“He’s brilliant, sir,” Ziara said. “Excellent strategist and tactician.”
“And his political shrewdness?”
“Poor to nonexistent.”
“Agreed,” Ba’kif said. “He’s going to need a steady hand, both to guide him and to prevent him from continually grabbing the wrong end of the fire stick.”
Ziara suppressed a wince. “Do I need to guess, sir?”
“Hardly,” Ba’kif said, smiling tightly. “I’m putting him aboard with you as your third officer.” He glanced at his questis. “Your new ship will be the patrol cruiser Parala.”
“Yes, sir,” Ziara said, feeling herself straighten up a bit more. Patrol cruisers typically traveled far outside the recognized boundaries of the Ascendancy, gathering intel and watching for potential threats. An interesting and highly coveted assignment. “Thank you, sir.”
“You’ve earned it,” Ba’kif said. “I know you’ll do whatever is necessary for the defense and protection of the Ascendancy.” He drew himself up to full attention. “Dismissed, Senior Captain. And good luck.”
She’d expected Thrawn to have already left. Instead, she found him waiting for her outside the general’s office. “Trouble?” he asked.
“No,” she said. “I’m commanding the Parala, and you’re my new third officer.”
Again, a brief look of surprise. “Really?”
“Really,” she said, starting down the hallway. “Quartermaster’s this way.”
He dropped into step beside her. “Congratulations,” he said as they walked. “The Parala’s reputed to be an excellent ship.”
“So I’ve heard,” Ziara said. “Congratulations to you as well, by the way. Two ranks at once is almost unheard of.”
“So I’ve been told,” Thrawn said, his voice going distant. “Though of course what’s given can also be taken away.”
Ziara leaned forward to peer at his face. “Something wrong?”
He looked sideways at her, then turned to face forward again. “The Lioaoin Regime didn’t go into piracy simply because they were bored,” he said. “They clearly have a serious financial problem.”
“You suggesting we take up a collection?”
He shot her another look, this one carrying an edge of annoyance. “They won’t try it again with the Ascendancy,” he said. “But the problem remains, as does their chosen remedy. Once they’ve regrouped and replaced the ships you destroyed, they’ll be back, attacking merchants from other systems. What happens to those systems?”
Ziara shrugged. “They’ll have to deal with the Lioaoi on their own.”
“What if they aren’t strong enough to do so?” Thrawn persisted. “Are we supposed to just sit back and watch them suffer?”
Ziara looked him straight in the eye. “Yes.”
For a moment they locked gazes. Thrawn turned away first. “Because we don’t interfere in the affairs of others.”
“Would you rather the Ascendancy became guardians for the entire Chaos?” Ziara asked. “Because that’s where that path would take us. We would rescue one, then another, then a third, until finally we stood alone as bulwark against a thousand different aggressors. Is that what you think we should do?”
“No, of course not,” he said. “But there has to be a middle path.”
For a few steps they walked in silence. “If it helps, I understand what you’re saying,” Ziara said at last. “Tell you what. When you rise to rule the Aristocra and the Ascendancy, I’ll help you work out a solution.”
Thrawn gave a little snort. “There’s no need to be sarcastic.”
“Who says that was sarcasm?” Ziara asked. “The Mitth are an important family, and as General Ba’kif said you’re riding high in their estimation. The point is that non-intervention is the Ascendancy’s protocol at the moment. Unless or until that changes, we accept our orders and fulfill our duties.” She caught his arm, bringing him to a sudden stop, and gazed hard into his face. “And that’s all we do. Understood?”
A small smile touched his lips. “Of course, Senior Captain Ziara.”
“And don’t worry that your family’s influence was what jumped you those ranks,” she continued. “Don’t deny it—I saw it in your face. I’m sure the Mitth connection didn’t hurt, but the Council doesn’t do things just because some syndic wants them to. If they did, I’d have been jumped three ranks.”
“And you’d have deserved it,” Thrawn said.
Ziara started to smile. The smile faded as she realized he was serious. “Hardly.”
“I disagree.” Thrawn seemed to consider that. “I respectfully disagree,” he amended. “You’ll certainly make full admiral someday. The Council might as well promote you now and save themselves some time.”
“I appreciate your confidence,” Ziara said, turning away and starting to walk again. “But I’m content to take the slow, steady route.”
Admiral. Actually, the word had a nice ring to it. Provided, of course, that she was as good as Thrawn seemed to think.
And provided that, while he served under her command, he didn’t do something to ruin her chances forever.
CHAPTER TEN
The hatch into Admiral Ar’alani’s office slid open. Bracing herself, wondering what this sudden summons was all about, Thalias stepped inside. “You wanted to see me, Senior Captain?” she said.
“Yes,” Thrawn replied. “Come in, please. I want to show you something.”
Thalias took another step forward, hearing the hatch slide closed behind her, and looked around. Given Thrawn’s reputation—or perhaps his notoriety—with artwork, she’d expected to find the office filled with holograms of Garwian sculptures and paintings. To her mild surprise, she instead found him surrounded by a three-dimensional map filled with stars and star routes.
“Here’s the Ascendancy,” he said, waving a finger through a familiar cluster of stars just off center on the map. “Here’s the Lioaoin Regime”—he pointed to a much smaller group of stars to the north-zenith of the Ascendancy. “Here’s Rapacc—” He shifted the finger a little way east-nadir. “Here’s Urch”—a little more east-nadir and a bit to the south. “And here are the Paataatus worlds.” He shifted his finger one final time to a spot on the Ascendancy’s southeast-zenith border. “What do you see?”
“The first three are north and northeast of us,” Thalias said, wondering why he’d brought in the Paataatus. They were far away from all the others he’d mentioned, and besides they’d already been dealt with.
“Indeed,” Thrawn said. “Three different nations under Nikardun attack or besiegement, all three on the edges of the Ascendancy.”
Thalias wrinkled her nose. They weren’t that close, really. Certainly not close enough to be a threat.
“So far none of the Nikardun conquests is encroaching directly on the Ascendancy,” Thrawn said, as if he’d read her mind and her silent objection. “But the pattern is troubling. If Yiv is targeting us, this is the ideal way for him to begin.”
“All right,” Thalias said cautiously. “But if he attacks, can’t we deal with him like we did the Paataatus?”
“Interesting that you mention the Paataatus,” Thrawn said. “Their artwork and entire culture strongly implies that the defeat Admiral Ar’alani delivered to them should have ended any resistance to us for the rest of this generation. Yet reports from Naporar indicate they may be rearming for another attack. I suggest that they, too, may be under Yiv’s influence and control.”
Thalias looked at the map again. And if that was true, it was no longer just the Nikardun working their way across the Chaos, with the Ascendancy in their path purely by coincidence. If they’d also conquered or suborned the Paataatus, there was a good chance they were deliberately encircling the Chiss. It was as if Yiv was raising the whole of the Chaos against them. “What can we do?”