Catherine, you’ve made your point. You needn’t run around in the dirt of strange planets any longer. We all know you can, if you so desire; you’re perfectly capable of whatever you’d like to achieve. So you’re welcome to return home for the Emperor’s celebration gala.

The concept/premise of this short story is so incredibly fun. I loved this take on a “space regency” society, the way Kit spoke about space exploration, and all the fun implications the empire’s semi-recent history offered. Unfortunately, it’s one of those stories that clearly need more space to shine. Or perhaps it’s how it was written, with the set-up taking up more than half of the page count. For a story billed as romance, the leads meet too late and their interactions end up incredibly rushed, to the point that it makes very little sense. Which is a pity, because what can be seen of their personalities—Kit’s especially, since she’s the one we get to spend more time with—is pretty compelling. Even with the constraints, there’s some nice, sparkly dialogue and the beginnings of chemistry taking root, and I’d love to see more of this relationship, just like I’d love to see more of this world. 

Like, honestly, there’s lots of goodness here! Except it reads like a first chapter of a long-form work with a quick extra scene tacked on.