“We have to spend another twenty-minutes here breathing a hundred percent oxygen to scrub nitrogen out of our bodies. Then just before we climb into the hardsuits, we put on isotherms.” She opened a locker and removed two silky black garments. “You want to wait until the last minute; isotherms take some getting used to. But they keep the hardsuit from overheating.” She tossed one to Adel.
“But how can that happen?” He held the isotherm up; it had a hood and opened with a slide down the torso. The sleeves ended at the elbow and the pants at the knee. “Isn’t space just about as cold as anything gets?”
“Yes, but the hardsuit is airtight, which makes it hard to dissipate all the heat that you’re going to be generating. Even though you get some servo-assist, it’s a big rig, Adel. You’ve got to work to get anywhere.” She raised her steaming mug of kappa and winked at him. “Think you’re man enough for the job?”
—let that pass—buzzed plus.
“I suppose we’ll know soon enough.” Adel rubbed the fabric of the isotherm between his thumb and forefinger. It was cool to the touch.
Kamilah sipped from the mug. “Once we’re out on the surface,” she said, “Speedy will be running all your systems. All you have to do is follow me.”
The Godspeed displayed on a section of wall. She was wearing an isotherm with the hood down; it clung to her like a second skin. Adel could see the outline of her nipples and the subtle wrinkles her pubic hair made in the fabric.
—but they’re not real—minus buzzed.
“What are you doing, Kamilah?” said the Godspeed. “You were out just last week.”
“Adel hasn’t seen the view.”
“I can show him any view he wants. I can fill the Welcome Arena with stars. He can see in ultraviolet. Infrared.”
“Yes, but it wouldn’t be quite real, would it?”
“Reality is over-rated.” The Godspeed waggled a finger at Kamilah. “You’re taking an unusual interest in young Adel. I’m watching, perfect one. “
“You’re watching everyone, Speedy. That’s how you get your cookies.” With that she pulled the top of her scrubs off. “Time to get naked, Adel. Walk our hardsuits out and start the checklist, would you, Speedy?”
—those are real—buzzed minus.
—Meri and Jarek remember—
—we can look—
And Adel did look as he slithered out of his own clothes. Although he was discreet about it, he managed to burn indelible images into his memory of Kamilah undressing, the curve of her magnificent hip, the lush pendency of her breasts, the breathtaking expanse of her back as her tawny skin stretched tight over nubs of her spine. She was a woman a man might drown in. Abruptly, he realized that he was becoming aroused. He turned away from her, tossed his clothes into a locker, snatched at the isotherm and pulled it on.
And bit back a scream.
Although it was as silken as when Kamilah had pulled it out of the drawer, his isotherm felt like it had spent the last ten years in cryogenic storage. Adel’s skin crawled beneath it and his hands curled into fists. As a swimmer, Adel had experienced some precipitous temperature changes, but he’d never dived into a pool filled with liquid hydrogen.
—trying to kill us—screeched minus.
“Are you all right?” said Kamilah. “Your eyes look like eggs.”
“Ah,” said Adel. “Ah.”
—we can do this—buzzed plus.
“Hang on,” said Kamilah. “It passes.”
As the hardsuits clumped around the corner of the locker room, their servos singing, Adel shivered and caught his breath. He thought he could hear every joint crack as he unclenched his fists and spread his fingers. When he pulled the isotherm hood over his head, he got the worst ice cream headache he’d ever had.
“This is going to be fun,” he said through clenched teeth.
The hardsuits were gleaming white eggs with four arms, two legs and a tail. The arms on either side were flexrobotic and built for heavy lifting. Beside them were fabric sleeves into which a spacewalker could insert his arms for delicate work. The legs ended in ribbed plates, as did the snaking tail, which Kamilah explained could be used as a stabilizer or an anchor. A silver ball the size of coconut perched at the top of the suit.
“Just think of them as spaceships that walk,” said Kamilah. “Okay, Speedy. Pop the tops.”
The top, translucent third of each egg swung back. Kamilah muscled a stairway up to the closest hardsuit. “This one’s yours. Settle in but don’t try moving just yet.”
Adel slid his legs into the suit’s legs and cool gel flowed around them, locking him into place. He ducked instinctively as the top came down, but he had plenty of room. Seals fasten with a scritch and the heads up display on the inside of the top began to glow with controls and diagnostics. Beneath the translucent top were fingerpads for controlling the robotic lifter arms; near them were the holes of the hardsuit’s sleeves. Adel stuck his arms through, flexed his fingers in the gloves then turned his attention back to the HUD. He saw that he had forty hours of oxygen reserve and his batteries were at 98% of capacity. The temperature in the airlock was 15.52°C and the air pressure was 689 millibars. Then the readouts faded and the Godspeed was studying him intently. She looked worried.
“Adel, what’s going on?”
“Is something going on?”
“I’m afraid there is and I don’t want you mixed up in it. What does Kamilah want with you?”
Adel felt a chill that had nothing to do with his isotherm.
—don’t say anything—buzzed plus —we don’t know anything—
“I don’t know that she wants anything.” He pulled his arms out of the hardsuit’s sleeves and folded them across his chest. “I just thought she was being nice.”
“All right, Adel,” said Kamilah over the comm. “Take a stroll around the room. I want to see how you do in here where it’s flat. Speedy will compensate if you have any trouble. I’m sure she’s already in your ear.”
The Godspeed held a forefinger to her lips. “Kamilah is going to ask you to turn off your comm. That’s when you must be especially careful, Adel.” With that, she faded away and Adel was staring, slack-jawed, at the HUD.
“Adel?” said Kamilah. “Are you napping in there?”
Adel took a couple of tentative steps. Moving the hardsuit was a little like walking on stilts. He was high off the floor and couldn’t really see or feel what was beneath his feet. When he twisted around, he caught sight of the tail whipping frantically behind him. But after walking for a few minutes, he decided that he could manage the suit. He lumbered behind Kamilah through the inner hatch of the airlock, which slid shut.
Adel listened to the muted chatter of pumps evacuating the lock until finally there wasn’t enough air to carry sound. Moments later, the outer hatch opened.
“Ready?” Kamilah said. “Remember that we’re leaving the artificial gravity field. No leaps or bounds—you don’t watch to achieve escape velocity.”
Adel nodded.
—she can’t see us—buzzed minus—we have to talk to her—
Adel cleared his throat. “I’ve always wanted to see the stars from space.”
“Actually, you won’t have much of a view until later,” she said. “Let’s go.”
As they passed through the hatch, the Godspeed announced, “Suit lights are on. I’m deploying fireflies.”