"Ok, I can do that. Here is 5 creds for the kitty, 5 creds for some feed for him, and 5 extra for you for taking such good care of them. If there's one you want, get him. And if not, get yourself something pretty or enjoyable. Now I need a litter box and litter too. I hope they have some in stores."
 She slipped Toni 10 creds and picked up the tiny kitty and tucked him into her jacket so he wouldn't be scared as she took him up to her quarters. She smiled at Toni and the kids as she left.

To Non Comm Quarters>>>>>>>>>>

   Toni  took then Creds and smiled, and went off to get a bag of feed. She Came  bag with a plastic container, that would hold about 1.5 LBs of soft nuggets for kittens.

 the Little  Kitten  tried to meow as it was picked up its  paws spread wide.

 the other  two kittens  meowed loud  and  kept  rubbing against Cookie's boots until she   left, they  scampered after her..a couple of the younger  kids tried to stop them, so they wouldn't be out in the 'farm'.

 From Non Comm>>>>>>>
 She came down and worked a small planter box. She adjusted the mix with sand and compost, then raked it all in. She sectioned it off into a dozen squares then planted herbs and medicinals and a few veggies, as well as marigolds and cat nip. After planting cuttings and seeds obtained from one of the farm managers, she watered them in with fertilized water.
 After washing up, she headed back to her room to shower and change clothes.
 >>>>>>>To Non Comm

Garrat walks into the farm section and asks one of the workers "Excuse me, I heard you had someone down here who had veterinary experience with canines. Could you tell me where they are?"

  The  place is a bit of a Mess... workers are using  squeegees to push  dirty water into slots in the deck so it  runs to the water   cleaning system, some others   are  putting the damp dirt that  shifted out of some of the closed covers of  crops, placing them  back into the   beds.

 some workers  are  unstrapping cows  and pigs while some  of the chickens, that didn't make it, were  being prepared to be sent to the  OC, Pulse and rec Dec to be used as  extra  rations

 Most of the cats  were in good shape, and were   having  fun chomping on rodents that where shaken loose by the  ship's movements.

 A tired looking woman with some wet dirt on her face pointed to an Older  fellow who was looking over   the sheep...That's Doc  Gavin..he keeps the animals healthy  and  says if   they need put  down and such.

   Garrat takes in the state of things.  He says sincerely "Thankyou, I'm sorry to bother you." And makes a mental note to check in and lend a hand after battles, but now he had a mission.

   Garrat walks up to the older man. "Dr. Gavin?"  he asks, offering a hand to shake, [in clasp fassion] "My name is Garrat Wolfrim.  I know your pretty busy here but we picked up a pod that had been in space for something like a week.  The inhabitants were in a bad way.  The man will probably not make the night and his canine companion is not to far behind him unless you help us.  We have reason to believe they might both be key  to some valuable information.  Could we borrow you for a little bit?"


   

   Dr Gavin takes the offered  hand and nods,Yeah..i can go check..can';t stay to long though..gotta finish up on the livestock, or we won't have  anything to trade when we get near a colony.

  Reaching  for his  bag , he holster's his  scanner  and   tucks his Vidboard  into the bag.

  ...lead on....

   As they  walk to the ramp that leads up towards the Civie  intersection, Gavin  points  at a  cat that caught some  weird looking  rat, with 6 legs...you watch  stuff down here long  enough, you learn..that thing there... came from Zolth..most likely hidden in  Felrite supply crates...there's a good  bet them Cat Folk like to eat them... seems out cats do , as well.

  "They probably need chewable bones to keep their calcium up huh.  One of our field witches said that was important for critters that move fast and have lots of dexterity."  Garrat leads the way to the Med deck....====>

Henry and Mila arrived in the farm section. Searching out the head agri-tech, Henry asked permission to exercise Mila, inquiring where the pair of them could run without disturbing livestock or trampling crops.

  There was a woman and a man looking over, what appeared to be corn...they were scanning the  trays.

    When Henry asked about  exercise, the woman handed the scanner back to the man who continued to scan.

