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Squee sat patiently while Vlasa relayed his report to Ariana. He had assisted in the assessment, so none of the news came as new information to him. But it was proper to remain attentive.
Vlasa continued, “I’ve completed my assessment of the reactor components. All of the major parts are there for a complete fusion reactor. Unfortunately, it is missing a few comparatively minor components.”
“Comparatively minor?” Ariana asked skeptically.
“Yes, mainly involving the safety regulators and control processors.”
“Those sound important.” Ariana said.
“Only if you want to keep the reactor from turning into a bomb.”
Ariana shrugged her arms, “Honestly, a fusion bomb might come in handy. Given that we’re being chased by terrorists, murderous AI, and now the military.”
Squee suppressed his displeasure at Ariana’s flippant tone in her last comment. It would be improper to question the captain, who he had pledged himself to serve. Still, he disagreed with the decision not to turn themselves into the PUG patrol ship.
“It wouldn’t be a very good fusion bomb,” Vlasa said.
“A bad fusion bomb is better than any ordinance we have onboard.”
“By bad, I don’t mean lacking in explosive potential. I mean bad in lacking the ability to be used as a reliable bomb. To detonate, it would need fuel, which it only has when hooked up to the ship. Also, the reaction would be uncontrollable, meaning it could overload and destroy us as soon as we turn it on or two days from when we wanted it to explode.”
Ariana held up her hands, “Alright. No fusion bombs. Got it. I take it no extra power either?”
“Not on its own.” Vlasa said, and then gestured to Squee, “But Squee did have an idea.”
Startled, Squee sat there silently for a moment. He had not expected to need to speak during this briefing. By rights, as the senior engineer, Vlasa should explain everything. Squee was just there to show solidarity.
Recovering, he stood, “Yes, while the reactor cannot be powered up independently to provide us with additional power, we could use it as a source of alternative power.”
“A backup, sure. Never a bad thing to have.”
Squee looked again to Vlasa who gestured for him to continue, “Excuse me, Captain, I did not make myself clear. Not merely as a backup, but as an alternative. When we were exposed to that ion effect from the pulsar, Vlasa overcame the field shutting down the FTL by bypassing the charged circuits. It was a stopgap, emergency measure. But effective. With an entirely separate reactor, we could switch power pathways to the shields to counteract those effects.”
“So, we’d be immune to ion weapons?” Ariana asked eagerly.
“No.” Vlasa answered flatly, “We could recover from them faster, or potentially cycle the reactors and shield generators to almost always keep one level of shielding functional. Any ion effects that got past the shields would be unaffected and just as devastating.
“But what it would be very effective against, would be natural ion effects. Like another pulsar or those from a nebula.”
Ariana brightened at this news. She stood up immediately, “Excellent work. How soon until it’s up and running?”
“A few hours.”
“That should be enough,” Ariana said, and then practically skipped from the room.
Squee tilted his head at the odd behavior. He turned to Vlasa, “I do not understand the captain’s enthusiasm. While this plan is certainly beneficial to the ship, I do not see any immediate advantages. Perhaps she did not understand?”
Vlasa shook his head, “No, she understood. With this in place, we’ll finally be able to pass through the Unmar nebula.”
“I am unfamiliar with this phenomenon.”
“The Unmar nebula sits practically in the middle of explored space. It’s light years across, full of forming star systems. And it’s charged with unusual electrical fields. Ships hardened against the effects can save weeks of travel time by cutting through it.”
“Which would help us reach Triask faster,” Squee said, nodding approvingly.
“Sure, a little bit. From where we are and where Triask is, the main advantage is giving us more choices. But after this is all over, is when it will really come in handy. Because we can save so much time, we’ll be able to pick up more lucrative delivery contracts. That and it’s a great place to hide. In several systems its almost impossible to find another ship that’s not practically on top of you. Should this whole LFD craziness bring about another AI war, we’ll have someplace to hole up.”
Squee frowned and felt his spine stiffen, “Why would you even imagine something like that? We will not fail this quest.”
Vlasa shrugged, “I hope we don’t. But I, and the captain, like to have a backup plan. Now, let’s get this thing installed.”
Watching Vlasa walk out of the room, Squee felt his shoulders slump. Could he have misjudged his crewmates so badly? Did they lack the conviction to succeed?