In space, ships can still run into trouble, and here are ten different descriptions of problems that others have suffered and which they need help with.

1. A hull breach has affected the ship and a number of compartments depressurised, killing everyone in them. The depressurised area has cut off several parts of the ship, and without the breach mending and atmosphere restoring to the affected areas, it is impossible to fully control it.
2. An explosion in the ship’s engine compartment has resulted in the engines being destroyed, most of the engineering crew, including the chief engineer, being killed, and the compartment being opened to space. The ship is currently dead in space and drifting.
3. Life support on the ship has suffered a critical malfunction due to a computer problem, one that took out all the backup systems as well. If aid isn’t forthcoming soon, everyone will die when the oxygen runs out.
4. Passengers on the ship came out of cryosleep to discover that the crew had vanished, even though the escape pods remained in place. They lack the skills to pilot the ship, especially as many of the systems have been powered down.
5. Poorly-fitted reactor shielding has flooded much of the ship with radiation. Many of the crew are dying or dead, and those that have managed to get to better shielded areas are unable to do anything about the problem, as they are unable to get to suitable gear.
6. The ship has collided with a small asteroid and has suffered extensive damage to its systems and hull as a result. It is no longer capable of getting underway and may be too badly damaged to repair outside of a spacedock.
7. The ship has suffered an attack by pirates and, although it managed to drive them off, it suffered extensive damage in the process. The pirates may return with reinforcements, and if that happens, a second attack will not be driven off.
8. The ship in question is in a decaying orbit about a large planet and lacks the ability to break free. They urgently need towing out of the gravity well before they burn up in the atmosphere or just crash.
9. The ship was too close to the system’s star when a solar flare overwhelmed its systems with an EMP. Most of the systems are now burnt out and the ship is dangerously close to the star and getting closer.
10. The ship’s fuel supply is contaminated, possibly deliberately at the last place they refuelled, and they are currently dead in space. The ship could do with new fuel, as well as help in flushing their system clear of that which is contaminated, or perhaps a tow if another ship is capable of doing such.

Want some spaceships where rescue has come a little too late? Check out 100 Derelict and Wrecked Spaceships to Encounter.