A short walk later, they arrived at a small, circular room with what appeared to be a series of bulbous doors set into the walls at five-foot intervals. There were no space suits in sight, and no airlock that Zed could see either.

  “And here we are," Johns said. "The suit and boot rooms are all along the edge of Naug. In case of an emergency, you want to be able to get out in a hurry, even if it is just in a turtle suit.”

  Johns saw the confusion on Zed’s face and continued. “Ah, yes, this probably doesn’t look quite like the training on Earth. That’s because on Earth you could just get into the suit and muck about for practice, but here, the priority is being able to get into the suit and out into the sun as quickly as possible. And to do it with no assistance, mind you.”

  Johns walked over to one of the little hatches in the wall. “See this hatch, boy? If the light is green,” Johns pointed to a small green light in the center of the door, “then you’re good to go. It means there’s a suit in the station. If I open this like so, you’ll find that I’m actually opening up the suit from the back. The backpack portion acts as a hatch into the suit. Now, it takes some practice to exit it without just falling flat on your ass, but if this old bag of bones can manage it, I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

  Zed peered into the now-open hatch and saw that it had automatically pulled off the suit’s backpack, which contained the systems needed for a Mars surface walk. What it left was a sort of door into the back of the suit interior.

  “To make things easier, the suit can relax its shape and loosen up when you’re exiting and entering. Once you’re in and you’ve triggered the door to close and the pack is locked onto your back, it’ll size to your body, give you a little squeeze, and you’re good to go! Easy as that.”

  “Easy as that, huh? But what if I mess something up and end up all Total Recall with my eyes popping out?” Zed said, grabbing at his throat and doing his best "Arnold yelling" impersonation.

  Johns laughed. “I take it you must have done a Mars movie classics binge at some point before your trip. Don’t worry, though. When they made plans for this colony, they knew not everyone was going to be a professional astronaut. Everything from the suits to the CIGs was designed to be childproof. That’s why there’s no easily accessed manual controls about. Your CIG controls what you have access to and what you don’t. Keeps a young lamb like yourself from venting the station or something worse.”

  Zed wanted to take some offense at this but stopped his reply short as he realized that yes, it was a fair concern, and he did indeed feel safer knowing that he was unlikely to accidentally kill everyone. Now he just had to trust that he wasn’t going to accidentally kill himself.

  “So I just climb in? That’s it?”

  “That’s all there is to it. Once you're in, your CIG will connect to the suit and give you all the information you could want. Why don’t you give it a go, and I’ll follow you out?” Johns said, giving an encouraging gesture toward the open back of the suit.

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  Zed took a deep breath and, with something less than grace, managed to get all his limbs through the back of the suit and into the correct legs and sleeves. He felt his feet hit bottom and pushed his torso up the rest of the way until his head emerged into the helmet.

  He found he was looking down at a bit of an angle, bent over as if the previous wearer had been about to tie their shoe and then just froze. All he could see was the solid lip that was printed into the ground around the edge of the crater—a Martian sidewalk, he guessed.

  Before he had a chance to turn his head, he felt his fingers fit into place, which triggered some kind of reaction in the suit. The backpack door closed behind him, and his ears popped. He was still very much attached to the hatch behind him, however.

  Zed had never thought of himself as having any phobias, but he learned that day that claustrophobia was at least somewhere in his makeup. Climbing into the suit had been fine, at least while he knew the hatch was still open. Once the back had sealed, he felt a little pressure in his throat. What pushed him over the edge, however, was the automatic fitting.

  Starting at the fingers and toes, the suit began to conform to his body’s dimensions. It didn’t squeeze him, but it did what it was meant to do and removed all extra wiggle room for a perfect fit. Zed had the feeling that he was being wrapped like a mummy. That led to thoughts of something he’d read about mummies having their brains pulled out through their noses, which was probably what would happen to him if there was a suit breach.

  Being exposed to the Martian air felt like a very real possibility at that moment as Zed found himself struggling and thrashing within the ever-contracting suit. Thankfully, Martian equipment was meant to last. The back seal held, and true to what Johns had told him, it was indeed idiot-proof. Sensing the struggle, the suit relaxed its grip, returning to its initial state. The door opened, and Zed felt himself being lifted out like an infant being plucked from a crib.

  “Zed!” Johns was standing over him, genuine concern on his face. “Are you alright? Are you injured?”

  Released from his cocoon, Zed felt his heart rate slow as his breathing leveled out.

  “No, I’m OK. I’m so sorry. I don’t—I’ve never—I just felt trapped. I didn’t think it would bother me, but something about being in there with nothing outside to breathe. I freaked. I’m so sorry.”

  “Oh, there now. That’s nothing to be ashamed of. Believe me, you’re not the first, and you won’t be the last. It just takes some getting used to, that’s all.”

  Johns helped Zed to his feet and triggered the turtle suit hatch to close.

  “Imagine my first time in one of those things. I’m a big man, and I don’t have much wiggle room even when the suit is fully relaxed. I feel closely related to a microwaved banger when I go for a walk. And make no mistake, just as sweaty too. There’s a reason they keep me in hydroponics.”

  Johns fanned his underarms and made a face. Zed smiled weakly.

  “Now then, I think that’s enough excitement for any boy to have in a given day. Maybe getting back to your lessons, or whatever you do, might not be such a bad idea. I’m guessing your parents would be more than a little peeved if I got you killed on day one. Not to mention Thabisa.”

  “Yeah, I think you’re right. Maybe some other time. Thank you, though—truly. I’ll swing by again. This was really cool. Ya know, other than me losing my marbles for a minute.”

  Johns smiled and turned to go. “If you ask Gin, she’ll give you directions back to your quarters. I’d imagine you’re a bit turned around at this point.”

  “Thanks, and yeah, I most definitely am.”

  “I’ll be seein’ ya, Zed,” Johns said, giving a wave as he took off toward hydroponics.

  Well, that was embarrassing, Zed thought, clenching his fists. He took a deep breath, feeling his nails bite into his palms.

  “Um, hey Gin, is there a rock I can crawl under? Also, how do I get home?”