Chapter 15
. . And this is the engine compartment," Thrawn said, stepping aside to let Thrass look through the access hatchway into theBargain Hunter 's engine room. "You'll notice it has a radically differently layout from those of Chiss vessels this size."
"Yes," Thrass said. He peered inside a moment, then turned to Car'das. "What's the vessel's sublight range?"
"I'm not sure," Car'das said, looking over at Qennto. The other was standing off to one side with Maris, who was whispering a running translation to him. "Rak?" he invited in Basic.
"Why?" Qennto growled. "Is he looking to take it for a test run or something?"
"Come on, Rak," Car'das cajoled, carefully avoiding Thrawn' s eyes. Qennto hadn't been happy about letting Thrawn give his brother this private tour of his ship, and he'd been wearing that annoyance on his sleeve ever since they'd arrived.
The problem was that either he didn't remember that Thrawn could now understand Basic, or else he just didn't care.
So far the commander hadn't responded to Qennto's snide comments, but that restraint was bound to have a limit. If he got tired enough of this and tossed Qennto back in the brig, even Maris might not be able to sweet-talk him out again.
Qennto rolled his eyes. "We can do six hundred hours of sublight before refueling," he said grudgingly. "Six fifty if we're careful with our acceleration."
"Thank you." Switching back to Minnisiat, Car'das translated for Thrass.
"Impressive," the syndic said, taking another look at the engine compartment. "Their fuel efficiency must be slightly better than ours."
"Yes, but their hyperdrives appear to be more fragile," Thrawn said. "Our shock net attacks disabled both theirs and their attackers' without difficulty."
"Weaponry?"
"Simple but adequate," Thrawn told him. "The equipment is difficult to get to, but my experts have studied it at length. Their energy weapons and missiles are less sophisticated than ours, and they don't carry any shock nets or other disabling equipment. On the other hand, bear in mind that this is merely a small private freighter."
"True." Thrass looked at Car'das. "Your peopledo have war vessels, I presume?"
"The Republic has no army of its own," Car'das said, choosing his words carefully. Peaceful watchfulness might be the Chiss way, but he still didn't want to make these people nervous. "Of course, most of our member systems have their own defense forces."
"Which can also be used for attack?"
"That does happen sometimes," Car'das conceded. "But the Supreme Chancellor can call on member systems to help stop an aggressor, and that usually ends things pretty quickly. Mediation by the Jedi can sometimes stop trouble before it gets that far."
"Jedi?"
"A class of beings unknown to us," Thrawn told him. "Ferasi has been trying to explain them to me."
Car'das looked at Maris in surprise. He hadn't realized she'd been having private chats with the commander. Her eyes met his, ducked guiltily away, and for the first time since the session began her running translation faltered.
Qennto didn't miss any of it. His eyes narrowed, flicking to Maris, then Car'das, then back to Maris, and finally to the two Chiss.
"They appear able to access some unknown energy field," Thrawn continued to his brother. If he'd caught the interplay, he didn't show it. "It can be used for sensory enhancement, insight into others' motivations and thoughts, or as a direct weapon."
"But only for defense," Maris put in. "Jedi never attack first."
"You talking about Jedi?" Qennto put in. "Car'das? Did she sayJedi? "
"She's trying to describe the Jedi for him," Car'das said. "The Chiss apparently don't have anything like them."
"Good," Qennto grunted. "At least we top them in something. So what's she saying?"
"They were just talking about Jedi powers," Car'das said, looking at the two Chiss. Thrawn's face was expressionless, while Thrass was clearly annoyed with this side conversation in a language he didn't understand. "But we can talk about this later," he added.
"Yeah," Qennto said. "Sure."
They finished the rest of the tour and returned to the base. Car'das still couldn't tell what Thrass thought of it all, but he found himself wilting with relief as he and the others were released to go back to their quarters. He'd half expected the syndic to order them all into the brig.
The relief was premature. Even as he started to pass Qennto and Maris's quarters and head toward his own, Qennto took his arm and hauled him bodily through the door. "What-?"
"Shut up," Qennto said, pulling him the rest of the way through and letting the door close behind him. Giving him a shove toward Maris, he put his back to the door and folded his arms defiantly across his chest. "Okay," he said. "Let's hear it."
"Let's hear what?" Car'das asked, his heartbeat starting to pound again.
"The story about you and Maris and Thrawn," Qennto said coldly. "Specifically, these private chats he and Maris have been having."
Car'das caught his breath, and instantly cursed himself for his reaction. If Qennto had requested a guilty reaction in writing, he could hardly have delivered him a better one. "What do you mean?" he asked, stalling for time.
"Don't you mean, how do I know?" Qennto snorted. "What, you think that just because I don't come to your little language school I've just been sitting around staring at the walls?" He nodded at the computer across the room. "Maris was kind enough to let me watch her set up the pathway to the vocabulary lists."
Car'das felt his stomach tighten. "So you understand Cheunh?"
"I understand enough of it." Qennto looked at Maris. "I also know how to read women."
"You don't understand," Maris said, her voice low and soothing.
"Fine," he said. "Explain it to me."
She took a deep breath. "I admire Commander Thrawn," she said. Her voice was still soothing, but Car'das could hear cracks starting to form in it. She knew Qennto's temper even better than he did. "He's intelligent and noble, with an artistic sensitivity I haven't seen since I left school."
Qennto snorted. "You mean since you left those shallow needle-headed idiots you used to hang out with?"