Heist the Colours 2: Now in Space (RP)

Continued from Heist the Colours.

There was a sense of unease on the roads from the city to the spaceport, but no sign that people were properly aware of what was happening or about to happen. Perhaps this distraction helped, or Perhaps Bob was responsible, but the guards at the spaceport gate and hanger did not ask many questions or bother to give your gear or paperwork more than a cursory glance. And you put significant effort into that paperwork.

Bob's bright orange Gig --what did you expect?-- is apparently called 'Ginger' (six-one-hotel-six-echo-romeo) --again, not unexpected. He proudly shows it off when you arrive and Abby tries to look impressed, but mainly looks scared.

Abby quickly locks herself in her room for the launch, nodding at Bob's suggestion that she take anti-nausea meds, just in case. It is only after this that you realise there are only two cabins --though they each have a double-bunk-- and one shared Fresher. Bob assures you he prefers to stay in the pilot's seat, though you suspect he is being uncharacteristically chivalrous with this lie. There are not enough seats for everyone, and Bob insists everyone needs to be strapped in for the initial launch, at least one of you will need to strap into a bunk for now.

With the demand for speed, Bob tries for a high-G burn, but after a day everyone is feeling ragged, and Abby insists she is going to die, --and looks like it too, in a non-goth way-- so you are limited to slightly over 1-G with 2-Gs while everyone is asleep even though this is uncomfortable and probably not worth it.

At first Abby is amazed by all the stars, she has never left her planet before and all the light-pollution reduced their splendour to a mere few twinkles in the night sky, she had no idea there were so many and is excited to get to see them all. But, over the days of unchanging travel she ends up spending most of her time with her face in that new computer. That still makes her happy and she has transferred the software from the cube to the computer and futilely begged Bob to let her try it out on his ship. As she points out, she has no experience here, and does not know what to expect from a real ship. As he points out, Ginger is the only thing between them all and horrible death in the vacuum of space. Do you take sides?

What do you each do over the (unspecified) days on your way to the Depot?

The Depot caretaker is less interested in your papers and purpose for being there than in any news you have from the surface. Apparently things have gotten bad down there and the News Networks have been shut off or appear heavily censored, even from before you left. He has his immediate family up here, but has other family and friends still on the planet, and is worried.

Something in his questions implies that he is expecting (official) people to be arriving up here to mobilise the fleet, and he possibly assumes you are part of that first wave. This could be to your benefit, or come back to bite you later, depends on how you play it.

Arriving at the coordinates of your Far Traveller Ship, you can see from some distance away that there are problems:

Where you would expect a Launch or Shuttle to be mounted there is an extra Turret instead.

The ship is sealed up and powered down and locked down. But you were expecting some level of this. Airlocks can be powered from the outside in case of emergencies and for mothball situations like this.

What do you do?

- Ronny -

"'Extra'? Compared to what?" Abby replies. "I don't know what level of security to expect, so it makes little difference to me." She is trying to sound confident, but knows that the time is fast approaching when she has to prove her worth.

She is scared, scared of failing and letting everyone down --a bigger problem than she expected, now, with the nascent rebellion down there and the less-than-legal activities they got up to getting away-- and scared that she won't be able to cope with the new environment with all its new dangers and considerations, and scared of the Vacc Suit she has learned she will need to wear till they get the ship running enough to turn on life-support.

"Is it true what they are saying on the news? That someone assassinated High-Prince Ferdie? I liked him, he was better than the other 'politicians' who will inherit now. It's bad, right?"

- Ronny -

Abby tries to look stern --because she is sorta 'in the media'-- but has to smile and agree --because she is sorta in the media. "I suppose so." She replies, still looking vulnerable. "This is already the furthest I have ever been from home." She says wistfully. "With each step I take it just gets further. Leaving the system is just another 'step', right?"

- Lio -

Abby had her own meds --the expensive ones-- and only really needed them for the nausea for the first day or two. You suspect it was mainly nerves and being in a new situation after that.

'' Good to go Ronny, do we just walk up to the ship? Will our handyman cover work you think? I mean, it was quite easy to get here, maybe it can help us get inside the ship without too much fuzz? Nobody ever bothers the workers with the helmets and high-vis shirt.''

Your target ship is hanging in space, quiet and cold, powered down for storage. Bob expertly attaches to the airlock docking ring, Ginger providing the power needed to light it up from the outside.

