=Ensign Rodgers’ quarters= =U.S.S. Chimera= Rick awoke from his bed a little more tired than when his head hit the pillow only hours earlier. He had spent most of the previous day working on minor odds and ends, including repairing three replicators with the same problem the one in sickbay seemed to have. Once he was finished with one job, another one popped up. Then another and another and another. And Rick couldn’t have been happier ... even when he found himself doing menial tasks that would otherwise be reserved to non-comms. He always liked fixing things for as long as he could remember. Now that he was an assistant engineering officer, it was like being in paradise. Better than even Risa. After he finally got off duty, he went straight to his quarters and planned on relaxing to a good book. Instead, he studied the modifications that were to be made by the base engineering crew to the ship. He didn’t like that they were going to be doing to the Chimera, but being a lowly ensign, he has little to no say in the matter. The only thing he could do was make whatever adjustments he could thank of to make the modifications safer for the ship. Staying busy also helped Rick avoid all of the rumors on the ship about who was responsible for the incident with the replicators. It also kept him away from the rivalry that had developed between the crews of the Chimera and the starbase. After his encounter with the marine lieutenant earlier, McTaggert had a little talk with Rick. Since then, Rick avoided the base engineers, despite his friendship with Ensign Gomez from his days at the academy. This morning, though, he wouldn’t be able to avoid them. He would be spending all day with them, including the pleasant Marine Captain Garsha. Then there was Lieutenant Commander Quayle, the Chimera’s former chief engineering officer. Not only was Quayle returning as an assistant engineer, but on this morning, Rick would still be in command of the Chimera teams, even though Quayle would be joining them. Rick wondered if he could give orders to a superior officer that had way more experience as he took a hot mug of coffee from the replicator in his quarters. He took a sniff of its contents, remembering the day before. He then took a drink when he realized it was safe. After replicating a couple of doughnuts, he walked over to the desk in his cramped quarters and sat down. He picked up a data padd and spent the next few minutes studying the modifications he had become quite familiar with. The night before, he came up with a couple of more adjustments, but none of which that would improve matters a great deal. Still, anything was better than nothing. Once he was finished with his breakfast, he stood up, with the data padd in hand, and left his quarters to meet Quayle in engineering. Ensign Rick Rodgers Assistant Engineering Officer U.S.S. Chimera