Toni had never been to the Palmarejo mine before, but she had studied photographs and maps of the installation, so knew the layout like the back of her hand. Her first six months with Husni Oil had been hectic, which included a month in Dubai. The gold mine was a different pr0position from the Husni oil facilities dotted around Mexico.

The manager of the mine, Carlos, had hired his own private army to protect the mine and keep prying eyes well away from the workings. He had established a wide perimeter with a 10-foot-high fence, topped with barbed wire and a powerful electrified cable running right the way round the location.

Toni studied the terrain and weather conditions through the heavily tinted windows and satisfied herself that the area was as desolate as she expected. The young security expert was on a tight schedule. Maria had arranged for them to spend a night at the mine and return to Chihuahua the following morning. Maria would then board the company's private jet, which would take her to Dubai.

Salim had mentioned a Pony-girl Gala in Sharjah in his e-mail. The event was being held on Friday afternoon at the Bazzi estate. Toni hadn't bargained for travelling back and forth to Dubai when she applied for the job, but Sheik Salim Husni was her boss and like a good soldier, she would do whatever he commanded.

The Hummer slowed as it approached the guard's booth, some 50 meters short of the gates, then pulled up beside the small structure. Jesus, their driver, was partitioned from the rear section of the car, so Toni couldn't hear the conversation with the sentry.

She looked into her mistress's subtle blue-grey eyes and gave her a wry smile. "I'm just going to take a look around, Ma'am."

The moment she pulled the handle to open the door, a waft of hot air invaded the interior of the car. However, it didn't deter Toni from stepping out onto the stony ground and quickly close the door behind her. The hot, moist Mexican weather was one of the more pleasurable aspects of working for Husni Oil and she much preferred it to Dubai, or Iraq, where she spent 3 years with the SAS.

The guard had just returned the driver's papers when he turned toward Toni. His expression changed to one of surprise. "Who are you?"

She fished a small leather wallet out of a pouch on her belt and flipped it open to show the guard her badge and ID. The golden logo of Husni Oil (A circle on a 'K') was well known by everyone in the company. It usually gained her immediate respect, while touring the various Husni installations around Mexico.

Toni wasn't surprised though to get a negative response from the bandit-like guard.

"My names Toni Kane. Husni Oil Security," she said, striding past the startled guard.

"Oh, all right," the scruffy guard muttered to her back, as she peered into the compact nine-foot square sentry cabin.

The guard had left his Russian Saiga rifle inside the small enclosure, probably because he recognised the company's Hummer. It was a clear breach of the security code and showed that Carlos hadn't trained his men for all eventualities.

Toni carried on toward the main gates, which were slowly opening ahead of her. Once through, she took a good look around and then signalled to Jesus to drive through. The young Mexican driver promptly pulled the car up beside her.

"Everything okay?" Jesus asked through the open window.

"Yes. Drive us round the whole installation, before stopping at the mining office," she said, reaching for the back door.

Toni climbed in and seated herself beside Maria. A cursory glance into the rear seat told her that the thralls were sitting comfortably in their black burkas.

"What do you think, Toni?"

"I'm concerned Maria. Carlos is going to need some help to smarten and train his guards, especially when Salim expands the mine and increases productivity."

"The problem is, Carlos has established an enclave here and has authority issues. He's popular with his men, especially when he gives them high rewards and holds events like the monthly Fiesta. He also has the support of the local population, which is vital for the smooth running of the operation."

The driver took them on a slow tour of the mine workings, passing the line of ramshackle buildings where the Ponies were stabled and fed. The workshops and hospital building were also in a dreadful state, as were the sprawling living quarters of the men and women who worked at the mine. It reminded Toni of the townships she'd seen in South Africa, where corrugated iron was the most prolific building material used by the inhabitants.

One shining light among so much deprivation was a line of shops that had recently been constructed with cinder blocks. The dozen or so stores included a bank and even a slot machine arcade, where the Mexican workers could lose all their hard-earned cash. Another thing that Toni noticed was that every shack had a satellite dish, which showed that Carlos had his fingers on the pulse of the mineworkers.

The Hummer finally approached the mine office, which stood impressively in the centre of the long desolate approach to the mine tunnels. Jesus had to take a detour around a line of Pony-girls, who were just pulling up alongside the front of the office, so he parked to one side of the large wooden building.

"Toni, go easy on Carlos," Maria said, gripping her hand for a second. "Salim just wants your report and when he decides what to do, you'll be tasked to take care of the situation."

"Maria, some things are best dealt with before a situation gets out of hand. Don't worry though, I'm sure Carlos and I will get along together," she assured the older woman.

Moments later Maria's door opened and Carlos's head appeared in the opening.

"Maria, let me help you out," he gushed, before looking across the seat toward Toni.

Toni exited the car on her side and walked round to the front to meet Maria and Carlos who were laughing together.

"Carlos, this is Toni, our new security chief."

The swarthy Mexican did a double take, before stepping forward to clasp her hand.

"My god, she's a lot more attractive than the last one!" he exclaimed, while looking her up and down.

"I'm pleased to meet you," Toni responded. "Looks can be deceiving, Carlos," she added with a wry smile, before shaking his clammy hand.

The man made her skin crawl so it took all her resolve to appear as though she was enjoying the handshake.

