It was a normal day for a normal planetside excursion. Not that Timby went planetside. No, she stayed on the ship and made sure everything that came back from planetside was safe and clean. Or at least, the crewmates that came back were clean. Any samples they brought back for study were processed differently. After all, if you wanted to bring back a sample to study and ran it through the decontamination portal and it damaged or altered the makeup of whatever it was that you wanted to study, what was the point?
As the exploration crew returned, Timby directed them through the decontamination portal one at a time and made manual checks as they stepped out.
“Please make sure all tools and equipment are placed on their sides before you push them through,” Timby called out to Kiebur, a bulky red biet who chuckled and nodded as they made sure to follow directions. He knew what to do, Timby knew that. Kiebur was a veteran when it came to planetside explorations, but it was part of her job to vocalize and direct returning crew through every procedure correctly.
Kiebur stepped up to the portal as Timby waved him forward and had him pause. She had to double-check the settings. Biets have such long thick fur that she had to make sure the decontamination would be thorough while still not being too unpleasant as he went through. With a few twists of a dial and a few digits altered on the readout, she nodded and waved him forward. “Step through slowly, please. Arms raised slightly, thank you. Raise your left foot. Now right. All right, you’re good to go.”
“Thanks Timby,” Kiebur rumbled as he passed by. “How much longer do you have on your shift?”
“Oh, I’m about half-way through now.”
“Ah. Well, when you get off duty, feel free to stop by commons 4. We’re having a bit of a get-together. We’ll have some light foods and Human Hina is going to teach us some popular Earth games and Roavara Sefra is going to perform some folk songs she knows.”
Timby’s facial fins lifted in a grin. “Thank you. That sounds delightful.”
Kiebur returned the smile and went to retrieve the tools as they came through the automated decontamination chamber.
“Next please!”
Human Vivian was next up. Timby was about to give her the directions for tools and equipment when she noticed that what the human was carrying in her hand was not a ship tool or piece of equipment.
“Uh, Vivi, all samples from the planet are supposed to be sealed before you come in.”
Vivi held up the colorful item in question. Upon further inspection, Timby realized it was a leaf of some sort. “It’s not a sample for study. I wanted, uh, well I wanted to keep it.”
Timby paused. It was a leaf. The question, “Why,” came from her lips as soon as she thought it.
Vivi lowered the leaf to inspect it. “The sector of the planet we were in is experiencing a seasonal shift, like autumn back on Earth. A lot of the trees are shedding leaves and I found this one and it was so pretty, so I picked it up on our way back.”
“Okay,” Timby frowned, the line behind Vivi was growing and the pause was starting to get to Timby’s need for efficiency. “But if it’s something for study, then you really should return outside and place the leaf in the collection packets.”
Vivi’s eyes didn’t leave the leaf in question. “It’s not for study. We’ve already studied a lot about the tree this came from. I just really like this leaf and want to keep it.”
“And do what with it?” Timby did not understand. If it wasn’t a study sample, then why bring it aboard? “Is it edible or something?”
That got Vivi to look back up. Others from the exploration crew laughed slightly. Timby wondered if they had already asked that when they saw their human companion was bringing along alien foliage.
“Well, I guess it could be, I mean, it’s not poisonous or anything. But I’m not going to eat it. I just like the colors. I want to try pressing it in a book or something.”
Timby stared. Press it in a book? What would that do? Was that some human custom? She thought quickly about what she knew about books on Earth. They were made from cellulose fibers that had been ground into pulp, pressed, and dried. How was “pressing” the fresh cellulose of a leaf into it supposed to do anything?
“If it’s alright,” Commander Daravul spoke up from behind Vivi, “I’ve given Human Vivian my permission to keep the leaf as long as it survives the decontamination process.”
Timby looked between the human and the sefra commander, the latter of which had a relaxed and amused expression on his gray-streaked face.
“Errr… alright. Hold on to it then as you come through.” Timby set the decontamination levels to accommodate the human. “Step through slowly, please. Arms raised slightly. Raise your left foot. Now right. Er, move the leaf to your other hand. All right, that’s it I guess.”
Vivi stepped through and looked down to examine the leaf in her hands. She held it up as she turned back to the line still waiting for decontamination.
“The colors are still good!”
From the cheers that erupted, you would have thought the Captain had just announced extra bulgum rations in everyone's meal for the next partec. Vivi waved the leaf back and forth triumphantly all the while baring her teeth in a grin as humans sometimes do. It was barely larger than the palm of her hand, but the way it swayed back and forth on its stem, one might have thought it was some important banner or flag. Some important, tiny flag.
Timby watched quietly as the human stepped back to where Kiebur was loading up the now-clean equipment and offered to help haul the tools back to storage, her huge grin never leaving her face.
CommanderDaravul stepped up to go through decontamination next and the rest of the exploration crew settled down to chuckles and smiles. Their human was happy, so they were too, especially when it was over something so simple as a leaf.
As Timby continued with her duties, she could just make out Kiebur discuss the leaf as Vivi helped him load equipment.
“That is a pretty leaf. How long do you think the colors will stay that vibrant?”
“I don’t know. That’s why I’m going to try to press it before it dries out. Even if it doesn’t, it’s pretty now and that’s good enough for me.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re so easily entertained,” the biet laughed.
The commander joined them and helped them as they walked through the sanitary airlocks, Vivi continued admiring her new leaf and going on and on to a very amused biet and sefra about the leaf and its properties that produced its colors.
Timby shook her head but couldn’t help the smile that crept onto her face. Humans, as tough and battle-ready or hardy as they could be, could also be so easily entertained and amazed. Their joy was infectious among those they pack-bonded with. Even over something as simple and beautiful as a leaf.
It was one of the reasons she liked having them around.
