by Timothy Zahn
“Perhaps an unfair question,” Thrawn said. “You do not possess all the facts.”
Faro’s back and shoulders straighten. Her body stance holds fresh understanding. “The Chiss prisoners,” she said. Her voice holds satisfaction at having solved the puzzle. “They want the moon, but they want the prisoners more. The ship holding them wants to escape, but its hyperdrive isn’t ready yet. And it’s still in the moon’s own gravity well. Until they’re ready they don’t dare run, because that would show us which ship has them.”
“Very good, Commodore,” Thrawn said. “And the reason all the ships do not leave now, which would maintain the prisoners’ concealment within numbers?”
“Because they can’t,” Faro said. Her voice holds dark amusement. “The two ships that came out to play were at the edges of the web. The others are deeper inside, and they can’t simply disengage. The ship we want is either at the edge—” She breaks off, her body stance holding a fresh level of understanding. “Or it’s hugging the web but not actually inside it.” She raises her voice loud enough to be heard in the crew pits. “Hammerly?”
“Yes, Commodore,” the sensor chief called back. “Scanning as per the admiral’s orders. The web’s emissions are still interfering with readings, but it’s clearing as we get closer.”
“How soon?” Thrawn asked.
“Two minutes,” Hammerly said. “Maybe less.”
“Signal Lieutenant Skerris,” Thrawn ordered. “Defender Squadron launch now.”
“Defender Squadron: Launch.”
The TIEs sweep past the tugs. The tugs in turn rotate a few degrees and turn full power to their drives. The emissions blast across the fighters, but have no effect on them. The momentary drive surge increases the tugs’ forward velocity. The tugs continue on their current vectors.
“Destroy all the enemy tugs,” Thrawn said. “Now.”
The Chimaera’s turbolasers open fire against the tugs. “Sir?” Faro asked. Her tone holds puzzlement.
“If their task was to intercept or slow the TIEs, they would have turned and attacked the squadrons from the rear,” Thrawn said. “They did not. Therefore, their purported attack against the TIEs was a ruse.”
“They’re armed,” Faro said. Her voice holds understanding. “Or carrying bombs.”
“I suspect the latter,” Thrawn said. “Their commander will know by now that I pursue information, and that I prefer capture to simple destruction. He seeks to use this against me.”
The tugs begin to disintegrate before the turbolaser barrage. The explosions are larger than expected from the detonation of reactors or thrusters. Conclusion: They are indeed carrying bombs.
“Yes, I see,” Faro said. “And now that that’s failed, and with the Defenders heading for them—”
“Admiral, one of the ships is breaking away,” Hammerly called. “Outside the net—we couldn’t tell that until just now. Accelerating and heading into the moon’s shadow.”
“Defenders: Intercept and disable,” Thrawn said. “Do not destroy. Repeat, do not destroy.”
The Defenders sweep around the surface of the moon in pursuit. The Grysk ship is not visible behind the moon, but the navigator has projected its course and vector on the tactical display. The Defenders are closing the gap. They will intercept before the Grysk ship escapes the moon’s gravity well.
Two areas on the moon’s rim shatter, sending dense clouds of dust and rock into the paths of the approaching Defenders.
“Turbolasers: Aim above and below the moon,” Thrawn said. “Low power; continuous fire.”
“They’ve changed vector?” Faro asked.
“I assume so,” Thrawn said. “The debris from those explosions could not possibly damage the Defenders at their range. I conclude therefore the object was to create a visual obstruction while the Grysk ship veered off its projected path.”
“Signal from Skerris, Admiral,” Lieutenant Lomar called from the comm station. His voice holds tension and frustration. “The Grysk ship has jumped to lightspeed. The Defenders were unable to intercept.”
“Understood,” Thrawn said. The web around the moon is disintegrating. The Grysk ships are moving outward, intent on escaping the gravity well. “Fighter squadrons, turbolasers: full attack. Destroy them all.”