The central observation hub where the caretaker is lives visible in the middle-distance, but you can not make out details with the naked eye. Presumably the caretaker would need to take an active interest before he would notice anything strange going on over here. But you are the only other people around, and he seems chatty and even inclined towards coming over to help if you don't take steps to avoid that.

The caretaker treats your approaching the ship as a normal thing, that is why you said you were here. He will not be suspicious unless you do something suspicious...

"It's locked." Bob says. He does not sound all that surprised, not all mothballed ships are locked, but all airlocks have locks with a code to prevent people from getting in at the wrong time. If there were people working outside one's ship it we be unconscionable to endanger them by requiring a code in an emergency, but this ship was not active. Presumably the expectation is that the rightful owners would have that code.

---

What was your plan to deal with this problem? Did your contacts somehow get ahold of the code? Did you bribe someone for it? Must Abby hack it before you can enter? Is this a surprise to you? Do you try another airlock? These are just examples.

What do/did you do?

Abby looks at the numeric-keypad-lock. "Possibly." She says. "It is just numbers. It should not be too hard to bruteforce the combination. Do you know how many digits? Does it lock you out if you get it wrong too many times?"

"Wait? What?" Abby looks at Raf incredulously. "You can't make a 'reverse EMP'. That is like saying 'a reverse bomb, you set it off and it fixes things nearby'. That defies the laws of entropy... and logic. I think your friend was lying to you, or that sandwich was older than it looked."

Bob is also hasty to point out when you finish. "You say that... but the that is nowhere near the 'worst case scenario'. Jumping with a faulty airlock means, if anything goes wrong, everyone inside the ship dies as all the air rushes out." He looks at Raf with suspiciously. "You guys paid me to bring you up here, and to not ask questions. Fun as it's been, I never agreed to leave my home and my girlfriend." (You all have heard about Bob's girlfriend, but no one you know has met her.) You can be pretty sure he will have words to say about any attempt to set of an EMP in or near his precious ship, just the mention of having one has Bob looking very nervous.

"I can open it." Abby says, though maybe just to defuse the tension. "If it locks us out after some attempts, it will just take longer. I don't plan to use the buttons by hand."

"Thank you, dear." Abby says when Ronny opens the keypad. She spends a moment studying the insides then unzips a few of her many sleek, black, canvas and leather bags to reveal a multitude of probes, wires, clips, and other things that can't be identified.

She takes out a rather simple-looking lead with only three crocodile-clips on each end and --being careful that the dangling ends don't touch each other-- clips two of them to tiny junctions inside the lock. Checking her computer screen one more time she clips the other ends of those two wires to a strange box with many knobs and dials and lights, plugs that device (Hacker Toolkit) into her new computer, and only then connects the third clip to the device and then the lock.

She quickly pulls her hand back as she does this and appears to be holding her breath. "No sparks is good." She says, she does not seem bothered by the small audience watching her, usually she has many more... though they are not normally quite so close.

Turning up a large knob on the toolkit the lights come on, she adjusts a few smaller knobs and flips a few switches, nodding in approval before sitting down cross-legged on the floor of the airlock in front of her computer screen. "This part may take a while." She declares to her 'audience'. "Go make yourself a cup of coffee. Make one for me too." She smiles at this, like a joke she has made many times before, only to look sad for a moment when she realises the joke does not work when her whole audience is right there and can bring her coffee --which one of you probably should do.

After more than an hour of 'just reading her screen' Abby makes a final adjustment to the box between her and the computer before saying. "Here goes..."

... and the lock clicks and indicates it is unlocked.

The other side of the airlock door is still at whatever pressure and atmosphere is inside the mothballed ship. The gauge indicates 'near vacuum', which you might hope is how they left it and not signs of a slow leak.

What do you do?

- Raf -

"Thank you, honey." Abby says, smiling at you as she takes the coffee and then returns to her work. You all know how each other like their coffee (or whatnot) by now, and it is just right.

"Hey!" Bob objects. "I live here, remember! And coffee is the nectar of the gods." Presumably Bob has an apartment, but he does spend most of his time flying, and not always from the same city, so this may be more like his home than anywhere else.

"Ginger can pressurise the airlock. Then we will need to equalise the pressure to what is inside the ship before you can go further." Abby looks nervous about this, never having been in space or experienced vacc suits as the rest of you have at some point.

