Wrath of the Himalayan Poppy

Posted on Thu Aug 16th, 2018 @ 11:21pm by Lieutenant Commander Angus Murphy

Mission: A Majestic Affair
Location: Arboretum
Timeline: MD6, 2200 hours
1845 words - 3.7 OF Standard Post Measure

Though it was getting late already, Patrick had agreed to a walk to the arboretum. It was the first time in many months that he was actually going out, and he was clearly enjoying the evening so far.

He had let go of Murphy's hand, though he did remain close as they walked quietly to the arboretum. "I've actually never been there at this hour," he finally broke the gentle silence, "usually I go in the morning. What about you?"

"I was through there for my walk-through inspection when I first came aboard," Murphy answered as they strolled at a normal pace through the corridor. "Not since though and I think there's a science officer who's assigned there now so it's probably in better shape." He was quiet for a moment as a crew member passed in the opposite direction, but then asked, "So, you go every morning?"

"Almost every morning yes," Patrick confirmed, "there's a vegetable and herb garden where I get what I need. I use as many fresh products as I can manage, and the garden is quite extensive. I'm very glad to have one at my disposal." He smiled. "I can show you if you like?"

"Sure," Murphy agreed with a nod. "That garden in the arboretum. It'll be interesting to see how much output it will have. Though I still like my replicator rations. Tonobulan corn pudding. Mmm-mmm."

"Hmm-mm," Patrick confirmed with a nod, "I have no idea how much power it needs. Probably not a whole lot, just artificial sunlight and some humidity I suppose." He managed a small pout as they approached the bay. "You don't want me to make this pudding for you? If you give me a recipe I'm sure I can even though I have never heard of it."

Murphy feigned a look of utter horror at the suggestion. "If you made it, I'd probably never be able to touch the replicator stuff again. Then when we get assigned away from each other and I have to eat the damn mushy crap again, I'd be thinking of how much I hate you every time I want it. Nope, I can't have you throwing off my replicator diet for the rest of my life." As they arrived at the entrance to the arboretum, Murphy followed Pat inside.

"As you wish, though you could of course learn to make it yourself then you wouldn't be resigned to the replicator," Patrick chuckled, "either that or I'd simply have to come with you." He led the chief engineer to one of the patches designated for cultivation of vegetables and herbs. "Now I'm no gardener, so I have no idea what exactly is needed. But here's where I get my fresh food from."

"Can you make salad from weeds?" Murphy wondered aloud as he surveyed the neglected garden patch.

"No!" the voice of the exuberant Bolian gardener and botanist rang out as she popped her head out from behind a shrub she was planting some ten meters away or so. She jumped to her feet and pulled off her gardening gloves as she marched over to two men. "This is allllll going away," she declared as she swept her arm dramatically across the gardening plot. "The captain wants flowers and pretty things." Alright, the Captain never actually said that, but that's what Tox heardthe captain say and she was going with it. "This is a place of relaxation and harmony. I want people to come here and I want them to be able to enjoy the plants."

"What? No no, there has to be a mistake. This space is allotted for my vegetables and herbs. I can't cook with flowers and pretty things" Patrick looked almost on the verge of panic at this news.

Murphy watched the interaction with concern riddled in his furrowed brow; he especially watched the Petty Officer carefully. Though Science wasn't his department, maybe he could intervene on Pat's behalf if she was going to be unreasonable about it. "Surely a few square meters of space won't be missed," he offered.

"Oh, no. Mister... Lieutenant Sir," she confirmed as she craned her neck upward to look for red-haired-one's rank pips. "Are you going to tell the captain that she can't have her Himalayan Poppies?! I didn't think so!" She shook her head with all the confidence of Mother Nature herself. "This whole section has to be re-zoned to accommodate a really, really cold dormant season. The watering cycles have to be adjusted. The humidity won't be friendly to 'vegetables and herbs.' You'll both get over it. Orders are orders are orders." She changed tones really fast though, threw in a heart-melting smile and touched her fingertips to her chest, "Aww. You guys make a really cute couple though."

"We aren't..." Patrick started, shaking his head in utter shock. "No, this was allotted to me, by the captain." Tears welled up in his eyes as he tried to give himself some composure. "Are you going to deny her fresh meals?" he tried, though he'd never carried any authority in his life unless it concerned his kitchen. He looked over to Murph, almost begging him to do something.

