“I can ask no more than your best,” Thrawn said. “And will accept nothing less,” he added, looking at each of the captains in turn. “You have your orders. Dismissed.”
“Yes, Admiral,” Trazzen said for all of them. They turned and left, with what seemed to Disra to be a markedly more spirited step than that with which they’d entered the office half an hour earlier. The double doors swung ponderously shut behind them&mdash
“A fine group of gentlemen,” Flim declared, digging a fingerinto the collar of his white Grand Admiral’s uniform. “A bit gullible, perhaps, but fine gentlemen all the same.” “Oh, they’re fine, all right,” Disra snarled, glaring at the secret door the con man had made his grand entrance through. “They’re also extremely dangerous. Tierce? Where are you?”
“Right here,” Tierce said, stepping out of the secret door, “What’s the matter?”
“What’s the matter?” Disra snapped. “Bad enough that three of the four captains you picked for these missions aren’t particularly loyal to me. But someone who served directly with Thrawn? Are you insane?”
“Don’t be insulting,” Tierce said coldly, joining the others by the desk “I had to bring in someone like Dorja on this. A junior student of tactics could tell you that.”
“I don’t think tactically,” Disra shot back. “At least, not according to you. That’s why your expertise is necessary, remember ?”
“Calm down, Your Excellency,” Flim interjected, carefully popping the glowing surface insert out of his left eye. “Sooner or later, it was inevitable that I face someone who personally knew Thrawn. What better time or place than here, where all four of them could have been dealt with quietly and discreetly if necessary?”
“Exactly,” Tierce said. “And as to my choice of commanders, those not personally loyal to you are precisely the ones we need to work Flim’s magic on.”
“And have you considered what they might do once they’re out of range of that magic?” Disra countered. “What if they decide they’re not really convinced after all and do some checking?”
“Oh, they’re going to,” Tierce assured him. “That was why I wanted Nalgol to be in this first group. He comes from a long line of Kuat nobility, and I knew he’d be wearing his poison injector ring.”
Flim paused midway through popping out the other surface insert. “His what?”
“His poison injector ring,” Tierce repeated. “Poisoning one’s enemies is a centuries-old tradition there. Oh, relax-Nalgol hasn’t carried any poison in that ring for years.”
“I’m glad you think so,” Flim said irritably, examining his hand closely where Nalgol had gripped it. “It wasn’t your hand he came over and-“
“I said relax,” Tierce said again, and this time there was an edge to his voice. “He wasn’t putting anything in. He was taking something out.”
“A small skin sample, to be exact,” Disra said, finally catching on. “Which he’ll undoubtedly take straight over to the archives to compare against the genetic profile in Thrawn’s ID records.”
“Exactly,” Tierce said. “And once he’s convinced-and he’ll certainly share his findings with the others-there will be literally nothing they won’t do for us.”
“I wondered why you were so insistent we get those ID records altered last night,” Disra said. “Not exactly a large margin of error built into that operation.”
“Especially considering the two of us were taking all the risks,” Flim seconded, still cradling his hand. “You weren’t even in the room with us.”
“Calm down, both of you,” Tierce said, a hint of contempt in his tone. “There’s a long way yet to go on this. I hope you’re not losing your nerve already.”
“Don’t worry about our nerve, Major,” Disra bit out. “You just worry about this strategy of yours actually working.”
“It will,” Tierce assured him. “Trust me. Whatever the preliminary skirmishes, the opening battle of the Rebellion’s final civil war will be fought over Bothawui. The Caamas Document will insure that. We want to orchestrate the details of that blow-up as best we can; and we want an Imperial presence at Bothawui to make sure the damage to both sides is as extensive as possible.”
“Well, whatever we do, we’d. better do it quickly,” Disra warned. “Pellaeon’s already three-quarters of the way to making my connection to the Cavrilhu Pirates and their associates. If he does a check and finds my sector fleet missing four Star Destroyers, he’s going to be all over me.”