The BLTS Archive - Scotty: The Early Days:
Story #8: Star Child
by Sarah James (sarah_james_42@yahoo.com)

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feedback: always welcome

disclaimer: Star Trek and its characters belong to Paramount.

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Infinite star fields stretched out before her eyes, as Lt.
Nyota Uhura gazed beyond the big glass windows on the
Enterprise's generously laid out star deck. Sheer vastness
was tempting, calling her to go and lose herself out there.
She was truly in awe. It was her first real deep space
mission. What an adventure, she thought. Her heart felt
heavy, filled with both excitement and fear. What would be
waiting for her out there? Nobody would tell her that. None
of her instructors at the academy, none of her commanding
officers had ever been able to answer her most essential
questions.

Nyota sighed deeply, thereby fogging the glass she was
leaning on. Either they all did not wish to share their
expertise whenever her questions left the technical fields
or they simply truthfully had no answer for her. Latter
would be understandable, since her questions were not
exactly on kindergarden level. It would probably take a
philosopher. Unfortunately philosophers were a rare species
who avoided Star Fleet like hell. Oh how she hated this
concerned, compassionate look superior officers would always
spare only for naïve younglings like herself.

She wanted to know so many things. Was the Universe endless
or were there boundaries? Did it really expand and collapse
and if so what would lie outside its confines? What had been
there before the Universe came to exist? Another Universe?
Nothing? So many questions...

There stood a young woman, engulfed in loneliness as she was
eager to prove herself, get to know herself, eager to push
into another horizon. So many questions... Another sigh
slipped out of her mouth, adding more fog on the glass.

"Ah," a melodic voice rattled her out of her musings. "This
sounds like the weight of the whole Universe resting on
young, small shoulders. How come?"

Nyota simply shrugged, while trying to recognize the sound
of this rich, lush Caledonian accent. It didn't seem
familiar though. Well, it was a huge ship. She had not been
here for much longer than a week. There were many people she
had not yet met.

"It's a long, long journey we're headed on. Mind some
company, lass?"

She began to like him even before turning to stare right
into a pair of mesmerizing brown magnets. His appeal felt
comfortable, genuine as his gaze promised compelling depths.
Without wanting to she immediately felt drawn to him.

"You're welcome, Lt. Commander," Nyota replied with shyly.

"That's Scotty, if you don't mind," the engineer with the
Scottish accent grinned at her. "I don't stand on formality,
especially not off duty." His fair skin, his pitch black
hair, the dark eyes, the attractive eyebrows – She couldn't
make up her mind whether he appeared angelic or demonic to
her. He was both, he was neither. He was cute!

"Then please call my Nyota," she replied eventually.

"Beautiful name," he commented, grinning pleased. "What does
it mean?"

Sceptically she cocked her head, studying the lean man of
average height and build. His dark hair tended to be a bit
of a riot, but he wasn't bad on the eyes, especially when he
smiled. His rugged appearance only added to his charms. "It
means star."

"Star...," he mumbled. "Aye. That fits. Yer a beautiful
star, lass, ye are."

Careful! Nyota cautioned herself. Not only was he a flirt,
but also one who wore his heart right on his tongue. For a
while they silently continued to gaze out where star fields
were trying to outshine each other in beauty. She simply
couldn't resist the urge to reach out, touching the glass
with her fingertips, longing to feel the stimulating
vibration of a powerful warp drive.

How fast are we going, she wondered silently.

"Warp 4," the Scotsman gently reminded her of his presence.

Immediately a wistful smile replaced the nervous shyness on
her face. "Warp 4," she repeated impressed. That was fast,
wasn't it?

"Warp 4. Aye. We could go faster, but Captain Pike does nae
like me to push my bonnies... ah excuse me the engines I
mean, too hard. A waste o' time and potential, if you ask
me."

Nyota gave him a bemused look. "But he's the Captain."

