Dr. Hayes grunted as he entered the keycode to lock the second hatch to the docking station. 

"Alright kids, we got three days... Do it quick and just maybe Houston might allow us quicker. Don't bet on it though" said mission commander Mark Holloway, especially pointing the last statement towards Dr. Hayes.

"Airlock is good. Second hatch is acting up. Sofia, check the electronics" ordered Hayes.

Lieutenant Sofia Ramirez already had a laptop in her hand, connected to a large panel. She seemed to be typing away for the last fifteen minutes or so since Hayes was struggling to latch the second door to the airlock.

"It seems pretty normal so far... must be a software issue. Manual control might be necessary" affirmed Ramirez.

"On it" muttered Holloway as he slowly drifted towards the main console of the satellite.

Mark Holloway was a seasoned astronaut, known for his exceptional leadership skills. Tall and lean, he carries himself with such confidence that instills trust among his crewmates. He graduated at the top of his class from the United States Air Force Academy before joining NASA. He has logged hundreds of hours in space, taking part and leading in multiple research missions.

Alexander Hayes was a brilliant and innovative scientist who brings a wealth of knowledge to any mission he gets allotted to. He has a perpetual curious expression and exudes an intellectual intensity. He was educated at MIT and known for his groundbreaking research in astrophysics and space biology.

Sofia Ramirez was a resilient and determined astronaut. She was trained at the United States Naval Academy, yet had a natural aptitude for aerospace engineering. In her pursuit of becoming an astronaut she had top honors in her flight training and commendations to her contributions to advanced propulsion systems.

All three astronauts have just docked into the satellite named "Arbiter". The satellite itself had a very narrow and short corridor from the airlock to the cockpit. It wasn't a place to be lived in, the astronauts would have to make routine trips back to their own capsule. However, what the satellite lacked in room for living, it made up with its huge cargo container. Mission briefing provided them with the information that Arbiter was meant to be a temporary cargo retrieval system in orbit.

The cargo container itself was divided into two: one maintained at 37 degree Celsius named "Sapien" and the other at -10 degree Celsius named "Cryo". Dr. Hayes came to know that the Sapien chamber might be used for space biology experiments. This convinced him to join this rather boring expedition. 

The astronauts themselves were restricted from the cargo chambers, but they did carry a payload which was confidential. The keycode to enter the cargo chambers was unknown to the astronauts.

"There we go, should be good now. Try the hatch again Hayes. " said Holloway from the cockpit.

With a slight gush of air, the second hatch closed shut. "That was quick mate." chuckled Hayes.

"Yeah sure was..." said Holloway, detached and not really listening.

Holloway logged the events in a logbook. The logbook was then put in a cabinet on the right of the cockpit. He got up and turned behind to see the rest of the crew waiting for his orders.

"Well, apparently that's all we have to do today. We sleep now... and then tomorrow we fix the issue" 

The crew slowly dispersed to the open the hatches back to their pod where there were sleeping bags for them.

Truth was, none of the crew members were particularly thrilled about the mission. It seemed a bit too dragged out. Arbiter was supposed to be a geostationary satellite, but it was hit by some space debris recently. Its "orbit-locking" device was apparently damaged in the impact. It all just felt a bit weird considering most of issues like this could be tackled directly from ground control, especially for a satellite designed to be mostly unmanned. Unmanned... that felt suspicious as well. Having a cockpit felt out of the place. Such issues could have easily been fixed from an external vehicle. The "orbit-locking" device felt a bit arbitrary and no information was given about the mission. The details were supposed to be given during the three day period. 

Ramirez held a photo frame, one of her daughter and husband in a lush jungle. The frame had an elegant wood carved design on it. On the bottom side was "LIFE" carved into the wood. She had a good look at it before putting it in her cabinet and zipping up her sleeping bag. Her window faced away from Earth, all she could see was cold dark space. Thinking nothing of it she slowly drifted into sleep...