He inclined his head slightly beneath the hood. “Continue.”
“This evening I was taken to a meeting with a high government official,” she said. “He thinks the advocacy group I work with is trying to destroy him. He wants me to spy on them for him, and threatened to turn me over to ISB under false charges of espionage if I refuse.”
“Did he seem confident in that threat?”
Arihnda frowned. An odd question. “Very confident.”
Thrawn nodded. “Continue.”
“That’s really about it,” Arihnda said. “I was hoping you would help me get out from under him.”
“I see,” Thrawn said. “And your weapon?”
Arihnda blinked. “What do you mean?”
“Surely you don’t expect me to bring turbolaser fire to bear on his office,” Thrawn said, a slight dryness to his tone. “I conclude you have some other weapon you believe will be useful against him.”
Arihnda smiled tightly. He was good, all right. “I do,” she said, pulling out her datapad. “During his rant he mentioned that one of his mines had been recently attacked. I poked around a little and found it.” She keyed the datapad and swiveled it around to face him. “Anything interesting jump out at you?”
Thrawn nodded. “Doonium.”
“Yes,” Arihnda said. “A good-sized vein of it, which he apparently never registered. He appears to be selling the doonium to the navy through hidden channels, probably at inflated profits, certainly without paying taxes on it.”
“Or perhaps is selling it elsewhere,” Thrawn said.
“And the current black market in the metal will bring even more ridiculous profits,” Arihnda agreed. “Either way, no one knew about it until someone dug up the data and raided the mine. I asked him what was stolen, but he never answered. I’m betting heavily it was some of the doonium.”
“And you believe his lack of disclosure is a weapon that can be brought to bear?”
“Exactly,” Arihnda said. “I thought that since you’re a friend of Colonel Yularen, you could quietly pass this along to him.”
“By which I assume you mean anonymously?”
Arihnda felt her throat tighten. “Partly anonymously, yes,” she said. “It’s a little tricky. I don’t want anyone but Yularen knowing I gave it to you. But he needs to know, because I want it on his record that I gave him this data so that I don’t get arrested or charged if it turns out someone at Higher Skies was the thief.”
For a moment Thrawn gazed at her from behind his glasses. Then, slowly, he shook his head. “I can give this to Colonel Yularen,” he said. “But I cannot do so now.”
Arihnda stared at him. “Why not?”
“Because the longer it is in his possession, the more likely it will become known to others within ISB,” Thrawn said. “Possibly including the close friend and secret ally of your corrupt official.”
“You think he has some specific ally there?”
“I am certain of it,” Thrawn said. “You said he threatened to send you to prison for theft. But his word alone would be insufficient to overcome the absence of evidence.”
“Not even the word of a senior official?”
“Senior officials are precisely those whom the ISB is tasked with monitoring,” Thrawn said. “Only with a secret ally could he know the charges against you would escape closer scrutiny.”
“I don’t understand,” Arihnda said. “How do you even know he has someone like that?”
“You said he was confident,” Thrawn reminded her. “A warrior does not threaten an enemy with an unloaded weapon unless he has no other choice.” He pulled the card from the datapad and slipped it into a pocket. “I will hold your information for Colonel Yularen. But I will deliver it only when I judge the time to be right.”
Arihnda swallowed hard. She could see Thrawn’s logic, and it made sense.
But without Yularen and ISB holding something over Ghadi, there was no way she could take him on by herself. “What if I said I was willing to risk it?”
“I am not.”
“What if I sweeten the pot?” Arihnda pressed. “You know military tactics, but I know politics. I could help you there.”
“I appreciate the offer,” Thrawn said. “But I do not need assistance.”
“Your aide might disagree,” Arihnda said. “Ensign Vanto. In three years you’ve gone from lieutenant to commander, yet he’s still an ensign. Why?”
Even through the glasses she could see his eyes narrow. “That is a military matter.”
“Is it?” Arihnda countered. “Remember, I was at the dojo when he got the news of your promotion. He was disappointed. Also resentful, I think, though he tried to hide it.”
“How do you know this?”
“He and Colonel Yularen had a short conversation when the report came in,” Arihnda said. “You were slapping sticks with H’sishi so you probably couldn’t hear them. But I was close enough to catch the gist of what they were saying.” Actually, she hadn’t heard nearly as much as she was making it sound. But she’d done some digging on Vanto while she was prepping for this meeting, and it hadn’t been hard to put the pieces together.
Fortunately, she’d put them together right. Behind the glasses, Thrawn’s eyes narrowed. “Promotions should not be affected by politics,” he said.
“Maybe they shouldn’t, but they are,” Arihnda said. “The way I read it, some of the senators and ministers don’t like you. You’re too good for them to attack directly, so they find other ways. Pressuring the High Command to keep your aide from advancing is one. Putting your ship last in line for repairs is another.”
Thrawn seemed to straighten up. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, you hadn’t caught that one?” Arihnda asked. “Practically every other ship that needs dockyard space has been put on the list ahead of the Thunder Wasp. After all, the best way to make sure you don’t outshine all their precious elite Core World officers is to keep you on Coruscant away from any possible battles or engagements.”
“Interesting,” Thrawn said. “I had of course noted that the Thunder Wasp had been placed at the lowest priority. I assumed the repair ranking was based on which ships needed to be returned to patrol duty most quickly.”
“You were half right,” Arihnda said. “Just substitute which captains they want back on duty—and which one they don’t—and you’ll have the complete picture.”
“I see,” Thrawn murmured. “Have you an ally who can alter that?”
“I have some contacts,” Arihnda said, running quickly through the list of senators and ministers she’d talked to while working with Higher Skies. Without knowing who was behind the vendetta against Thrawn, there was no way to guess which of them might be able to intervene on his behalf. “None of them is really an ally.”
He was silent another moment. “Tell me, who does your high government official fear?”
“I don’t know that he fears anyone.”
“Then who does he hate? All who hold positions of power fear or hate someone. Or something.”
Arihnda thought back on Ghadi’s rantings. Now that Thrawn mentioned it…“There is someone he hates, yes,” she said.
“So you have an enemy, and a threat to that enemy,” Thrawn said. “That gives you two possible vectors of attack. One is to turn the threat into an ally, then use him against your enemy. The other—” He paused and cocked his head to the side. “Is to use the threat as a lever against your enemy in order to make him into your ally.”
“I see,” Arihnda said slowly, her mind spinning. When he put it that way…“Any recommendation as to which approach would be best?”
“Only you can decide that,” Thrawn said. “You must consider which weapons and levers you have available, and which approach offers the best chance of success.” He lifted a warning finger. “But remember that in neither case is your new ally likely to be your friend. His association with you will be based solely on fear or need. Fear of what you can do to him, or a need for what you can provide him. If either of those forces loses its value, so does your position.”