This came up in Coriolis and in Forbidden Lands and the rules-as-written are not very clear and we can interpret it in few ways. The situation is:
PC is having ranged weapon and shooting at a distant target. The PC is also attacked in melee by another opponent. Are there penalties to the RANGED COMBAT roll?

The rules state that you get -3 at close range only if you target the person that you are engaged in melee with, but nothing states if you shoot at someone else
For me there should be at least opportunity attack or same penalty as if you are targeting the melee attacker, but I don't see anything in the text.

It is indeed not specified. I would use the -3 modifier, seems less harsh then an opportunity attack.

This said, if an NPC does that and the player wants to react and attack, I would probably allow an opportunity attack.

I’m the kind of GM that empowers the PC as much as possible. Combat in Coriolis is already super dangerous and thrilling for players. No need to be extra harsh.

In this case, a PC shooting a distant target while avoiding the blows of an enemy in Melee combat is super cool. But definitely needs the -3 modifier to make it heroic.

Thanks for the reply
This is also how we moved forward - if someone is in melee with you and you have ranged weapon, a negative modifier of -3 applies no matter if you shoot at your attacker or someone distant.