The second Thrynn added, “Are you prepared to have your life and fit elevated?”

  “I am,” Sabine answered before any of them could begin to speak again. “My need is for every layer of clothing. Tonight is a special evening for my mate and myself.”

  A chorus of sounds echoed around Sabine. Fortunately, she was familiar enough to know what passed for coos of delight in these races. Her answer had pleased them all. Or they had been conditioned to respond that way to all customers.

  “Follow, thou must, so that we may properly outfit thee,” invited one of the Elowans. It gestured to her right, down a corridor filled with red and yellow illumination. Sabine let this being lead the way. The other three workers, or designers- Sabine had no clue what their individual skill sets might be- followed behind her.

  The lights felt warm on her skin. Sabine postulated that she was being scanned while they travelled to the door at the end of the chamber. When the single door was opened, she walked into a chamber that had four interface consoles surrounding a large matter printer device. The floor under the printer emitters and mechanical arms meant for replication had a small raised stage.

  “Upon the stage, thou must stand,” the second Elowan instructed. “Thy current garments must be discarded.”

  In the span of a few minutes, Sabine was naked and standing on the small stage. The four beings moved to individual interfaces and began doing, well, whatever they did. Sabine could not discern the screens or any of their actions from her position on the stage.

  The wait wasn’t long before things began. Sabine was instructed after what felt like a minute to hold her arms from her sides. Immediately after she complied, a total of eight robotic arms pivoted toward her. They began weaving fiber across her, building the clothing directly onto her body. As she was trying to process the sights and sensations of this experience, the intimate apparel was already complete. Silver webbing covered her torso, with her crotch, and nipples exposed. There was a distinct feeling of most of her back and bottom having little coverage. But the way the thin material pushed and fell along her body gave her a thrill. She felt that it enhanced her form without making any falsehoods.

  Next came a slightly translucent material in a shimmering blue. The arms and emitters formed this into a garment that was akin to a silk hose. Her feet were covered, as was her skin up to the waist. The soles of her feet were now on a thick layer of some material that might or might not have been the same as the rest of this garment. It was certainly denser, since she could squeeze her toes and felt firm resistance.

  As flimsy as this new layer looked, the bottom half of her body felt warmer, as if she had put on a pair of work pants made for rugged weather. Sabine also had to silently admit that her legs looked longer and shapelier in this layer. She wished there were reflective surfaces around her so she could see how this was looking from the back.

  The arms retracted, seemed to reset before coming towards her again. A new material, more opaque and of a darker shade of blue, was being woven across her hands and forearms. Sabine was so taken with watching this process that she was unaware that a dress was being woven across her body at the same time.

  Only when the long gloves were complete did her senses acknowledge the presence of the silken dress that began around her knees and was being woven around her midsection. Strategic portions of her midriff and chest were left uncovered, only to be crisscrossed by belt- like strips that began at her waist and concluded in a sort of choker around her neck.

  The material of the complete outfit seemed to weigh almost nothing. She felt the layers, her body was warmer wherever it covered. But Sabine still had to look about to make sure the outfit was actually on.

  The arms and emitters retracted into their work stations as a transparent globe dropped around her, becoming reflective once it settled around her. She could see every angle of herself and the outfit.

  “Pleased, thou art?” came the voice of one Elowan.

  “Yes!” Sabine exclaimed.

  “We are magnificent at what we do,” one of the Thrynn declared. Sabine wasn’t about to dispute the claim. Never had she worn or even seen such finery.

  “Two thousand mu have been withdrawn from thine account to cover this creation and our humble services,” the Elowan said, or perhaps it was a warning. “Do we have an accord, new customer?”

  “We do, indeed,” Sabine breathed. Fortunately, she didn’t need to worry about affording the expense.

  The globe ascended back above Sabine and disappeared into the ceiling. The outfit remained on her. She wondered how long it would take for the outfit to be removed if she’d refused it. She stepped off the raised area.

  As she walked toward the door, the second Elowan came up beside her.

  “Pleased, we are, that thee taketh joy in thine purchase. Come again, good being, when thee desires another,” the Elowan said and led Sabine through the front entrance. The gathered beings outside of the store fawned and gave declarations of praise, envy, even love.

  Sabine strutted right past them and on to her next destination.

  While walking past eateries, Sabine made a melancholy mental note of the places she still hadn’t tried, and likely never would. The “Pie Hutt” that claimed to offer the only original Arth-style pizza for the entire quadrant. A place that specialized in the various liquid meals that Elowan preferred, without the limitations of ingredients indigenous to their home system. The Nectar Palace that offered Velox and Elowan delicacies. And so many others.

  There was an extensive selection of culinary options, but Sean had a favorite restaurant. Sabine knew tonight had to include dinner from “Choris Oria”.

  Choris Oria’s entrance boasted a canopied entrance, despite the fact there was never any ‘bad weather’ within the Starport. Paneled windows featured booths on both sides of the doors that led into the restaurant. The interior of the eatery was painted in shades of white, cream, and blues. Blue and white checkered tablecloths covered the tables, even the booths. Small lights shaped to look like candles, complete with flames, sat in the center of each table. Holos of Arth during different points in history filled the walls. They were changed out weekly, so the patrons did not grow bored with the same art.

