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Post by brittany on Apr 16, 2008 17:43:15 GMT -5
Kaneda finds Harvey's latest medical readings and records them on his portable device. Several minutes later, he leaves to the flight deck where he sets up a monitor station displaying various ship data and video feeds to record some more. Cassie looks from the video feed at Kaneda who enters the Flight Deck. She offers him a smile and a small wave, before returning her attention back on the coolant conditions. She monitors them as Mace works.
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Post by chero on Apr 16, 2008 19:46:13 GMT -5
"You didn't embarrass me, Harvey," Corazon replies sincerely, digging out the first soil sample. "Mace will do a fine job. He's more keyed in to command protocols than I am, and his knowledge of the ship easily surpasses mine." She smiles, swatting excess dirt from her hands as the soil analyzer starts its work. "You know me: I'm just as happy to stay here, at the organic end of things." Harvey smiles at Corazon. "Of course. So what is the deal with tomatoes?"
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Post by kaliszewski on Apr 17, 2008 0:49:39 GMT -5
The question catches Corazon slightly off-guard. The last time anyone mentioned tomatoes-- that being Kaneda, after midnight, in her quarters-- the circumstances were decidedly different.
"Well, they're delicate yet generous in yield. Nutritious. Versatile. Like any fruit, they continue to ripen once they're picked. If the carrot is the king of vegetables, the tomato is the joker of fruits." She glances at Harvey, realizing that the last bit likely sounded a bit odd. "Why do you ask?"
*****
Capa finishes the estimates for the new lighting requirements and forwards the document to Mace's private account, carbon-copied to Kaneda. Before he devotes himself to the solar data, he goes to the galley for a cup of coffee.
There and back, he finds himself thinking of his talk, such as it was, with the mechanic. His surface reaction is frustration tinged with sarcasm: had he waited merely the length of time it would take for their freshly jump-started sun to die its natural death-- some five billion years, give or take-- Mace might have said what was bothering him. That it involved Cassie was fairly obvious (by this time, Capa is drolly certain that anything Mace finds irritating about him in some way involves their lovely pilot); whether it had to do with her having had an abortion, however, would require Capa to speculate-- something that, as a scientist, he is loath to do.
Deeper down, though, Capa thinks less harshly of his encounter with Mace: he wishes he were a shrink. Certainly not out of affection for the mechanic, but rather out of a sense of pragmatic altruism: staying that tightly closed up must take a great deal of effort.
But these are thoughts better reserved for his time in Medical. Capa sips his coffee and focuses on his current work, as a physicist....
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Post by chero on Apr 17, 2008 11:36:47 GMT -5
"Well, they're delicate yet generous in yield. Nutritious. Versatile. Like any fruit, they continue to ripen once they're picked. If the carrot is the king of vegetables, the tomato is the joker of fruits." She glances at Harvey, realizing that the last bit likely sounded a bit odd. "Why do you ask?" "You're a biologist and I figured it would be appropriate to ask. In my opinion, tomatoes are the most interesting thing in a garden. I never knew exactly what they were. I'm surprised my question isn't common."
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Post by kaliszewski on Apr 17, 2008 15:10:21 GMT -5
"I think most people assume that they're a very strange vegetable and leave it at that." Corazon leans back, away from the soil sampler, so that Harvey can take a look at the test levels the device is showing. "They're very much on the love-'em-or-loathe-'em list. Capa, for instance-- our strongest contender for vegetarian of the year-- he'd eat every apple he could get his hands on, from here all the way home. But he wouldn't dream of taking a big bite out of a tomato-- even if, nutritionally, tomatoes leave apples in the dust and-- as our team's Romeo would no doubt be surprised to discover-- were once known as pommes d'amour. 'Love apples'--"
She stops herself; she chuckles. "There, Harvey: you got me rambling. I must spend too much time alone in here. Show a bit of interest, and away I go...."
But she can't help adding, once they're moving on to the next sample: "Tomatoes were even considered poisonous once. Assassins tried to kill American president George Washington by serving him tomato soup...."
