They were still eating when Operator Andersen's presence in her mind became stronger and new thoughts like words appeared to her, "Got news for you Vivian. After lunch you are scheduled for a walk on the surface. You need to learn how to work while wearing a heavy vac suit."

  "Outside?" she thought back.

  "A little walk over the landing field, and then a few steps into the wild, nothing big. Just to get used to microgravity and the lack of atmosphere," Operator Andersen's thoughts let her know.

  She nodded instinctively before she noticed that Operator Andersen couldn't see her and answered in thoughts, "Makes sense. When do we need to go?"

  "2:30pm, so you've got enough time to eat and relax for a while. I'll show you the way once it's time"

  "Thank you," she replied in thoughts and Operator Andersen's presence returned to their normal, more distant state.

  James and Merle were once again looking at her when she regained her awareness of the outside world.

  "Got news?" James asked.

  She nodded, and this time it made sense, "Yep. We'll go for a walk outside to learn how to work in microgravity and without atmosphere."

  Merle seemed a bit cautious, "Just so, go outside? Can our bodies do that?"

  She showed a grin for a moment, "Sorry, forgot that part. We'll get vac suits, but Operator Anderson didn't give me an image of those. Only the name."

  "So, when?" James asked.

  "Right, 2:30pm we're supposed to be there. We've got time to eat and chill some. Operator Anderson will show me the way once it's time," she relayed the information.

  She looked at her half eaten bowl of nutrient paste aka porridge, "Do you think we'll have to eat this every day, every meal? I'll get a screaming fit some day from it."

  Merle reached over to rub her shoulder a little, "I've heard that Sundays we'll get desert, too."

  She looked at Merle, not sure what to say for a long while.

  "I think I need to scream right now."

  ----

  "Ah, there come my three hatchlings. Welcome to your first stroll outside. I'm Eliga One and will be your instructor for today," a blue haired drone welcomed them as they entered a rather large hall. In here the walls were no longer coated with plastic, but bare metal, and it seemed both walls and ceiling were reinforced with rather massive looking metal beams. Large lights mounted along the beams lit up the area quite brightly, so it was easy to see even fine details.

  She spotted one star above Eliga's name tag, so Eliga had a mind link too, just not a very good one. Did all drones who were mind link capable get higher positions? They had made her foreman and dredger pilot ... sadly she had forgotten to ask Justin about his position. Maybe she'd meet him some day again at the food distribution so she could ask.

  While she was thinking, James was the first to reply, "Hello Eliga. We're Merle, Vivian and James, and apparently a new dredger crew."

  "Well, before you can fly, you'll have to learn how to walk," Eliga declared and led them towards the right wall, where almost robot-like suits were lined up. All made from rigid metal, with plastic or silicone parts for the joints. They looked more like modern armor than what she had expected from a vac suit.

  Eliga pointed to the pieces, "These are heavy vac suits, made to protect you from the most common dangers outside. Micrometeorites can be quite nasty out here. You won't need these often, but you need to know how to use them anyways."

  "To get in, open the chest part like this", Eliga pressed some spots on the chest of one of the suits and the thing opened much like a clam shell, just with five instead of two shell parts. "Then you open the upper leg parts", another click and the upper legs split open as well, "And the upper arms", this time with two segments each. "Once open, get your legs into the pants of the suit and your arms into the sleeves. Then just close the suit and you're good."

  "With the overalls?" she asked.

  "Of course not. Socks and slip are all you will wear in the suit. And before you ask, the suits get sanitized after each use."

  "Oh really? As diligently as the dredgers are maintained?"

  "No, they actually get sanitized because no one wants to get into a suit that stinks of another drone. And not even the company wants any infections to spread, they want everyone healthy and able to work," Eliga told her in a serious tone.

  She didn't say anything. Eliga apparently took this as agreement and went to open a suit for James, one for Merle and one for herself.

  Somewhat hesitantly, she took off her boots and the overall, deposited them on the floor besides the vac suit, climbed into the leg parts of the suit, tried to get her arms into the sleeves and her fingers into the gloves. It quickly became apparent why they had been asked to take the overalls off, the fit of the suits was more than just skin tight.

