In contrast Thalias, holding watch behind the girl, was sagging where she stood, apparently right on the edge of falling asleep.
But then, she’d been with Thrawn on the Vak homeworld of Primea, a witness to everything that happened there. That had put her under the spotlight for the same wearying round of Council and Syndicure hearings and interrogations that Thrawn and Ar’alani had endured. Under the circumstances, Samakro was mildly surprised the young woman was on her feet at all.
“Excellent,” Thrawn said. Out of the corner of his eye, Samakro saw the other look at Che’ri, make his own visual assessment of her condition, and come to the same conclusion. “You realize, of course, that peace has several different flavors.”
“Sir?” Samakro asked, frowning.
“I was returning to the topic raised by Senior Commander Kharill,” Thrawn said. “If the Ascendancy was conquered and our cities left in ruins, that would be peace of a sort.”
“That wasn’t what I was suggesting, sir,” Kharill said stiffly.
“I hardly expected that it was,” Thrawn assured him. “But that would be a conqueror’s concept of peace. A different conqueror might prefer the Chiss to be under his unbreakable control, to obey his orders without question. For him, that would be a version of peace.”
“I meant the kind of peace where no one is shooting at anyone else,” Kharill said.
“That’s the kind most civilized people wish for,” Thrawn said. “But how is that to be achieved?”
“I don’t know, Captain,” Kharill said. “I’m not a philosopher.”
For a moment Thrawn eyed him in silence. Then he inclined his head slightly. “Understood. Go check on the plasma sphere supply. I suspect we’ll be using them a great deal in the coming hours.”
“Yes, sir.” With clear relief, Kharill headed across the bridge toward the weapons station.
“He is a good officer, sir,” Samakro said quietly.
“I know,” Thrawn said. “His chief failing is a lack of curiosity.”
“I’d have said no imagination.”
“All beings possess imagination to varying degrees,” Thrawn said. “It can be encouraged and nurtured, or can sometimes shine out in moments of stress. But curiosity is a choice. Some wish to have it. Others don’t. How is the peace he wished for to be achieved?”
“Through the mutual respect and goodwill of all beings, of course,” Samakro said, daring a small ironic smile.
Thrawn smiled back. “And how is that respect to be achieved?”
Samakro’s smile faded. “By proving beyond any doubt that the Ascendancy can and will respond to an attack with overwhelming force.”
“Indeed,” Thrawn said. “And that’s why this mission isn’t madness, but instead is vitally necessary.”
“Yes, sir,” Samakro said. “But I believe Commander Kharill was referring less to the philosophy than to the question of why only our two ships were sent.”
“You don’t believe the Springhawk and Vigilant will prove an even match for the Lioaoin heartworld’s core defenses?”
Samakro hesitated. “To be honest, sir, no.”
“Perhaps a more complete understanding of the situation would help,” Thrawn said. “There are four different groups in play, each with their own interests and agenda. First are the Nikardun, who wanted to capture or destroy Admiral Ar’alani at Primea but didn’t want the Ascendancy’s vengeance to fall on either themselves or the Vak Combine. General Yiv therefore called in a force from the Lioaoin Regime to make the attack and take that risk.”
“I thought that connection hadn’t been established.”
“If not, you need to believe that the Lioaoi traveled all the way to Primea in order to attack a Chiss warship they couldn’t possibly know was coming.”
Samakro grimaced. “Yes, I see your point.”
“So Yiv has achieved the first of his objectives, though at the risk of sacrificing the strength of his Lioaoin allies,” Thrawn said. “The second objective, now that he’s turned our anger toward the Lioaoi, is to gauge the Ascendancy’s will to deliver a reprisal. That will help him revise his plans if necessary as he looks forward to his ultimate war against us.”
“Which means sending only two ships wasn’t a good move on the Council’s part,” Samakro said. “It’s going to make us look weak or indecisive.”
“Yiv may indeed interpret it that way,” Thrawn agreed. “But he could also interpret it as supreme confidence, that two Chiss warships are deemed adequate to deliver the necessary message. Add to that the Lioaoin interest in keeping damage to their regime to a minimum.”
“Which we don’t care about.”
“Perhaps not,” Thrawn said. “Still, if we can strike a balance between maximizing our message and minimizing our damage, the Lioaoi may remember that restraint in the future.”
“Assuming they don’t just turn the ships we don’t destroy against us,” Samakro warned.
“All the more reason to defeat Yiv and remove his stranglehold on the region as quickly as possible,” Thrawn said grimly. “Certainly the Lioaoi wouldn’t move against us without Nikardun pressure.”
“But the Syndicure must first recognize the threat,” Samakro pointed out. Though to be honest, he wasn’t fully convinced of it, either. It was a long way from gobbling up whisker cubs like the Lioaoin Regime to tangling with the nighthunter that was the Chiss Ascendancy. “At any rate, meeting both those objectives requires us to do some damage without getting blown out of the sky.”
“There’s that,” Thrawn agreed. “But the admiral believes we can strike the necessary balance.”
“A moment,” Samakro said, frowning. “Are you saying Admiral Ar’alani asked for only two ships? I thought that was the syndics’ decision.”
“They were happy enough to go along with it,” Thrawn said. “But no, it was the admiral.”
“I’m glad she’s confident,” Samakro muttered.
“She is.” Thrawn cocked his head. “There’s another reason for taking only a small force, though, a tactical reason. What do you think it might be?”
“I have no idea.”
“Think,” Thrawn urged. “You have the knowledge and vision. Apply them to the problem.”
Samakro suppressed a grimace. This was what he got for suggesting Kharill lacked imagination.