Lieutenant JG Leran Perax - Living Batteries and snack food
Peregrine Falcon
Walking and staggering slightly around the geysers, they finally got to the runabout. They entered and placed Maramox on the single biobed.
Once his hands were free, Perax walked to the weapons crates Lystra had brought onboard and grudgingly took a dolphin phaser. He brought the Aquila phaser back to Lystra.
Perax: here’s your phaser back. I got one out of the crate. ::he showed her the dolphin while handing the Aquila back to her.:: How is the Doc?
Yirah: They were injected with a sedative– must have been on the thorns– they’ll be out for the next several hours but over then that Maramox appears to be okay.
oO So, should I have fired at the fleeing figure in the grass? Maramox is fine, and we lost a chance to find out who attacked us and why. But to shoot someone… Oo
Lystra: That’s good to hear. At least we can keep him secure on the runabout. ::to Leran:: Trade you. Picked them from that tree. Figured you could use more things to study.
Perax: I’ll run it under the runabout sensor station immediately.
Yirah: We’ll need to tell the other away team what happened.
That seemed reasonable to Perax. Afterall, Doctor Foster, Mec, and S’jenes might meet with hostiles too.
oO There is no telling how many of our attackers there are spread out on this planet Oo
Lystra: Hey, guys. I found something…strange. I found peanuts…and cashews.
Yirah: Earth natives… how did they get here?
Perax: The only way would be if the planet has equivalent food or we brought them.
Lystra: One of the bags I replicated for you must have gotten torn when I was putting them away. ::she gestured to a small cluster of sprouts in a line:: See, and the tricorder registered peanuts and cashews. I think it’s safe to say that those are not native to this world.
Perax: Not unless you consider the theory of parallel development, but the conditions are so different here from earth that I don’t see how that could explain this.
Yirah: We need to make sure that we dig all of them up. Having plants that are not native to this world could result in them becoming invasive species. Especially with how fast they are growing.
Lystra: Agreed, but do they grow that fast normally?
Perax watched Yirah shake his head.
Yirah: I’m not a botanist but I don’t think so…
Perax: I don’t think any plants grow that fast.
Lystra: Same, these have trace amounts of Chrondite in them too. I wonder if this planet could grow anything. ::pause:: According to the tricorder’s database, peanuts and cashews can’t normally be grown together due to their varied growth habits.
Yirah: I just don't see how it's possible for any Earth plants to grow here at all. The conditions are so different...
Perax: Could the Crondite itself cause the accelerated and wide growth. ::He began running the fruit under a scanner inside the runabout’s hatch. He gave an exclamation of shock and surprise:: I’m glad we didn’t eat these! They are poisonous. High concentrations of Alkaline. It almost looks like a natural battery. Chrondite is also present.
Lystra: A planet that could grow anything, or near abouts would be something incredibly valuable. Valuable enough to protect it from anyone else who might find it. We should definitely be more careful going forward.
Yet another reference to a book Lindsay had introduced him to.
oO “But when he saw what Digory was looking at, even he began to take an interest. It was a perfect little model of a lamp-post, about three feet high but lengthening, and thickening in proportion, as they watched it; in fact growing just as the trees had grown. “It’s alive too – I mean, it’s lit,” said” Oo
Perax: Welcome to Narnia. ::he muttered. With normal volume, he said:: I think you’re right. There are only three reasons I can think of to have a presence on this world: One, a military staging area would be perfect as the area is avoided and sensors are virtually inoperable. Two, A place to hide from pursuit or to isolate from the outside galaxy, and three, nearly anything seems to grow here.
oO If we planted a piece of the Constitution, would we grow another Galaxy Class starship? It was considered foolishness in the book when Digory’s uncle thought of growing weapons and battleships. Could it be done here? Oo
He looked down at the living battery fruit in his hands.
Yirah: We should get a container for the seedlings. We'll be able to have our botanists take a look at them, soil and all. And prevent the non-native plants from spreading.
Lystra: Response
Perax: I wonder how many of the plants are native. Didn’t Doctor Foster mention ruins and farming operations from allegedly nonnative sentient intelligent life forms?
Putting on a pair of safety glasses and gloves, he continued studying the star shaped fruit. He took a laser scalpel from his toolkit and carefully sliced into the fruit.
Yirah: Found a container for the seedlings.
The fruit made a loud popping noise, and an acrid smell rose up to Perax’s nose. He carefully made note of the internal structure of the fruit.
Lystra: Response
Perax: The inside of this fruit closely resembles how a battery works. The seeds on one side look like anodes, and the seeds on the other side are acting like cathodes. The fruit juice is a conductive electrolyte. Do you think the animals here eat food like this and that helps their bioluminescence?
He pocketed the intact fruit and made a mental note to gather more if they went up to the ridge again.
Lystra/Yirah: Response
Taking a charge indicator, Perax placed one probe next to the stem and the other at the bottom of the fruit. The dial bounced on the screen. He noted the reading and walked outside to where the others were working in the dirt.
Yirah: Do you think that more of them fell out? Just want to avoid having those things multiply out over the planet like a bad tribble infestation.
Lystra: Response
Perax: We would have to walk all the way back to the ridge to find out, but I don’t think we did. We would have seen the plants as we walked back down if they had sprouted. Though, I guess we weren’t looking for them.
Lystra/Yirah: Response
More lightning flared in the sky of glowing clouds. Some particularly thick clouds were looking ominous in the distance, well, more ominous than the already ominous glowing clouds that constantly flashed lightning.
oO Those clouds almost look like water when it boils. Oo
Perax: I hope that ::he pointed towards the ominous clouds:: goes somewhere else. I don’t fancy seeing what counts as a storm on an already perpetually stormy world.
Lystra/Yirah: Response