Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

“Then perhaps you should tell him,” Thrawn said.

“No,” Lamiov said firmly. “That information isn’t mine to share.”

“Can you tell us, then?” Thrawn persisted. “It would help if we knew exactly what we were trying to retrieve.”

Lamiov gave a little snort. “What part of not mine to share was unclear, Mid Commander?”

“Understood,” Thrawn said. “Perhaps you’ll change your mind after we deliver it to you.”

“After you deliver it?” Lamiov asked with a wan smile.

“Thrawn, the Clarr already said they won’t work with us,” Thrass reminded him.

“That’s why we’re going to find it ourselves,” Thrawn said calmly. “Can you tell us, Patriarch, where the Clarr patrol ship pilot sent her report after the hijacking?”

“Excuse me?” Lamiov said, frowning at Thrawn. “You’re going to find it?”

“Along with Senior Aide Lappincyk, of course,” Thrawn said. “I assume that’s your reason for sending him to prepare a patrol ship. I ask again, Patriarch: Where did the Clarr pilot send her report?”

“How do you know what Senior Aide Lappincyk is doing?” Lamiov asked, still frowning.

Thrawn glanced at Thrass, the same hint of resignation on his face that Thrass had seen earlier in Lamiov’s office. “Aside from the few moments when he was greeting Syndic Thrass, Senior Aide Lappincyk has been at your side since I arrived,” he said. “We’ve watched him anticipate your orders and information requests. Clearly, he’s your closest confidant. Yet now, when you’re negotiating what may be a crucial agreement between us, he’s nowhere to be seen.”

“Yet I didn’t know myself until just now that you would offer your cooperation in this matter,” Lamiov pointed out.

“Of course you did,” Thrawn said. “That was your whole purpose in bringing us here in the first place.”

“You planned to maneuver us into this position,” Thrass said, feeling like an idiot as he finally got it. Politics was supposed to be his strong point; he really should have figured this out himself. “Can we assume Patriarch Thooraki also knows about this? No, I’m wrong,” he corrected himself before Lamiov could answer. “Patriarch Thooraki suggested it, didn’t he?”

“As a matter of fact, he did,” Lamiov conceded. “With the concurrence and support of General Ba’kif.” He smiled faintly. “I confess I thought both of them were inflating your investigative and deductive skills far beyond reality.”

“Hopefully, your doubts have been calmed,” Thrawn said. “The patrol pilot’s transmissions?”

“She made two calls: the first to Cormit, the second to Rhigar.”

Thrass frowned. Rhigar, location of the chief Clarr family stronghold, was an obvious choice to send an alert. But Cormit? “What’s at Cormit?” he asked.

“A Clarr fleet depot,” Thrawn said, frowning down at his questis. “Currently anchored by the light cruiser Orisson. The fact that the pilot called there first suggests the hijackers are heading southeast, and she hoped family forces could intercept them before they left the Ascendancy.”

“Could they intercept them?” Thrass asked. “That class of transport is pretty fast.”

“But they’ll have to carry the Stybla freighter while they transfer the cargo, which will slow them considerably,” Thrawn said. “Their other option would be to stop somewhere while the transfer takes place. Either way, there’ll be a delay that the Clarr clearly hoped to take advantage of.”

“You think they’re heading to some alien world, then?” Lamiov asked.

“I think so, yes,” Thrawn said. “There are a number of border worlds that function as rendezvous points between Chiss thieves and some of the small nations of the region. The more cautious ones use a rotating schedule, with the rendezvous point shifting each month from one planet to another. The Clarr must know or suspect that these particular hijackers favor the group to the southeast, which is why the pilot sent her first alert to Cormit.”

“If you’re right, the Clarr have a considerable head start,” Lamiov pointed out.

“Only if they know which specific world the hijackers are heading to,” Thrawn said. “I don’t believe they do.”

“Why do you say that?” Lamiov asked.

“Because you said you spent three hours discussing the issue,” Thrawn said. “The only reason for Patriarch Rivlex to keep you busy that long was if he was trying to offer you hope of an agreement and thus delay your people from beginning their own pursuit.”

“So we have a chance?” Thrass said.

“Yes,” Thrawn said. “And I believe it’s a good one. It all depends on whether we can reach the hijacked ship first.”

“And you know where it is?” Lamiov asked.

Thrawn held up his questis. “As a matter of fact, Your Venerante,” he said, “I believe I do.”