Lieutenant JG Vesela Pace - News, Both Good and Bad
C Souers
(( Medical Laboratory, Gibaria Outpost ))
Vesela was back to feeling not nearly as useful as she would like to be. Even though her cytology background was quite handy here, she still felt like an astronaut without a tether.
Pace: I could try and start finding equivalent options from our universe to use in the inoculant if that would be helpful, sirs? I mean, nothing will be solid until the end of the five minutes, but having options may at least speed up the inoculant process, right?
For a moment she wondered if it was a stupid idea. The doctor would be much more suited to this task, but if she could lighten the load for her in any way it would make Vesela feel a little bit better at the very least.
Tahna: Do it.
V’Lar: A logical initiative, Lieutenant. Compile a list of compatible molecular analogues and cross-reference the required polysaccharides, minerals, and heavy metals with the replicator database. I will review their pharmacological safety.
Vesela practically beamed. Her idea, logical!
Pace: Aye, sirs!
The first officer returned to her workstation while Vesela stuck her nose back in her own. She started funnelling the results from the complete simulations into the Gorkon’s database, trying to find similar metals, minerals, and polysaccharides that would work for the inoculant.
Tahna: I wonder if the moss is able to recognize those elements in other creatures.
V’Lar: Many forms of plant life seek out essential metals while attempting to avoid toxic ones. This is frequently achieved through utilizing chemical receptors to identify specific ions. The term ‘recognize’ implies a level of sentience.
The Commanders could be on to something here… These plants were far more voracious than any Vesela had personally come in contact with before, and she did have the thought earlier that the moss could be behaving akin to some kind of scout.
Pace: But if the moss is some sort of… scout for the vines, and if this cellular liquefaction is some kind of pre-digestion, these xenoflora could be one of the apex predators of their dimension.
Tahna: We have no idea its level of intelligence, and we won’t really have time to look into it. But I wonder if it’s possible that those elements you found don’t just inoculate it against its own digestive effects… maybe they’re common to flora from this other universe. They don’t seem to be digesting each other as readily as… us. I bet, on some level, the plants can tell their kind from ours.
Vesela hummed, mulling on what Commander Tahna was saying but also making sure the simulations continued without problems and also compiling her list of potential biological building blocks for the inoculant.
V’Lar: We possess such limited information about the other dimension. It is highly probable that some organisms experience coevolution, while others avoid direct competition through niche partitioning.
Commander V’Lar was logical as ever in her statements, but she did have a point. Even though they were dealing with a different dimension, there were scientific processes that were always present.
V’Lar: Your underlying premise may warrant further investigation. If we consider how the xenoflora interacts with this environment, we may deduce the parameters of its native biome.
Pace: I wonder if looking at how it utilizes the metal to conduct the heat from the radiation would help there, that’s one big difference it has from our dimension’s plants!
Tahna: Response
Vesela was almost having fun now, even though this was far from an ideal situation. The three scientifically minded Gorkonites bouncing ideas off of each other was exhilarating! They would have to do this again without the life or death circumstances.
V’Lar: Is there any data to suggest the flora is actively altering the ambient atmospheric composition to suit its metabolic needs? It would be beneficial to identify what environmental factors accelerate or impede its growth.
Vesela thought for a moment then brought up the scans from Commander Samira Neathler once more.
Pace: The scans from Commander Neathler indicated more humidity than should have been normal for the facility. Maybe the xenoflora thrives in a damp environment?
Tahna: Response
Vesela perused the potential biological building block list once more, adding a few options she thought could work and eliminating a few that were most likely too dissimilar to the extradimensional moss’ own methods of radiological shielding before sharing it with the other officers.
V’Lar: As the biomolecular simulations approach completion, we must establish the parameters of our clinical trial. While we still need to develop an inoculant, the initial synthesis will be a prototype which will require testing on a living subject to verify its efficacy before we begin mass replication and administration.
Pace: Are there any patients that… ::She paused.:: could use it?
Tahna: Response
V’Lar: The patients in the adjacent ward are not viable candidates for this trial. They have already sustained catastrophic radiological exposure.
Vesela blinked. Ever logical, like the perfect Vulcan. She frowned, furrowed her brow, and tried to control her breathing as hot tears threatened to spill down her face. She turned to her workstation hoping the two commanders wouldn’t see. Maybe if she’d been faster, they could have saved at least some of the patients.
V’Lar: As this inoculant is a biological shield and not a restorative cure, administering it to a terminal patient will skew the data; we would be unable to distinguish between the failure of the inoculant and the pre-existing cellular decay. To definitively prove the shielding mechanism functions, we require a test subject with a healthy, unexposed physiology.
Pace: Wait, are any of us viable test subjects then?
Tahna / V’Lar: Response
Pace: If you think about it, all of us have been affected by the radiation. Would one of us work since we haven’t - ::She stopped herself short.:: Well, you know what I mean. Or do we need someone to try it on the Gorkon?
Tahna / V’Lar: Response
Another chirp from Vesela’s workstation heralded the completion of the simulations.
Pace: Ah, the simulations are complete, so there’s good news at least!
Tahna / V’Lar: Response
———
Lieutenant JG Vesela Pace
Science Officer
USS Gorkon (NCC-82293)
G240106VP4