Here we go again, Zed thought as he stood in front of the turtle suit airlock.

  “Just think of it like putting on a wetsuit,” Johns offered, clearly struggling to find the words to make stepping out onto a hostile alien planet sound benign. “Sure, it can be uncomfortably snug, but it’s better than how cold you’d be without it.”

  “Wetsuit. Right.” Zed only half-heard him. “I got this.”

  “Yeah, Zed, don’t freak out and puke in that thing,” said George as he disappeared through one of the pack hatches and out of sight.

  Miranda shot a look that could kill at the door that had just closed behind George and then turned to Zed.

  “Just breathe normally, OK?” Miranda said as she climbed into her own suit.

  Zed nodded without looking up.

  “No, boy, she’s serious—breathe normally. You’re holding your breath. It’s a spacewalk, not a free dive,” Johns said.

  Zed exhaled. Focusing on his breathing actually did seem to help. He perched at the pack hatch and positioned himself in the suit, one limb at a time, as if he were a giant hand putting on a glove. Once his legs and arms were stretched out in the baggy suit, he stood, pushing his head up into the helmet. The suit began to constrict as before, but this time he knew what to expect. Within ten seconds, the suit had finished its work and relaxed ever so slightly. He felt the backpack hatch seal and release from its lock, freeing him to take a few steps forward and stand fully upright.

  Zed’s breath caught in his lungs, though this time not from panic. He was standing on Mars. He had been on Mars for months, but this was the first time he felt like he was truly standing on a new world.

  His fears about the suit faded as he realized that he could move without restriction. It was actually shocking how flexible the suit felt. Zed took a few tentative steps away from the dock. He looked back and saw the row of lifeless suits, just waiting to be possessed by a colonist, and then nearly fell over when, without warning, Douglas materialized in front of him.

  A speech bubble appeared near his grinning face.

  Hey there, Zed! Would you like to enable the EVA interface?

  Since Zed had replaced Gin with Douglas, it seemed that core communications built into the CIG, such as the suit interface, now went through Douglas as well.

  Good to know.

  Douglas’s adorable, disembodied cartoon head felt at odds with the awe and grandeur of the landscape around him.

  “Uh, yeah, sure.”

  Zed’s view was populated with a host of new tools and information. He could see his suit status and oxygen levels, along with his heart rate and oxygen saturation. There was a navigation widget displaying a list of locations around the outskirts of Naug, such as the garage, and pathing options for locations further afield, like the crater cave. Zed selected the garage, and a chain of arrows appeared along the ground, disappearing around the curve of the crater city's edge.

  “This is freaking me out in all the best ways right now,” George exclaimed as he bounced up and down, kicking up little plumes of Martian dust.

  Zed heard his voice as if he were standing in open air. One more magic trick from the CIG.

  “I don’t even know what to say. It’s so different actually being out here,” Miranda said, barely above a whisper.

  Zed looked in the direction he’d heard her voice come from. She wasn’t moving; she just stood there, gazing out at the dunes and bluffs that filled the landscape around Naug.

  Miranda pulled her gaze away from the horizon and looked over at Zed. They exchanged grins, sharing their unspoken glee at the awe of what surrounded them.

  “See, this isn’t so bad now, is it?” Johns had finished donning his own suit and stepped up alongside Zed.

  Zed had wondered just how adaptable the suits really were. They seemed to have no issue accommodating Johns’s massive arms and chest, though his head was clearly pushing the helmet to its limits.

  “Shall we, children?” Johns gestured toward the virtual path markers leading to the garage.

  They had only been walking for about five minutes when they came to the large hangar doors that Zed had passed through when entering Naug on his first day. The doors were closed at the moment, so the four of them entered through a side passage.

  They found themselves not in the garage, but rather in the massive airlock where several vehicles awaited them. Zed could see colonists busy with their work through windows in the inner airlock door. He looked away, suddenly fearful that he’d catch sight of Andy.

  The airlock wasn’t pressurized at the moment, meaning they could exit without having to wait through a lengthy cycle.

  Johns led them over to a row of odd, three-wheeled chariots that Zed had heard him refer to as “Chariots.” Zed had been looking forward to this for ages. He'd seen them being driven about, but this was his chance to actually get on one.

  The Chariot had two wide-spaced wheels in the front and a close-set wheel pair behind the driver. The front and back wheels were set at the ends of hinged arms that allowed the Chariot to provide a stable ride while traveling at high speed through a landscape without roads. This stability was all the more important considering that you didn’t straddle these like you would a motorcycle. Instead, you stepped up from the back and rode the Chariot like a standing carriage. There was room enough for two people to stand side by side: the pilot and the passenger.

