Chapter 1
Hellfire and Brimstone
"Your credentials are impressive, Ms. Melnin. I was a bit surprised to see your application. If I may ask, why would someone such as yourself, who could easily land a position at a top pleasure house, be seeking a position as a starship courtesan?"
I smiled at his question, one I'd been expecting. He was right, my past experience and the reports from my year of training at the Courtesan's Guild and the follow up year paying my indenture at the Vesta Guild house. "I enjoy travel, and want to see parts of the galaxy that I haven't been to before. Your ship doesn't travel a fixed route and specializes in trips to the outer worlds. It's perfect for my desires. It doesn't hurt that my sexual experiences will likely be broadened as well."
"I see. Well, you're the most qualified applicant." He stood and put his hand out. "Welcome to the Brimstone." We shook hands. "We break orbit tomorrow. Will you be able to get your belongings on board by then?"
"Yes," I nodded. "There's not much for me to move. Will you forward a copy of the itinerary to my pad?"
"Yes, of course."
At that we parted company. It had been a long, but productive, two years. The hardest part had been hiding how easy the training had been. Not only had I an extensive body of sexual encounters in my years as Brusjin's slave and partner, Crystal and Jewel's ability to modify my body enabled me to have sex with pretty much any species. During my indenturship, my earnings were so good that even the 80% taken out for various reasons left me with a tidy sum in my account.
My missions, however, saw very little progress. For two years, I'd made no progress in either locating Voratex (as I've come to think of Crystal's home planet ), nor in bringing the Hellfire Group to its knees. There's only so much you can do from a fixed location, even one as centrally placed as Vesta had been.
That isn't to say I haven't made any progress. Thanks to my shapeshifting ability, I haven't looked like the Susan Valenshenko the Hellfire Group wants dead since I escaped their last trap. Because of that the occasional member of the group has visited the guild house on Vesta. Crystal and Jewel's facility with data systems has resulted in a few surreptitious downloads from their pads while they enjoyed themselves with me.
I suppose I should introduce my two symbiotes. Crystal and Jewel are Voratex crystals. No, contrary to popular belief, they are not invading intelligences from beyond on a quest to control the Federation. They
can
be used to control people, so called voratex slaves. That's the result of the Hellfire Group perverting their life cycle. Crystals start as a single organism, a kind of sentient energy matrix living in a crystalline shell. They can split off a portion of themselves and enter into a symbiotic relationship with a host, organic creature. The bud, the part that implants, and the base, the part that stays behind, can communicate over any distance at no loss of time. The Hellfire people disrupt this by forcing a base to implant in another host, and that host can control the bud's host.
That's what happened to me, but instead of being unconscious when it happened, I was conscious. Because of that, Crystal, my original bud, was able to communicate with me when I was asleep, or in tremendous pain. This allowed us to kill the controlling host by setting up some kind of feedback, I don't understand the details, when I died (I was revived).
Jewel was an un-implanted bud being kept as a holy relic on the planet Ralint. I had recovered it from a thief while the thief was trying to steal another of the relics. Because it had been dying (long story), I joined with it to save its life. The two crystals formed a mating joining, and things haven't been the same since. My ability to shapeshift is only one of the changes I've experienced. My mind is faster too. Not so much an increase in intelligence, but an increase in how fast I can think through things. Of course, I
do
have the collective experience of two other sentient beings to draw on as well.
I returned to the Vesta Guild house to pack up and say my good byes. Like all employees of the house, I entered through the back. Finoli, the house mother, as we affectionately called her, was there to greet me.
"Susan, how did the interview go?" Bared fangs let on how happy the old Flepur matron was.
"I ship out tomorrow, Fin. I'm the official ship's courtesan for the Brimstone." We hugged, and I let my hands ruffle the fur at the base of her spine, drawing a sensual purr from her. She may be aged, but she's lost none of the sexuality that made her the in-demand whore she is.
"I'll be a little sorry to see you go. I still don't understand why you'd want a position on something like the Brimstone. You could get a job anywhere. Five years on Aphrodite and you'd be set for life." She wasn't wrong about that. Aphrodite Pleasure Unlimited bought the pristine world and turned it into the ultimate pleasure resort in the Federation. Courtesans who worked there could, if they were willing enough, earn millions. There were rumors that some of their professionals were willing to do snuff, counting on the most advanced medical technology to bring them back to life. Aphrodite was also a bought and paid for subsidiary of the Hellfire Group.
"I want to see the galaxy, Fin. I can't do that from the bedrooms of an Aphrodite mansion."
"You youngsters and your wanderlust. The rest of the galaxy has nothing new to see, just the different. And different is highly overrated. But enough of my whining. Do you have time for one last assignation?"
"Of course. What's the job?"
"It's right up your ally, dear. A Gredonian youth is seeking enlightenment."