“Yes, ma’am,” Thrawn said. “It seemed the simplest way to find and rescue the Dromedar’s crew.”
“Damn stupid risk,” Rossi said flatly. “Especially when you didn’t even know if they were still alive.”
“I thought the chances were good that they were, ma’am,” Thrawn said. “Cygni is not a malicious or casual killer. If he were, he would have simply shot the three of us once Ensign Barlin unlocked the hyperdrive. Our backs were to him, and he had a clear shot.”
“Which makes two stupid risks,” Rossi said. “And not just of your own life, but also those of my crew.”
“It was not a serious risk,” Thrawn said. “I was watching his reflection in the tibanna cylinders. If he had prepared to shoot, I would have noted the change in his stance in time to stop him.”
Rossi gave a snort. “You have an answer for everything, don’t you?”
“Part of my job is to anticipate the actions of our enemies.”
Rossi threw a look at Eli, as if daring him to say something. But Eli knew better. He’d seen the captain in this mood, and knew she was itching to find something she could throw back in Thrawn’s face.
Only in this case, she was out of luck. Thrawn had outmaneuvered Cygni, he’d outmaneuvered the pirates, and he would outmaneuver Rossi, too.
“Sounds more like dumb luck than sound planning,” the captain said, shifting her glare back to Thrawn and turning up the intensity a couple of notches. “There’s no way you could have known Cygni wasn’t exactly who he claimed until he pulled that blaster.”
“On the contrary, ma’am, I knew he was a plant from the very beginning,” Thrawn said calmly. “His clothing was covered with dust, indicating he had been in the area of the tibanna cylinders and the engine room. A member of the crew would have warned us about the supposed reactor leak as soon as he realized we weren’t pirates. Yet he didn’t.”
Eli winced. He’d missed that one completely. “Big mistake on his part.”
“More of a calculated risk,” Thrawn said. “He knew there was a danger that someone would notice the lapse. But he also knew that if he drew our attention to the leak we might wonder why he had mentioned that one specific danger. That might cause us to examine the reactor compartment more closely, which he could not afford.”
“Because if we had, we’d have walked in on the rest of the pirates,” Eli said, nodding.
“That would still have led to our capture, as they outnumbered us significantly,” Thrawn said. “But Cygni would then have lost the chance to restart the hyperdrive and take the tibanna, which was his primary objective.”
“Unless he forced Barlin and Layneo to do it at blasterpoint,” Eli said, a shiver running up his back. Cygni might have some moral limits, but Eli wouldn’t put a bent credit on finding any such ethical standards in Angel or the rest of the pirates.
“He would not have succeeded.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Rossi said. “Which brings us to your sense of priorities.”
“Ma’am?”
“You had a decision to make, Lieutenant,” Rossi said. “The Dromedar and its cargo, or the pirate frigate and the Dromedar’s crew. You chose the latter.” She shook her head. “Wrong choice.”
Thrawn’s eyes flicked to Eli. “We saved the crew, ma’am,” he said, sounding as confused as Eli had ever seen him. “And captured several pirates and their ship.”
“None of which stacks up against even one tank of tibanna gas, let alone twenty,” Rossi said bluntly. “I’m waiting for a ruling from Coruscant, but until they send one I have no choice but to suspend you from duty.”
Eli caught his breath. “Ma’am, you’re—”
He broke off as Rossi shifted her glare to him. “You have something to say, Ensign?”
“He does not,” Thrawn said, throwing a warning look at Eli. “I presume I will be left behind on Ansion while you continue your patrol?”
“Yes,” Rossi said, looking extra annoyed at the fact she hadn’t gotten to deliver that bit of the message herself. “Whether you’re confined to quarters will be up to Admiral Wiskovis. Dismissed.”
Eli clenched his teeth. This was completely unfair. He opened his mouth to say so—
Rossi got there first. “One word out of you, Ensign,” she warned, “and you’ll stay here with him.”
“That won’t be necessary, Captain,” Thrawn said. “I am certain Ensign Vanto will be of great value to you on the remainder of the patrol.”
“Are you, now,” Rossi said. “On second thought, I can hardly deprive my special-duty lieutenant of his aide, now, can I? Congratulations, Vanto: You’ve just been assigned shore leave. Extended shore leave.”
Eli felt his stomach knot. What the hell?
“Barlin will fly you down to the base,” Rossi said. Her eyes were still on Eli, as if she still expected some comment or protest. Again, Eli knew better. “I’ll tell Wiskovis to expect you. Dismissed.”
They left the office, Thrawn silent, Eli silently seething. What had that been all about?
Because it had been deliberate. Rossi might not realize it, but then she hadn’t spent as much time with Thrawn as Eli had. To Eli the signs had been clear as day: The Chiss had deliberately maneuvered the captain into kicking Eli off the Blood Crow along with him.
But why? Why would he do that? Had he manipulated Rossi just for the fun or challenge of it?
Or was there something else going on behind Thrawn’s glowing red eyes? Could it be that he was so afraid of losing his aide that he didn’t dare let Rossi—or anyone else aboard the Blood Crow—see what Eli could actually do?
To be honest, Eli had only a vague idea himself what that could be. He was good with numbers and supply figures—hell, he was extremely good with them. But whether he could show any of that talent during the presumably brief time he would be out from under Thrawn’s shadow was questionable at best.
“My apologies, Ensign Vanto,” Thrawn said quietly into Eli’s tangled thoughts. “I realize you wished to return to the Blood Crow. Under normal circumstances, I would have been pleased to allow you to show Captain Rossi and the others the depth and range of your abilities. But conditions here are not normal.”
“Are conditions ever normal in the Imperial Navy, sir?” Eli growled. Still, he could feel curiosity stirring through his resentment. There was an intensity in Thrawn’s tone that was oddly contagious. “What’s particularly abnormal about this one?”
“Captain Rossi is correct: The tibanna gas is of great value, and therefore of great interest,” Thrawn said. “If we are to find the Dromedar before the cylinders are removed, we must move quickly.”
“I heard the ISB is sending an interrogator,” Eli said, his stomach tightening in distaste. The Imperial Security Bureau was a necessary part of keeping order, but it sometimes seemed to go out of its way to be disliked, mistrusted, and feared. “I doubt the pirates will have many secrets left after he’s done with them.”
“That is indeed the ISB’s reputation,” Thrawn said. “But the interrogator may not arrive in time, or may not extract the necessary information quickly enough. Remember, we have only four days before Angel will notice his ship’s failure to reappear and become suspicious.”
“Or at least get mad.” Eli frowned sideways at Thrawn as it suddenly hit him. “You’re going to interrogate them?”
“Assuming I can persuade Admiral Wiskovis to permit me,” Thrawn said. “Tell me, what do we already know?”
Eli waved a hand. “Pretty much nothing.”
Thrawn remained silent. Eli clenched his teeth. “Fine,” he said with a sigh. Another game that Thrawn was very good at. “We know they were six days away from the rendezvous, including a stop to drop us and the other prisoners somewhere. As you said, that leaves us four days to get wherever they were going. But we don’t even know which direction to look.”
“We have the captured sensor data from the pirate ship,” Thrawn reminded him.