*****
The team's Romeo-- or Mellors-- or Brainiac, meanwhile, is finishing the first leg of the first draft of a very long, very detailed report for his colleagues back home. Capa glances at his wristwatch. A bit more time here, and then it's off to an afternoon in Medical. After, perhaps, a stop in the gym to stretch, do a few weights, run out the kinks in his legs....
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Post by massiefan on Apr 17, 2008 18:11:04 GMT -5
Meanwhile, Mace has completed the maintenance on the first two mainframe computers. Mainframe 4 already back in its coolant chamber, the mechanic manually lowers Mainframe 1 to join it, before moving on to Mainframe 2, thoroughly in his element, aware of just how much he's been missing the work lately. The computing system comes out of the tank, and Mace throws himself into the job, quickly addressing the points of concern, his breath misting over his hands in the cold interior of the engine room.
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Post by chero on Apr 18, 2008 15:26:59 GMT -5
But she can't help adding, once they're moving on to the next sample: "Tomatoes were even considered poisonous once. Assassins tried to kill American president George Washington by serving him tomato soup...." Harvey looks genuinely impressed. "Wow." *** "Capa, I need to speak with you face-to-face. Should we meet in your office or in Medical?" Kaneda returns all of the monitors back to their default settings at the far end of the flight deck and gathers his things to leave.
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Post by kaliszewski on Apr 18, 2008 16:33:21 GMT -5
"I'll be in my office for another forty-five minutes or so, sir. I'll wait for you here," Capa replies.
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Post by chero on Apr 18, 2008 21:26:31 GMT -5
"I'll be in my office for another forty-five minutes or so, sir. I'll wait for you here," Capa replies. "Copy, Capa." Kaneda immediately heads to the Oxygen Garden. When he arrives, he looks around briefly, doesn't spot Corazon or Harvey, and enters Capa's office after a quick knock on the door. Harvey catches a glimpse of the captain when he looks over his shoulder and then returns his attention to the soil analyzer. "So what makes good soil?"
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Post by brittany on Apr 18, 2008 21:40:25 GMT -5
After seeing the results from Mace's work on the first two coolant tanks, Cassie relaxes in her chair and turns slightly to see the captain out. When he goes out of her sight, she returns to the mainframe controls and looks over the coolant statistics once more, taking some notes for comparision purposes later on.
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Post by kaliszewski on Apr 18, 2008 22:08:13 GMT -5
"I'll be in my office for another forty-five minutes or so, sir. I'll wait for you here," Capa replies. "Copy, Capa." Kaneda immediately heads to the Oxygen Garden. When he arrives, he looks around briefly, doesn't spot Corazon or Harvey, and enters Capa's office after a quick knock on the door. Harvey catches a glimpse of the captain when he looks over his shoulder and then returns his attention to the soil analyzer. "So what makes good soil?" Corazon follows Harvey's glance. For a moment she finds it odd that Kaneda didn't acknowledge them. Then she realizes that, given their position in the garden, beyond the ferns and in the vegetable patch, she and Harvey must be practically invisible to anyone at ground level. "Depends on what you're trying to grow," she says, turning her attention back to Harvey and the analyzer. "Black loam is generally best. Not too much sand, and just enough clay to retain moisture without impeding drainage." She runs her fingers through the soil near the sampler. "What we're doing here is determining which areas of the garden could do with a bit of fertilizer, which can continue to produce crops at present yield, and which could do with a rest." She's focused on their work, and she's pleased that Harvey is showing an interest. Always flattering, that, especially given the more technologically fascinating toys and processes aboard ship. She finds herself sensing, though, that Kaneda is nearby-- it's almost as though she and he are paired elements now, like the subatomic particles-- speak of the scientific devil-- that Capa has described, whose behaviors affect each other over millions of miles of empty space-- and she can't help but wonder what he's come to ask of their resident physicist.... ***** At Kaneda's knock, Capa saves his work and looks up from his report-in-progress. "What can I do for you, Captain?" he asks.
