Azulema clung to a handhold as the ship's twisting tumbled the Minion to the mattress.

"I told you to hang on," Pietor said. "The power bolts will detonate on the interface behind us. All that energy will scramble the portal for days, long after they have any hope of tracking our course."

He climbed out of the c.o.c.kpit and produced a gun. "Your Temperance, we can't have you running about. Into the airlock, if you please."

"Who are you handing me over to? The Order will offer an enormous reward. Whatever cabal set this up, your role will be discovered. Whoever you have conspired with, they will betray you." The look in Pietor's eyes made him step into the tiny chamber.

"I'm afraid there's no conspiracy," Azulema said. "Just the two of us. It's safer that way, don't you think?"

For the first time the Minion looked worried. "Why are you 144 eXtasy's Collective Mind doing this?"

"Because," Pietor said, "the universe will be a better place if the Order of Renunciation is fighting itself."

Azulema started to close the hatch. "And if you aren't in it."

Desperately he tried to delay them. "Wait. Please? How did you do it? My technicians swear it's impossible to transport more than one person at a time."

"That's what you're worried about?" Azulema smiled. "We made the beast with two backs. All those fluids, all that conductivity, we became as one. That's what making love is all about. Not that the Order of Renunciation's technicians will make that connection." She closed and sealed the lock.

The Minion was still pleading when they ejected him, and the vacuum of s.p.a.ce sucked away his last words and thoughts.

Pietor secured the outer hatch. "People who believe making soup justifies killing chickens never see their own feathers."

"Do we?"

"You think we'll be punished somehow?"

"It is possible we'll be caught," Azulema said. "If not, we have to live with our crime. There will be other consequences.

Violence between the order's cabals will cause a lot of problems, and the Order of Renunciation isn't the only organization that doesn't see censorship as the first step on an evil road. Our solution wasn't a good one, just the best we could come up with."

"He'd have murdered us out of hand, so we murdered him instead."

"Exactly." Azulema headed for the shower before he could see her tears. "His Temperance was a man who needed killing, and now we are a little like him."

145.

Violet Visions Private Dancer By Lynn Crain hat the hel was I doing on this of -planet hel hole? I W wondered as I did the last exotic number of the night.

This was certainly not what I had gone to school on Earth for at all. Rubbing my head lightly, I managed to go back out on stage and bow, smiling the biggest smile I could manage. Once the curtain closed, it was all I could do not to scream. I had been a.s.sured by the owner of the dance company who employed me that this would be a temporary duty a.s.signment as I wanted to get to the planet below. I was promised a place in the show there. I thought all one needed to get there, was to be good at what one did.

Running down the hall toward my dressing room, I stopped briefly at the carbon-tubule reinforced plexigla.s.s window. Only four feet separated us from the cold vacuum of s.p.a.ce. Far below, a blue-green planet not unlike Earth beckoned to me. This was not the first time Araelus Prime had called to me. It was the very 146 eXtasy's Collective Mind reason I was here. It had called to me once as I had finished my studies on Earth and many times since. There were no actual words, just an overwhelming feeling that I belonged here, I was wanted and needed. Everyone thought I was crazy but I knew that I had to come.

Much to my parents' chagrin and the voices of despair from my fellow cla.s.smates, I had boarded the first available ship to Araelus Prime once I had graduated. I had only gotten as far as the mining moon, Ja.n.u.s 345. Here, I was told, I had to apply for permission to get to the planet's surface. That was almost three years ago. Three years of being an erotic dancer with a second-cla.s.s dance troupe where no one, it seemed, ever got to go to the planet.

"Come on, Aeryn, don't think about it." I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I turned to my friend, Diana. We had met the first day in the s.p.a.ce port. It was then that we realized both of us had come from opposite ends of the galaxy, drawn by the planet below.

"How can I not, Di?" I sighed. It seemed that I did that a lot these days.

"We've talked about this a thousand times. We shouldn't dwell on things we can't have right now."

I just gazed at her. "Yeah, we have. I just don't know if I want to wait any longer."

A grimace crossed her face. "You can't really mean that. Has something changed?"

I chuckled. "Yeah, the way I feel."

"The planet stopped calling you?" she questioned softly into my ear and took a nip. While I'm not a lesbian, if anything I was more of a bis.e.xual, touch of any kind has its moments when there's no one else to hold you. I leaned into her and sighed again as her arms reached around me to give me a hug.

147.

Violet Visions We had vowed when we met, never to let any one know that we had been called by something from the planet because we didn't know what it meant. It had taken us a long time to talk to each other about it in the first place and I doubt we would have if it hadn't been for the headaches. Searing blinding headaches, which made it hard to function sometimes, had cropped up more and more frequently in recent weeks.

