Part 34 (1/2)
”I knew you'd be worried,” Tierce said blandly. ”I wanted to help set your mind at ease.”
Disra smiled sardonically, knowing the expression was probably wasted with a holo this size. ”Thank you so much, Major-I do so appreciate your concern. So our puppet performed adequately?”
”I'd even go further and say he performed superbly,” Tierce said. ”He had them in the palm of his hand from the moment they came in to the moment they left.”
”No surprises, then?”
”Not really. Calrissian tried to trap him with a question about the time Thrawn visited Talon Karrde on Myrkr. Fortunately for us, he'd actually read the detailed report I'd written up on my time with Thrawn and knew the answer.”
”Fortunately for him, you mean,” Disra said, putting an edge of threat into his voice.
”How soon will you be back?”
”That's! the other reason I called,” Tierce said. ”Now that we're here, I think we're going to stay in Rebellion-occupied s.p.a.ce for a while.”
Disra frowned, the cold blade-edge starting its grinding again. ”What for?”
”I'd like to nose around a bit,” the other said with a casual wave of his band. ”Send activation signals to some of the sleeper groups we haven't contacted yet-there are still a few we weren't able to send transmissions to because of distance or positioning. Mostly, I want to see what Coruscant's reaction will be to! Thrawn's reappearance.”
”Probably to send fifty Star Cruisers charging in at you,” Disra snapped. ”This is crazy, Tierce. It's also not part of the plan.”
”Military plans are always subject to change, Your Excellency,” Tierce said calmly.
”This is not what I had in mind for Flim,” Disra snarled. ”You know that.”
”And you know that when I joined I said we could do better than what you had in mind,”
Tierce countered.
Disra ground his teeth savagely. ”You're going to ruin everything. And get yourselves killed in the bargain.”
”On the contrary,” Tierce said, and even on the quarter-sized image Disra could see his self-satisfied smile. ”I'm going to start the Empire back on its road to glory.”
”Tierce-”
”I have to go, Your Excellency,” Tierce said. ”We shouldn't stay on transmission too long, even with good encryption. Don't worry, I'm not planning to take the Relentless to Coruscant or anything so foolish. I just want to spend a little more time here. Call it a hunch.”
”In my experience, relying on hunches is a fast trip to the short end of the odds,” Disra growled. But Tierce had him, and they both knew it. Short of sending what was left of the Braxant Sector Fleet to chase him down, there was precious little Disra could do at this point to countermand him. ”How long are you planning to stay?”
Tierce shrugged. ”A couple of weeks, Maybe more. It depends.”
”On what?”
”On whether I get the reaction I'm looking for. I'll be sure to let you know if and when it happens.”
”Good,” Disra said sourly. ”If and when the New Republic !fleet appears over Bastion, I'll be sure to let you know.”
Tierce smiled. ”Thank you, Your Excellency. I knew you'd understand. Good-bye.”
The image flickered and vanished. Disra leaned back in his chair, glaring at the hologram pod. This was getting out of hand. It was getting way out of hand. He'd let Tierce run off restrainer bolt long enough; it was time to reel the Guardsman in a little.
And remind him who was master and who was servant.
At the moment, Disra wasn't exactly sure how to do that. But he would think of something.
CHAPTER 20.
The Diamalan Senator finished his report and sat down again on the witness bench beside Lando . . . and for Leia, the Grand Convocation Chamber had suddenly become very cold.
The impossible had happened. Grand Admiral Thrawn had returned.
”I do not see the problem,” the Likashan Senator called out, her high-pitched voice making the chamber's sound system squeal. We are many; the Empire are few. Let us gather together and move against it. And this time, let us not stop until we have utterly destroyed it.”
”If you think that's even an option anymore, then you're a fool,” the Sronk Senator countered. ”I saw full-left-handed what this Grand Admiral Thrawn did to my world's defenses ten standardcycles ago, and with nothing more than seven Katana-fleet Dreadnoughts as his weapons. He wouldn't have announced his return if be weren't already prepared to receive the full slamming brunt of our closed right hand.”
”They have no more than a thousand worlds remaining,” a Senator who Leia couldn't identify put in scornfully. ”With no more than a hundred Star Destroyers and a few thousand lesser s.h.i.+ps. Do you suggest that such a pitiful force could withstand the full thunder of our trampling hooves?”
”You do not know this Thrawn-”
”Please,” President Gavrisom cut in. ”All of you. We of the Council certainly understand your concerns and your fears. However, at this point I would urge you to ponder this news without jumping to either hasty conclusions or premature actions.”
”A preemptive strike would not be a premature action,” a huffy voice insisted. ”I agree with the Likashan Senator that we must move immediately against the remnants of the Empire.”
”Yes,” the Likash squealed. ”Grand Admiral Thrawn nearly defeated us once, we cannot allow him the time he needs to attack us again.”
”He's already had all the time he needs,” the Sronk shot back. ”Weren't you listening to what I said? He wouldn't have revealed himself if he wasn't ready for us.”
”But the situation isn't the same as it was ten years ago,” Leia reminded them, striving to keep her own voice steady and to keep the growing sense of dread in the chamber from feeding into her own fears. ”Back then Thrawn still had nearly a quarter of the old Empire to work with. As has already been pointed out, his resources are almost nonexistent now.”
”So let us take the rest away from him,” a voice shouted. ”Let us destroy him now!”
”We cannot destroy him,” Gavrisom said. ”Even if we wanted to, which I'm not yet convinced is the proper response to his offer.”
”Why not?” the Likash demanded. ”The New Republic has far more wars.h.i.+ps than the Empire.”
The Maerdocian Senator roared something in his own language. ”Do you imply you would seriously consider allowing him to interrogate New Republic officials?” the translation whispered in Leia's ear. ”That way lies madness.”
”He doesn't want all of us,” the Kian'thar Senator pointed out ”He wants only the Bothans.”
There was another roar. ”Do you genuinely believe it would end with the Bothans?” the translation demanded. ”If so, your path is toward madness.”
Gavrisom tapped a key on his board, shutting down the chamber sound system. The shouting died reluctantly away, and he turned the system back on. ”Please,” be said mildly. ”Let us keep our focus clear in this debate. Certainly we have no intention of permitting an Imperial official to interrogate the leaders of any New Republic member world. However, it is equally unreasonable at this point to suggest a concerted attack against the Empire.
While it is true that a state of war technically exists between us, recent hostilities have been few and mostly accidental. More to the point, even though our forces outnumber theirs, those forces are at the moment widely dispersed across the galaxy.”
He shook his mane in a gesture of mild reproof. ”Attempting, as you are all aware, to bring some measure of stability to the New Republic against the stirrings of hundreds of threatening internal wars.”