The Girl They Sold to the Moon Read Online Free PDF Page B

miners, but she didn’t say anything. Fia promised to upgrade their tip royalty rates if both girls kept clean records and stayed under their sick day quotas—two days per month. A five percent tip allowance was normal. Fia could push it to seven percent, which was a good haul, considering that the miners were rich and recklessly generous with their cash or Imperials. Royalty tips, which could be banked, served as backup assurance to pay off the debt in case of default. Fia encouraged both girls to start a savings account.
    Tilly went through three days of orientation before she had to report to her work supervisor inside the main rotunda. The orientation covered all the ground rules and regulations that the wards had to abide by during their stay at Tranquility Harbor. Penalties were levied against wards who broke the rules, and they covered violations involving trespass, socializing, theft, misrepresentation, insubordination, and a slew of other infractions and crimes.
    Walking down the outside avenue, Tilly stared at the immense geodome canopy overhead. Cables and wires strung with high intensity lights hung from the ceiling girders, offering daylight conditions around the clock. The floor space amounted to a maze of shops and service centers bisected by small paved aisles that had street names and were navigable by small electric carts and scooters.
    Tilly counted station numbers and stepped inside a large cubicle marked ENTERTAINMENT DIVISION. The place was empty except for three clerks. Tilly picked out the softest face amongst the women and stepped up to the chest-high counter. She recited her code number and name to the large brunette, who wore an identification tag named, Mrs. Leona Billings.
    â€œPleased to meet you—you’re
late
,” huffed Leona, typing on a touchpad while referring to a monitor. “I’ll be your entertainment coordinator from here on. I am also your personal time clock. You’ll report to me every day at this exact spot at or before 3:00 PM. I’ll log in your arrival time. I’ll log you out right here when you finish your shift. Arrive late, and it will earn you demerits. Skipping work will be dealt with immediately. Your only excuse for not working must be sanctioned by one of our medical staff. Your implant lets us know wherever you are in the complex, and it’s monitored around the clock. Stay out of restricted areas and obey all rules prescribed by United Western Mining. Since you are an entertainer, I suggest you think up a good stage name. Unless you’d like to use your own. Any questions?”
    Tilly remained stoic, having just learned that entire spiel in orientation. “Okay, where do I go from here?”
    Leona fingered a button. A door swished open from the wall, revealing a circular elevator pad. “Basement level. Just step inside. Once out, follow the corridor to the end. You’ll find the makeup and props room there. Get yourself a coach to assist you in putting a routine together.”
    Tilly stepped inside.
Go here, go there, do this and find that
. The door closed, revealing no controls or panel lights inside. Within three seconds she hit the basement level. She walked out and hurried down the long corridor. She passed several people heading in the opposite direction, including a few guys who were wearing the company one-piece suits. As she walked down the corridor, she had the feeling that it was an underground tunnel bored out of solid rock, even though it was finished off with plasticine walls and decorated with pictures. It was like trying to take the hard edge off a dungeon by adding a vase of flowers to it.
    At the end of the corridor, Tilly pushed through a metal swing door and entered a mad house. Women of all ages scurried from rack to rack, pulling clothes from hangers, trying on hats, shoes, costumes, capes, wigs and other accessories. Acrobats and dancers practiced their moves at one end of the gymnasiumsized