Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

“Indeed it has,” Ba’kif said. “I was starting to tell you about it when you pointed out this other curious bit of information.”

“Yes, sir,” Ar’alani said, feeling her face warming. “My apologies for the interruption.”

“No apology needed, Admiral,” Ba’kif assured her. “The information was both useful and timely. As for this latest revelation, I’m still trying to decide whether to release it or keep it private for the moment. I’ve been talking with Senior Captain Ziinda, who passed it on to me, and—well, I think it might be best to let her give you the details. Give me a moment to bring her into the discussion.”

“Yes, sir,” Ar’alani said, frowning a little harder as she keyed Ba’kif’s transmission from the bridge speaker to the more private command chair position. This whole thing was getting stranger and stranger.

“Admiral, we’ve got company,” Wutroow called.

Ar’alani looked up. The Vigilant’s first officer was standing behind Oeskym and the weapons console, pointing out the viewport at a ship that had appeared in the distance. “As we speak, so we get,” Wutroow continued. “It’s the Orisson.”

“Is it, now,” Ar’alani said. “Interesting timing. Junior Commander Larsiom, give them a call and ask what they’re doing here. Frame it as an offer to assist in whatever they’ve got planned.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the comm officer said and turned to his board.

“All right, Admiral, I have Senior Captain Ziinda tied in now,” Ba’kif announced.

“Senior Captain,” Ar’alani said, catching Wutroow’s eye and beckoning to her. “I trust you’re doing well?”

“I am, Admiral, thank you,” Ziinda said. “Interesting tidbit about the Clarr version of the Kilji recording. I confess I missed that completely.”

“In a situation like this, it doesn’t matter who finds the pieces as long as they’re found by somebody,” Ar’alani said as Wutroow arrived beside her in range of the command chair’s speaker. “I understand you’ve found an important piece of your own.”

“I believe so, ma’am, yes,” Ziinda said. “I had our analysts take a close look at Captain Roscu’s images of the attacking patrol boats. As I presume you’re aware, Erighal warships are decorated with subtle dot-and-line decoratives laid out in wavelike patterns, supposedly evoking memories of their family’s prominence in the old seafaring days.”

“I’ve heard that, yes,” Ar’alani confirmed, though she would have been hard-pressed to come up with it on her own. Every family had its own quirks and traditions, and it was nearly impossible to keep track of all of them. “It was originally to help them identify a ship that had been damaged beyond other means of recognition, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Ziinda said. “The key point is that all the patterns are similar, but since they’re done by hand no two of them are exactly alike.”

“And you were able to identify which patrol ships were at Jamiron?” Ar’alani asked.

“That’s the problem,” Ba’kif put in. “The two Erighal patterns were exactly the same.”

Ar’alani frowned up at Wutroow. “And Roscu didn’t notice?”

“I doubt Captain Roscu cared,” Ba’kif said. “But it gets worse. Continue, Senior Captain.”

“Not only are the two patterns identical,” Ziinda said, “but they match that of one of the Erighal patrol ships that was at Hoxim.”

“Well, isn’t that interesting,” Wutroow murmured.

“Isn’t it?” Ar’alani agreed, feeling a tightness in her throat. “So someone’s counterfeiting Chiss patrol ships and throwing them at Chiss freighters?”

“So it would seem,” Ba’kif said. “I assume Roscu has been in contact with her Patriarch, but we have no idea what their thinking is about this situation.”

“Maybe we should ask her,” Wutroow suggested. “She’s right outside our viewport.”

“Interesting,” Ba’kif said. “I knew the Orisson had left Jamiron, but didn’t know it was headed for Sposia. I wonder what it’s doing there.”

“The Clarr are a major presence here,” Ar’alani reminded him. “It may be that she’s just checking out their defenses and preparedness.”

“That’s possible,” Ba’kif said. “As Senior Captain Wutroow said, we could just ask her.”

“Not a good idea,” Ar’alani said, throwing a scowl at her first officer. The last thing she wanted was to try for a friendly conversation with the woman who’d once been her first officer on the patrol cruiser Parala. Especially since those weren’t particularly pleasant memories for either of them. “Captain Roscu and I didn’t part on the best of terms. I doubt she’d be willing to talk to me.”

“Maybe she’d talk to someone else,” Ziinda suggested. “I don’t know what the history is here, but this seems too good an opportunity to pass up.”