=Main Engineering= =U.S.S. Chimera= “He’s what?” “Lieutenant McTaggert is dead,” the crewman repeated. Rick looked around the room, not knowing what to say next. With two pairs of eyes on him, he knew he had to think of something fast. “Where is Lieutenant Commander Quayle?” Rick asked. “Unknown, sir,” Ensign Szease said, walking up to Rick. “We’ve been trying to get a hold of him, but these temporal distortions seem to be interfering with the comm system.” ‘Great,’ Rick thought as he looked around a room that was still in a somewhat chaotic state. “Sir,” Szease said. “Since you are in command of Beta team, and with the death of Lieutenant McTaggert, that makes you temporary in charge of engineering.” Rick held back the urge to look shocked. Instead, he knew something must be done, or things could go from bad to worse. That’s when he saw Hector Gomez enter the room with a couple of other engineers. “Hector,” Rick said, waving the ensign over. “I want you to take beta shift and keep an eye on those damn temporal shields.” “Aye, sir,” Hector said. “Ensign ... Szease ... is it?” Rick asked. She just nodded. “I want you to take gamma team and do whatever you can to keep the main shields and force fields online,” Rick said. “Yes, sir,” Rick said. “Everyone else will be deployed throughout the ship to take care of other damage problems,” Rick said. “Keep your teams together and make certain that at least two people are working together at all times. If you find yourselves no longer where you’re suppose to be, then make your way back to engineering. Got it?” They all nodded. “You will likely be on your own until we can get these communication problems sorted out,” Rick said, wanting to be anywhere but here at the moment. “I’m going to try to do whatever I can here to get that problem solved, but it will probably take some time.” Rick studied the expressions on the others faces. Most of them were older and perhaps even more experienced than he was. Still, for the time being, he was in charge. “Alright, you have your assignments and if you happen to come across Commander Quayle, then please ask him to stop by engineering,” Rick said. Once everyone else was off to their duties, Rick headed over to a computer panel and work on the comm system. He was then caught by surprise ... or maybe he wasn’t ... at the sight of McTaggert’s final moments playing out just a few feet in front of him. Rick wanted to help, but in a flash, McTaggert disappeared. “Damn, I hate temporal mechanics,” Rick muttered to himself. “What was that, sir?” a crewman said standing a couple of feet from Rick. “Nothing,” Rick said. “Nothing at all.” Lieutenant (j.g.) Rick Rodgers Assistant Engineering Officer U.S.S. Chimera