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:
“Do you not hear me?” Yiv demanded. “I do not wish to live any longer among the Chiss. Take me elsewhere, leave me sufficient equipment and provisions to establish my home, and in return I will tell you everything.”
Ar’alani frowned. “Do you mean exile?”
“Of course,” Yiv said. “Is that such a difficult request?”
“No, not at all,” Ar’alani assured him.
Though actually it was. It was a hugely difficult request. As far as she knew, the Ascendancy had never exiled anyone, certainly not within the scope of modern history. “I can’t promise anything, but I’ll speak to my superiors and see what they’re willing to do,” she said.
“Just be certain to warn them that the time to act is limited,” Yiv said. “Jixtus is on the move, and the Chiss Ascendancy is his target.”
“They’re more than aware of that,” Ar’alani assured him, stepping back to the door and giving the rap-rap rap rap-rap signal she and her escort had agreed on. “You’ll be informed of their decision.”
Ba’kif was waiting in the prison command center when she arrived, sitting in front of a bank of displays. “Did everything come through all right?” she asked as she walked toward him.
“Perfectly,” Ba’kif said, waving her to the chair beside him. “I thought he might try to keep his voice down so he could talk with you privately. But that didn’t happen.”
“If anything, he kept his voice deliberately loud,” Ar’alani agreed. “I think he wanted all of us—you, me, and everyone else in here—in on the conversation.”
“Given the direction the talks went, I’m sure he did,” Ba’kif said. “What do you think of his offer?”
“It seemed genuine,” Ar’alani said, looking over the monitors. One of them was showing a silent replay of her conversation with Yiv, with overlays tracking the Nikardun’s subtle physical changes and extrapolating the parallel flow of mental and emotional states. “You’re the ones who’ve been building up his truth/fiction database. What did you see?”
“The same,” Ba’kif said grimly. “And that worries me.”
Ar’alani frowned. “How so?”
“In the months since Thrawn brought him here, he’s never once even hinted at the possibility of a deal,” Ba’kif said. “What’s the only thing that changed with your visit?”
“He trusts a Chiss admiral more than a Chiss general?” Ar’alani suggested, trying for a bit of levity.
Ba’kif shook his head. “He saw your evidence of his listening posts’ destruction.”
Ar’alani felt her face warming, silently cursing her attempt at humor. She’d been so focused on the possibility of getting more information out of Yiv that the full implications of his offer hadn’t registered. “He said Jixtus was on the move,” she murmured. “Yiv expects us to lose.”
“He does indeed,” Ba’kif said. “And he’s trying to find a way off Csilla before that happens.”
Ar’alani nodded, her stomach twisted into a hard knot. She’d gone into military service expecting that the Chiss would be attacked on occasion, and that there would be corresponding ups and downs in its power and influence. But never in her life had the thought occurred to her that the Ascendancy might actually be destroyed by one of those enemies.
“Of course, just because he believes it doesn’t mean it’s going to happen,” Ba’kif pointed out. “But the fact that he does believe it means we need to take the possibility seriously.”
“Especially coming from someone who lost his own fight against us,” Ar’alani agreed. “What’s the plan?”
“I’ll contact the Council at once and get this thing rolling,” Ba’kif said. “I have no idea what sort of equipment and provisions Yiv was referring to, but I’m sure he’ll be happy to offer suggestions. We’ll also get him busy listing all those names and other details he promised.”
“I notice you didn’t mention the Syndicure,” Ar’alani said. “Aren’t we going to tell them about this?”
“Not yet,” Ba’kif said, his lip twisting. “You know the Aristocra. They’ll want to debate it and haul us into hearings, and at the end will probably tell us we can’t do it. We don’t have time for the process, and we can’t afford that decision. We’ll let them know when they need to. Not before.”
“Yes, sir,” Ar’alani said, keeping her tone neutral. That wasn’t how these things were supposed to go, and they both knew it. Keeping the Syndicure in the dark that way could bring a galaxy of pain down onto Ba’kif’s head.
But it was nothing compared with the pain that the fall of the Ascendancy would bring. “I understand,” she added. “I’d also recommend the Council formally call on the Nine to provide warships to strengthen the Defense Force.”
Ba’kif huffed out a sigh. “I can suggest it,” he said. “But I don’t think the Council will follow through.”
Ar’alani frowned. “Why not?”
“Because I strongly suspect several of the families will refuse the request,” Ba’kif said bluntly. “The Dasklo and Clarr almost certainly, the Irizi and Ufsa probably. The rest …” He shook his head. “I don’t think the Council will want to aggravate tensions by forcing the Nine to choose between being allied and being loyalist.”
“I see,” Ar’alani said, hearing an edge of bitterness in her voice. Once again, politics were driving the fleet’s agenda. This time, the politics of risking disaster in order to allow someone else to maintain appearances. “Are there any families who have declared themselves allied?”
“Yes, but unofficially,” Ba’kif said. “Patriarch Thurfian has told the Council they can call on up to half the Mitth fleet, and is in the process of deploying them to critical systems where they’ll be instantly available if and when they’re needed. Patriel Lakooni has also offered the frigate Midsummer, currently back at Celwis, though she warns us that the Defense Force would have to find officers and warriors to crew it.”
“Not much help.”
“No,” Ba’kif agreed. “But better than nothing.” He stood up and gestured toward the door. “Come, I’ll escort you back to the main level. I’ll also make sure you get a full copy of the interview and our pattern analysis before you leave, in case you want to review it on the trip back to Sposia.”
“Thank you, sir.”
They walked past the other officers on duty, then out through the command center’s armored door. Ba’kif nodded briskly to the armed warriors standing guard outside, gave a small all-clear hand signal, and led the way down the corridor toward the elevators.
“Don’t look so glum, Admiral,” Ba’kif said as he unlocked the control bar and keyed for the main levels and the less oppressive air far above them. “Just because the families are squabbling now doesn’t mean a looming disaster. They’ll come together as one when the crisis hits. It’s happened many times in the Ascendancy’s past, and it’ll happen again.”
“I know, sir,” Ar’alani said.
Only she didn’t know that. Not for certain.
And she was pretty sure Ba’kif didn’t, either.
The long-range comm conversation lasted longer than most of the calls that had taken place between Jixtus and his people during the Whetstone’s voyage. The Grysk at the other end did most of the talking, which was also unusual, while Jixtus only made occasional comments.
When it was finished, Jixtus sat quietly for over a minute, thinking or scowling or brooding behind his veil. Nakirre watched him, wondering what the message had been, and whether the news the other Grysk had delivered was good or bad.