“Cygni?” Vanto prompted.
“Yes, sir,” Cygni said. Still seated, he straightens up and lowers his hands. His face is well fleshed, with no signs of malnutrition. The skin around his eyes is taut with stress, as are the muscles in his throat. His eyes are dark and wary. “Please believe that I thought you were—” He breaks off and his eyes widen. “I—uh—”
“Lieutenant Thrawn asked you a question, Cygni,” Vanto said.
“Yes,” Cygni said. He blinks twice and turns his eyes to Vanto. “Sorry. My name—no; you already know my name. Sorry. The thing is, we were attacked. By pirates.”
“Who were they?” Vanto asked. “Did they mention any names? Were they wearing any kind of insignia?”
“No,” Cygni said. “No names.” His lips twitch. “At least, nothing I heard. I sort of…ran.”
There is a brief silence. “Where did you run?” Vanto asked.
“There’s a storage locker back there where Captain Fitz stores her private food stocks.” Cygni angles his head behind him. “Specialized stuff she picks up along our route that she sells wherever she can make a profit. We used to pilfer it, taking from the back and keeping the front intact so she wouldn’t notice as quickly.”
“Which left enough room behind the packages where you could hide?”
“I know what you’re thinking,” Cygni said. His voice becomes harsh. “I should have stood with the others. Maybe fought, maybe—” He broke off, his throat working. “And then they took them.” His voice drops in volume. “All of them. I heard someone say they were going to go back to their base and find a slicer to get the ship running. But they took everyone else with them.”
“What happened to the hyperdrive?” Thrawn asked.
“I’ve got Layneo checking it out,” Vanto said. “Best guess is that someone locked it down before the pirates could get to it.”
“Yes—that was it,” Cygni said. “Captain Fitz locked the hyperdrive. I heard them threatening her. Or maybe it was Toom, our engineer, who locked it.” He squeezes his eyes tightly shut. “I heard…screams.”
“You thought we were the returning pirates?” Thrawn asked.
“Yes.” Cygni opens his eyes and waves one hand at Vanto. “I was scared, and I didn’t focus on the uniforms. I never thought anyone would hear the beacon or come looking anyway. When I saw who you were…” He trails off. “I guess I’m lucky you didn’t just shoot me for pulling a blaster on you.”
“We have better self-control than that,” Vanto said. He looks at Thrawn. “Orders, sir?”
“Contact the Blood Crow,” Thrawn said. Cygni buries his face in his hands again. The muscles in his hands are tight with tension. “Report the situation to the captain, and inform her I will be making a thorough examination of the ship.”
“Except for the power compartment, sir,” Layneo said as she joined them from around a corner. “There’s a bad leak in the main reactor.”
“Oh, yes—don’t go in there,” Cygni said quickly. He drops his hands from his face. His back stiffens as he looks up. “Sorry—I should have warned you about that.”
“It’s okay,” Layneo said, her voice dry. “The indicators and hatch interlocks were a pretty solid hint.”
“Oh. Right.” Cygni sighs. His torso folds over again in a slump.
“And then tell her,” Thrawn continued to Vanto, “that I recommend bringing a full operational crew aboard while we attempt to restart the hyperdrive. If we are unable to do so, I recommend attempting to disengage the static-locks so that the tibanna cylinders can be removed and transferred to the Blood Crow.”
Layneo’s mouth drops open a few millimeters. “Ah…yes,” Vanto said cautiously. “Sir, I suspect the captain will find your suggestions…a bit excessive.”
“She may,” Thrawn said. Cygni’s face is still hidden in his hands. “Nevertheless, those are my recommendations.”
“Yes, sir,” Vanto said. “I’ll submit them immediately.”
“Thank you, Ensign,” Thrawn said. “While you do that, Tech Layneo will show me to the tibanna cylinders.”
Layneo clenches her jaw firmly. “Yes, sir,” she said. “This way.”
Leadership and obedience are the two legs on which a warrior’s life is balanced. Without both, victory cannot be achieved.
Leadership depends on information and comprehension. Not so obedience. Sometimes a commander may choose to share details of his plan. Often he may not. In either case, obedience must be instant and complete.
Such automatic response relies on trust between commander and those commanded. And that trust can only be obtained through leadership.
—
Eli had expected Captain Rossi to take Thrawn’s recommendations badly. He wasn’t disappointed.
“A full op crew?” Rossi echoed incredulously. “Is he out of his mind?”
“Ma’am, the cargo is extremely valuable,” Eli pointed out, fighting back a growing annoyance. Rossi had no business simply rejecting Thrawn’s suggestions out of hand. But Thrawn likewise shouldn’t have put Eli in the middle of this in the first place. If he wanted to pitch this crazy plan he should have done it himself. “If we can move either the ship or the tibanna—”
“And if he thinks he’s going to play around with twenty tibanna cylinders while my ship is in even the same solar system, he’s very much mistaken,” Rossi cut him off.
“Yes, ma’am,” Eli said, glowering at his comlink. Now the captain was just being overdramatic. A cascading tibanna explosion was seriously nasty, but it wasn’t that bad. “But if Lieutenant Thrawn thinks it can be done, it may be worth letting him try.”
“It would hardly be a major loss for the navy if he blew himself to atoms,” Rossi countered sarcastically. “But I’m not risking that much of my crew on those odds. Anyway, it’s a moot point. A Ho’Din settlement on Moltok is getting shot at by the local Makurth boss, and they need some Imperial muscle to knock their little heads together before it becomes a full-fledged war. We need to go.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Eli said, wishing he could just let it go and let Rossi’s decision play out, for better or worse, upon her own head.
But Cygni needed protection and justice, too. So did the Imperial base or local planetary defense force that had ordered that tibanna shipment.
Besides, Thrawn was counting on him.
“What if just Lieutenant Thrawn and I stayed behind?” he suggested to Rossi. “Possibly with one of the techs along to assist? We could try to get the ship started, and maybe work on the tibanna a little. You could come back and get us after you’ve settled the Moltok situation.”
There was a short pause, and Eli could visualize Rossi tapping her fingers on her armrest as she weighed her options.
If Eli were a betting man—and if gambling were allowed aboard the Blood Crow—he would bet on the captain going with whatever option had the best chance of Thrawn blowing himself up. If the tibanna didn’t do the trick, a shipload of returning pirates might.
“Very well, Ensign,” Rossi said. “Inform Lieutenant Thrawn that he can have whatever equipment he needs, and up to three crew, assuming he can find that many willing to volunteer. You’ll stay with him regardless, of course. An important officer like that can’t be without his aide.”
Eli scowled. He’d called it, all right. “Yes, ma’am,” he said. “I’ll deliver your message immediately.”
Given the circumstances, Rossi no doubt assumed the repair party would consist only of Thrawn and Eli. It was probably a surprise to her, and not a pleasant one, when Barlin, Layneo, and Jakeeb all instantly volunteered to stay, as well.
“I’m gratified you were all willing to help,” Cygni said as he and the others watched from the Dromedar’s bridge as the Blood Crow jumped to lightspeed. “I just hope it doesn’t end badly for you.”
“It will not,” Thrawn assured him. “Ensign Barlin, Tech Layneo: You may begin when ready.”
“Yes, sir,” Barlin said, seating herself at the helm station. “Layneo?”