Fiction: Food for Thought

Article by R. K. Wigal

      It felt like he was being stung by thousands of tiny mosquitos. When the medical officer looked down at his arm, he saw nothing. But the pain was still there. He quickly took out a hypo and injected an antihistamine into his bloodstream. Just then, the rest of the landing party started feeling it...so Dr. Benjamin Carr hurriedly injected them. His tricorder readings showed nothing unusual. Then he said, "Away mission's over!" We're beaming back to the ship until I can get a fix on this and then fix it!" He then touched his comm-badge. "Carr to Keppler! We have a medical problem!"

      "Draco here. Do you have an emergency?"

      "No, Captain. At least not yet. But I want all five of us beamed directly to Sick Bay and once we're on board, I want a level ten force field surrounding Sick Bay. I'll fill you in later."

      "Consider it done, Doc!"

      Carr turned to the others and said,"I need you to bring whatever samples you gathered with you."

      Once in Sick Bay, Carr asked, "How's the pain?" He already knew the answer.

      Commander Karen Ziegler, zoologist, answered first, "It's only in the arms and legs, but it really hurts, Doc!" The others said much the same. Cmdr. Jim Stakely, botanist, said "Ben, I think it's getting worse." Carr looked at the others quizzically. They shook their heads.

      "I'm going to take blood and skin cell samples," the doctor said. He then took blood from the four, from himself, and he followed by taking skin scrapings.

      "Now, who brought what from the planet?"

      Lt. Cmdr. Karen Ziegler responded, "I brought some very nice vid-recs of animal tracks I'd never seen before."

      Cmdr. Rudy Flores, geologist, said, "I picked up a few good minearal samples, but nothing exotic."

      Lt. Domenic Didonato said that his archeological search was a bust. "I found no signs of civilized habitation whatsoever, Doctor, so I brought nothing back."

      Cmdr. Stakely, starting to grimmace from the worsening pain, said that he had uprooted and potted half a dozen unique looking plant specimens and pointed to them.

      Dr. Carr examined the minerals first, looking closely at every millimeter of each with a magnifier. "Hmmm," he muttered. He put the minerals back and then began looking over the plant specimens. They were either sumac, Ivy or fern. All were lush green. None had flowers or seed pods. They were cool to the touch. They exhibited nothing unusual. Very carefully, he took scrapings from the leaves and stalks of each plant. Then, one by one, he tested blood, skin cells, minerals, plant leaf cells and, plant stalk cells.

      "Any ideas?" he asked the group. Shrugs and shaken heads were their only response. "Well, I have a hunch," he said. "Let's see if the mass spectroanalyzer bears me out." He looked at the data he had accumulated.

      The pain, Carr said, is caused by a simple molecule that enters the bloodstream through the skin and clamps itself onto a pain generating nerve. It's size makes it extremely difficult to detect and nearly impossible to combat. It's harder to cure than a virus. These molecules are a defense mechanism of one or more of the plant species. When pestered by an animal...or, in our case, a human, the plant emits the molecules which attack the pest. And it appears," he told Stakely,"that you are still being attacked. To be on the safe side, We are returning all minerals and plants to the surface. Jim, I'll take your notes. You're in no condition to go anywhere."

      Dr. Carr and Cmdr. Flores returned to the planet's surface. Rudy returned each mineral to the exact spot where he had found it. Dr. Carr, using Cmdr. Stakely's notes, replanted every floral specimem in its original location. The two then returned to the ship.

      Capt. Draco, Dr. carr and the other away team members met for a debriefing an hour later. All symptoms of pain had vainshed. Dr. Carr Briefed Capt. Draco on what had occurred. Then he added, "Sam, I believe the plant that fires the molecules also communicates with them. Once the plants were returned to their habitat, the molecules released their grip...but not until then."

      Capt. Draco spoke. "Telepathic plants...Interesting concept. Warrants further study. Let's look into it...carefully!"