"It will take forever to fill something that size from Ginger's systems, and would deplete my reserves. Would be much easier to get that ship's life-support running and purge the old, bad air and then refill it. That should only take a few hours, and you can get artificial gravity back online at the same time." Abby looks intrigued at the idea of 'zero-gravity', though --also new to her, but that sounds like fun and she has had quite a few questions about what it is like.

Between Raf and Bob you start the process of equalising airlock with Ginger.

Whoever is going in first should start suiting up. The airlock can accommodate three people at once, and Abby's gear takes up one of those spaces unless you want to try squash in.

Abby probably has to supervise the power-plant startup so she can override those access codes and 'signal-home' routines during the boot process, she may need a lot of help dealing with vacc suits and zero-G and her gear.

Who goes in first? What do you do?

From the caretaker's perspective nothing unusual has happened, you attached to the airlock as expected and it will take time to load your gear into the new ship and power up what you need to do your official job. He can not see the 'door', and for all he knows you are already inside. He may become suspicious if you take abnormally long to power up, or power up more than is needed for the work, but he may also figure he does not know exactly what you need to do.

Moving the ship or abnormal fueling activities are more likely to draw attention.

---

The airlock only takes a minute or two to cycle and you can start loading in. It will be cramped with three people and all Abby's gear, and she insists she needs all of it, this time for real.

There are vacc suits in the airlocks --both Ginger's and the new ship's(*), they are all TL8 suits, which weigh 28Kgs. Abby struggles with the weight in Ginger's Artificial Gravity. "At least I won't have to worry about this in zero-G." She says.

Someone needs to give Abby some basic training, and remind her that gravity only affects weight, not momentum, so the extra mass is still a problem when she needs to get it moving, but more importantly when she needs to decelerate it, possibly in a hurry.

- Lio -

"Sure. Sweety." Abby says with a radiant smile. "The techniques are really very simple." She answers as many experts in their respective fields often do. "But I did just spend the last month preparing and doing research and recon... and hoping the real thing was like the leaked designs." She adds trying and failing to sound modest. She is clearly buoyed up by the success and the excitement of what comes next.

Abby is both nervous and excited, and needed lots of help getting into the Vacc Suit. Eventually she and Ronny and Raf enter the airlock and start the cycle to enter the ship.

Lio is left to deal with the gear-bags, with Bob --who is planning on staying with Ginger-- to help load.

What do you do?

The constant faffing with the suit-seals is making Abby nervous, but she gives Raf a thankful smile when he is done.

As the air pressure goes down the suits' internal pressure causes them to try to expand and they creak in ways that the men are used to, but which induce some panic in first-timer Abby. "What's happening? Is that normal?" She squeaks before being reassured... repeatedly. As the inner door opens she is actually holding her breath.

"Er... Yes." Abby agrees with Raf, and it seems that focusing on work helps keep her mind calm. "That's the plan. Yes."

She watches in amazement as Raf (presumably first?) steps out from the airlock where the artificial gravity is still active into the void of the ship and floats free.

There is always a strange, curved gravity-gradient when transitioning from grav-plates. Gravity spills out from the plates in a curve (like iron-filings above a magnet). This adds to any disorientation people feel when leaving an airlock.

Raf's magnetic boots could help him, and help him help Abby as she steps out, but she does not have such boots, nor know how to use such things. Vacc suits always have many ways to attach to work surfaces when stationary, though, and can be tethered together.

Raf could attempt to get Life Support running without powering up the main power-plant, but that will be a big job, and would need to be reversed again as soon as the ship is active. This may only be worth it if the vacc suits prove too high an impediment to getting the actual job done.

What do you do?

- Lio -

"Oh." Abby says, though you can't tell over the comms how she feels about this. It is possible she does not know herself. She has been scared of this part, and knowing that someone else --someone she assumed was experienced and confident-- was also worried might have given her someone to talk to about her fears... on the other hand hearing that you --with your space experience, but also with your medical understanding-- are scared may well have pushed her past the point of being able to put the suit on herself. It is too late for that now though, and she has her own issues to worry about.

Bob is not nearby, and he may not have heard this over the comms. At least he does not comment on the topic. You may have to talk to him, though, what with your still being on his ship.

What do you do?

- Ronny -

The inside doors are all manually operable when the power is off, the locks are electronic, so there does not appear to be any way to lock them without power. From your experience this is normal and you can easily open any closed ones and move around now that you are past the perimeter. Security cameras everywhere hang dormant without power.

It does not take long for the airlock to cycle the gear through.