Murphy was practically speechless at her gall and he wasn't sure where this garden thing was going, but it was well outside of his area of expertise to tell her she was wrong. "We... we can talk to the Commander about it. Maybe she didn't realize that she gave conflicting orders," he offered, trying to bridge this seemingly growing divide and keep Pat from completely losing it.

The Bolian waved the whole thing off like it was yesterday's bad news. "You guys are getting your panties in a bunch over nothing. We don't need dirt for what you're wanting and I can grow you a hundred times more food than you could ever get here with a thousand percent less effort. Come," she motioned for them to follow and she marched off toward the fall back wall. "I'm Tox, by the way. Tox Chara, but please just call me Tox. I'm the Gatekeeper of Gardening, the Goddess of Green, the Blue Thumbed Green Thumb, the .. well, you get the point. I'm not unreasonable, you know, I've just got a vision for my arboretum." She approached a door that led into an adjacent room then stepped aside when it opened. "I give to thee, Aeroponics."



"And this will grow all I need?" Patrick asked as he glanced around, clearly awed. It was obvious that he had no green thumb at all, because he clearly hadn't thought of this. Fresh, to him, had always meant it had come from dirt, somehow. He felt his heart race as he wiped the tears from his eyes, his hand unconsciously reaching for Murph's. "Everything I need to make fresh meals?"

"Well, it depends," Tox admitted as she followed the men inside. "If you're looking for corn or something tall and stalky, then maybe not, but most vegetables, fruits, and pretty much any herb you can think of. There are a few hydro-units as well," she explained, "So stuff like lotus root or the infamous water potatoes from Betazed we can easily cultivate in those. I really want to try to grow some grain, I think. I'm thinking pholofog, native to Bolarus because I'm culturally biased but if that goes well maybe later wheat or barley? The idea with this space is that, obviously, fresh food and nutrients, but also ship survivability in case of a cataclysmic event. I mean they say that, that's what they advertise in the brochure but the engineers never think about how we're supposed to light this area when there's no power."

"Batteries?" Patrick suggested carefully, looking up at his companion for confirmation, "would that work?" He managed a smile while he was still working to handle his earlier panic, "I don't think I've used Bolian wheats before but I'm open for using what is available. Maybe we can grow things that aren't dependant on light?"

"In the event of something like that," Murphy thought carefully, "the Captain would have to reallocate resources to maintain food supply. I really don't think we need to go building systems like that before hand, but it would easily doable as needed given the amount of manpower we could throw at the problem if we had to." He thought back on Officer Training Classes. "The main way of thinking is that the crew would survive on MREs and dry food stores in the cargo bay while these plant would be used to jump start a larger agricultural endeavor on a planet or something. This food store for 200 people wouldn't last long, so the idea is to grow it as quickly as possible and multiple plant production to sustainable numbers."

"Above my paygrade," Tox chimed as she rose up on the balls of her feet. "So, are we all happy now? Yes? Yes?"

"Very happy," Patrick replied with a more genuine smile, "please don't scare me again like that? I honestly thought I was going to have a stroke here..." He glanced between Murph and Tox, "if ever you do need a hand...I do know how to water plants but that's it. My area of expertise lies in the kitchen, not the garden." He glanced back at Murph. "Want to continue our walk?" he asked, happy that he would still have a source for food on the ship.

"Oh, right, totally not-a-couple," Tox observed and threw up her hands as she walked away, as if to say she was giving up on the subject for now.

Murph bit the inside of his lip and nodded as she walked away. "Of course, yeah. I may talk to her supervisor. She's borderline inappropriate, don't you think?"

"A bit yes," Patrick agreed, "she could've gone about that quite a bit differently. Certainly needs a crash course in diplomacy or something." He pulled Murph along the path. "It's very quiet here now," he observed as a sense of calm returned to him, "very serene. Don't you think?" He looked up, as if expecting a night sky.

Murphy followed Pat's gaze upward to the ceiling two decks up and stopped to look. "It would be better with a holographic sky, don't you think?" as though reading his companion's mind. Then he stepped closer to Pat and put a hand on shoulder, leaned in and gently kissed his lips.

Patrick froze, eyes widening in surprise. It took a full second before he closed his eyes and responded to the kiss. "That was nice," he whispered, "and I agree, it needs a sky." He leaned forward, resting his head against Murphy's shoulder, circling his arms around his waist. "Thank you, this is turning out to be a very lovely evening."

OFF:

Lieutenant Murphy
Chief Engineer
USS Majestic

Patrick O'Malley
captain's Chef
USS Majestic

Petty Officer 3rd Class Tox Chara
Botanist
USS Majestic
pnpc Murphy