car indeed. Mad skills.::

:: She managed to negotiate around the vehicle to her replicator and programmed a cup of coffee, extra hot, extra strong, extra sugar. It had to go. It couldn’t stay in there. As much as she loved to just look at it. She tapped her comm badge, pulling it off her strewn jacket on the hood, contacted the Transporter Chief and booked it into a lovely parking spot in the Cargo Bay.::

:: Perching on the arm of the sofa pushed up against the wall, the only thing that was relatively free in the room, she watched the car disappear in a hail of blue shimmering lights. One job down, and with it being shore leave, no more to come. She slid off the arm of the sofa and into it’s comfy cushions, taking care not to spill the contents of the mug.::

:: It was only when the Ops Officer started flicking through the subspace messages she’d had from the last data transmissions that she realised they were back in Tyrellian space, the Ark Moon was nearby. How long had it been? A year?::

Marshall: Computers, compose and send message to Erin Reynolds, Ereina Ark Project. “Do they have redwoods on the Ark Moon?”

:: Message sent, she delved into the rest of them on her feed. Some from her parents, one from George, a couple from Academy friends having moved into their postings. Strangely enough, she’d not heard from Bear for a while. She responded to a few and finished her coffee.::

::A chime for the computer indicated she had received a message. It read: "No. But they do come in a very fetching shade of purple. Lavenderwoods?"

:: The Ops Officer smiled, her heart picked up pace a little as it always seemed to when receiving a subspace message from the nascent botanist, and managed to get from the sofa to the replicator without damaging her shins on a Thunderbird.::

Marshall: Computer, respond to Erin Reynolds, “You’ll have to explain the biology behind that. How’s life under the purple trees?”

:: Jo pulled the sofa back to it’s original space at the side of the room, and rearranged the rest of the furniture that had moved in the wake of the vehicle. She looked out of the window at the planet Palanon they orbited around, and the moon in the distance where her friend would be.::

::The response came more quickly this time, and it wasn't long at all before the computer chimed with Erin's response. "Your last mission must have been hard if you require the sleeping aid that are my biology lectures. Why don't you come and see what life is like under the purple trees for yourself?".

:: Jo sighed; the botanist had no idea, though the bed was a lot more comfortable than her desk had been.:: Marshall: Computer, respond to Erin Reynolds, “I promise to stay awake as long as I can. Do you think I’ll pass for a diplomat? I think my collar’s the wrong shade of yellow.”

:: A colour they’d shared until the other universe woman had moved to the moon of the Tyrellian homeworld. Jo grabbed her boots from the place where they’d been kicked the night before and pulled them on. Catching a transport over to the Ark would keep her mind off work, at least, and she’d get to see the girl she hadn’t for a long time, major bonus.::

::Perhaps Erin had been pondering this very question already, because her response was lightning-fast. "Perfect shade of yellow. Biodomes need their maintenance, and it's always good to have some Starfleet expertise on hand!"

:: The Ops Officer grabbed her newly replicated jacket from the pad, and slipped her arms into it, attaching the comm badge on the chest. Shore leave and she was still wearing the thing. Zipping it up, she spoke to the computer again before heading out the door.::

Marshall: Computer, respond to Erin Reynolds, “Arm successfully twisted. I’ll be on the next transport from the station. Those purple trees better be good. See you soon.”



(( Later - Botany Lab, Ark Project, Ereina ))

:: The mass of plants waiting to be added to the arboretum were sitting happily on the lab work benches. They moved almost imperceptibly as nutrients and hydration fed from beneath the layers of soil. Jo, having been given the green light to enter the labs by the staff waited for Erin to finish whatever she was busy doing when she’d arrived, and examined the plants with more detail than she had ever done with any other type of vegetation.::

:: She liked the variation in colour and the smell of some she hoped weren't poisonous to her respiratory system. As she twirled some of the vine types loosely around her finger, some constricted and tried to hold onto her digit, others slid away and recoiled. All above the see through ceiling were the plants successfully grown by the lab, stretching out above and through large doors into a hand-nurtured forest.::

E. Reynolds: Amazing, aren't they?

::Dressed in practical, civilian clothes, Erin's hair had finally regrown to its usual length. Vess had shorn most of it off in the pursuit of emergency brain surgery, back when they had been suffering through the alternate universe. Of course, that didn't mean it was left loose to fall over her shoulders, but instead was swept it all up into a scruffy ponytail, tendrils of escaped hair ghosting around her face and neck. She smiled at Jo as she approached, offering a shy little wave of greeting.::

:: Jo responded with a smile of her own, happy to see the woman in the flesh. She looked happier in herself, brighter, radiant, and it was a beautiful sight to be met with. A year looked good on her, albeit a year in a universe of relative peace and quiet. The Ops Officer realised she’d been a little too lost for words and not paying enough attention when the vine she had been playing with decided to try and restrict the blood flow to her fingertip, and started crawling down her wrist.::

Marshall: Incredibly so. Seeing it from space does nothing for how beautiful it is down here. ::she wiggled her finger while she still had feeling in it:: Little help here? Your plant wants to keep me.

::Erin laughed and moved over to one of the tables, picking up a device that look suspiciously like a cattle prod in miniature. The tip lit up with a pale orange light, and she pressed it into the rich, chocolate soil. The vine immediately went slack, flopping down over the edge of its pot. It looked for all the world like it was playing dead.::

E. Reynolds: It wanted to eat you, the ambitious little thing. Proper taxonomy aside, the Tyrellians call it Stranglevine, ::she shot Jo an amused look,:: and they used it for pest control. It doesn't get much bigger than this, so it's good for catching rodents.

Marshall: I wonder where they got the name from. ::she spoke to the plant:: Can't say I'd be too tasty but good on you for trying. It’s great to see the work you’re doing here is saving these from extinction.

:: Finger freed and blood flowing to it again, she moved it to get the pins and needles out, then slipped her hands behind her back to avoid touching anything that might try and eat her again. An old 20th century song sprung to life in her head, something about wild things making her heart sing.::

Marshall: It’s so good to see you all corporeal instead of through a monitor. You look really well.

E. Reynolds: I am well. ::She smiled, her gaze drawn away from Jo and toward the alien forest.:: Working here has been... ::She sighed in contentment, words failing her.:: Well, it's been something special.

::She fell silent for a little while, just a few moments as her thoughts wandered elsewhere. Then she brightened again, beckoning Jo toward the large doors that led out of the botany lab and into the main body of biodome. As they walked, she continued the conversation.::

E. Reynolds: So how about you? How've you been?

Marshall: Alright. Tired. ::she laughed gently:: Very tired. Fell asleep in the Ops Office this morning. Woke up to coffee and my car in my living space.

:: They walked through the large doors out of the lab and into the biodome, a canopy of branches covering the entrance overhead and a spiralling plant winding up a nearby tree trunk. The smell of greenery was so different to the recycled air of a starship, Jo took a deep breath, almost like being in the forests of her homeworld.::


TBC

--
Lieutenant JG Jocelyn Marshall
Operations Officer
USS Gorkon

&

Doctor Erin Reynolds
Botanist
Ereina Ark Project