  Eliga had been watching them and as soon as she had her arms in the sleeves of the suit, Eliga closed the leg and arm parts, then the body shell and it felt like a giant had gripped her with an iron hand.

  No wriggling helped to get more comfortable, the thing was just too tight and she quickly developed a serious dislike of these vac suits. The thing squeezed her body in far too many ways and even if their drone bodies were fairly numb, it was more than just a little uncomfortable to wear.

  "Why does everything in this mining camp have to be so unpleasant?" She stared daggers at Eliga One who seemed pleased to have them successfully squeezed into these instruments of torture.

  "Outpost," Eliga corrected her, "and the suits must fit tight, so you don't wobble around in there if only your mag boots hold you down on the ground in near zero gravity. Believe me, it'd be way more uncomfortable to have it rub you up and down with every step than to be squeezed a little. It has to be tight. You'd be sore otherwise after just a few steps out there."

  "And how are we supposed to work in these? I can barely move my arms!" She tried to demonstrate the problem by swinging her arms about just to be reminded of all the angles which were restricted by the suit.

  "Out here space debris can hit you real hard. The suits have to be even harder and joints are particularly hard to protect. So, would you rather have a few nice new holes in your body after a walk outside, or live with somewhat limited mobility?" Eliga sounded about as unrelenting as she was pissed about the discomfort.

  She sighed but remained quiet. Squeezed like a sausage in its casing, protected against bullet speed space debris. So that was how the next hours would be like.

  "Now, check the comm unit and air supplies before you put on the helmet. Radio transmission, mike, outside speakers. You must be able to talk to your teammates as well as to station crew once you return inside," Eliga instructed her.

  She tried to remember Eliga's earlier instructions and started the automated test. First, check if all status lights are lit up, one time all green, one time all red. They all worked. The one by one the status lights came up green.

  "Comm status is all green," she reported.

  "Don't forget the air pressure," Eliga One reminded her.

  The indicator was on her left lower arm. "90%" she read out loud.

  "Good. Put on the helmet, and check if you actually get fresh air."

  She put the helmet over her head and listened to the click as the magnetic locks fastened it air tight to the suit. A light hiss sounded up and she felt a gentle, almost pleasant breeze against her face.

  "Air stream seems good." She could hear herself twice, once her actual voice inside the helmet and then the muffled transmission from the speakers outside.

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  She'd been the last to perform the systems check and put in the helmet, so she changed the communication to radio and asked, "Merle, James, can you hear me?"

  "Yep, hearing you", "Coming in clear", they confirmed.

  "Do you feel so wedged in too?" she asked.

  Merle replied first, "I've had more pleasant clothing before", then James piped up, "Nah, you're just a little chubby, Vivian. You should pick up dancing again. How about this evening?"

  "James!" she wasn't sure if she should protest the dancing first or rather being called chubby.

  "Yes, Vivian?" She was sure there was more than just a hint of amusement in his voice.

  "I'll make your ass dance when I kick it! How can you say I'm chubby?" She shouted with anger in her voice.

  "Pretty certainly all these suits are the same size. So it can't be the suit if you feel wedged in," James reasoned.

  "Vivian", that was Merle's voice, "he just wants to annoy you. Pretty sure it's the same fit for all of us. And probably intentional. Think of the food and the showers."

  Bland food and cold showers. And uncomfortably tight vac suits. Probably cheaper to order one size too small, like cheaper food and cheaper unheated water. She took a deep breath just to be reminded how boxed she was in the suit.

  "Chubby", she murmured once more, still angry. There was a strange sound in the transmission.

  "Did I hear you laugh, James?" she shouted again.

  "No, absolutely impossible. But dancing helps to burn calories," James replied.

  "We don't even have an infotainment system to play music!" she protested.

  "Maybe Merle can sing and clap?"

  A new voice came from the speaker, "Eliga speaking. Stop the fussing and group up at airlock two. I'm supposed to look over you bunch out there."

  Airlock two was the second from the left, placed into the front end of the large metal hall. Still displeased with the fit of the heavy vac suit, she walked over there, and Eliga opened the airlock for them.