  Johns motioned toward one of the Chariots. “I’ve checked out T5 and T9. You and Miranda hop onto T9. George and I will grab the other. Gin will walk you through the controls. It’s easier than riding a bike. The ride does most of the work for you.”

  Johns stepped onto his own Chariot and gestured through some controls that were apparently tied to the front hangar door because a moment later, it began to rise. Zed couldn’t hear it so much as feel the rumbling vibrations through his suit as the bottom edge rose, flooding the bay with Martian sunlight.

  Zed and Miranda approached their Chariot and climbed onto the back as they’d seen Johns do. There was a mostly barren console in front of Zed, and like most things in Naug, most of the driving information was displayed with his CIG.

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  “Yo, Douglas.”

  Douglas appeared dutifully before him, this time with his head resting in miniature on the console. Another speech bubble popped up.

  “I see this is your first time riding a T36 Redlands Tri-car. Would you like a tutorial introduction?”

  “Uh, yeah, but make it fast. I just need to know how to drive it.” Zed saw Johns’s Chariot come to life as the central body lifted off the ground, supported by the three wheel arms it rested between.

  George let out a whoop, pumping his fist in the air, though Zed noticed his other hand was locked in a death grip on the safety bar in front of him.

  Zed looked back to Douglas as he began to label controls and relay instructions for the start-up sequence.

  “You wanna drive?” Zed asked Miranda, who seemed completely at ease beside him.

  “Oh, no thanks. If anyone is going to get us killed, I’d just as soon let that be on you,” she laughed.

  She was clearly having fun, and it did something to calm Zed’s nerves, at least a little.

  He gripped the two handles set into either side of the console. Rotating them in tandem, he was able to control speed and direction. The wheels were capable of automatically picking the smoothest path for themselves while maintaining the direction and speed set by the driver. Even the back wheel could do this because it was, in fact, two wheels attached to two arms that rested close together.

  “Douglas, give me directions to the crater cave,” Zed said, watching as a dotted path snaked its way from his position across the landscape before disappearing over a hill.

  Johns looked back at him and gave a thumbs up before easing forward.

  “Just take your time until you get the hang of it and fall in behind me when you're ready. We'll take it nice and slow.” Johns pulled forward, traveling along the same dotted line that Zed had pulled up.

  Zed tested the throttle. They lurched forward a few feet. He tried again and felt the machine compensating for the jerky impulses from his nervous hand.

  With the wheels finding their ideal paths over the terrain without any help from him, Zed was shocked at how easy and smooth the Chariot was to drive, even for a first-timer. As his confidence grew, he picked up speed and fell into line behind Johns.

  “Not bad, Zed. You’re kind of a natural,” Miranda said, nodding her approval, which didn’t translate well in a spacesuit since no amount of head movement could actually bob the helmet.

  Zed took a deep breath and allowed himself a glance at the passing rock formations and dunes. There were so many incredible textures and shapes. In some ways, it felt familiar—like riding through a desert back on Earth—but there were enough differences to make everything feel just a bit off. Sometimes it was overt, and at other times more subtle, but everywhere he looked reminded him just how alien this world was.

  As Zed's gaze drifted skyward, he was shocked to see what looked like wisps of faint clouds overhead. He was so surprised that he would have run straight into a doghouse-sized boulder if the left wheel arm hadn’t zipped around it at the last second.

  Idiot-proof, Zed thought and turned his attention back to the trail as his pulse returned to normal. He glanced at Miranda, who thankfully hadn’t seemed to notice. She, too, was distracted by the vistas they were passing through.

  “Is that really a cloud?” Zed asked Johns over the radio. He saw Johns’s torso tilt back as he looked up.

  “Yes, but at that altitude, not the kind you’re thinking of. Too cold. That’s dry ice, not water.”

  Zed nodded before remembering that it was a gesture Johns couldn’t see. He was no less amazed by the sight and continued to steal glances above.

  Clouds on Mars, he thought. Weird.

  They continued on like this for the better part of half an hour until they crested a dune and caught sight of their destination just down the slope. The ridge of the crater itself was too tall for them to see the mysterious opening at its center, but just knowing it was so close gave Zed a jolt of excited adrenaline.

  They came to a stop in a well-trodden area at the base of the crater edge, where a pathway to the top had been cleared, complete with a rope safety railing. The Chariots lowered themselves like camels, allowing their riders to dismount.

