by Timothy Zahn
“Because of reality,” Thrawn said. “There are evil things in this galaxy, Nightswan. Far more evil than the Empire, and far more dangerous to all living beings. We know of some, while of others we have heard only rumors. We needed to know whether the Empire that was rising from the ashes of the Clone War could be an ally against them.”
“Or whether it should instead be collapsed into an easy prey,” Nightswan said. His voice holds dread.
“You understand now my scenario,” Thrawn said. “I had met a Jedi general during my Clone War investigations. That gave me credentials to offer the new Empire’s leaders. I was thus the best choice to send.”
“And so they dropped you somewhere and made it look like you’d been exiled?”
“Yes,” Thrawn said. “The encampment was designed to appear as if I had been abandoned for years. In truth, I was only there a few months. We tried several lures to bring an Imperial ship to the planet. On the third attempt we succeeded. I used my tactical skills to slip aboard the ship, hoping to impress its captain. I succeeded, and was taken to Coruscant.”
“Where you were made an officer in the Imperial Navy.”
“A totally unexpected occurrence,” Thrawn said. “I had hoped merely to persuade the Emperor to allow me to study the Empire’s political and military structure under the pretext of sharing information about distant threats. But his offer gave me the opportunity to learn much more.”
“And your study convinced you that it was better to hope the Empire would someday be your ally than to bring it down?” Nightswan shakes his head. His expression holds disappointment. “I’m afraid that uniform has blinded you to reality.”
“Not at all,” Thrawn said. “Certainly the Empire is corrupt. No government totally escapes that plague. Certainly it is tyrannical. But quick and utter ruthlessness is necessary when the galaxy is continually threatened by chaos.”
“And what happens when the ruthlessness breeds more chaos?” Nightswan asked. His tone holds challenge, his body stance briefly throwing off the weariness to hold fresh energy. “For that is what happens. Repression and revolt feed and devour each other.”
“Then the revolt must die,” Thrawn said. “The danger is too great. The stakes are too high. If the Empire falls, what can replace it?”
“Justice. Mercy.” Nightswan’s smile holds sadness. “Freedom.”
“Chaos,” Thrawn said. “Lawlessness. The Clone War.”
Nightswan shakes his head. “Perhaps I have a more optimistic view of my fellow beings than you do. So you consider tyranny to be a bulwark against evil. For how long?”
“Explain.”
“How long will you accept tyranny as a necessary part of Imperial rule?” Nightswan asked. “Until all resistance is silenced? Until all evils are vanquished?”
“Perhaps your optimism is not as strong as you claim,” Thrawn said. “The tone of a government is set by its leader. But Emperor Palpatine will not live forever. When it comes time for his authority to be handed to another, my position as a senior officer will allow me to influence the choice of that leader.”
“And do you expect that new leader to spread light into the darkness?”
“There is hope that he will,” Thrawn said. “But if evil is victorious, that hope will be extinguished. Forever.”
“Hope.” Nightswan shakes his head. His body stance holds no such hope. “I fear, Admiral, that you’re still dangerously naïve on political matters.” He lifts a hand. His body stance holds defeat. “I hope you’re right. But I fear you’re wrong.”
“We shall see.”
“Some of us shall,” Nightswan said. “Others of us will be long gone. What about the Neimoidians? What happened with them?”
“To my knowledge, they are still where I left them, nursing their resentments and dreaming of a long-delayed victory,” Thrawn said. “As I said, I made them no promises. Still, that initial contact was the reason I first created and then nurtured an acquaintanceship with the young Cadet Vanto. When I overheard him speak the name Chiss, I thought he might have been planted aboard the Strikefast by them to secretly observe me.”
“I assume that wasn’t the case?”
“It was not,” Thrawn said. “By the time I was convinced, I had seen other qualities in him, qualities I have spent the past few years helping him develop. Like you, he has the rare combination of tactical aptitude and leadership.”
