What the Stars May Bring

The Fusion Reactor

As Cooper exited the lock and took off her helmet, the smell of freshly made coffee greeted her. "Ooh that smells good!" Cooper exclaimed as she took off her gloves.

"I just made a pot. Would you like some?" 

"I don't mind if I do," she said as she removed the pants of her suit. "Could I please have a little help with the breastplate?"

"Certainly," Snyder said. "It's hard to get those off in zero g."

The two of them worked together to remove the bulky piece of equipment. After about five minutes, Cooper stood there in just her jumpsuit. The two of them worked together to stow it in a locker. When that chore was finally finished, she reminded him about the offered coffee. 

"How do you get coffee on board?" Cooper asked.

"Well, it's an old tradition here on the Lexington. The officers in charge of this section are told about a combination locker somewhere in main engineering and given the locker's code. When they find it, there is always a large store of instant coffee inside."

"Now that's a grand tradition," Cooper said.

"I think so too," Snyder replied as he filled a small squeeze bulb with the coveted liquid. Then, changing the subject he said, "Everyone is at their respective stations, so go ahead with your normal morning routine."

"Will do chief. Thanks for the coffee."

"No problem," he said as Cooper floated further into the engineering section. 

She found her first crew person at the fusion reactor's control panel. "Good day to you Specialist Green," she said as she floated over to the workstation next to the specialist. 

"Good morning to you, Cooper," Green said, never looking away from the screen. 

"You are working hard," Cooper commented.

"I'm trying to get the tritium properly balanced with the deuterium injectors. Right now, the reactor is only at fifty percent capacity."

"I see. That is a problem."

'It really is a problem,' Cooper thought. 'With the reactor running at fifty percent there is no way we can sufficiently heat enough water to maneuver like the bridge expects.' 

"God forbid we need to turn the ship at full speed until I get the intermix fixed."

"Why don't you ask Specialist Miller to come up and help you?"

"Unfortunately, this happens on a weekly basis, so I know I can have it fixed by the end of my shift. I've just got to have a lot of patience."

"Why not just switch out this reactor once we get back to Phobos?" Cooper asked.

"I've been asking the brass to do just that. Unfortunately, they keep coming up with excuses not to."

"Wow, that must be very frustrating for you."

"It sure is. Now, while I would love to chitchat with you, I have a reactor to fix."

"I understand. Good luck."

"Thanks."

---

The next crew person Cooper came across was Hoover. He was wandering around the water manifold, which would direct super-heated steam to the proper thruster. Each time he floated to a new station he jotted something down on his portable. 

"Hello Specialist Hoover. You're hard at work, as usual."

"Hello Lieutenant Cooper. Give me a minute. I'm just finishing up with the hourly checks."