Matt didn't even have time to come up with a smart remark before a blue arrow appeared in the middle of the floor, it streaked off into the distance at a steady pulsing pace, leaving behind a distinct line for Anna to follow. Anna squared her shoulders as she marched off down the corridor, looking like she was about to engage in battle, as Matt's softly laughed thinking maybe she wasn't half wrong.

Matt suddenly alone stood looking to all the world like a grinning loon and with a shake of his head and a snort he took a different corridor leading down to the flight deck. “Sam, when you've finished getting Anna up to speed. Can you have her join me?”

“Yes Captain,” Sam responded. “Matt, do you think I should call Anna by her rank or her first name as I do with you?” Matt thought for a second while he turned a corner before saying, “She'll probably want to be called by her name in non-formal situations. But I think the best policy will be to ask every new crew member how they prefer to be addressed. In fact, make it part of your induction SOP routines.”

“Aye, Captain,” Sam responded, leaving Matt in silence as he continued on towards the flight deck.

Twenty minutes later, a rather shaky Anna entered the flight deck where Matt and a maintenance bot were it appeared to be tinkering around a stand containing a micro-fusion core, three containers and what looked like a series of hoses leading in two directions off into the distance and a central device that she couldn't identify.

When Anna finally reached them Matt looked up at her from the deck with a great big grin on his face. “I think this is actually going to work An.” He stood up, turned around and kneeled down as he proceeded to work with no explanation. He continued to use a plasma-based combination welder and blow torch, a scanning device and the imperial equivalent of a multi-metre.

Anna stared at the contraption and opened her mouth to ask exactly what the hell Matt was doing when he said. “Alright, so the problem is the Kovali's back up power cells are drained near to the point of depletion. Sam's got enough power for like a few more days at current usage. But, we don't have any anti-matter for the reactor and most of the remaining hydrogen that was stored was used up getting the Kovali down onto the planet. And the strike craft's Micro-Cores don't have a high enough power output to run Sam or enough fuel to start up a Fusion reactor.”

Anna was starting to get impatient waiting for the part where he told her what he was doing. “I know that Matt, how does this whatever it is fix our problems.”

Matt turned to look at her with a cheeky grin. “It's a hydrolysis rig.” As Anna continued to look blankly at Matt he snorted and said, “Were you not paying attention in basic science at highschool. Water...” and he pointed to the third tank which was currently being filled with a clear substance from a barrel by a maintenance drone. “...is made up of chemically of hydrogen and two oxygen molecules. With an electric charge you can cause the chemical bonds to break apart leaving you...” and he pointed to one tank “chemically pure oxygen...” as he turned her to the other tank “...and more importantly pure unadulterated hydrogen. With which we can use to start up one of the several fusion reactors and start recharging the power cells.”

Matt turned back to look at the rig, “It's a long cry from the power levels required to get the ship even remotely operational let alone break orbit. But it'll do for now and Sam was talking about burrowing into the underground aquifer once he's got the juice. There are a few kinks I've still got to solve but I really think it'll work..”

Matt turned back to see a flabbergasted Anna, “Hun, what's the matter.” He said as he took a step towards her.

“I don't know what to say, are you sure it's going to work. You said something about kinks?”

Matt's face split open in a grin again as he said, “Yeah, well basically the fighter's use a self-contained miniature version of a fusion reactor. The problem with that is Fusion itself, it's like an internal combustion engine.”

Anna tilted her head slightly as she tried to process what he was saying. “How is having a miniature fusion reactor a problem? And what do you mean it's like a car engine, I would have thought that thing would have been lightyears ahead of a car.”

Matt shrugged “Well, yes and no. Fusion basically is shoving two particles into a chamber, add heat and as they fuse the reaction releases a massive burst of energy. Just like a car, the piston sucks in the fuel compresses the fuel for ignition BAM and then removes the waste products in a way that resets the chamber for the next bang. The problem is, all Imperial technology runs off the superheated plasma. So I've had to jerry-rig a combination of a thermionic inducer and a plasma flow regulator to strip the electrons out of the plasma flow to use them to hydrolise the water.”

Matt stood back and looked at her expectantly. “Ok...” Anna said, “...so Sam's not going to run out of power, that's just one of the many things on the to-do list. We're going to need a...”

Matt looked at Anna like she'd lost her mind. “Do you realize what I've just built. Basically human-built Fusion reactors like ITER are currently an academic exercise. Because no one's come up with a way to get a sustained output, or it to produce anything useful. Human technology doesn't run on confined plasma, it runs on electricity and they can't get electricity out of plasma.”

Anna looked at him stupified for a moment before it began to dawn on her. “So you're saying, that in about 20 minutes you've just solved the energy crisis”

Matt smiled to himself in smug satisfaction. “That about sums it up.”

Anna gave him a brief moment to bask in the glow of being the potential saviour of mankind from climate change if only he could tell someone before she punched him in the arm hard. “We've got a lot of work to do CAPTAIN. Besides it's nearing midnight, do you want to sleep down here on the ship or back at your place.”

“Well,” Matt said. “I'll have to think about that...” as he looked at Anna with a twinkle in his eye.