My new outfit wasn’t exactly inconspicuous. The closest store had a wide selection of options, the problem was all of them were expensive clubbing attire. I had settled on a red mini skirt and a bright pink tank top that said Girl Power across the chest. It failed to come down far enough to cover my midriff. A two-inch gap of skin was left showing. I had a pair of short shorts on under the mini-skirt, but I was still showing off most of my legs. As I said, not the most inconspicuous.

I had a solution though. I’d just go clubbing! The last place station security would look for me was in a nightclub, right? I didn’t have any cosmetics and my hair was kind of a mess so I just let it down and hoped it wouldn’t look out of place. I left the store behind and followed my map to a club nearby. I got a lot of looks. Maybe I should have risked finding a proper clothes store.

I smirked at a pair of men around my age who couldn’t take their eyes off me. Yeah, it was kinda nice having that effect on guys. The slogan on my shirt was fitting. I reached the club and there was a long line to get in. I shook my head and cut the line, walking right up to the bouncer I stopped.

He scowled at me. “I don’t know you. Back of the line, lady.”

“How much?” I shouted, it was the only way to be heard over the music when the door was open.

“It’s not a matter of money…” he trailed off as I waved several hundred credit bills in front of his face. I counted out ten of them and held them up for him.

“Head on in,” he said, taking my money and stepping to the side.

I grinned up at him and he smiled back. “Thanks!” patted him on the arm and walked inside. The music was like a physical force, I could feel it in my chest and the air hummed with vibrations. The smell of sweaty bodies and boos hit my nose and I breathed deeply as I centered myself amidst the chaos. I made for the bar for a drink and quickly got served. Waving high-end bills around had that effect. I sipped my drink as I scanned the crowd. The place was full, but not packed. The place was big enough to hold hundreds of people though.

I had a couple of chatty men come up to me, but with the music blaring, talking was right out. They asked if I wanted to dance, but I wasn’t ready for that yet. I just pointed to my drink and smiled. “Maybe later!”

They were able to read my lips enough to get my meaning and moved off to try their luck with the next pretty girl who caught their eye. There were a lot of them to choose from. The mix of men and women was pretty even from what I could tell. I kept a close eye on my drink until it was gone and then walked over to a guy who was by himself at a table. I held out my hand, not even trying to talk. He seemed surprised for a moment and then smiled and took my hand. We danced a few dances before someone else cut in, I waved and smiled and then was onto the next dance. It was hard to keep my movements under control with the energy in the room. The music got me going and I could knock these people's socks off if I went all out.

I enjoyed a few hours of dancing before I took a break. The physical activity and press of bodies on the dance floor generated a lot of heat. I was slick with sweat and ready for a few cold drinks. I had several guys try to buy me drinks but I knew better than to accept. I got my own and guarded it carefully.

“Can I sit here?” someone asked.

I glanced over and took in the new arrival's face. He looked normal enough, no creeper vibes were going off so I nodded.

“You look nice! Want to get out of here? Go somewhere quieter?”

I wasn’t sure I’d heard him right. Leave here? With him? He hadn’t even introduced himself yet and already he was trying to get me to go home with him. Did I look like the kinda girl to just go off with the first guy to ask? I glanced down at my shirt. Okay, maybe a little but still! The guy wasn’t even trying to engage in small talk. Granted the music made that hard. I shook my head. Maybe he thought I was already drunk. I’d never been a lightweight and now I wondered if I even could get drunk. I dipped into my mind space.

“Hey Nestra, got a question for ya.”

“Can you get drunk?” she replied. “Nope. Not unless you want to, but it would still take some effort!”

“Um,” I scowled. “What did I say about reading my mind?”

“Her perfect little mouth made a perfect O. “Oops. I forgot.”

“Liar.”

She blushed. I mean she was an AI projection in my mind, did it really matter? The point was she pretended to be embarrassed. She gave me an impish grin. “I’ll try not to read your brain but I get bored sometimes. This place is pretty exciting though! That guy wants to have sex with you.”

I groaned. “I know. You don’t have to tell me.”

She cocked her head. “Ah, too on the nose? I see, we don’t talk about that. Got it! I won’t mention sex anymore.”

“Thanks,” I said dryly.

“You should probably get back to it. Much longer and your delay might be noticeable.”

“Okay, you behave.”

“Bye, Ginny!” the little girl waved.

