Solena Vasquez was relaxing by the pool, wondering for how long her sunscreen would last. The laughs of kids filled her ears, but she kept her eyes closed.

The recent loss of her husband to early heart disease had been a blow she was still trying to get over.

She began her career as a simple diplomat, going overseas to negotiate better trade deals, but there was always another deal, always another country.

Her husband, who was an attorney, was always by her side, helping cross the Ts and dot the Is, but now, she was alone.

There was always time for having kids, but then, years became decades, and soon enough, menopause settled.

"Excuse me, this area has mandatory nudity. You cannot just enter the pool area with our clothes," she heard behind her. It sounds like Paul. It must be Paul. Solena thinks, yes, it's his day by the pool.

With long blond hair, he looks like a hippie. Sure, he works at a naturist resort; he can have the hair he wants, but she can't shake the discipline of years of working for the State Department.

"Mrs. Vasquez," says a young man's voice.

She opens her eyes and instantly realizes that a Secret Service agent is standing over her.

"I'm retired, young man"

"You've been reinstated; it's a rather pressing matter"

Solena sighs.

"If I refuse, will you drag me from this chair to your car?"

"No Ma'am"

Solena tilts her head. She knows that the Secret Service recently became a lot more serious after the Grenada affair.

"You won't?"

"No, I will drag you to a Marine Corps helicopter just outside the gate"

Solena sighs again. "Do I have time to get dressed?"

"We have a formal dress for you in the helicopter"

Solena looks at him. "Seriously?"

"We knew exactly where you were"

"I use a business suit when working"

"We know. There is one in your room, but first, we need you in a dress for the official swearing in"

"Swearing in? Seriously? Can I know what this is about?"

"You can, but I can't. So I can't help you."

Solena stands up and slips her sandals on. "Do you have shoes for me too?"

He looks at the floor.

"You forgot the shoes"

"We forgot them on the plane"

"Oh, there is a plane ride"

But of course, there was. Solena didn't get into the helicopter nude. A female Marine officer was holding the dress a hundred feet from the unit and helped her get into it.

The helicopter took her to the nearby Air Force base, where a business jet was waiting for her. An official one, with the flag of the United States, but it was a small one.

On the plane, an attendant opened a suitcase with makeup, but only after making sure the shoes fit.

"Seriously?" says Solena, but she was told to be ready for a television appearance.

No briefing, no explanation of a destination, but her hair was brushed, but not cut, but soon after, she got a pedicure and a manicure.

Fresh and presentable, she landed at Andrews in Washington, DC. She had flown from there a few times on delegation, but this was the first time she was welcomed as a main guest.

When a Marine helicopter dropped her on the White House landing pads, she was ushered to the Oval Office but told to just sit on the only available spot on a couch.

The room was filled! Generals, a few senators Solena knew from the TV, and one she knew from her past career. He didn't pay attention to her at all.

The call was clearly a phone conference with the United Kingdom Prime Minister, the Canadian Prime Minister, the French President, and possibly the German chancellor, who was using a translator.

The president reassured the French president. "Of course our candidate will represent everyone, and not just the United States. Your prime minister can vouch for her integrity"

Solena, who had negotiated a few treaties with France with the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and now Prime Minister, realized they were talking about her.

The translated member on the call agreed to the nomination. Canada offered a suitable clerk, which the United Kingdom accepted only if they could send one too. All were in agreement. France proposed to send a liaison officer for the whole EU, which got some discussion but was approved on the condition that all countries would be kept in the loop.

The call ended. A few of the people in the room left, including half of the senators. People were whispering, but Solena just stayed idle. She had learned that when people largely outrank you, you just stay idle and wait until you are directly spoken to.

The person sitting next to her had left, but a chair was brought in front of her, on which the director of national security sat.

"Mrs. Vasquez, I am sure you are confused as to what is happening"

"I figured I would get briefed at the appropriate time"

"This is that time. As you know, the Aurora mission to Mars is on route"

"I think I heard they were still a little less than a month away?"

"27 days."

Solena nodded.

"Just enough to pick up a transmission from Jupiter"

"Sir? From Jupiter?"

Solena thinks. Humanity has been trying to colonize Mars for a while, with habitats being constructed on the surface, but the astronauts building it always coming back after a few weeks and, more recently, months.

The Aurora mission was the first one that would leave colonists on a permanent basis on the surface. Oh, they would be rotated in and out, but humans would stay on the surface for years, with the base station continuously inhabited from now on.

"We've been invited to join the Galactic Council as an observer member until we can build our own faster-than-light ships to travel the galaxy"

"Sir, we've made contact with aliens?"

"We did. And they have a diplomat specialized in first contact. In our science fiction, we are the ones making it, but as it turns out, they've been watching us for a while"

Solena is stunned.

"You've been selected to become the human ambassador to the Galactic Council."

"I have, sir? But I am retired?"

"Which is why you were our 3rd choice, but many of our trading partners remember how fair and honest you were. Only you got consensus"

"I am honored, but I am not sure if I can accept"

The president spoke up.

"We are told that observer members basically just sit in the council chamber to learn how diplomacy works in the galaxy. Your main jobs will be to learn and to negotiate trading deals, but presently, we don't even know how trade works, what we can trade, or what the rules are. Everything is on the table. It will require patience and tact, and that's something we all know you have"

"Thank you for the vote of confidence sir"

He chuckled. "You will soon find out that it's not just confidence. Just something I need to make clear. They are sending a shuttle. It will arrive in Washington apparently in 19 hours"

"From Jupiter, sir?"

