Aqua Vitae

Jenes Inarya wants to experience everything. And quite frankly, she doesn't think she can live life to the fullest in the time she's been allotted. A search through lore and legend from the Eight Immortals of Chinese myth to the Garden of Eden finally leads her to what she seeks--across the galaxy, to the planet of Arak, which possesses an immortal ecosystem. By eating food prepared from the immortal plants of Arak, Jenes can alter her metabolism and gain eternal life. In her case, it's a cup of palm wine. A real aqua vitae. But the prospect of eternal life quickly causes more problems than it solves. Jenes Inarya meets fellow passenger and "perfect Yesghian gentleman" Aljander Courtrym, and falls in love with him over their first date--until thoughts of his mortality cause her to drive him away. Similar rifts form between Jenes and her friends and traveling companions. Forsaken by them, haunted by the prospect of death for everyone she knows, lacking direction, and apparently pursued by the Arakians who made her immortal, Jenes must come to terms with her choice and learn how to live when she will live forever.