“You don’t?” Thurfian asked. “The admiral and commander of a Nightdragon man-of-war, and you think you’ll have the time to cater to the needs of a child, too?” He shook his head. “No. We need to find a new caregiver before you can leave Csilla.”
“I’m afraid that won’t be possible,” Ba’kif said. “All sky-walkers and caregivers are already committed to other ships.”
“Let me propose a solution,” Zistalmu offered. “My wife served as a caregiver for two years before we were married. Her record of that time is very clean. Reinstate her, and she and I can travel aboard the Vigilant together.”
“Thalias chose me,” Ar’alani said firmly. “As Che’ri’s official caregiver, she has final authority to shift that duty while she’s aboard my ship.”
“But she’s not aboard your ship now, is she?” Zistalmu countered.
“She was when she named me as her replacement,” Ar’alani said. “I have no intention of giving up that mandate, and you have no authority to take it from me.”
“I have every authority—”
“Enough,” Ba’kif cut in. “Syndic Zistalmu, how far away is your wife?”
“She can be here in two hours.”
“Call her now,” Ba’kif ordered. “Admiral, I agree that regulations support your position. But Syndic Thurfian is right to remind us of your other responsibilities. I’m therefore ruling that Syndic Zistalmu’s wife will share caregiver duty with you, and will take the primary position whenever you’re otherwise occupied. Any questions?”
Ar’alani suppressed a scowl. The last thing she wanted was a strange woman suddenly entering Che’ri’s life—the girl had enough problems socializing with other people as it was without disrupting things further.
And she absolutely didn’t want a syndic on her bridge, watching her every movement and undoubtedly gathering ammunition to be used against her somewhere down the line. Couldn’t Ba’kif see this was yet another attempt by the Syndicure to intrude on the fleet’s sphere of authority?
“No questions, General,” she said stiffly.
“Good,” Ba’kif said. “Thank you for your interest and input, Syndics. Syndic Zistalmu, you and your wife will report to Admiral Ar’alani’s shuttle in three hours for immediate transport to the Vigilant. Admiral, another moment of your time?”
Ar’alani stayed where she was, her eyes locked on Ba’kif, as Zistalmu and Thurfian walked through the doorway behind her. She waited until the door closed—
“Don’t say it,” Ba’kif warned before she could speak. “No, it’s not ideal. In fact, it’s about as far from ideal as it could possibly be.”
“Then why did you agree to it?”
“Because I didn’t have any choice,” Ba’kif said. “Because if I’d tried to keep Zistalmu off the Vigilant he’d have tied us up in procedural twist-wire until Thrawn died of old age.” He paused. “And because you don’t have a mandate…because Thalias is not, in fact, an official caregiver.”
Ar’alani felt her eyes narrow. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the fact that she sweet-talked her way aboard the Springhawk,” Ba’kif said. “She’s a former sky-walker herself, which made the sweet-talking a little easier, but the fact is that she has no official credentials.”
“But she’s Mitth,” Ar’alani said, trying to sort it through. “Are you telling me that someone with Thurfian’s connections and suspicions hasn’t figured that out?”
“On the contrary,” Ba’kif said darkly. “He apparently showed up at the last minute to help get her aboard in that position.”
“Really,” Ar’alani said. “What was the cost of that assistance?”
“I don’t know,” Ba’kif said. “But there was a cost, or will be one somewhere down the line. With Thurfian, that’s practically guaranteed. My point is that all he had to do was throw that into the conversation, and you’d have been out completely. But he didn’t. The question is why?”
“Possibly because he’d prefer having me involved with our sky-walker over turning her completely over to the wife of an Irizi syndic.”
“Normally, I’d agree with you,” Ba’kif said. “But you’ve surely noticed that despite their families’ rivalries, he and Zistalmu have shown remarkable unity in their attempts to get Thrawn out of the fleet, or at least out of any position of influence. I don’t think he’d have a problem with Zistalmu’s wife being in complete charge.”
“And of course, leaving Thrawn abandoned on Primea would be a permanent solution to their perceived problem.”
“Exactly,” Ba’kif said. “No, I think he didn’t denounce you because that would also have gotten Thalias thrown off the Springhawk when she returns, and there’s something he still wants her to do. Probably something connected to the price of getting her aboard in the first place.”
He waved a hand in dismissal. “But that can wait. Right now we need to get Thrawn off Primea before the situation becomes too much to handle.”
“I wouldn’t worry about Thrawn, sir,” Ar’alani said. “He’s expecting me, of course; but if I don’t show, I’m sure he’ll find his own way home.”
“Thrawn’s not the one I was worried about,” Ba’kif said tartly. “It’s the Ascendancy that may wind up in a situation we can’t get out of.”
“Point taken, sir,” Ar’alani said, wincing. “I’ve got Wutroow working on flight prep. We’ll be ready to go by the time Zistalmu and his wife arrive.”
“Good,” Ba’kif said. “And watch him, Ar’alani. Watch him very closely. I know Zistalmu, and he wouldn’t voluntarily walk into possible danger unless he thought there was a way to turn that to his and his family’s advantage.”
“Don’t worry, sir,” Ar’alani assured him. “Whatever game he’s playing, I think he’ll find that his cards aren’t nearly as good as he thinks they are.”
* * *
—
There was a right way to do things, Qilori fumed to himself as he hurried toward the bridge, and there was a wrong way. In this case, the right way was to keep on schedule, do a proper ship prep, and ensure that the captain, the crew, and especially the navigator were moving along at a steady but relaxed pace. The wrong way was exactly the opposite of all those.