And with that, she no longer had a choice. “Wikivv, get me an in-system jump,” she ordered. “Take the position of the attackers, extrapolate a reasonable backstop depth behind them, add fifty percent more for safety, and put us there.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Wikivv said, turning toward her board.
Apros took half a step closer to Lakinda. “So we’re going in?” he asked, his voice low.
“The Springhawk’s in danger,” Lakinda said. “With luck, we’ll come out behind whatever Thrawn’s facing and get them in a pincer.”
Apros’s lip twitched. “You realize, ma’am, that we’re dangerously close to joining in a preemptive strike.”
“No, we’re coming to the aid of a fellow Ascendancy warship,” Lakinda corrected. “Thrawn’s the one walking that particular line.”
Apros looked out the viewport. “I hope you’re right.”
As do we all, Lakinda thought. “Wikivv?”
“Ready, Senior Captain.”
“All warriors: Stand ready for combat,” Lakinda called, feeling a trickle of satisfaction. She’d been right to have the Grayshrike on full battle alert. She’d been right, and all the rest of them had been wrong. Score one for the Xodlak. “Wikivv, as soon as we arrive, spin us around toward the Springhawk where we can target whoever’s facing it.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Stand ready,” Lakinda said, squaring her shoulders. There was no way the Mitth were going to spin this one into Thrawn being the hero. “Three, two, one.” There was a brief flicker from the starscape, almost more imagined than seen, and the Grayshrike had arrived.
And in a single frozen instant, everything went straight to hell.
Even as Wikivv began the yaw rotation that would bring them to Lakinda’s planned pincer position, the proximity alarm sounded, warning of a large vessel within combat range. Lakinda twisted her head to look that direction—
She felt her breath catch in her throat. The ship was coming up fast around the curve of the planet, where up to now it had been out of sight of both her and Thrawn. “Ghaloksu?”
“Warship, Battle Dreadnought class, unknown configuration,” the weapons officer snapped. “Coming up fast on portside.”
Lakinda felt her throat tighten. Battle Dreadnoughts were a class of alien warships, ranging from a little smaller than a Chiss Nightdragon man-of-war to half again as large. This particular version was about midway in that range, slightly larger than a Nightdragon and probably comparably armed.
Which made it considerably larger than the Grayshrike and Springhawk combined.
“Wikivv, belay the yaw turn,” Lakinda ordered, checking the tactical as the sensor sweep began filling it in. Moving away from her, heading toward the Springhawk, were three groups of five small ships, gunboat or missile boat size. The lead group, presumably, were the ships that had been pumping out all the laserfire she’d seen when the Grayshrike first arrived in the system.
She clenched her teeth. Now that she knew about the Battle Dreadnought, the smart move would be to jump before the Grayshrike drifted inward across the invisible marker that would also put them too deep in the planet’s gravity well to escape into hyperspace.
But that would leave the Springhawk to face this new threat alone. And extricating Thrawn from the mess he’d gotten himself into had been the whole idea behind this sortie in the first place.
Still, her first duty was to her own ship and the Ascendancy. If this was a new and hitherto unrecognized threat, the Grayshrike needed to survive long enough to bring a warning to Csilla. If that meant she had to abandon the Springhawk—
“Incoming!” Ghaloksu called. “Three missiles from the Battle Dreadnought.”
“Lasers: Target and destroy,” Lakinda ordered.
And with that, the decision had effectively been made for her. The Grayshrike had been attacked without warning or challenge … and if whoever was master of that ship thought a Chiss commander of her reputation and family was going to cut and run from such a provocation, they were about to receive a very rude awakening.
“Shrent, signal the Springhawk,” she said, the sudden surge of pride and determination washing away the uncertainty and caution. “Tell Thrawn we’re going in.
CHAPTER NINE
“Stand by all weapons,” Thrawn said, his head bowed as he worked at his questis, his voice icily calm.
Calmer than Samakro’s own voice probably would have been under the same conditions. Certainly calmer than the first officer was feeling right now.
Thrawn’s analysis had anticipated the possibility that a warship was concealed around the edge of the planet. He’d also foreseen that such a threat couldn’t appear without giving the Springhawk ample time to drive up out of the gravity well and make its escape. Moreover, with Sky-walker Che’ri already on station in secondary control, the Chiss could maneuver out of the tangled hyperspace pathways filling this region faster and farther than any pursuer could manage.
The analysis hadn’t figured on the Grayshrike suddenly showing up practically in the warship’s lap.
And with that, Thrawn’s whole plan had cracked like an overripe egg. From the images and quick-scan stats the Grayshrike had transmitted, it was clear there was no way Lakinda could take on that Battle Dreadnought by herself, especially not with those fifteen gunboats on station ready to back it up. The Grayshrike needed to get turned around and back into hyperspace, and fast.
Too late. Even as Samakro peered across the distance he saw a sudden volley of laserfire erupt between the Grayshrike and the still-unseen ship. The Battle Dreadnought had begun its attack, and the Grayshrike had responded.
And Samakro had seen enough of Lakinda to know she would never back down from a fight, even one where she was hopelessly outmatched. Xodlak family honor alone would dictate that.
Which now gave the Springhawk no choice but to go to her aid.
Unfortunately, the only way for the Springhawk to get to the Grayshrike in time was to drive straight through those same fifteen gunboats.
“Guards, escort the Magys and her companion back to their suite and see they remain there,” Thrawn ordered.
Samakro watched as the two aliens and their escort walked to the hatchway and left the bridge. The hatch closed, and he turned back to Thrawn. “What’s the plan, sir?”
Thrawn pointed out the viewport. “We go straight through the gunboats.”
“Understood,” Samakro said. He’d called it, all right. “If I may suggest, sir, it might be safer to angle out of the gravity well and try an in-system jump to the Grayshrike’s side.”
Thrawn shook his head. “An accurate jump that short would be virtually impossible.”
“So would surviving a head-on battle against fifteen gunboats,” Samakro said tersely, his patience finally starting to fray. Did Thrawn truly believe he was invincible? Did he think his logic and tactical sense were never wrong?
“Not fifteen, Mid Captain,” Thrawn corrected mildly. He pointed to the tactical. “Five.”