"Yes, they have much more powerful engines, and your first job will be to secure obtaining the rights to their technology, either individual engines we can reverse engineer or, even better, technical manuals on how to build them. We can't rely on others for transportation"

Selena replies. "All while not revealing ours, or our own limitations. I get that, sir."

The director of national security speaks up again. "We need to judge their actual technical level. They have faster in-system ships than we do. They have faster-than-light travel and faster-than-light communication. But technology isn't linear. We need to know what we do better than they do so we have a chance at interstellar diplomacy"

"How long will I be gone, sir?"

The director looked at the president, who nodded.

"It is our understanding that ambassador to the galactic council is considered a lifelong job. It's a one-way trip. In the documents we got, it's seen as a sort of symbol of devotion"

Selena swallowed hard. "I understand, sir. So I will never see the Earth again?"

"It's why we chose to offer the position to a retired diplomat without direct family"

Selena nodded. That's what made her attractive as a candidate.

"And my aides, sir?"

"Oh, they can come and go as they please, but it might be a while until we get some form of transportation set up"

"We'll be able to communicate, sir?"

"We got some documentation. It's an audio protocol, but we've already brought back old modems from the 80s, which will enable a slow but encrypted communication channel back up. Audio and text, but with file transfer capabilities. We have secured laptops, and we got electrical supply specs and are making power converters. They apparently use DC voltage, so it's not too challenging to adapt"

"What about food, sir?"

"That's still being discussed. They have experts in adapting food to specific biology. We are sending you boxes of emergency rations, but also seeds and sample food. And vitamins in case of problems. Apparently, it only takes a few weeks to adapt their food supply, so you will have about a year of rations"

But a person spoke up. "9 months, Sir"

"Right, you will be 4, not 3. There is limited space on the shuttle," says the national security director.

"How will I communicate with them, sir? It's not like aliens speak English or Spanish?"

"They have a standard diplomatic language you will need to learn; it's rather basic. We already began working on a dictionary, but the species that contacted us, they learned English and a few other languages. They apparently get a bonus for recruiting other races, and it's how they make a living."

Selena nodded. Why not?

She was told that other questions will be answered by specialists and that she will be briefed by other people.

The president officially thanked her, and she was quickly ushered out of the White House and sent to an office building nearby.

Marine guards blocked the entrance, but they just stood aside when they saw her and her guide, who left her in the lobby.

"Just go to the elevator, go up to the third floor, and staff will take care of you. You have your sleeping quarters for tonight in here, and the shuttle will land on the roof of this building. Godspeed, Ma'am. Humanity's future rests on your shoulders"

Selena almost fainted in the elevator, alone, realizing how serious this responsibility was. She will make first contact with most of these other races; she will be the face of her planet.

When the door opened, she found dozens of people buzzing around like bees in a beehive.

A marine, by the door, yelled. "Attention! Ambassador on deck"

Everyone stopped and looked at her. Selena just said. "As you were", and most resumed what they were doing, except for two who came to her.

"Ms Vasquez, I am Linda Gladwell. I will be your liaison officer to Earth while you are away. This is Patrick Joshson, who will be your mission officer."

Selena already met Patrick in one of her last assignment.

"I remember you, Patrick, as an intern"

"It's why I volunteered, ma'am. You were always kind to me. "

Selena nodded and addressed Linda. "So, what should I know that I don't yet"

"You have a lot on your plate. I was told that three aides from other countries are en route, so for now, it's mainly getting you access to all the documents they sent, knowing the regulations so you don't offend them with a breach of their protocol"

"Like that?"

"Like touching them. We shake hands, but apparently, putting your hand on any other being of another race is an act of war"

"I'll have to keep that in mind!"

"You have a lot to read, but we can give you a summary first in the conference room."

"Including a language to learn, apparently"

"It's super easy. No conjugation, no weird grammar. We are already working on an instant translation module. Oh, and don't correct the Siluvors on their grammar. They think they know how to speak English better than they do"

"The Siluvors?"

"Our sponsors. The shuttle is manned by a Siluvor who doesn't speak English at all, but you will have radio contact with contact specialist Torg."

"Nobody said anything about waste management"

"Right, they have something somewhat similar to our toilets. They have a sort of cloaca, not a dual system, and it's actually pretty acidic apparently, so they use a sort of bidet with alkaline water to rinse it off. We think it's safe for our biology, but they will adapt at the galactic council. We packed toilet paper; just don't use the one in a red box. It's the sample for the council to make you some"

"Ok, this will need a lot of getting used to"

"Right, speaking of which, would you prefer to undress now or when just about to board the shuttle? We weren't quite sure what you would favor, being a naturist, you know?"

"Pardon me?"

"No one told you?"

"Told me what?"

"Oh. In the documents are photo archives of other species and pictures of galactic council meetings. Photo ops of peace accords and trade deals. No one wears any form of clothing at all"

Selena smiled. They wanted to hide everything we did differently. So this is why they picked her. The real reason for her appointment.

Sure, she was a respected retired diplomat with no family. But she was a naturist, and that's what sealed the deal.

"For respect for you, I will wait until it's time to board. I am still on Earth at this time"

Both nodded, and Selena got to work. Smiling.