Ensign Jania Nis - Neat Trees!
Jania Nis
When granted permission to leave the ship for shore leave, Ensign Jania Nis booked it down the hallway. She'd heard amazing stories about the Dyson ring, and somewhat nerve-wracking stories about Port Coray. But she'd been dealing with the medical consequences of the Dow incident during their time on the Dyson ring. During the visit to Port Coray, she’d been dealing with the medical consequences of crew members having too much alcohol on the Dyson ring, so this was her first time actually getting permission to go off the ship, and she was terribly worried she’d get halfway to the transporters before getting a call that someone had been depressurized or Lhandon had punched someone or the replicator had gone on the fritz and given someone a 2000 degree cup of coffee again.
As she came around the corner to the hallway leading to the transporter room, she almost ran into a young woman in blue who was also walking to the transporter. She had some Cardassian heritage, based on her facial markings, but they were fairly soft compared to most of the Cardassians Nis had encountered, so Jania suspected she was maybe half-Cardassian. While Jania was still new to the ship and didn’t recognize everyone, she knew she was speaking with a Lieutenant and a science officer just based on the uniform.
Nis: Oh, hi, sir! Are you also going to DS14?
Peri: Response
Nis: We’re Jania Nis. We're going to the arboretum. We heard there are some really neat trees there. You’re a scientist, right? Want to come along?
After Jania said it, she cringed. It felt so awkward. oO Neat trees? That’s really what you led with? Oo. Still, in Nis’s opinion, this was better than leading with admitting the deep-fried faux Greek food she was excited to eat.
Peri: Response
Nis: Oh, wow, astrophysics, huh? Well, they’ve got some Petel Stones there--those are kind of astro . . . uh . . . physical. They’re space plants!
Peri: Response
Petel Stones had evolved in an asteroid belt near Platz Delta; Nis’s former biologist host Sudre had wanted to study them desperately but never had the chance.
Nis: Great! Let’s do it! After that we can grab some lunch at Souv-lucky Day. It’s a Greek place.
The symbiont in Jania’s stomach rolled, and she clutched her belly in discomfort. oO Why did I pick you as host? Oo
((Deep Space 14 Arboretum)
The Deep Space station was different than any they’d been on as Jania or previous hosts. While the hallways had the classic Federation look and blue lighting she’d come to expect from a DS, the place often opened into massive rooms full of golden pillars and rounded domes. But it was still mostly technological in appearance, until they neared the upper floors, where the great forest began. The station’s arboretum had been designed to look as much like the surface of a planet as could be managed, down to biological lifeforms like insects which hummed and chirped in the trees. The ceiling was a checkerboard of glass and glowing metal panels; this gave the plants access to natural starlight but also created artificial light for the plants that photosynthesized.
Jania’s eyes widened as she stared up at the large trees that marked the entrance to the arboretum--large as in 120 meters tall or more. They had trunks as thick as the whole bridge on the Octavia Butler, and lavish purple bracts blossomed on their branches, but the branches were so high up she could barely make them out.
A young Vulcan cadet startled her by speaking.
Guide: Good afternoon. Would you like a tour of the arboretum?
Nis: Tour? Oh, I thought we would just . . . walk around.
Guide: That would be exceedingly dangerous.
Peri/Any: Response
TBC/Tags
Ensign Jania Nis
Medical Officer
USS Octavia E. Butler NCC-82850
O240108JN2