What do you do?

- Raf -

Abby laughs at your comment about her weight, she is not exactly a 'small girl' but seems more than happy with her weight and her appearance. She launches herself out of the airlock... way too fast, probably a combination of suddenly having the extra weight of the suit off her shoulders as well as her lack of experience in zero-g. Her arms flail all over the place as she flies though the air, fast enough to hurt herself if she hits something wrong.

The lights clipped to her vacc suit dance crazily around the interior as she goes.

What do you do?

- Lio -

"Sure thing." Bob says, grabbing one of Abby's bags and grunting at the weight. He checks the comms are not on before admitting. "I can't stand those things myself. The thought that nothing more than a thin strip of mylar and canvas separates me from the cruel vacuum of space..." He shudders, you can guess that he has probably seen things.

"Once they are powered up we can take Ginger into the hold and unload all your other belongings in the comfort of gravity and open air." He comments, he does not mention the possibility that you might fail and have to load everything back into his Gig and go home.

What do you do?

"Thank you." Abby says as Raf rescues her, but she is still laughing and definitely enjoying herself --possibly more than is safe-- and maybe resents the 'spoilsport' attitude of sliding along the wall.

When you open the door to the cargo hold, though, she can definitely see the point of not floating off into nowhere. She looks wistfully at the cargo-crane hanging in the middle of the hold, you just know that if it were powered, she would be wanting to use that to swing her over to the other side. The route around the bay is long, and Abby is starting to get tired by the time she gets to the other side --this is unfamiliar exercise for her.

You get Abby settled examining the power-plant and can go back for the rest of the gear she says she will need. It will probably be more than one trip for the two of you, though Abby did have the stuff positioned in the order she guesses she will need it --if you can remember that order after having someone else load it into the airlock.

By the time you get back with the first load she has found some model and serial numbers and is struggling to make a note of them while floating around. This job is going to be hard for her --and it was a hard job to start with-- and any help you can provide to make her life easier will cut down the time you need before you can get going.

---

The unfamiliar Vacc Suit is causing Abby most of the problems (DM-2 for each 'missing level', so DM-4 to everything she does), and the Low Gravity is also making it harder (DM-1), but Abby has said that 'getting in' before the power comes on is important. Once the computer has booted up its defences will be online, making her job Formidable (14+), but if she can intercept the boot process she can prevent those security systems from starting, reducing it to merely Very Difficult (12+).

Getting in early also allows her to disable any 'calling back home' at next to no cost.

If she is forced to rush the power-up (maybe to get Artificial Gravity (AG) up or to get Life-Support going) both those benefits go out the window --as it were.

It has been discussed that Abby could go slow and this whole process might take nearly a week (1d6 x Days) (for DM+2) or she can work 'at regular speed' and it may take between half a day and two and a half days (1d6 x 10Hours), or she can rush and it will take less than a day (1d6 x 4Hours) (with a DM-2).Abby is rolling with: Computers +3, INT +2, Intrusion Software +2, Hackers Toolkit +2, Low Gravity -1, Vacc Suit -4, = +5
Vs a Difficulty of 10+ through 14+

If there is anything you can do to remove some of those obstacles or to make her life easier we can adjust those numbers. These may be Task Chains, or just number movements.

What do you do?

"A freaking grav plates!" - Raf exclaims having a little problem not to show his excitement, knowing how rare this kind of cargo is.

"But probably it will be not so wise to use them... so early. You know how Alex is about "his precious cargo". As they probably will help much less then getting rid off those ancient vacc suits." - says Raf much calmer.

At this point Raf changes channels in his comms in the way that everyone in their group should hear him.

"Speaking of which: the engine room has its own airlock... so we could connect Ginger to it and pomp air in there... so Abby will be able to undress... I mean get rid off this clumsy vac suit and work faster and in greater comfort. Even I will be faster without it working on the engine." - Raf looks at Ronny to check his reaction for the idea.

"But to do this... we have to solve two minor problems: we have to get Ginger inside this ship's cargo hold and have something to connect Ginger and engine room airlocks. And for this we need also two steps."

"One - A: I will unlock the cargo hold doors from inside and use cargo-crane in the hold to push the doors open - powering it with portable generator I took with me."

"One - B: You and Lio have to go in Ginger to caretaker and convince him to lend us "portable airlock dock" - he should have some of those, as they are used in repair situations like this. I'm sure you both will come up with something that will leave him without slightest suspicions:) "

"Two: You return in Ginger with the device, fly into the cargo hold and I will pull it close with cargo-crane again and close the locks. The rest will be even easier."