Scotty frowned. "Aye aye. That he is. It's still a waste o'
potential. It's the same thing wi' a race horse. Once you
have one, ye be wanting to know how fast it can go. You just
have to know."

She regarded the dark haired man with a curious glance.
"Well, Sir, speed isn't everything."

The engineer chuckled at her poignant remark. "Oh yes? Is
that so, Lieutenant? You keep that cocky attitude on, Babe,
and you'll find yourself cooling your heels in the Captain's
office faster than you can count to three. Christopher Pike
is a fine man. There's only one thing he can't stand. That's
people giving him too much cheek."

Nyota squinted disapprovingly. How she hated it to be called
babe. Especially when it came from someone she liked.

"Will ye look at that. It's almost midnight. Let me take you
to your quarters, love," Scotty suggested, offering her his
arm.

She hesitated for a moment, not wanting to leave. This room
filled her with peaceful tranquillity. She could almost fall
asleep here... almost. Finally she accepted his arm. They
shared a light-hearted chat until they reached her quarters.

"Why lass, turns out we're neighbours," the engineer
remarked.

"Oh. Oh that's... nice," Nyota stuttered embarrassed. Good
grief, he lived right next doors. Yet she had not seen him
at all for a whole week until accidentally running into him
on the star deck. That man wasn't home a lot, she mused
sarcastically. "Want to come in?" What?! What did I just say
to him? It must be lack of sleep getting to me, Nyota
decided. Not that he would be her first one night stand, but
there was nothing that indicated he was interested in having
one in the first place. Leave the poor man alone, she
ordered herself. Leave him alone!

The Scotsman shifted his weight, looking slightly
uncomfortable.

"I mean, if you feel like having a drink or so. I've only
got tea or coffee to offer though." There, now he can say no
thanks. Nobody is going to lose their face. That is that.

"Coffee? Now?! I'd prefer a mug o' tea, if ye dinna mind."
With one large step he was in her private quarters.

Great Nyota! She cursed herself inwardly. Why couldn't you
leave him alone. He's your neighbour. You screw him tonight
and you're going to have to face him every day after that.
On the other hand, she could hardly kick him out now. Scotty
was a sweet guy. He didn't deserve such a treatment. He
deserved... tea. She was finally going to get him his tea,
Nyota decided filing her order to the cabin's syntronic
unit.

"Please," she muttered, pointing at the table. "Have a
seat."

"I'd rather stand," he blurted, suddenly sounding jumpy. "I
have way too much energy in me that needs to be spent."

Intrigued she darted a quick glance over her shoulder,
raising an eyebrow in common interest.

"I've had about ten cups of coffee throughout the day. Maybe
I should turn myself in to Dr. Piper. No, really, I need
help," he replied laughing.

Nyota joined his laughter. No wonder he didn't want another
coffee. Then they quietly sipped their steaming drinks.
Scotty remained standing in the middle of her quarters, one
hand holding the mug the other nervously tugging at his
tunica. His hair was all messed up from the weariness of a
long day. Too long a day, she reminded herself. And I keep
him from getting his well-deserved sleep by inviting him on
a cup of tea. Strangely he didn't look tired at all, she
observed.

"Och that's good. Thank ye, dear."

"You're welcome, neighbour," Nyota tried to lighten the
atmosphere with a little joke.

Scotty's face lit up with affection. "I have to say, it's
fairly convenient to have somebody so nice and good-looking
right next doors."

Heat rose in her, bringing a fair blush to her dark cheeks.
"Oh," was all she could utter. Several minutes later he had
finished his cup. He was in a hurry to leave, Nyota
realized, almost offended, as she accompanied him to the
door. "Scotty..." she began hesitantly. Why was it that she
simply could not let him go tonight. Leave him alone, Ny!

When he turned around there was this patronizing look in his
eyes again. She didn't want it, didn't need it. She was not
a twelve-year-old who had to be ordered to go to bed. "Aye?"
he asked.