“Ah,” Nightswan said. His voice holds sadness. “And now we come to the part where you ask me to abandon my people and my cause and join you in your fight for a better Empire.”
“Not at all,” Thrawn said. “After your activities here, you would never be accepted by the navy.”
“Nor would I accept such an offer.”
“But you are correct in that I wish to offer you a position,” Thrawn said. “Not with the Empire, but with the Chiss Ascendency.”
Nightswan’s eyes widen. His expression holds complete surprise. His arm and torso muscles tighten, his body stance straightening. “You want—? Admiral, that’s crazy.”
“Is a human among the Chiss more implausible than a Chiss among humans?” Thrawn asked. “It would offer you the chance to stand against forces far more evil than you face now. Moreover, your work there might someday save the lives of all those who currently stand with you at Creekpath.”
“And what of those people right now? What would happen to them?”
“I offer them a promise,” Thrawn said. “If they disperse, leaving their weapons behind, this will be the end.”
“What, no retribution?” Nightswan’s expression and tone hold sarcasm. “No tyrannical hammer to beat back the chaos?”
“The people of Batonn are Imperial resources,” Thrawn said. “A wise commander never wastes resources without need.”
Nightswan shakes his head. His expression holds disbelief and sorrow. “I should have guessed that was how you see people.”
“I see reality,” Thrawn said. “Your followers may return to their homes and jobs. There will be no reprisals or other action taken against them.”
“Until you leave.” Nightswan’s expression holds bitterness. “Even if Governor Restos honored your deal—which he wouldn’t—it still wouldn’t last. The injustices against the people are too great, the arrogance of those in power too deep. Sooner or later, they would rise up again. Only this time, they would have no one to lead them. They would be cut down like grain in a field, their voices silenced before they were ever heard.”
“So you will stay?”
“I have no choice,” Nightswan said. “We have the same sense of duty, Admiral Thrawn. Perhaps we ultimately seek the same end, at least for the distant future. But we see vastly different roads to that end.”
He straightens again, his body stance holding a sense of imminent departure. “May I count on your promise to protect the civilians—excuse me; the Imperial resources—of Creekpath as best you can?”
“You may,” Thrawn said. “I will seek to preserve all the lives under your leadership, combatant or otherwise, to the best of my ability. And my offer of clemency in surrender also stands.”
“I appreciate that. Good evening, Admiral, and thank you for your time. We’ve been distant adversaries for a long time. My curiosity is now satisfied.”
“Is it?” Thrawn asked. “There is still the matter of the Empire’s new project. If I were to aid you in your search for answers, would it persuade you to join me?”
Nightswan stares across the gap between them. His expression is tight, his eyes narrowed. His body stance once again holds surprise. “What exactly do you know?”
“I have no direct knowledge,” Thrawn said. “But I, too, have gathered some of the pieces of the puzzle to myself. I may also know where the main work site is located.”
“But you haven’t gone there to see?”
“I have not found an opportunity.”
“Haven’t found one? Or have refused to make one? And if you did find it, what then? What would
you do? You serve the Empire, and this project, whatever it is, represents a great deal of Imperial resources.”
“I do indeed serve the Empire,” Thrawn said. “But I also serve the causes of the Chiss Ascendancy. If I deem this project to be a threat against them, I might find it necessary to reconsider my path.”
Nightswan’s expression holds interest and temptation. His fingers rub restlessly against his leg, the movement holding uncertainty. “And if I surrender and accept your terms? What are you offering?”
“We will journey to the site together.”
“And the people of Creekpath and Batonn?”
“I have given you my terms.”
“And what of their grievances against Governor Restos?”
“I will do what I can.”
Nightswan shakes his head, his body stance holding resignation. “And therein lies the problem. This is a political situation, and you have no political power. On one hand, we have a puzzle, and a fear of what the Empire is planning. On the other hand, I have real flesh-and-blood people to protect. I’m sorry.”
“As am I.”
