Rei's Spacewalk - Part 3 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 3 of 10:

     “If there is any danger to you, then I cannot allow it,” she said. “I do not know what I would do if anything happened to you.”
     “Nothing’s going to happen to me,” Rei said, sliding his arms around her waist. “It’ll be fine.”
     “Then if it will be fine, I am going with you.”
     Rei looked down at her. As always, he got lost in her dark, glowing eyes. He loved this woman so much, beyond anything he ever dreamed was possible. He knew he could never win an argument about the trade off so he decided to try and bully his way past.
     “Let’s not fight about this,” Rei said. “It has to be this way. Just help me get ready.”
     Rome did not answer. In fact, she said nothing the entire time they walked back to the austere anteroom outside the mid-ship airlock. Rei reached into his locker and removed his pressure suit, climbing into it, all the while aware that Rome was standing there, arms folded across her chest. For this short walk, he didn’t bother with the plumbing and he dressed fairly quickly. He was smoothing the sleeves and adjusting the gloves of his white pressure suit when he took a chance and looked up at his woman and saw her scowling at him.
     “What?” he asked.
     “You know what,” Rome replied sternly, sadness radiating from her Vuduri eyes.
     “Nothing is going to happen, I promise,” Rei said. “I’m just going to go out and turn the crank. I’ll be back in a jiffy. Plus I’ll be tethered the whole time.”
     “So if nothing is going to happen to you, why am I not allowed to go with you?” Rome said. “Why do you have to go alone?”
     “I just went over this with you,” Rei said. He walked over to her and placed his gloved hand under her chin, tilting her head up so she looked him in the eyes. “I’m the only one who can do this and if something happens to me, you have to fly the ship to Deucado.”
     Rome pulled his hand away from her chin. “You cannot have it both ways,” she said angrily. “Either you will be safe and I can come with you or there is a chance you will not be safe and I need to be there for you.”
     “Rome, I can’t endanger you,” Rei said.
     “Danger, there is that word again,” Rome said in a huff. She pushed Rei aside and walked over to her locker. “I am going with you. That is all there is to it,” she said. She opened her locker and started to remove her pressure suit mounted there.
     Rei came over to her and put his hands on her hips. He turned her around in place. Tears were streaming down from her eyes.
     “Romey, listen to me,” he said gently. “If I cut the propulsion section loose, MINIMCOM says we can go faster by 20%. That means 20% less time in space and 20% less chance of anything happening to us in space. That’s worth the risk of taking a simple spacewalk and turning a crank.”

The risk/reward seems pretty heavily balanced toward reward. Tomorrow, we will find out if Rome relents.