Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Hayley Marshall (Chief Medical Officer) in Side Sim - Arboretum - Tag Ensign Fayth :)

Posted by Fleet Captain Drudoc Andone (Commanding Officer) in Side Sim - Arboretum - Tag Ensign Fayth :)
[snip]

”..Well alright..” Tel’eck said once her friend nodded her assent. The two girls fell into step to see this area of the larger aboretum.

Sharah led them over to a very large bed, big enough for a small ball field. There were trees, shrubs, rock formations, plenty of places to hide and climb. “Anywhere in this bed is free for you to play. As rough as you want. Here, and only here it’s okay to rip the plants up as you play. They are coming up anyway for replanting. So the harder you play, the more you help, and more importantly, nothing here can hurt you. Okay?” Sharah asked. She had loved playing outside when she was younger, and she was glad there was a place like this on board for the children, but she wanted them to be safe. She started to turn away, “Oh, Tel’eck, you aren’t supposed to be in school or somewhere else are you? I don’t want to have to fend of security for you.” She grinned at the girls and left them to play.

”..Nu uh! Sarah and I are out of class till 0800 tomorrow! We got our work done early and each got 100% to boot!” She said proudly.

Sharah smiled, “That’s good work, girls. So how about you two do your laser tag over here. When I’m done with the doctor, maybe you can help me with a special project?”

Hayley waited until Sharah had had a chance to redirect the children before replying. “I am well, thank you, it is lovely in here. I don’t know why I haven’t made time to come here sooner.”

Jr. Lt. Marshall, CMO

After settling the girls in a safer area, Sharah returned. “It really is. I haven’t gotten a good look at it yet. I’ve been talking with the staff all morning. This one is massive though! I’ve never seen an arboretum on a ship this big. And there are two more.”

En Fayth, Science

“Looks like a lovely place to work, I can imagine it can be pretty peaceful sometimes, though not always I suppose.” She remarked, looking back at the children careening about. They brought back childhood memories of playing similar games with her brother, Jacob, back on earth.

Jr. Lt. Marshall, CMO

Sharah nodded, “I love working with plants. I’m looking forward to delving into what all is here. My understanding is that one of the smaller arboretums is mostly unused. So I’m thinking of setting it up for medical and science for their needs.” Sharah glances back to make sure the children are still where they are supposed to be. If she could swing it the other smaller arboretum would be designed as a children’s garden. There were too many dangerous plants in this one. The girls hadn’t been paying attention and she would’t want them to get hurt. Her childhood had been very serious. She was glad to see Tel’eck had a friend on board. She was lucky her mother was CO of a ship so big that there was room for families. “So, what can I do for you Doctor?”

En Fayth, Science - Botanist

“That’s actually just what I wanted to talk to you about. I am very interested in your ideas and how they could be integrated into medical practice both on and off the ship. I’m here to offer you some of my spare time if you would allow me to your research assistant.” Hayley smiled hopefully at the Ensign. “I can even offer you a workstation in Sickbay 2 for research and experimentation.”

Jr. Lt. Marshall CMO

Sharah is excited. Dr. Zarath had been interested in her work, but it had been her work. Now that it had been approved to be used she was excited to show it to someone. “Done! Come on, I’ll show you.” She leads Marshall around the different paths, keeping an ear out for the girls at the same time. “So this one right here is St. John’s Wort,” she points out as the walk. Another bed over she points out another, “This is Echinacea and over here is Clove.” They move around a bend in the path and Sharah points to one more, “That is Elmleaf blackberry. All of these plants are used in antibiotics. Some can be eaten or brewed in tea. Well actually they all can, but they aren’t palatable and may upset the stomach. The best way to use them is to create a salve and apply it to the wound.” Sharah moves down the path to the back of the arboretum and grabs a basket and returns. “So, let’s get some and we can practice making a few.” She moves over to the Elmleaf blackberry, “You want the flowers and the leaves, not the fruit, if there is any.”

En. Fayth, Science - Botanist

Tel’eck Andone & Friend

En Fayth, Science - Botanist

Tel’eck Andone & Friend

Hayley starts gathering the leaves and flowers, watching En. Fayth. “How much can we take from each plant? I am assuming taking too much might affect regrowth?”

Jr. Lt. Marshall CMO

“About a third. Now if we were collecting the fruit or vegetable, it would be different. You could take up to half, but a third is better.” She walks over and shows Hayley how to pinch the part of the plant off. “It’s better to take the the whole side stem down to the main stem. That way a whole new stem will grow in its place. Pinch it off like this and it will make a clean break. New growth will come in faster that way. If you have trouble with it, I can get you some snipping sheers to use.”

After they’ve filled the basket, Sharah leads Hayley to the back to a work table. She takes a way that allows her to check on Tel’eck and Sarah. She catches sight of them both and nods, continuing on. She sets the basket down on the table, “Okay so now we need to separate out the flowers and the leaves from the stems.” Sharah puts out 4 different bowls for each of the plant types. “So if there is an open wound we can make a salve to spread over the area that will get right to the area where bacteria might enter the body. If there is no open wound then we can take the flowers and leaves and steep it in hot water to make a tea. The stronger the tea, the better, but none of these will be easy to swallow. So we’ll make a salve today.”

After separating out the flowers and leaves from the stems, Sharah gets a small warming unit and two ceramic looking bowls. One she puts water in. The other she puts a selection of the flowers in and hands Hayley the pestle and then the mortar filled with the flowers. “Alright so now, you get to break those up. You can use the pestle, or you can use your hands. Feel free to add a little water slowly. We want to make a paste. Then we’ll heat it to help the chemicals mix with the water.”
En. Fayth, Science - Botanist