While Archer Was 'Educating' The School Marm . . .
Reed was having 'a talk' with Sheriff McReady. (A fixit for the main problem I had with North Star – not a 'revision', but an 'addition' – after all the children did see a picture of the Wright Bros. and their plane.) Coda to the 'D and D' story – though I haven't gotten to that episode yet . . .
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When Sheriff McReady woke up after 'falling asleep' in the strange craft that 'Captain Archer' and the rest of the people from Earth came in (though wasn't there a good-looking alien woman too?), he didn't know what to think. He knew he'd gotten knocked out – that had happened a few times in his almost forty years of life. Being a deputy under Pete Beecher, then sheriff for almost twelve years did that to you.
Except that this time – instead of that suffocating chloroform – that stuff could choke a fellow just from the smell – he remembered one of those people from the craft in the spotted clothes sticking something on his neck. A soft hiss and he was out for the count.
He heard that he was awake before he opened his eyes. A soft twittering in the background, a rustling sound like there were animals about. Now McReady, by his own account, was not an outdoorsman. Sure, he could build a campfire, and if need be in an emergency, keep himself alive in the wild. But at heart he was a townsman; he liked his soft bed and he wasn't lying to Archer about a good shave.
So when he woke up and heard the sounds of animals, it didn't immediately make him 'start' – he did however pretend to be asleep until a voice spoke to him directly, "Hello, Sheriff McReedy is it? My name is Doctor Phlox. I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
McReady did know of the importance of being polite (and respectful) to other professionals, such as himself, and he opened his eyes to greet the medical doctor, who apparently treated his shoulder (which he realized didn't hurt anymore!) And immediately closed them as in front of him was someone who was so much more alien than any skag he'd ever seen. And opened them again as he didn't want them to know that he was afraid.
"I may look strange to you, but I assure you that I am a fully qualified doctor. I treat all the ailments aboard this vessel," the alien doctor said cheerfully. "I have repaired your shoulder; I think you will find it as 'good as new'." Phlox motioned to a dark-haired woman, "Let's help Mr. McReady sit up, shall we?", and the two of them supported him until he was sitting upright.
He then noticed how bright the room was – but at the same time he realized that he had no shirt on and that his chest was bare. McReady flushed bright red, and quickly pulled the blanket up to cover his body; he knew that he wasn't as 'advanced' as these people, but he did have standards. You didn't go traipsing around strange women with no shirt on. It just wasn't done. The sheriff nodded to the woman who was nice looking, and said, "Mam." Which might have settled the matter, except that the alien doctor said something about it being curious how his skin tone had changed?
The woman gently laughed, and said, "Doctor, we've embarrassed him. Let me introduce myself – my name is Liz Cutler. I occasionally help Dr. Phlox. He doesn't quite understand about human customs. Would you like some dinner?" McReady realized that he was very hungry and found a portable tray and a selection of dishes laid out before him. He took the cover off the dish and marveled at how light it was – not wood – not metal – not ceramic, and he put it aside, fully intending to look more closely at the material later.
It was a stew of some kind, with vegetables, and chopped up fruit. And for desert a slice of cake – though the sheriff was certain that he had never tasted these foods before – his ancestors maybe . . . while he was eating his meal, the doors to the room once again opened – the woman who called herself 'Liz Cutler' had walked out as he started to eat leaving the doctor behind – but now one of the men who had accompanied Captain Archer walked into the room.
He wasn't as tall as the other humans that had come with Archer, more of a size that McReedy was familiar with – and the sheriff could tell that this man 'from Earth' best be 'paid attention to' so he laid aside his meal and looked directly at the visitor. He remembered that this man had worn the same uniform as Archer, and carried a weapon, which 'not surprisingly' he still had in a holster at his side. McReady sensed a person of like temperament to himself, and he looked the man full in his face. "Have you come to put me in your jail?"
Hardly," a slight smile appeared on the other man's face, "Though if you would like to see the ship's brig, I'd be pleased to show you. My name is Lieutenant Malcolm Reed. I'm the Chief of Security. Sheriff McReady, is it?" Lieutenant Reed was holding something that the sheriff didn't recognize; it was about the size of a man's hand and rectangular in shape. "I've come to talk to you about 'history and law' . . . McReady listened – the man had an accent that was different to that of other people, human and alien that he had met on this ship. Reminded him of 'actors' he'd met who would declaim that Shakespeare fellow – the words were remembered from the 'old times' . . .
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Malcolm frowned as he looked at the 'assignment' that Captain Archer had given him; it was going to be devilishly difficult to instruct the legal authorities (in the form of Sheriff McReady) on this planet as to the current state of the laws on Earth. Laws didn't exist in a vacuum, they were part of a complex interaction between history and custom. Yes, at one time they had been the inheritors of English Common Law, and the United States Constitution – but that was three hundred years previously . . .
What he finally decided – and he suspected that 'in the future' his choices would be 'examined' most carefully – that he would give them copies of the laws of the United States and Great Britain current to nineteen thirteen and history of the Earth to that date, plus a full course of literature up to that time. If the Enterprise was successful in her mission – at least a start would be made in acclimating the people on this planet . . . if not, if they survived the Xindi – at least at little bit of Earth would survive. One could do much worse.
Reed gave the captain a PADD to give to the school teacher and he gave one to the sheriff. They would hold a charge for many years, though Malcolm suggested to the sheriff – and he did show him the brig – that it would be 'wise' to have the contents copied 'just in case' . . . and would give 'better educated deputies' a chance to learn the law . . .
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Hence the lesson about the Wright Bros. and their wonderful 'flying machine' . . .