They spent the rest of the day there, slept overnight in the patrol ship, and left the next morning in convoy with the Agbui freighter. The aliens weren’t going back to Celwis, or even to another world in the Ascendancy, but Lakjiip had agreed to escort them out of the system to make sure some passing pirate didn’t get ideas. One of the peculiarities of their hyperdrive, the Agbui had explained to Lakjiip, was that their ships needed to be farther out of a planetary gravity well than those of most species before they could enter hyperspace. That greater distance, along with the time it took to cross it, made them especially vulnerable to attack.
Given how much of the rest of the Agbui story was false, Qilori normally would have assumed that was also a lie. But given that he’d already witnessed the longer approach time during his brief association with Haplif, he was inclined to believe it.
Should he ever need to make a quick escape in an Agbui ship, he made a note to himself, he would need to keep that in mind.
He was in the navigational chair, making one final adjustment to his sensory-deprivation headset, when he heard the captain’s voice behind him. “Did you accomplish everything you set out to do here, Senior Aide?”
“Yes,” Lakjiip said, and even through her precise professional tone Qilori could hear her underlying satisfaction. “Yes, I did.”
Qilori smiled. She had accomplished what she wanted. In that case, so had Haplif.
And so had Jixtus.
Still smiling, he settled the helmet on his head and prepared to once again join the Great Presence.
Once again, Thurfian was already waiting at the agreed-upon spot in the March of Silence when Zistalmu arrived.
Only this time, instead of using the time to observe and brood and plan, Thurfian used it to seethe.
How did Thrawn keep pulling these things out of the fire?
“You’re late,” he snapped as Zistalmu stepped into conversational range. “I’ve been waiting fifteen minutes.”
“My apologies,” Zistalmu said, inclining his head.
Which made Thurfian even angrier. Getting snapped back at would have given him an excuse to verbally lay into the man, and he really, really wanted to lay into someone right now. “I assume you have some kind of excuse?”
“I was working out the details of a contingency plan,” Zistalmu said, still with that maddening calm.
“Oh, so now you have a plan?” Thurfian said scornfully.
“Yes, I do,” Zistalmu said, some of the coolness starting to crack. “Because it certainly looks like yours has run straight into the ground.”
Thurfian took a deep breath, preparing a crushing retort—
And paradoxically, the seething rage faded back into a corner of his mind.
Because Zistalmu was right. Sending Thrawn against the Vagaari had been his idea. And it certainly wasn’t the Irizi’s fault that it hadn’t worked. “It does, doesn’t it?” he conceded. “My apologies for my words and my tone. I was just so furious … I assume you’ve read the report?”
“Twice,” Zistalmu said sourly. “And listened to the diplomatic corps try to decide if they were outraged or salivating at this first real break in relations with the Paataatus.”
“And no doubt listened to General Ba’kif point out oh-so-sincerely that because the ship he attacked was Nikardun, it didn’t even violate the preemptive-strike prohibition.”
“That too,” Zistalmu said. “Also listened to Ba’kif explain that just because the message came in via a Paataatus triad transmitter doesn’t mean it might be some trick. Not when it came wrapped in a military encryption with Thrawn’s personal confirmation overlay.”
“And the fact that they were willing to send it from one of their triads just underscores their gratitude toward him.”
“Indeed,” Zistalmu said. “All of which just adds another layer of glory on the Mitth. Are you sure you want to take him down?”
“Are we going to have to go through this every single time?” Thurfian growled. “What if he’d misread the Paataatus, or they’d misread him? What if he’d missed with that breacher and plasma sphere barrage? What if he’d not only missed the Nikardun but hit the Prince Militaire’s ship? We’d be at war, Thrawn would be up on charges, and there might well be only Eight Ruling Families.”
“I think you’re overstating the case a bit,” Zistalmu said. “But only a bit. The question now is, since Thrawn seems to be on another winning streak, what do we do about it?”
Thurfian eyed the other, belatedly remembering that this whole conversation had started with Zistalmu stating he had a plan. “I assume you have a way to stop him?”
“My sense right now is that, realistically, he can’t be stopped,” Zistalmu said. “If the suggestions the Paataatus gave him about possible Vagaari whereabouts prove false, then he returns empty-handed. But he still returns a hero on the diplomatic front. If there are still a few Vagaari out there, odds are he’ll destroy them.”
“Assuming the Paataatus are right about there being only a small remnant at most,” Thurfian said.
“That is the Paataatus backyard,” Zistalmu reminded him. “If anyone would know about a major pirate gang operating there, it’s them.”
“Assuming they didn’t lie to Thrawn just to get rid of him.”
“There’s that, of course,” Zistalmu agreed. “To get back to the plan. My thought is that if we can’t stop Thrawn from picking up some glory, maybe we can at least make him share it.”
Thurfian frowned. “How?”
“We send him some help,” Zistalmu said. “Obviously, we can’t send one of our ships.” He smiled tightly. “Even more obviously, we can’t send one of yours. So. How does a Xodlak ship sound?”
Thurfian thought back. Hadn’t it been a Xodlak representative who’d made Zistalmu late to their last meeting? “Do they even have any warships?”
“Technically, all they have are their various planetary defense forces,” Zistalmu conceded. “Though some of their planetary patrol ships probably edge toward warship class. They also have some larger ships in reserve, though again they’re technically not allowed to fly them.”
“Until and unless they regain Ruling Family status.”
“Right. But no, I was talking about an Expansionary Defense Fleet ship commanded by a Xodlak. If the Mitth get the glory from Thrawn’s exploits, surely the Xodlak will get equal credit if one of theirs is in command.”
“Seems reasonable,” Thurfian said. “And since the Xodlak are allies of the Irizi …?”
“We might get a bit of the glow,” Zistalmu conceded. “But the Mitth will get all of Thrawn’s, so what are you worried about?”
“I suppose you’re right,” Thurfian said, a bit reluctantly. Clearly, Zistalmu was hoping the Irizi would get more than just a glow off a Xodlak captain’s success.
Still, Thurfian could hardly expect Zistalmu’s cooperation on this if he didn’t get something out of the deal. “You have a ship in mind?”
“That was the research that made me late.” Zistalmu pulled out his questis and handed it over. “Our best bet is the Grayshrike, commanded by Senior Captain Xodlak’in’daro. She’s part of Admiral Ar’alani’s task force, so she and Thrawn have worked together, which makes her a logical person to send to assist him.”
“You think Ba’kif and Supreme Admiral Ja’fosk will go for that?”
“Why not? The Springhawk’s off in unknown territory. The Paataatus are behind him, possible Vagaari forces are in front of him, and there are no allies or resources anywhere nearby. It’s only prudent to send help, and the Grayshrike is the ideal option.”