"So... are we ready for this? Team?" - the last word is pronounced with little hesitation in Raf mouth... as he used the term for them for the first time.

"Yeah... we really start to work like a team... - Raf thinks smiling.

- Lio -

Bob's eyes glitter at the word 'fast'. "Without landlubbers on board we can be really fast... 7Gs fast, --light as we are. I can make your eyeballs join your balls-balls."

But he knows what you really mean. "Once Ronny is back inside we can close the airlock and leave immediately. I have kept the engine running, just in case. We can comfortably be over there in a quarter of an hour, give or take landing permission." He says.

Nothing you have seen so far suggest any significant danger to those left stranded on Betty, but Abby may have thoughts about Ronny leaving her.

- Raf -

"Um..." Abby squeaks when she hears she is to be left alone and that no one was coming to check on her. "I could use a little help..."

When you return to the engine room you find Abby has forgotten/failed to tether herself and accidentally pushed off and floated into the centers of the empty space, where she now hangs in 'mid-air', helpless, unable to get herself back to any surfaces. She has tried to lasso something with a data cable, but that has just gotten her tangled and tied up in her clumsy suit.

If you are confident your partners will return with the means to pump air into the room and remove the need for the Vacc Suits, there may be little point forcing Abby to try to do work in the suit. Maybe she should get some rest until you are set up? She was rather excited to do this job, so she might not be able to sleep, though --especially not in a strange Vacc Suit-- and it might be better to keep her within sight, this environment is completely foreign to her and dumping her to deal with it alone will definitely sour her experience of space and her perception of her new team. You are not sure she will actually be able to help you, but making her feel useful might help her, psychologically?

What do you do?

"Yep." Bob says. "Cleared to dock there in 20 minutes."

You can take longer than that if you want and can do any preparation you feel necessary in the meantime. Then narrate your arrival and how you approach the caretaker and what you say.

"Hello Phil, Theo. Nice to meet you too." The woman says in reply. It looks like she was desperately tying to tidy up but you got here quicker than she expected and she is still patting in her hair into place and, incongruously, wearing an apron. She notices the rag in her hand that just patted her hair and tosses it into a corner with a 'nobody saw that' conspiratorial smile.

In addition to cleaning up for guests, she has laid on a meal --which, though simple, looks quite appealing after days of cramped-shipboard food. You get the feeling that 'lonesome' does not even come close to describing her situation.

"My name is Helen." She introduces herself. "Arthur is... " there is a catch in her voice but she continues, "... unable to see you right now. But I am sure I can help you with what you need. No problem, there.

"But, won't you join me for dinner, first? Just the two of you?"

You get the feeling there is more going on here, but she does not seem like a threat, and you do need that airlock dock.

What do you do?

Helen looks delighted at your interest in her food. "He ... Yes, he is my husband." There is a little hesitation there, but she covers it by adding" "Our son used to live up here too, but he ran off after a hussy... but you don't need to hear about my woes." It sounds like she really would love to have someone to talk to about her 'woes', but that is not the sort of thing one brings up at the dinner table.

She did not know how many people were coming over and there is ample place for Bob as well, if you want to include him in this charade with fake names.

"Do you think you will be here long? Doing whatever it is you are doing?" She asks. "You are all welcome to join me... us for your meals if you can spare the time."

Once the pleasantries are over and everyone has tucked into the food she tries to sound casual as she brings the subject round to the possibility of war. The news reports leaving the planet have seemed... faked? --if you have not been following them on your trip here, Helen will mention this-- and she is nervous about the future, this is understandable, but there may be more at play here.

What do you do?

- Raf -

Abby bounces around like a balloon, and ends up clinging to you so as to avoid floating off again. "'I am a hacker, Jim, not a spaceman.'" She quips in reply, your words obviously having set her more at ease. "How do people do any work in these thing?" She asks exasperatedly about the suit.

News that you are working to remove the need for the suit cheers her a lot, and she is gladly towed to where you are working --after having you secure her laptop for her.

When she sees what you are planning she is excited, but also more than a bit scared. "You are opening the big doors? Into 'for real space'?" She asks, and you can't tell from her voice what she thinks of that idea.

Obviously you will need to make sure she is tethered at all times with those doors open, floating off into a room is one thing, floating off into empty space is quite another. She lacks the basic training in such things so it is up to you.

