Zed made his way to the turtle suit hub nearest to the vehicle hangar. Janice had messaged and was set to meet him outside with his Chariot. He was about to climb through the back of one of the suits and receive its full-body hug when he heard a voice calling down the corridor outside.

  “Hey, Zed, hold up a sec!”

  He turned, one leg already extended through the backpack airlock. When he saw Andy come around the corner, he was tempted to climb into the suit and pretend he hadn’t heard, but Andy had already locked eyes and was heading straight for him.

  “I was hoping I’d catch you. I won’t keep you; this will just take a second,” Andy said.

  He had a smile on his face, but Zed didn’t feel in the least comforted. He wasn’t sure what to say, so he just waited, his leg still dangling into the suit.

  “It’s such a bummer,” Andy said. “With all your friends gone now, I mean.”

  Yep, definitely should have made a break for it.

  “I just wanted to say, don’t sweat it. Things could always be worse, right?” Andy moved toward one of the suit hatches. “So, are you ready for the race?” he asked as he prepped the suit with glacial speed. “It’s your first time competing in something, right?”

  How in the world did he know that? Had Andy overheard his mother talking in the mess?

  “No, I’ve competed,” Zed said, crossing his arms. “I used to do local game tournaments when I could. There were a few VR shooters I was pretty good at.”

  “Ah, video games,” Andy said with a look of sympathy. “Not quite the same, though, is it?”

  Zed said nothing, his fingers digging into his forearms.

  “But hey, I think it’s great you’re putting yourself into the mix like this. It’ll be a great learning experience, I’m sure. Well, good luck!” Andy gripped the overhead bar and swung his legs into the suit with practiced ease. “And remember, Zed, have fun!”

  He lowered himself the rest of the way in as the pack hatch closed behind him and sealed shut.

  Zed stood there as he heard the tiny airlock cycle and the suit disconnect from the outer wall. He shook his head.

  What the hell was that all about?

  He waited a minute to be sure that Andy had walked some distance, then crawled into his own suit. He first tried to swing in gracefully the way Andy had, but only succeeded in bruising his shin and further diminishing his ego.

  When Zed arrived at the hangar airlock entrance, it was already sealed shut, and the Chariots that were going to be ridden in the race were parked in front. Colonists were milling around, making broad gestures to each other as they talked. Even through the muted silence of the suits, it was easy to feel the electric excitement in the thin Martian air.

  Zed turned on the public channel and set the volume to low. With the background noise of animated voices, it really did almost feel like being at some kind of normal outdoor event on Earth. If you could ignore the space suits, low gravity, and Martian landscape, that is.

  Anyone who wasn’t here at the start or waiting at the finish line was crowded into the mess where the shared virtual overlay had been set up with giant screens showing various camera angles from the drivers' perspectives and the drones that would be following the racers as they vied for first place.

  Someone by one of the Chariots was waving in his direction, but in the suits, everyone looked the same. He’d never been around this many people out on the surface before. How did you keep people straight?

  “Douglas, is there any kind of suit occupant identifier program thingy?”

  The animated space kid appeared and nodded. A notification appeared in the corner of Zed’s vision.

  -SUIT TAGGING ENABLED-

  Names popped up over the heads of everyone in sight. He saw (Janice Das) appear over the person who was waving him over.

  I should probably just leave this on all the time, Zed thought. I’m terrible with names. It does feel a bit like a social cheat, though.

  He made his way over to Janice, who raised her sun visor to reveal a beaming smile.

  “You ready to kick some Martian ass, Zed?” Janice said, clapping her gloves together. A little cloud of red dust swirled off of them on impact.

  If you spot this tale on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Yeah, I guess,” Zed said.

  He was almost knocked off balance when Janice smacked the side of his helmet with her open palm. Taking a knock like that on Earth wouldn’t have done much, but in one-third gravity, it nearly sent him into a somersault. Zed stumbled and caught himself.

  “What was that for?” Zed sputtered. Janice could be biting and sarcastic when the mood struck, but aggressive was not a word he would have ever used to describe her.

  “I’m so sorry! I meant it as a playful knock, not a knock out. Sometimes I forget I’m on Mars,” Janice said, helping Zed steady himself.

  Zed gestured at their surroundings with both arms outstretched.

  “Yeah, yeah,” she said, pulling her head down between her shoulders in a very literal turtle-like retreat. “I just don’t want to hear any more of that negativity, got it?” As she said this, she popped her head forward in her helmet like some kind of Martian rooster.

  Zed couldn’t help but laugh. “Sorry, Janice. It’s been a weird morning. I didn’t start the day thinking I’d be able to race, and I haven’t had a chance to practice in weeks. Thanks, by the way. I really appreciate what you and Alina did.”

  “Oh, whatever. It was nothing. Alina just needed a racing victim to crush. And don’t think for a second that she’ll go easy on you.”

