"I knew you'd be worried," Tierce said blandly. "I wanted to help set your mind at ease."

Disra smiled sardonically, knowing the expression was probably wasted with a holo this size. "Thank you so much, Major-I do so appreciate your concern. So our puppet performed adequately?"

"I'd even go further and say he performed superbly," Tierce said. "He had them in the palm of his hand from the moment they came in to the moment they left."

"No surprises, then?"

"Not really. Calrissian tried to trap him with a question about the time Thrawn visited Talon Karrde on Myrkr. Fortunately for us, he'd actually read the detailed report I'd written up on my time with Thrawn and knew the answer."

"Fortunately for him, you mean," Disra said, putting an edge of threat into his voice.

"How soon will you be back?"

"That's! the other reason I called," Tierce said. "Now that we're here, I think we're going to stay in Rebellion-occupied s.p.a.ce for a while."

Disra frowned, the cold blade-edge starting its grinding again. "What for?"

"I'd like to nose around a bit," the other said with a casual wave of his band. "Send activation signals to some of the sleeper groups we haven't contacted yet-there are still a few we weren't able to send transmissions to because of distance or positioning. Mostly, I want to see what Coruscant's reaction will be to! Thrawn's reappearance."

"Probably to send fifty Star Cruisers charging in at you," Disra snapped. "This is crazy, Tierce. It's also not part of the plan."

"Military plans are always subject to change, Your Excellency," Tierce said calmly.

"This is not what I had in mind for Flim," Disra snarled. "You know that."

"And you know that when I joined I said we could do better than what you had in mind,"

Tierce countered.

Disra ground his teeth savagely. "You're going to ruin everything. And get yourselves killed in the bargain."

"On the contrary," Tierce said, and even on the quarter-sized image Disra could see his self-satisfied smile. "I'm going to start the Empire back on its road to glory."

"Tierce-"

"I have to go, Your Excellency," Tierce said. "We shouldn't stay on transmission too long, even with good encryption. Don't worry, I'm not planning to take the Relentless to Coruscant or anything so foolish. I just want to spend a little more time here. Call it a hunch."

"In my experience, relying on hunches is a fast trip to the short end of the odds," Disra growled. But Tierce had him, and they both knew it. Short of sending what was left of the Braxant Sector Fleet to chase him down, there was precious little Disra could do at this point to countermand him. "How long are you planning to stay?"

Tierce shrugged. "A couple of weeks, Maybe more. It depends."

"On what?"

"On whether I get the reaction I'm looking for. I'll be sure to let you know if and when it happens."

"Good," Disra said sourly. "If and when the New Republic !fleet appears over Bastion, I'll be sure to let you know."

Tierce smiled. "Thank you, Your Excellency. I knew you'd understand. Good-bye."

The image flickered and vanished. Disra leaned back in his chair, glaring at the hologram pod. This was getting out of hand. It was getting way out of hand. He'd let Tierce run off restrainer bolt long enough; it was time to reel the Guardsman in a little.

And remind him who was master and who was servant.

At the moment, Disra wasn't exactly sure how to do that. But he would think of something.

CHAPTER 20.

The Diamalan Senator finished his report and sat down again on the witness bench beside Lando . . . and for Leia, the Grand Convocation Chamber had suddenly become very cold.

The impossible had happened. Grand Admiral Thrawn had returned.

"I do not see the problem," the Likashan Senator called out, her high-pitched voice making the chamber's sound system squeal. We are many; the Empire are few. Let us gather together and move against it. And this time, let us not stop until we have utterly destroyed it."

"If you think that's even an option anymore, then you're a fool," the Sronk Senator countered. "I saw full-left-handed what this Grand Admiral Thrawn did to my world's defenses ten standardcycles ago, and with nothing more than seven Katana-fleet Dreadnoughts as his weapons. He wouldn't have announced his return if be weren't already prepared to receive the full slamming brunt of our closed right hand."

"They have no more than a thousand worlds remaining," a Senator who Leia couldn't identify put in scornfully. "With no more than a hundred Star Destroyers and a few thousand lesser ships. Do you suggest that such a pitiful force could withstand the full thunder of our trampling hooves?"

"You do not know this Thrawn-"

"Please," President Gavrisom cut in. "All of you. We of the Council certainly understand your concerns and your fears. However, at this point I would urge you to ponder this news without jumping to either hasty conclusions or premature actions."

"A preemptive strike would not be a premature action," a huffy voice insisted. "I agree with the Likashan Senator that we must move immediately against the remnants of the Empire."