Anger bubbled up unexpectedly. Before she could hold herself
back she was in his arms kissing him with a zeal, that
surprised them both. Nyota's mind reeled when he pulled her
closer to him, responding passionately. They lost themselves
in this new intimacy for a while. When they finally pulled
apart, Scotty whispered. "Good night, Babe."

Good night?! Nyota was stunned. Seconds later she felt
robbed and three minutes later she lost her temper. His
quick departure was the only thing that had saved him from
her tea mug, which now lay shattered in pieces on the floor.
How could she have ever lost control of herself in that way?
This had never happened to her before. With a rebellious
growl she flopped onto her bed, trying to fall asleep.

And sleep would not, it wouldn't want to come, never came...

---

It was late. Yes, she knew it was late. At this time every
sane person who was supposed to be back on duty at 07:30 in
the morning would be sleeping. Unfortunately since the day
she had boarded this ship, sleeping had become impossible.
First it had scared her. Now she viewed it with bemused
curiosity, wondering how long it would take until her sleep
deprivation would drive her insane. Well, since she couldn't
find any rest in her bunk, she might as well return to the
star deck.

Her previous conversation with Scotty still went cycles in
her head. Every look they had exchanged, every word dropping
from his lips, every tiny detail came to her mind... again
and again. No way could she sleep tonight.

Grumpily Nyota tugged at the bathrobe she had donned over
her night-dress. Another sceptical look into the mirror
followed. Like that she was clearly not fit to be seen
running around on the corridors. On the other hand... "Who
the hell is going to be out there at this time?" It was in
the middle of the night. People were either sleeping or
working, but nobody would wander around the ship now. Well,
nobody except herself anyway.

Determined Nyota marched through the door of her cabin,
promptly bumping into the dark haired man, who had been
leaning against her door frame with a bottle of Scotch in
his hand. "Whoa!" he barked, as they stumbled backwards
several steps.

Without wanting to Nyota released a surprised shriek. In the
meantime they continued to stumble right into the opposite
wall. It had taken him suspiciously long to recover his
balance.

Scotty chuckled embarrassed. "Did I accidentally hit the
door buzzer or can you read minds?"

The young communications officer rolled her eyes. "How long
have you been standing here?"

"I don't know. It's been a wee while. I figured I want
another one."

"What?"

"Another kiss."

Nyota gaped in confusion. "Do you know how late it is?"

"But then I figured it's rather late and you should be
sleeping." The engineer took a big gulp from the bottle.

"And then?" she snapped impatiently.

"Then you ran into me. Why are you no' in bed sleeping?"
Gallantly he offered her some Scotch from his bottle. "Sorry
I neglected to bring glasses wi' me."

Raising her eyebrow in mild surprise Nyota accepted the
challenge. "Do I look like somebody who needs a glass?"
Swiftly she tugged the bottle out of his hand, lifting it up
to her lips, she drank deeply. From the look of the bottle
she had expected it to taste like something from the ship's
doctors medical cabinet. Yet the flavour lingering on her
tongue was mesmerizing. "Single malt? So you like the
expensive stuff."

Scotty leaned forward with a smug expression on his face.
"Clynelish. 18 year-old. Matured in cherry cask. Only the
best for you. I'm impressed that a young lass knows to
appreciate such fine stuff. From now on I will nae call ye
Babe any more."

Good, she thought relieved. "Are you coming along?"

"Where? To bed? Because that's the only place ye'll be going
to at this time, Lieutenant. That's an order!"

Exhausted Nyota dropped her shoulders. Why the hell did she
want to return to the star deck now anyway. It wasn't a good
idea. Gamely she aimed back for her quarters until he
reminded her, "But no' before I get my kiss." Quickly the
small woman turned on her heels, hurrying back into his arms
and laid one onto him that took his breath away.

"Why, good night then, sweetheart," he eventually mumbled
with a satisfied smile.