Nightswan turns and begins walking toward the mining complex. “I have read about the nightswan,” Thrawn called after him. “Have you?”
Nightswan turns partially back. His face is obscured by shadow. His body stance again holds weariness, along with a quiet dread. “You refer to the fact that it sings only as night is falling?”
“Yes,” Thrawn said. “You do not expect your stand to succeed, do you?”
“I know that it won’t succeed,” Nightswan said.
“That does not necessarily mean the end. I can give orders for you to be taken unharmed.”
“They’ll be ignored. Half the troops here are Batonn Defense, and Restos is determined to get rid of me.”
“Then come with me now.”
“A man must do what he must, Admiral Thrawn. Even if his stand is against the fall of eternal night.”
He began walking again. A minute later he was out of sight behind the hills. A minute after that, the sound of an airspeeder whispered across the stillness of the night.
“Thank you for not killing him,” Thrawn said.
“Don’t thank me yet.” Colonel Yularen’s voice comes from behind. It holds anger and suspicion. “Tell me why I shouldn’t shoot you as a traitor to the Empire.”
—
Elainye was surprised to see her husband and daughter home so soon. But she wasn’t nearly as surprised as Talmoor.
“Are you all right?” he asked, enveloping her in a quick hug. “You sounded terrible. Has whatever it is passed?”
“Has whatever what is passed?” Elainye asked, frowning at him in confusion. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“That was me, I’m afraid,” Arihnda spoke up, pulling out her mother’s comm and holding it out to her. “I needed to get back here, and I needed to get away from Mattai. This was the simplest way to do it.”
“To get—what?” Elainye asked, her eyes on Arihnda as she mechanically took back the comm.
“There’s going to be a battle soon,” Arihnda said. “A big one. I need to get you out of here before it starts. So you need to start packing—”
“Arihnda, Arihnda,” Talmoor soothed. “It’s okay. They’re not going to attack the mine—really. The governor wouldn’t dare take any of his precious troops from their bodyguard duty to use against us.”
“He won’t have a choice,” Arihnda gritted out. “There’s an Imperial task force overhead, and their admiral has orders to neutralize the insurgents on Batonn. That means Creekpath, and he is going to take it. So you need to gather up everything you can’t live without—”
“Arihnda, please—”
“There’s no please, Mother,” Arihnda snarled at her. “There’s no please, and there’s no time. You need to go pack, and you need to pack now.”
She hadn’t intended to shout that final word. But she did, and she felt a flicker of guilt as her mother jumped at the unexpected vehemence.
But if that was what it took to get them moving, Arihnda could live with it.
“Come on, Elainye,” Talmoor said, squeezing his wife’s hand. “Do as she says.”
He started toward the stairs. Elainye didn’t move. “What about our friends?” she asked, pulling back against her husband’s grip, her voice under rigid control. “What about the men and women we work with in the mine?”
“I’m not here for them,” Arihnda said. “I’m here for you.”
There was another long silence. “I see,” Talmoor said. “All right. Come on, Elainye.”
“And make it fast,” Arihnda warned, glancing out the window at the lights of the mining complex in the distance.
Because Gudry didn’t know anything about this part. And if Gudry found out, she was damn sure he wouldn’t like it.
—
“I thought you said you had urgent business elsewhere,” Thrawn said as Colonel Yularen came down the hill, a blaster carbine in his hands. Like his voice, his body stance holds caution and suspicion.
“You asked if I’d be returning to the Chimaera,” Yularen reminded him. “I said I wouldn’t. And I didn’t.”
“You did not want Governor Pryce and Agent Gudry to know you were coming here to watch them from afar.”
“Correct,” Yularen said. “Both would have been insulted, though for different reasons. You can imagine my surprise when Commander Vanto informed me that you’d left the Chimaera in that freighter you took from Nightswan’s Nomad.”
“I see you asked Commander Vanto to be extra vigilant, as well.”