The turbolasers open fire. Across the starscape, the TIEs engage the enemy.
“Should we try to take some prisoners, sir?” Faro asked. Her voice holds cautious concern.
“The Grysks have tried once to lure us into a deadly trap,” Thrawn said. “We cannot risk them doing so again.”
“Yes, sir.” Faro is silent a moment. Her body stance continues to hold concern. “Sir…the Chiss prisoners. If we don’t take one of the Grysk ships, how will we find them?”
“We may not,” Thrawn said. “But we may. Lieutenant Lomar, is there word from Lord Vader?”
“Commander Kimmund just reported in, sir,” Lomar said. “They have the prisoners and have cleared the enemy from the courtyard. They’re bringing the Darkhawk in now for a pickup, and expect to be back at the Chimaera within the hour. They also request a transport for additional equipment.”
“Request denied,” Thrawn said. “Inform Commander Kimmund that we will be satisfied with just the prisoners. Order quarters to be prepared for them, and inform Lord Vader that I wish to speak with him immediately upon his return.”
The Grysk ships had been destroyed and the errant moon was drifting along its path toward eternity by the time Vader and the Darkhawk returned to the Chimaera with the freed children. Quarters had been prepared for them near Thrawn’s own suite, and the grand admiral had taken a few minutes to speak with them.
Vader couldn’t understand what they were saying, and their minds had the same opaqueness as Thrawn’s. But he could sense the slow calming of the children’s emotions as they finally grasped that their nightmare was over. One of the girls spoke a little Sy Bisti; Commodore Faro located an assistant maintenance tech who also knew some of that obscure trade language and left the children in his care.
And it was time for Thrawn to stand to judgment.
“You lied to me,” Vader said when they were once again alone in the admiral’s office.
“I did not lie, my lord,” Thrawn said, inclining his head.
“You withheld some of the truth,” Vader countered, keeping a firm grip on his anger as he stretched out with the Force. The sand bridge Thrawn had been continually walking since they first arrived at Batuu had been steadily blown away by the admiral’s words and actions. Now it had eroded to something perilously thin. One more misstep, one more evasion or lie, and Vader would forget that the Emperor still had use of this person. “That is the same as a lie.”
“I told you what I could,” Thrawn said. “What I deemed the Emperor would permit me to reveal.”
“The Emperor knows the whole truth, then?”
Thrawn hesitated, the orderly array of his mind bending a bit under the strain of Vader’s glare and presence. “I have not told him,” the admiral conceded. “But I have no doubt that he does indeed know.”
Vader felt his thumbs tighten in his belt. In that, the Chiss was probably right. “You will tell me all of it,” he said. “Now.”
“As I promised,” Thrawn said, again inclining his head. The deference was real, Vader could sense, as was the caution behind it. The admiral knew exactly where he stood, and recognized that his life was hanging by a thread.
Good.
“You will first appreciate that this is among the most closely guarded secrets of the Chiss Ascendancy,” he said. “As I noted when we first reached this region of space, there are few stable hyperlanes into and through the Unknown Regions. Because of this, most species stay close to their own systems, preferring to travel along shorter lanes and unwilling to take the time necessary for the much slower jump
-by-jump travel.”
“But the Chiss do not wish to be so limited?”
“Indeed not,” Thrawn said, a hint of contempt creeping into his voice. “For all their pronouncements of non-interference in others’ activities, the Aristocras have a deep desire to know what those activities consist of. Our scouts range far and wide, entering even into the parts of space once claimed by the Republic and now claimed by the Empire.” He gestured. “As you well know.”
“I have been so informed by the Emperor,” Vader said stiffly. Again, Thrawn was poking uncomfortably close to the edge. “Tell me about the children.”
“We do not have nav computers able to plot safe paths through the chaos of the Unknown Regions hyperspace,” Thrawn said. “Nor do the Chiss produce appreciable numbers of Force-sensitives, though we call their gift Third Sight. But when such rare individuals are born, they come to us with but one ability, that of precognition.”
