Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Anna

O kay. No, I understand. I get it.

I’m disappointed, of course. I thought we were…good.

No hard feelings.

I hope we can stay friends, too.

Sure. I’d like to stay in touch. Let’s grab coffee sometime.

I wish you all the best.

I sat at my large, polished desk, trying to concentrate on the memo on my screen, but all I could think about were the last things I said to Roy when he broke up with me. It was last week, but it still bothered me. Not the breakup, exactly, although that was unpleasant, but the fact that I’d said those same words too many times in the past five years. It forced the question no one wanted to ask themself: What is wrong with me?

I leaned back and shut off the screen, running my hands through my hair. It used to be long and wild and bushy, but now was tamed into a glossy bob with the bright red natural tone tempered to a honeyed auburn. Professional. Sleek. Tidy. Everything everyone wanted in a planetary ambassador.

“Stelis, shut down my workstation for the evening.” Evening, my ass. It was coming up to ten at night. “Back up all files to the secure server.”

“Yes, Anna,” replied the smooth, disembodied female voice of my Adaptive Omni Assistant.

I rose from my desk in my home office—I had another one in my official office in Madrid, where a quick airtrain ride over the Atlantic Ocean made it easy to attend appointments and meetings a few times a week. Most of my work could be done here, in the office of my spacious New York City apartment.

I stretched and padded barefoot to the wall of windows on my thirty-eighth-floor apartment. Outside, it was snowing. It wouldn’t stick. It had been over a century since snow accumulated in New York, but it was still pretty to watch. “Stelis, change my clothing to loungewear-4.”

The garment I wore was made of nanocloth . A new, but expensive, piece that was engineered to transform to virtually any style the wearer chose. They were incredibly popular, eliminating the need for extensive closets and to pack clothing for travel. Even better, they were self-cleaning, and upon my command, Stelis made the soft, malleable fabric shift from my professional work suit to the loose, two-piece pajamas that were my favorite of the selections. I held still until the change was complete and sighed as the comfortable garment left me feeling relaxed.

I left my home office and went to the kitchen to get a glass of wine from the food synthesizer, then sat at my table to continue watching the snow while sipping a deep blue wine. I’d replicated it from an aklorian vintage that I’d sampled on a diplomatic trip. The tangy-sweet flavor slid over my tongue. The quiet snow fell outside and for a moment, I was content. “What do I have scheduled tomorrow?”

“You have no plans tomorrow, the twentieth of December, Anna,” Stelis replied. “You are scheduled to be off for two weeks.”

Two weeks during which I’d planned to meet Roy’s family in California. That obviously wasn’t happening. “I’m not going to need that time off, after all,” I said. “Do I have any pending appointment requests?”

“No,” Stelis replied. “You requested those dates to be blocked for personal time and I have done so.”

“Yes, but—” Oh, it was useless to argue with an AOA. They had answers for everything. “Fine. Thanks,” I muttered. Great . Christmas and New Year’s alone. I lost my mother two years ago and I didn’t know my father, so I didn’t have family to visit.

“You have several outstanding holiday invitations.”

I held up a hand. “ No . Decline them with my deepest regrets and heartfelt appreciation. Send a selection of Odarian cheeses. Not to the Deitz family. Teri is lactose intolerant.”

“I have that on file, Anna,” said Stelis. “The Deitz family will get flowers.”

“Okay.” My friends had families and I knew I’d be subjected to matchmaking if I went to any of their gatherings. No thanks. I could do without that.

There was a pause. “Shall I decline for all invitations, or just the ones on Earth?”

I turned, even though there was no one to look at. “I have an off-planet invitation? From where?”

“Destra,” said Stelis. “Shall I read it aloud to you?”

“Please do.”

Stelis’ voice changed to the crisp female voice of the sender, which I recognized immediately. “Anna, if you don’t have plans for the holidays this year, I hope you’ll consider joining us here on Damiron’s and my Sola for our celebration merging human and Destran holiday traditions. You’re invited in an unofficial role, as our friend, not as the ambassador.”

That was code for, “come and have fun,” and, “nothing you do will be documented.” A smile curved my mouth for the first time in days. I had a special connection to Destra. Six years ago, I met Sibyl under the most horrible circumstances. I had accepted a position as an engineer for Earth Explorations, Inc., supposedly an exploratory and mining operation, but ended up trapped there by my boss, who had the idea to “mine” a precious liquid the Destrans’ living, sentient Solas produced for profit. Sibyl gave me the courage and opportunity to break free, and I fled with two other human employees who’d been trapped. Upon returning to Earth, we alerted authorities of Earth Explorations, Inc.’s activities, which triggered a fleet of Earth ships sent out to rescue the Destrans.

After the legal dust settled, I was offered the ambassadorship and accepted the position. Since then, my intense travel schedule had been death to my love life. At thirty-six, I was beginning to wonder why I was even bothering to keep trying to find love.

“When was this message sent, Stelis?”

“The second of December.”

“And you’re just telling me about it now?”

“I informed you of the invitation on December on the second, eight, and fourteenth of December. You chose not to listen to it.” Stelis managed to sound snooty even now.

I didn’t remember anything about an invitation on any of those days, but I was trying to get all my work wrapped up before my big trip to California. I had been nervous about meeting Roy’s parents. I was juggling requests and communications and had put everything off. Excitement jiggled in my belly. “Accept Sibyl’s invitation.” I turned away from the window with all that pretty snow and the lights of the city. “I’d like to leave as soon as possible.”

“I will contact your transport operator and have him ready the shuttle,” Stelis informed me. “Would tomorrow morning be soon enough, provided the ship is ready to depart?”

My mind flashed to the operator in question. His name was Lashe. He was a stunning Destran warrior, almost dazzling to look at, and he always seemed to be ready. It was his job to run me between Earth and the cluster of Destran Solas—massive, living ships that housed hundreds of thousands of Destrans. If he missed his home, being stuck on Earth for most of the time, he never mentioned it. Never complained. He never revealed anything, honestly.

“Tomorrow is perfect,” I said, rubbing my forehead. “I need a break. Badly.”