I hurried through my chores. My coveralls were quickly ready for me to wear. And calling for a tram to take me to the Martian Mall was actually fairly simple. I felt excited as I exited the lift and started walking to the spa.

I saw her sitting at a little café outside the spa. I know it’s only been a few days since I last saw Toni, but it felt like forever since I’d last seen her. I shouted, “Toni!” and started to run towards her.

At my shout, Toni stood up and turned, flashing me a huge grin. We practically body slammed each other with a huge hug.

She kissed my cheek and exclaimed, “Melissa! What a sight for sore eyes! Or should I call you ‘Girl’?”

As we both took our seats at the small table, I said, “Call me ‘Melissa’, please. ‘Girl’ is rather generic and I’m sure there are a lot with that name.”

Toni laughed. “And don’t call me ‘Kat.’ I don’t know why they feel the need to rename us.”

I shrugged. “Well, we do belong to them after all. But hey, you look great. How did your evaluations go? How is your man?”

Toni shrugged. “It went well. I got a high rating. My man seems to be a decent fellow. He didn’t beat me or try to hurt me. He’s mostly quiet, though last night he got drunk and said some… well, interesting things.”

A woman who worked for the café walked up to us, interrupting my next question. She smiled brightly and asked, “Can I get anything for you ladies?” The woman appeared to be either in her late twenties or early thirties. She’d obviously survived her stint as a comfort girl. So why did she stay?

We didn’t have to worry about the prices as everything is complimentary for comfort girls. Toni smiled at the woman and said, “I think we’ll both have the breakfast specials.” She looked over at me. “Is that okay?”

I shrugged. “Sounds fine.”

The woman flashed us a friendly smile. “Yes, ma’am. It’ll be out in a jiffy.” She turned and hurried back into the café.

I sighed. “My man is rather tight lipped. What interesting things did yours say?”

Toni leaned back in her seat “Apparently Mars isn’t the only place with mining activity. Of course there’s the asteroid mining. You hear about that on the news occasionally. Horrible conditions though. But have you heard anything about outer planet mining?”

I furrowed my brow. “Mining on gas giants? How does that work?”

Toni waved her hand dismissively. “They all have moons, right? Some are pretty damned big. They’re harvesting sulfur from Io. And then there’s Ganymede. Mining operation there is almost as big as here. But nobody talks about it. Conditions are harsh and currently the miners are in open rebellion. The comfort girls they have are all conscripts – disobedient miners and soldiers who are forced into regen. So they keep it quiet.”

“Wow. I haven’t heard of any of that,” I said honestly. “If it’s so quiet, how does your man know?”

Toni took a deep breath. “Apparently he’s former military. He still has friends in low places. Plus, his brother died on Ganymede. Oh, and this info is all on the QT. Don’t repeat any of it.”

I chuckled. “No problem there. You’re my only friend here.”

The waitress returned with two large plates loaded with scrambled eggs and sausage. I wondered if the eggs were shipped here or if they had chickens on Mars. Apparently I can get these ingredients delivered to my domicile.

As the waitress set the dishes down, she said, “Here you are, ladies. Enjoy.” She turned and walked away.

I took a bite of my scrambled eggs. They were wonderful. I looked over at Toni and asked, “Why do they need all that extra mining?”

Toni talking with her mouth full said, “You’ve heard about the big military base they’re building on Europa, right? Even here on Mars, there’s the Heinlein development for colonization. The Mars A-TAKKS Corporation has their little fingers in constructing the space ships as well to explore the exo-planets around Alpha Centauri.”

I frowned at Toni. “Your man said all that? While drunk?”

Looking offended, Toni said, “You think I’m lying? Look, all that shit wasn’t even the strangest thing. I heard rumors about this, but never believed it.”

“And that would be…?” I prompted.

Toni leaned across the table and lowered her voice. “A century ago, there was an illegal mining operation on Mars to extract the same mineral they’re mining now. Only it was done in secret and they used child slaves as the labor. Even the prostitutes. It was discovered and they had to shut it down. They even nuked the mining site.”

I laughed. “Bullshit, girl. I heard stories of that a long time ago. No one believes it.”

Toni shrugged. “Believe what you want. I think it’s true.”

I patted my tummy and cut loose a very unlady-like belch. “Want to go relax in the spa?

Toni grinned. “Let’s go!”

I have to say it was pure heaven to relax in the warm water jets of the spa. I looked over at Toni and she was laid back, every muscle appeared relaxed. Both of us as well as other women in the spa were nude as there were no men around. I closed my eyes and mentally drifted. Oh how I wish I had made the switch to being a woman earlier in my life. The regen technology has been around a while, but I stupidly didn’t want to become a young girl. That and the high expense.

Toni giggled. “I wonder why the men aren’t allowed to have a spa just for them? It’s just mining, a couple of hours of rest and recreation and then back to mining.”

Not opening my eyes, I said, “They’d never get them back into the mines. I mean, would you go back after this?”

Toni smirked. “Hell, I don’t even want to return to my domicile. I have to make dinner and get fucked.”

I allowed myself to sink a bit deeper into the warm, swirling pool. “Same for me. Could be worse. Don’t you enjoy the sex?”

“Are you kidding?” laughed Toni. “I love the sex! But then, we’re conditioned to love it. Will we still love it two years down the road?”

“That’s why we get a new man every few months. So we don’t get stale.” I sat up in the pool.

Toni sat up as well. “Is that true? I mean, what’s the life expectancy of a miner? Does anybody leave this rock?”

Even in the warm water, I felt a sudden chill. “Well of course. Right? There’s a ship that returns to Earth every two months.”

Toni’s expression dropped to one of seriousness. “Ore ships. How many passengers? Ever hear anyone talk about getting a ride on one of those ships? Maybe this was a bad idea.”

I grunted. “Good, bad or otherwise, we’d been in protein reclamation by now if we’d stayed on earth.”

Toni stood up, water running off her body. “That’s true. But girl let me tell you. I don’t plan to stay in this section of Mars forever.”

I laughed as I stood up as well and started to step out of the water. “Going to apply for management? You still have your contract to fulfill.”

Toni began to dry herself. “You don’t have to fulfill your contract here. I’m going to try to get enough points that I get re-assigned to escort, fucking business execs and tourists.”

I shook my head. “I bet those business types all have tiny cocks. I’ve developed a taste for real men.”

Toni waved dismissively. “Me too. But that’s conditioning. Escort facilities have better creature comforts from what I understand.”

I nodded. “Sounds like a goal. I’m in.”

We hugged and then got trams to our separate domiciles.

To be continued…