Thurfian skimmed the data Zistalmu had compiled. It did indeed look like the Grayshrike would be an excellent choice. “What about this Captain Lakinda? Is she going to fall under Thrawn’s spell like Ba’kif and Ar’alani?”
“Not a chance,” Zistalmu assured him. “I’ve spoken with a Xodlak on Naporar who deals with the Expansionary Defense Fleet officer corps. He says she’s ambitious, competent, and that even as a senior officer she’s very family-focused. Given the Xodlak relationship with the Irizi, and the tensions we have with you Mitth, she’s going to be completely resistant to anything he throws at her.”
“All right,” Thurfian said. There were still potential pitfalls to all this, he knew. But there were pitfalls to everything he and Zistalmu had been doing ever since they made this private alliance. “How do you want to do this?”
“I’m ready to submit the proposal to Ba’kif and Ja’fosk,” Zistalmu said. “The Grayshrike’s somewhere out of the Ascendancy at the moment, but Csilla ought to be able to reach it with a triad message. Given Thrawn’s legendary thoroughness, it’s unlikely he’ll finish his survey before Lakinda can get out there to assist him.”
Thurfian hesitated. So many uncertainties … but it was certain that if they didn’t do something, Thrawn would eventually crash and burn, and possibly take the Mitth down with him.
And if Zistalmu was hoping the Grayshrike could share in the glory, Lakinda should also be able to share in the blame if that happened. “All right, let’s do it,” he said. He lifted a warning finger. “But this had better work.”
“It will,” Zistalmu promised. “Lakinda wants the Xodlak to be one of the Ruling Families again. Thrawn and the Mitth can’t get that for her. The Irizi can.
“Whatever we need her to do, she’ll do it.”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Ar’alani had planned their arrival at Sunrise very carefully, making sure the Vigilant and Grayshrike arrived in the planet’s orbital shadow and a sufficient distance out that they could make a quick exit into hyperspace if the Battle Dreadnought Thrawn and Lakinda had tangled with had sent another warship to take its place.
But as far as she could see from the Vigilant’s position, the black disk of the planet was alone.
She gazed at the darkened world in front of them, an unpleasant chill running through her. Civilized worlds generally had lighting patterns that were visible at night, either navigational aids or just the lights of traveling vehicles. On a handful of special worlds like Csilla, those lights were few and far between, but they were still there.
But on Sunrise’s nighttime surface, there was nothing. Either the war had utterly devastated the planet, or the survivors were cowering in the darkness, afraid to show anything that might attract their enemies.
Wutroow, standing beside Ar’alani’s command chair, had clearly seen the same absolute darkness and come to the same conclusion. “And Thrawn calls this place Sunrise?” she asked.
“So he does,” Ar’alani said, wincing a little. “Whether he believes the name is appropriate is a different question.” She keyed her comm, double-checking that it was set on a tight beam that wouldn’t leak out to any eavesdroppers who might be lurking in the area. “Captain Lakinda, this is Admiral Ar’alani,” she said. “Opinion?”
“Our sensors aren’t showing any ships or other power sources in the area,” Lakinda’s voice came over the speaker. “However, that isn’t necessarily conclusive. The region the warship was guarding was on the other side of the planet. If there’s really something there that the aliens are interested in, that’s probably where it will be.”
“Agreed,” Ar’alani said. “On the other hand, if your skirmish worried its masters enough to send more than one replacement, they should be positioned so as to watch all approaches, including our current one. The fact that neither of us is picking up anything suggests—”
“Movement, Admiral,” Biclian cut in from the sensor station. “Coming around the starboard edge of the planet.”
“Get me a reading,” Ar’alani ordered, peering at the sensor display. The object was big, easily big enough to be a major warship. But it was moving along in an almost leisurely way, apparently not in any hurry. Had it failed to spot the two Chiss ships out here? “Passive sensors only. Captain Lakinda?”
“We’re scanning it now, ma’am,” Lakinda said.
“Belay that,” Ar’alani said. “Shift your scans to aft and flanking. I don’t want something sneaking up on us while we’re all gawking.”
There was just the slightest hesitation. “Yes, ma’am.”
“She does so hate to be left out of the action,” Wutroow muttered.
“I don’t think running out of things to do is going to be a problem,” Ar’alani replied. “Biclian?”
“Analysis coming up now, Admiral,” Biclian said. “It’s about the Vigilant’s size, irregularly shaped, not any warship configuration we’ve seen before. Surface albedo suggests rough rock with admixed iron and other metals. Orbital path is constant, no evidence of motive power.”
“I’ll be damned,” Wutroow said suddenly. “Admiral, it’s a moon.”
“Senior Captain Wutroow is correct,” Biclian confirmed. “A very small moon, or possibly an asteroid.”
“Interesting,” Ar’alani said. The last time she and her bridge crew had had a conversation about an asteroid … “Give me a reading on orbital eccentricity.”
“One moment, ma’am.” Biclian paused, eyeing his displays. “Preliminary reading is point zero zero five.”
“Practically circular,” Wutroow said darkly. “Probably not a random gravitational capture, then. Are you thinking what I’m thinking, Admiral?”
“Very likely,” Ar’alani said. “Captain Lakinda, there wasn’t anything like this asteroid in your battle records. Could it have been in that orbit the entire time you were here, out of your view on the wrong side of the planet? Or is it something new?”
“We’re reviewing the records now, Admiral,” Lakinda said, and Ar’alani could visualize the senior captain’s eyes narrowed in concentration. “Given the limited length of time we were here, it is possible that we just never saw it. A precise time-line analysis might be able to backtrack the asteroid’s orbit to be certain, but that will take time.”
“Which we may not have,” Wutroow warned. “I trust you’ve had a chance to review our report from that last Nikardun base?”
“Yes, ma’am, we have,” Lakinda said. “Are you thinking this might be another of the camouflaged missile launchers that the attackers used there?”
“I think it very likely,” Ar’alani said.
“If it is, it has to have some kind of sensor array to know when to launch,” Wutroow pointed out. “In which case, it may have already spotted us.”
“It may,” Ar’alani agreed, gazing at the unpretentious blob floating across the sensor display. “Or it may not. Wutroow, we’ve got Thrawn’s records of the Springhawk’s and Grayshrike’s battle here, don’t we?”
“I think so,” Wutroow said, punching keys on her questis. “Yes, we do.”
“He came in on a different vector than the Grayshrike did,” Ar’alani said. “Run the sensor data and see if you can spot that asteroid anywhere. Maybe at the corner of one of the scans, where no one was looking.”