MARS—NANEDI VALLES PLATEAUIn a hidden facility on Earth, Dr. George Meriweather gathered his five cohorts around him. They all were dressed in black and carried Electro-Muscular-Disruption (EMD) stun weapons. They were about twenty centimeters shorter than Meriweather but stocky and muscular. Each member of the group, including Meriweather, carried a backpack holding a Mars exposure suit—basically a reinforced spacesuit. Their globe helmets hung outside the backpacks.
Unlike older Mars exposure suits, these suits were lightweight and flexible. They worked on a technologically advanced application of earlier high-altitude suits. An inner garment formed a flexible, skintight membrane that substituted for atmospheric pressure. A slightly less tightly-fitting reinforced outer garment retained