“And now you’re stalling,” Yularen said. He continues forward until he is four meters away. His blaster is pointed a few degrees to the side, not directly threatening but ready to be brought onto target. “I want to know what you’re doing here, and what your business was with Nightswan.”
“I am an admiral,” Thrawn said. “You are a colonel. I could order you to withdraw.”
“Theoretically, yes,” Yularen agreed. “As a practical matter, the ISB carries more weight with Coruscant than our respective ranks might suggest.” He hesitates a second, then lowers the carbine to point at the ground. “I don’t believe you’re a traitor, Admiral. But this meeting has the appearance of treason, and that’s all your enemies would need to bring you down. Bottom line: You talk to me now, or someday you face them. Which is it going to be?”
“I invited Nightswan here to offer him a position with my people,” Thrawn said. “Not only would that have benefited them, but the loss of the insurgents’ leader would have collapsed opposition on Batonn.”
“I see,” Yularen said. His voice holds uncertainty. “He turned you down, did he?”
“You saw him leave.”
“Maybe he just went for a change of clothes,” Yularen countered. “You sure he’s not coming back?”
“He is not.”
“Fine,” Yularen said. “Now tell me about your light cruisers. Specifically, why you’ve positioned them so far away from the Chimaera with those dog-ugly barge things you dragged in from somewhere wrapped around them.”
“The cruisers are under repairs and unable to fight,” Thrawn said. “I positioned them at a distance so they would be out of range of any attack from the surface.”
“Uh-huh,” Yularen said. “Sounds reasonable…except that where they are right now completely opens them up to an attack from space. You remember those ships that got away from Kinshara at Denash?”
“The existence of such ships has not been proven.”
“Proof is for jurists and politicians. I’m talking about tactics and strategies, subjects you suddenly seem to know nothing about. Those cruisers are far enough outside Batonn’s gravity well that someone could just swoop in, board them, and take them to hell and gone.” He raises his eyebrows, his expression holding a question. “Their hyperdrives are working, correct? That’s what Vanto deduced from the repair logs.”
<
br /> “Commander Vanto is quite capable in the area of supplies and repairs,” Thrawn said. “If he states the hyperdrives are functional, you may rely on it.”
“Glad to hear that,” Yularen said. “You haven’t answered my question.”
“You are correct that a determined and quick attacker might be able to spirit the cruisers away,” Thrawn said. “But did you fail to notice the turn of that scenario?”
Yularen frowns. The frown vanishes into understanding. “That the cruisers can also jump if an attack is imminent?”
“Exactly,” Thrawn said. “That is why I placed them where I did. The repair barges are attached loosely enough that they will not be a hindrance.”
“And you separated them widely because…?” His expression holds anticipation.
Thrawn remained silent. Yularen’s expression changes to cautious understanding. “Because you don’t want any potential thieves to have all three of them lined up in a nice neat row ready for plucking.”
“Precisely,” Thrawn said. “You possess the same tactical abilities as Commander Vanto, Colonel. I do not know if you also possess his quality of leadership.”
“You really don’t have much political sense, do you? Never mind. I got a transmission from Gudry as Nightswan was leaving. He’s made it deep into the Creekpath base and has mined both the shield generator and an explosives cache he found. He’s keyed both of the triggers onto his comm’s remote.” His expression holds sudden frustration. “He also said that once he retrieves Pryce he’ll be ready to get out, and that he can trigger either or both of the mines at your command.”
“When he retrieves Governor Pryce?”
“That’s the part that has me worried, too,” Yularen said. Frustration and anger. “Apparently, she wandered off somewhere, possibly with her parents in tow, and he can’t raise her or locate her comm. He said he’ll try their house first. If she’s not there—” He shakes his head.
“We will find her,” Thrawn said. “I need to return to the Chimaera.”
“Go,” Yularen said. “Let’s just hope we don’t have to tell Grand Moff Tarkin that he needs to find Lothal yet another governor.”