"I'm sure they can. I'm sure they can," he mused. "Come, I'm just checking one of the Pony trains, before they set off to one of the deep mines."

The trio walked around to where 8 fillies stood in line, all linked by lengths of chain. Toni had been introduced to Pony-girl racing a couple of months earlier, when she visited Salim in Dubai, but what she was looking at in front of the office, was something completely different.

Salim's animals, in Dubai, were being treated like thoroughbreds with clean living conditions. They were given considerable care and attention. On the other hand, the fillies at the mine were bedraggled and had obviously been abused and mistreated.

Toni accepted that there was a place in the world for Salim's Pony-girl racing and for slavery in the 3^rd world, but she abhorred cruelty to animals. And, she thought, the creatures lined up in front of the office fitted into that category.

Toni walked down the line of hooded figures to examine their tack and equipment. Like Salim's racing Ponies, the mine animals were wearing heavily boned Pony harnesses, which curved their spine and lifted their shoulders and breasts. All the fillies were athletic, displaying firm thrusting tits, tight asses and rock-solid leg muscles - clearly an essential perquisite for running the tunnels.

Each animal had had their labia and clitorises enlarged so that metal eyelets could be punched through, to enable their cunts to be laced. They were connected together by 8 feet long lightweight chains, making it impossible for any of the column to lose touch with each other. Circular filters were fitted to the girl's flange gags to combat the dusty tunnels while long leather boots with oval hoof-like soles raised them and gave them a longer stride.

All the equipment was old and tatty, as were some of the long narrow sleighs the fillies were fastened to. Their modified anuses were armed with crude cracker-plugs dildos and their bodies were bruised and battered from constant mistreatment.

Toni was shocked by what she saw and decided there and then that she would advise Salim to change the culture at the mine. Her advice would be to give the animals better conditions and better equipment, as soon as it could possibly be arranged.

A scruffy Mexican was taking lanterns from a box and clipping them onto the Ponies areolas, cruelly clamping the whole area around their nipples. Another assistant was checking their filters. Maria disappeared inside the office, leaving Carlos checking through a list of cargo in the containers.

"How long will it take this column to reach their destination, Carlos?" Toni asked, as the big man edged along the line of impatient animals.

They were getting hot in the blazing sunshine and were probably looking forward to disappearing into the cool interior of the tunnels. The stocky man looked up from his paperwork and gave her another examination, blatantly pausing on her breasts before staring her in the eye.

"About an hour, Toni, give or take 5 minutes..." Another lecherous examination. "So, Salim has put you in charge of Security at Husni oil, Mexico?"

"That's right Carlos, I..."

Toni paused when Carlos turned, after hearing the distant sound of a loud, high-pitched whistle.

"That'll be the Beta convoy," he said looking at his watch. "Right on time!"

A cloud of dust signalled the arrival of a column of pony girls approaching at a steady jog. Toni walked round the end filly in the waiting line so she could stand beside Carlos. Moments later the animals staggered up until they were level with the fresh column, whereupon they collapsed onto their knees in a state of sheer exhaustion.

The men who were preparing the waiting Ponies rushed round and began switching off their cracker plugs and unscrewing the filters from their flange gags.

Toni studied the panting fillies, who were caked in dry, golden dust. Their sweat had dried and created a pattern of lines over their heaving breasts, naked buttocks and down the backs of their legs. Their lanterns jiggled up and down, while their chests heaved and their hooded heads sagged despite their tight posture collars.

"Let's get this convoy under way," Carlos muttered, before striding to the front of the line. "The road is clear Lucia, off you go!" He lifted a hand and slapped Lucia's prominent buttocks.

The line moved off as one, as though they had rehearsed the move a thousand times. Within seconds they were disappearing in the distance within their own cloud of orange dust.

"So, you've brought the thralls that Salim promised me?" Carlos asked, while examining one of the open containers of rocks, which the fillies had brought up from the mine.

"Yes. Do you want to see them now?"

"I do. The sooner we get them bedded in, the sooner I can get them trained."

Toni led the way to the rear of the Hummer and lifted the back door to reveal the shrouded thralls seated in the rear facing, back seats.

"Right, Toni, let's get these rags off them and see what Salim has sent me."

Moments later the petrified thralls were naked, bar their Pony harnesses and ball gags. The girls stood awkwardly beside the car, leaning forward, half hand breasts jutting, while staring intently at their captors. Both were Saudi thralls and both were devoid of hair. They were well trained in Dubai but totally unprepared for life in Carlos's brutal world.

"Go easy on them, Carlos," I said gently. "Salim wants them back, fitter and leaner."

He glared at her. The expression would have been enough to make most girls wilt, but it made no impression on Toni. "You stick to what you're good at and I'll manage this mine."

The burly Mexican bent down and quickly ran his hands up their legs so that he could feel their muscles and judge their suitability for working in the mine. He bent them forward and examined their cunts, which had been studded and laced, saving him a task before they went to work.

"Carlos, Salim has kept his promise. Now we need to talk about security and discuss the future of the mine."

"All right. Let me hand these thralls over to Doc and we can have a chat over a cup of coffee."

Toni had met Carlos's type before and knew that he was going to be a difficult man to deal with. Still, that's why Maria wanted her along for the trip...