  Once inside, Eliga instructed them, "Activate the mag boots. Outside we'll have only very low gravity. The landing field has a magnetizable cover though, so you can walk with the mag boots. I'll tell you how."

  The hissing of air being evacuated from the chamber quieted as it thinned and only sounds transmitted from the station through the floor into the suits could be heard anymore. She suddenly felt quite isolated from the world.

  The outer door opened, and light from the airlock illuminated a smooth surface, which had to be the landing field which Operator Andersen had mentioned.

  Before she could think more about it, Eliga's voice sounded up in the speakers, "The mag boots are supposed to secure you to the ground even if something heavy hits you hard. So if you want to take a step, keep the ball of the foot on the ground, push your knee forward and lift the heel. That's the signal for the magnets to give your foot free. Then take the step and wait till the magnets caught on the ground again. And then the other foot. It's takes a bit to get used to, but once you've got it, it almost like normal walking."

  Eliga clapped, but she only saw the motion, didn't hear any sound, "Alright, so everyone, one step towards the door. Once you stand securely, the next step. I don't want to fetch any of you because you were too stupid to take a step and flew off."

  Inside the air lock, the steps had been a bit awkward, but walking worked better than expected. One step outside though and a terrible feeling of falling came over her and for a moment she felt completely disoriented, no indication of up or down, even if she was locked to the ground by the mag boots. It took her a while to get into a stable upright posture again and remain so.

  Even upright and with the sensation that her feet were locked to the ground, she felt scared by the feeling of an endless fall. Why had no one warned them about this?

  Eliga closed the door closed behind them and once her eyes had gotten accustomed to the low light outside, she could see the outpost from the outside for the first time. Ahead of them was supposedly the landing field, she'd guess some kilometers far and wide, and behind only a small metal, box like structure which emerged from a rock slope, with entrances to four air locks. Apparently most of the mining outpost was underground. Higher uphill she could see a sort of tower or antenna.

  In the sky above them, dredgers were floating, each one bigger than the part of the station which she could see behind them, but small in comparison to the landing field. For some reason the whole landing field was empty though.

  While she took in their surroundings, in some distance a lit square appeared in the ground and a shuttle lifted off to head for one of the dredgers. Was that how the crews got to the floating ships?

  Eliga seemed to have guessed her thoughts, "Shuttles like that will bring you to the dredgers, so you don't need to wear the heavy vac suits during a normal work day. You'll always be in a vehicle and somewhat safe from debris and meteor strikes. But now, we'll walk ahead for zero g practice and then to the left edge of the landing field. There we'll practice how to move if your mag boots cannot hold you because the floor isn't iron or steel."

  "Alright", she confirmed over the radio, and heard the confirmations of the others as well. Slowly, step by step they began to walk and she had to admit, Eliga had a point there, that the suits had to be tight. The only thing that held her to the ground were the magnets on the soles of the boots and it was hard enough to stay properly upright. Anything less than the tight fit of the suits would just mean more insecurity and less control.

  The walk had taken a while, just accompanied but the dull clanking of her boots on the steel ground, which she could hear through the suit each time the magnets connected to the floor. No one had been talking while they walked, all seemed to be fully occupied just to get the steps right and not accidentally loose hold and drift off.

  Now they had reached the left edge of the landing field, and in this place the field and the rocky ground beyond were almost even level. Yet she didn't dare to take a step onto the supposedly nonmagnetic rock.

  "Alright my hatchlings, no more walks, it's time to fly. But I warn you. If I have to fetch any of you out of the sky, you'll eat you next portion of porridge in the suit. Not as punishment, just to practice. Understood?" Eliga sounded rather serious, and she was sure none of them wanted to experience any of that.

  "Yes", "Understood", "Got it", they confirmed in a mixed chorus.

  "Good. First things first. Always turn the mag boots off before you leave steel ground. The change comes too surprising and the step will send you flying otherwise. We do have a very little gravity here, about three percent of earth's gravity. That means you won't fly off immediately if you're nervous and a leg twitches, but be careful."

  "Thruster controls are on your forearms. Cross your arms so the left hand is on the right forearm, and the right hand on the left forearm. With the left hand you control thrust up and down, with the right hand spin left-right and forward-backward. I'll demonstrate it first while you stay locked to the landing field."