And suddenly Vader understood. The same ability that allowed him to peer into the future far enough to know when and where an attack was coming was being used by the Chiss to sense dangers looming ahead of a ship in time to avoid them. “They navigate and pilot your ships,” he said. “Finding and mapping temporary hyperlanes even as they steer new paths along them.”
“Exactly.” Thrawn waved a hand in the direction of the girls’ quarters. “You can now appreciate the reason for our secrecy. An enemy wishing to duplicate our success cannot simply steal a computer or computer program. He must take rare and precious living beings from us.” His eyes narrowed. “That cannot be allowed.”
“And now your secret is known, and your fears are realized.”
“Indeed,” Thrawn said heavily. “The Grysks must be dealt with, and taught not to test the will of the Chiss Ascendancy.”
As the rebels within the Empire needed to be taught that same lesson. “Why children?” Vader asked. “And are they all female?”
“The ability unfortunately fades with time,” Thrawn said. “No level of training or practice can change that. Young adults retain perhaps half of their childhood strength; older adults only a small fraction. Only children have enough precognitive power to safely guide our ships at the speeds the Aristocras demand. As to their gender—” He hunched his shoulders slightly. “Those with the gift are nearly always female. There are exceptions, but that is the general rule. No one knows why.”
“I see,” Vader murmured. The Jedi’s memories drifted across his vision: training with Obi-Wan, observing the younglings at the Temple in instruction and practice, the gradual achievement of each step on the long road toward strength and proficiency.
Apparently, that wasn’t what it was like for the Chiss. Their Force-sensitives worked and trained for years, only to see their strength fail and their accomplishments fade. “And then they are set aside,” he said. Not even the Jedi were that cruel to their chosen slaves.
“Yes,” Thrawn said. “The sacrifice…most make it willingly, for the sake of the Ascendancy. But all with the ability must make it.” For a moment his eyes seemed to unfocus, as if facing unpleasant thoughts and memories. Then his mind came back. “But that is not our concern now. We must find the Grysk base and retrieve the children before the alarm is given and they are able to mount a response to our attack.” He stood up. “Come, my lord.”
“A moment,” Vader said, making no move to follow. “What exactly are you proposing?”
“Did you not hear me?” Thrawn asked, frowning. “We must find the Grysk base.”
“Which is deep within the Unknown Regions?”
“Presumably not too deep,” Thrawn assured him. “Their homeworld and main center of power is thought to be a considerable distance away. But they will hardly use that location to run an operation at the edge of Imperial space.” He started toward the door. “Come.”
“No,” Vader said.
Thrawn stopped. “My lord?”
“You propose to risk an Imperial warship and Imperial personnel on a matter that concerns only your own people,” Vader said. “I cannot and will not allow that.”
“The Emperor placed me in command of this mission.”
“As he also accepted your word that your first loyalty was to the Empire,” Vader countered. “That appears to no longer be the case. If, indeed, it ever was.”
For a long moment, Thrawn stood motionless. Then he retraced his steps to his chair and again sat down. “If we do not move quickly, all may be lost,” he said, his voice low and earnest. “The Grysks will be alerted. They will abandon that base and relocate elsewhere. The children will disappear into their domain and never be returned to their homes and families.”
Their families. A swirl of The Jedi’s memories swept across Vader’s eyes. The Jedi’s mother…The Jedi’s lost wife and child…
He shook the thoughts away. Those were The Jedi’s memories, not his. “That is the concern of your people,” he said. “It is not yours. Unless you intend to break your oath of loyalty to the Emperor?”
“The Grysks have already made an intrusion into Imperial space,” Thrawn pointed out. “Their closure of the Batuu hyperlane is clearly an aggressive move.”
“Batuu is hardly a major Imperial system.”
“And their current attempt to move Mokivj’s moons to more permanently block Imperial movement?”
