Conspicuous by its absence was Thrawn’s family, the Mitth.
Conspicuous and suspicious. The fact that Thrawn himself wasn’t here had probably been the others’ excuse for keeping the Mitth out of the questioning. But given that he was clearly the focus of the interrogation, the Mitth should have insisted on being present.
Unless they’d already decided among themselves that Thrawn was a liability and were throwing him to the nighthunters. It wouldn’t be the first time they’d considered that path.
“Let me get directly to the point,” the Clarr said. “Six days ago, your picket force was sent against the Paataatus in reprisal for their probes against our southeast-zenith border. During that battle, one of your ship commanders, Senior Captain Mitth’raw’nuruodo, disobeyed a direct order. Is this true?”
Ar’alani hesitated. Truthful, but spiraled. “He disobeyed a lesser order, yes, Syndic,” she said.
The Clarr frowned. “Excuse me?”
“I said he disobeyed a lesser order,” Ar’alani said. “At the time, though, he was obeying a greater order.”
“Well, this is certainly fascinating,” the Irizi put in drily. “The Irizi family has been honored to supply officers and warriors to the Defense Force for generations, and I don’t recall ever hearing of greater and lesser orders.”
“Perhaps priorities would be a better term,” Ar’alani amended. “A warrior’s first priority is of course to defend the Ascendancy. The second is to win the current battle and war. The third is to protect the ship and crew. The fourth is to obey a specific order.”
“Are you suggesting the Expansionary Defense Fleet operates like a free-form melee?” the Droc asked.
“More like a free-form sculpture if Thrawn is involved,” the Ufsa added under her breath.
A couple of the others chuckled. The Clarr didn’t so much as smile. “I asked you a question, Admiral.”
“Certainly the fleet isn’t as chaotic as your comment would make it appear,” Ar’alani said. “Ideally, the senior commander’s orders are perfectly in line with all those priorities.” She cocked her head, as if a thought had suddenly occurred to her. “In fact, I would venture to say it’s much the same with you.”
The Clarr’s eyes narrowed. “Explain.”
“Your first duty is to the Ascendancy,” Ar’alani said. “Your second is to your individual families.”
“What’s good for the Nine Families is good for the Ascendancy,” the Plikh said stiffly.
“No doubt,” Ar’alani agreed. “I simply refer to the hierarchy of goals and duties.”
“Even within the families,” Wutroow put in. “I imagine you treat blood differently from cousins, ranking distants, Trial-borns, and merit adoptives.”
“Thank you for your statement of the obvious, Senior Captain,” the Clarr said acidly. “But you weren’t brought here for a discussion of family relationships. You were brought here to explain why Captain Thrawn was permitted to disobey a direct order from his superior without suffering any consequences for his actions.”
“Forgive me, Syndic,” Wutroow said before Ar’alani could answer, “but I have a question.”
“Admiral Ar’alani, kindly inform your first officer that she’s here to answer questions, not ask them,” the Clarr snapped.
“Again, forgive me, Syndic,” Wutroow said doggedly, “but my question has a direct bearing on Captain Thrawn’s actions.”
The Clarr started to speak, hesitated, then pursed his lips. “Very well,” he said. “But I warn you, Captain, that I’m not in the mood for frivolous deflection.”
“Neither am I, Syndic,” Wutroow said. “As has been established, the reason Captain Thrawn moved the Springhawk away from Admiral Ar’alani’s force was to draw the ambush to himself and give the rest of the ships time to adjust and counterattack. My question is this: Why was the force ambushed so quickly and completely?”
“Because the Paataatus knew that their actions against the Ascendancy would naturally invite reprisals,” the Clarr said. “Especially if they were the ones behind the Csilla attack. I warned you about frivolous questions—”
“But why there?” Wutroow persisted. “Why that particular spot? Because they were very clearly expecting us.”
“You sound as if you already know the answer,” the Kiwu said. “Why don’t you tell us?”
“Thank you,” Wutroow said, inclining her head to him. “I’ve obtained a detailed report of the mission the Syndicure sent to the Paataatus shortly after they were identified as the ones pressing against our flank. The conversations were brief—”
“We’ve all read the report,” the Clarr interrupted. “Get on with it.”
“Yes, Syndic,” Wutroow said. There was no trace of a smile on her face, Ar’alani noted—Wutroow knew better than to even look like she might be mocking any of the Aristocra—but there was a subtle look in her eye that promised this was going to be good. “As the discussions ended and the emissaries returned to their ship, one of them said to the Paataatus delegation—” Wutroow paused and peered at her questis. “—and I quote: ‘The next time you see Chiss ships come toward you through those stars, they’ll be bringing your utter destruction.’ ” She looked up. “Do I need to identify the direction that emissary was pointing?”
“Nonsense,” the Ufsa bit out. “No diplomat would do anything so foolish.”
“Apparently one of them did,” Wutroow said. “Had Admiral Ar’alani known about that, of course, she would certainly have chosen a different attack vector. But she didn’t know.”
“And under those circumstances,” Ar’alani added, picking up on Wutroow’s opening, “I’m sure you recognize that Captain Thrawn’s actions were both necessary and proper.”
“Perhaps,” the Clarr said. His voice and face still weren’t conceding the point, but his earlier confidence had definitely cooled. “Interesting. Thank you for your time, Admiral; Captain. You’re dismissed. We’ll call you back after we’ve looked into this matter further.”
“Yes, Syndic,” Ar’alani said, standing up. “One other thing. I fully believe that this attack is the last demonstration we’ll need to launch against the Paataatus. Their diplomats seem fully committed to withdrawing to their borders and leaving the Ascendancy strictly alone. If that makes a difference to your deliberations.”