"So close," I whispered and gazed out the window, feeling the almost irresistible tug of the planet.

"So close to what, Aeryn?" Darren, the dance master, questioned as he came up the hall.

I saw the look in Di's eyes and shook my head.

"Just...nothing."

"It takes time, girls, for all the paperwork to be signed. You'll get there eventually. Trust me."

I looked at him. How could I trust someone who made money off me everyday? How could he just lie like that knowing we'd never get there by normal means?

For some reason, desperation gripped my heart. I needed to get there sooner than eventually.

The next morning, I barely seemed to be able to stumble from my bed and Diana had much the same problem. Matter of fact, she looked much, much worse than I knew I looked.

"This is crazy." I gazed at her sadly. "We need to let someone know that the planet is calling us. We need to let them know what it's doing to us."

Di looked at me with forlorn eyes. "They will just think we're crazy."

"We don't know that. We don't know that at all." I sighed 148 eXtasy's Collective Mind heavily. This feeling was just not going away no matter what we tried. If I didn't do something soon, especially if I didn't do something for Diana, my reason for even being there would be gone. I just knew it. "Something is wrong, Di, I can feel it in my bones. If we don't get down on that planet soon, it isn't going to matter any more."

"I know what you mean," she whispered. "I really feel like c.r.a.p." Leaning back against the covers, she turned a nice shade of green.

"I need to let Darren know that we aren't going to be working today."

"Is that really such a good idea?" she questioned quietly.

"I don't care if it's a good idea or not. If we get sick on the customers, he'll fire us anyway and then we'll never have a chance to get down to the planet."

She swallowed hard and I could see that she thought about what might or might not happen. "Should we go to the doctor then? I mean he'd believe that, right?"

I thought about it for a moment and realized that would probably be our best course. Then we'd have an excuse, plus we'd be able to stop by the immigration office and see just where in the whole scheme of things our applications might be hiding.

"Okay. But I want us to go to the immigration department as well."

"I'm not sure what that will accomplish."

Leaning against the doorframe, I had to admit to myself that I totally agreed with her. But I couldn't tell her that. I couldn't let her know just how depressed not getting to the planet made me.

"It'll let us know just where we are, Di. We've got to know, and know quick."

Her eyes seemed to sink even more into her head. "Why?"

Rushing to the bed, I sat down and took both her hands in 149 Violet Visions mine. "Because, Di, we both know we will never leave here if we can't get down to the planet. We're gonna die here, in this very room, if we're not careful."

Looking up at me with sorrow-laden eyes, she nodded slightly. "I know. You're absolutely right, we'll die here if we can't get down there soon."

I squeezed her hands again and nodded in agreement. "Yup.

Our fate is tied to whether we get down there or not." I smiled wryly. "Maybe that's what I should tell Darren, that we'll both die if we can't get there. What do you think he'll say?"

A small smile crossed her face. "Don't you give him a reason to kick us out."

I grimaced. "He can't kick us out for that because we're part of the guild. Besides, we do have enough credits to support ourselves for a while."

"If you say so."

I had never told her that my parents were rich. I also never told her that my parents had died before we ever landed on this rock above Araelus Prime. They had gone quickly and together in a transport crash while en-route to the pleasure planet of New Gedi for a second honeymoon. I could never have made it back in time for a funeral and once the solicitor had contacted me there was really nothing left to do. I had no siblings or family except them, and I had disappointed them by coming here.

We could have afforded one of the best apartments on Ja.n.u.s 345 but my Scottish heritage had kicked in and I decided to save the money for a rainy day. h.e.l.l, I didn't even know if it rained on Araelus Prime but if it did, I'd have money. Sometimes it sucked to be my parents' only child. I certainly had enough money to make sure that Di got the best of medical care and that was something I definitely planned.

"I'll be back in a little while. I need to go talk to Darren." I 150 eXtasy's Collective Mind squeezed her hands again gently and got up.

"I'm not sure that we can afford to go to a doctor," Di gazed up at me sadly.

"You let me take care of that. You just rest until I get back." I got up and left quickly as I didn't want her to distract me again. I knew what I had to do, what I had to promise to the man in order to get the right thing done.

We were lucky enough to be housed in the dancing guild's apartment complex. I was surprised when I first arrived on Ja.n.u.s 345 to find out that everything was divided into a series of guilds.

There was the cooking guild, and the weapons guild, and the clothing guild, and even a medical guild, you name it and they had a guild for it. You had to belong to a guild to even be considered for living planet-side. I saw the guilds as a series of enforcement units, which kept out the riff-raff. If you weren't in a guild, you weren't ever going to qualify for planet life. Once you arrived here, you had five years in which to get your guild endors.e.m.e.nt or you were shipped back home even if that home didn't exist any more.

