Chapter 7

His suit beeped and informed him in the computerized voice, “Oxygen reserves at fifty-one percent.”

That, of course, was the signal to turn around when they were far from the ship. In this case they’d gone about forty meters, so there was no rush.

Cal sprung Jude’s way. In 89% Earth gravity, bounding was easy and regular walking was trickier. Coming from Mars, Jude was used to low gravity. Even the best efforts at supplemental gravity had only gotten the Martian settlement up to 96% Earth normal. Cal, on the other hand, had no idea what he was doing. He bounced, overcompensated, and generally expended at least twice the energy he needed.

It was kind of adorable.

Finally more or less where he’d planned, Cal leaned over to peer at Jude’s collection of samples. “Anything good?”

“Bauxite.”

“I don’t suppose that’s one of the bonuses this quarter.”

“No such luck.”