  The maitre d’ was a fellow human from Arth, and efficient at their job. The ordering console was already called up for her requests as Sabine came to the podium. She took a moment to take in the maitre d’s broad form in an immaculate black formal bodysuit with gold trim work. She wondered if the prominent Adam's apple was organic or implanted.

  “How would you like to indulge yourself tonight?” they invited. “Would you like a menu?”

  “No thank you,” Sabine said. “I would like to place an order for two. Starting with saganaki, alongside a short plate of Thrynn fleshplant Souvlaki. Dessert will be flaming Boston pie.”

  “Will that be dine-in or delivery?” the maitre d’ asked, their fingers moving with a speed that only time, skill, and possibly an implant or two could make possible.

  “Delivery for two with all the extras.” Sabine gave the maitre d’ a wink as she slid her hands down her newly acquired garments. “It’s a special night with my mate.”

  “Of course! We will see that all preparations are added and delivery is special to commemorate the occasion,” they replied, smiling broadly.

  “Thank you,” she replied, not caring about the cost of any of it.

  Once the arrangements were made, Sabine moved on. The final place she planned to go would require a transport jump to the far end of the plaza. Otherwise she’d lose an hour from the walk.

  It was a mystery as to why the fermented spirits from all over the galaxy had to be so far from eating establishments, but Sabine didn’t have privy to the decision makers or their reasoning. She just knew it was an inconvenience to anyone who’d ever spoken of it to or around her.

  She only had one stop left after acquiring the evening’s spirits before surprising Sean at the bank. Or… maybe two.

  There was no reason she couldn’t get a box of her favorite chocolates to enjoy one last time, too. Right?

  “You’re breaking up with me?”

  Sean didn’t understand.

  “No,” Sabine replied slowly. “I’m not ending our relationship. Not really.”

  “So that incredible sex we just had? That was just because it was the last time?” Sean yelled. His tone hadn’t changed, only gotten louder.

  “That observation is accurate,” Sabine allowed. “But again, it’s not because I’m ending our relationship. The past five years have been lovely.”

  “Five years! Was it a waste of time? Why did I even take the job here on this port as a banker? And not ending our relationship?” Sean stormed around the room, naked, pacing from one side of the bed to the other as he spoke. Twice he picked up the now empty bottle of Velox gold wine as if he had expected it to magically grow another swig or two. Or maybe it was a glassful he was hoping for. Regardless, he was disappointed both times.

  Sabine remained on the bed. She was on her side, propped up on one elbow. She waited for him to take a breath and finish.

  “You’re leaving!” he insisted. “Going off to join some business that, for some reason, requires you to give total allegiance! Haven’t we got everything we’ve wanted so far? So what kind of relationship are we going to have? Living off of video chats over the subnet? Blowing kisses at each other’s images? Haven’t we done enough of that already? Is that what you wanted all along?”

  “No, Sean. Please calm down, come back to bed. I can make everything clear to you. Please.”

  She patted the still warm space beside her on the bed.

  Sean halted in his pacing. Began again. Stopped, stared at her nude figure, then laid down next to her. His eyes locked onto hers, expecting answers, even as his body was stretched out.

  “I’m not ending our relationship,” she said, bringing her body up into a sitting position. The pillow she had been laying on was now in her lap, arms wrapped around it for comfort. She brought her eyes back to his.

  “One of us is going to be a widow,” Sabine declared.

  She then drove her elbow into Sean’s sternum.

  Air exploded out through his mouth. Sean choked and gasped, since his lungs had just been violently emptied. Sabine straddled him as swiftly as a predacious cat. Her knees pinned his arms to the bed. The pillow was pushed down over his face.

  He struggled. No words, only gagging sounds came from beneath the pillow. He jerked and twitched in violent movements.

  Sabine kept her position, holding the pillow down with all of her upper body weight. She, at least, knew it would be just a handful of minutes and watched them tick away on the wall across from the bed.

  When he had ceased moving, she watched another two minutes crawl by before sliding off of his still body.

  There was no time to waste on regret or goodbyes. Sabine slipped into the bodysuit she’d prepared earlier that day and grabbed her get-out bag. From the bag she took out a sealable container, and two devices.

  She used the first device to sever Sean’s left pinky finger at the bottom knuckle. This, she placed in the sealable container, and engaged the air-tight, contaminant-free lock.

  Sabine placed the second device, which was a metal box about the size of a small book, on Sean’s chest. She removed the pillow from his face and placed it back on the bed beside him.

  She supposed that was a final consideration, if not a goodbye. Any more than that would force her to acknowledge her regrets and… other feelings. She couldn’t allow herself to dwell on any of it.

  Not if she wanted to survive. Not if she wanted her guivre to survive, also.

  The entry door was locked as Sabine left the quarters for the last time. She was too far away to hear the little metal box building power to go active and do its job.

