Oranges and Apples

Posted on Tue 7th Nov, 2017 @ 5:42am by Commander Jasmine Collins-Keller
Edited on on Tue 7th Nov, 2017 @ 7:32am

1,059 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: A Phaser as Deadly as a Candlestick
Location: Science Labs, Deck 98
Timeline: MD 4, early afternoon

Being Head Gardener didn't sound like a huge job ... until you realized it referred to control of 2500 decks of plantings, major hydroponics labs, two arboretums, and a half dozen other things that took time away from the things that Hieronymous loved most - plant research. He loved growing anything, but researching new things to grow was even better than that! He was still thinking about the oranges he wanted to grow.

He hadn't been able to get an entire deck out of the commander, but he'd weaseled about a third of one near the VIP Quarters on Deck 1401. He just needed to come up with a tree that would grow normal-sized fruit on a smaller tree and do it in two years. There were trees that would grow small, trees that would grow large, trees that would grow in two years, trees that grew small fruit, trees that grew normal fruit, and trees that grew enormous fruit. There were even trees that grew oranges in different colors. Nowhere could he find exactly what he thought was needed for Vanguard. He needed a botanist who was a DNA specialist, because he didn't have time to do this the old-fashioned way.

"Marida!" he hollered through his office door. "What's the name of that science lady?"

Marida, tall, slender and almost as old as Block, came to the door and leaned against it. "You aren't by any chance asking about the Chief of Science for the whole base, are you?"

"Yeah, that's the one. What's her name? Some kinda flower, int it?"

With a sigh, she rolled her eyes. "Lieutenant Jasmine Collins. She's a Starfleet officer, so you can't just call her that science lady."

"Oh, no?" he grinned at her. "We'll see. Thanks, that's the one I want." He turned back to his computer. "Computer, locate Lieutenant Jasmine Collins."

=^=Lieutenant Jasmine Collins is on Deck 98.=^=

"I'll go find her. That will be all. Shut yourself down, will ya?"

Without waiting for the usual runaround the computer gave him, he headed out the door and up to find the science officer.

Jasmine was singing softly as she pruned the small bonsai she'd been keeping. It was relaxing to her to prune the small twisted branches and it was about the only time that she allowed herself to sing aloud. Oscar was sleeping in his bed under the console. He seemed to be outgrowing his bed but after a morning in the holodeck chasing rabbits in the Alaskan wilderness, he was exhausted and could sleep anywhere.

Jasmine didn't usually have a lot of time but today was a relaxing day for her. Most of the labs were shut down and she was able to enjoy her own interests for a while.

Deck 98 was pretty large, but Block didn't think he'd find the scientist in the medical or cargo sections, so he kept poking his head in various labs, many of them empty, until he found the department head.

"Lieutenant Collins, is it?" he asked, coming into the lab and eyeing her work with the bonsai. "Interesting shaping, looks quite authentic," he complimented her.

"Jasmine, please. And thank you." She looked back at her work. "I've been working on this for six years now." Jasmine stepped forward closer to the man. "Can I help you with something?"

Pulling his gaze from the work lieutenant had been doing, Block nodded. "Yes, I have a question, and I can't answer it without help. Do you happen to have a geneticist in your department?"

"I've done some genetics but I don't think we have someone solely slated to genetics." Jasmine tried to answer. "Please, ask your question and I'll see if I can help?"

Block thought for a few seconds, then nodded, "Okay, we'll try it your way." He pulled a tall lab stool over and sat. "The main problem is I want to make a new fruit tree ... a citrus tree, preferably oranges. We have limited space for growing trees that need a lot of room, so I need a smaller version. It needs to be fairly fast growing, and the fruit needs to be normal sized. Now, I've worked on this for while, and I can make a short tree with branches that hug the trunk. It'll even put out a lot of fruit, but the fruit isn't small. Long before it reaches maturity, it breaks the branches.:" He rubbed his hand over his head, a frustration reflex of a lifetime.

"I can grow smaller fruit, crossing tangerine with the smallest oranges. The only trouble is, all the flavor is gone, and most near all the juice, too. Nastiest darned things you ever tasted. Even my wife told me to give up on that one! So maybe I need a geneticist. The typical cuttings, graftings, and hybridizing aren't working. I need a tree that is relatively small, abnormally strong, grows fruit at the start of its third year, at the latest, and produces normal sized fruit that tastes good. I've looked through all the Earth agro files, and everything else in the database that I thought would help, and I can't get the right combination. I thought maybe one a you scientist people would know what I'm missing." The old man ground to a halt and looked hopefully at the woman.

"Wow," Jasmine sat back on her stool. "That is a tall order." She thought for a moment. "You tried Mandarins as well, I'm going to assume?" She asked going through a quick list in her mind.

"Yes, and I hoped I could keep the flavor but cross them with a larger fruit. No go," Block shook his head. "Grafting isn't getting me where I want to be. Sometimes the first year or two seems good, and then it doesn't hold true. I think genetic alteration is going to be our only choice. Of course, it isn't popular with everyone, but we aren't changing a sentient, just a food, so I expect we'll pass all the regulations there."

"Well, I'll bet we can come up with something." Jasmine smiled. "Let's head over to the genetics lab and see what we can come up with."

Heironymous nodded enthusiastically, and followed the lieutenant out of the office. "Thanks, good to have someone around here with a positive attitude. Some people on this ship are so danged grumpy!"

 

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