  The three teens gathered and began an animated conversation about the trip while Johns retrieved a hard case from his Chariot.

  “Alright, children, enough acting like some Martian grockle. Time to get to work!” Johns bellowed.

  He made his way around the Chariots and started up the steep incline of the path that led to the top of the crater edge. The three teens fell in step behind him. The lip of the crater was only 20 feet high, but even with the safety lines, the freshly disturbed dirt and boulders made for slow going, at least if you didn't want a broken ankle.

  When Zed reached the top and looked down at the dark opening in the center of the crater, his first thought was that it resembled a portal to hell. This wasn't some clean-cut circle. Jagged chunks of shattered stone along the edge gave its open maw teeth. Zed didn’t envy whoever had made the first dark drop into that seemingly bottomless pit.

  There was a makeshift crane that allowed would-be explorers to lower themselves down without fear of puncturing their suits. Zed was glad he wouldn’t be taking that particular adventure today. Swinging out over that tooth-lined blackness was more than he was prepared for at the moment.

  Johns set his case down a few feet from the edge and unfolded the lid, revealing the obsidian sheen of Bel and Nebo nested in their charging docks. He picked up the little drones with care and held them out on his flat palms, fingers spread to keep clear of the blades.

  Zed couldn’t hear or see whatever command Johns gave the drones, but a few moments later, they sprang to life. They shot straight up and hovered a few feet above Johns’s outstretched hands. They hung there like a couple of flying balls of tar before plunging into the darkness without a moment’s hesitation.

  Johns turned back to Zed, his wide grin filling his faceplate. “And that, my boy, is that. We’ll leave them to their work and collect the data in a few days.”

  To the three teens’ utter surprise, the big man began doing a little jig in his spacesuit. They laughed but soon joined in, doing awkward turtle suit dances of their own. As George danced, he started doing figure eights with his arms spread wide, bobbing up and down. Zed happened to look over at him as he made a loop a few feet from the cave opening. He saw George stumble as one of the large stone teeth cracked and gave way, free-falling in a cloud of dust and pebbles into the darkness below.

  George screamed over the radio as he teetered on the edge, one foot dangling into the pit where the rock had given way.

  “George!” Miranda yelled, slipping in the dirt as she tried to run toward him.

  They all ran, but Zed reached him first. He grasped George's outstretched hand and yanked back hard in an attempt to tip his balance away from certain death. It worked, and they both fell onto their backs, nearly knocking over Miranda and Johns as they arrived.

  “What the hell were you thinking, George?” Miranda spat as she leaned over him.

  Zed had never seen her look like that. Her eyes looked crazed, almost animal-like.

  “You can’t take stupid risks like that! You’ve got to watch what you’re doing, or you’re going to get yourself killed, and then…”

  Miranda shook her head and stood abruptly. She started pacing with her back to the three of them, hands on her hips. Zed heard her scream through her teeth before she remembered she was broadcasting and muted her radio.

  After a moment, she turned back to George and banged on his helmet with her fist.

  “Be. More. Careful.”

  Then she squeezed him tightly enough to make Zed worry about George's suit integrity.

  “I think we best be getting back,” Johns said. “And maybe don’t mention this to, well, anyone.”

  “So when do you see what they see?” Zed asked as they made their way back down the crater lip path.

  He was grateful for the exoskeleton built along the outside of the suit legs that made it easier to move with the extra bulk.

  “Well, let’s see. The drones should have a couple of hours per flight before they have to recharge, so I think we’ll have our first bite of this apple by sometime next week.”

  They reached the bottom and made their way toward the Chariots.

  “I’d say swing by the end of next week, and I should have enough data for you to get started with if you’re still up for it.”

  “Of course! Especially standing here, I just want to know what it looks like in there. Can’t say I’m too sad about not going in myself, though.”

  George snorted.

  “Yeah, I almost got a very close look myself.”

  Miranda said nothing but punched George's suit on the shoulder. He put his hands up in surrender.

  Johns gave a coughing laugh. “It’s not a welcoming entrance; you’re right about that. Come on, let’s get ourselves back to the Chariots and get you lot home before your parents decide you’ve been lost to the dunes.”

  “I’m pretty sure I could jump into that hole and get a solid week of rotting in before they’d notice," Zed said.

  Johns was quiet for a moment.

  “I’m not really the best person to comment on these things, seeing as I’m not much of a family man myself. That being said, I’m happy to have you along, young Zed. All of you.”

  “Thanks,” Zed said, and then more quietly, “It’s nice to have friends.”