“Not at all,” Thurfian said. “I invited you here to see if you had any interest in bringing him down.”
The unreadable expression held firm this time. But Thurfian could tell it was a near thing. “I don’t understand.”
“It’s simple enough,” Thurfian said. Zistalmu could cause immense trouble for him, he knew, if he repeated any of this to one of the Mitth Councilors or syndics. But Thurfian had a good feel for Zistalmu’s goals and politics, and he was pretty sure that wouldn’t happen. “I’ve seen Thrawn’s record, too. He has the potential to do great things in the service of the fleet. He also has an equal potential of bringing ruin to the Mitth, and possibly to the entire Ascendancy.”
Zistalmu favored him with a mocking smile “Bringing ruin to the Mitth doesn’t sound so bad.” The smile faded. “But the Ascendancy is another matter.”
“Then you agree with me?”
“I don’t know how you made that jump from a simple comment in favor of the Ascendancy,” Zistalmu said. “But if we’re being honest…yes, I see the same potential for both glory and disaster.”
“Though the rest of the Irizi apparently don’t.”
Zistalmu waved a hand. “The recruitment offer was their attempt to steal Thrawn away from the Mitth. I doubt any of them bothered to look deep enough into his record to see what you and I are seeing. So what exactly are you proposing?”
“At this point, nothing but watchfulness,” Thurfian said, feeling a slight lessening of his tension. “That should be easy to do, given that our two families have already assigned us to watch over military matters. We simply continue that procedure, only with an eye toward coordinating our response if we see something dangerous in the works.”
“Won’t be easy,” Zistalmu cautioned, his eyes narrowed in thought. “For whatever reason, he seems to have made staunch allies of General Ba’kif and Commodore Ar’alani. Those are powerful and influential people.”
“I agree,” Thurfian said. “Ba’kif’s probably untouchable, but Ar’alani was once Irizi. She might still be amenable to pressure.”
“I doubt it,” Zistalmu said sourly. “I’ve talked with her once or twice since her promotion, and she’s very intent on upholding her new nonfamily status.”
“Then we focus on Thrawn,” Thurfian said. “And, perhaps, some of his less highly placed allies.”
“You’d know more about that than I would,” Zistalmu said. “Very well. We’ll watch, and wait, and see.” He looked around. “And of course, we’ll speak of this to no one.”
“Absolutely,” Thurfian said. “Thank you, Aristocra. Hopefully, we’ll never be called upon to act. But if we are…?”
“Then we act.” Zistalmu gestured around the corridor. “I trust you noted the irony of our discussion, given the March of Silence’s reputed history.”
“I did,” Thurfian said. “We’ll speak again, Aristocra.”
“Indeed we will.” With a nod, Zistalmu turned and walked away in the direction of his office.
And as Thurfian turned in the other direction, a belated thought occurred to him. The March’s history spoke of some of the Aristocra being dealt with for crimes occasionally as dark as treason. The question was whether Thrawn would be the object of any such future charge, or whether it would be Thurfian and Zistalmu.
Only time would tell.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Thrawn and Che’ri were gone for nearly five weeks, and with each day that passed Thalias felt her soul die a little more. She should have been out there with them, she knew, facing the same dangers they were facing. The fact that her Trials gambit had thrown Thurfian off the scent didn’t really count as being useful to their mission.
The Patriarch’s command to watch over Thrawn just added that much extra knife twist to her sense of guilt.
She therefore felt a huge sense of relief when Ar’alani finally called to inform her that the scout ship had entered the Csilla system, that it was staying away from the capital itself for the moment, and that a shuttle was on its way to bring Thalias to the Vigilant.
It turned out that the travelers’ quiet and unannounced return was only the first of the surprises.
“This could change everything,” Ar’alani said.
Thalias nodded, thoughts and possibilities spinning through her mind as she gazed at her questis and the details of the Republic energy shield Thrawn and Che’ri had brought back with them. In a quiet spot in the back of her mind, she found extra amazement in the fact that Thrawn and Ar’alani trusted her enough to share their secret.
But then, Che’ri knew everything, too, and sky-walkers and their caregivers spent a lot of time together. The two officers had probably decided that Thalias might as well hear the whole story up front rather than getting it in dribs and drabs from a nine-year-old.
“This is light-years beyond the electrostatic barriers we’ve been using,” Ar’alani continued. “We’re going to have to rethink our tactics, our fleet array, the whole balance of power. Everything.”
“But our advantage is only temporary,” Thrawn warned. “Even if we can reverse-engineer the one we brought back—”
“We can,” Ar’alani said. “We will.”
“Even if we can,” Thrawn continued, “no technology remains exclusive for long. Once it’s known to exist, others will develop their own version. Or will simply steal it.”
“Not from us,” Ar’alani said, her lip twisting. “But getting one from the Republic should be easy enough.” She tapped the questis thoughtfully. “The real question is why Yiv hasn’t gotten something like this already. You said there was some group of aliens involved with the Separatists, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but there’s no reason to think they’re necessarily associated with the Nikardun,” Thrawn pointed out. “Even if they are, they may have the same concerns we do. If they show the Chaos that such a shield exists, the Ascendancy and everyone else will soon have one.”
“So they’re thinking to use it as a surprise somewhere down the line?”
“As are we,” Thrawn said. “But unlike them, we can’t afford to wait. We have to use it now, and against Yiv, before he knows we have it.”
“Though he may already know,” Ar’alani warned. “It sounds like you and this General Skywalker made quite a loud mess out there.” She shook her head. “Skywalker. Bizarre coincidence.”
“I understand it’s not that uncommon name in parts of Lesser Space,” Thrawn said. “But you’re absolutely correct. There’s no way the incidents on Batuu and Mokivj can be kept quiet for long.”
Thalias winced. Running battles, interrogations, wholescale destruction on a planetary scale. Incidents.
“Fine,” Ar’alani said, setting the questis aside. “You obviously have a plan. Let’s hear it.”
Thrawn paused, as if gathering his thoughts, and Thalias took the moment to give Che’ri a surreptitious look. The girl had first greeted her with hugs and tears, some of joy and some of simple released tension. In that respect, she was very much the little girl who’d left the Ascendancy on this adventure.
But as Thalias looked at her now, she could see that the journey had added more than a few weeks’ worth of age to her. Not in the sense of aging, exactly, with the extra stress or weight that might have been laid on her from weeks of danger or fear or exhaustion. Instead, it was as if a fresh layer of maturity and confidence had settled across the child’s face.
“First of all, we know Yiv isn’t ready to take on the Ascendancy,” Thrawn said. “That much was clear after our first visit to the Lioaoin heartworld. Surrounded by his allies, facing an enemy he very much wanted to capture or kill—”