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Irene had won her clan. For the most part, it was everything she could wish for.
No sooner was Irene backstage when she searched for Ajef and Jemi’s mother Inomi. When she noted them in a crowd of others, she stopped in her tracks.
Inomi wasn’t holding Ajef. The chubby-cheeked infant was in the arms of a dark-haired human woman.
The space around Irene rocked, and her legs wobbled. She grabbed Rusp to keep from falling. Her Nobek gaped in nearly equal surprise at Irene’s mother Laura, her face streaming tears as she hurried forward. Irene’s father Kevin was right behind her, also crying and laughing at once, his arms held out to her.
“Mama? Daddy!” Irene screamed and ran to them.
Chapter Twenty
For several minutes, sobbing and laughter drowned the distant crowd noise as the family clung together. Ajef laughed too, delighted by the fuss and excitement.
“But how?” Irene asked when she remembered how to speak. “How did you get off Earth? How did you get here?”
“Fausto and Valentina.” Laura Jonson said. Clutching Ajef like treasure, she looked over her shoulder at a pair of humans Irene hadn’t noted in her shock at the appearance of her parents.
“Sweet prophets, I thought I’d never see you again.” Irene couldn’t manage a single step from her mother and father, but she reached toward the beaming couple.
They embraced her. “Never see Fausto, opera’s premier tenor, again? Ha!” Fausto slapped a hand to his chest. “Even here in the Kalquorian Empire, they must know of me and hear me sing.”
“He’s impossible as ever. Always so full of himself.” Valentina smirked. “Look at you,pequeña cantante. Big audience, hanging onto your every note!”
“It isn’t opera,” Fausto sighed. “Come with us to Galactic Council space and redeem yourself, woman. You were meant for better.”
“Galactic Council space? What’s going on?” Irene demanded. “And how did you get my parents here?”
“The bishop who always kept me from trouble was arrested,” Fausto said, his mood darkening. “Then, when James Donald was brought in for interrogation because of the women taken by Kalquor on his watch, he accused me of aiding the abductions.”
“We had remained on the Beonid station,” Valentina said, fanning herself and speaking breathlessly, as if reliving the terrifying situation. “Meanwhile, your parents had left Earth to visit you a week before that terrible Captain Nil and his brute Amig tried to carry us off.”
“We’d planned to surprise you,” Kevin told Irene. “We reached the station three days after you escaped.”
“We’d hoped you’d somehow return, so we remained there, cared for by Fausto and Valentina.” Laura added, hugging Ajef and kissing his forehead. “When Fausto learned the authorities were coming for him, we secretly booked passage on a freighter to Joshada.”
“We disguised ourselves using the opera’s costumes and slipped away,” Valentina added.
“You’re Odeergin outfit was a godsend,” Fausto chuckled to Irene. “I’ve kept it. It truly clears a path.”
“You reached Joshada all right then,” Irene breathless at the twists and turns of her parents’ and friends’ adventures.
“Not immediately. Earther battlecruisers were everywhere in the wake of the abductions. The freighter was constantly delayed and boarded.” Fausto scowled at Irene’s clan, who’d ventured close to hear the story. “I don’t care how your government dresses it up. What Kalquor did was kidnapping, plain and simple.”
“Many agree, including us,” Sherv said ruefully.
“It put so many of us in danger. Eventually, we made it to Joshadan space…but were turned away by the Kalquorian fleet, which guards the planet.”
“Turned away?” Irene gaped.
“The freighter’s crew were known smugglers, and the Galactic Council had placed a ban on member planets doing business with them. We were forced to divert to Dantovon, where we were able to bribe authorities to land on the planet. We were stuck there, dodging Earther military, for nearly seven months.” Kevin shook his head and chuckled. “It was quite the adventure, I tell you.”
“I’m so sorry, Daddy. I wish I’d known.”
Her mother shifted Ajef and stroked Irene’s cheek. “What could you have done? From what I’ve heard, you had your own battles to fight.”
“I’ve been in the empire for over a year while you were running from Earth. We could have brought you to safety—”
“We’re safe now,” Laura soothed. “We found refuge in Galactic Council space.”
