We joined the queue at station security. It was late, local time, but that didn’t mean much to the traffic flowing in and out through the terminals.

The smell of unwashed bodies closed around us, strange spices, probably contraband food.

The jostling, pressing mass made me move closer to the curve of Roman’s arm.

Sounds of the station filled the corridor. The low murmur of the crowd, the banging and clanging as ships attached or fell free, floating back into the dark.

Finally it was our turn.

"Step forward for the camera." The ancient man behind the counter barely glanced at us, his back bent over the console.

I put my feet carefully on the markers and then leaned forward, letting goggles of the identification unit seal over my eyes.

I'd always hated this, knowing the quick flash would come, knowing that if I blinked or jerked away I’d just have to do it again.

The bright light finally came and I was released.

"Nadira Tannu.” As I stepped away, he glanced at the image on his screen, doubled on the secondary monitor facing me.

It was an old image, part of my official file before I left the capital. I studied her, that distant woman from my past. Obviously horrible things hadn't happened to her yet, but she'd be tough enough to get through them.

“You’re approved.”

I moved to the side.

"Hurry up, sir, feet on the marks.”

Ronan stepped forward and waited.

The man finally glanced up, took in Ronan’s height with a long sigh. “Hold on, I'll get it adjusted.”

When the goggles were finally at a height to wrap around his face, I saw again the image that Nixie had altered.

Strange to see what an unenhanced Ronan might've looked like, but the man in the security uniform just shook his head, looking between the image and Ronan’s face.

"Kids these days."

I shrugged.

"At least it's not permanent, right?"

When we finally emerged into the station proper, I made straight for the nearest directory panel.

"It's too late, station-time, to get started, and we need some prep." I flipped screens, looking for a reasonable hotel. And a restaurant. Real food instead of those packs.

I searched through levels, cross-checked comments, until I found what I wanted.

Ronan stood like a statue behind me, our bag thrown casually over his shoulder, his eyes scanning the vicinity. His huge biceps were bare - the best I'd been able to do for a wardrobe for him had been to cut off the arms of the largest shirts I'd found on the Star.

I stepped back, wrapped my fingers in his. "Relax. I'm pretty sure no one is trying to kill us here."

"You didn’t know there were Hunters on Orem until it was too late," he grumbled.

"Thanks. I hadn't been thinking about that."

We headed through the cluster of shops that could be found around the entry ports of any station. Cheaply made, high-priced goods. I ran my eye over them. Only slightly trash, really. But a good way of picking up what the current styles and trends were.

"When things are open, we're going to have to do a little clothes shopping."

"Why aren't they open now?"

"Because," I sighed, trying to explain hidebound concepts of prestige and exclusiveness, sheer snobbery and clinging to tradition. "They think it makes them seem important. If you have to deal with an actual person, it may as well be hard."

"Why not just deal with a fab machine and be done with it?"

"That's how I prefer to handle it, but you’d be amazed at how much people will pay to be inconvenienced."

The plan started to gel in my head.

“First step, not attracting attention until we’re ready.”

He snorted. “Not really an option, babe.”

It was true. We’d already caught a number of stares. It could have been our clothes, but chances were good Ronan’s build would stand out anywhere.

“We can make it less of an issue. And if you put up with it, I promise it’ll be worth your while.”

The goof waggled his eyebrows. “I’ll hold you to that.”

“Oh, I know it.”

We went down two crowded glides to the bazaar. Sagav might have wanted to mimic Capitol trends and business hours, but everyday working people couldn’t care less. Here would be the heart of the station’s business.

At the back of a row, I found a fab booth specializing in textiles, and flipped through the display models, looking for designs that walked that fine line between trendy and trashy. Two selected, with the necessary footwear and underpinnings, I stripped out of my outer layers, and stepped into the scanner.

“I thought you said clothes shopping tomorrow,” Ronan grumbled.

