Algrann cursed under his breath. "Terrific. We leave a tyranny run by bureaucrats and corrupt politicians, only to end up in one run by Jedi."
"It's not a tyranny," Sivv disagreed.
"No," Algrann said tightly. "Not yet."
Chapter 18
Outbound Flight," Qennto repeated, frowning off into space as he slowly shook his head. "Nope. Never heard of it."
"Me, neither," Maris seconded. "And you say this Kav and Stratis want todestroy it?"
"Kav and whoever," Car'das said. "Thrawn thinksStratis is an alias."
"Fine; Kav and Master No One," Qennto said impatiently. "So why do they want to destroy it?"
Car'das shrugged. "Stratis spun a big loop pastry about how dangerous the Jedi are and how they want to take over and make everyone to do things their way. But that has to be a lie."
"Not necessarily," Qennto said. "A lot of people out there are starting to wonder about the Jedi."
"They're certainly helping to prop up the Coruscant bureaucracy," Maris pointed out. "Anyone who wants genuine government reform will have to persuade the Jedi to change sides."
"Or else kill them," Qennto said.
Maris shivered. "I can't believe it would ever come to that."
"Well, Stratis sure wasn't talking about persuasion," Car'das said. "What about these Dreadnaughts? You ever hear of them?"
"Yeah, they're Rendili StarDrive's latest gift to the militarily obsessed," Qennto said. "Six hundred meters long, with heavy shields and a whole bunch of upgraded turbolaser cannons, most of them clustered in four midline bubbles where they can deliver a terrific broadside volley. Normal crew runs around sixteen thousand, with room for another two or three thousand troops. I hear the Corporate Sector's been buying them up like Transland Day souvenirs, and some of the bigger Core Worlds aren't far behind."
"Has Coruscant been doing any of the buying?" Maris asked.
Qennto shrugged. "There's been talk lately about the Republic finally getting its own army and a genuine battle fleet. But they've been talking that way for years, and nothing's ever come of it."
"So with six Dreadnaughts, we're talking up to a hundred thousand people aboard Outbound Flight?" Car'das asked.
"Probably no more than half that," Qennto said. "A lot of the standard jobs would be duplicated among the ships. Besides that, you want to build in extra elbow room on a long-term colony ship."
"That's still a lot of people to kill if all they want is to get at a few Jedi," Maris pointed out.
"Don't worry, I'm sure your noble-minded Commander Thrawn won't fall for it," Qennto said sourly.
"But even if Thrawn doesn't cooperate, Stratis still has an intact Trade Federation battleship on hand," Car'das reminded them. "That's a lot of firepower, and they might have more of them on the way."
"So what do we do?" Maris asked.
"Wedo nothing," Qennto said firmly. "It's notour job to look out for this Outbound Flight."
"But we can't just sit here and do nothing," Maris protested. "No, we can run like scalded hawk-bats," Qennto retorted.
"And I'm thinking this would be a real good time to do just that." "But-"
"Maris," Qennto said, cutting her off with an uplifted hand. "It's not our problem. You hear me? It'snot our problem. If the Jedi are going to go flying off into the Unknown Regions, it's up tothem to figure out how to protect themselves. It's up tous to figure out how to get ourselves out of here. That is, if you think you can drag yourself away from all this nobility and culture."
"That's not fair," Maris protested, her eyes hard even as a touch of pink colored her cheeks.
"Whatever." Qennto turned back to Car'das. "You're his confidant these days, kid. You think you can sweet-talk him into letting us have that Vagaari loot his brother locked away?" He jerked a thumb at Maris. "Or should I ask Maris to do it?"
"Rak-" Maris began.
"I don't think sweet talk is going to be the issue," Car'das said hastily. The tension between Qennto and Maris was starting to drift into the red zone again. "He can't give it to us unless his brother and Admiral Ar'alani both let him."
"So how do we get Ar'alani back here?" Maris asked.
"We don't have to," Car'das said grimly, glancing at his chrono. "As a matter of fact, Thrawn's probably welcoming her onto the base right now."
"Great," Qennto said, brightening. "Let's get our hearing, get our loot, and get out of here."
"I don't think so," Car'das said. "She's here to see whether or not Thrawn should be relieved of command."
There was a moment of stunned silence. "That's insane," Mavis said at last. "He's agood commander. He's a goodman."
"And when did either of those ever matter?" Qennto muttered. "Oh, boy. And she was already dead set against giving us the Vagaari stuff. This is not good."
"Can't you for one minute forget about your loot?" Maris asked crossly. "This is Thrawn's career and life we're talking about."
"No, Ican't forget about the loot," Qennto countered. "In case you've forgotten, sweetheart, we're already two and a half months late getting Drixo her furs and firegems. Theonly thing that's going to keep us alive when we finally show up is if we have something extra to calm her down with."
Maris grimaced. "I know," she murmured.
"So what do we do?" Car'das asked.
"Whatyou're going to do is convince them to hand it over," Qennto said. "And don't ask how," he added as Car'das opened his mouth. "Beg, cajole, bribe-whatever it takes."
"You're the only one who can do it," Maris agreed soberly. "Anytime Rak or I even step outside our quarters, we have an escort following us around."
Car'das sighed. "I'll do what I can."
"And don't forget this is a limited-time window," Qennto warned. "Right now, we have at least half an ally in Thrawn. If he gets the boot, we won't have even that much."
Briefly, Car'das wondered what they would say if he told them Thrawn had publicly accused all three of them of espionage. But there was no point in worrying them any more than they were already. "I'll do what I can," he said again, getting to his feet. "See you later."
He left their quarters and started down the corridor. Ar'alani's welcoming ceremony was probably over, but she and Thrawn were most likely still together. Probably talking about Thrass's accusations; Ar'alani hadn't struck him as the sort who would waste any more time with ceremonial niceties than necessary. Maybe he could leave word with one of Thrawn's officers that he wanted to see the commander at his earliest convenience.