Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn, #2)(70)

“I did,” Thrawn agreed. “I continue to ask that.”

“Then you will tell me what we are doing,” Vader said. “And I do not wish to hear again of your search for weapons that are clearly not here.”

“Then I will not speak of them,” Thrawn said. “But your opposition to this experiment is not solely because of that.”

So Thrawn was daring him to come out with it? Fine. “No, it is not,” Vader said. “Your actions on Batuu and your continued refusal to speak of the Grysk prisoners strongly suggest that you are walking the edge of betrayal and treason.”

“In what way?”

“You swore an oath of allegiance to the Empire,” Vader said. “Yet you seem intent on putting the needs of your own people above the wishes and desires of the Emperor.”

Thrawn turned to face him, an odd expression on his face. “Is that what you fear?” he asked.

“I do not fear it,” Vader growled. “I accuse you of it.”

“I see.” Thrawn turned back to the viewport.

But not before Vader caught a hint of a smile. “Do you find this amusing?” he demanded.

“No, not at all, my lord,” Thrawn said. “I was simply…perhaps gratified is the wrong word.”

Vader frowned. “Gratified? By what?”

For a long moment, Thrawn continued to gaze out the viewport, an orderly flow of thoughts and emotions running through him. “I have experienced a great deal of opposition during my time in the Empire,” he said at last. “Some of the hostility was because I am not human. Much of it stemmed from the fact that I was not part of the Empire’s social and political elite, nor did I have family or friendship ties to that elite.”

He turned back to Vader, the faint smile now taking on a note of sadness. “Not until now have I faced opposition that stemmed solely from loyalty. Your loyalty, specifically, to the Emperor. I am pleased, and gratified, at the reason for your reservations, my lord. For I, too, prize and cherish loyalty.”

“Breakout in ten seconds, Admiral,” Faro called from behind them.

“Very good, Commodore,” Thrawn called back. He paused, the smile fading. “This will be the end of it,” he said quietly. “May I have your trust one more time?”

Vader stared at the hyperspace sky. He should say no, of course. Order the Chimaera onto a new course, and follow up with a lesson Thrawn wouldn’t soon forget. The Chiss was already pushing the limits—had already pushed the limits—and any lesser person would have been dealt with long ago, both for the impudence of it and for wasting the Dark Lord’s time.

But he could sense that orderly mind working hard. He could feel the confidence and the anticipation. Whether Thrawn’s expectations turned out to be correct, the Chiss clearly believed they would turn out that way.

And for all Vader’s impatience, he had to admit that he was curious.

“One more time,” he said.

A moment later the stars again shone around them. “Navigation mark!” Faro called in the now familiar litany.

“Mark, aye.”

“No objects in range.”

“Very good,” Thrawn said, lifting his datapad and transferring the mark to the group he’d already compiled. “Hold here.”

For a minute he gazed at the datapad in silence. Then he held up a finger, paused another moment, and tapped a new spot on the map. “Here,” he said, keying the point back to the others. “Lieutenant Pyrondi, that is your target zone. Full spread; ion cannons only.”

“Full spread with ion cannons,” she repeated briskly. “Ready.”

“Fire.”

The glowing red-tinged bursts of green ion clusters shot away from the Chimaera, blasting through the area Thrawn had marked. Vader watched, wondering if this was yet more stalling. For all Thrawn’s talk about loyalty, he noticed that the Chiss hadn’t actually answered his question.

Abruptly, one of the ion bursts seemed to explode into a small cloud. Vader frowned, keying in his helmet’s electrobinocular setting. A second ion cluster struck that same area, coming apart into the same sort of splash—

And then, suddenly, there it was: a large cylinder floating in the blackness of space.

“There, Admiral,” the sensor officer snapped. “Bearing—”

“I see it, Commander,” Thrawn said calmly. “Commodore Faro, move to intercept and retrieve.”

“Yes, sir,” Faro said briskly. “Helm, take us into tractor range.”

“As you see, my lord,” Thrawn said quietly. “Your trust was not unwarranted.”

Vader gazed at the object. It was indeed the size and shape of the objects Commander Kimmund had seen in the freighter’s wrecked cargo bay.

“As you said, it is impossible for a gravity projector and a cloaking device to operate at the same time,” Thrawn continued. “But the designers of this device knew that was not necessary. At the moment when a gravity projector brings a passing ship out of hyperspace there is a brief power surge. The designers simply used that power surge to shut down the projector and activate the cloaking device. By the time the ship is fully into realspace, the projector is completely hidden. When the ship leaves sensor range, the cloaking device shuts down and the projector is reset.”