When We're Rollin Through the Wild Wild West

[geonomy]

Who: Everyone! EVERYONE!
Broadcast: IF YOU WANNA
Action: Everywhere! EVERYWHERE!
When: Mid-September - Mid-October

[How's your ship doing, pardners? Is it still pretty damaged? Is it glitching out hardcore? Well, there is one place to land to take care of all that, and that's on a dusty old moon in front of a planet that no one wants to go to. On this moon, you'll find a civilization that looks a lot like one's stepped into a wild west movie, hardened cowpolk and mutant horses and all. Will you become a vigilante, hunting bounties and stopping gangs from doing their dirty work? Will you go exploring planetside, with a cowboy hat and a stalk of wheat in your mouth to complete the look? Good luck with that; there is no wheat. This town ain't big enough for all you flooters, but make it so! For the ratings!

In other words, it's a planet mingle! Get 'er done!]

[September Planet info here]

Comments

A

[dancingmd]

[She puts the coin in her pocket with a sigh of reluctance.]

I'm beginning to see that.

[She studies him for a moment before saying anything else. He doesn't look like he has slept in ages and that worries her. But she will give him a small smile anyway.]

I'm glad to see you out and about.

[pompous_today]

[Simon smiled quietly.]

Well... I heard that there were people who needed help. Even at my worst... I could never refuse them. Besides, this planet reminded me of some of the ones I have visited in the past.

[dancingmd]

[A doctor after her own heart.]</small< I'm just about to go to my next patient, if you'd like to come with me?

[pompous_today]

I would. Keeping occupied has been... good for me, I think.

[dancingmd]

Me too.

[Small sad smile and a gentle hand on his shoulder. But then it's on to practicalities.]

The next house is only a block down, according to the map I was given. A young woman with a skin disorder that they simply call "the rash." I've ran into a couple of cases already... it's similar to eczema, nothing contagious.

[pompous_today]

[Simon grimaced.]

I can't imagine living in such a dry climate helps- this planet reminds me of a few others that have had similar problems. Have you found anything to be effective in treating it?

[dancingmd]

If we had some triamcinolone acetonide, that would be ideal, [Well no, okay, a dermal regenerator would be ideal but she knows better than to hope for that] however I have found a native succulent similar to aloe. I devised a simple ointment with that as its base that hopefully they can reproduce here without much trouble. It's not perfect, but it helps alleviate the irritation at least.

[pompous_today]

Good. [That made him perk up a little.] And I assume you plan to try cultivating some off planet, as well? I seem to remember a mention of creating a garden on the Iskaulit.

[dancingmd]

Yes! Ino and I went out on a plant-hunting expedition the other day, and brought in quite a few useful plants. It's somewhat fortunate, actually, that we landed in a desert environment. The flora here is used to living in harsh conditions, with little water, so it should be able to survive better on a starship than a lot of the tropical plants we brought from the Nunnalis' planet can.

[pompous_today]

That's a good point... and a very good thing. Not that manufactured drugs are a bad thing, but we can't always count on having a steady supply on those. If there's anything I can do to help... I do not have much of a green thumb thus far, but I can learn.

[dancingmd]

I'd be happy to show you what I know!

[Her smile falters, only a bit, but it's noticeable.]

I learned long ago not to discount traditional herbal medicine. You never know when it might be all you have.

[pompous_today]

Indeed... and it can be just as effective as artificial drugs. Making use of every resource at our disposal is part of our job, after all.

[dancingmd]

Exactly. And well... since it seems we are never in one place for more than a month, I want to provide longer term solutions for those with chronic conditions.

[pompous_today]

[Simon grimaced.]

Yet another fun aspect of our jobs, hmm? It's times like this I miss working at a normal hospital the most, I think. At least there, I had some measure of being able to predict what would happen. Some sort of control.

[dancingmd]

I can't say the Enterprise was exactly predictable but you're right, I at least had the supplies and staff I needed, and if there was something like what happened on the Iskaulit... well, there would be other Federation ships and personnel to help lend more long term support to the Nunnalis.

[pompous_today]

[Simon was quiet for a while at the mention of the Iskaulit. It still haunted him, even if he was a bit more pragmatic than he had been when he'd first arrived on Serenity. If he'd had the proper staff and equipment... but, no. No dwelling on things he couldn't change.]

Indeed. The ship I traveled on was equipped more like the ones in the Fleet, but before then, I worked at a top hospital, we had the latest scanners and medicine... this was a definite step down. I try not to dwell on that too much, but it's frustrating when I do not have the tools I need to do more.

[dancingmd]

Perhaps they plan on giving us more technology, bit by bit... like they did with my tricorder.

[She sighs.]

Even just a dermal regenerator would help immensely.

[Maybe no one is paying attention to this conversation and maybe they are... she clearly has enough fans to keep her here, maybe one of them will give her some damn equipment.]

[pompous_today]

I would hope so. Personally, I would take having enough equipment and personnel to realize Dr. Keller's idea of having a clinic on the Iskaulit. It wouldn't be the same, but it would be a start.

[dancingmd]

I know. I would love to be able to have a clinic to service the whole fleet, especially for those ships that don't have a medic at all, but... at this point I don't see how it's feasible.

[pompous_today]

Indeed. One of the newer arrivals mentioned he would be able to staff it as he doesn't require much sleep, but he has gone quiet since then. And even if he were able to help us get it up and running, there's no guarantee he- or any of us- would stick around forever. And... as I discussed with Vima not long ago... I feel a bit of a moral quandary building on the Iskaulit, too.

[dancingmd]

[She nods slowly.]

As I'm sure you know, I was very against us taking the Iskaulit in the first place. I still can't say I approve of our original decision but... the Nunnalis have given us permission to use the Iskaulit. If they considered it an act of desecration for us to build on it, they would have said something. And from the time I spent with them, I especially don't think they would object to us building a clinic.

[pompous_today]

Yes, that's true... [Simon sighed.] And in a way, I feel like building a clinic would be able to give back the lives we were unable to save. They were doomed, we could not help but have to dispose of them, but I would still like to keep giving back. For lack of a better term, it still feels like there are... spirits there, I suppose. Just that feeling that the dead ones are still present in some way.

[dancingmd]

[Beverly uncomfortably shifts her gaze away from Simon for a moment. Tek said he felt something very similar, in that conversation on the Iskaulit. She hopes Simon doesn't start insisting she ought to pray for their souls as well.]

I don't... I'm not what anyone would call a spiritual person, so I don't know what to tell you.

[When she looks back at Simon, her eyes are full of compassion.]

But I think about them a lot too. What could have saved them, how such a thing could have happened, what their lives must have been like before... wondering about the what ifs is natural, even if its not particularly practical. All we can do now though is make sure we don't forget, and do our best going forward to keep it from happening to anyone else.

[pompous_today]

I'm not, either. [Simon smiled slightly.] My sister could sense it, but not me. It's more like... yes, I think about all of those things, too. And it weighs on me whenever I'm on the ship. [He sighed.] I suppose it doesn't do to dwell on it, though. We have that space, and it does feel like a shame to just leave it go and not use it because of a few moral hangups. And I know not everyone in the Fleet feels the same way about it.

[dancingmd]

No, they don't, and if we had not gotten the explicit permission of the Nunnalis to take the ship, I would feel exactly the same way you do about it. But, even with all our differences, the Iskaulit is a testament to how, when it really gets down to it, this fleet can pull together and work towards a common goal. We were able to disinfect the ship, find a cure for the Nunnalis, distribute that cure, and now, people are working together to make life in the fleet a little bit better for everyone.