“Maybe,” Haplif said, thinking it through. “That would be fine for Yomie, but would it also work for Yoponek?”
“You already said he wants social position,” Shimkif reminded him. “Surely a family is also included in that craving. In fact, given how Chiss culture works, I’d say it was practically a given.”
“Good point,” Haplif said. “I’m constrained to remind you that we’ve been traveling for weeks now without giving them any hint that we were a family. How exactly do we cover that?”
“We don’t,” Shimkif said, smiling slyly. “We’re going to have a marriage ceremony right here aboard ship.”
Haplif felt his forehead skin crinkle. “What?”
“Think about it,” Shimkif urged. “A marriage ceremony puts us in the same position they plan to be in sometime in the next few months. That makes us emotionally sympathetic to them, and presumably vice versa.”
“Maybe,” Haplif said. To be honest, he wasn’t all that convinced it would do any good. Yomie’s life-cravings didn’t necessarily translate into empathy for a pair of aliens.
But Jixtus’s deadlines were looming, and it certainly couldn’t hurt. At the very least it might distract Yomie from her damn bird migration. “You can write something properly elaborate and bombastic?” he asked.
“Trust me,” Shimkif said. “There won’t be an untouched heart in the house. And really, how could our Chiss lovebirds resist the humble requests of two newly happily marrieds?”
CHAPTER TEN
“I apologize for the quality of the recordings,” Lakinda said, tapping her questis to send the Grayshrike’s sensor data across the conference room table to Thrawn and his first officer. “But the Battle Dreadnought stayed between us and the smaller ship throughout most of the battle, and on the rare occasions when it moved there was usually missile debris blocking the view.”
“All by design, of course,” Thrawn commented, looking closely at the images on his questis. “Were you able to make any determination as to the type of craft?”
“No,” Lakinda said, feeling unreasonably like she was back at the academy being interviewed under the harsh glare of a senior officer.
Unreasonably, because on a purely intellectual level she recognized that neither Thrawn nor Samakro was leaning on her or even showing any disapproval over how she and her ship had handled their part of the battle. But the very fact that she’d traveled to the Springhawk instead of having this meeting on her own ship added an extra and unwanted emotional layer to the whole thing.
Not that the choice of conference site had been anyone’s decision. Thrawn was Mitth, one of the Nine, and Lakinda was Xodlak, one of the Forty, and while military regulations expressly forbade any preferential treatment on the basis of family association, everyone knew decisions of etiquette nearly always fell in line with the rest of Ascendancy society.
It might have been easier if Lakinda had brought one or more of her own officers along instead of coming alone. But the Grayshrike had taken damage, and she had no intention of pulling any of her people off repair work just to relieve some of her unwarranted anxiety.
Of course, the fact that the day had once again been saved by Thrawn’s tactical plan wasn’t helping her mood any.
“Interesting that they worked so hard to prevent us from getting a closer look,” Thrawn said. “From the size and configuration I’d guess it’s either a personnel transport or freighter, but there’s no way to tell which.”
“If it even matters,” Samakro pointed out. “Either ship type can carry cargo or passengers or both.”
“Exactly,” Thrawn said. “A more solid identification might give us a clue as to the intent, but as you say, that hardly matters.”
“So why obscure it?” Samakro asked.
“The likely possibility is that we would recognize the design and therefore learn who the Battle Dreadnought’s masters are working with,” Thrawn said.
“From which it follows that we may already know these allies,” Lakinda said.
“Or may encounter them in the future,” Thrawn said. He gazed at the questis another moment, then set it down on the table. “We’ll continue to analyze the data, Senior Captain, as I presume you will as well.”
“Of course,” Lakinda said. “What about the terrain they were flying over? Was the Magistrate, or whatever her title is, able to identify it?”
“The Magys,” Thrawn corrected. He pulled up a page on his questis and sent it across to her. “Here’s the data and our first-pass analysis of the region. Unfortunately, she was of only limited help. That general region was once largely farmland, with some small rivers and lakes, several medium-sized cities, and two ranges of upthrust mountains.”
“Doesn’t look like there’s much farmland left,” Lakinda said, wincing as she peered at the images. Whether it had been deliberate or merely collateral damage, the civil war had made a serious mess of the area.
“True, though it’s difficult to tell for certain with all the smoke and dust clouds,” Thrawn pointed out. “Still, unless the plants that were grown there thrived on radioactivity and toxic chemicals, I think we can rule out farming as the Battle Dreadnought’s objective.”
“Maybe they wanted the area cleared so they could put in something new,” Samakro suggested. “I don’t know offhand of any plants that like damaged soil, but I’m sure there’s something out there that does.”
“And of course, we’re only assuming this was the area they were interested in,” Lakinda added. “Those gunboats were on the move before we arrived, which means the alarm had already been given. The Battle Dreadnought and transport might have started elsewhere and were simply heading over that spot when we got our first look at them.”
“A valid point,” Thrawn agreed. “At any rate, there seems to be nothing more we can do right now except alert the Ascendancy and see if the analysts on Csilla can do anything more with our data.”
“Unless we want to send down a team for a quick look,” Samakro suggested. “If there’s something blatantly obvious down there, they might be able to spot it.”
“If we can’t detect it with the Springhawk’s and Grayshrike’s sensors, I doubt a cursory flyby would find anything,” Thrawn said. “And given Senior Captain Lakinda’s news, a flyby would be all we would have time for. Is there anything more you can tell me about the message?”
“Nothing beyond what I’ve already given you,” Lakinda said. “Admiral Ar’alani thought Supreme Admiral Ja’fosk may have sent it at the behest of the Syndicure, but that was just speculation.”
“Based on the briefness of the order?”
“And the lack of any when convenient modifiers that usually come to a commander who’s already on a designated mission,” Lakinda said. “If it did come from the Syndicure, they’re probably going to be annoyed that it’s taken this long for you to respond.”
“Is that a hint we should get moving?” Samakro asked.
“I’m not saying or hinting anything,” Lakinda said, feeling some annoyance. Whatever was going on, and whether it was coming from the Syndicure or even just Ja’fosk himself, there was no reason to put her in the middle of it. “I’m here to deliver a message. I’ve delivered it. Your assignment is to return to the Ascendancy; mine is to rendezvous with Admiral Ar’alani at the last Nikardun base we cleared out together after you left. I’d suggest due haste for both of us.”