A Scripta

He didn't know how long he stood there, watching the power prototype. Rusty had his hands behind his back, looking at the swirling lights, remembering something his first engineering "teacher" told him: "Warp engines do not hum. They do not purr. They sing."

This one hums, but is so, oh so close to singing.

He glanced around for a moment, then pulled out his pocket knife, advanced to the rear of the machine. He got to his knees, then tucked himself beneath to see a panel.

I need a fucking Allen wrench?

Growling, he got up from his position and went over to a drawer, started rummaging through it. An Allen wrench was not the most common tool, which meant he either had to go all the way back to his room or sneak into Kit's workshop.

He took the former, not trusting that when he opened the door to the workshop, some alarm would go off and he would be thrown out by something akin to a cartoon punching arm. Too much Road Runner, Rusty, he thought, shaking his head. He glanced around again when he returned, and climbed back under the machine.

It took him some time to get the panel off, and when he did, his mouth dropped open in shock. All she needs to do is add ekka, inject that into this part of the superconductor, and this magnet over here, move --

His head swam for a moment, converting what he saw before him into mathematics. He searched for pen and paper while he was on the floor, then stopped, realizing that he was fixing the problem.

Why don't you give Kit the solution and let her figure out how to get there? He'd get her to the first step, from changing the perfect energy source before him into one which could create and sustain warp bubbles, step one of the Alcubierre drive...

He hurriedly put the panel back, suddenly excited. We can go home sooner than I thought!

He suddenly hesitated as he hand-twisted the screw.

They can go home. I'm not going.