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fun! i love the kind of creepy, exciting atmosphere. a great little sci fi tale

This turned out great! I love the initially creepy vibe, both on the human ship and on the alien ship. Finding a derelict spacecraft is usually a bad sign, after all, according to pretty much all of science fiction. The main character does indeed suffer misfortune while onboard, but I think it's great to see that the alien AI is not acting out of malice- it honestly just wants to do what it was made for, and help make a new home for its passengers. Those passengers never boarded- but maybe, with the help of the humans on the other ship, the AI might get a second chance. I really like the portrayal of orbital dynamics- I admit, I only know what I've learned from Kerbal Space Program, but still, I've missed enough maneuver windows to know just how important those are. Another thing I find really interesting is the sharp contrast between the industrially designed human spacecraft, and the very differently designed alien one, which seems to have been made as a home first, and a spacecraft second.
I think that the newly minted Chief Engineer Ripple is going to do just fine- and enjoy her new role, even if it's not what she expected. All in all, great story

I really liked it.
The story is interesting and the character smart.
Curious how the relationships between the two ships will go.