  "First move is a light spin forward, you want to fly head first in the direction you want to go. Then stop the spin and give thrust upwards. Watch me."

  The first thrust took Eliga a little up from the landing field, tilting her towards what she'd indeed call forward and then Eliga countered the rotation with what had to be a backward thrust and now she was drifting off the landing field, slowly and maybe ten meters ahead, she came down on the ground, standing even.

  "Gravity still catches you here, but only if you are very careful at the controls. Who wants to try first?"

  "I'll try", she heard James voice.

  "Alright James. Slow and easy. Mag boots off, do not twitch. Then a tiny thrust forward. Once you are moving, counter it with an even tinier thrust backwards so you don't tilt too far. If confused, do not do anything, I'll catch you. Remember this, don't panic if you lose control. The more speed you take, the harder it will be to catch you. If you are slow enough, our home rock will pull you to the ground. Ready?"

  "Ready", James confirmed.

  "Good. Mag boots off?"

  "Boots are off"

  "Good. Forward, just a very little, then wait some. Reverse thrust and just float till our rock pulls you down. Don't mind if you faceplant, the suit can take that," Eliga instructed.

  First it looked quite good, James lifted off and began to drift forward, but failed to counter the tilt and spin correctly and drifted past Eliga, slowly toppling head over heels.

  "No thrust!" Eliga shouted, "Let the rock catch you. I'll follow."

  James came down almost head first and bounced off two more times, but eventually came to rest a little uphill. Eliga followed with notably better control over the thrusters and managed to get him onto his feet again, "Not bad. You hit the ground. Alright, Merle and Vivian. You saw it. In these suits hitting the ground won't hurt you. Rather tumble and faceplant once the little gravity catches you than give too much speed and fly off. Who's next?"

  Four hours later she felt seriously ill from all the tumbling and spinning. Eliga was a master at the thrust controls, but for them the first hour was just a clown show of bouncing and tumbling all over the rocky ground. And she had learned to appreciate that suit was not only fitting tightly, but also tough like a tank. Hitting the ground in about any pose was no issue at all. Always happy to be down again, regardless of the style.

  The last challenge had been to get back to the landing field, but once the mag boots connected it had been quite easy to get back onto their feet, their bodies weighing almost nothing in the low gravity.

  ----

  "That's been good work out there. I know how difficult it is to move in low gravity and with these suits. You're free for the rest of the day. Take a rest in your room and don't forget about dinner," Operator Andersen's thoughts appeared to her, almost startled her after the many hours she had been so focused on the world around her.

  Had they been observing the training all the time? Or how did they know, exactly when to connect to her? They just had been back into the outpost, escaped from the vac suits and gotten dressed. The moment for the message could not have been chosen more timely.

  "Got, thank you," she formulated in thoughts and then relayed the news to Merle and James, "Apparently we did well and got the rest of the day off. First though we're supposed to go to our room and rest for a while, then get dinner."

  James grinned, "Yeah, guess after all the dancing out there I cannot motivate you for another dance once we're back?"

  She took a step and put a finger on his chest, "Once you manage to get us an infotainment system, we can talk about that. Not a minute before. Got me?"

  "Oh, a challenge! Very good. I'll see what I can do," James grinned even bigger now.

  She nodded, "I don't really mind to dance. Actually I like to dance. But I want some proper music and you will dance with me."

  James nodded, now looking quite more serious, "Yeah, got it. Some music will be fine. I'll ask around, pretty certainly we're not the only ones who were missing some entertainment in the evenings."

  It didn't take them long to reach their room and she slumped into her bunk bed. Lucky that she had taken the bottom one. Climbing the ladder after such a day was definitely nothing she wanted now.

  There was something else though, which she wanted to explore now. Something had changed.

  She focused inwards on Operator Andersen's presence in her mind. During the day, distracted by training to fly a dredger and how to control the heavy vac suits, she had not noticed the change. But during their walk back she had.

  From a remote and usually quiet notion, Operator Andersen's presence had turned into a bubbling well of murmuring thoughts. All of that had gone unnoticed over the manifold impressions of the day, but now that she focused on them, the quietly bubbling thoughts were clearly there.