"Can you fix it?" asked Commander Gibson.

"Of course I can," said Dr. Kang "That goes without saying. The real question is: can we acquire the necessary materials for me to fix it."

They were all standing outside of the lander, marveling at the state of it. It was almost surreal that they had all survived such a crash with only superficial wounds.

"Well?" asked Mitzner.

"Well the matter/antimatter reactor is going to be the biggest problem. When we lost the structural integrity field it would have dumped all it's antimatter into universe negative one so as to avoid the instant annihilation of ourselves and all the matter that we consist of. As you can imagine a matter/antimatter reaction doesn't get very far without antimatter."

"Where in the world are we supposed to get antimatter?" asked Gul.

"Therein lies the problem, whoever it is that you are," said Dr. Kang "We don't have the tools we need to build the tools we need to build the tools we need to build the atom-tight containment fields necessary to refine antimatter without destroying half the planet. That's to say nothing of the tools and materials required for the refinement process itself."

"You're saying it can't be done," said Gibson.

"Were you even listening?" asked Dr. Kang "I just said I can do it. I could personally build up to a Type II civilization on my own starting with only stone-age tools if necessary. It's going to take some time, is what I'm saying."

"We should try to find the native humans on this world," said Gibson "Before we came down our sensors detected some limited signs of civilization. They might be able to give us a technological head start."

"They could even have an ansible we could use to contact the Armstrong," Gul offered.

"They won't," said Dr. Kang, matter-of-factly.

"This is our plan?" demanded Mitzner, incredulous "Start from scratch and build our way back up to interstellar travel? That's insane."

"My all means," said Dr. Kang "Enlighten us with your superior alternative."

Mitzner's eyes narrowed and her nose scrunched.

"You ponder on that and let us know when you come up with something better," said Dr. Kang "In the meantime we should get started as soon as possible. If you do happen to find that ansible let us know."

"Why don't you two guard what's left of the lander," said Gibson "While Dr. Kang and I try to find a settlement."

"Oh no," said Mitzner "I'm coming with you. Don't you remember what happened the last time you two were left alone?"

"I single-handedly liberated the Manticorean civilization from serfdom while increasing the projected power of the Huxley Foundation in that sector of space," said Dr. Kang "While the Commander watched. This also solidified our crew's reputation with the Administrative Branch. I have reason to believe this resulted in a statue of me being built on Manticore. To be frank, Lieutenant-Commander, I have a much better track record when I go rogue than you do."

"That settles it, I'm coming along," said Mitzner.

"Ensign Gul, you comfortable guarding the lander alone?" asked Gibson.

Discretion, he was learning, was an important factor in leadership. Doubly so when Mitzner was involved.

"Shouldn't be a problem," said Gul.

"Fine," said Gibson, nodding "Dr. Kang, disconnect whatever is left of the lander's ansible and the three of us will take it with us. That should be easier to repair, correct?"

"I'd only have to reinvent cold fusion instead of the matter/antimatter reactor. Actually that's not true, I could get really archaic with it. I'm certain I could power an ansible with a nuclear reactor, but what about fossil fuels? We could have an ansible that runs on the alien equivalent of burning dinosaurs!"

Dr. Kang went on to explain the mechanism of action for something called an "internal combustion engine" as he disconnected the lander's ansible. Everyone ignored him.