=CEO’s Office= =U.S.S. Chimera= Rick knew he was onto something, but couldn’t quite pinpoint the problem. He had data padds scattered across his desk along with several empty coffee mugs. He had learned more about dampening fields over the past few hours then he ever imagined possible. From technical readouts to historical records, there was quite a big to go over. Still, he went over all of it, but didn’t have the answers he sought. “Crap,” he muttered to himself as he rubbed his eyes, looking over the computer monitor. “What’s wrong,” he heard from the direction of the door. Rick looked up and saw Jo Weathersby standing at the entrance to his office. “How long have you been standing there?” Rick asked. “Long enough to see that you’re over doing it again,” she responded. “I thought all of alpha shift was suppose to be spending some R and R at the Hotel.” “Yeah, the captain has reminded me of that at least twice already,” Rick said. “But, with all of the problems we seem to be having, I can’t leave the ship until I have answers.” “If the captain doesn’t have a problem with you taking some time off, despite everything that’s wrong, then I don’t see the problem,” Jo said as she walked up to his desk. “I do!” Rick said in a curt tone, feeling bad the moment he said it. With the problems that she was having with her life, she didn’t need his rudeness. “Look,” Rick said. “I can’t get my engines, or the sensors to work, even though every reading that I’m getting from them says that they should be working at better than acceptable parameters. I believe I’m on to something here, but I’m just not certain what it is and I can’t go to the captain about it until I know for certain.” She picked up one of the data padds off of his desk and looked it over, “Dampening fields...?” “Yeah, that’s the only thing I can come up with,” Rick said. “But, for something like that to be at work here, it would have to be generating a hell of a lot of power. Unfortunately, I can’t perform a scan of the immediate area because out sensors are down.” Jo looked over a couple more padds, not knowing that much about the subject herself. “Well, Mr. Genius,” she said. “Don’t you think it’s a little odd that the moment we arrived here that everything went kaput.” “Yeah ... so,” Rick said. She just shook her head, “And I’m the one that didn’t go to Starfleet Academy.” Rick just waited for her to continue as she took a long pause. “Wouldn’t there be a good chance that, if there is some sort of dampening field at work here, that it would have to be getting its power from the Hotel,” she continued. “I suppose,” Rick said. “So, wouldn’t it be a wise move to continue this investigation over on the Hotel where you’re suppose to be in the first place?” she said. “Yeah, I guess ... what to you mean, we?” Rick said. “Hell, if I let you try to figure things out on your own, then we may be stuck here for the next six months,” she said. “So, I reckon that I’m going to have to play nursemaid.” Rick gave her a serious look. “Sir,” she said. Rick just smiled, “You should be enjoying some R and R of your own.” “I don’t feel much like resting and relaxing, if you know what I mean,” she said. “Besides, a little snooping around might help me take my mind of things.” He stood up and rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay,” he said. “Lets go snoop around.” Acting Lieutenant Rick Rodgers Chief Engineering Officer U.S.S. Chimera and PO2 Jo Weathersby (npc) Engineering Specialist U.S.S. Chimera