Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

“You can’t do this to her, Magys,” Thalias said. “You owe us, remember? We saved your life and freed your planet from its conquerors.”

“Triumphs that will turn to dust if all is ultimately lost,” Che’ri countered. “Only if we can see the path can any remnant be saved.”

Samakro looked down again at Thalias, his stomach tightening. How much of Thrawn’s plan had the Magys already seen? Any of it? All of it? Was she even now glimpsing the scene of mass destruction Samakro knew was coming?

“All right,” Thalias said suddenly. Her face was pale, but her voice was firm. “We’ll see the path together. But it won’t be you and Che’ri. You’ll take me instead.”

“You cannot see the path,” Che’ri scoffed.

“No, actually, I can,” Thalias said. “I told you once before that I also had Third Sight.”

“You had it once,” Che’ri said. “But you long ago lost it.”

“Not all of it,” Thalias said doggedly. “I felt the presence of those in the Beyond as we approached the system. I knew of the existence of the Guardian before Che’ri told me of him.” She looked up at Samakro. “And I know the Guardian would be displeased with you if you tore the life from a young girl.”

For a moment Che’ri didn’t answer. “Your Third Sight is gone,” she said.

“It’s not gone, merely dormant,” Thalias said. “You and those in the Beyond will just have to push a little harder to get it to work.”

“Thalias, you can’t do this,” Samakro murmured. “You can’t let her take you.”

“If I don’t, she’ll take Che’ri,” Thalias said. “She already has her. This is the only way to persuade her to let go.”

“But she’s right,” Samakro said. “Your Third Sight is long gone. It’ll be like running a fire hose through you to get this to work.”

“I don’t care,” Thalias said.

“Maybe I do.”

“Well, you shouldn’t,” Thalias shot back. “You and the Springhawk can’t do without Che’ri. You can do without me.”

“No,” Samakro said firmly. “I’m not sacrificing your future, either.”

Thalias shook her head. “I don’t have a future anymore, Mid Captain,” she said quietly. “I pulled a charric on Patriarch Thurfian.”

Samakro felt his eyes widen. “You what?”

“I had to,” Thalias said. “He let me leave Csilla, but I know he won’t forget.” She shifted her eyes again to Che’ri’s face. “Argument over. Magys, I’m ready. Let her go and take me.”

Samakro looked into Thalias’s eyes … and with that, he finally knew the truth.

She was no spy, no matter what Thurfian had forced her to say. Her loyalty was to Thrawn, to Che’ri, and to the Springhawk. She would die before she would betray any of them.

Which left him only one option.

“Just a minute, Magys,” he called. “There’s one more point you need to consider.”

“What point is that?” Che’ri asked.

“You speak about the future,” Samakro said. “The question you need to ask is whether or not you yourself have one.”

“You speak a riddle.”

“Then let me make it clear,” Samakro said. “Mid Commander Dalvu, are we within view of the Sunrise nyix mine area?”

“Yes, Mid Captain.”

“Good,” Samakro said. “Senior Commander Afpriuh, prepare a spread of laserfire for that region.”

“Mid Captain, what are you doing?” Thalias asked, her eyes going wide.

“And prepare two breacher missiles as follow-up,” Samakro added. “Are you listening, Magys?”

“I am,” Che’ri said.

“Here are your choices,” Samakro said. “You release Che’ri—right now—and you leave her and Thalias strictly and completely alone. Otherwise, in sixty seconds you and every one of the people within ten kilometers of you dies.”

The bridge, Samakro noted, had taken on a brittle silence. “Magys, did you hear me?”

“I heard,” Che’ri said uncertainly. “You would never do such a thing. Your commander would never do such a thing.”

“Senior Captain Thrawn isn’t here. I am.”

“He cares about non-Chiss lives.”

“Yes, he does,” Samakro agreed. “You threaten his people, and see how fast that changes. Forty-five seconds.”

“Mid Captain, you can’t do this,” Thalias pleaded.

“I can, and I will,” Samakro said coldly. “She’s threatened you and she’s attacked Che’ri. As far as I’m concerned, that’s an automatic death sentence. Thirty-five seconds.”

“Without me, you will die,” Che’ri said, a strange sense of pleading in her voice. “Without seeing the path of battle, we will all die.”

“You underestimate Senior Captain Thrawn,” Samakro said. “He understands his enemies. He knows their patterns and their weaknesses, and what it’ll take to defeat them. In fact, I’d wager he sees a battle’s future even more clearly than you do. Twenty seconds.”