What do you do?

- Ronny & Lio-

"Oh, no! What have you heard?" Helen blurts our before covering her mouth and turning away. You can see her shoulders shake and her hand --out of view-- goes from her mouth to dab at her eyes.

What do you do?

Lio mouths - don't know-
And gestures with his hand to Ronny that he has to keep going.

Helen looks embarrassed that you saw her crying, but tries to rally. You can see the wheels turning in her head as she considers lying to you.

She actually opens her mouth to start lying: "He was a bit sick, but he..." then the truth spills out in a rush. "He died!" She says, suddenly sitting down on a chair and looking despondent. There is no expression in her voice as she continues:

"I didn't tell anybody. I froze his body and just continued to 'do the work'. I helped him with most of it anyway and I don't know anything else. I couldn't get another job, and the pension is not enough. So I pretended he was still doing everything and no one noticed or cared."

She looks at you pleadingly. "You won't tell them, will you?" She begs. "I don't know what sort of trouble I will be in if they find out. And now, with all this talk of war... I just don't know what I am going to do. If someone comes and checks... But you are not Navy? Right? You won't tell them, right?"

What do you do?

- Ronny -

"I didn't know what else to do?" Helen sobs. "Arthur always wanted to be buried in space." She adds as though that is any justification.

"He was sick for so long." Helen answers Ronny. "And we both knew he was not going to make it. But we never talked about it, and I just didn't know what else to do." She explains again.

She does look exhausted but she protests against going and resting while she has guests. This seems like mostly a matter of 'manners' and 'being a good host', but also it being strange to leave strangers alone in her home... but mainly --you might suspect-- that she is lonely and does not want to squander any time she could spend with people.

If you agreed to stay till she awoke, or were persuasive enough --or medicated her into a nice deep sleep-- you would be able to take an unhindered look around.

What do you do?

- Lio -

"That's quite alright, dear. Don't mind me, I'm just being a silly old woman." Helen says as she wipes her eyes. "Let's get you boys sorted out. Do you have a part number? We can look at the inventory system and get you what you need, that's what it is here for."

Between the two of you you should have no problem finding the crate you need on the computer. Someone will need to drive the forklift (Drive Wheeled probably) to get it on board the Gig, Helen never did that part.

What do you do?

Loading the large crate with the portable airlock dock is easy --though you may worry about getting it off on the other end if the crane is not working.

Helen looks sad to see you go, and insists you take some of the leftover food "For the others." and repeats her invitation for you to come back again for future meals.

Do you leave or stay and talk some more?

Did Ronny ask her anything more while Lio was sorting out the goods?

"Oh. We can fill you up while you are here." Helen says to Ronny. "No one would notice." She does not want something small like 'fuel' to prevent more visits.

Ginger is still more than three-quarters full, but topping up does a number of things, it gives you more reserves to play with, could allow you to tap a bit more into Betty, and establishes a precedent for your getting fuel from the Depot.

'' Yep, good to go!
Raf asked to inspect the body for cause of death and maybe strange diseases. But that would blow our cover and possibly make us lose the airlock. So I took a small gamble there. We could disinfect as good as possible to set his mind at ease.''

Helen did indeed look tired, but not sick. If you accepted any leftover food and are really worried Lio could check that for pathogens (or pathogen remains since almost everything was cooked and that should kill any pathogens).

"It took you long enough." Bob jibes, but he does not sound resentful. He is used to sitting and waiting, and it smells like he has been exercising.

The trip back is a more leisurely quarter of an hour.

- Raf -

Abby confirms that the crates appear to be secured down. She then makes her way back to your position, either she is scared of the prospect of 'wide open space' when the doors open and wants to be close to another human being, or she wants to see the universe once it is revealed... or, maybe she just wants to be close to you?

You have control of the crane, though this is not how it is meant to be used so the controls don't have the amount of 'feel' that you might like while contacting the hull of your ship.

---

The door is going to be open, no matter the outcome, the roll is more about whether you can close it again afterwards.
It is a Difficultly 10+ Remote Ops (probably with INT?), you have -2 from the Vacc Suit, and possibly -1 from Zero-G (depending on what exactly you are doing and how much the lack of gravity affects things), but a +2 from your Task Chain [ref] in addition to your character's stats.
If you want to be done by the time your companions get back you will need to do this at 'regular speed', but if you are happy for it to take longer and make them wait, then you can choose to Go Slower and get a +2, you will then need roll 1d6 Hours for the duration and anything more than a 1 or maybe 2 will mean they have to wait, else they can come straight in.

