johnconner said:
Scotty was already in space with Pike, though, wasn't he?
Of course, he might have been between majors, because he was sporting a yellow shirt back then.
So if it's between THE CAGE and WNMHGB, is he a prof's assistant?
Also, it could be like that annoying commercial for a local college:
"No, he gave all that up because he liked to work on starships."
(1) There is no indication that Montgomery Scott was aboard Enterprise at any point prior to WNMHGB. There is also no indication that he wasn't. I, personally, like the idea that he was the older, experienced officer who sort of resented this "young lad" coming in as Captain at first. They did this in "All Those Years Ago" in the DC Comics annual, and it really worked for me.
(2) It is VERY VERY VERY COMMON PRACTICE for officers in the service to be reassigned regularly throughout their careers. It is also MANDATORY that, when selected for promotion to certain levels of rank, one is REQUIRED to return for advanced training in your new field of specialization, or for your new levels of responsibility. Thus, it makes perfect sense for lieutenant Montgomery Scott to have been at the Academy, and very likely having some teaching responsibilities, at some point, and it would be perfectly reasonable for him to have been there when Kirk was attending his own Command School (remember, that being at least six years after Kirk matriculated from the Academy and with him holding the rank of Lieutenant (promotable) as well.)
My only quibble with Scotty being an instructor who knew Kirk at the Academy is that... once again... that leads us to the "it's a small, small galaxy" problem that so much of latter-day Trek seemed to fall into. It makes much more logical sense for him to have been an engineering officer, but not CHIEF engineer, under Pike, and having been promoted to the rank of Chief upon, say, the retirement or promotion of his predecessor.
It just works better for the "I can believe this could really happen" circuit inside my brain.
