“Persuade them if you can,” Fleet Admiral Jok Donassius said, his face on the holo grim and angry. “Devastate them if you have to. But stop them, one way or another. And stop them fast.”
“Understood, Fleet Admiral,” Thrawn said, his voice steady and cool. A lot steadier, Eli thought, and a lot cooler than he himself was feeling right now.
And from the expressions he could see on the rest of the Chimaera’s bridge crew, he wasn’t alone in his misgivings.
Small wonder. It hadn’t been all that long since the Separatist crisis sparked the bloody devastation of the Clone Wars. Billions had died in that conflict, with hundreds of planets all but destroyed and thousands more still clawing their way up from the brink. The last thing the galaxy could afford was a repeat of that horror.
But Governor Quesl and the people of Botajef were apparently ready to give it a try.
Thrawn and Donassius finished their conversation, and the holo blanked. For a moment Thrawn continued to gaze at the empty projector, as if pondering the orders he’d just received. Then, lifting his head a few centimeters, he turned to face his senior officers. “Commander Faro, instruct the helm to lay in a course for Botajef,” he ordered.
“Yes, sir.” Faro looked over at the helmsman—who was, Eli noted, already watching her closely—and lifted a finger. The helmsman nodded back and turned to his board. “On course for Botajef, Commodore,” Faro confirmed.
“Thank you.” Thrawn looked around the group. “Comments? Senior Lieutenant Pyrondi?”
“With all due respect, sir, I think they’re crazy,” Weapons Officer Pyrondi said, a bit hesitantly. As the newest addition to the Chimaera’s bridge officer corps, she was still getting used to Thrawn’s unique style of open tactical consultation. “Do they really think they can secede from the Empire all by themselves?”
“Who says they are all by themselves?” Faro countered soberly. “There’s a lot of unrest out there in the galaxy, and it’s growing.”
“Though it’s mostly just grumbling,” Eli said.
“So far,” Faro said pointedly. “But who’s to say Quesl hasn’t got a hundred other systems quietly backing him, all of them just waiting to see how far he gets before making independence proclamations of their own?”
“Not far is exactly where he’s going to get,” Pyrondi said. “I mean, seriously, ma’am? We’ve got enough firepower here to carve our initials into Botajef’s bedrock.”
“A fact Governor Quesl is undoubtedly aware of,” Thrawn said. “What then does he hope to gain by his words of defiance?”
“That’s the question, sir,” Faro agreed. “If he’s the representative for a lot of other systems, just slapping him down won’t necessarily solve the problem. It might even exacerbate it. If he’s alone”—she gestured to Pyrondi—“then Lieutenant Pyrondi is very likely right. The man is crazy.”
“Though if he is, he’s picked a great place to show it off,” Pyrondi said. “I’ve met a few Jefies in my life. They’re the best followers in the world. You persuade them you’re their leader, and they’ll follow you anywhere. And even with all the immigration over the past century they’re still a solid eighty-five percent of the planetary population.”
“Yet they didn’t complain about Coruscant appointing a human governor over them?” Eli asked.
“Like I said, sir, they’re followers,” Pyrondi said. “Prove you’re a leader, and they’re there. Quesl must have proved it, and then some.”
“That is my reading of the Jefies, as well,” Thrawn agreed. “Which suggests that the best strategy may be to create a new leader for them.”
“Assuming they’re just blindly following Quesl, sir, and haven’t bought into this secession thing themselves,” Pyrondi warned. “You get a group of Jefi true believers, and they may not need a leader to tell them what to do. There’s a lot we don’t know about them.”
“Then we should learn,” Thrawn said. “Commander Faro, how long until we reach Botajef?”
Faro checked her datapad. “Approximately fifteen hours, sir.”
“I’ll be in my quarters,” Thrawn said. “You have the bridge, Commander Faro. I want the Chimaera fully ready for combat fourteen hours from now.”
“It will be, Commodore,” Faro said grimly, and in her eyes Eli could see the flickering, burning memories of her own Clone Wars experiences. “Count on it.”
—
The history of Botajef was one of long periods of passive allegiance, followed by brief episodes of often fiery conflict, followed by new leadership and another era of passive allegiance.
Jefi art followed that same pattern: curves interrupted by stark lines or sharp angles, with a color palette mirroring the group emotional and ethical spectrum. Sculpts were low-contrast, perhaps indicating that the Jefies themselves recognized the shortcomings in their cultural matrix. In contrast, the hanging tressiles, with their quick-dampening balances, indicated they also recognized the basic stability of their political system.
“Commodore?” Vanto’s voice came.
“Enter.”
Vanto crossed the floor, passing through the holograms. “Jefi art?”
“Yes.”
“Nice,” Vanto said, his gaze moving between the pieces. “A bit jagged for my taste, but nice. I came to inform you, Commodore, that we’re two hours from Botajef and the Chimaera is ready for battle.”
“Thank you, Commander,” Thrawn said. “You seem troubled. Are you concerned about the upcoming confrontation?”
“I am,” Vanto said. “But probably not in the way everyone else is. I’m concerned that we were given this assignment because certain people are trying to set you up.”
“Have you any evidence for this?”
“No evidence, but plenty of logic,” Vanto said. “We know there are government officials who don’t like you, many of whom also dislike nonhumans in general. So now we have a largely nonhuman world proclaiming independence, with a hefty system defense fleet to back it up. The two most likely outcomes are, first, that you’ll stomp the Jefies into the dirt; or, second, that the Botajef Defense Force will overwhelm us and chase us out of the system.”
“Fortunately, there are more than just those options.”
“I hope so,” Vanto said. “Because in my first scenario Coruscant can paint you as the mad alien run amok who stomped a world of innocent Jefies and humans who were just obeying their appointed leader. In the second scenario, you get painted as incompetent and they kick you down to commanding an ore carrier.”
“Interesting that you should choose that example,” Thrawn said. The Jefi art holos vanished, replaced by a map of the Empire. “Do you recall the position Captain Filia Rossi held before commanding the Blood Crow?”
“First officer on an ore freighter escort, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Thrawn said. “I’m aware that you and some of the others had reservations at the time about her capability and seniority. But consider what we now know about how doonium and other metals are being taken from the general market. It may be that the ore freighters she was escorting were more important than anyone knew at the time.”
“Interesting,” Vanto said thoughtfully. “Not just that, but I seem to recall now that her previous posting was to Socorro. Lots of doonium in the asteroid belts there. I wonder…as you say, no one knew what those freighters meant. I wonder if that could have led to someone being a little less careful with security than they are now.”
“Indeed,” Thrawn said. “In which case, it should be possible to track the shipments and discover where this operation is occurring.”
“I can try.” Vanto frowned as the word caught his attention. “Operation, singular? You think this is a single project?”
“I do,” Thrawn said. “Consider. Hyperdrive components are being taken from supply depots, but no assembled hyperdrives are disappearing. Sublight engine components are likewise being taken, but no completed engines.”
“Interesting,” Vanto said slowly. “Though that could just mean they don’t want to lug around things that are that bulky.”