What do you do?

"Yum! Mom food!" Bob says, delightedly digging in as he flies.

- Raf -

"I prefer to get to know a new someone before giving her a name." Abby answers your question. "I don't know who she is yet."

At the prospect of 'space' she looks excited --if you judge this correctly-- and reaches out as though to hold you hand --which could be from fear, but you get the feeling isn't. Taking her hand might complicate things a little bit, but it is up to you.

---

The crane is very powerful, and you have zero feel for how much energy it is exerting or if it is straining at all, so it comes as a surprise when your small movement to nudge the door open takes a moment longer than expected, followed by a POP that you feel through the metal of controls and your seat --Abby, floating beside you-- does not feel the pop, and stares in wonder at the stars arrayed in the heavens --light pollution and atmosphere on Ruby means what stars can be seen are very feint.

The door slides open smoothly and, aside from the pop, everything looks good at this time.

What do you do?

- Lio and Ronny -

A little while later.

As you arrive back at the ship you can see that the cargo bay doors are open and inviting. Bob has to wash his hands of food, but then easily pilots the Gig into the hold and then past the crane, right up to the door to the engine room.

In Zero-G it should be easy to maneuver the crate of the dock out of Ginger, though the crane will help if Raf says it is safe to use. It still needs to be unpacked and attached to the internal bulkhead of the ship, but that is a relatively Routine Mechanical Task.

Once everyone is in place Bob assures you he can dock with it, even in the strange instance of doing so inside another ship.

What do you do?

With enough time (and swearing, because apparently that helps) you get the equipment unloaded and unpacked from Ginger.

You are ready to install the Airlock Docking Couple around the internal Airlock between the Cargo Hold to the Engine Room. You have probably been trained to do this in an emergency situation, and this is much easier since there is no emergency happening, and you can take your time (for a DM+2).

- Raf -

Abby does not notice anything strange with the opening of the doors --but then, she is floating and only linked to the ship through your hand when you give it to her.

"Oh! Wow!" She exclaims with a halt in her voice. "There are so many of them." She squeezes your hand tight as she says this, you still can't tell, through all the layers, what she is feeling.

'Drills and Skills', they said in training, and that pays off. In no time the temporary Airlock Docking Ring is installed, Bob has everyone outside stand back a little ways --possibly closer than would be strictly approved of-- and makes it look easy as he swings the multi-ton Gig around in the hold and attaches the side Airlock to the new Dock. Once attached, however, Bob suddenly becomes a lot more cautious, and spends an inordinate amount of time testing the seals before declaring them safe and starting to pressurizer the engine room.

Pressurizing takes a while --the engine room being almost as large as the Gig itself-- but once done the Airlock can hold the pressure if Bob needs to detach, and you can use the Gig's rear Cargo Bay loading doors to pass through to the rest of the ship as needed.

It was suggested that Abby get some sleep while this connecting up was happening, but --even with the slow pressurization-- she as not had time to get any rest, if she fell asleep at all.

Abby is eager to get to work, do you insist or encourage her to sleep first? It has been a big day for her.

"I'm good to go." Abby says, though this is more an issue of enthusiasm than truth. At the mention of food she seems to suddenly remember that that is a thing people do. "No. I was in that ... suit." She admits, and you suspect there was an elided swearword before 'suit'. She eagerly takes what you offer (possible some leftovers if Bob left any over?) and digs in.

"I'm sorry I could not cut it." She says while she eats. "I had no idea how awkward those suits are. You guys make it look so easy." There is look of admiration towards Raf who was the bulk of her experience watching people in suits. "Once I can work without that thing, I should be ready to get this puppy going."

Boo 'swims' up to her, apparently quite happy in zero-G, and Abby feeds him some leaves and snuggles with him and eventually agrees to try get some rest.

You are still not sure exactly what her pet is, it might be some sort of Guinea Pig or a Giant Hamster? It has been quite well behaved, and aside from occasionally needing to nudge it back to a wall --when it got stranded, floating in open space-- having it onboard has not presented any problems.

---

The engine room is filled with air before Abby is asleep, but you can let her rest, and maybe get some rest yourselves (in case you need to make a quick getaway?), or tackle other tasks, or explore.

What do you do?