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:
Only the other question was the one that had popped into her head and then out of her mouth. “She’s done in-system jumps before,” she told Samakro. “Even if she can’t tell Lieutenant Commander Azmordi where he needs to go, maybe she can take us there herself.”
Samakro’s gaze shifted slightly from her to Che’ri. “Sky-walker?” he asked.
“She learned how to do them when she and Senior Captain Thrawn were exploring the edge of Lesser Space,” Thalias added before Che’ri could answer. “She told me—”
“I asked the sky-walker, Caregiver, not you,” Samakro cut her off. “Sky-walker?”
“Yes, sir,” Che’ri managed, though to Thalias’s ears she didn’t sound at all confident. “I think so.”
“You think so?”
“I can do it,” Che’ri said, sounding more confident now.
“That’s more like it,” Samakro said. “Azmordi, transfer control.”
“Yes, sir,” the pilot said, and the helm section of Che’ri’s board once again lit up as it went active.
Che’ri hunched her shoulders and set her hands timidly on the controls. “You can do this, Che’ri,” Thalias murmured. “Just take your time.”
“I can’t,” Che’ri murmured back. “There isn’t any.” She braced herself—her hands twitched—
Abruptly, the view outside changed. Sunrise, which had been too far away to see, now filled nearly a quarter of the starscape. Ahead, Thalias could see the vague shapes of two distant ships near the planet. Between those ships and the Springhawk was a third vessel, driving hard away from the Chiss cruiser and toward the planet.
“Combat range: one warship,” Dalvu reported. “Identification … it’s the Aelos.”
Thalias frowned at the image of the fleeing ship on the sensor display. “How do you know it’s not some other Nikardun ship?” she asked.
“Look at the underside,” Samakro said, his voice sounding distracted. “The multiple snake design.”
“Right—I see it,” Thalias said, feeling like a fool. The symbol painted on the blockade frigate’s ventral surface was subtle but visible enough from the Springhawk’s angle: a nest of small stylized snakes with two larger ones curving up from among them, intertwined as they reached toward the ship’s bow. It was the emblem of Uingali foar Marocsaa’s subclan, matching the double ring Uingali had once given Thrawn for safekeeping back when the Nikardun were blockading and threatening his world.
So that was Senior Captain Thrawn and the Paccosh, and they were heading straight toward the two unidentified ships. “Are we going to attack?” she asked.
“Sky-walker, do you have further instructions?” Samakro asked, ignoring Thalias’s question. “Sky-walker?”
There was no answer. Frowning, Thalias looked down, to find Che’ri slumped in her chair, her eyes closed, her hands lying limp in her lap, her breathing slow and steady. “She’s asleep, Mid Captain,” she told him.
“I’m not surprised,” Samakro said. “Fine. When in doubt, follow the leader’s lead. Give me comm.”
“You have comm, Mid Captain.”
Samakro cleared his throat. “Unidentified ships, this is Mid Captain Samakro of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet warship Springhawk,” he called in the Taarja trade language. “You stand near our prey. Move clear of the Nikardun blockade frigate Aelos or suffer the humiliation of becoming collateral damage.”
Qilori’s only warning was a shout from the sensor officer. He looked back and forth among the displays, his winglets stiffening.
There it was, directly aft: A fourth warship had joined the three already in the Sunrise system, its thrusters blazing as it drove straight toward them.
His winglets stiffened against his cheeks as he grabbed for the controls. There was no time for him to get his headset on, but they might still be able to escape into hyperspace before the ambushing ship behind them opened fire. He didn’t know if he could reach out to the Great Presence with the distraction of sounds and sights in front of him, but he had to at least try. If he let the Aelos get too deep into Sunrise’s gravity well, they would be caught between two forces with no way out. He reached for the controls, discovered to his horror that they’d already been disengaged—
“Unidentified ships, this is Mid Captain Samakro of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet warship Springhawk,” a voice boomed over the bridge speaker. “You stand near our prey. Move clear of the Nikardun blockade frigate Aelos or suffer the humiliation of becoming collateral damage.”
Qilori’s winglets went completely rigid. The Springhawk really had followed them?
That was bad. Very bad. He’d overheard snippets of the comm discussion between Thrawn and his first officer before they left Rapacc, and while he couldn’t understand the Cheunh words it had been clear from the two blueskins’ tones that the conversation had been tense. More than that, Thrawn had abandoned his ship, and Qilori knew enough about military cultures to know that such an action was a serious offense. Thrawn had told Uingali he’d sent Samakro and the ship away; apparently, Samakro had ignored the order.
And now he was calling out Thrawn and the Paccosh as his prey?
“Full power to the thrusters,” Thrawn said calmly.
The Aelos leapt forward, blazing its way toward the Kilji and Grysk warships. Qilori stared out the viewport, wondering what in the Depths Thrawn was planning. Was he perhaps hoping to build up some speed and some distance from the Springhawk, force the bigger and heavier Chiss ship to commit to a pursuit vector, then suddenly veer to the side and angle toward the edge of the gravity well, hoping that the Aelos’s lower mass and better maneuverability would let them escape?
It was worth a try. And if that was the strategy, the ship would need its navigator ready for hyperspace. He picked up his headset, smoothing back his winglets so that they wouldn’t be in the way, and got ready to put it on.
“You won’t need that.”
Qilori turned his head. Thrawn was gazing out the viewport at the distant ships and planet, not even sparing a glance in Qilori’s direction. Still, it was clear the words had been directed toward him. “Sir?” Qilori asked.
“You won’t need your headset,” Thrawn said. “Uingali?”
“Emergency!” Uingali shouted. Again, Qilori twitched with the sudden noise. “The Chiss have arrived, and our weapons are still nonfunctional. We are in desperate need of a safe haven.”
“You may approach, Nikardun,” the earlier voice said, now almost purring with anticipation. “Draw the Chiss to us, and to their doom.”
“You will not regret this,” Uingali said. “Even now we work with frantic zeal to repair our weapons. By the time we reach your safe haven, your battle line will have the mighty Nikardun standing as a part of it.”
“We will be ever so grateful to add the strength of your mighty weapons to our own,” the other said, a thick layer of sarcasm coloring the anticipation in his voice. “You may take up position to portside of the Kilji warship Hammer. Make haste, that we may face this threat together.” There was a double tone as the comm was shut down.
Qilori took a careful breath. At least now he’d finally figured out the plan. Mid Captain Samakro wasn’t genuinely angry with Thrawn, nor was he planning to attack him. Samakro was merely playing a role for the Kiljis’ and Grysks’ benefit, persuading them that the Nikardun ship was in danger. Once Thrawn and the Paccosh were inside the Hammer’s point defenses, they would open fire on it at point-blank range. The hope would be that they could incapacitate it before it could do any damage, while the Springhawk similarly attacked the Grysk ship.