Timothy Zahn - Outbound Flight

“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.

“We do nothing,” Qennto said firmly. “It’s not our 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’s not our problem.

If the Jedi are going to go flying off into the Unknown Regions, it’s up to them to figure out how to protect themselves. It’s up to us 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 a good commander. He’s a good man.”

“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, I can’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. The only 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.

“What you’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.

“So you do have free run of the base.”

Car’das turned. Thrass was coming up behind him, his expression giving no hint as to what was going on behind those glowing eyes. “Syndic Mittlfras’safis,” Car’das greeted him, fighting to get his brain online again. “Forgive my surprise; I assumed you’d be with your brother and the admiral.”

Thrass inclined his head. “Come with me, please.” He turned and strode off down the corridor. With his pulse pounding uncomfortably in his throat, Car’das followed.

Thrass led the way to the upper level of the base, where Thrawn and the senior officers had their quarters. They passed a few warriors along the way, none of whom gave either the syndic or the human so much as a curious glance, and finally arrived at a door marked with Cheunh symbols that Car’das couldn’t quite decipher. “In here,” Thrass said, opening the door and gesturing inside. Bracing himself, Car’das stepped past him into the room.

He found himself in a small conference room with half a dozen computer-equipped chairs arranged in a circle around a central hologrammic display. Seated on the far side of the circle, resplendent in her white uniform, was Admiral Ar’alani. “Be seated, Car’das,” she said in Cheunh as Thrass stepped into the room behind him.

“Thank you, Admiral,” Car’das said in the same language as he took the seat directly across from her. “Welcome back.” She nodded acknowledgment, studying him thoughtfully as Thrass sat down in the chair to her right. “Your proficiency in Cheunh has improved,” she commented. “My compliments.”

“Thank you,” Car’das said again. “It’s a beautiful language to listen to. I only regret that I’ll never speak it as well as a Chiss.”

“No, you won’t,” Ar’alani agreed. “I understand you were with Commander Mitth’raw’nuruodo on this latest military venture. Tell us what happened.”

Car’das glanced at Thrass, back at Ar’alani. “Forgive my impertinence, but shouldn’t you ask Commander Mitth’raw’nuruodo about this instead of me?”

“We will,” Ar’alani assured him darkly “Right now, we’re asking you. Tell us about this latest act of aggression.”

Car’das took a deep breath. “First of all, it wasn’t really an act of aggression,” he said, picking his words carefully “It was an expedition to investigate unknown warships that had been reported in the area.”

“Vessels that wouldn’t have been reported at all if Mitth’raw’nuruodo wasn’t already inclined to premature military action,” Ar’alani pointed out.

Beside her, Thrass stirred in his seat. “The Expansionary Fleet’s charter does require observation and exploration in the regions around the Chiss Ascendancy,” he said.

“Observation and exploration,” Ar’alani countered.

“Not unprovoked military action.” She lifted her eyebrows. “Or do you deny military action was taken and Chiss casualties sustained?”