A Garden of Death and Healing
Posted on Sat Aug 3rd, 2024 @ 8:37pm by Captain Marc Kidd & Lieutenant Maya Canak
Edited on on Thu Aug 22nd, 2024 @ 9:58pm
0 words; about a 1 minute read
Mission:
Episode 2 - The Sins of History
Location: Captain's Ready Room - Deck 3 - USS Artemis
Timeline: MD010 1500 hrs
Maya found time when she was free and the captain was in his ready room to talk to him about her plans for a forensic and medical garden in one of the labs near sickbay. She'd researched what she wanted and why, but she couldn't take the next step without the captain's authorization.
Just to be sure he was free, she tapped her combadge. "Canak to Captain Kidd. Do you have a few minutes?"
Marc had just taken that oh so delicious first sip of coffee. There was something to be said about that first sip of the day, it was almost a religious practice for him. His eyes were closed and he was in the moment as it was said when his comm badge went off. "Always something on this ship." He said to the empty room then tapped his comm badge. "Yes Doctor I am in the Ready Room and I am at your disposal."
"Thank you. I will be there shortly. Canak out." She'd gathered all the information she thought she'd need on a PADD to show the captain why she felt a forensic botany lab would be beneficial for both medical and science. Now she slipped it into one of her pockets and headed for the bridge.
It took her five minutes to ring his door.
"Come on in." Marc called to the door and when it opened he smiled. "Hey Doc have a seat. What can I do for you?"
"Thank you," she said as she walked in and stopped in front of the captain's desk. "I had tea with Siadra, then a lovely visit with Nala Rider in science. The end result is, I'm going to repurpose a medical lab near my office for a medical and forensic garden. It can also be considered a forensic botany lab. However, some of the plants I would like to grow have both beneficial and harmful properties. As you are no doubt aware, this is something doctors have dealt with since the dawn of time. Plants such as foxglove, oleander, lily of the valley, morning glory, even nightshade are often found in flower gardens. But I digress."
She pulled out a PADD and set it on his desk. "I would like to grow medicinal plants that may include some that are harmful if misused. I plan to limit access by keeping the garden locked except for those who will need to be there. It will be used for research to see if there are other uses of the plants and to work with scientists to see if it's possible to cultivate a hybrid that will lessen the harmful properties and to harvest the plants for medicine. My ancestors used herbs and medical techniques that are still lost to us. If you prefer, I can focus on plants common to where I grew up."
The PADD also contained ways she planned to keep any convicts on the ship from gaining entry to the garden as she knew that would be a concern. "I know that most medicines can be ordered, but there is something to be said for going back to the original source. And there is an additional possibility of finding new ways to use them for good." Her pitch having been delivered, she waited for the captains' verdict.
Marc leaned back in his chair and thought for the moment. Lord knew there was plenty of space on this ship for a lab that the Doctor requested. His questions though laid with whether or not it was needed. "Doctor I am not familiar with medical techniques or anything of the sort. But, can't any medicine that would be needed be replicated in the medical replicator and then administered through hypospray? Further if this was to be approved the list of people who could have access would be one, just you. The idea occurs to me that if anyone or even say just your staff was to have access they could be bribed or somehow made to give an inmate something." Marc did not want to shoot down the idea, but this had some serious ramifications.
"Yes. Medicine from anything I choose to grow can also be replicated. For most of the plants, it would take time and effort to extract a viable drug. And if you want to kill someone, there are far easier ways to do so than steal a plant. There are a number medications available through the replicator that can kill if used in sufficient doses. If you read old mysteries, you will know of many of these. However, my purpose is to look at how such plants can be used on colonies as alternative medicines. I think we sometimes focus too much on what science can give us and forget that there are many herbal treatments and procedures we've lost along the way. I would like to look for other beneficial properties as well as hybrid plants that may do well on colonies where medicine is harder to come by."
Marc thought for a moment he could see how the research may come in handy for colonies and the such. Knowing what to plant that can help is a great knowledge. However, he still was not convinced it was worth dedicating the resources on the ship. "Is your plan to simply use this for research to later share with colonies that may need the information, or is there something than can assist the ship?" He did not want to be touch but on the Artemis resources were at a premium so he had to make sure that it was worth it.
"Of course it would be for both. My grandfather always said you must keep your eye on both yesterday and tomorrow. Modern medicine is invaluable, but there are some homeopathic remedies that work better. They are few, yes, but they need to be researched and utilized. There are some plants where I am from that are only now being researched because the knowledge of how they were used was lost. I would like to grow one or two of those. I would eventually like to grow one or two plants that are both beneficial and harmful because there are times when extracting an antidote from a poisonous plant is more effective than a replicated antitoxin. This, however, would be done only when there is a need. I would also like to grow more herbs for teas and poultices as they can have fewer side effects for some species. There are a dozen other reasons why growing plants for medicine and research on a starship is a good idea. I'm asking for one lab. I have the full support of the chief science officer and I will be following what Ensign Rider has begun with her fruit plants. I will take care of the plants and will work with Siadra to choose the plants that will be most efficacious. I believe this project will benefit both science and medical and give us projects to work on when we are not actively involved with the primary purpose of this ship."
As with most Captains Marc saw the good and the bad of almost every situation, and so it was here. He saw the benefits as the Doctor stated and he saw the potential for this research and work to be corrupted for nefarious purposes. There was a brief silence as the Captain mulled the options and the information presented. "There is a fine line here. One that I dare not cross, hope it doesn't get crossed. I can see the usefulness to what you propose, and I hope you can see where my fears lay. As such I am going to authorize you to proceed. Use one of the medical labs for your purposes. However, access to this lab is going to be limited to yourself, the Executive Officer, the Chief of Security and myself. No one is allowed in the lab unless one of the above parties are present. The door is to be secured with appropriate clearance. This is to prevent the possibility of my fear becoming reality."
Maya nodded. "I have no problem with that. Thank you, captain. Would you like me to keep you apprised of any progress?" She knew there could be risks with her project, especially on a ship like the Artemis. The compromise the captain requested was more than reasonable.
"Yes keep me in the loop. This way we can cross reference your success with what may be needed by colonies etc." Marc was amazed at the idea it was definitely a tightrope between something great and something dangerous.
"Yes, sir." She gave him a half bow and headed to her office to do more research, carefully hiding her excitement at the project.
A Joint Post By
Captain Marc Kidd
Commanding Officer, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
Lieutenant Maya Canak
Chief Medical Officer/Medical Examiner, USS Artemis
Starfleet Criminal Investigations Unit
RSS Feed