“Bye, Nestra.”

I blinked and took a sip of my drink. Another dude, and I mean Dude with a capital D sat down. He was a hunk and had a perfect smile, dimples and all. Wow, what a looker. I found myself checking him out.

“Grant Shandler!” he said, offering his hand to shake. “Pleasure to meet you!”

I returned his smile and gingerly shook his hand. He had rough calluses that told me he was a working man but dang if he didn’t clean up nice.

“Ginny!” I called back.

“What?” he leaned closer and I was pretty sure it wasn’t an attempt to look down my shirt.

“Ginny!” I said louder as I leaned back.

“Want to go somewhere quieter? They have pool tables in the back!” he hollered back.

A particularly loud song was playing but I didn’t need to hear him, my lip-reading skills were pretty good. Pool sounded fun and with his guy? Yes, please! He was nice to look at. Nothing more was going to happen, but I was here to lay low and hide. Less chance someone would see me if I was in the back room.

“Sure!” I drained the rest of my drink and stood. He hurried to stand and grinned. He slid my chair back in once I’d stood and placed a hand on my shoulder as he leaned close.

“The pool rooms are over there, see the sign?”

I wasn’t that short, but given the crowd, it did take me a second to see it. I nodded and he led the way. Grant Shandler was a big guy. He was tall and had broad shoulders. He didn’t force his way through the crowd but he did clear a path for me.

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“Do you need another drink?” he asked.

I shook my head, my loose hair fell over my shoulder. “I’m good!”

We entered the door in the back and when it closed behind me, the noise level was drastically reduced. They had some very good soundproofing!

“Ah, that’s better.” Grant chuckled.

The room wasn’t empty. There were half a dozen pool tables and most of them were in use.

“If you change your mind, you can order a drink or food over there at the console,” he said.

It was a self-serve machine and the order would be delivered automatically. No staff required.

He led me over to one of the pool tables that was open. “I’ll pay for the first game, then the loser pays. Deal?”

“You better keep your wallet handy,” I said with a grin.

“Oh? You think you’re going to beat me?” he grinned back. “Challenge accepted!”

“Do you want any special rules, maybe a handicap or something to make it more even?”

He laughed. “Let's play a game first, I’d like to see what you can do.”

I grinned. “Oh, I’ll show you what I can do, mister.” I was pretty confident I would win. I had played enough to know I was decent and since being enhanced my fine motor control along with everything was just better. Plotting the trajectory, spin, angle, and force needed would be so simple for Nestra and I’d totally cheat a bit if necessary. She was part of me now, so was it really cheating? No. I submit that it was not.

We flipped a coin and Grant went first. I readied my cue stick for my turn and stood to the side smirking as he broke. A loud crack sounded and the game began.

“Ha! Look at that,” he said, having pocketed a pair of balls on the break.

He then proceeded to sink every single one of his balls and then the eight ball. He looked over at me and smirked. I wasn’t smirking anymore. “Looks like I won!”

“I didn’t even get a turn,” I protested.

He’d performed what’s called a break and run, sinking all his balls and then the eight ball. I planted my hands on my hips and glared.

He just laughed. “Loser breaks,” he said.

“Darn right!” I said as we reset the table. I wasn’t nearly as confident as before, but I figured I’d just do what he did. I lined up my shot and took my time. I visualized what I wanted to happen and then took my shot. I grinned as the cue ball stopped almost dead center on the table. The rest of the balls were spread out nicely and I had plenty of options.

“Oh dear, what should I hit next, I can’t decide, there are so many options.”

He laughed. “It was a great shot!”

I snorted and then sank all my balls. I went with solids since they were lined up better. The eight ball fell into the pocket last and I grinned over at him. “Looks like I win!”

“That’s one to one. Best out of three!”

“Oh no!” I protested. “You broke first so that’s not fair.”

He laughed. “You’re pretty good.”

“You’re not bad yourself!”

“How are we going to make this fair? If we both break and run each time I’ll win because I went first.”

“Stripes or solids. Pick one,” I said.

“Stripes.”

“Okay, now call which pocket you’ll start with, the break doesn’t count, but you have to place each ball in the pocket in order.” I pointed to the corner. “For example, I call this pocket, I have to put my first ball here, the lowest number solid left on the table, excluding the eight ball. Then my next lowest ball has to go in the next pocket to the right, clockwise.”

