That was the mantra that had gotten me through years of running, living on the streets, stealing food, and finally—when we got to Albuquerque—through the stress of years of hiding. It was the same determination and fight that would get me through this stupid job until Declan got here.

I jammed my finger on the middle button, and the helmet came up with a snap. A few displays lit up on the inside of my visor. First was the time, center of the helmet, just above my eye line. The temperature both outside and inside the suit showed on the bottom left, and power and oxygen levels were on the bottom right. Currently, I was at 96 degrees Fahrenheit in my suit and 100 percent for power and O2.

“You hear me okay?” Tyler’s voice came through the helmet.

“Yeah.”

“Good. Cams are in the suit, recording everything. SpaceTech likes to keep a record. And when you’re out there on your own, I’ll be able to check in with you. See your video feed.”

In other words, Jason was going to be watching me out there. Perfect. Just perfect.

“Now go ahead and start up the AC. You’ll want to give it a head start before we go on out there.”

“Sure thing.” I hit the one on the right, and freezing air started circulating around my body. It took less than ten seconds for my teeth to start chattering. The temperature readout disappeared for a second and came back as 36 degrees Fahrenheit. “Shit. It’s fucking cold.” I started shivering and thought about turning the AC off.

“Won’t be that way for long. If you’re ready, I’m hitting the red button.”

I’d never be ready for this, I tried to give him a thumbs-up anyway, but it was a little tricky with the thickness of the gloves and how much I was shaking from the cold.

“Let’s get started.” He hit the green button, and an alarm blared. The bots came forward, spewing cooling mist around the opening door.

Tyler waved me into the cooling chamber. It was no more than three feet deep. As soon as the door shut behind me, the one in front of me slowly opened. With each inch, it got hotter. Slowly, my teeth stopped chattering. By the time it was open enough for us to walk through, I was already sweating.

A cage elevator hung in front of us, waiting to let us down, but I wasn’t too eager to jump in. Tyler gave me a shove, pushing me into it. “Don’t want the bay to overheat. Cooling chamber can only do so much for so long.” The doors slammed shut behind us, blocking my exit.

“Wow.” I couldn’t help but be awed by the sight in front of me—so different from anything I’d seen before.