It was very late in the Virgo's artificial day/night cycle. Benton's shift had ended hours ago, and he now lay in bed reading. It was a work of fiction by an ancient Earth author by the name of George Lucas. Although the book's story took place in the far distant past and in another galaxy altogether, Benton couldn't help but notice several striking similarities between the book's characters and the beings he had personally met in the last few months. He knew there was no logical explanation for this of course, aside from simple coincidence.
He applied a Human proverb: "Life imitates art." Undoubtedly if he searched the Virgo's databases long and hard enough, he would be able to locate works of fiction written long ago that resembled his own life and experience: growing up in snowy, northern New Kelva; leaving his familiar surroundings to live and work with these strange (from his point of view) people; sharing his small cabin with a furry companion...
Spot chirped as if he knew Benton's thoughts.
Benton craned his neck to look toward Spot's cage. Spot's food dish was empty and Spot was inching his way up the side of the cage. "I can't believe you ate all those jelly doughnuts already!" said Benton, shaking his head in disapproval.
After Spot had helped rescue Benton and Captain Maruu from the clutches of the evil Horde on Xenon III, the Captain had made good on his promise to supply Spot with all the jelly doughnuts he could eat. Spot had of course taken advantage of the situation.
Spot chirped haughtily in reply to Benton's rebuke.
"And don't take that attitude with me, mister," scolded Benton. "I've put up with it for two months now and I think it's high time it stopped." Benton settled back into his pillow and tried to continue reading. He mumbled under his breath, "I should have listened to my father. He said, 'Benton, never let a tribble save your life. They'll never let you forget it. They'll make you pay and pay and pay...' Well, I've paid. Now just let it go!" he called to Spot.
Spot had a different opinion, and he ignored Benton, still climbing the wall of his cage. He reached the top, but found any further progress blocked by the big rock Benton had put on top to keep Spot from popping it open.
Spot screeched in indignation, and Benton smiled and turned back to his book.
The small, dim light on his night stand flickered, interrupting Benton's reading. Annoyed, he reached over and smacked the lamp base a couple of times, and it came back on. He returned to his book. A young naive pilot was about to attack the enemy's space station. He was zooming along a narrow trench along the surface of the space station, trying to use his mystic powers to hit a target that was not much bigger than a womp-rat, whatever that was. The young pilot was closing on his target, enemy fighters were closing on the young pilot, the fate of the galaxy hung on whether or not he hit his target. He squeezed the trigger and: The lamp went out!
"Oh, for the love of...!" cried Benton. He tossed the book down on the bed in frustration and just lay in the dark for a few moments. Finally he decided, "I need a new lamp."
He got up and made his way to the door. From back in his cage, Spot snickered. As Benton walked out of his cabin, he was muttering, "...Pay and pay and pay..."
Benton's cabin was near Engineering, so it was only a short walk to the industrial replicators. At this time of night, there was no one here, so he sat at the main console and helped himself. He called up the catalog on the console's viewer, and queried the computer for small desk lamps. It obediently began showing them to Benton one by one. He flipped back and forth through the selection a few times and finally settled on a lamp that struck his fancy.
He pressed the "Replicate" button and watched as the machinery hummed to life. Unimaginable energies were awakened and focused on this small room. The replicator pad glowed for a few moments, and when it powered down, a small new lamp sat on the floor. Benton walked over and picked it up. He gave it a quick once-over to make sure it was okay, then headed back to his cabin.
As Benton re-entered his cabin and the door slid shut behind him, he immediately noticed something was wrong. Spot's cage was still where it belonged, the lid was shut and the big rock was still on top holding it shut, but the cage was empty! How does he DO that?!
"Pay and pay and pay...."