Rei's Space Walk - Part 8 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 8 of 10:

     Rei thought about the contents of the compartment beneath which supposedly contained all the equipment required to start a viable human colony on an alien world. It also contained his personal effects which comprised some clothing, a few books, his transit and his music slab. Rei’s eyes grew wide. He realized he would never get an opportunity like this again but he had to have Rome’s permission. The last thing he wanted was for Rome to misunderstand and come after him.
     Rei tugged on the tether once, hard. Rome tugged on it in response. He tugged on it twice gently so she knew he would be OK. He had her attention so he did it again. He pulled the tether once hard. Rome repeated her actions as did he. Now she had to know something was up. She was a smart girl. As long as he kept their system intact, he knew she would let him do this.
     He stepped aside and released the clamps holding the door closed. The huge door swung open easily as there was no pressure differential. Like the crew compartment, the cargo section was designed to be exposed to the vacuum of space. Rei shined his helmet lights down the long belly of the cargo compartment and saw a twin pair of mesh walkways leading down its length. Rome tugged on the tether and Rei tugged back twice.
     He entered into the cargo compartment and slowly made his way down its length, noting the contents as he passed them. In the end closest to the hatch, where he just entered, there were the large yellow-striped cubes marked Transports. In front of them were boxes containing the drilling equipment and beyond those were the mining explosives. They had the international symbol for radioactivity which Rei ignored and moved on. Beyond that were the smelting furnaces for refining ore. Next were the bio-stocks: the frozen animal embryos, the seeds, the incubators, all the items they would need to start farming. Past mid-ship were various tools, masonry kits, machining equipment, hunting rifles and so forth.
     Rei moved on. Finally, he got to the storage lockers. They were arranged alphabetically and it took him no time at all to find his storage cube. He pulled it open and surveyed its contents. He looked longingly at his clothes and polymer-plastic books but decided he did not need them just now. He certainly didn’t need his straight razor. He reached in and pulled out his music slab which was a gift from his parents. It was solar-powered and the music was burned into a silicon wafer so, in theory, it would last forever. Rei’s breath caught. Holding the music slab in his hand made him think of his parents who were now so long gone as was every other person he ever knew or loved. Including Sally. Even though from his perspective, it had only been a few months, the reality was they died over a thousand years before. The thought was staggering. They were all dust. Rei had a moment of panic. What had he done?

Tomorrow, Rei comes to grips with the reality of his situation.