[Hand Of Thrawn] - 01(145)

“If it helps, you can consider my service to be in exchange for his,” Karrde said, his mouth still tight. “I’m sorry to have brought such bad news. I really thought you’d be more understanding.”

Solo took a deep breath, exhaled it raggedly. “Yeah,” he said. “Well… when are you heading out?”

“Immediately,” Karrde said, crossing to Shada and offering her a hand. “Assuming my new assistant has no errands she has to attend to first.”

“I’m ready whenever you are,” Shada told him, ignoring the proffered hand and getting to her feet without assistance. “Assuming Councilor Organa Solo’s bodyguards are finished sifting through my pack and climbing gear.”

“They are waiting for you by the door,” the Noghri beside Organa Solo said gravely.

“Fine,” Karrde said, nodding to Organa Solo as he moved toward the entrance. “Thank you for your hospitality, Leia. I’ll contact you if and when I find anything.”

“Two other things, Karrde, before you go,” Organa Solo said. “Three actually. First: will you need a translator droid for your trip?”

“That’s a good point,” Karrde conceded. “The organization has several, of course, but none are aboard the Wild Karrde at the moment. It won’t be too hard to pick one up along the way, though.”

“That’ll take extra time,” Organa Solo said. “If you’d prefer, we could lend you Threepio.”

Solo made a noise in the back of his throat. “Over his stripped gears, of course.”

“That’s a very generous offer.” Karrde cocked an eyebrow. “It wouldn’t have anything to do with the thought that you might be able to get an unbiased report of the trip out of him when we get back, would it?”

“Of course not,” Organa Solo said, arching her own eyebrows slightly. “I’m hurt you’d even suggest such a thing.”

“Forgive me,” Karrde said. “In that case, I accept, with thanks.”

“As Han suggests, we’ll want a few minutes to talk with him first,” Organa Solo said. “We can bring him over to the spaceport when we pick up those spaceship records from you. Second: I wasn’t able to tell you this before, but under the circumstances it’s something you may need to know. One of the other datacards that Devaronian found at Mount Tantiss was labeled The Hand of Thrawn.’”

Karrde nodded. “Yes, I’d heard.”

Organa Solo’s eyebrows lifted. “How did you-? Never mind, I don’t want to know.”

“My source and I thank you for your discretion,” Karrde said. “There’s something else you need to know, though. Before Mara went chasing after that unknown ship, we picked up a transmission from it, clearly directed at the Errant Venture. We haven’t yet been able to decipher the message, but it definitely contained Thrawn’s name. His full name, not just the core name Thrawn’.”

Solo frowned. “I didn’t even know he had more name.”

“Most people don’t,” Karrde agreed. “But Mara did. So did whoever was aboard that ship.”

“What do you think it means?” Organa Solo asked.

“I don’t know,” Karrde said. “Maybe we’ll have some answers when Skywalker and Mara get back. At any rate, I’ll add a copy of that recording in with the others. You said there were three things?”

Organa Solo smiled. A smile that was shaded with tension, but a smile nonetheless. “May the Force be with you,” she said quietly.

Almost involuntarily, Shada thought, Karrde smiled back. “And with you,” be said. His eyes flicked to Solo and Calrissian. With all of you,” be added. “Good-bye.”

***

“Nice speech you made back there,” Shada commented as Karrde lifted the airspeeder off the Orowood Tower’s pad and turned its nose toward the West Championne field where the Wild Karrde was waiting. “A little over-rehearsed, maybe, but not bad for all that”

“You’re too kind,” Karrde said, looking at her out of the corner of his eye. She was staring straight ahead at the nighttime Coruscant landscape, her face faintly illuminated by the glow from the instrument board. With better light, he decided, her expression would probably still have been impossible to read, “May I ask which part of the discourse sounded like a speech to you?”

“That bit about why it had to be Skywalker who went charging off to rescue Mara Jade,” she said. “You weren’t really expecting them to greet that news with shouts of joy, were you?”