Ensign Jania Nis - Warrior Plants
Jania Nis
Jania Nis was enjoying her first view of the massive arboretum on the top floors of Deep Space 14 when the unexpected presence of her boss had startled her.
Toz: Is this place really dangerous?
At the sound of her boss’s voice, Nis’s blood ran cold. Was she about to be called back into sickbay? Had Lhandon and Toxin finally thrown down like she feared they would?
Katsim: Hello Doctor Toz.
Guide: :: Rolling her eyes and sighing :: I am a Vulcan. If it weren’t dangerous, I would not say it was.
Nis: We are Starfleet, we think we can handle some trees …
Toz: Hi! Just got here. You know I love trees.
Katsim: Oh…well. This is a good place to find trees.
Nis: Hello Boss! We didn’t expect to see you here. No one . . . uh . . .has radiation poisoning, right?
Toz: I thought I should get away from the office for a while. What are you two up to? And do you mind if I join you?
Katsim: We just arrived a moment ago and were hoping to explore.
Nis: We’re looking for petel stones. They grow on asteroids around Platz Delta, but apparently they have some on the top floor in a simulated low-atmosphere environment.
Jania had a sudden memory of floating in a spacesuit, reaching out to take a sample of a ball fungus growing from the leaves of one of the fuzzy petel stones as reddish light from Platz Delta reflected off the leaves. It was a memory that was nearly two hundred years old. She hoped so badly to get to allow Nis to experience the petel stones one more time.
Toz: response
Katsim: Oh, yes, it is lovely.
Guide: It is a fascinating place, but ‘lovely’ would be a foolish way of describing trees. Although it is debatable how much emotional empathy the vegetation here emits, they do not love the way we do, nor would they accept love from entities without cell walls.
Nis was trying to listen, but she was too distracted watching Katsim’s purple dragon zipping around swallowing big grasshoppers and other insects whole.
Toz: response
Katsim: I’m sorry, back to what you said before. What do you mean, dangerous?
Guide: We study many forms of plant life in the arboretum. As the Trill mentioned, this is Starfleet, and some of those plants are not to be touched. That is why we only offer guided tours at this time.
Nis: One of Nis’s former hosts was a biologist. What kind of no-touchy plants are we talking about here?
Katsim/Toz: response
Guide: There is a plant here known as Warrior Chechem. It is known for its ability to spit great distances.
The guide rolled up her sleeve to reveal a red patch on her skin that looked like a burn, bright and peeling. From a few spots, it oozed a blackish tar-like pus.
Nis: Why haven’t you had a medic look at that?
Guide: ::Rolling her eyes :: It would be highly illogical to allow a wound like this to go unattended. This is after I consulted medical.
Katsim/Toz: response
Guide: Do you want to go on a tour or not?
Just behind her, a purple orchid opened up, its flower as big as a human head, its stamen unrolling. A fat bee gingerly landed on it, and a sweet, alluring scent like caramel rolled out to tickle their noses. It was very inviting, although the notion of the Warrior Chechem was not so appealing.
Nis: We could always just . . . uh . . . go get Greek food instead.
Katsim/Toz: response
Guide: Whatever you do, please get control of that purple bird-creature. I study those insects it’s devouring, you know?
Katsim: response
TBC/Tags
Ensign Jania Nis
Medical Officer
USS Octavia E. Butler NCC-82850
O240108JN2