Author's Notes: Chapter 3! Enough said. Thank you to my lovely reviewer for pointing out the fact that there was no money in the 22nd century. I wasn't sure until they showed Storm Front II again and Archer told Alicia Travers that there are no wars or money. Also, I saw the Star Trek movie First Contact for the first time and Picard says there's no money so...thank you! How the Enterprise crew gets money will be explained this chapter.
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Trek: Enterprise or any of the companies/organizations I mention in this fic.
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After eating their food, Archer turned to look back at the crew. "Bad news," he said.
"What is it Cap'n?" Trip asked. "Is there a reason we're here? Are we under attack? Do we have a mission to complete?"
"Not exactly," Archer said.
"Well, what is it then?" Travis asked.
Archer put his head in his hands. "We're out of money," he whispered.
"Out of money? How can we be out of money?" Travis exclaimed.
"Thanks to Commander Tucker and his massive appetite," Malcolm muttered under his breath.
Unfortunately for him, Trip overheard. "What did you say Malcolm?" he asked dangerously.
"Nothing Commander," Malcolm responded innocently.
"If you're saying that it's my fault we're out of money, just remember that if I wasn't here we wouldn't have any money in the first place!" Trip said.
"And where did you get that again?" Hoshi asked, a wry smile on her face.
"It was my collection!" he stated proudly.
"You collected money?" Travis asked in disbelief.
"Well, it doesn't matter because it's all gone now!" Trip countered. "It's not like any of you thought that we needed to bring some." Glancing over at T'Pol, he noticed the Vulcan deeply studying a newspaper.
"Captain," she said. "I have just discovered an intriguing document that may be the answer to our current situation."
The entire Enterprise crew glanced over towards her and examined the title. It was turned to the help wanted section.
"Do you need money?" Travis read.
"And want to get it quickly and easily..." Trip continued.
"If so, then come to..." Hoshi took up the narrative.
"1310 Bruneski Street," Archer finished.
"This could be the solution we need!" Malcolm exclaimed joyously.
"Good job T'Pol," Archer complemented his officer.
"All right, let's go!" Trip shouted. Pausing, he turned back towards the rest of the group. "How do we get there?"
"I remember reading something in school about transportation in the early 21st century," Malcolm said. "I even did a report for my Culture and Civilizations class but I've forgotten most of it."
"How much do you remember?" Archer inquired.
Malcolm shook his head. "Not enough to get us around the city," he responded. "However I do remember something about a public transport that went around the entire area..."
"Right then," Archer nodded. "We're walking."
"What?" Trip exclaimed.
"Trip, you've walked a lot farther than the few kilometers the Captain is suggesting," Travis pointed out.
"Unless you have a way to get there," Archer smirked.
"Fine," Trip grumbled. And with that, the Enterprise crew set off on their latest adventure, the quest to find a job.
---at the white house---
"Mr. President, the data has been confirmed," the admiral reported.
"And?" the president prompted.
"The spaceship is from the future," he confirmed. "Though we have no idea how it got here."
"Never mind," the president interrupted. "You are dismissed."
Turning to face the window, he smirked. "My time will come," he thought. "Just you wait Archer. I'm coming for you."
---at 1310 Bruneski Street---
"Are you sure there's nothing else?" Archer asked in despair. Behind him, the crew had collapsed into orange plastic chairs, rubbing their feet.
"Sorry," the secretary shook her long blond locks. "But without references, there's no way you can get any other jobs. Here's a list of the ones available."
Taking the pamphlets from the secretary, he walked back to the rest of the crew. "All right," Archer said. "Here's a record of all the jobs we can get. I want you to split up into groups of two and go to one of these coordinates to complete your mission. Don't forget, the more money we get, the sooner we'll be able to figure out how to get home."
Everyone nodded, and then walked out in different directions.
----With Trip and Malcolm----
"About 20 more meters, Commander," Malcolm said, holding a PADD in front of his face.