"Good night, Scotty." Well, Nyota mused, he was cute to
boot. But if he kept saying good night every time she kissed
him, they would never get very far.

As soon as the door went shut, she rested her forehead
against the cool metal. Obviously he was doing the same
thing, because she could hear him mumble "Be still my
heart." Smilingly she returned to bed, prepared for another
lonely, sleepless night. Although tonight she would have a
sweet memory to drool over.

---

It had been a long hard day spent under the stern,
scrutinizing gaze of Christopher Pike on the Enterprise's
Bridge. Exasperated Nyota leaned against the wall of the
turbo lift. Or was it only her imagination and the Captain
had hardly paid attention to her at all? However, his
occasional strolls around the Bridge to check console
readings, as if his Crew wasn't capable, filled her with
great uneasiness whenever his intimidating presence passed
by her seat.

Nyota sighed while running a hand through her hair, which
felt as stiff as the rest of her. It was almost midnight
now. She had enjoyed a jovial dinner with three lovely
people from her department. It had been very relaxing. But
now she began to feel haunted again.

It was Pike's cold glare, telling her that she had no
business being on this ship. Of course it was merely a spook
in her head. He had never uttered so much as a single word
of criticism in her direction. Scotty would tell her that
she was paranoid.

Talk about Scotty! She had not seen him at all for the past
three days. Either the chief engineer was very busy or he
steadfastly avoided her. Nyota's mouth fell into an
expression of dissatisfaction. That would be a shame. She
was getting to like his easy going charm more and more each
time she thought of him.

"Star Deck!" the syntronic voice of the elevator announced
as it came to a halt.

"Thank you," Nyota chortled. Then she laughed about her
absurd habit of being nothing but polite even to talking
elevators. She quickly straightened out her uniform before
leaving the narrow cabin, then accurately strolled across to
the promenade of the star deck.

Immediately her glare snapped onto the sight of a
breath-taking nebula grazing the scenery out there. Wow, her
heart breathed.

"Wow!" somebody said looking over her shoulder.

Nyota stopped startled. She knew that voice. "And I already
wanted to report you missing," she quipped without turning
around. A flood of warmth went through her as the man placed
his hands on her shoulders, leaning on her, while they
peacefully gazed at the grand Theatre of Stars.

"No I was just working," he assured her. "I thought I'd find
you here."

She smiled to herself. Of course, where else would she be.
For the past three days she had spent every single free
minute here. "Glad you found me."

"Yes," his breath fanned her ear now. "Glad I did. I missed
you."

Her smile faltered. He behaved as if their kiss had only
happened a moment ago. It had been three unbearable long
days ago. Was he going to make a habit of this? Was he going
to continue dropping in and out of her life like that? She
didn't like the idea.

Before she could even begin to get angry the bottle of
Scotch he held before her face reconciled her. "And this
time I brought glasses too."

"Oh Scotty, that's wonderful."

When she gazed up at him he was already busy pushing two
round tree-stump-shaped seats over to her. There was
something endearing about engineers and their sense of the
practical when it was combined with a truly romantic heart.
Satisfied she dropped onto her stool, slowly rising her
glass to her lips. The taste of fine Scotch went well with
the pleasant sight of strange star constellations. "Magic,"
she mumbled enchanted.

"Aye. There are no' many places in the world where you can
genuinely enjoy good Scotch. Only in Scotland and in space.
I'm home in both places."

Time passed by quickly. Half an hour later they were
completely alone on the wide deck. The dimmed light tried to
lull them as much as the gentle melody that would continue
to play until they, too, would leave for their quarters, if
only they wanted to.

Already it was very clear to her, that tonight she didn't
want to leave at all. Even more so, she didn't want him to
leave – no matter what. So far his gentle caress had been
restricted to a careful small stroke along her wrist every
now and then. It seemed that for some reason they had gained
Dr. Pipers undivided attention. His hard glare had not left
Scotty for one minute. Whatever the reason for the doctors
concern was, it had kept the engineer from going any
further. Now that Piper, too, had surrendered to his bed,
the Scotsman's caressing finger grew increasingly bold,
travelling from her wrist up the inner side of her lower
arm, lingering a bit in the crook of her elbow then it raced
up her upper arm to her neck.

