Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

“Just as well,” Samakro said, ignoring both the invitation and the couch. “I trust you realize that during wartime, disobeying a direct order is punishable by death.”

A muscle in Thalias’s cheek tightened. “I guess it’s lucky we’re not at war.”

“Given everything that’s happened over the past few months, I wouldn’t make any blanket assumptions if I were you,” Samakro ground out. “I’d also take this situation a lot more seriously.”

“I am taking it seriously, Mid Captain,” Thalias said, her voice going dark. “Senior Captain Thrawn is heading alone into horrible danger. I couldn’t just stand idly by and let that happen.”

“So you talked Che’ri into committing mutiny and hijacked the ship.”

“You don’t want to let him die, either, sir,” she said, her voice quavering a little with emotion. “I know.”

“What you know and what I want are completely irrelevant,” Samakro countered. “I’ve been given an order, and my job is to carry it out. If you persist in standing in the way, I can have you confined.”

“You think Che’ri will navigate the ship if I’m locked up?”

“I think Che’ri knows her duty,” Samakro said. “Maybe better than you do. If not, we’ll just head for home via jump-by-jump. That will give both of you plenty of time to regret your decision and wonder what kind of futures you have. If any.”

“Is that supposed to scare me?”

“It’s supposed to bring you back to your senses.” Samakro said. “Right now, all we’ve got is a failure of the nav system to locate our position. If you and Che’ri turn us back toward the Ascendancy—right now—nothing more needs to be said about it.”

“And then what happens to Senior Captain Thrawn?”

“He rises or falls by his own decisions, just like all the rest of us have to,” Samakro said. “That’s how the universe works, Caregiver.”

“No,” Thalias said flatly. “No, I don’t accept that. We don’t all live in our own private niches, with no one else affecting or being affected by what we do.” She gestured toward Samakro. “What about you, Mid Captain? Are you willing to just let him go off into danger?”

“I’ve already said I don’t have a choice.”

“What if you did?”

Samakro cocked his head slightly. “I’m listening.”

“I did a quick calculation of how long it’ll take to get home via jump-by-jump,” Thalias said. “My numbers may be off a little—” She gestured the point away. “Anyway, what I’m saying is that if Che’ri navigates we can get to Sunrise and then back to the Ascendancy faster than heading back from here via jump-by-jump.”

“But slower than if she took us directly home.”

“Yes,” Thalias conceded.

“You also assume she’ll side with you and not with her legal commander,” Samakro added. “That she’ll risk the dishonor and criminal charges of mutiny just because you want her to.”

Thalias’s eyes drifted away from Samakro’s, a tumble of conflicting emotions chasing each other across her face. “You have it backward, Mid Captain,” she said at last. “This isn’t my idea. It’s hers.”

“Right,” Samakro scoffed. “As if a ten-year-old girl—”

He broke off at the expression on Thalias’s face. “Why would she do that?”

“She’s afraid for Senior Captain Thrawn,” Thalias said. “She spent a lot of time with him, you know, out at the edge of Lesser Space. I think she probably knows him better even than you do. She knows the kind of tasks he takes on, and she knows this one could get him killed.” She seemed to brace herself. “And I think … she thinks … the Magys agrees we have to help him.”

Samakro felt a chill run up his spine. Thrawn had told him about his conversation with Thalias and the idea that the Magys might be intruding into Che’ri’s dreams. But he’d dismissed it as fuzzy-edged speculation at best and complete fantasy at worst. “I thought the Magys only did that when she was asleep.”

“I thought so, too,” Thalias said. “But the Magys was in hibernation at the time. Maybe they both had to be asleep for it to work. Maybe now it only works when they’re both awake.”

“And you didn’t say anything?” Samakro demanded. “It didn’t occur to you that it might be something Senior Captain Thrawn needed to know?”

“I didn’t know about it until I told Che’ri you’d ordered us back home,” Thalias said. “She hadn’t said anything until then.”

“Then it should have occurred to her to tell us,” Samakro muttered, Thalias’s revelation swirling through his mind like a whirlwind. The sky-walkers and their Third Sight were one of the Ascendancy’s most closely guarded secrets. If this alien could intrude or tap into that ability, the consequences could be catastrophic.

And with that, this whole thing had suddenly taken an unexpected turn. “Why is she steering Che’ri around anyway? Just for the fun of it?”