  ..hello, Doc  Henry.... she looks around at the stacked   trays and lights,... if you run the perimeter  outside the trays you should be  fine... Just mind when you get to the BArns, in case someone is  bringing out  livestock  , so they can clean the  barns....and there is a Mulch machine that we   mix the  weeds and  manure together in, they are running it now....otherwise you should be good.

"Thank you very much, we'll be careful... won't we, girl?" said Henry with a smile for the lady and a pat for Mila.

Henry was not a good runner, and he expected that Mila - like most dogs - would cover two or three miles to every one he covered, and enjoy it into the bargain. Still he put in the effort, both to give the dog a good time and to build up his own abilities so that he'd be ready for, well, whatever they got tasked with next.

 She trotted next to Henry. Her nose to the ground. The scents were exciting, so her ears were swiveling all over trying to see what might be putting off the scents. Her head goes up and her tail goes straight as she sees some kittens romping nearby but she doesn't try to chase them.

  The Civies  are working rather hard, for a ship based  farm.. The trays are as long as a football field,6 foot deep and 40 yards  wide...The ere  made to take up most of  the farm section,whi;le leaving 10 foot wide  passages between the hull and down the middle of the farm. the rods and chains that hold the trays into position as well as the  covers that go over the crops,  barley move as 'farmers' stand in the trays weeding, planting and harvesting.

 Taller crops , like  wheat, and corn are the top trays,dropping in size until the bottom trays are onions, beets ,lettuce  and such.

 One of the  workers  can be heard to complain,..this bleedin' farmin' is a bigger waste of time,  sweeping up the Dec....neck Bloody time the Admiral throws this ship around,  some of the crop is  gonna be bloody damaged   anyway...

 the Voice of authority  speaks up ( from the third Tray up)well? Sir?... you like eating fresh food, then you best get used to it..... that's one reason we cover the trays before  each action...we might lose  some of the crops, but the  dirt will be saved, and most of the water..then we  sweep up what falls out, and spread it around... its a damn hard way to  aerate..but it is a goo side  effect, of something bad.

 ..bloody 'ells...

 ..may as well get used to it... if you transfer to a colony..you'll have to do this  to survive...if you stay on the ship, you'll have to do this, unless you find anbother  Civie job..and there aren't that Many.... if you transfer to a Station..you might be able to find a civie job..or?..you might have to  work thier farms.....the good side of that?>. they won't be getting tossed around

  Mila sees  cats  and cows and Pigs.. lots of chickens . At the Bow end of the farms, is a door..pipes  lead  in and out... someone who might study the pipes see that the   pipes  coming out, split and service  the trays.. while pipes at the very bottom of the  floor gets  the  water that filters  through and returns it to the  back building.

Henry's quite fascinated about how the whole 'farm' operation is run, but reckons it is not quite as interesting for a dog, so after the pair have got their exercise, he takes Mila back to his office.

"Ohe thing we need to do," he said to Mila as they went, "Is to talk to the medics about sorting out an implant so that you can send images, concepts, directly to me like you did with Jeremy... only I'm not going to try and do it by myself or see some dodgy chop-doc. We have good medics here, they will be able to advise us. What do you think?"

-> Henry's office

 She yips but with a questioning sound to her voice. She didn't want to lose another partner. He was very nice.

Henry knelt and hugged the dog.

"Don't worry - I'm not going to do anything foolish."

Arriving in the Auxiliary deck, Zarina stepped out if the lift and spent a little time wandering about checking out the different spots while she waited for Cookies reply. The odour of animals from the Starboard area was enough to for Zarina to find the Farm. This consisted of a series of pens holding Cattle, Chickens, Sheep Pigs & Goats, considering the number of animals they housed were little more than cages. 'So much for a Farm' she thought to herself
This message was last edited by the player at 23:15, Fri 07 July 2017.

the  FArm:

  The  Bottom of the  ship, more or less, with the area  Stopping at the   forward wall ( the Hold is  forward of  the FArm)

 and the Stern wall where the  munitions  stored for the Ship's Guns...Unlike   the Rec Dec and Civie Section, this 'rectangle' goes from  hull side to hull side.

