Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

Thrass felt his throat tighten. So that was why he and Thrawn were here. The Obbic, the Seventh Ruling Family, were recent and slightly wobbly allies of the Mitth. If someone was hoping to use this incident to tarnish their name and standing, it would make sense for Lamiov to want one of their allies as part of the investigation. “Do we know if any Obbic were actually involved?” he asked.

Lamiov gave a small snort. “I hardly think an Obbic pirate squad would use one of their own ships.”

“Unless they assumed everyone would think that way,” Thrass pointed out.

“Are there recordings of the incident?” Thrawn spoke up, pulling out his questis.

“Yes, three of them,” Lamiov said, picking up his own questis and tapping to send across the data. “I’m afraid none of them are very clear.”

“Understandable,” Thrawn said. “If no one was close enough to intervene, no one would be close enough to make good recordings, either.”

“Who’s in charge of orbital security at Sposia?” Thrass asked, pulling out his questis and keying for his own copy of the recordings.

“Excellent question,” Lamiov said. “Lappincyk?”

“It’s a combined force including elements of the Kynkru, Obbic, Clarr, and Csap,” Lappincyk said. “All four families have strongholds here, which is why the security duties are shared.”

Thrass nodded, gazing at his questis with a sinking heart as the hijacking unfolded. The pirates’ plan was straightforward enough: Their Obbic transport eased up toward the Stybla cargo ship, feigning maneuvering thruster problems, then suddenly slammed alongside and locked the two ships together. For three and a half minutes they remained that way, their mutual orbit continuing to sink them slowly toward the planet below, before the Stybla’s drive suddenly came to full power and drove the still-linked ships toward deep space. Two minutes after that, as the planet’s patrol ships scrambled in a vain attempt to intervene, the hijackers and the hijacked vanished together into hyperspace.

He went through the attack three times, once from each of the recordings’ viewpoints and angles. The multiple viewings didn’t make the mess any easier to watch.

“These patrol ships are designed for two crew members,” Thrawn said. “Yet I see only a single pilot listed on each.”

“That’s correct,” Lappincyk said. “They’ve ordered an upgrade to all their ships, and System Patrol decided the most efficient course of action would be to pull half the pilots off active duty and begin their retraining.”

“Which family arranges the patrol schedule?”

“Again, a joint command group including each of the four families.”

“We already looked at that, Mid Commander,” Lamiov added. “We can find no evidence that the schedulers conspired to maneuver the security forces far enough away that they couldn’t assist the cargo ship in time.”

“I see,” Thrawn said. “In that case, I believe the pirates were of the Clarr.”

Thrass looked up at him in amazement. “The Clarr? Why would they want a Stybla cargo ship?”

“I didn’t suggest it was an upper-level Clarr operation,” Thrawn said. “I merely suggested the pirates were from that family.”

“Why do you think so?” Lamiov asked.

Thrawn gestured to his questis. “Look at the recordings again. The indicators are there.”

“There’s no time for a game of Riddle Me,” Lappincyk said, an edge of impatience in his voice. “Just tell us.”

Thrass looked at Thrawn, and it seemed to him that a flicker of resignation crossed his face. “There are three families represented in these recordings,” he said. He tapped the one made by the Clarr pilot. “But only this pilot is already recording before the attack begins.”

Thrass frowned at his questis. Thrawn was right. “Because she knew it was about to happen.”

“Yes, I see,” Lamiov commented, his voice cold. “Sloppy.”

“Pirates and hijackers are not known for their overall cleverness,” Thrass pointed out, sifting through the possibilities. Criminal gangs typically were organized within a single family, with very few of them crossing family lines. If a Clarr pilot was in on it, as Thrawn had already deduced, presumably the rest of the hijackers were Clarr as well. “You need to detain that pilot immediately, Your Venerante,” he said. “You should also contact someone on Rhigar. Patriarch Clarr’ivl’exow needs to know what’s happened.”

“The pilot is already isolated in a debriefing room,” Lappincyk said, working his questis. “We’ll make sure she doesn’t leave.” He frowned thoughtfully. “As to Patriarch Rivlex, he may already know. We’re getting reports that a number of high-level communications have gone back and forth from his office in the five hours since this happened.”

“He knows about the theft and is trying to track down the hijackers,” Lamiov said grimly. “So he knows.”

Thrass shot a look at Thrawn, saw his same surprise reflected in the other’s face. Had Lamiov just repeated himself?

“So it would seem, Your Venerante,” Lappincyk said. “But Syndic Thrass is correct. You need to discuss this matter with him at once.”