  Three transporter jumps later, Sabine was in the bar that Doka had been investigating earlier. Sitting in a booth not far from where Sean had been.

  Guidino was the primary recruiter for Family Enterprises Unlimited, a subsidiary of Interstel, at the port. He compared a readout that had been brought to him to a readout that Sabine had given over. A slight smile crept across his face. He glanced back and forth between the readouts. He wasn’t handsome by any standard, but he was very well dressed by the standards of Arth.

  Sean’s gentle touch lingered in the back of her mind as she waited for Guidino’s decision. Loyalty to the FEU was the first law. The only family in any members’ life was the FEU family. While someone from any race from any planet could join, FEU members could only date, mate or partner with other FEU members. Betrayal of “family” may be the ultimate sin, but blood sacrifice was the basest coin of the realm.

  And Sabine had just paid her entry fee.

  “Okay, Sabine, the offering you brought has been confirmed,” Guidino said. “The digit did indeed belong to Sean Potus. Our tests confirm it was obtained after his death. Everything else in front of me confirms that you two were intimate partners for the past five years.”

  Even as Sabine nodded her confirmation, Guidino gave her a cold smile.

  “You’d be amazed at how many beings we get every day- I mean every stinking day- who come to the table thinking that we aren’t going to confirm that proof of cutting all ties, permanently, is absolute.”

  He added a gluttonous chuckle to the end of this declaration. Sabine didn’t react.

  “I don’t care what anyone else does or has done. Just what I do and how I get paid for it,” she countered in as neutral a voice as she had.

  “That’s the kind of attitude that will take you far in the Family! And since everything is in order, I am prepared to carry through with my end of the deal,” Guidino stated. He pulled on his left earlobe.

  Within seconds, two beings approached the table. They were humanoid but androgenous in appearance. Sabine couldn’t tell if they had been surgically or genetically altered. Perhaps both? No matter. She’d done what had been demanded. If the FEU wanted her to kill anyone now, or in the future, they would provide the training and reward.

  That was, after all, what she’d bargained for.

  Sabine stood and faced the pair. The one to her right pivoted and walked away with a sense of purpose. Sabine followed, even as the second being fell in behind her. They exited the bar and went directly to the nearest transporter. The first being produced a destination card and let the terminal scan it then the three stepped into the transporter one at a time.

  Sabine found herself stepping off the transporter pad into a large, brightly lit lab. Two technicians, both human, were checking settings on a large medical bed. The silver platform was adorned with the bedside monitor and other medical gadgets that she’d seen at most hospitals and medtech bays. The taller of the techs looked back at Sabine with minimal interest in her eyes. She indicated for Sabine to come forward.

  “Lay on the bed, please. You may keep your clothing on. Doing so will not affect the procedure.”

  Sabine was interested in what the “procedure” was. But instead of asking, she committed herself to the contract she’d made. Silently, she laid down on the bed.

  Moments passed while her stats were being monitored, blood and DNA scanned, and who knew what else. Sabine remained quiet and as still as she could be.

  The minute hum of force fields activating. The slight tickle of the energy pressing against her skin. A realization that she could not, in fact, move any part of her body aside from her eyes.

  Panic tried to set in. A certainty that she was finally caught in a trap. Sabine tried to fight it down, using whatever logic and lies she could to assure herself it couldn’t be so. The trick that worked was reminding herself that her beloved guivre was loose in the station ductwork and would cause havoc if she were killed.

  Sabine watched the hypodermic infuser come in from the left just before it pressed against her carotid artery. The hiss of the infuser releasing whatever it held into her bloodstream.

  “Your DNA, and appearance, will be slightly altered,” the second tech warned. He had a more pleasant voice than the first. “You should expect to feel some discomfort.”

  PAIN.

  Every centimeter of her body felt like a thousand flowers being plucked one petal at a time and set fire at the speed of sound; The sound of her own screams, in fact. She felt pressure as she pushed against the force fields, but found no give. The blood in her veins throbbed and felt as if every drop were dying and being reborn at the same moment. Her senses began to fade. She tried to reason with herself, reassure herself that this was the right decision, that it would be over in moments.

  No such mercy was not forthcoming. Instead, her mind turned inward on itself to protect her, to hide her from the relentless pain...

  The muffled sounds as Sean attempted to breathe, or plead for his life. Was her memory correct that he’d managed her name at least once? Or was that guilt trying to seep in, coat her heart with its black ichor?

  He was so eager to please her. Passionate kisses, those gentle caresses of his strong hands came rushing back to her. Would he have been as caring if he had known it would be the last time, ever.

  Enjoying his expression as he looked at her in the new clothing. Sneaking peeks at the layers while enjoying their meal. Their last meal.

  The disappointment in his voice each time they’d been unable to meet in person. She had grown tired of having to love over subnet connections and memories.

  All of those times wishing and dreaming and planning of their lives together. Wondering how much better it was going to be in actual life versus her fantasies.

  How lonely she had been before Sean had come into her life. How tired she had been of enjoying nothing.

  The first time they had spent a whole day and night together. First explorations, first tastes, lingering pleasures.

  That first kiss.