Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil
- Автор: Зан Тимоти
- Год: 2021
- Язык: английский
- Год: Random House
- ISBN: 9781473596580
- Жанр: Боевая фантастика
Электронная книга - «Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil». Краткое содержание книги:
Finally, their mother had paused the meeting she’d been moderating and taken a personal hand, corralling her rambunctious offspring and finally bringing the chaotic frenzy to a halt, or at least back down to a low simmer. One of the most striking parts of Thurfian’s memory was the stressed look on her face as she herded them to the dining nook and ordered a snack that would hopefully keep them occupied long enough for her to finish her meeting.
Frenzied activity. Few if any rules. Children who didn’t want to stop doing something just because someone said so. His mother’s harried expression.
Now, as Patriarch all these years later, he finally knew exactly how she’d felt.
Especially right now.
“I appreciate you taking the time to talk with me, Your Venerante,” Patriel Thistrian of Avidich said. “I know you must be extremely busy, what with settling into your new position and all.”
“I’m always available for consultation with my Patriels,” Thurfian said, suppressing a grimace. Thistrian had been the Mitth Speaker when Thurfian was first made an Aristocra and brought into the Syndicure, and while Thurfian had learned a lot from him he’d never forgotten how garrulous the old man could get when the mood struck him. Hopefully, today wouldn’t be one of those days. “What’s this matter of possible importance I’m told you wish to discuss?”
“I’m actually a bit unclear on that,” Thistrian confessed. “I’ve just had a conversation with an alien who tells me there’s some kind of new alliance brewing between the Dasklo, Xodlak, Erighal, and Pommrio. He included part of a vid—”
“Hold it,” Thurfian interrupted. “What alien? When?”
“His name is Jixtus, and it was about an hour ago that we spoke,” Thistrian said. “He’s traveling with a group of aliens called the Kiljis—”
“Hold on,” Thurfian said, punching up the latest Defense Force data feed. Hadn’t there just been something about an alien warship showing up unannounced over Avidich?
Yes—there it was. “Are you talking about the battle cruiser that arrived two hours ago?”
“Yes, that’s the one,” Thistrian confirmed. “Not all that impressive, actually, as warships go. It would probably do well enough against pirates, but it would be no match for Avidich System Patrol. Actually, our family frigate and missile boats could probably take it. I had the frigate moved into combat position, but really there doesn’t seem to be a need—”
“Is he still there?”
“Oh, yes,” Thistrian said, as if that should be obvious. “But really, Your Venerante, you don’t need to worry. Patrol Command says the missile tubes and lasers have all been peace-sealed, so there’s really no danger. And as I said, the patrol ships and our frigate are in position.”
“Very well,” Thurfian said. The presence of an alien warship in Chiss space, peace-sealed or not, was definitely cause for concern. But if Patrol Command said it was safe, it probably was. “So why exactly are you calling me?”
“I was getting to that,” Thistrian said. “As I was saying, he showed me part of a vid that seems to show a group of Erighal and Xodlak ships play-attacking an armed freighter while a Dasklo ship looks on.”
Thurfian frowned. The Erighal part he could understand—they were already longtime Dasklo allies. But the Xodlak? That was an odd combination. “For what purpose?”
“As I said, the Erighal and Xodlak seemed to be practicing an attack, with the Dasklo either supervising or just there to watch.”
“Yes, I know you just said that,” Thurfian said, his mother’s stressed expression once again flashing to mind. “I meant what was Jixtus’s reason for showing it to you?”
“I believe he wants to sell us additional information,” Thistrian said. “The location of the incident, confirmation of the participants, perhaps more details on the purpose of the test. That sort of thing.”
“Very helpful of him,” Thurfian said. “Do you have a copy of that vid?”
“Yes, of course,” Thistrian said. “Though the part he gave me is only about five seconds long. Here, I’ll show it to you.”
His image disappeared from the display, replaced by a group of five blurry ships set against a starry background. Three of the ships were trading low-level laser shots with a freighter-sized vessel, while the fifth ship floated a little way off. As Thistrian had said, the vid only lasted a few seconds. “And Jixtus says the attackers are Erighal and Xodlak ships?” he asked.
“Oh, no, Jixtus didn’t say anything about their identities,” Thistrian said, his image replacing the starscape. “I had my people run it through an enhancer, then spoke to my military advisers—”
“You have an enhanced version?” Thurfian demanded. “Why didn’t you send that instead?”
“I assumed you’d first want to see the product Jixtus wants to sell us,” Thistrian said, a little stiffly. “Here’s our version.”
Once again, his face was replaced by a vid. But where the ship images had previously been blurry, now they were sharp and clear. The three attackers were a cruiser and two patrol craft, the cruiser and one patrol ship bearing Xodlak insignia, the other patrol ship marked as Erighal. The freighter at the center of the exercise didn’t seem to have any markings.
And the larger ship standing off the action—a frigate, Thistrian’s experts identified it—did indeed carry the Dasklo family crest.
“So the Dasklo are watching some Erighal and Xodlak run a play battle,” Thurfian said. “And this Jixtus wants us to pay him for this meager meal of information?”
“Your Venerante, I’m not sure you understand,” Thistrian said. “If this is the prelude to the Dasklo adding the Xodlak and possibly the Pommrio to their list of allies, we could be facing a serious challenge.”
“I suppose that’s possible,” Thurfian said. “I’ll make some inquiries.”
“He’s also offering military assistance, should we desire it,” Thistrian said. “He says he has other warships at his disposal that could reach the Ascendancy with just a few days’ warning.”
Thurfian felt his eyes narrow. Offering information was one thing. Offering one of the Nine a group of alien mercenaries was not just outrageous but could easily be construed as a deadly insult. Not to mention that even a casual reading of the Ascendancy’s ancient history showed how destructive and ultimately futile foreign alliances could be. “I would strongly suggest he keep his warships out of Chiss space,” he growled. “You can tell him that. You can also tell him that the Mitth are declining his offer, and that he had best be on his way.”
“Your Venerante, if I may suggest—”
“Thank you for bringing this to my attention,” Thurfian said, reaching for the comm control. “Farewell, Patriel.” Before Thistrian could protest further, he cut the link.
For a moment he gazed at the blank screen, thinking it through. The offer of military aid he could dismiss without a second thought. But what about this supposed Dasklo-Xodlak alliance? Was such a thing even possible?
It seemed unlikely. The Xodlak were firmly in the Irizi orbit, unlikely to leave that comfortable position without a severe and visible push. As for the Dasklo, for the past thirty years their full attention had been on their private little power struggle against the Clarr. During that time they hadn’t paid much attention to the rest of Syndicure politics, and Thurfian didn’t expect that to change anytime soon.