Free Condemned (Death Planet Book 1) by Edward M. Grant Page A

climbed into the back of the cart, and pulled the bar away from the door. It stuck, and she pulled harder. Wood creaked and cracked, then the bar came free. She tossed it over the side of the cart, and pulled the door open.
    The girl stepped out, keeping her finger on the trigger of the revolver. Her breasts wobbled as she moved, but didn’t swing and slap like Brunhilde’s did. Definitely body mods. Of course, she should have fixed her height at the same time. Her shoulders were barely above Brunhilde's waist.
    “Thank you,” she said. “I hate to think what I'd be doing if you hadn't rescued me from those shitheads.”
    “Girl, I wasn't rescuing you. I just needed a ride.”
    “But you did it anyway.”
    “Don't mean nothing.”
    “It's so nice to have a friend in this awful place, isn't it?”
    “Don't go getting any ideas. I saw that coffin tattoo on your ass. Back home, I'd have killed any Undertakers who came onto my turf.”
    “But here, you didn't.”
    “I've got bigger assholes than you to worry about here.”
    “Us girls need to stick together.”
    She had a point. The planet was full of people who wanted to kill them, or worse, and she could do with all the real friends she could get. But could she trust this one? Hiding behind Brunhilde’s muscles would certainly help Pretty Face here, but what would she gain? The girl had a gun, and could use it, even if she didn’t hit much. Not much else going for her.
    “So what are you here for?”
    “The Undertakers had me banging the Chief Commissar of Public Safety in New Beirut. I could twist him around his little dick when something needed to be forgotten about.”
    “Didn't realize fucking was a capital crime.”
    “His other girls found out.”
    “Ah.”
    “I don't think I need to ask why you're here.”
    “I only kill assholes. They all deserved it.”
    “And people who annoy you?”
    “Same thing. Some people just need killing.” Brunhilde held out a paw, claws retracted. “Brunhilde. I’m not saying anything about friends, but maybe we could hang out together until we figure out what the hell is going on here.”
    The girl grabbed one of Brunhilde's fingers in her small hand, and shook it. “I'm Princess.”
    “You might want to get a new name. Something that will help scare these assholes away.”
    “I was Princess Melony when I was stripping.” She half-grinned, and wiggled her chest from side to side so everything shook. “You know, melons.”
    Of course. That was where she'd seen the girl before. But her hair was blonde, back then.
    “That's a porn name, really, isn't it?”
    The girl looked away, and frowned.
    “I saw the one with...” Brunhilde began.
    “Yeah, I guess everyone's seen that. Never should have done it, but the Undertakers needed to make some eCreds fast, and I wanted to get in with the gang.”
    “That was a great recording. Very... unusual. You're lucky most of the men were sent here too early to have seen it.”
    Princess sighed. “The usual stuff is OK for the proles, but commissars expect something special, when they can just watch the Punishment Channel all day. You wouldn't believe some of the recordings they showed me.”
    “I couldn't believe you got those things inside you.”
    “I'm tougher than I look.”
    “But it's still not really a good name, is it?”
    “I like it.”
    “Well, good luck.”
    “I knew I had to end up here one day.” Princess waved the revolver in the air. “I've got a gun. Now I just need to find the other Undertakers on Hades, if there are any. And some clothes.”
    Brunhilde grabbed Joseph's legs, and pulled them up over the back of the seat. “Take this guy's pants. There was another asshole round the back of the cart, last I saw. You can have whatever he was wearing.”
    She pulled off Joseph's boots, then his pants. Then tossed the body over the side of the cart, into the bushes alongside. They crunched as it landed on top of them, and the body collapsed into a