Finding a cure PT 1

Posted on Mon Feb 13th, 2023 @ 6:14am by Captain Rhenora Kaylen & Lieutenant JG Blake Leone

Mission: Planet of the Dinosaurs
Location: Medical tent

Captain Kaylen Rhenora headed to the medical tent with Blake after they had dropped Dr Wilson off for a much needed sleep. Stepping inside the scene was mostly of calm, a few nurses moving here and there with the more serious patients. Her heart skipped a beat when her eyes fell on Remal, his palor still that of someone very unwell. The Commodore was in the midst of some kind of transformation but at the moment was unrestrained and asleep. It appeared time indeed was of the essence.

Blake looked around. She had been in the medical tent a few times, and knew that several people were seriously ill. She had gotten some samples from the plant she had noticed near her tent after Dr. Wilson had told her how to get the samples.
Placing said samples on a table, she looked at the Captain. "I hope Dr. Wilson will get some much-needed sleep", she said. The dear doctor had looked like she was ready to pass out when the Captain had ordered the woman to get some rest.

"I hope she can find a cure before we all end up further down the slippery slope of whatever is causing this" Rhenora replied sagely as they headed to wear all the analysis equipment was. It looked like. Sarah was comparing Sidaks DNA to several other samples on one station, whilst analysing several plant and water samples on a other. No one the poor woman's brain was fried. "What's your strength, biology or botany?" The Captain asked, pointing to both stations.

"I love both, but I'd say that I'm probably better at botany than at I am at biology. I took some advanced classes back at the Academy, though I ended up choosing Diplomacy and Counseling as my majors", Blake said with a smile as she eyed the stations. She knew that Dr. Wilson would, hopefully, be asleep for an hour or 3. The woman had been running on what little energy she had had left when the Captain had ordered her to get some sleep.

"Botany it is then for you, I think Dr Wilson had some soil samples, plant samples and water samples lined up. I'll start working on the various blood and serum samples she's got on the go here. Hopefully we can beat this beast with a new set of eyes" Rhenora replied hopefully, settling herself on the stool and peering into the lenses of the scanner. Science wasn't her forte but she knew enough to get the basics done. "So counselling and diplomacy, they would go hand in hand" She chatted as she changed the settings on the scanner and began looking at base pair combinations of those infected and non-infected DNA.

Blake smiled as she took a seat on a stool next to the Captain. "I've always wanted to help people. To be a part of something bigger than the civilized warzone I grew up in", she said. "I've always loved learning new things. If I had gone for counseling and diplomacy, I would likely have gone for biology or something akin to that", with that Blake looked closer at the samples that Dr. Wilson had gathered.
The soil samples gave off a vile smell that made her slightly nauseous. Looking closer at the plant samples Dr. Wilson had gathered, she noticed that some of them seemed to be this planet's version of some of the natural antidotes that could be found on Earth. "Hmm", she murmured. "The soil has a vile smell to it. And it seems like it causes burns or rashes at direct touch".

Kaylen looked up from her scanner with a curious look in her eyes. "Burns and rashes? I wonder if it causes damage on a cellular and molecular level as well." She mused, moving over and peering over Blake's shoulder. "I've had limited success on my side, something in Sidak's DNA has afforded him some kind of natural immunity, I haven't been able to nail exactly what it is yet though."

"I took a sample of the soil from around the plant I noticed near my tent. It isn't showing the same result as the soil gathered elsewhere", Blake said. "It's nowhere near as dangerous to us. Could it be that the plant itself is neutralizing the toxins in the soil? The plant reminds me of some of the plants on Earth that are natural cures and antidotes. If that's the case, how far does the plant has its range?". Blake went quiet, wondering if that was the answer, or the beginning to new questions.

Rhenora smiled as Blake announced the small victory. " Well done, it might not be much, but it's something at the moment. I wonder if the roots of the plant have some neutralising effects, considering they are the ones in the soil?" She mused, having made little progress with her own samples. " And if it does, we should be able to harvest some and hopefully use it as an antidote if we're stuck on this rock for more than a few more days"

"The rain we've had could be adding to it. I wonder if the rain could've added to the effects. Could be part of why the soil is causing the burns and rashes. I've noticed that the water we have on this planet isn't optimal for us to drink. Short term effects seems minimal, but it is a possibility that we could have more serious issues if we don't find a proper way to purify it. I wonder if some of the plants we've gotten samples from could do the trick", Blake said as she focused on the water sample she had gathered. "I gathered some water from the plant near my tent. It had gathered on some of the leaves of it. It's vastly different from the other water samples. There is one other plant which has better results in terms of purifying the water. It was near the the firepit", Blake said. "A few leaves got burnt by accident. Seemed to work on the air around it. I, for one, felt better after inhaling the air from it. It is definitely useful for purifying water", she went on.

" Set up some experiments and see if we can't make this work. No wonder people have been getting sick. Hopefully this will help us stay well until rescue arrives" The Captain smiled encouragingly, continuing to run some serum scans on the samples she had. She had a hunch Sidak may have a natural immunity that she could use to treat those that were showing the worst affliction.

TBC