[Hand Of Thrawn] - 01(110)

“Yes,” Pellaeon gritted. “Major Tierce isn’t attached to the Obliterator. He’s Moff Disra’s aide.”

Hestiv’s expression turned to stone. “Is he, now.”

Pellaeon gestured toward the terminal. “Is there any way to tell which records he might have tapped into?”

“I just told you he didn’t get in.”

“Oh, he got in, all right,” Pellaeon said darkly. “Through a terminal no one was watching, or perhaps he brought one of his own and tapped in at a junction point. But he most certainly didn’t leave without whatever it was he came here to do.”

Hestiv was keying his board. “You’re right, of course. I’ll order a check; and while we’re at it, let’s have them run his ID again.”

The examination took just under an hour; and in the end, they found what Pellaeon had begun to suspect they would find.

Nothing.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” Hestiv growled, glaring at his display. We know he was here, and presumably not just for his health. But there isn’t a single sign of access or tampering. So what in blazes did he do? “

“Did you check all the records?” Pellaeon asked, swiveling the display around and running an eye down the listing.

“Of course we did,” Hestiv said, his tone a little huffy. “Everything from the basic maintenance files on up to-“

“No,” Pellaeon said, staring at the display as a sudden chilling thought hit him. “You didn’t check everything. You couldn’t have.”

“Begging the Admiral’s pardon-“

“Because there are records you don’t have access to,” Pellaeon cut him off, scrolling down the listing. “Specifically, the Special Files section.”

Hestiv’s eyebrows lifted. “You can’t be serious,” he said. “Are you suggesting a lowly major could access the Emperor’s own sealed records?”

“I agree it sounds unbelievable,” Pellaeon said. “But we’re running out of options.”

“But a major?”

“He’s an aide to a very slippery Moff,” Pellaeon reminded him. “I wouldn’t put it past Disra to have found a way into the Special Files. In fact, considering his ambition and lack of discernible ethics, I’d probably find it more surprising if he hadn’t.”

“I still don’t believe it,” Hestiv said heavily. “But as you say, we’re running out of, options.” He cocked an eyebrow. “I don’t suppose you can get us into those records to check this out?”

Pellaeon shook his head. “The codes and procedures were lost long before I rose to the position where I would have been instructed in their use.”

“Pity,” Hestiv said. “If we can’t get in, we aren’t going to be able to figure out what he was doing in there.”

“That is the big question, isn’t it?” Pellaeon agreed, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “He couldn’t have been looking up something-the records at Bastion are duplicates of the ones here. Which implies his purpose was to add, delete, or alter.”

Hestiv muttered something under his breath. “Which implies those names you’re investigating may have more of a history with the Empire than you thought.”

“Perhaps,” Pellaeon agreed soberly as another unpleasant thought struck him. “But there’s one other possibility. If I wanted details on the attack that destroyed Caamas, where would I look?”

Hestiv shrugged slightly. “There should be copies of all the media and official reports in the regular files, both current-time and follow-up.”

“And if Palpatine was personally involved, as the rumors suggested?”

Hestiv exhaled noisily. “Anything like that would be in the Special Files section, wouldn’t it? You think that’s what Tierce was really after?”

“Or he was after that plus Disra’s ally list,” Pellaeon said. “As long as he was in the files anyway, why not do both?”

Why not, indeed?” Hestiv said, drumming his fingers thoughtfully on the desktop. “The question is, what would Disra want with the Caamas files?”

“Whatever it is, I doubt very much that it has anything other than Disra’s personal aggrandizement at the core,” Pellaeon said sourly. “And for that reason alone, I want to know what it is. I think, General, that the two of us ought to begin a quiet search for someone who might be able to access those records for us.”

“I’ll begin making inquiries immediately,” Hestiv promised. Where can I contact you if I’m successful?”