"All right," Trip said absentmindedly, kicking up loose gravel on the sidewalk.
"Commander, I would really appreciate it if you would focus," Malcolm replied. "We're in the middle of an important situation and you really need your concentration."
"Fine," Trip responded.
They finally arrived at their destination which happened to be: Baskin Robbins.
"We're here," Malcolm sighed. "Now time to get down to business."
After getting into the uniform which consisted of a white collared shirt, tan colored pants and a green apron, Trip and Malcolm were ready to work. Armed with their ice cream spoons, they watched apprehensively as a group of children came charging in.
"You know, I'd rather take on the Xindi than these kids," Trip muttered out of the side of his mouth before beginning to serve ice cream.
----With Hoshi and T'Pol----
"Yes, my name is Hoshi and this is T'Pol," Hoshi explained to the old woman.
"Two new workers for the center!" she crowed. "Oh, this is a glorious day! Bless my bottom dollar, this is a wonderful day!"
T'Pol raised her eyebrow, the Vulcan equivalent of an odd glance. Hoshi shrugged in response, trying to hold back her laughter.
"Here you are dearies," she said, handing them their nametags. "Welcome to the Happy Day Care!"
Beckoning them to follow her, the old woman led them down a long hallway. "You'll be working with the kindergarteners today," she explained. "Lunch time is at 12:00 and you can leave at 4." And with that, she walked away.
Pushing open the door, Hoshi and T'Pol walked into the classroom. Noticing their arrival, the teacher stood up. She was a young woman with brown hair.
"Hi, I'm Miss Applegate," she greeted them quickly. "I'm the teacher for this room – no Jeffrey, don't touch that!" she told one of the kids. Turning back to them, she said, "I'm so glad you're here, it's been chaos ever since my old assistants left. I'll introduce you to the children in a minute."
Finally, all the kids were gathered in a circle on the floor. "Class, I'd like to introduce you to our new teaching assistants!" Miss Applegate said. "This is Tisha and this is Holly!"
T'Pol and Hoshi glanced at each other, then looked down at their nametags. The old woman had confused their names and so now T'Pol's tag read Tisha and Hoshi's read Holly. Hoshi bit her lip and T'Pol narrowed her eyes.
"Now we're going to have free time!" Miss Applegate continued. "I'll be doing the jump rope, Tisha will be doing the painting, and Holly will be reading a story."
Immediately, everyone scrambled into action. Hoshi walked towards a bookshelf while Miss Applegate headed outside. Passing by T'Pol, she whispered, "Just let them finger paint and make sure they don't get out of control."
"Understood," T'Pol responded. And with that, she headed towards the tiny table.
----With Archer and Travis----
"Captain, what's our assignment?" Travis asked.
Archer paused dramatically. "We're supposed to organize files at a local office," he read off his PADD.
"Do you know what that means?" he responded.
"Actually, I don't," Archer admitted. "But this is 2005. How bad can it be?"
The heavens, as if hearing his words, decided to start a little trouble.
"Yech!" Archer screamed. "What is this?"
"Captain?" Travis asked, turning around. "Is everything okay?"
"No, everything is not okay!" Archer said, holding up his foot. "Look at this!"
Travis, who had walked forwards, recoiled at the smell. "That's fresh!" he stated, holding his nose.
"It's disgusting!" Archer exclaimed, trying to wipe his foot on the sidewalk.
A grin spread over Travis' face. "You're telling me that Porthos never..."
"Well, no," he admitted. "But it's not the same!"
"Yeah," Travis said skeptically, starting to walk again.
"Lieutenant Maywhether, get back here!" Archer ordered. When receiving no response, he started to hobble after Travis on one foot, occasionally scraping the other one against the curb.
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Author's Notes: Okay, I think I'm going to end it here even though I didn't get Archer and Travis to their jobs yet. (In case anyone was wondering, Archer stepped in a pile of dog poo.) Please read and review and celebrate the last few weeks of Enterprise!