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:
She took a deep breath. Samakro. She needed to talk to Mid Captain Samakro.
But not now. Not yet. She needed to carefully time that confrontation, to make sure it fell between the moment Thrawn left the Springhawk and the moment when he and Uingali planned to depart for Sunrise. The Springhawk had captured and carried a Nikardun blockade frigate once before—surely Samakro could do the same thing again. And once the smaller craft was secured, Thrawn would either listen to reason or be bodily hauled back to the Ascendancy.
Uingali wouldn’t like it. The Syndicure would be furious. But at least Thrawn would still be alive.
Turning, Thalias headed toward the food-prep area. Half an hour, Thrawn had said, before he left. Not enough time for a shower, but more than enough to brew herself a cup of strong caccoleaf. She would sit on the couch, get some stimulant into her, and be ready the moment Thrawn left the ship.
Only that wasn’t what happened.
Five hours later, she woke with a start from a horrible nightmare, her neck cricked from the odd angle her head had settled into against the back of the couch, the mug of cold caccoleaf sitting barely touched on the side table.
And the repeater displays below the snack bar showing that the Springhawk was already in hyperspace.
Cursing viciously, uselessly under her breath, she got her shoes on and raced to the bridge.
Samakro was seated in the command chair, gazing moodily at the hyperspace swirl rushing past outside the viewport. “Mid Captain,” Thalias breathed as she hurried to his side.
“There you are,” Samakro said, his voice as dour as his expression. “I expected you five hours ago.”
“We’re on our way back to the Ascendancy?” Thalias asked, just to be sure.
“Where else would we be going?” Samakro countered. “We’re under orders. As I’m sure Senior Captain Thrawn told you.”
Thalias swallowed back another useless curse. “So you just let him go?” she accused. “I thought you weren’t big on Expansionary Defense Fleet officers abandoning their posts.”
He looked sideways at her. “What makes you say that?”
“You weren’t happy with Senior Captain Lakinda leaving the Grayshrike for the Xodlak family emergency call.”
“No one who was at that meeting would have told you that.”
“I’m getting good at reading faces.” Thalias raised her eyebrows. “I also note you’re not denying it.”
With a snort, Samakro turned back to the viewport. “My commander gave me an order,” he said. “My duty is to obey that order.”
“Even if it costs that commander his career?” Thalias shot back. “Even if it costs him his life?”
“He’ll be all right,” Samakro said.
“You can’t possibly believe that,” Thalias bit out. “You’re the one who told me that the rest of the Nikardun were gathering their forces at Sunrise where they could launch new attacks.”
“I never said we knew that for a fact,” Samakro said, his voice sounding a little odd. “It was only a theory.”
“But Senior Captain Thrawn’s theories are usually right.”
“Usually, but not always,” Samakro said. “In this case … look. Uingali has a full commando squad aboard the Aelos. They wanted to be ready for an enemy ship that was careless enough to get within boarding range. Trust me, he knows what he’s doing.”
Thalias frowned. “I thought he needed Senior Captain Thrawn to lead the attack.”
“Is that what the senior captain told you?” Samakro gave a little snort. “Hardly. Uingali wants him aboard because if it goes badly a Chiss senior officer will have been captured or killed.”
Thalias stared at him, her stomach wrenching with sudden understanding. “They’re trying to force the Ascendancy to take military action.”
“Of course they are,” Samakro said, his lip twisting. “Don’t sound so outraged—it’s the exact same trick you and Senior Captain Thrawn used against General Yiv. I’m just a little surprised Uingali knew about it.”
“I figured that by now everybody knew we don’t attack unless attacked first,” Thalias said between clenched teeth. “So how do we get him out?”
Samakro grimaced. “We go back to the Ascendancy and report. If we’re lucky, this and the attacks over Sunrise will be enough to get the Syndicure off their collective rear end.”
“That’ll be way too late.”
“Maybe.” Samakro huffed out a sigh. “Probably,” he conceded. “But it’s all we’ve got.”
For a moment neither of them spoke. Thalias gazed out the viewport, watching as the Springhawk flew farther and farther from its captain. “Thank you for your honesty, Mid Captain,” she said.
“You’re welcome,” Samakro said. “I suggest you go back and get some more sleep. We’ll want you and Che’ri back on duty as soon as she’s ready. The faster we get to Csilla, the faster we can get something put together to go help Senior Captain Thrawn.”
“Yes,” Thalias murmured.
Samakro was right, of course, she knew as she returned to the sky-walker suite. Speed was going to be called for, and the faster the better. A crisis was upon them, and Thalias knew what she had to do.
She could only hope Che’ri would be willing to do the same.
CHAPTER NINE
Thurfian delivered his report to the Defense Hierarchy Council three hours after the Kilji warship left Avidich orbit and disappeared back into the vast reaches of interstellar space between the worlds of the Ascendancy. Within six hours the Dasklo, Xodlak, Erighal, and Pommrio families had all lodged protests with the Syndicure, accusing the Mitth of engaging in innuendo tactics, denouncing Thurfian’s report, and demanding he withdraw his accusations or else offer proof of his claims. The fact that Thurfian had made no claims of his own but had merely reported on someone else’s either passed them by or were deliberately ignored.
Usually, such political outrages quickly faded into the background as the various families sorted out their alliances and rivalries, strengthening, re-forming, or redefining as needed, until a new dispute arose to replace it. But in this case, the outrage melded with a rising level of dark anticipation. This latest scandal had come on the heels of the Hoxim incident, which was itself far from resolved. Moreover, it had originated from an alien warship, and as the Defense Force scrambled to provide additional protection for the major Chiss worlds the various families began making quiet preparations of their own.
Three days after making his report, Thurfian finally received the expected call from Syndic Prime Zistalmu.
“I don’t know what to say,” Zistalmu growled, his expression showing a mix of disbelief and suspicion. “An alien warship pops in over Avidich, talks to your Patriel, spins some wild claims about the Dasklo being up to no good, and then pops out again?”
“I know it sounds fantastic,” Thurfian conceded. “But that’s what happened.”
“He talked to your Patriel about a threat to the Clarr,” Zistalmu said. “Not the Clarr Patriel. Yours.”
“Maybe Jixtus wasn’t sure who he should talk to,” Thurfian said. “The Mitth have the largest presence of all the Nine and Forty on Avidich. Maybe he wanted to talk to the family more or less in charge of the planet.”