  Janice pointed in the direction of the Chariot where Alina was making her own preparations.

  “You’ll never meet anyone more competitive than that woman. I played cards with her once. Let’s just say I learned some new Ukrainian curses.”

  “Good to know.”

  Zed looked back over at Alina, who was now looking back. She pointed at Zed and then took her finger and slashed it across the neck of her suit.

  “Yep, that sooka is nuts, but in the friendliest way, ya know?” Janice said, using one of Alina's favorite curses that even Zed had heard her use often enough to recognize. She turned back to the bike and continued her pre-drive check.

  “Sorry about my parents. That whole meal was just kinda awkward.”

  “Speaking of sooka,” Janice said without hesitation. “Sorry, that was unkind, but yeah, your family has issues for sure. I should know. Mine does too.” Janice looked up at the sky as if she could see the pale Martian haze. “There’s a reason I left Earth.”

  For a moment, Zed thought she was being sarcastic, but her comment was tinged with true sadness. He’d learned a bit about where she’d grown up in Seattle when he was working on her quarter’s virtual overlay, but clearly, there was more to her story than she'd wanted to share.

  “Anyway,” Janice said, waving her gloves together again as if the memories swirling in her mind were flies she could swat. “The point is, no matter what anyone says, including your mother, you’ve worked way too hard to get in your head this close to go time. Have some fraggin’ perspective, man! You’re racing a robot chariot on Mars!”

  Zed smiled in his helmet. Johns and Janice had pretty much told him the same thing. Why was it so easy to lose the big picture? He had almost let a few words from his mother and Andy suck all the joy out of a day and event he’d been looking forward to and working towards for weeks.

  “Screw that,” he said.

  “Excuse me?” Janice asked, confused.

  “No way I’m gonna miss a second of this day by spending it in my head.”

  “Now you’re talkin’! Let’s go get your ride set up. This thing will be kicking off in just a few minutes.”

  They exchanged a gloved fist bump and started their prep. Zed could feel the excitement beginning to take over, the adrenaline of competition kicking his heart rate up a gear.

  Andy had been wrong about one thing. Video game competitions were no less intense than physical ones. Zed recognized this feeling, and it gave him comfort. It took some of the foreignness out of this new sport, this new situation, and that gave him a boost in confidence he sorely needed right now.

  With their prep done, there was nothing to do now but wait for the start.

  “Be sure you’re tuned in to the race virtual overlay,” Janice reminded him. “Racing blind is generally frowned upon.”

  “Check and check,” Zed said. He gave Douglas the command and saw the virtual starting line and course guides spring to life. The seven competing riders and their Chariots were already at the starting line. The virtual boundary edges of the course were marked with flowing cyan-colored dotted lines. The track started at the hangar entrance and stretched out to the east away from Naug until it snaked around a distant plateau. Above the starting line, a giant digital clock floated. It read ten minutes and thirty-six seconds.

  “You good, Zed?” Janice asked.

  Zed gave her a thumbs-up.

  “Alright then, I’m going to head over to the finish line. I expect this Chariot to be the first thing I see coming out of that canyon, got it?” Janice gave him the turtle suit equivalent of a nod, which was more of an upper body bow.

  “Can’t promise I won’t be on fire when I do it, but yeah, I got it, Janice.”

  The self-pity was gone from his voice now, and Janice could hear it. She returned his thumbs up.

  “Break a leg, kid! Just not one of these,” Janice said, placing a tender hand on one of the Chariot's forward wheel legs. “These are a pain in the ass to fix.”

  “I’ll try to keep the leg-breaking to my own then.”

  Janice laughed and then turned to make her way to the beggar’s canyon exit, where people were starting to gather.

  Zed stepped up onto the Chariot’s rider platform and gripped the control bars on either side of the central console. He gave each tire a little stomp, like a three-legged robotic sprinter stretching before a race.

  With just under four minutes left on the clock, Zed stole a glance down the line of racers. Looking over the names floating above the helmets of his competition, Zed could see that the roster really represented a fairly even spread of the population of Naug, with everyone from mechanics to data analysts. Two racers down, Zed saw Alina doing her own preparations. Alina looked up and waved. Zed saw a private coms invite pop up in his heads-up display. He accepted.

  “Almost go time, Zed! Don’t let those nerves throw you off!” Alina said in an exaggerated paternal tone.

  Zed rolled his eyes.

  “You too, Alina. Just one question. Did you come to Mars hoping to find a racing win you couldn’t manage on Earth? Because Mars is a terrible place for a mid-life crisis.”

  “Hey, I’m only twenty—“

  Zed cut the connection and turned back toward the starting line, a grin on his face. Now he was having fun.

  Twenty seconds to go.

  Zed adjusted his grip on the steering bars.

  Ten seconds.

  The racers' bodies tensed in their suits, sending a ripple down the starting line.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.