   Water Collection Unitls   run the length to the 'farm, in the Middle, Enclosed   walkways are over the Huge  tanks for workers   to walk. at the 4 corners  are  Cubes called 'barns" clockwiase  facing the Bow, are  The Cow  Pen...The Sheep pen.. Chicken pen. and on  building  split between goats  and Pigs/

 there are  stacks of Huge soil contiars called 'trays' by the workers,, they are  rotated   by thw  workers to keep the soil fresh..when ever possible  new  soil is brought in from planets..Corn, wheat, Tomatoes and othe vegatbles  are grown to help the shops and Civies   with 'fresh food'... to go along  with supplies  purchased at ports..

 there is a 'newly made' tray  that is guarded  by a  Hermes Sec trooper. Some two different  plants  brought from the Angel Moons, that the hermes has  been planting on it s other member planets

  The  Trays  are serviced  By walkways  as they have  some  20 feet between  the next tray...huge  growing light  Line the  tops  and  water is  filter  down from one  tray to the  others.

  Cats ..dozens of them, can be seen doing their 'job' sneaking around trays  or   hunting around the 'barns"

 There are some small areas, permitted  fro crewman to plant their own things. Mostly Herbs.not many crew have taken up the offer..

Cookie was taking her time, Zarina wondered if she'd been called to some Medical Emergency. This would give her time to explore the ship even further. Starting with this level she moved from bow to stern and back to cover every foot she could, without imposing on any ones privacy or going into restricted areas.

*Flex time*
From Hold/Zoo>>>>>>>
She followed Henry out then slipped away to go tend to her herbs in the small box she'd been given. They seemed to be doing well, but she trimmed off a leaf here, a broken branch there. She noticed some cherry tomatoes were ripe so picked them and ate them standing right there. Best off the vine anyway.

 When done she went over to pet the cats and kittens and to check the other animals. She saw Zarina and waved.

 "Hi Zarina. I see you made it after all. There's the kittens."
This message was last edited by the player at 08:00, Thu 13 July 2017.

Completing her exploration of the Auxiliary deck Zarina checked the Farm incase Cookie had turned up, which she did. Returning Cookies wave. Wouldn't want to have missed this.
This message was last edited by the player at 22:12, Sun 09 July 2017.

 She laughed at the small kittens and rat terrier puppies. They were so cute. The adult cats and dogs used of course to keep vermin down. No matter what they did, there always seemed to be a way for the critters to get aboard. Good thing every access point here were screened with extremely hard mesh screening to prevent the mice from getting into the systems on board.

 "They do keep some cattle and other livestock for fresh meat, for times we can't get fresh meat from stations and planets. If you want to try growing stuff for yourself, they have a few boxes you can use one. I am growing some herbs and tomatoes, and some cat mint, though my kitten is too young for it now. I have sage and rosemary and basil and anise."

 She crushed a leaf in her hand and handed it to Zarina to smell.

 "Try that. Taste it too. Doesn't it smell and taste like chocolate mint candy? Like Andes Candies? It's great in cookies and candy!"
This message was last edited by the player at 22:58, Sun 09 July 2017.

He followed he fell back a bit as he was lost in thought.

In reply to Cookie Baker (msg # 66):

She explored the deck but this only have her an overview of the layout not the actual functions, nor the reasons behind the procedures, Zarina thought the livestock pens were quite packed but didn't know anyhing about Farming technique and as Papa maintained dilence is golden especially if you have no knowledge of the how's, why's and wherefore's. Do you think they'd allow any who wanted to to have a flower or herb bed setup in their rooms

*Flex Time*
She waved at Henry the new guy. "Hello Henry! Come on over."

In reply to Zarina Striker (msg # 68):

 "I don't know why not, if it's just a simple potted plant or two for freshening your air and to spice your food. But you would likely need a grow light and watering system for them. If your quarters is set up with a power system to support it. I mean, if you want a big unit, the heat alone from the light would warm your quarters a lot. Small units wouldn't heat up though. I'd ask Henry or maybe the agricultural manager here about that. Requisition supplies if you have the credits. I'd give you a start of my herbs if you'd like."

 She lead her back toward the planting boxes and the fields and showed her her own box with 16 plants all in squares of 1 foot.
This message was last edited by the player at 08:04, Thu 13 July 2017.