Iain dropped the arm he’d been holding, got up, walked over and grabbed the alien’s other shin, if reluctantly.

“This is getting a bit gruesome,” he suggested.

“Oh please,” she replied, sounding exasperated. “He’s all these part come off, I told you. Arms, Legs, Head, Torso, even gonads, they are all separate and replaceable.  Its not like this hurts him. And he would have crushed your skull with his bare hands if we hadn’t torn his arms off. It’s your limbs or his Iain Compton, make your choice.”

Cygnus twisted the leg hard. Orwon screamed again in pain or maybe it was rage, Iain couldn’t really distinguish the difference yet.

“Okay,” Iain replied starting to twist the leg he had grabbed. “You’ve made your point.”

“Glad you can see that,” Cygnus said with a smile. “Now let’s make a wish!”

Iain did as she motioned. Both legs popped off as easily as the arms had. He dropped the heavy limb, surprised at how quickly and painlessly (for them) they’d managed to deal with the huge male alien. He glanced over at Cygnus. She’d already tossed the other leg away and had stepped up to the now multiple amputee’s head. She then got down on her knees, bent over while she wrapped her arms around Orwon's thick neck.

“No, no please no!” the alien yelled, his agony muffled as she pulled hard against his chin.

The big beach ball sized head popped off and flew through the air, bouncing away down the corridor. The force of the action left Cygnus curled over on the deck chest still heaving with the effort it had taken to decapitate her former... lover? She lay there, looking up at Iain as he approached. She waved him off as he extended a hand to help her up.

“Get his head,” she told Iain then waved at Orwon’s other body parts. “I’ll find a place where we can put these pieces.”

Independent or not, the big alien’s head was silent and dead looking when he finally reached it. It took some effort to heft it, but Iain managed and brought it back to where the rest of Owon's drawn and quartered body lay scattered in pieces on the deck.

“Over here,” he heard Cygnus call. She’d opened up some kind of chute at the end of a row of freezer pods. Already she was in the process of forcing a leg into it.

He helped with the rest of the body. The torso was the hardest to stuff in but they finally managed to force it into the opening. The big aliens’ skeletal structure wasn’t, apparently, quite as rigid as it had looked. When it finally slid down out of site, Cygnus leaned against the opening, and let out a loud exhale.

Iain relaxed against a cold metal post well, then wondered something.

“Where do you think this goes?” he asked. “Into another freezer pod chamber?

Cygnus looked down the shaft, took a sniff.

“Incinerator, I think,” she said, then turned to smile at him.

Iain felt an involuntary shudder run through him. Then a touch of revulsion filled him.

“Did we just incinerate your-?” Iain wasn’t sure what to call the giant, not having much experience with alien relationships, really. She’s called him her ex…

Cygnus merely shrugged in response, then pulled down the chute's lid with a loud clank.

“He had it coming,” she asserted. “He kidnapped me, froze me on a space ship for thousands of years, and he was just about to kill you. And he’s done a lot worse, believe you me. A whole lot worse.”

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Hi all, this is Double A Roi, the author of Up in Space.  I hope you've enjoyed the first half of Please Exit The Vehicle, the first story of this story cycle Crimes Against Matter and are looking forwards to the upcoming second half we learn more about Cygnus and she and Iain conspire to find a way off the Transient Void (you got a hint at the beginning of Chapter One).  If you could, take a moment to rate my series.  And, If you are really eager to get a glimpse ahead of everyone else, join me at my Patreon page, where as a Reader you will have the opportunity to view Up in Space  a full month in advance(around 16 or so chapters of this series), among other treats. 

PS. I've already written the first draft of the next Crimes against Matter novella , Transient Value and it will be ready to run shortly after Please Exit the Vehicle is done.