“I said watch your mouths.” Vanto does not raise his voice. But the effect on the prisoners is immediate. Fitz gives him a covert look and lowers her eyes. Her facial glow grows brighter. “Sorry,” she said in a low voice.
“Thank you,” Vanto said. “And if you think Lieutenant Thrawn is wasting time with excuses, you’re badly mistaken. Lieutenant?”
“Another moment,” Thrawn said.
“Look, Lieutenant—” Fitz began.
“He said wait,” Vanto said.
“For what?” Fitz clenches her teeth, then forces them to relax. “What are we waiting for?”
“For Cygni and the others to reboard the Dromedar and jump to lightspeed,” Thrawn said. “I am counting out the estimated time now.”
“You want him to get away with our ship?”
“Be quiet, Captain,” Vanto said.
“But—”
“I said quiet,” Vanto repeated. Again, his voice remains steady and controlled. But the purpose and confidence again quiet Fitz’s protest. “I won’t ask again.”
The cage fell silent. Thrawn continued to count.
And then, it was time.
“Tech Layneo, are you familiar with the control electronics for a ship of this sort?” he asked.
“Not this type specifically, sir,” Layneo said. She peers through the metal bars at the entrance to the cargo bay. “But I looked at the engine-control layout on our way through, and it seemed pretty standard. What do you need me to do?”
“If we isolate the bridge, can we fly the ship from here?”
A murmur passes among the prisoners. “Probably,” Layneo said. “Ensign Barlin?”
“I think we can do it, Lieutenant,” Barlin agreed. “It’ll take some quick rewiring, though. If the pirates are fast enough, they may be able to disable some of the circuits before we can override them.”
“I think we can keep them occupied,” Thrawn said.
“Sounds great,” Captain Fitz said. “Except that the circuits are out there, and we’re in here.”
“I’m guessing not much longer, Captain,” Vanto said. “Lieutenant, do you need us to give you room?”
“Not at all, Ensign.” Thrawn removed his insignia plaque. “You asked me once what I would do with the spare plaque Commandant Deenlark gave me at the Academy.”
Vanto leans closer, frowning. He studies the insignia plaque and the electronic components and micro switches partially visible from the back. His frown clears. “That’s a beckon call, isn’t it?”
“It is,” Thrawn said.
“Wait a second,” Fitz said. “Are you saying that your ship is close enough to call—? No, that doesn’t make any sense.”
“Our ship is long gone,” Vanto said. He smiles. “But that’s not what he’s calling.”
“Then what?” Fitz demanded.
Five seconds later, she received her answer.
Clone Wars–era holos showing buzz droid attacks on Republic starfighters were impressive enough. But such combat had taken place in the vacuum of space, with only faint sounds recorded via metal conduction. The droid now cutting and grinding its way through the cargo bay bulkhead toward them was far louder than Thrawn had expected. “Move back!” he called over the noise as the edges of the blades, the points of the drill, and the brilliant blade of the plasma torch appeared through the bulkhead metal. Once the droid made it through, the only thing between it and the beckon call would be the cage itself. The timing would be critical to allow it to cut through the bars but not continue toward the remote and the one who held it.
The droid emerged through the bulkhead, throwing off a few final shards of metal. It continued its interrupted vector across the bay, closing into its sphere shape as it flew. It struck the cage and popped open again, its hook appendages gripping one bar as the circular saw and torch attacked two of the others. A meter-long section of one of the bars, sliced through, clattered to the deck, and the blade moved on to the next bar.
“This is going to take too long,” Vanto warned.
Thrawn had already estimated the droid’s progress. Vanto was correct. “Agreed,” Thrawn said. He took two steps to his right, moving the beckon call to the far side of the cage door. The droid shifted toward him. Thrawn repositioned the beckon call, bringing the droid directly onto the door. One final adjustment, and the droid’s saw began eating into the lock mechanism.
Thrawn looked at the entrance to the bay. Within a few more seconds, the pirates in this section of the ship would surely come to investigate.
He looked back at the cage door, again gauging the droid’s progress. The timing would be close.
“Look out!” one of the prisoners shouted.
Three pirates appeared abruptly through the hatchway. Their pace falters, their eyes widening and their mouths dropping open as they see the buzz droid eating through the cage. A second later they recovered from their surprise and reached for their blasters, their hands fumbling slightly with the last remnants of their shock. Their expressions change from surprise to anger.
Thrawn reached through the bars of the cage and flipped the beckon call over their heads to land on the engine room deck behind them. Instantly the buzz droid closed down its cutting instruments, unhooked itself from the cage, and shot across the bay toward the pirates.
The pirates’ eyes again widen. Their blasters had been lining up on the prisoners. Now they turned the weapons instead toward the approaching droid and fired.
Even with a doonium inner shell, the buzz droid’s inner mechanism was vulnerable to blasterfire. But the outer spherical shell was much stronger. All three of the pirates’ shots struck, but none made it through. The pirates fired again, all three shots missing. Two of the men hurled themselves to the deck, attempting to evade the droid’s approach. The third was too slow and was struck a glancing blow that sent him spinning.
Beside Thrawn, Jakeeb stepped forward, grabbed the top bars of the cage, and slammed the soles of both feet against the door. The remaining undamaged part of the lock mechanism snapped with the impact. Jakeeb dropped back to the floor and ducked out of the cage. Barlin, Layneo, and the rest of the prisoners were right behind them.
There was a brief melee of combat. When it ended, all three pirates had been reduced to unconsciousness.
“Well done,” Thrawn said. “Ensign Vanto, Tech Jakeeb, Captain Fitz: Take their blasters and guard the access to this section. Ensign Barlin and Tech Layneo: the control system.”
“Yes, sir,” Barlin said. She hurried toward the control boards, Layneo and three of the Dromedar’s crew behind him.
“We’ll need more weapons if we’re going to make a stand,” Captain Fitz said.
“That will most likely be unnecessary,” Thrawn said. “The pirates still forward of the entrance hatch will not be joining us.”
“What’s going to stop them?” Fitz asked.
“The internal hatch safety interlocks,” Thrawn said. He pointed forward, toward the flashing red lights in the distance. “Even now, the entrance chamber and amidships section of the ship have been opened to vacuum.”
“What?” Fitz asked. Her muscles tense with surprise and puzzlement. “How in the world—?”
“Relax, Captain,” Vanto said. He smiles with satisfaction and grim humor. “Lieutenant Thrawn is always prepared. And as it happens, he also owns a second buzz droid.”
Fitz is silent two seconds. Then a slow smile spreads across her face. “How very unfortunate for our pirates,” she said. “Lieutenant Thrawn, I believe the ship is yours. What course shall we set?”
A great tactician creates plans. A good tactician recognizes the soundness of a plan presented to him. A fair tactician must see the plan succeed before offering approval.
Those with no tactical ability at all may never understand or accept it.
Nor will such people understand or accept the tactician. To those without that ability, those who possess it are a mystery.
And when a mind is too deficient in understanding, the resulting gap is often filled with resentment.
—
“Let me get this straight,” Captain Rossi growled, peering up at Thrawn and Eli. “You’re saying you let yourself be captured?”