Nyota held her breath. His touch made her feel so whole that
she began to wonder what she had been missing all the time.
Eventually the young woman forced herself to meet his warm
eyes. She had feared to drown in his gaze and she did.
Slowly he leaned closer, close enough for his breath to
touch her lips. Then his fingertips stroked her cheeks so
lightly that he made her feel like something very fragile,
very precious, that could be destroyed forever by one single
careless move. Strangely she liked that feeling. Bravely she
resisted the urge to move forward. This time she would let
him make his move first.

When he made it, his kiss came to her as light as a feather.
Ultimately soft, worshipping her the way she'd never thought
a man would be capable of. Yet he was. He did it again. This
time shivers went down her back. Suddenly she realized that
her eyes were closed. Marvellous! His lips barely touched
hers yet her senses responded all over her body.

"Don't say good night now," she whispered against his mouth.

"No good night tonight, my love," he promised. "I could go
on kissing you like that forever."

Nyota truly wished he could. It felt heavenly perfect. The
right time, the right place, the right mood... From now on
she would leave the timing up to him, she concluded
smilingly.

Gently he took her small hands into his leading them up to
his mouth, kissing them the same way. "But...," he spoke up
with a hesitant look on his face.

No But, Nyota's mind screamed. She didn't want to hear Buts.
Quickly she shook her head.

"But," he insisted, "first I have to be honest with you."

That moment a sigh of relief departed from her. Thank
goodness. There was never anything wrong with honesty.
"Spill," she encouraged him.

"Dearling, I don't know how to break it to you. I'm a
married man."

Dang!!! Had he said married. Dang!!! Her mouth gaped wide
open as she reeled in shock, feeling as if somebody had just
smashed his notepad into her face. "You...," she stuttered.
"She... You... Why?!"

Still holding on to her hands his expression now showed
unmistakable misery. "Yes me and her married. Her name is
Teresa."

"Oh wonderful!" she barked. "Why?!"

"I don't know. I was a stupid boy. I thought she loved me.
Look, I was pushed into this."

Okay. It had been a rhetoric question. She didn't really
care to know how he felt about his wife, since the problem
here was mainly that he had one and had neglected to tell
her that before she fell in love. Never, she thought, trying
to gather a deep breath to keep herself from hitting him,
never had she been so close to throwing a serious tantrum.
Eventually she decided to get a grip and move on with her
life.

"Okay Scotty," she pressed. "Thanks for telling me. Good
night." Abruptly the woman shot to her feet.

"Nyota," his hold on her wrist was suddenly hard as steel.
Surprised she stopped in mid-movement. That couldn't
possibly be the same hand that had worshipped her cheeks so
very tenderly only a minute ago.

When the engineer evidently realised what he was doing, he
quickly let go of her. "Jesus, lass, I'm sorry. Sometimes I
lack sensation in that hand. I didn't mean to crush your
wrist. I'm so sorry."

Shocked Nyota glared at his hand, rubbing her own wrist.
Indeed there was a very obvious scar there. How could she
have missed that? Already her brooding temper vaporized into
thin air. It wasn't fair, she wailed silently, it simply
wasn't fair. "Oh Scotty why?!" Somebody would have to stop
her before she ended up sounding like a pathetic slab.

"Lass, I told ye I was a stupid boy. I was 26 years old but
too young or blind or whatever to realize that she had the
potential to come to hate me one day."

Without wanting to Nyota laughed. "Hate you? No woman could
ever hate you," she replied.

"Then what is it when the woman you love looks through you
as if you don't exist? We still share a bed, but believe me
I can't even remember the last time I had her in my arms.
Ever since our son died, she's giving me the feeling she'd
rather have it be me lying in that bloody coffin!"

