Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Planetary guard duty, as Ar’alani had expected, was pretty monotonous. Even the presence of alien warships lurking in Ascendancy space couldn’t change the fact that the Vigilant was spending all its time going around and around Sposia, staying clear of edgy patrol ships and nervous civilian transports and waiting for potential threats to show themselves.

So far they hadn’t. But Ar’alani knew better than to let her officers and warriors grow complacent. That only worked to the enemy’s advantage. Drills, snap alerts, and other physical and mental challenges became the order of the day.

Still, after a few such unexpected challenges even that grew to be routine.

At least the Vigilant wasn’t getting the quiet hostility that some of the other Expansionary Defense Fleet ships were experiencing with their new duties. Most of the major Chiss worlds were dominated by families of the Nine or the Forty, and too many of those elites saw any intrusion into what they considered their territory to be an insult to their own defense capabilities. Sposia, while technically controlled by the Clarr and Obbic, also included the Kynkru and Csap families in their patrol system, and all four of them were generally willing to defer to the Stybla in matters of defense policy. The Stybla themselves, given their family’s position at the lower end of the Forty, were more than happy to accept whatever help Csilla and Naporar offered in the way of warships.

Ar’alani was sitting in her command chair, trying to think up something new to throw at her crew, when Larsiom stirred in his seat at the comm station. “Admiral?” he called across the bridge. “We’re receiving a transmission from Supreme General Ba’kif.”

“Acknowledge and connect,” Ar’alani said, keying her mike. “Supreme General Ba’kif, this is Admiral Ar’alani.”

“Good day, Admiral,” Ba’kif’s voice came back. “I understand things are still quiet at Sposia?”

“Yes, sir, so far,” Ar’alani said. “Are you expecting that to change?”

“That’s a good question,” Ba’kif said. “I presume you’ve been following the reports on our mysterious Jixtus and his travels?”

“Yes, sir, I have,” Ar’alani said, scowling to herself. So far the Kilji battle cruiser had visited six planets and Jixtus had conversed with four senior officials of the Nine and thirteen of the Forty. At this rate, he’d have most of the Chiss hierarchy covered within the month. “Is Sposia next on his schedule?”

“We don’t know,” Ba’kif said. “So far we haven’t been able to find a pattern in his travels, relating to either planetary position or rank among the Aristocra. But that brings us to another, more pressing issue. Since last night, two more of the Nine have begun moving their warships around.”

“Wonderful,” Ar’alani said, wincing. “That makes, what, five of them?”

“Correct,” Ba’kif said. “What’s ominous about these particular repositionings is that they’re not focused on bolstering the family’s own defenses, but seem to be aimed at adding an extra presence to Pommrio, Erighal, and Xodlak stronghold worlds.”

“The ones Jixtus is pointing fingers at.” Ar’alani shook her head. “This is ridiculous.”

“I agree,” Ba’kif said. “And under normal circumstances I’d say it was unthinkable that anyone would pay two seconds’ attention to the ravings of an alien. But with all the uncertainties and suspicions still swirling around the Hoxim incident, old rivalries are bubbling closer to the surface.”

“And naturally, the families’ protests of innocence do nothing to change those suspicions.”

“Of course not,” Ba’kif said heavily. “Their Patriarchs continue to deny any involvement with aliens. They say Jixtus is lying, and that the vid he’s been showing around is a complete hoax.”

“Is it a hoax, sir?” Ar’alani asked.

“That is indeed the question,” Ba’kif said. “The quality of the vid is pretty low, and I’m told the enhancement techniques everyone’s been scrubbing it with are as likely to create new parts of the image as they are to provide clarity to what’s already there. More concerning is information I received less than an hour ago that—”

“Just a moment, sir,” Ar’alani cut in, scooping up her questis. It was bad form to interrupt a superior, but a sudden thought had occurred to her and it needed to be chased down before the conversation went elsewhere and she lost the mental thread. “You said everyone was using enhancements. Does that include the Clarr?”