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“Me, too.” Calla said. “But if I do, I won’t let them know who helped me. I promise.”

“Oh, you don’t have to worry about that,” Dani said with a wry laugh. “They wouldn’t dare touch me. Being a member of the Guild does have some privileges. They may have the legal right to punish me for helping you, but if they do the Guild will pull right out and boycott the station. We protect our own, and our financial interests go well beyond the pleasure houses.”

“I had no idea,” Calla said, intrigued by the thought.

“Not even the emperor messes with us,” Dani said. “At least not lightly. Neither will the Saurellians, if they know what’s good for them. We’re on both sides of the border, now, and we have a lot of influence. I’d like to see them try to come and get me.”

* * *

The next month was one of the longest in Calla’s life. According to Dani, Jenner had waited almost two days before reporting her missing, and the local station security force only made a quick, half-hearted search. Jenner wasn’t well loved by the locals, and the Saurellians were hardly likely to get involved in the hunt for a lost slave. As long as she wasn’t foolish, odds were good that no one would notice her presence. At least that’s what Calla kept telling herself.

Getting rid of the implant proved more troublesome. It took Dani more than a week to find a surgeon willing to perform the procedure, and the price was higher than either woman had expected. Dani had enough saved up to take care of that, but not enough to do both retinas and fingerprints. They opted for the fingerprints.

Dani also arranged to have a new identity “created” for Calla at no charge. Calla didn’t dare ask how she’d managed that. It was a pretty good guess that the average forger to be found on a mining station didn’t often have the funds to visit a guild-trained pleasure worker. Dani had probably convinced him to barter his services for hers. Calla was now officially Devora Forester, Dani’s distant cousin and an experienced pleasure contractor.

Once the implant was out, Dani disposed of it in the mining station’s recycling system. It was their hope that when it was found and reported to Jenner, everyone would assume that Calla had been killed, and her body dumped. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time a body disappeared into the depths of the unpleasant-smelling pit where station waste was slowly distilled into useable organic products.

The hardest part of the plan to put into action was the contract. Dani urged patience, reminding Calla that if they rushed into anything she would end up with a bad client.

But clients wealthy enough to seek an exclusive contract were few and far between on the mining station, and Calla was starting to get worried. Each day she stayed there was another day she wasn’t looking for Jess, and another day that Jenner might find her.

Initially, she’d been nervous about serving some man privately, but the longer it took to find the right client, the more worried she became that things would fall through.

If it did, she didn’t know what her options were. Dani was out of money, and Calla could hardly seek employment on the station.

In the mean time, Calla busied herself by studying pleasure training tapes. When she finally got a contract, she would need the sexual education to live up to her part of the deal.

It was nearly five weeks after Calla left the hostel that Dani came home bubbling with news. “You have a wonderful opportunity!” Dani said. “The Saurellians are finally sending a governor and long-term occupation force, which means all the men here will be leaving within the next few weeks. I think one of them might be interested in a contract with you.”

Calla’s hopes fell a little–most of the Saurellians had stayed at Jenner’s hostel, so it was a pretty good bet they would know about a slave on the loose. Contracting with one of them didn’t seem like a very good idea, and she said as much.

“Don’t be silly,” Dani said, giving one of her tinkling, trademark laughs. “They’re not going to recognize a runaway slave who’s turned into a glamorous pleasure worker.

You’ve got a rock solid identity now. Besides, why should they care? Jenner hasn’t exactly gone out of her way to make their stay pleasant. Even if one of them did recognize you, I hardly think they’d send you back to her. They can’t stand her, and they can’t wait to get off-station. Returning escaped slaves isn’t their priority.”

Dani was probably right, Calla thought. The Saurellians had interfered as little as possible with the day to day operations of the station. They didn’t even pay much attention to the countless smugglers and black marketeers who roamed the station’s ports and corridors freely. One escaped slave probably wouldn’t matter to them.

“Okay, so this is my chance,” Calla said, warming to the idea. “How do we go about arranging the contract? From what you tell me, they usually aren’t into exclusive relationships.”

“Well for one thing, any contract you make wouldn’t be exclusive for your client,”

Dani said, a slight frown on her face. “You do realize that, don’t you?”

“Oh, yes, of course,” Calla said, blushing slightly at her naiveté. That’s exactly what she’d thought, but she didn’t want to admit her ignorance. “But don’t they usually just visit a pleasure house wherever they’re stationed? What makes you think one would want to take me with him?”

“Ha, that’s the brilliance of my plan,” Dani said smugly. “Usually they don’t, but this is a special situation. Their squad is disbanding for now. They’re going their separate ways. I guess peace negotiations with the Empire are going pretty well, and the commander is going to take some time to explore the asteroid belt or something. I guess he has an interest in mining.

“But this is the best part,” she continued. “You see, he has a thing for women who look like you; he’s been requesting small brunettes with freckles every night for weeks.

It’s actually kind of insulting,” Dani added, pouting slightly. “He hasn’t ‘visited’ me for quite a while.

“But it’s the perfect set-up for you to look for Jess, and it’s perfect for him, too. They can’t go too long without sex, you know. Men really are weaker than us,” she added with a laugh. “Especially Saurellian men. They think with their dicks.”

Calla was no longer listening. As soon as Dani mentioned the commander, she got a tight feeling in the pit of her stomach. Was she talking about Seth? If so, Dani’s plan couldn’t possibly work.

“There may be a problem,” Calla said quietly. Dani’s smile dimmed a bit. “I’ve met their commander before.”

“Tell me what happened,” Dani said, seemingly unconcerned. “I’ll tell you whether it’s a problem or not.”

By the time Calla had finished her story, Dani’s jaw had dropped in disbelief. Calla stopped talking, and looked anxiously at Dani to gage her reaction.

“This isn’t a problem, this is perfect!” Dani said. For once she wasn’t smiling with innocent charm or seductive smoothness. The accomplished pleasure worker was grinning from ear to ear. “You already know he wants you, he’s asked for girls who look like you ever since then.”

“But he’ll know I’m an escaped slave!”

“No, he won’t even recognize you by the time I’m done with you,” Dani said confidently. “He only saw you once, right? And not even your face, really.”

Calla blushed again, but Dani didn’t even notice.

“From now on you’re an experienced woman who’s worked her way across a hundred star systems. I’ll provide you with a resume and references he won’t be able to crack–another little Guild trick–and even if he suspects, he’ll never be able to prove anything. All you have to do is get off-station and you’ll be home free!”