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:
“Enlightenment is incompatible with delay,” Nakirre warned. “And you spoke of conquest, not destruction. If all are destroyed, who then shall we guide to peace and order?”
“A remnant shall certainly survive,” Jixtus promised. “The common folk, those who will accept Kilji rule without question or resistance, will be yours to enlighten. But to achieve that, the leaders and commanders must fall.”
“I agree,” Nakirre said. “So let us proceed to their world and begin that process.”
“They must fall on the schedule the Grysks have constructed,” Jixtus said. “If we deviate from that time line, all will be lost. But.” He lifted a finger. “That doesn’t mean you have to wait to meet them. In fact, I’ve always intended that you and the Whetstone would carry me on my first visit to their worlds and their leaders.”
“Very well,” Nakirre said, gazing at the display. The Springhawk had turned away from the planet now and was heading back out of the gravity well toward deep space. “I will follow your guidelines. For now. But be warned: If I feel you’re proceeding too slowly, I’ll take that time line into my own hands.”
“Understood,” Jixtus said. “Hold fast to my guidance, and the Chiss will be yours. In good time.”
“In swift time,” Nakirre corrected. “And when you destroy their leaders, you will leave me this one, this Thrawn.” His skin stretched in a grim smile. “I am anxious for him to face true enlightenment.”
The Springhawk was back in hyperspace, and the tension of that brief encounter was finally starting to leave Thalias’s shoulders when Samakro finished his search of the ship’s archives. “There’s nothing here about a species or government called the Kiljis, Senior Captain,” he reported. “Also no references to a Generalirius Nakirre.”
“Understandable,” Thrawn said. “But we have heard that title before.”
Thalias stole a look over her shoulder. Samakro’s face, she noted, had that telltale hint of someone chewing on something sour. “Yes, sir,” he confirmed. “The Battle Dreadnought that attacked the Vigilant and Grayshrike at Sunrise mentioned it.”
“Suggesting they and Generalirius Nakirre may be in some way connected,” Thrawn said.
“Yes, sir,” Samakro said again, a hint of reluctance joining the hint of sourness.
Small wonder. The first officer had argued with Thrawn—respectfully and quietly, of course, but still argued—about Thrawn’s plan to swing by Zyzek before returning to the Ascendancy. Samakro had suggested it would be both dangerous and pointless, while Thrawn had been convinced the side trip would be worthwhile. Once again, Thrawn had been proven right.
Though whether anything he’d learned would ultimately prove useful, Thalias couldn’t guess.
“We also know that the generalirius wasn’t alone just now,” Samakro continued. “There were four instances when we could hear a second voice behind the first—very faint, but definitely not the same person. Probably not even the same species.”
“I agree,” Thrawn said. “Have the analysts been able to draw anything from those interruptions?”
“Not yet,” Samakro said. “The voice was quiet, and Nakirre’s transmission wasn’t as clear as we might have hoped. We’ve been able to identify a few of the words, but a full analysis may have to wait until we can hand it over to the experts on Naporar.”
“Have the analysts continue their work,” Thrawn said. “Not just the words, but also as much of the vocal profile as they can obtain.”
“Yes, sir,” Samakro said.
Thalias glanced back again. Samakro had moved off and was logging the order into his questis. Thrawn, for his part, was gazing thoughtfully across the bridge, his eyes slightly unfocused, a sign Thalias had learned to recognize as deep thought.
She turned back forward, looking down at Che’ri. The girl’s eyes were likewise unfocused, though in her case it was because she was totally immersed in Third Sight as she guided the Springhawk toward home.
“Caregiver.”
Thalias twitched and spun around, to find Thrawn standing right behind her. “You shouldn’t sneak up on people that way, Senior Captain,” she said reproachfully.
“My apologies,” Thrawn said, sounding more amused than actually sorry. “You need to learn how to think and ponder without sacrificing the awareness of your surroundings.” He nodded toward Che’ri. “How is she?”
“She’s fine,” Thalias said, looking down at the girl. “She’ll need a rest break in about forty minutes, but she got plenty of sleep last night and seems to be doing fine.”
“That’s not what I meant,” Thrawn said, lowering his voice. “I’m talking about her and the Magys.”
Thalias felt her throat tighten. She’d hoped she’d been the only one who’d seen that. “It may have just been coincidence.”
“Do you believe that?”
Thalias sighed. The Magys, the leader of a group of alien refugees, had been woken from her forced hibernation in order to look at a sample of jewelry that was being used by a group called the Agbui against a Xodlak family Councilor on Celwis. Once the Magys had identified the brooch, Thrawn had asked for her to go back into hibernation until she could be returned to her people, currently waiting for her on the Paccian homeworld of Rapacc.
Not surprisingly, knowing now that her world was under outside threat, the Magys had resisted the idea of going back to sleep. Thrawn’s warning—that she needed to be kept hidden lest she be spotted by an officer who came to the sky-walker suite on other business—had made no impact on her whatsoever. She’d been so adamant, in fact, that Thalias had thought for a minute that Thrawn and Samakro would have to physically force her back into the hibernation chamber.
And then, all at once, she’d abandoned the fight and meekly accepted Thrawn’s order.
But before she settled back into the chamber, her eyes had flicked in the direction of Che’ri’s sleeping room.
Back on Rapacc, at the first meeting between Thrawn and the refugees, the Magys had somehow recognized that Thalias had once been a sky-walker, able to use Third Sight to navigate through hyperspace. Had she also sensed Che’ri’s presence and her much more powerful connection with whatever it was that Third Sight allowed her to access?
“No, I don’t really believe it,” she conceded. “But I still hope it was. I mean, there were two bulkheads and the whole dayroom between her and Che’ri. How could she have known through all of that?”
“The Magys claims her people join with the Beyond after death,” Thrawn reminded her. “The fact that she recognized you’d once been a sky-walker suggests there’s something of that connection present during life, as well.”
“But on Rapacc she was at least looking at me,” Thalias said. “If she’d seen Che’ri, I might understand it. But she never did.”
Thrawn shifted his gaze to the viewport and the hyperspace swirl outside. “If the Beyond is the same Force that General Skywalker told me about, it appears to have many aspects and manifestations. It’s possible this is a new facet that the Magys hadn’t yet experienced.”
“I thought all her people were connected to the Beyond.”
“If all your species hummed a particular note, you’d become used to hearing it,” Thrawn said. “If you then met a species who didn’t hum at all, but then also found an individual who hummed a different note, that would be something both new and notable.”