"Yes," the Likash squealed. "Grand Admiral Thrawn nearly defeated us once, we cannot allow him the time he needs to attack us again."

"He's already had all the time he needs," the Sronk shot back. "Weren't you listening to what I said? He wouldn't have revealed himself if he wasn't ready for us."

"But the situation isn't the same as it was ten years ago," Leia reminded them, striving to keep her own voice steady and to keep the growing sense of dread in the chamber from feeding into her own fears. "Back then Thrawn still had nearly a quarter of the old Empire to work with. As has already been pointed out, his resources are almost nonexistent now."

"So let us take the rest away from him," a voice shouted. "Let us destroy him now!"

"We cannot destroy him," Gavrisom said. "Even if we wanted to, which I'm not yet convinced is the proper response to his offer."

"Why not?" the Likash demanded. "The New Republic has far more warships than the Empire."

The Maerdocian Senator roared something in his own language. "Do you imply you would seriously consider allowing him to interrogate New Republic officials?" the translation whispered in Leia's ear. "That way lies madness."

"He doesn't want all of us," the Kian'thar Senator pointed out "He wants only the Bothans."

There was another roar. "Do you genuinely believe it would end with the Bothans?" the translation demanded. "If so, your path is toward madness."

Gavrisom tapped a key on his board, shutting down the chamber sound system. The shouting died reluctantly away, and he turned the system back on. "Please," be said mildly. "Let us keep our focus clear in this debate. Certainly we have no intention of permitting an Imperial official to interrogate the leaders of any New Republic member world. However, it is equally unreasonable at this point to suggest a concerted attack against the Empire.

While it is true that a state of war technically exists between us, recent hostilities have been few and mostly accidental. More to the point, even though our forces outnumber theirs, those forces are at the moment widely dispersed across the galaxy."

He shook his mane in a gesture of mild reproof. "Attempting, as you are all aware, to bring some measure of stability to the New Republic against the stirrings of hundreds of threatening internal wars."

"How ver' conven'ent," the Garoosh Senator half-whistled sarcastically. "For the Empire, a' least."

"They're probably the ones inciting all the wars," someone suggested with obvious contempt. "That would be just like Thrawn's style. Panning the fires of stupid hatred and primitive genocidal nonsense-"

"Do not call our long struggle stupid," the Forshul Senator rumbled. "And as for genocide, I find it highly significant that our oppressors the Prosslee stand ready to excuse the Bothans' own actions against the Caamasi. It is the duty of all right-thinking beings to recognize such an att.i.tude as a danger, not only to my people but also to all of Yminis sector-"

Gavrisom touched the cutoff switch again, and the Forshul's voice dropped into a distant and indistinct voice booming from her section of the chamber. "I thank the Senator from Yminis sector for her comments," the President said. "I would also remind her that this is not the time for such speeches."

"President Gavrisom, I would speak," a familiar voice simmering with familiar anger rolled across the chamber, filling the s.p.a.ce even with the sound system turned off.

Leia looked that direction. Ghic Dx'ono, the Ishori Senator, was on his feet, his whole body trembling with the physical rage that in his species always accompanied deep thought.

"You may speak," Gavrisom told him, turning the sound system on again. "I would caution you that as this chamber does not wish to hear a tirade against the Prosslee, we also do not wish to hear one against the Diamala."

"I intend no tirade," Dx'ono barked. "I wish merely to remind the chamber that we have only the Diamalan Senator's word that he did indeed face this Thrawn. I would also remind the Senators that he ended his testimony moments ago with an urging that we put the Bothan matter behind us-without punishing the guilty-in order that we might face this supposed new threat."

"The reappearance of Grand Admiral Thrawn is hardly a supposed' threat, Senator Dx'ono,"

Miatamia countered with typical Diamalan calm. "Merely because he was stopped the last time before reaching any Ishori worlds does not guarantee your safety should he be allowed the freedom to advance again."

"Do not accuse me of thinking only of my own worlds," Dx'ono shot back. "The Ishori seek the safety of all peoples in the New Republic. But at the same time we also demand justice for those peoples."

"The Diamala people support all forms of justice," Miatamia said. "We merely do not consider blind revenge to be justice."

"Only a blind observer would consider our demands to be revenge," Dx'ono snarled. "But that is not the issue here," he added quickly as the tip of Gavrisom's wing moved toward the cutoff switch. "The issue is that you have made a statement to this chamber which conveniently adds weight and thrust to your political side, but which is unsupported by any independent sources."

