Chapter 2

Geordi felt Data's hand around his, guiding him around the city, describing things as they passed. He couldn't understand why Data couldn't just hold his forearm, but whatever. Without Data there he would be blind and lost.

"The support structure for this building is rather primitive, using steel beams and rods to hold it together."

"Data, have you found anyplace we could get copper coils?" He asked.

"I have not, Geordi. I think I shall ask someone where they could be obtained. Excuse me!"

Geordi was dragged rather roughly down the street.

"Excuse me, sir."

"Yea?" Geordi didn't like the amused sound in the man's voice. He knew that he was probably thinking of a thousand insults to say to the two of them.

"Do you know where one could obtain a large number of copper coils?"

"Uh, try Home Depot."

"Home…?" Data, Geordi could tell, was scanning his memory banks for the definition of a "Home Depot".

"The store, Home Depot. Are you slow?"

"No, I move rather quickly."

"What about him?" Geordi felt their eyes bore into his body.

"He is not as quick as I."

Geordi heard others laughing. Data was the unwitting victim of their jokes.

He gave his hand a comforting squeeze.

"Where would I find the…Home Depot?" Data asked, trying out the new words on his tongue.

"34th street." This was a female voice.

"Thank you." Data reached into his pocket and handed the two a ten dollar bill. They fell silent, but took the money.

"T-thanks, man." The girl started in awe.

"You got swag." The boy smiled and patted Data on the back.

"Swag?" Geordi repeated.

"Yea. Swag. Swagger."

"Thank you." Data was confused. He had never heard of that word before. He would have to look in the computer on the ship for the definition.

They walked away.

"Maybe you should let me do the talking." Geordi suggested.

"Good idea."

(((

Riker found himself sitting in a cozy diner talking to a (rather attractive) waitress.

"You want to know where to find platinum?" She asked, pouring him a cup of coffee.

"Yes I do." He took the cup and raised it to his lips, smelling the hot liquid. It made his mouth water.

"Rolex has platinum watches, but they run in the tens of thousands of dollars."

Riker considered. He could have the replicator make more money, but eventually someone would find it to be a forgery. Then they would be in huge trouble.

"Is there anything cheaper?" Riker asked.

"I don't know." She sat down across from him. "Why do you need platinum?"

"No reason."

She smiled. "Really." Riker looked for her nametag. Joanna Greves was her name.

"Joanna. Pretty name."

The girl blushed. "What's yours?"

"Will." He shook her hand. "Will Riker. Now, where can I get some platinum, for cheap?"

"Depends, Will Riker." She licked her plump lips. "Are you willing to help me?"

)))

Captain Picard heard the sound indicating someone wanted in his quarters.

"Enter."

Troi and Bev walked in.

"What can I do for you?" Picard suddenly wished he wasn't in his purple silk pajamas.

"Captain, we've been talking." Bev sat down at his little table.

"What about?" He went to the food processor. "Earl Grey. Hot."

"What if we can't get home?" Troi asked.

"We will." Picard picked up his cup and blew over the top.

"But if we can't? What if the away team can't find what we need? What then?" Troi worry and panic in the Captain.

"Then we…stay here." He sat down next to Beverly and sipped his tea. "Eventually we would run out of supplies on the ship."

"But beaming down everyone on the ship…that's over a thousand people," Troi frowned, "And some of them aren't human."

"We'll get out of here! If worse comes to worse we could go to Vulcan and explain the problem to them." That wasn't the best plan, for convincing the Vulcans that they were indeed from the future could prove difficult. Plus, the Federation is not in existence yet.

"We were just wondering if you've thought of all aspects of the problem, Captain." Troi stood up, indicating to Beverly that she should too. "We need to be prepared for the worst."

The girls left Picard alone to nurse his tea. He thought.

How could the ship be blasted into the past, orbit around Earth, and break its on warp drive? And how could no one remember the accident? It was understandable that the humanoids aboard would have difficulty remembering; their brains were relativity easy to wipe clean and that was a hard fall. But Data? His "total recall" memory usually allowed him to remember every aspect of every day. Except for the accident.

Someone had to be at fault here. This was no "accident."

Picard went to sip his tea, but realized it had gone cold.

)))

"Can I help you find anything?" The smiling employee approached the android and his blind friend. Data still had a tight grip on Geordi's hand. The Chief engineer was losing blood flow to his fingers.

"Yea," Geordi said, "Where can we get copper coils?"

The employee looked a bit surprised, for the pair was in the curtain section, far from any copper.

"Right this way." He led them out of the isle, Data dragging Geordi along.

They came to the aisle containing what they needed.

"Is there anything specific you're looking for?" The employee asked. Geordi shook his head.

"No, thanks."

Data handed the man a ten dollar bill.

"I-I…" The employee was a little shocked. "I can't accept this, sir. I'm sorry."

"But do I not have…the swagger?" Data was completely bewildered. The employee gave him a confused look and pressed the money into his free hand.

"He's slow." Geordi hastily explained.

"No, I am remarkably fast."

The employee left without looking back.

"Data, you don't have to tip everybody that helps us."

"But isn't that customary?" Data cocked his head to one side.

"Not in this time, Data." Geordi reached into his shoulder bag and pulled out his visor. "Cover me." He whispered. Geordi scanned the various tubs of equipment, looking for the one that might work for the warp engines.

"Woa, those are some cool shades!" Three young males approached them. Data moved to block Geordi from their view.

"Hey man, can I try them on?" One of them, a blonde boy with sunglasses of his own, tried to shove Data out of the way. In reply, Data threw him across the aisle. Geordi quickly hid his VISOR in his bag. The other two teens glanced at each other, and then charged for Data.

The android knew that hurting them would be unwise, so he did that same thing that he did to the other one: flung them away. A few witnesses ran away.

The blonde one staggered over to Data and Geordi. "Hey, man all I wanted to do was try on the shades."

"I cannot allow you to do that."

"You talk funny!"

"There is nothing humorous about the way I speak." Data grabbed Geordi's hand, seeing that he was once again blind.

The boy took out a cigarette and lit it. He sucked in the toxins, and then blew them in Data's face.

"It is unwise to smoke. It can damage your body." Data cautioned, waving the fumes away.

"Yolo."

"Yo-yo?" Why would the boy reference an ancient child's toy?

"No, you weirdo! Yo-lo! You Only Live Once!"

"Yolo…" Data tasted the word.

"Yea. Come on guys, let's go."

The three of them left Geordi and Data alone.

"Let's get back to work." Geordi was about to try again when-

"You are being asked to leave." A security guard crossed his arms in front of them. "If you do not I shall take you into police custody."

Data cocked his head, and then looked at Geordi. He shrugged.

"Yolo."

In which Data learns of the infamous "yolo". As always, if you like it so far, or if you don't like it so far, please leave a review!

Kirk out~