Aspie needs to check her email more often.
My submissions rep says they can colorize the public domain wikipedia version of the cover art I want to use, and doing that absolves the need for getting permission, yay!
And this is why I want to use that particular piece so badly, my explanation to her- "I've been very particular about using colors online as part of my 'aspie' thing with my Asperger's. I'm interested in particular in the way the blues seem to emerge as a color spectrum very lightly tinged with pinks and purples, with the darker blue in the background. Aspies are notorious for being drawn to colors and patterns, and my reason for using them this way in a nebula is to prime the reader for a visual when I get into later how our thinking develops over time. I have a degree and have discussed this diagnosis at length with other professionals, and I think this visual is a sophisticated representation of a mind blossoming or waking up, as it were."
I'm WORKING.