I snorted a laugh. I knew they were going to be betting on it. I wished someone had at least let me in on it, but they didn’t have anything other than desserts to trade around and I wanted none of that.

“I warned the other Cargo Bay Heads to keep an ear out for any alarms going off from our bay. I also spread the word to be on alert in case your suit malfunctions and one of them is closer. They’re all good guys and watching out for you in case of something like that.”

I slowly stood up, pulling the suit up and over my body as I shoved my arms in it. My hands fumbled with the closure, and a bead of sweat rolled down my cheek, and I looked up at Tyler.

“You need the bucket?”

I swallowed hard. “I don’t think so.” I didn’t like throwing up, but I’d been doing a lot of it lately.

“Okay. This is the last time. You can do it.” Tyler straightened. “You ready?”

I quickly closed up the suit, powered it up, and hit the button for my helmet. “Ready as I’ll ever be.” I grabbed the belt and canister hanging beside the elevator and strapped it on.

“I’ll be here if you need me.”

My heart raced as I stepped up to the bay’s door. Each time I stepped into the elevator, it got harder. My whole body shook as I pushed the green button. Steam rose around me as I was briefly sealed in the cooling chamber. Then I stepped into the elevator to head down.

Fear beat against my brain, making it hard to think about anything else but my suit failing like it always did. The idea of stepping onto the surface again went against every instinct I had, and this time I was going to be walking around the perimeter to the other side of the base.

I’d never gone that far on foot. If I got stranded out there, it’d take precious time for someone to get to me.

If I reached Cargo Bay Four today, I could take the mining test. We knew that someone was watching my suit and Bay One. If I went inside too soon or if I left the bay before my shift was over, that would tell whoever was watching that I was up to something. I couldn’t let them find out until the last possible second. I didn’t want anyone to stop me from taking the test, so I had to be sneaky.

I hoped that whoever was watching me was far enough away from Bay Four that they wouldn’t get to me until I was already done with the test.