“That’s the one,” Karrde assured him. “As I recall Solo’s sales pitch to me back on Myrkr, your people are in need of transport ships. Correct?”
“Badly in need of them,” Luke agreed. “You have some stashed away?”
“Not exactly stashed away, but it won’t be too hard to put my hands on them. What do you think the New Republic would say to approximately two hundred pre-Clone Wars vintage Dreadnaught-class heavy cruisers?”
Luke felt his mouth fall open. Growing up on Tatooine had been a sheltered experience, but it hadn’t been that sheltered. “You don’t mean the Dark Force?”
“Come on down and we’ll discuss it,” Karrde said. “Oh, and I wouldn’t mention it to Mara just yet.”
“I’ll be right there.” Turning off the intercom, Luke hung the headset back on its hook and climbed onto the ladder - and for once, he didn’t even notice the discontinuity as the gravity field changed direction partway down the ladder.
The Millennium Falcon shot away from the Chimaera, out maneuvering and outgunning its pursuing TIE fighters and driving hard for deep space. Pellaeon sat at his station, hands curled into fists, watching the drama in helpless silence. Helpless, because with the main computer still only partially operational, the Chimaera’s sophisticated weapons and tractor beam systems were useless against a ship that small, that fast, and that distant. Silent, because the disaster was far beyond scope of any of his repertoire of curses.
The ship flickered and was gone : and Pellaeon prepared himself for the worst.
The worst didn’t come. “Recall the TIE fighters to their stations, Captain,” Thrawn said, his voice showing no sign of strain or anger. “Secure from intruder alert, and have Systems Control continue bringing the main computer back on line. Oh, and the supply unloading can be resumed.”
“Yes, sir,” Pellaeon said, throwing a surreptitious frown at his superior. Had Thrawn somehow missed the significance of what had just happened out there?
The glowing red eyes glinted as Thrawn looked at him. “We’ve lost a round, Captain,” he said. “No more.”
“It seems to me, Admiral, that we’ve lost far more than that,” Pellaeon growled. “There’s no chance that Karrde won’t give the Katana fleet to the Rebellion now.”
“Ah; but he won’t simply give it to them,” Thrawn corrected, almost lazily. “Karrde’s pattern has never been to give anything away for free. He’ll attempt to bargain, or else will set conditions the Rebellion will find unsatisfactory. The negotiations will take time, particularly given the suspicious political atmosphere we’ve taken such pains to create on Coruscant. And a little time is all we need.”
Pellaeon shook his head. “You’re assuming that ship thief Ferrier will be able to find the Corellian group’s ship supplier before Karrde and the Rebellion work out their differences.”
“There’s no assumption involved,” Thrawn said softly. “Ferrier is even now on Solo’s trail and has extrapolated his destination for us : and thanks to Intelligence’s excellent work on Karrde’s background, I know exactly who the man is we’ll be meeting at the end of that trail.”
He gazed out the viewport at the returning TIE fighters. “Instruct Navigation to prepare a course for the Pantolomin system, Captain,” he said, his voice thoughtful. “Departure to be as soon as the supply shuttles have been unloaded.”
“Yes, sir,” Pellaeon said, nodding the order on to the navigator and doing a quick calculation in his head. Time for the Millennium Falcon to reach Coruscant; time for the Chimaera to reach Pantolomin :
“Yes,” Thrawn said into his thoughts. “Now it’s a race.
Chapter 24
The sun had set over the brown hills of Honoghr, leaving a lingering hint of red and violet in the clouds above the horizon. Leia watched the fading color from just inside the dukha door, feeling the all-too-familiar sense of nervous dread that always came when she was about to go into danger and battle. A few more minutes and she, Chewbacca, and Threepio would be setting out for Nystao, to free Khabarakh and escape. Or to die trying.
She sighed and walked back into the dukha, wondering dimly where she’d gone wrong on this whole thing. It had seemed so reasonable to come to Honoghr-so right, somehow, to make such a bold gesture of good faith to the Noghri. Even before leaving Kashyyyk she’d been convinced that the offer hadn’t been entirely her own idea, but instead the subtle guidance of the Force.
And perhaps it had been. But not necessarily from the side of the Force she’d assumed.