The Orolda was a hyperspace-capable passenger liner 205 metres from nose to bell with a cylindrical cross-section. The main body was 10 metres in diameter, with a gravity ring in the fore section with a diameter of 80 metres. She had a crew of 26, and carried 80 passengers. On October 18th, 12 A.C. at 0632 (Vienna time), she departed a station at 40 Eridani without incident. Her intended final destination was Delta Pavonis.

When traveling through the Gliese 1061 system, Junior Engineer Lurin, who had been kept on duty for nineteen hours due to his junior status, was ordered to refill the radiator coolant because of an earlier leak. The proper procedure was to open the valve separating the primary and auxiliary coolant reservoirs, and then actuate a series of valves to push coolant out of the backup reservoir and into the primary reservoir. Junior Engineer Lurin actuated the wrong set of valves, pushing coolant out of the primary reservoir and into the backup reservoir.

A sensor existed to monitor the pressure level of the primary reservoir, but the alarms were disabled when fluids were being transferred to avoid alarms triggering during nominal and routine activities.

As the coolant drained, the remaining coolant in the system increased in temperature. This caused damage to the cooling pipes and radiators. Roughly three minutes after the coolant began draining, a partially melted pipe began leaking superheated coolant inside the Orolda's fission reactor. The coolant pressure dropped sharply, and without coolant the reactor rapidly overheated. Three minutes and forty-one seconds after the coolant began draining, a rapid increase in temperature caused the reactor to automatically SCRAM. This prompted the ship to move to Alert Status Two. The computer roused Captain Uliz.

The SCRAM was not successfully completed. Why it failed is unknown, but the reactor's automatic SCRAM had not been tested in several years. Twenty seconds after the attempt, radiation detectors indicated an ongoing meltdown. This prompted Alert Status One, waking all crew and sending them to emergency stations. Due to the radiation hazard, the aft engineering spaces were evacuated, which included Junior Engineer Lurin, who did not close the valve as he left (and was not aware that he had done anything wrong).

Two minutes later, radiation detectors indicated that the core had collapsed and penetrated the interior reactor wall. The temperature was increasing rapidly, and the cooling system was operating well below its typical efficiency. Radiation sensors in the fore section indicated that radiation was still within acceptable levels, so Captain Uliz did not order a retreat to the radiation storm shelter, for fear this would hamper repair efforts and panic the passengers.

All crew were accounted for in the shielded fore section. Of the five in the aft section at the time of the incident, all were exposed to radiation exceeding the allowable yearly dose, one suffered light radiation sickness, and two suffered acute radiation sickness: Engineer Iraz was only two metres away from the reactor and began vomiting almost immediately. Chief Engineer Aralt, who was watching him from twelve metres away, carried him to safety but was exposed to a much larger dose in the process. Both were immediately placed in medical cryostasis and are currently undergoing nanotherapy; they are expected to recover.

Once all crew were accounted for, Captain Uliz instructed Engineer Yrenzl (the highest-ranking engineer with Chief Engineer Aralt in medical cryostasis) to send a drone to examine the reactor. Although the video signal was degraded by radiation, the drone's cameras revealed that the outer casing was melting.

Upon confirmation of the reactor being effectively unrecoverable, First Officer Intri deployed the automated hyperspace distress buoy, as there were no United Syndicate ships in the system. It would reach the next system in thirty-eight days.

Twenty minutes after the meltdown, radiator efficiency had fallen to 60%, and damage alarms were continuing. Captain Uliz ordered a visual inspection of the radiators. Instead of their usual cherry-red, they were not glowing at all, indicating a complete system failure. Captain Uliz was unresponsive and emotional for several minutes, so First Officer Intri ordered a full diagnostic on the heat management systems.

Twenty-three minutes after the meltdown, with the diagnostic still ongoing, the Orolda received a message from the Sixteen Kilotons, a Terran mining ship 25 metres from nose to bell and 15 metres in diameter at the widest point, with a crew of six. She was eleven light-minutes away (and moving away from the Orolda quickly) and the only other vessel in the system: "We see radiation from your reactor consistent with an uncontrolled meltdown. We are now moving towards you at half a gee. How many souls are on board? Are there any other issues?"

Because of the tense relationship between Earth and the United Syndicate, the crew of the Orolda assumed that the Sixteen Kilotons was a pirate or privateer taking advantage of their situation. They grimly discussed whether to resist until Engineer Yrenzl announced that the diagnostics were completed. All of the coolant was gone from the system, and high heat had melted the valves in their current position. The figure of 60% was inflated, since the pipes themselves were acting as heatsinks. The radiators were effectively turned off, but more heat than ususal was coming from the reactor. The cabin temperature would begin increasing in 6 hours, and become incompatible with life in 8.

On hearing this, Captain Uliz, previously silent, ordered the crew to cooperate fully with the humans, and stated that he would accept all responsibility for the capture of the ship. "They are likely to hold us for ransom", he said, "but they are unlikely to kill us. The same is not true for the heat."

First Officer Intri responded to the Sixteen Kilotons as follows: "Our reactor has melted down and our radiators are shot. We have 8 hours before we all bake. We have 106 souls on board. We will cooperate fully and follow all instructions."

Fifty seconds after this message was received, the Sixteen Kilotons jettisoned her load of ice. Lightened, her acceleration increased to six gees. She thereby arrived at the Orolda in five hours, thirty minutes.

An hour before the Sixteen Kilotons arrived, the crew of the Orolda, following instructions from the Sixteen Kilotons, brought all passengers into the radiation storm shelter, sealed every hatch and bulkhead, and depressurized the mid-section. Once all this was confirmed to be done, the crew of the Sixteen Kilotons used their mining laser to cut the Orolda in half at the thinnest point of her midsection. Although the two ships' docking systems were not compatible, the crew of the Sixteen Kilotons was able to attach the ports to form an airtight seal using three hundred and fifty metres of fibre-reinforced plastic adhesive strips.

Once this connection was established, three crew-members from the Sixteen Kilotons entered with a large cooling device connected by flexible tubes to their ship's cooling system. Captain Uliz presented the ship's rifle to the Terran captain, and offered surrender. The translator records the Terran Captain's reply as "What the hell are you talking about?".

Once the cooling systems were established, the Sixteen Kilotons' reactor and radiators, which because of her duties were more powerful than the Orolda's own, were able to keep the crew at a comfortable temperature until the United Syndicate patrol ship Arteyna arrived and began ferrying passengers and crew to safety.

Recommendations

• The common practice on merchant ships of severely overworking new crewmembers as a rite of passage must be curtailed.
• It is advised that it be regulated that two crewmembers be present whenever manual overrides on critical systems are being performed.
• Regulation should be enacted to require regular testing of a reactor's SCRAM functions, including in suboptimal conditions.
• The feasibility of equipping all ships with military-style reactor jettison systems should be examined.
• The uniquely human concept of a "Mayday" or "Distress call" in maritime, aviation, and orbital culture should be examined in detail.
• Duct tape should be made mandatory on all ships.