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Post by chero on Apr 19, 2008 14:32:02 GMT -5
"Depends on what you're trying to grow," she says, turning her attention back to Harvey and the analyzer. "Black loam is generally best. Not too much sand, and just enough clay to retain moisture without impeding drainage." She runs her fingers through the soil near the sampler. "What we're doing here is determining which areas of the garden could do with a bit of fertilizer, which can continue to produce crops at present yield, and which could do with a rest." Harvey smiles at the general greenery around them. "No wonder you refuse to use the Earth Room. You would probably see the same thing." At Kaneda's knock, Capa saves his work and looks up from his report-in-progress. "What can I do for you, Captain?" he asks. Kaneda closes the door quietly behind him and leans forward on a nearby table. "I know that I told you before that you are strictly a Medical Officer, less so a psychologist like Searle. However, I find it critical that we attempt to analyze Harvey more seriously as a psychologist. I've been doing some readings on the subject and I recently added more learning material on your crew profile. You are not alone with this, Capa. I want to help as much as possible." He pauses, already sensing Capa's impending question and continues: "I do not feel that Harvey is a threat. He is physical healthy and displays typical behavior around his peers. I just want to determine the amount of amnesia he is suffering. It is clear that he does not remember his violent outburst. I want to ask him questions - personal and professional. He might no longer be aware of our details let alone his own."
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Post by kaliszewski on Apr 19, 2008 20:36:45 GMT -5
Harvey smiles at the general greenery around them. "No wonder you refuse to use the Earth Room. You would probably see the same thing." "Oh, it's worse than that." Corazon looks about, takes a deep breath of the cool, plant-scented air. "I don't think the mission planners were particularly happy when I came out of my first Earth Room test session and declared, 'That's absolutely fake.'" "I'll have a look at the material this afternoon, certainly," Capa says. He stands; he crosses over to the window and looks out over the garden until he spots Corazon and Harvey, by all appearances working contentedly amongst the tomatoes. "Off the top, I would suggest starting with Harvey's personal knowledge, then moving on to his professional status. The outburst I think we should certainly approach last." He looks more closely at the pair kneeling in the loam in the vegetable patch. They're talking; they're sharing a friendly smile; both of them seem at ease. "We might want to include Corazon," he adds. "Harvey trusts her; he might be more comfortable if she were present."
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Post by chero on Apr 20, 2008 11:28:29 GMT -5
"Oh, it's worse than that." Corazon looks about, takes a deep breath of the cool, plant-scented air. "I don't think the mission planners were particularly happy when I came out of my first Earth Room test session and declared, 'That's absolutely fake.'" Harvey laughs. "I don't even remember how I was like. It has been a while since my last Earth Room visit." He looks more closely at the pair kneeling in the loam in the vegetable patch. They're talking; they're sharing a friendly smile; both of them seem at ease. "We might want to include Corazon," he adds. "Harvey trusts her; he might be more comfortable if she were present." Kaneda joins Capa at the window and follows his eyes. He finally sees Corazon and Harvey. He smiles at Corazon's obvious enthusiasm, admiring her just like the time he saw her back at the space station with the Oxygen Garden prototype a few years ago. "You have a point: Harvey would more likely open up in Corazon's presence. I'll have her take my place in the room with you."
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Post by kaliszewski on Apr 21, 2008 16:35:54 GMT -5
Capa gives Kaneda another moment to look thoughtfully out at the pair in the garden. That is to say, he allows their reticent, stoic captain another moment to beam like a lighthouse at Corazon-- reticently and stoically, of course. Unless the smile Kaneda likely doesn't quite realize he's smiling is meant for Harvey-- and that, Capa thinks, would cast the situation in a light decidedly different.
"Once I've reviewed the questioning protocols, I'll go over them with Corazon later this afternoon," he says. "Unless you would rather review them with her, sir," he adds, casually, returning to his desk.
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