Rei's Spacewalk - Part 1 of 10

Five years before the events that were described in Rome's Evolution, Rei and Rome had left the Tabit system and were just starting out on their one-year trip to Deucado. At the time, they didn't know it would only take a year, they were planning on more like two-plus years. However, Rei had a burst of inspiration that allowed them to ultimately double their speed. This is a little vignette about Rei's spacewalk which facilitated a vastly shortened journey. This is part 1 of 10:

Year 3455 AD (1374 PR)
1.5 Light Years from Tabit, headed for Deucado

     Rei Bierak sat silently in the cockpit of their space tug, along with Rome. OMCOM’s final words of caution were still ringing in their ears. Now they had to worry not only about the Stareaters, but whatever the hell it was that OMCOM spawned was after them too. Rei rocked back and forth, whispering to himself, as if his motion could somehow make them go faster. He looked over at Rome. She was studying the console but the tightness on her face told Rei her mind was elsewhere.
     Rei felt so powerless. He had to do something. Suddenly, his head snapped up. “MINIMCOM, when we were in the galley, you said you had a way of getting us to go even faster.”
     “That is correct,” replied the autopilot computer who was manning the space tug mounted on the far side of the Ark.
     Finding interest in the discussion, Rome looked up from the console. She glanced at Rei. “Can you tell us, please, MINIMCOM?” she inquired.
     “If we could reduce the amount of mass that I must push through each tunnel, I would not have to hold it open for as long. I could extend its reach and increase our effective velocity proportionally.”
     “We don’t have much mass to get rid of,” Rei said. “Do we?”
     “Yes, we do,” replied MINIMCOM who at this point in their journey had never progressed beyond a disembodied voice. “A rather large amount.”
     “What?” Rome asked. Rei could see she was relieved to have something to distract her.
     “The entire propulsion module of Rei’s Ark is superfluous,” MINIMCOM replied. “It serves no purpose. I have done numerous simulations and I believe I could increase our effective velocity as much as 20% further if we could eliminate it.”
     “Hey,” Rei said. “You’re right. The propulsion unit was made to be jettisoned before reentry in the first place. If we could detach it, it would reduce our overall mass a lot.”
     “How would you do that?” Rome asked Rei.
     Rei thought about it for a moment. “We went over this during orientation. I think that it requires a spacewalk.”
     “Why?” asked Rome. A small amount of trepidation crept into her voice.
     “Well, the ship was designed to be in space for hundreds of years,” Rei replied. “There is a separator ring for each section. It’s kind of like an explosive bolt but continuous. Solid-state. It’s made out of some type of meta-stable intermolecular composite…”
     “Thermite,” MINIMCOM interjected.
     “Yeah, thermite,” Rei said. “So it would last forever but the charge to set it off has to be done by hand.”
     “How would you do that?” Rome asked tentatively.

Tomorrow, we will find out.