Disclaimer: I don't own any part of the Star Trek franchise or the characters in it.


Little Ensign's Room

Chapter Two: Swab the Decks and Plunge the Bowls

It could be said that Scotty was an upstanding member of Starfleet, that he followed every regulation to the letter, and that he made a mean seven layer dip. However, all but the first one would be a lie. He could only ever get to five layers before disaster inevitably struck.

It is with the second saying that the most untruth occurs however. Because Scotty, as he liked to do in his spare time, was working on his still. Crammed into a small hideaway in a forgotten Jeffries tube, Scotty adjusted an intake valve. That was until an ensign from engineering came and interrupted him.

"Uh, Scotty, you forgot to fix the toilet in engineering." Scotty cast the ensign a discerning glance.

"I'm sorry, lad, I forgot. Yeh still gotta... ?"

"Uh, yeah. Could you, um, fix it? I don't get off my shift for another hour..." The Ensign was obviously feeling antsy, casting his eyes around the tube as if looking for a convenient tree or bush.

Scotty crawled out of the hideaway and started on the ladder towards engineering with the ensign.

"Laddie, don't worry. It'll be fixed in no time."


The ship rocked a third time and final time.

Seven minutes later after having gotten back to engineering, Scotty fisted his hands and looked at the ensign guiltily. "All the gravity plungers got jettisoned. But it looks like yeh don't need the bathroom anymore either."

Without a second thought the ensign covered himself and rushed out, not caring about what Scotty was saying or that he still had thirty minutes left of his shift. Running toward his quarters the embarrassed ensign muttered to himself, self conscious from all the attention he was receiving. "Romulans always freak me out..."

What he would have learned if he had stuck around in engineering for a couple more minutes was that the engines were temporarily down. Temporarily meaning until they got to the next suitable planet to make repairs at. Meaning the would be going nowhere fast for the next two months.

And that they were stuck at half impulse near the Neutral Zone for the next two months. If he had stayed to learn all that he probably would have wet himself a second time.

Romulans really freak him out.


Chapter Three: Next we find out what the real problem is...