“There is no proof their intention is anything more than to seal themselves away from potential threats.”
“Yet that potential threat is part of the Emperor’s design,” Thrawn said. “He is very interested in extending his rule into the Unknown Regions.”
Vader frowned. Had Thrawn just said…? “Which you of course know a great deal about.”
Thrawn seemed to draw back, as if he belatedly realized he’d said too much. “As I said, the Chiss Ascendancy seeks to know all that happens around it.”
Vader nodded to himself. So that was it. All those private meetings, all those secret conversations. The Emperor was taking advantage of Thrawn’s knowledge to prepare for the next great Imperial expansion. “A point that is irrelevant,” he said. “I asked for proof this mission concerns the Empire. So far, that proof has not been forthcoming.”
“I have a long record of service to the Empire and the Emperor,” Thrawn said. “Have I ever failed you?”
“What about Atollon?” Vader countered. “You were unable to stop the rebels there. Now it will fall to me to find and destroy them.”
“My war with the rebels is not yet over,” Thrawn said softly. “I will defeat them.”
“Good,” Vader said. “Let us return to Coruscant, that your campaign may begin.”
Thrawn was silent another moment. “You spoke of proof,” he said. “If I could prove the Grysks are a threat to the Empire as well as the Chiss, would you assist me in retrieving the children and destroying their local center of operations?”
“What is this proof?”
“It lies aboard the Chimaera,” Thrawn said. “In time I hope the evidence will be sufficiently complete to establish conclusive proof. But if we wait until then I fear the children will be lost. I must ask you once again to trust me.”
Trust. It was something Thrawn continued to ask for. It was something The Jedi had valued greatly.
It was a quality Vader himself had little experience with.
“I was right about the gravity generators,” Thrawn continued. “I ask you to trust a little longer.”
Vader gazed at him. Trust. So little experience…
Still, the Emperor trusted Thrawn. Trusted him enough to promote him to Grand Admiral and give him the Seventh Fleet. If Vader’s master was willing to offer the Chiss that much authority, shouldn’t Vader be, as well?
Trust.
“Very well,” he said. “You may locate and attack this base, and attempt to rescue the children. But if the battle
goes against you, you will pull back.”
“Agreed,” Thrawn said, inclining his head. “Thank you, my lord.” He hesitated. “But I will need more from you than merely your permission. I will need your direct assistance, as well.”
Vader frowned. “In what way?”
“Come to the bridge,” Thrawn said, standing up again. “I will show you.”
* * *
—
Vader looked down at the console from the command walkway. He listened to Thrawn’s explanation of what he wanted.
And he wondered if the grand admiral had gone insane.
“There is no other way,” Thrawn said. If he sensed Vader’s displeasure, he gave no sign of it. “The Grysks have a long lead on us. But they must rely on the Chiss children to navigate them back to their base.”
“Children who have done this many times before,” Vader reminded him. “We have such children aboard. Why can they not serve us as they served the Grysks?”
“Because those aboard the Chimaera are no stronger in the Force than the children currently in Grysk hands,” Thrawn said. “We must arrive at the base before the Grysks, and our Chiss navigators cannot achieve that.”
“Yet you believe I can?”
“The children are not as strong in the Force as you are,” Thrawn said. “You have their same precognition ability, but you have more strength and stamina.” He gestured at the crew pit. “You should be able to sufficiently outstrip the enemy’s speed.”
The bridge crew had gone very quiet. The helm was studiously not looking up at Vader and his admiral. Commodore Faro was carefully not joining into the conversation. The rest of the crew was looking like they would very much prefer to be elsewhere. “And if you are wrong?”
“Then we arrive behind the Grysks,” Thrawn said. “We will still engage them to the fullest, but we will have lost the element of surprise.”
“Or we shall arrive so late that they will have escaped?”
Thrawn’s glowing red eyes shifted to the viewport and the starfield glittering across the darkness. “Yes,” he said quietly.
