Rodney Aariak was born on Earth’s moon. He grew up in a number of underground installations—his parents were both structural engineers who specialized in repairing and restoring aging structures dating back to humans’ first lunar colonies. Rodney’s lineage was particularly diverse—he proudly counted at least 15 different Native American and European ethic groups in his family tree—but he primarily identified as Inuit. His father’s family had, in fact, arrived on the moon in one of the large waves of Inuit colonists who settled there during the late twenty-first century.
Rodney’s early academic performance was stellar. He applied to and was accepted at Oxford University at 14. His original intention had been to pursue physics, but he found himself increasingly interested in technology and soon switched to the school of engineering science. He considered returning to the moon after graduation, but instead, opted to join Starfleet. This came as no surprise to his parents or close friends, who had always suspected that he found life on the moon closed in and claustrophobic.
Rodney carried his excellent academic skills with him to Starfleet Academy. One of his engineering instructors believed he was the best student ever to enter the Academy. He was intensely serious about his studies. Unfortunately, while he made a few friends, he was often seen as overly dour and bookish. Though he was friendly, he rarely joked with other cadets in class or when on duty. He also frowned on drinking alcohol (or even synthahol) and so excused himself from many of social gatherings, particularly among the younger cadets. His behavior earned him a number of nicknames, including “Rod in the mud.”
However, assessments of Rodney’s true character from his behavior at work were seriously inaccurate, and a close circle of friends knew what he was really like. He had, for instance, developed a passion while at Oxford for Monty Python. He could recite any line from any program, movie, or performance the comedy group had ever done, in the appropriate voices and with excellent timing. He had in fact performed in a Python-esque troupe while in Oxford and contributed a well-reviewed paper on Python to the Journal of Humorology while in his junior year at the Academy. He was also an expert at mixing non-alcoholic drinks and knew recipes from every corner of the known galaxy.
Rodney graduated the Academy with distinction and stayed a year to teach a year-long course on advanced warp mechanics. He is currently serving as chief engineer aboard the USS Ardent.
[…] only as-yet unmentioned addition sitting at the conference table was our chief engineer, Ensign Rodney Aariak. This was our first encounter, and he seemed somewhat dour. But even if he didn’t smile much, […]
[…] shields were in tatters and one of the secondary consoles on the bridge showered sparks. I head Rodney’s voice feeding a steady stream of bad news to the bridge. Rather than stay put, we leapt […]