The external gravity was slightly lower outside than it was inside the station, allowing Maren to skip along the surface, but it was still a hard slog up the unstable slope. The sand shifted continuously under her boots, sliding her back down the incline, and she was panting by the time she reached the top. She let Saul haul her over the lip and onto the roof.

“Just to let you guys know, you’ve got sixty minutes until incineration,” Gin said. “You might want to pick up the pace… or grab some marshmallows. Whatever.”

Maren laughed and joined her companions in a jog across the roof. The metal was mostly even, though she could see the outer plating lifting in some areas. She would need to do some heavy maintenance soon.

Before long, they reached the first step—a section where the roof increased in height, leaving them facing a wall that reached just above their helmets. They could have walked along the wall until they reached the ladder, but it was faster to travel in a straight line. Saul grabbed the back of Suriya’s suit and tossed her on top of the step then did the same for Maren. She enjoyed the sensation of flying for a second before hitting the roof and rolling, mercifully protected by the uniform’s thick padding. She turned back to offer Saul a hand up, but he was already vaulting onto the higher level. He landed with the grace of a huge cat then sprung forward into a brisk jog.

Maren couldn’t help but remember his words as they continued racing towards the second step. “This is why they won’t promote you… because you’re tiny.”

If he can do it, so can I, Maren decided, and as they got closer to the second step, she sped up instead of waiting to be tossed over. When she was two paces away, she jumped, intending to use her momentum and the lower gravity to leap over the ledge. But she misjudged the force needed and smacked into the wall.

“Ow,” she grumbled, falling onto her back. The impact had thrown her head forward and bumped her nose against the helmet’s glass, and she squinted against the sting.

A deep, barking noise came through her helmet’s speakers, and Maren raised her eyebrows. Is that Saul laughing? Well, I’ll be damned. I honestly thought I’d meet a unicorn before I heard that.

He knelt beside her, trying to smother his mirth as he offered her his gloved hand. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah,” she groused.

“What’s happening?” Gin asked from the communications room. “What’s ‘ow’?”

“Maren ran into a wall,” Suriya said, also sounding amused.

“It looked much more majestic in my head,” Maren said, and Saul, after pulling her upright, grabbed her shoulders in both hands and threw her over the ledge.

She rolled and got to her feet as Suriya was thrown up beside her. The communications system was only a dozen paces ahead. Its multitude of sensors, dishes, and plates poked out of the roof like a demented cityscape.