Second Skin by Paul J. McAuley

"Second Skin" is a 1997 science fiction novelette by Paul J. McAuley. It is about a man who visits Proteus as a secret spy of a trade delegation. Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell: The story follows Ben Lo as he arrives on Proteus, one of the moons of Neptune, with several other members of a trade delegation. As he is escorted around the city of Elfhame by his tall, government sanctioned, female escort, he comes in contact with his former wife, Avernus - now a famous scientist on the losing side of a previous war. He eventually gives his guide the slip and he and Avernus make plans for her escape. Ben Lo and the six other members of the first trade delegation to Proteus since the war were transferred onto the transport as it looped around Titan, still sleeping in the hibernation pods they'd climbed into in Earth orbit. Sixty days later, they were released from the transport in individual drop capsules of structural diamond, like so many seeds scattered by a pod. My Two Cents: • The…