Posted April 21, 2021, 10:32 p.m. by Ensign Rand Farquharson (Yeoman) (Jennifer Ward)
Posted by Lieutenant Commander Roman Alden (Science Chief, First Officer) in Yeoman - Always Up Early
(snip)
Rand nodded taking note of the gloves placed near by and what she assumed was the snake hook. At his use of the name she flushed slightly, “The color of his scales remind me of fire. Do we need to feed him another right away or wait?” The name was probably to whimsical for science but he’d named the Verbose after a dragon. Maybe a theme?
He pointed to one of the other cages, which housed a reptile-similar animal that carried little resemblance to any Earth animal. It had a slimey body like a snail or slug, and no shell. It was a four-legged animal with a long tail and strange all-black eyes that blinked sideways. And it had a ridged back like some lizards. “That one is also quite dangerous.”
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
“The slime?” She asked if that was toxic. “Is it a lizard or slug?” Noticing it seemed to be similar to both. “What does it eat?” Rand was back to taking notes again.
Yeoman Rand“This one is particularly dangerous because her goo is toxic. She’s herbivorous, which means the toxin is for defense. If she perceives a threat, she will fling toxic goo at the perceived danger,” he warned. “I haven’t studied the poisonous effects of the goo yet, that is next on my list. But it may well be deadly, so I almost never open that one. The plants in her terrarium are real, so she’s generally fed just by the growth of the plants. As for which she is… she’s a little of both. Like Mushu, she usually likes to hide,” he explained, pausing occasionally to let her catch up in her note taking.
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
Rand nodded and moved closer to look at her, careful to move slow and not startle her. “Does the goo affect the plants? Or just animal matter? What about fresh water? Would a similar system that we talked about for Mushu make it safer to care for her? The water being cleaned, changed, replaced from the outside. That way she doesn’t have to be moved and upset?” Rand found this all fascinating. She didn’t consider herself more than average in science but she was curious. “There is a bit of raw beauty in her design, isn’t there?”
Yeoman RandDespite her not being a scientist, Roman enjoyed Rand’s interest. Like Anderson and his snakes, most people found his creatures revolting. When he lost his animals three years ago, the only ones who were upset about them were him and other zoologists. He took the time to answer the questions one by one. “It doesn’t kill the plants, no, but it’s quite painful to animals. It causes something similar to chemical burns as it absorbs through the skin. At this time, I’m unsure of the effects besides the burns on the skin. I know it can be fatal, but I have no specifics. She does require swampy water, like Mushu, where she spends a lot of her time in order to keep her skin wet. But her goo can make the water slightly toxic. They aren’t common animals, even on the planet they originate on.” The explanation was long winded but patient as he went over each answer. “I’m not sure how to set up a water system like the one you planned for Mushu.” And then, to her last question, he nodded. “An evolutionary beauty indeed. She cannot be eaten by predators, unless they possess resistance to her poison, and she seems to be able to eat nearly any plant material, even the ones something like Mushu would avoid. Though they aren’t common, I’d assume these critters do well in their natural habitat.”
~ Lt Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
“If I remember my highschool biology plants cells have a wall where animal cells only have a membrane. Could the wall be what stops the toxin from hurting the plants? Can I assume that handling the plants in her enclosure is dangerous too? If the goo rubs off on the plants and then touching the plant?” She pondered the filter question. “Maybe an engineer would be able to come up with a solution to filter her water. It’s just not stagnant but dangerous with the goo in it, correct?” She looked at it and thought ‘so few and you do well alone but I wonder if your lonely anyway?’ But to Alden, “What happens to them when you are done studying them? Do they go back to their planet? You said Mushu is a baby, and he seems comfortable with humans, he may not adapt to the wild?”
Yeoman RandRoman nodded. “Until I know more, anything in that terrarium gets handled with safe gloves. And you may be right about the membranes. I’d like to get it under a microscope.” That would be his next experiment, once he was done working with Mushu. “The water is dangerous, correct. I have noticed that the goo mixes with the water, so in high concentrations, it’s likely dangerous to drink or handle the water.” To her next question, Roman shook his head. “Some biologists release them, though that is ill-advised. These animals are captive, and many become tame. Some kill them, and some keep them. I like to keep them,” he said. “Slows the research due to lack of space but it’s the best thing for them.”
Lt. Cmdr Alden, XO/CSO
Rand kept taking notes but paused when he said sometimes the animals are killed. “Certainly we’ve moved past the need to kill animals for research or lack there of?” She glanced back at the little slug lizard and felt rather glad she was with Alden since he kept his animals. “Could her toxin possibly neutralized to make her safe as a pet? Like removing venom sacks in snakes or descending a skunk?” Rand turned to Alden, “Who’s next?”
Yeoman Rand
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