Arriving quickly at the club, it was only two blocks down the corridor that pa.s.sed for a street, I walked in as casually as I could. Going to the bar, I smiled at the gorilla behind it known as Teddie. "Darren around?" He motioned with his head toward the back, meaning he was in his office. "Thanks, Teddie."

Letting out a big sigh, I wasn't all that sure my bravado would hold out while I talked to Darren. The man could be d.a.m.n convincing when he wanted to be. Knocking quietly on the door to the office, I remembered the last time I was here. I had spent most of the time evading Darren's roving hands and mouth. This time I knew I didn't have a chance if I wanted to take Di to the doctor.

"Who is it?" His deep voice could still send tingles of pleasure 151 Violet Visions down my spine though his brand of s.e.x was too kinky even for me.

"Aeryn."

"Come in."

Placing my hand on the doork.n.o.b, I sucked in one last breath, forcing myself to concentrate on the task at hand, not what Darren would want. "Hi, Darren."

He sat behind a huge desk meant to intimidate anyone who came in. Thank G.o.d, I wasn't intimidated by much. "What can I do for you? As you can see I'm really busy today and don't have time to be dallying with the likes of you."

And he was in a definitely foul mood today. It briefly crossed my mind that the new girl didn't put out like expected. He'd be in a foul mood for weeks when I wouldn't give into his desires a couple of years ago but even then I could sense something dark and sinister behind that pretty boy face. And pretty much vanilla s.e.x was all he'd ever gotten from me even though I knew he had wanted more. "Diana is really sick and needs to go to the doctor."

"You're telling me this because?" Irritation flashed across his face.

"I'm getting what she has, so I'm taking her there. I don't know when we'll be back."

A scowl flashed across his face. "I can't spare both of you.

There are plenty of reservations tonight for private dancers."

"Would you rather us puke in their faces?"

Eyebrows went up and he sat back in the chair. "Is it really that bad?"

I sighed. "I think so. She looks like death-warmed-over and I'm starting to feel the same way."

"You do look a little washed out." Getting up from the chair, he walked toward me. I knew that whatever came my way, I'd 152 eXtasy's Collective Mind just have to deal with it. "I'll let you both go on one condition."

I swallowed hard. "What's the condition?"

"You have to f.u.c.k me right now."

This time I was surprised. "Straight f.u.c.king, nothing kinky?" I questioned.

"Maybe a little a.n.a.l but I don't have time for anything else today." He started to remove his tie as he knew that I would do anything to get out of dancing for a night. Especially if it involved Diana. "Lock the door."

I swallowed hard and turned to lock the door. a.n.a.l might be a little tough, as I hadn't done it since we'd had our last encounter about eighteen months ago. Besides, the man was huge and I was tight. Sliding his hand under my shirt, he tweaked my nipples until they were tight buds. The feeling flashed all the way to my groin and I knew I was in trouble. Not the bad kind but the really good kind.

"Is the privacy field on?" I managed to ask and reached around to hold Darren's head as he began to kiss my neck. This was going to feel wonderful. When did I get so much into s.e.x?

Usually, I was the one who held back but suddenly I craved it.

"Always," he murmured and continued to caress my b.o.o.bs.

Working his way down, he slid his hands inside my pants and spread my v.u.l.v.a to caress my already hard nub. It had been a long time and I dripped with need and antic.i.p.ation. "Let's get these things off."

Slowly, he undressed me, caressing my body as he removed each piece of clothing. Even though he was kinky, he was a d.a.m.n good lover when he wanted to be. Leaning down, he popped my nipple into his mouth, licking first one and then the other.

Pushing me back into the closest chair, he went down on me, licking my slit with expert precision.

"You know I'm going to want the same," he whispered as his 153 Violet Visions hands reached up to pinch my nipples until they were pointy and hard.

"Not a problem," I murmured between breaths. Pulling my a.s.s closer to the edge of the chair, he put two fingers inside me, dragging the wetness up to saturate the area, before thumbing my c.l.i.t. I nearly flew out of the chair and began panting. My hips wiggled and arched more into his mouth as his tongue did me in the slowest, most sensual tongue f.u.c.k I'd ever had.

Pounding his fingers in and out of me, he licked my c.l.i.t, pulling and teasing my body toward o.r.g.a.s.m. Pulling back, he continued to caress me with the big pad on his thumb. "Let's get on the floor and do a sixty-nine." His beautiful smile enticed me to do things I wouldn't normally do.