“Well, first we’ll have to get rid of your tracker. But I’m thinking that we could set you up with a protector, maybe one of the Saurellians. Even though you’re not a member of the Pleasure Guild, there’s some room in the field for promising independent contractors. You wouldn’t make as much money as a Guild-trained worker like me, but it could be your ticket out of here. You’ve got decent looks, and you’re young. There are lots of men who might be interested in a woman like you.”
Jenner had threatened to sell her to a pimp a thousand times, but it had never occurred to Calla that she could sell herself. The idea was somehow appealing–for once she would be in charge of her own body.
Still, there were potential problems...
“How would I protect myself?” she asked. “I mean, I’ve heard how rough spacers can get. I can’t do Jess any good if I’m dead.”
“That’s where I come in,” Dani said, smiling triumphantly. “I can help negotiate a deal for you. It’s a trade secret, but the Guild keeps extensive records on all our clients. I can find you someone who has a good history and solid payment record. If you fulfill your part of the contract, you’ll find yourself off-station. You’ll have resources, and if you play your cards right, he may even help you look for Jess–some men will do anything for the woman they’re sleeping with.”
“I can’t believe you’d do all that for me,” Calla said. She’d known Dani was generous, but to negotiate a contract for her was more than she’d expected. Normally the Guild did everything it could to squash independent contractors.
“You know, Calla, I just wish I could give you enough money to go and find Jess by yourself,” Dani said. “But the Guild puts most of what I earn in a pension fund, and I don’t actually have access to it unless I resign. I just get an allowance until I cash out.”
“Oh, Dani,” Calla said. “I never expected that. I just didn’t know where else to go.”
“Well, I do have a little tucked away,” Dani said, chewing thoughtfully on her lip. She did some quick mental calculations. “I think I have enough to pay a doctor, and to give you a little bit to take with you.
You’ll need it, especially if the contract doesn’t work out. We’ll need to buy you a new identity, too, and new finger and retina prints.”
Calla nodded in agreement. Whenever Jess had talked to her about escaping, he’d listed everything they’d need. New identities were at the top of that list. She had to become a new person if she was going to have prayer of getting away from the station, let alone finding Jess.
“Dani, I swear I’ll pay you back,” she said. “I don’t know how, but I’ll do it.”
“Honey, I just hope you don’t get caught,” Dani said, reaching her arms out to gather Calla close. It was all Calla could do not to cry at her friend’s generosity.
“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.”