“That’s shopping for the job. This is shopping so the hotel doesn’t turn us away.”

Scan complete, I stepped out and took the bag from him. “In you go.”

He scowled at the booth. “Don’t see why I need to.”

“What if I told you I’d be making good on my promise, in public?”

Eyebrow cocked, he shook his head. “You didn’t even want that AI listening in. You wouldn’t dare.” With one stride he crossed the booth and pulled me into his arms, mouth hot and demanding on mine. “And I wouldn’t let you. You’re mine.”

I moaned my agreement, dropping the bag at our feet to run my hands down his hard shoulders.

When he released me, I clung to his arm, gasping. Finally, my head cleared. “But aren’t you a little bit curious what I’m promising?”

Grouching all the while, he stepped inside and tossed his vest and pants over the partition.

“How are we set for credits? You should have new clothes, but I don’t care.”

“Think of our job tomorrow as a play. We’re just getting costumes.” I didn’t have to see his face to know he wasn’t convinced. “Unless you don’t think it’s important we get that code.”

With a beep, the scan finished, and I tossed him back his old clothes.

“That’s not playing fair.”

“You think I don’t know it when you do it to me?”

A dip of a credit spike, and my thumbprint sealed the order. “We have time for dinner before pickup. Let’s go.”

“Sure we won’t be turned away?” he teased.

“Not here.” I turned down two rows, hoping I remembered the map from the directory.

Booths narrowed, shadowed people flitted away from us. Normally, I wouldn’t have considered going to an area like this.

Normally, I didn’t have a walking wall of muscle right behind me.

We didn’t have a problem.

The flickering light of the booth shone out beneath the half-curtain covering the door, welcoming us.

“Trust me.”

Inside, three small tables took up the floor space, with chairs that looked like they’d probably hold Ronan. Probably.

He eyed the place carefully. “Let’s head back up to the gate.” I tugged his hand until he sat down.

“They have great reviews, and this is your reward.”

A flat stare was my only answer.

“Okay. This is your first reward.” I licked my lips. “You’re right, we’ll want privacy for the second”

A woman with long brown braids tossed over one shoulder, came out from the back, carrying a tray with two giant bowls. My stomach growled at the fragrant steam. She laughed, put the bowls before us, and left us to dinner.

“Best noodle soup on the station.”

He poked it, tasted the broth, and the rest of our time was filled with the sounds of happy slurping.

Finally, when he’d finished his bowl, and the half of mine I’d pushed his way, he sat back and stretched.

“You were right. Good reward.”

“Oh, that hasn’t happened yet.” I grinned and got up to whisper to the cook.

Moments after I came back to the table, she appeared with a covered plate.

“Go ahead, look!”

Ronan’s eyes got huge, looking at the row of golden sesame balls. “Really?”

“Best on the station, so I’ve heard.”

We left, tipping outrageously. I’d have paid considerably more for the relaxed happiness on Ronan’s face.

Fabrication of our clothes completed, my thumbprint unlocked a frosted door, and they slid out, neatly folded.

I’d gone simple for Ronan. Dark charcoal gray pants that fitted him like sin, black boots nearly knee-high, topped with a deep emerald tunic patterned in a lighter gray to match the pants.

“How the hell does this stay on?”

Neck fastening solved, I helped with the sash and stood back to admire the overall effect.

“I look like an idiot.”

“No, you look like a man who cares about fashion and appearances. Between that and what looks like your legal, frivolous modifications, we might be able to distract people from looking too hard at anything else.”

I pulled off my dress, looking forward to a change in outfits. I’d never been crazy for shopping, but the same thing day after day wore a little thin.

Oh, Void. I was making puns now. I didn’t even like puns.

The basic structure of the dress was simple, a knee-length sheath with a single shoulder strap. The detail that had caught my eye in the port shops was the hundreds of tiny leaves, barely attached, that floated and drifted with every step. All in a pale cream, but the undersheath had the slightest transparency. The solid white leaves covered everything thoroughly but hinted at the form below.

