“Probably,” Yiv said, the smugness back. With the death sentence now pronounced with the proper harshness, the Benevolent was settling back to enjoy watching his enemy squirm. “Are there any provisions in particular you’d like to revisit?”
“Let me first commend you for your insight in moving the meeting to this spot,” Thrawn said. “I presume you felt Primea orbit would be too public a venue? Especially since you don’t want the Vaks to see how much military force you have in the area?”
“That would hardly be a surprise,” Yiv assured him. “They’ve seen these ships, and more. It’s amazing how the presence of Battle Dreadnoughts can smooth out a round of negotiations.”
“Perhaps in general,” Thrawn said. “Perhaps not with a people like the Vaks. You were also wise enough to stay within the Primea system instead of moving us elsewhere. This way, you can calculate and execute a jump journey over to the planet within a relatively few minutes.”
“I don’t anticipate any reason to hurry over there,” Yiv said. A hint of caution had crept into his voice, Qilori noted with some trepidation of his own. If there was anyone who should be worried about his situation, it was Thrawn. Why was he instead making casual conversation on irrelevant subjects? “Are you expecting the Combine leadership to suddenly need a conversation with me?”
“Not necessarily,” Thrawn said. “You asked which part of our agreement I wanted to revisit.”
“And?”
“Just one provision,” Thrawn said. “The part about me coming to Primea alone.”
The hyperspace swirl became star-flares, then stars, and the Springhawk had arrived.
“Dalvu: Sensor scan,” Samakro ordered, doing a quick visual check of his own. There was a lot of traffic out there, ships of all sizes and styles moving in or out or just orbiting Primea while they awaited their turn. Not surprising for a center of commerce and diplomatic contact, but it was going to make drawing out the enemy that much harder.
Or perhaps even impossible if Thrawn’s analysis of Nikardun ship parameters proved inadequate to the job. If the task force couldn’t pick Yiv’s ships out of the swarm, the mission would be over before it even started.
Leaving Thrawn to face Yiv alone.
“Vigilant has arrived, Mid Captain,” Dalvu announced.
“Acknowledged,” Samakro said, peering out at the Nightdragon that had just appeared in the distance in front of the Springhawk. As he watched, the rest of Ar’alani’s force popped in from hyperspace, the cruisers, destroyers, and missile boats moving quickly into screening formation around her as they arrived. “Kharill, do we have her signal yet?”
“Coming online now, sir,” Kharill confirmed. “Open communication to Primea and all the rest of the force.” There was a double-click—
“Primea Central Command, this is Admiral Ar’alani of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet,” Ar’alani identified herself. “May I assume you received the message from my colleague, Senior Captain Thrawn?”
“This is Command,” an official-sounding voice came back promptly. “We did.”
“And have you considered it?”
“We have,” the Vak said. “We wait upon your confirmation of the identities and locations of Nikardun vessels.”
“Acknowledged,” Ar’alani said. “Our officers are gathering that data now.”
“Dalvu?” Samakro prompted. “Seconds count.”
“But so does neatness,” Kharill added.
“Agreed,” Samakro said, fighting back his impatience. The orbiting Nikardun ships were undoubtedly even now reporting to Yiv that a Chiss fleet had arrived and were requesting orders. The longer the sensor analysis took, the more likely Yiv would order an attack and the Nikardun would get in the first shot.
Normally, that would be a good thing, the excuse the Chiss needed to shoot back. In this case, though, that kind of political spit-splitting would be less than useless.
But they had to be careful. Letting a Nikardun slip unidentified beneath their sensor threshold would be bad enough. Inadvertently targeting an innocent ship would be worse. The seconds ticked by…
“Got them, sir,” Dalvu said with clear satisfaction. “I make it thirty-two ships, ranging in size from destroyers to missile boats.”
“Got the Vigilant’s list,” the comm officer put in. “Also Grayshrike’s and Whisperbird’s analyses.”
“All four match,” Dalvu announced. “Repeat: full confirmation ID on thirty-two enemy ships. Deployment pattern…well, well.” She touched a key, and the tagged Nikardun ships came up on the tactical.
“Would you look at that?” Kharill said with feigned surprise. “I’d say that’s a blockade formation.”
“So it is,” Samakro agreed. Deployed that way, probably, in order to keep anyone from wandering out of the regular traffic flow and accidentally blundering into Yiv’s confrontation with Thrawn, wherever it was Yiv had moved it.
But of course, the Vaks wouldn’t know that was the reason.
“Vigilant’s sending the profile to Primea Command,” Kharill reported.
“Good,” Samakro said. “Let’s see if they come to the correct conclusion.”
“They’d better hurry,” Kharill warned. “Yiv can’t possibly be hoping to bully a system like this without a lot more firepower close at hand. I’d prefer we have the chance to take out his bumpers before his bruisers get here.”
“Admiral Ar’alani, this is Command,” the Vak voice came back. “Do I assume from the pattern that we are the object of a Nikardun blockade?”
“I would say so, Command, yes,” Ar’alani confirmed. “Will you hold your defense ships back while we clear it out?”
“That question was also asked by Captain Thrawn,” Command said. “The answer is now decided. We will hold back.”
“Thank you,” Ar’alani said. “Task force, you have your targets. Engage at will.”
“You heard the admiral,” Samakro ordered, tapping ID locks onto the two closest Nikardun ships. “We’ll start with these two. Azmordi, get us moving—flank speed.”
“No,” Yiv said, his eyes focused slightly off to the side. The smugness had vanished completely from his voice, replaced by utter disbelief and a growing anger, his symbionts’ tendrils waving restlessly. “It’s not possible. You’re simply not important enough for the Chiss to send a war fleet to rescue you.”
“You assume this display of Chiss power is because of me,” Thrawn said. “It’s far more likely the Vak Combine itself called for Ascendancy aid.”
“Absurdity begets absurdity,” Yiv scoffed. “The fools would never make a decision like that. They aren’t even close to having all the thought lines they need, let alone to having considered all of them.”
“You misunderstand them, General,” Thrawn said. “That will prove your undoing. Would you like to know what was in the message I sent them?”
“I know what was in the message,” Yiv retorted. “I took it from your hostage.”
“And substituted something far more innocuous,” Thrawn said. “Of course you did. What you failed to realize was that I left another message in the fighter’s computer. Would you like to hear what it said?”
Yiv’s attention jerked back to the comm from whatever he was looking at, a terrible fire blazing in his eyes. “Tell me,” he invited softly.