The Enterprise was in top form, which pretty much meant there wasn't really anything for a low-rated technician to do, not even for four hours.  Scotty reported, and Riley (the native) told him that he could just use the time to familiarize himself with the systems and work on updating his body of knowledge to keep up when they did need a quick ( Read more... )

He'd spent most of the night and into the wee hours manufacturing tools to work on a Buick Riviera, and had been fairly well tired by the time he'd gotten the serpentine belt tightened up properly.  He didn't know the car front to back or anything, but mechanics were still mechanics.  And some jobs took two sets of hands, including that; he'd still ( Read more... )

( To: Chief Engineer Scott )

          "The men where you live," said the little prince, "raise five thousand roses in the same garden - and they do not find in it what they are looking for ( Read more... )

After the last of the party last night, Scotty took his food and bid a goodnight to Harold.  From there, he went to grab his stuff from his locker and managed to catch a good shower before the public beach houses closed for the night, then change into his clean clothes.  And, since he didn't have to worry about starving, he also finally picked up a ( Read more... )

He half-slept, something between dream and reality; a restless doze, where he would stir himself awake just to make sure he was still breathing.  And then, confirmed, in the rain tapering to a sprinkle, then a mist, then the clear and clean and hazy scent left afterwards, he would drift back into that half-asleep state again. It wasn't that bad, ( Read more... )

"He was beaten (he knew that), but he was not broken. He saw, once for all, that he stood no chance against a man with a club. He had learned the lesson, and in all his afterlife he never forgot it. That club was a revelation. It was his introduction to the reign of primitive law." -Jack London

( Read more... )

After the very failed attempt to get a job as an escort -- he would never mistake that for tour guide again, no -- Scotty hit the streets again.  He was definitely hungry, so he needed some kind of fast credits.  And, he really wanted a cup of coffee.  Now, more for the comfort factor than as a wake-me-up, but regardless.  He wasn't given to ( Read more... )

Consciousness did not begin without coffee.  Unfortunately, coffee did not happen without credits.  Credits did not happen without being conscious to work ( Read more... )

After pausing on the beach (if a few hours counted as a pause), Scotty went to put his stuff away in the locker and go and find himself the cheapest of accommodations.  Namely speaking, somewhere he could sleep unaccosted and with three credits in his pocket, which was about as much as it would cost for him to keep that locker until the Enterprise ( Read more... )