With a final wiggle, I smoothed everything into place.

Ronan stared at me, eyes narrowed.

“What’s wrong?” I spun to try to check my back in the mirror. Everything lay properly, as far as I could see.

“Nothing.” He shoved our old clothes in the bag and stepped back into the bazaar. “Done here?”

I braided my hair as we walked, wishing I’d thought to find pins to fasten it. “Now we can get a decent hotel without them bouncing us at the door.”

“How much credit are you planning to burn?”

“We’re flush. Eris has been happily calculating the goods we’re pulling from the cargo bay. That plus anything else she can scavenge from the Star will make a nice haul.”

He just grunted. We were both tired, the high from dinner lost within the general bone weariness. A good, long sleep would go a long way towards getting us in a better frame of mind for tomorrow’s job.

* * *

We took glides up until we reached the edge of the business district. The plain black facade of the hotel confirmed my decision. Upmarket, pretentious. A place that would reek of respectability when we provided it to the bank as our temporary address.

The entrance faded to semi-opaque when we approached, glimmered into nothing but a well-crafted hologram as we walked through.

The illusion led into a large oval room, coated with creamy lortian marble, threaded with silver. Sounds of water splashing in a distant fountain came from somewhere.

“Welcome.”

It took everything I had not to jump at the sudden appearance of a thin man, dressed severely in black, as he stepped away from the wall.

Another trick, this time likely to cloak a side room, keep the curve of the lobby wall smooth, perfect.

Ronan tensed as he approached, but all I could do was hope he’d follow my lead. I should have told him my plan, but I didn’t think he’d like it.

I put one hand on a cocked hip, looked around the room in disdain. “My admin said she made my reservation.” I tilted my head up to Ronan, pushed my lips into a pout. “I swear, Bunny, if she’s screwed this up, too, I’m firing her. I don’t care if you like her cookies.”

"I'm sure that won't be necessary," the man's oily tone slid around the stone of the room. "If I could just have the name the reservation should be under... Miss?"

"Tannu." I flicked my hair. "Void, Bunny, why did I ever let you talk me into coming this far away from home? ‘It’ll be an adventure. Get great stories for the circuit.’” I shifted my hips, stuffed a little more whining into my voice. “How is it supposed to be an adventure if nobody even knows who I am?”

"Tannu? As in Councilman Tannu?” If anything, the man's voice had dipped from oily to greasy.

"I don't see my father around here, do you?”

I headed back towards the entryway. "Come on. I'm not staying in this dump."

"Miss Tannu!" The man hurried to stand before me. "Of course we have your reservation. For our best suite. I'm sure you'll find it up to your standards."

Ronan stepped up, rubbed my bare shoulder.

"We may as well," he rumbled. “If you still hate it, we’ll look for something else in the morning.”

"Oh no, I'm sure you'll love it. We’ll make sure of that."

One fabulous thing about being a snob was you didn't have to answer anything. They might have wondered where the rest of our luggage was, what cruiser we’d bothered to come in on, any number of perfectly reasonable questions.

But all I had to do was look bored as the manager showed us to our suite, a broad expanse broken by decorative columns, with a massive bed and separate seating area.

He finally left and I let my posture relax and flexed my feet in the heels that went so nicely with the dress but were such a pain to stomp around in.

Ronan stood in the middle of the room, an expression I couldn't read across his face.

"Bunny?" was all he said.

Oh.

"Well, I thought you'd like Skippy or Scooter even less." I ran my hands up his tunic.

"Did that idiot say this room had its own fab machine?" His hot gaze drilled into mine, and I gulped, throat suddenly dry.

"Over there, next to the amazing privacy booth. It’s not a booth, it’s a whole other room."

"Good." In one swift move, his hands had torn the gown off me.

I stood before him, naked, with nothing but slowly drifting white leaves falling all around me.