Samantha Richards - Chief of Cross Contamination
Samantha Richards
((Science lab 2, Deck 9- USS Artemis))
“I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.” -Albert Einstein
Before she was set to be a mom, before she was a girlfriend, before everything— she was a scientist.
Through life’s unexpected changes and ups and downs, she had always fallen back on science to keep her grounded and focused.
On their most recent mission to Kydon, she was lucky enough to get the green light from General Kexxin to grab a couple rocks and a small soil sample. Unfortunately she didn’t have the proper equipment. She improvised by sticking a handful of soil and a couple rocks in her pocket. It wasn’t a proper collection, but it would have to do.
Standing in the science lab, she began to run tests and scans on the soil. While those were processed, Sam set the rocks out on the table. They were small and roughly the same size, like a couple of forbidden cherries. Unlike cherries the rocks were dark gray and porous. What really struck Sam as strange was the speckles of bright orange scattered across the surface. She couldn’t remember seeing any organic orange material near the rocks.
The soil processor let out a small beep and the results popped up on her PADD. There were some typical components she expected to see; normal amounts of biotic and abiotic materials, a higher than usual mineral makeup and a low water content. Then, there was something she was not expecting. She tilted her head as she read the PADD.
UNKNOWN NON-ORGANIC MATERIALS FOUND:
THIAMIN
MONOSODIUM
GLUTAMATE
LACTIC ACID
CITRIC ACID
The more the list went on, the more confused Sam became. Never before had she seen those types of materials come from a soil composition. oO Glutamate…Citric Acid… What in the world–Oo Suddenly the realization hit her like a photon torpedo. The damn cheezy poofs. It was a typical case of cross contamination. The pocket used to hold the samples happened to be the same one she used to carry her morning snack of cheezy poofs. She shook her head and looked around the lab. A flash of blonde hair and blue shoulders caught the corner of her eye. Jovenan.
Richards: Commander! ::Waving at Jovenan:: Wanna see some cool rocks?
If Sam had asked anyone other than a fellow scientist that question, they would have probably looked at her like she was insane.
Jovenan: Response
She gave the Chief of Science a warm smile and gestured to the rocks on the table.
Richards: I have these samples from Galaris VI. Interested in taking a look at them with me? I was just about to cut one of these bad boys in half. After they have been cleaned and sanitized…
Jovenan: Response
Richards: Well… Thanks to some cross contamination the soil sample is unusable. But the rocks are safe.
She sheepishly looked towards the fellow planetary scientist and showed her the results on the PADD.
Richards: I may have put these samples in my pocket since I didn’t have a field kit with me. The same pocket I used to carry my cheezy poofs in that same morning…
Jovenan: Response
TAGS/TBC!
Samantha Richards