“I have my issues with SpaceTech.” He let out a low huff. “You know, I got hurt a couple of months back, and Audrey fixed me up, but she wouldn’t give me the time of day unless I was hurt. Damned near faked an injury to get her to talk to me, but now I guess I know why. You think I have a shot?” He gave me a quick smile and a wink, but then his smile dropped away. “I figure someone already knows what you are. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have made up this bullshit job for you. They want you tortured, and they’re going to make me feel responsible when you die out there. So I’m not going to let that happen.”

I gave myself a second to feel relieved that there wasn’t going to be a problem between Tyler and me. I hadn’t known him for long, but he seemed like a nice guy. That he cared about me, even though I was a halfer, told me a lot about his character.

Tyler leaned on the table. “Why didn’t you say anything while you were out there? Why didn’t you tell me you were hurting?”

I licked my lips. The nanos had healed the bite and cracking, but my feet still felt a little dry. “It didn’t seem that bad, and I was so close to the elevator, but it got bad fast…” I met his gaze, wanting him to understand that I would never give up. No matter how weak I’d been just now. I was still alive, and that meant I was going to keep going.

“You’ll just need to be more careful next time,” Tyler said.

The monitor started beeping as my heart rate jumped. I hadn’t thought about going back out there. This was only my first day, but I already wanted out of this bullshit duty I’d pulled. I didn’t need to go out there again to understand that much.

The general was right. I wouldn’t last long out there. Even the suits weren’t built for that kind of sustained heat. I had to find a way to talk to Ahiga. Or figure out how to get on the mining runs.

“Don’t worry. I have a plan,” Tyler said like he’d read my mind. “Matthew and I went down to storage. They have plenty there. Each break, you’ll get a new one. We’ll inspect the shoes. I won’t let you back out there without checking. I’m sorry I wasn’t there during your second break. I was—”

There was some yelling from outside the room. Tyler turned toward the door, waiting to hear what was going on, but the voices were either too far away or the walls were too thick. I couldn’t make out anything except for the tone of Audrey’s voice.