Thrawn Ascendancy Book 3: Lesser Evil

“Or they know that Patriarch Kloirvursi will refuse to contribute,” Rivlex said. “And I can tell you right now that if the Dasklo don’t hand over any of their ships, we certainly won’t.”

“Yes, probably a prudent move,” Roscu said. Yet more drama.

Still, he might have a point. The Council might have already done some quiet probing, concluded that not enough of the Nine would contribute to overall Ascendancy defense, and decided a call would simply exacerbate the situation. “But that’s not why I called,” she continued. “While I was picking up the news, I also heard from Jixtus. It seems that while we’re focused on the Dasklo, the Mitth are quietly making a move against the whole Ascendancy.”

“Wait a moment,” Rivlex said. “You said the Mitth?”

“Yes,” Roscu said. “You’ll recall that the Xodlak, Pommrio, and Erighal claimed they went to Hoxim because there was supposedly a largely untapped nyix mine there.”

“Eventually they claimed that.”

“Yes, fine, it took them a while to come clean,” Roscu said, fighting down her annoyance. Rivlex had a bad habit of bringing up irrelevant details when he should be listening. “At any rate, Jixtus says that the Mitth have found the actual planet the nyix jewelry came from, a planet that has incredibly rich deposits.” She paused for emphasis. “He also says that a group of aliens led by Senior Captain Thrawn are already in the process of capturing it, with a plan to claim it for the Mitth.”

“Interesting,” Rivlex said, not sounding nearly as troubled by this news as he ought to be. “Does Jixtus have a name and location for this planet?”

“He doesn’t know the actual name,” Roscu said. “Thrawn has apparently code-named it Sunrise. But I do have its location.”

“And you believe him?”

Roscu frowned. What kind of question was that? “Don’t you?”

“I don’t know,” Rivlex said. “That’s why I ask. You’re the one who’s been in closest contact with this alien. Have you found his previous information reliable?”

“Yes, Your Venerante, I have,” Roscu said firmly. “More than that, this is exactly the sort of underhanded move Thrawn would pull.”

“Perhaps,” Rivlex said, clearly still not convinced. “Tell me about these aliens he’s supposedly recruited.”

“They’re called the Paccosh, from the Rapacc system,” Roscu said. “The names are in our datafiles, though there’s not much detail. Thrawn first contacted them when he was searching for the origin of the refugees who were trying to get to Dioya when they were attacked and killed.”

“Yes, I remember,” Rivlex said. “That was the mission that also led to the discovery and identification of General Yiv, was it not?”

“Yes, it was,” Roscu confirmed, scowling at the comm. This was urgent and dangerous news. Why was the Patriarch dragging his feet with irrelevant questions? “The point is that while we’re all looking and now shooting at one another, the Mitth are poised to reach a level of power that hasn’t been seen since the Stybla handed over their rule to the first Three Ruling Families.”

“I think you may be overstating the case, Captain,” Rivlex said mildly. “Granted, a rich source of nyix would buy the Mitth a great deal of prestige in the Syndicure. But it would hardly translate to the kind of power you’re talking about.”

“With all due respect, Your Venerante, I think you may be forgetting Mitth history,” Roscu said stiffly. “That gravity-well generator they brought back from Thrawn’s first encounter with the Vagaari pirates was what finally persuaded the Obbic to ally with them. The enhanced energy shield they found at the edge of Lesser Space bought them a complete pass on Thrawn’s blatant violation of standing orders, and also took the Krovi out of the Irizi list of allies and turned them neutral. And let’s not forget the Mitth’s cozy connection with the Stybla.”

“What are you referring to?” Rivlex asked, his tone gone all cautious and guarded.

“You know what I’m referring to, Your Venerante,” Roscu said. “The point is that after the Hoxim incident, I’m told Thrawn ignored the order to come to Csilla and instead went directly to Sposia and a meeting with Stybla Patriarch Lamiov. There’s no reason for him to have done that unless he was bringing something new to the UAG, and in that case he should have first presented it to the Council. He certainly shouldn’t be showing it first to a Patriarch of one of the Forty.”

“I can see that, yes,” Rivlex agreed, the moment of strange caution disappearing from his tone. “I’ll see what I can find out about that. I presume you’re still on your way to Ornfra?”

“Yes, to take a look at the Krolling Sen shipyard,” Roscu confirmed. “One more thing. Jixtus also warned that the Mitth have an observation and communications post hidden inside an artificial asteroid shell that may have been deployed into the Ornfra system.”

“That sounds like an awful lot of effort to go to,” Rivlex said. “Especially when everyone else just uses freighters or transports to keep track of their rivals.”