Engineering: Power system

MPAD-24 announced, "This it the fifth level which is the Engineering level. It provides access to the ship's primary systems for power, environmental control, communication and navigation." The room was large and open, with several complex machines scattered about. Near each of them were several Greys.

As you stepped out of the elevator, one of them approached. "We were notified that you might be visiting this level. If you have questions, I can assist. My designation is E-9."

"Hello, E-9. I'm Sky," you began. "I'm interested in learning more about the basic operation about each of the systems."

"Were you an engineer on your ship," he asked.

"No, but each of us had some training in science and engineering. However, our technology was certainly not as advanced as this," you explained.

"It may be difficult to understand some of the principles, but we can start with the power system," said the Grey engineer. E-9 then led you toward a large device at one end of the room. "Are you familiar with multiphasic energy or resonance coupling?"

"Um, no," you replied.

"Have you seen or operated on one of the showers on board? Those use simple forms of multiphasic energy - light and sound specifically."

"Yes, I have actually. Is that related to this?" you asked, pointing at the strange alien device.

"The shower is just a simple application which uses multiphasic energy. This device generates huge amounts of multiphasic energy via a cyclic resonance coupling process. This allows the fuel to be amplified harmonically into higher energy states at nearly 100 percent efficiency."

Much of this was going over your head, but you tried hard to get the gist of it. "What kind of fuel does it use?" you asked, trying to sound like you understood most of it.

"Hydrogen with a xenudinium calalyst," replied E-9.

You knew the first, but not the second. Was that another element? "So is the process somewhat like fusion?" you asked.

"The **** temperature and pressure required for fusing hydrogen into helium is not feasible for a ship this small. With cyclic resonance coupling, two hydrogen ions become synchronized for a short time across great distances. Hydrogen with a low energy state in the chamber is briefly synchronized with hydrogen somewhere else, typically in a nearby star, which begins at a very high energy state. Through the resonant coupling, the synchronization results in them quickly reaching an averaged energy state, and they are immediately decoupled. The resulting energy imparted to the atom in the chamber is then siphoned through the catalyst into a usable form of multiphasic energy. Then the cycle repeats. The entire chamber is filled with many moles of hydrogen performing this process many times per second," explained E-9.

Amazingly, most of that actually made sense. "Based on what I know as the First Law of Thermodynamics, the internal energy of a system is constant, which would imply that this device is effectively forming a closed system with the star as an energy source. In other words, it's basically drawing energy directly from a star. That's an amazing technology!" you exclaimed. Here you were discussing complex engineering concepts with an alien while basically wearing a bondage outfit with nothing covering your crotch, and somehow it all seemed completely normal. Hell, maybe this skimpy outfit was actually making you smarter.

"That's the basic concept. The resonant coupling process is extremely complicated, but it is based on simple subspace pairing, which is fundamental to many forms of advanced technology," stated E-9.

"Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with subspace technology. My race hasn't unlocked that yet," you replied.

"Yet you're here," E-9 retorted. "I'm not sure how that's possible. On the other hand, it may explain how your ship crashed into the subspace relay."

You simply nodded in response. You didn't need a reminder that humans were foolhardy for attempting space travel before discovering subspace technology. The captain had already given you a lecture about that.