“But some of the humans are criminals.”
“When their guilt has been established, they will face Imperial justice,” Thrawn said. “Until then, there will be no killing.”
“Imperial justice.” Joko’s voice and body stance hold contempt. “Very well, Commander Thrawn. I accept your word. For now. You will return to your ship to ponder?”
“No,” Thrawn said. “Ensign Vanto and I will spend the night here.”
“Here on our world?”
“Here in this very spot,” Thrawn said. “Will you leave the meeting structure in its current place for our use?”
“Why?”
“I wish to observe the crops in the moonlight,” Thrawn said. “Sometimes the altered spectrum offers clues.”
“You will find no clues in that fashion,” Joko said. “But I will leave the structure. Do as you will.”
“Thank you,” Thrawn said. “One final request. I know that many of your people live in this district. I request that they leave for tonight.”
“All of them?”
“All of them,” Thrawn confirmed. “They may move up into the hills or across the river. But all must leave this area.”
“But it will be disruption,” Joko said. “They will need shelter and provisions. Many are the families and young children that must travel.”
“The move will be only for this single night,” Thrawn said. “Surely the people of the Afe clan can endure a night of hardship in return for the reclamation of their land.”
“You can promise so quick a resolution?”
“I promise Imperial justice,” Thrawn said. “Move your people. I will contact you when it is safe for them to return.”
Five minutes later the stormtroopers and the Afes departed, the first in the Thunder Wasp’s shuttle, the second in the clan’s ancient landspeeders.
“Ensign?” Thrawn invited.
“You’re expecting the conspirators to come here tonight,” Vanto said. “Probably in force.”
“Why?”
“Because they expect you to rule in favor of the Afes and thereby block their access to the ore,” Vanto said. “This may be their last shot, and they’ll want to take full advantage of it.”
“Very good,” Thrawn said. Vanto’s pathway was slightly flawed, but his final conclusion was correct. “If they’ve had experience with Imperial justice, they won’t expect an overly quick ruling. But a long investigation will certainly focus attention on this region and prevent them from returning without being observed.”
“Ah,” Vanto said, his earlier confidence slightly subdued. “I see.”
“But your conclusion regarding the raid is still valid,” Thrawn said. “What do you conclude from the stunted plants?”
“Heavy-metal poisoning,” Vanto said, his confidence returning. “Which further implies that the ore is near the surface. Odd that no one spotted it before.”
“The planet’s metallurgical needs are satisfied from other, more extensive mines,” Thrawn said. “A vein this size may not be worth developing.”
“Unless you’re a group of ten or twenty that sees easy credits.”
“Yes. Did you note the pattern in the humans’ raids?”
“They’re moving farther and farther northward,” Vanto said. “Moving toward the larger population centers. I assume they’re trying to provoke a stronger reaction from the Afes.”
“Yes,” Thrawn said. “They recognize that the usual Cyphari response to such attacks is to defend the last site attacked, plus the next two along the anticipated path. The conspirators’ hope is twofold: to draw attention farther away from this spot so their mining operation remains undetected, and to induce an Afe attack that will result in human deaths.”
“They want the Afes to kill someone? Just so they’ll have a better case to present to Coruscant?”
“Partly,” Thrawn said. “More significant is the fact that the Afe ethos will cause them to recoil in shame and guilt, which will disadvantage them in future negotiations.”
“Which is why you advised Joko to stay on this side of the border,” Vanto said, nodding. “Even if they’re not trying to kill, they might be manipulated into doing so. You got all that from the artwork in the meetinghouse?”
“I did.”
“I wish you could teach me how to do that,” Vanto said ruefully. “If we’re expecting company, shouldn’t we bring down a few more navy troopers or stormtroopers?”
“The two of us will be sufficient,” Thrawn said. “They won’t expect trouble.”
Vanto smiled in grim anticipation. “No,” he agreed. “I daresay they won’t.”
There are many stories and myths about the Chiss. Some are accurate; others have been eroded by the twin forces of distance and time.
But one fact has always remained constant: The Chiss must be approached from a position of strength and respect. One must have strength, for the Chiss will deal only with those capable of keeping their promises. One must have respect, for the Chiss must believe that those promises will be kept.
There will be many cultural differences, and a warrior dealing with the Chiss must be wary of them. But never make the mistake of believing forbearance equates to acceptance, or that all positions are equally valid. There are things in the universe that are simply and purely evil. A warrior does not seek to understand them, or to compromise with them. He seeks only to obliterate them.
—
There were three open-topped landspeeders’ worth, nine men and three women in all. Eli and Thrawn watched through the meetinghouse doorway as the intruders drove carefully into the lane of damaged plants, forcing their way over and through the damaged stalks. One at a time the vehicles stopped, spacing themselves along the corridor at twenty-meter intervals. The raiders climbed out, scattered along the lane, and got to work.
Eli had hoped that all three of the conspirators Thrawn had identified earlier at the meeting would be present. It would certainly make it easier to file charges if they were caught in the act. But only the nervous one, Tanoo, was present.
Still, the fact that the landspeeders had driven straight into the field, apparently not caring that they were leaving visible damage on the remaining stalks, indicated that Thrawn had been correct in his conclusion that this would be the last raid for a while. The further implication was that everyone who wasn’t working the diversionary raids was probably here.
And with Thrawn’s stormtroopers backing up the Afes, the raiders weren’t going to have the quick and easy smash-and-run they were expecting.
In fact, there was a good chance the whole bunch of them would end up captured. If Eli and Thrawn could take this group as well, the Imperials might indeed roll up the whole conspiracy tonight.
There would certainly be no lack of evidence. Each of the raiders had two long cylindrical bags attached to his or her waist, about fifteen centimeters in diameter, trailing on the ground. They walked steadily along their assigned sections of the ore vein, digging into the soil with small trowels and shoveling their prizes into the bags.
“Interesting,” Thrawn murmured. “Tanoo isn’t digging.”
Eli focused his electrobinoculars. Thrawn was right. Tanoo was going back and forth among the diggers, testing the material they were digging up with a handheld sensor. “Checking the quality of ore?” he suggested.
“Perhaps,” Thrawn said, his voice thoughtful. “Locate his full record. I want a list of his areas of knowledge and expertise.”
“Yes, sir.” Eli lowered his electrobinoculars and pulled out his datapad. They’d already looked at the summary profiles of the three known conspirators, which had listed Tanoo as a crop geneticist. The record came up, and Eli skimmed it…
He frowned as something caught his eye. “His secondary schooling was in organic chemistry.”