Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

“Sunrise?” Thalias echoed, frowning. “You mean the planet?”

“Yes,” Che’ri murmured.

“That’s not possible,” Thalias said firmly. “You never saw any of that—”

She broke off, a sudden knot twisting into her stomach. No, Che’ri had never seen Sunrise’s destruction.

But the Magys had.

“It’s all right,” she said, forcing down the impulse to look over her shoulder in the direction of her own sleeping room and the hibernation chamber set against the wall. Were these images coming from the Magys? Was she invading or influencing Che’ri’s thoughts or dreams? Was she somehow implanting her own memories into the girl? “You can go back to sleep. I’ll stay with you awhile if you’d like.”

“No,” Che’ri said, the fading fear surging back again. “I mean, no, I don’t want to go to sleep. I’ll just … I’ll see Sunrise again. Can’t we just—can’t we keep going? To Rapacc, I mean? Can’t we just go?”

“It’s your sleep time, Che’ri,” Thalias reminded her. “You need to rest.”

“But I can’t sleep,” Che’ri said, some pleading in her voice. “I don’t want to sleep. Can’t we just go?”

“I don’t know,” Thalias said. “Let’s find out. Come on, get dressed—we’re going to the bridge.”

Mid Captain Samakro was on duty when Thalias and Che’ri arrived. “Caregiver; Sky-walker,” he said in greeting, frowning in turn at each of them. “What are you doing here?”

“Che’ri can’t sleep,” Thalias explained. “She was hoping she could go back on duty.”

“Sorry, but this is her sleep period,” Samakro said, looking closely at the girl. “We can’t do that.”

“I thought there were emergencies where the captain can run the ship’s sky-walker past the usual time limits,” Thalias said.

“Where the captain can decide that,” Samakro said. “There’s no provision for the sky-walker herself to do so.”

“Well, there should be,” Thalias said. “Can you call Senior Captain Thrawn and ask him?”

Samakro shook his head. “Senior Captain Thrawn’s off duty, the same as you are.”

“We need to talk to him.” Thalias glanced around, confirmed that no one else was close enough to overhear. “Tell him,” she added, lowering her voice to a whisper, “it concerns the Magys.”

Samakro’s eyes narrowed. He looked at Che’ri, back at Thalias. “Go back to your suite,” he said. “I’ll ask him to meet you there.”

Thalias and Che’ri were sitting on the couch together, the girl sipping at a box of warmed grillig juice, when Thrawn and Samakro arrived. “Caregiver,” the senior captain greeted Thalias gravely. “Sky-walker. Mid Captain Samakro tells me there’s a problem.”

“Yes,” Thalias said. She’d spent the last few minutes trying to organize her explanation into the most compact form possible. “Che’ri’s having nightmares of Sunrise, a place she’s never visited, remembering events she’s never seen.”

“I see,” Thrawn said. “What do you propose?”

Thalias drew back a little. She’d expected to have to go into a lot more detail before he even believed her, let alone started looking for a solution. “Che’ri doesn’t think she can sleep anymore, at least for now,” she said. “She’d like to go back to the bridge and continue our journey to Rapacc.”

“I see.” Thrawn turned his eyes onto Che’ri. “Do you concur, Sky-walker Che’ri?”

“Yes, sir,” Che’ri said in a small voice. “Every time I try to sleep—”

“It’s all right,” Thrawn said, holding out a calming hand. “You don’t have to explain further. Mid Captain, what’s the hyperdrive’s status?”

“The new coils have been installed and the diagnostics are nearly complete,” Samakro said. “Four more minutes, five at the most, and we’ll be able to leave.”

“Thank you,” Thrawn said. “Che’ri, one final time: Do you wish to return to duty?”

“Yes, Senior Captain,” Che’ri said.

“Caregiver?”

“I think it would be best, sir,” Thalias confirmed. “I’ll stay with her and keep watch as long as she’s there. If she seems to be tiring or losing concentration, I’ll bring her out.”

“Very well.” Thrawn turned to Samakro. “Alert the bridge, Mid Captain. We return to hyperspace in ten minutes.”