“Interesting. That should make things a bit more challenging!”

We kept playing, the new rules were challenging. His skill really showed. I got a little lucky in the next two games and we were tied three to three going into the next game. I could tell he was better. He just had way more experience but he’d had some unlucky breaks and I’d managed to stay even with him.

“Okay, before we finish this, what does the winner get?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Bragging rights?” I asked.

He snorted. “Yeah but what are they worth? You’ll fly off in your ship and none of my buddies know how good you are!”

I’d told him I was just passing through. “Fine, you think of something.”

“The winner gets to kiss the loser!” he said with a grin.

I snorted. “What if I don’t want to kiss you?” I asked.

“Ha! Who says you’re going to win?”

“That’s a stupid prize anyway.”

“You told me to pick something,” he replied. “Are you afraid you’re going to lose?”

“No! I just think it's silly. I could kiss you right now if I wanted. And I don’t have to win to do it.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?”

“Let's see you kiss me.”

“No!” I said indignantly.

He laughed. “Fine, what should the winner get then?” he asked.

“Don’t people usually play for a pot?”

“Most people usually just play for fun,” he replied.

“Your watch,” I said. “If I win, I get your watch.”

“This thing cost me two hundred credits!”

“Okay.”

“Okay, what?” he asked.

“I’ll put up two hundred credits.”

“Naw, I don’t like playing for money.”

“Fine,” I took off the new necklace I won. “How about this?”

“You sure? That looks expensive.” It had nearly seven hundred credits.

“It's fine. It will give you something to remember me by, you know if I ‘choke’ and you win.” I used air quotes, implying if he won, it would be because I let him.

He snorted. “Sure! You are going to let me win? You are such a jokester.”

“Nope, I’m going to take your watch,” I said grinning.

“Sure sure. I don’t think so!”

“Let's play, we’ll let our skills do the talking.”

It was his turn to break and he called out his starting pocket and we began. He made two shots before he missed, unfortunately, he left the cue ball in a terrible spot for me. I managed to sink one ball before returning the favor. He had a terrible angle for his next shot and I cackled at his plight.

Back and forth we went, both of us playing defensively to deny our adversary a good shot. I finally made a mistake allowing him to get a decent shot, he didn’t waste it.

“Whew! You made me work for it! I haven’t had this much fun in a while. You’re quite good.”

I handed him my necklace. “It was fun, it would have been more fun if you choked on your last shot though.”

He laughed. “You sure it's okay if I take this?” he asked, indicating the necklace.

“A bet is a bet.”

“I could give you a consolation prize,” he said, doing an air kiss.

I rolled my eyes but had to laugh. “You’re a nice guy and all, but no thanks. I had fun but—” I broke off as the door opened and a whole group of security personnel filed into the room. “I gotta go.”

I ducked under the table and crawled toward the back exit.

“Ginny?” Grant looked under the table and then back at the security people. His brow wrinkled and then he just stood up and said nothing.

I was almost to the back door when some twerp blew my cover.

“If you’re looking for a hot chick, she’s over here crawling for the exit,” the tall lengthy dweeb said.

I glared at him and he grinned. “Thanks a lot!” I hissed. I punched him in the balls. He gasped as his eyes bulged. I got to my feet and rushed for the exit.

“Freeze!”

“Stop!”

I hit the back door and it flew open. A pair of darts from a taser shot past me and hit the door. I barely felt the jolt as they discharged their electric charge. I ran away from the club. Thank God I’d picked out some sensible shoes. I knew I’d be dancing so I’d found something without a heel. It was a lifesaver now.

“Get her!”

I glanced back to see the security people boiling out of the club's back exit like a swarm of angry bees. I cursed as the lead men aimed. They weren’t using their tasers anymore and I still had a dozen feet to go before I had any cover. I dove forward and tucked into a roll. Shots rang out and I tensed in anticipation of the impact but they missed. I rolled to my feet and ducked around the corner I’d been heading for.

I hacked the security cameras and infiltrated their system. I triggered the fire suppression system in this section of the station. The fire alarms sounded immediately and the fire suppression systems kicked in spraying a liquid fire retardant everywhere. It started transforming into a foam once it hit the air and within ten seconds I was up to my waist in the stuff. It gave me plenty of cover and I ducked into the tick foam and disappeared.