Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

“Hoxim,” Zistalmu supplied the name. “At least, that’s what Councilor Lakuviv called it at his interrogation. All we know is that there was supposedly a rich nyix mine there and that he sent Xodlak family ships to go seize it. All for the greater good of the Ascendancy, of course. I’m told he repeated that defense at least four times.”

“Of course.”

“What happened after they arrived there is … let’s just say it’s muddled.”

“But we know that Thrawn was somehow involved.”

“Isn’t he always?” Zistalmu asked sourly. “We also know that the mine was obliterated, apparently having been landed on by a crashing freighter.”

“Convenient,” Thurfian muttered.

“Very,” Zistalmu agreed. “I presume Thrawn isn’t talking?”

“Not to anyone we have connections with,” Thurfian said. “And that includes Supreme General Ba’kif’s office.”

“Ditto for us,” Zistalmu said. “I take it you hadn’t heard any of the details?”

Thurfian shook his head. “None of our allies was involved, and everyone’s being very quiet.”

“Yes, you’d think they all had something to hide,” Zistalmu said. “I’d hoped we might be able to pry some more information from Senior Captain Ziinda, but she’s been as closemouthed as everyone else.”

“Ziinda?”

“Senior Captain Irizi’in’daro,” Zistalmu said. “Formerly Xodlak’in’daro. Her rematching to the Irizi was formalized three days ago.”

“Ah,” Thurfian said, nodding. He remembered reading that a Senior Captain Lakinda had been in command of the Xodlak force at Hoxim, but hadn’t realized the Irizi had snatched her away from that family. “You have an interesting approach to intel gathering.”

“Thank you,” Zistalmu said. “Freshly minted member of one of the Nine, a very family-oriented woman, proud and exhilarated and anxious to please. It was worth a shot.”

“But didn’t work?”

“As I said, closemouthed.” Zistalmu shrugged again. “Still, even without that she’s an excellent officer. Well worth taking into the family.”

“So her record would indicate,” Thurfian agreed. Though taking someone from one of your allies, he knew, could sometimes be tricky. If the Xodlak Patriarch decided he was insulted by Ziinda’s rematching, it could cool relations between them and the Irizi.

On the other hand, given the undefined but clearly unpleasant aftermath the Xodlak currently found themselves in, he doubted that complaints about losing even a senior Expansionary Defense Fleet officer would be high on the Xodlak priority list.

“So mostly all I know is the official story,” Zistalmu continued. “Three of the Forty sent family ships out to this Hoxim system and ended up fighting a group of alien gunboats that had somehow caught the Springhawk in an ambush.”

“Plus the fact that a nyix mine was involved.”

“That part, I think, everyone knows,” Zistalmu said sourly. “It’s about the only excuse for their behavior that all three families can point to.”

“For whatever it’s worth,” Thurfian said. “You believe that bit about an ambush?”

Zistalmu snorted. “Of course not. Thrawn caught in a trap? Not a chance.”

“So in other words, Thrawn has again skated to the edge and managed to hold his balance,” Thurfian said. “Only this time, it wasn’t just military targets that were involved. This time, he dragged in the Forty, with every bit of the messiness you’d expect. And for once came out of it with nothing to show.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” Zistalmu said darkly. “There are rumors that the Springhawk stopped by Sposia on its way to Csilla.”

Thurfian felt his eyes narrow. “The UAG?”

“So says the rumor,” Zistalmu said. “Whether or not it’s true …” He shrugged again.

Thurfian scowled down at his questis. The Universal Analysis Group on Sposia was the clearinghouse where all alien artifacts and technology collected by the Ascendancy were taken to be studied. Most of the historical pieces eventually went to museums or art collections, while most of the technological items proved too damaged or fragmentary to be of any use and were either cataloged into storage chambers or simply destroyed.

But every so often a piece of technology was found that was complete enough to be studied. Those rare items were taken to a special underground complex where teams of scientists and techs worked painstakingly to coax out their secrets.

And occasionally—very occasionally—one of those was deemed of military value and moved to Vault Four.

The gravity-well generator Thrawn had stolen from the Vaagari pirates was somewhere in that work complex. So was the immensely powerful Republic shield generator he’d taken from the Separatist base at the edge of Lesser Space and used against General Yiv.