The Missing Element

A thin sliver of light dropped from the top of the darkened room. Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott held the sending end of it. ''Can ye git to the power panel, Gibson?" "No, sir. Hensen was closest to it when the lights went out."

"Where's the lad now?" The lights came on and the Engine room was flooded with light.

"Here, sir. It took me a few moments to reorient myself to the panel."

Hensen was a muscular young man of medium height. Fresh out of the academy, his boyish looks made him appear to be fifteen instead of his actual 27.

He wore a red engineering jumpsuit that was caked with grease.

"Was the whole ship in the dark, Carver?" Scotty asked.

"No, Mr. Scott. Just this room."

"Good. Then there's no need a-botherin' The cap'n about it."

Scotty climbed down from the Engineering computer level to the main floor. He walked across the huge room to the power panel. ''Good job, Hensen. M' little flash couldna gotten me over here as fast as you did."

"Thank you, sir. Fortunately, my reflexes haven't deteriorated with age." Hensen walked away as Scotty felt the brunt of his parting words. Now he knew why he didn't like Hensen.

The boy was arrogant and prided himself at being the tops in his class. Scotty didn't try to fool himself. The boy was good--his only fault was that he knew it.

Scotty shrugged it off and went about his work, content to let the remark slide. The phase will pass he thought.

***

The life of a chief engineer is not a hard one. Most chief engineers sit in offices looking over reports and filling out forms. Scotty was not a desk-bound-paper-pushing- (As his captain would say) engineer. In Scotty's mind, the only true engineer was one who got his hands dirty.

But at times, even Scotty had to sit behind a desk and push some paper. Seated in his office, amid drawings of the starships he had served (drawn by him from memory), huge bookcases filled with textbooks (many of which he had co-authored), and mounds of forms he had let collect, Scotty looked--and felt--buried under the paper work.

His duty now: To requisition parts that he expected would wear out in the next year and report on what parts were replaced during the last year. Scotty annually went through the problems of doing this report the last minute, and not even urgings by his captain would make him do it earlier.

The bosun whistle from the intercom interrupted him, ''Scotty here."

''Mr. Scott, this is Ensign Carpenter. I thought you might like to know, Hensen went into area ''C'' five minutes ago without any kind of sheilded suit. He hasn't come back out yet."

''What? What the hell was he plannin' ta do doon there?" ''He said something about a mal function. He went in to repair it, sir ."

"I'll be right there .''

Scotty's first thought, as he raced to the trouble area, was whatever trouble Hensens got himself into, he deserved it. He chose to be calm about that. Hensen was an engineer under him, he had a responsibility to help Carpenter, Hensen's roommate was waiting for Scotty at the airlock area C. Area C was vital to the functioning of the ship's phaser barks.

Usually the room would be bathed in radiation. When Hensen had discovered that one of the moving parts had somehow slowed down, he knew the radiation level would be low enough for him to safely go in and repair it and leave.

Carpenter told Scotty all of this.

"Get me a suit and hurry, we hae little time."

Carpenter didn't stop to puzzle over Scotty's more than cryptic remark. He quickly fetched a suit. Scotty slipped into it and went the ante-room seperating Area C from the rest of Engineering. the ante- room door closed behind him, Scotty went into Area C. Next to a panel the far wall, Hensen stood with a wrench.

"Mr. Scott, what are you doing here? '' ''Get out, now/' "But sir, the fillilator is broken. It's not moving as fast as should. There's something interfering with its progess."

"Out, lad, that's an order!"

"Yes, sir!"

Suddenly a howl arose from the panel. The flllilator was beginning to speed up! They raced to the door and made it out in time to prevent injury to either of them.

Hensen said, "Well, I fixed it.''

"I certainly hope not. That piece o' equipment ye was aboot to disconnect was experimental. I designed in meself. Every month, slows down to clean itself so I dlnna hae to go inside and clean it.''

" Oh. "

''Ye see, lad. Even wi' all yer book learnin' ye ain't been around here long enough to know abort me shortcuts."

"But, my textbooks say that a good engineer follows the book.''

"Ye're forgetting' that I wrote about half them textbooks."

"Eh?"

''Age may hae slowed me reflexes, but nae me brain. One o' these days, Hensen, ye nay be a good engineer. But you're lackin' one vital element."

''What's that?"

''A Scottish accent. Ye'd be surprised to find out how many cap'ns will listen to an engineer if he talks with a scottish accent."

''Yes sair!" ''Not in front of me face, boy. Practice elsewhere. It won't work here, but I dinna think anyone will know better on your next ship."

"Aye, sir. Mr. Scott, just between you and me, is your accent fake?" Scotty smiled and straightened his spine. ''Just between you 'n' me, I'll ne'er tell. Now get back to yer post. If you have a problem, come to me first, I dinna want ta see you fixin' it alone.''

"Aye, aye." As Hensen walked away Scotty decided he could like the boy after all.

" Oh. "

"Ye see, lad. Even wi' all yer book learnin' ye ain't been around here long enough to know abort me shortcuts."

"But, my textbooks say that a good engineer follows the book.''

"Ye're forgetting' that I wrote about half them textbooks."

"Eh?"

''Age may hae slowed me reflexes, but nae me brain. One o' these days, Hensen, ye nay be a good engineer. But you're lackin' one vital element."

''What's that?"

''A Scottish accent. Ye'd be surprised to find out how many cap'ns will listen to an engineer if he talks with a scottish accent."

''Yes sair!" ''Not in front of me face, boy. Practice elsewhere. It won't work here, but I dinna think anyone will know better on your next ship."

"Aye, sir. Mr. Scott, just between you and me, is your accent fake?" Scotty smiled and straightened his spine. ''Just between you 'n' me, I'll ne'er tell. Now get back to yer post. If you have a problem, come to me first, I dinna want ta see you fixin' it alone.''

"Aye, aye." As Hensen walked away Scotty decided he could like the boy after all.

The End

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