“But people do still make it?” Because SpaceTech got something right. Like the other workers, I needed a goal—something to work toward that wasn’t sweating out my last breath on the surface of Abaddon.

“Yeah. Two. Two.” Tyler held up two fingers to drive it home. “Two out of at least fifty.”

“Right.” There didn’t seem to be a good option for me. Maybe today was a fluke, but if my suit had been working properly, then it would’ve given me some kind of warning that I was in danger. Which meant it failed and I couldn’t assume that it was just a broken suit.

Or I could try to get a mining job. Possibly die there. Or possibly make the five runs, and then what? Would Jason let me go home if I completed the job? Maybe not, but it could buy me enough time for Declan to get out of cryo.

Or Ahiga could call my dad. War would start. And billions upon billions of people could die.

There was no answer that I was happy with, so I had to pick the least-bad option. “I want to say that I can sit around and do my job and wait for Declan to come save me, but that’s not my style. I’ll go crazy doing that. Even if he shows up tomorrow, I still need to be focusing on saving myself. Especially if I’m stuck with this job. For me, that’s mining. I’ll work toward that. And if something comes up—if Declan shows or something else happens and we need to get word to my father—then we’ll deal with that then.”

“I get it,” Ahiga said. “I’d be doing the same thing.”

“Good.” I had a goal. Something that I could actively be working toward. That was a win. “What day is it today?”

“Sunday,” Tyler said.

“So when’s the next test?” Please God, tell me it’s this week.

Tyler winced, and I knew I wasn’t going to like his answer. “Next week.”

“Damn it.” I didn’t want to have to deal with this job for another day let alone another week or two.

But it was fine. I’d make it work. An extra week would mean that I had time to plan, which could be better. And maybe the CO would give me the seven days off that Ahiga was going to ask for. “Where do I take the test? And where do I find Carl Millander?”

“The test is given down the hall from the main mess, but there’s no way you’re getting into the bar to find Carl,” Tyler said.

“This is a shit plan,” Ahiga said. “But you get to the test and pass, I’ll get you in touch with Carl.”