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“Nothing is more important than you, Irene.” Rusp’s voice was shockingly soft. “You should go home to your mother and father.”
Jemi turned away, his face working.
Irene rubbed the tears streaming down her cheeks. She’d been afraid of this. She’d fought it, but she’d welcomed it too. How could she not fall in love with them when they’d shared so much? They’d dared all they had, including their freedom, to keep her safe from their own government.
“There have to be singers on Kalquor who can do what I do,” Irene said, getting herself under control. “You can’t give up on what we’ve built because I can’t continue.”
“No one as good as you.” Sherv was adamant.
“Please. I want you to have this. Think of it as my gift to you, asking you to achieve what you were meant to.” She gripped his face between her hands. “I want this for you.”
His com went off. Irene released him so he could answer it. His frown told her he didn’t recognize the frequency. He answered it.
“Yes?” Sherv said.
Parlek’s deep voice spoke. “Dramok Sherv, right?”
A thrill went through him in spite of the heaviness in his gut after being reminded Irene wouldn’t be staying. “Hello, Dramok Parlek.”
“Look, I realize I’ve given you next to no time to consider my offer, but I can’t calm down since seeing your band perform. I’ve been pacing my rooms nonstop, going through my contacts to see who to approach first, composing my messages to those contacts…Sherv, your band could be huge. I feel it in my gut.”
“You saw us with Irene.” His gaze went to her, and his heart lurched. She watched him, her curiosity frank. She couldn’t understand him since he spoke Kalquorian.
How could they do this without her? But she insisted they do so. “She won’t be staying on. You no doubt figured out she’s an Earther.”
“Yeah, but Kalquor is accepting Earthers going to the empire, no problem—”
“Big problem. We rescued her from a destroyer captain attempting to kidnap her to the empire against her will. We’re trying to get her home to her family. She doesn’t wish to go to Kalquor, and we won’t force her.”
“Then it is a mass kidnapping. I wondered. Damn. What is the empire coming to?”
“The government’s lost its mind. Anyway, we’ll have to hire a new singer.”
“Shit. That’s a major loss. She’s fucking amazing, Sherv. The whole sound is great, don’t get me wrong. You guys kick ass, but she’s such an integral piece of it.”
“I know. I guess you’ll probably drop the offer, but we could still record a demo for you.” He glanced at Rusp, then Jemi to confirm…Jemi in particular, who’d often spoken of Dramok Parlek as if he was no better than a Tragoom. The Imdiko rolled his eyes, but he nodded. “If you convince a company to cut us a deal, we’ll sign with you and find a singer.”
Ancestors, the words tasted of bile in his mouth. Sure, if they had a recording contract, they could no doubt find someone eager to fill the spot…but there would never be another Irene.
There was a long silence as Parlek weighed the offer. At last, he spoke. “I really wish she could be an ingredient of the package. It’s killing me she won’t be, but I understand her position. You truly do have a revolutionary sound, even if she isn’t part of it, so yeah, I’m your guy. Let’s do this.”
One of the moments Sherv had hoped for during years of touring clubs…attracting a manager who could push the band to the next level…had arrived. Gazing at Irene, already feeling her loss, he found little joy in it.
* * * *
The morning after they’d debuted rimnastin, Rusp’s com buzzed. His brow rose as he identified the frequency. Ezrob almost never contacted him, so it couldn’t be good news.
When is it ever good to talk to him?
Fortunately, they’d all wakened several minutes before. Everyone besides himself was moving rather slowly. In fact, Irene, Sherv, and Jemi were still lounging on the sleeping mat.
He sat on its edge and braced himself for the coming conversation. “Hello, my father.”
Jemi groaned and whispered to Irene. Sherv shot him a sympathetic look.
“Hello, Rusp. I just heard from a friend of yours. Captain Nil.”
“Oh?” Interesting. Rusp waved the others over and attached his com to his handheld, activating a translation program so Irene could read a transcript of the conversation in real time. A holographic screen appeared.