Shocked Nyota glared at him. "Scotty, no, don't say such a
thing," she said quickly, desperately trying to reach out,
to ease his pain. But he was already on his feet,
manoeuvring himself out of her intended embrace before she
could put her arms around him.

"And if I could switch places with him, I'd do it in a
heart-beat. I would, I ..." his voice choked off, as he
stumbled over to the window.

Nyota could see that the bottle was on his lips now. He
greedily sucked down the liquid while tears streamed down
his face. Fine, she should be mad at him. On the other hand,
how could she when this sweet man was hurting so much.
"Scotty," her calm voice soothed, while she slowly
approached him. "Please, don't you ever say such a thing
again. Let me be there for you."

This time he welcomed her embrace. His broken voice kept
murmuring her name. "I don't know how much more I can take.
I don't know what I'm going to do. I want her back and then
I don't. Can it be that something so good does not function
any more? Nyota, there's nothing I could promise you."

Completely unprepared the woman was washed away by a huge
wave of passion, when he unexpectedly drowned her in his
deep, hard kiss. It was pure desperation that touched her
soul so profoundly, that everything broke free in her. Her
fears, her worries, her feeling of inadequacy it all broke
out. "I'm so afraid that I'm misplaced," she confided to
him.

Scotty looked at her intensely. "On this ship?"

"I'm afraid that Star Fleet's trust in might be very much
misplaced."

His loving gaze comforted her at once. "Och, love, the Fleet
has been training cadets long enough to know who they pick
and why. If yer here, then there's a very good reason. I,
for one, have nothing but faith in you."

Nyota heaved a deep relieved breath. Leaning her forehead
against his she whispered, "No good night, tonight?"

"No," he promised. "No' tonight. No' tomorrow, if you take
me back again tomorrow, that is. I thank you, lass."

"For what?"

"For being there when I needed somebody. Now let me be there
for you. I think I know just what it is that you need."

A bright smile broke her tears. "Yes," she whispered into
his ear. "Yes, love me."

They kissed, they hugged. Bit by bit their clothes slipped
to the floor, giving way to burning skin that longed for
more sweet caresses. Entangled in a tight embrace, they
slowly slid to the floor. The ground was hard on her back
while the man in her arms spoiled her with breath-taking
softness. The tender touch of his palms sent shivers across
her body.

A blaze of fire began to burn her up, once he started to
move inside of her. It was too intense. Never had a man
filled her out so completely. He felt so good in her. He
gave himself so completely. A short eternity later their
pleasured cries reached the ceiling, as their lust exploded
going far beyond. Neither of them wasted a single thought
about who might stumble in on them. If anybody had, they
truly would not have even noticed in the haze of passion.
Moaning deeply Nyota buried her fingers in his dark hair,
holding on to him for dear life while they rode out an
overwhelming orgasm together. It was killing her, the
sweetness of his love. Maybe he wasn't perfect, maybe he had
problems, maybe he was a little bit married... But he made
her feel loved. His name lay on the tip of her tongue. Her
lips opened but his kiss robbed her of her breath again.
Mmmmh

"Get your arms around me, hold me closer. Don't let me go,"
Scotty pleaded exhausted, refusing to leave her body just
yet. "You're so beautiful. I will no' be wanting to let you
go tonight."

"Mr. Scott, what is the Crew going to think when they find
us like this tomorrow morning?"

"Och they'll get used to the sight. It'll probably confuse
them at first. But then they'll get used to it. You will,
see a couple of years later they will treat us like
furniture. Just a matter o' time. Besides, they're supposed
to work no' think, unless I order them to think."

"Oh Scotty stop it!" She broke out into light-hearted
laughter. Wasn't it amazing? Merely a couple of minutes ago
they had cried together. Now they were laughing. She pulled
the man tighter into her arms. He was already growing hard
again inside of her. Wasn't he amazing...

---

The End