"Do you not consider former General Lando Calrissian to be an independent source?"

Miatamia asked.

"By your own testimony be came to you asking for Diamalan military a.s.sistance," Dx'ono barked. "Given that, do you really expect us to consider his words unbiased?"

"On behalf of Captain Calrissian, I resent the implications of that statement, Senator,"

Leia said, finding herself on her feet. "He's been a stalwart friend and ally, both of the New Republic and the Rebel Alliance before that. If Lando says he saw Thrawn, then he did."

"Once he was a friend and ally," Dx'ono retorted. "Once he was also a smuggler and gambler, experienced at cheating and lying to obtain what he wanted. Now he is a businessman, running a suboceanic mining operation whose profits depend on his obtaining Diamalan a.s.sistance. So tell us, Councilor Organa Solo: which of his two backgrounds is he drawing on?"

Leia looked over at Lando, sitting grim-faced and silent behind Gavrisom. "I've known Lando for sixteen years," she said quietly. "I will vouch personally for his character."

"Fine," Dx'ono said with a snort. "You may vouch for him all you like, Councilor. Suppose then, for sake of argument, that he saw a person on that Star Destroyer. But was it Thrawn, or was it something else?"

Leia frowned, trying to read his thoughts across the chamber. But all she could get was the outward anger, masking everything beneath it. "Are you suggesting that the Empire faked the meeting?"

"It could well have been a fake," the Ishori said, glaring at Miatamia. "But I do not necessarily put the blame on the Empire. We all know that there are numerous Imperial Star Destroyers within New Republic territory-some even in private hands, if rumors are to be believed. And as I have already pointed out, the message that was supposedly delivered by this supposed Thrawn conveniently supports the Diamalan stance on the Bothan issue.

Coincidence? Or careful manipulation?"

"The ability to manipulate his enemies was one of Thrawn's greatest talents," Fey'lya put in.

"A talent not unique to him," Dx'ono snapped. "The Bothans, for one example, are also masters of the art. So are the Diamala."

"The man in the Grand Admiral's uniform knew about my visit to Myrkr ten years ago," Lando said. "The only people who were there at that time were Thrawn and his stormtrooper escort."

"Not true," Dx'ono shot back. "By your own statement, former General Solo was also there."

Leia felt a sudden stirring of anger. "Are you suggesting-?"

"As was also," Dx'ono continued, cutting Leia off with a dark look, "the smuggler Talon Karrde."

Leia threw a glance at Lando. "Karrde wouldn't be a part of anything like this," she insisted.

"Wouldn't he?" Dx'ono demanded. "Unlike Captain Calrissian, this Karrde has never even claimed any loyalty to the New Republic. He's a smuggler and seller of information, a man whose only concern and loyalty are to profit and gain."

The Ishori drew himself up a little taller, a finger stabbing out accusingly toward Leia.

"And a man, furthermore, whose chief links to Coruscant have been to such people as Captain Calrissian and you yourself, Councilor Organa Solo. So now tell us: where exactly do you stand on the Bothan issue?"

The question took Leia completely by surprise. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to stall for time.

"You know what I mean," Dx'ono snarled. "Tell us where you stand, Councilor Organa Solo.

Do you believe that full reparations and justice should be demanded of the Bothans? Or do you, like the Diamalan Senator, prefer to allow their horrific crime to go unpunished?

Perhaps even enough to create a situation that would force this chamber to that decision?"

"We know where she stands," another angry voice called out. "Did not her bondedmate Han Solo fire on a peaceable protest at the Clans Building on Bothawui?"

"That has not been proved, Senator Shibatthi," Gavrisom broke in sternly, coming to Leia's rescue. "And your accusations are likewise uncalled for, Senator Dx'ono. As I've already said, this is not the time nor the place for yet another debate on the Caamas issue. Both of you be seated, please."

But the damage had already been done, Leia realized as she sat down again. In a single masterful stroke, Dx'ono bad not only cast serious doubt on Miatamia's story but also managed to undermine her own credibility as well. From now on, any attempt she made to defend either Lando or the Diamalan Senator would merely feed into the suspicions he had just planted.

Infighting, suspicions, divisiveness. Yes, it was indeed Thrawn's style.

"This seems a good time to move on to the Admiralty's report on the overall military situation in the New Republic," Gavrisom continued. "Admiral Drayson?"

The admiral stepped to the podium beside Gavrisom; and as be did, a discreet flicker of light caught Leia's eye. The small green comm indicator on her chair arm was flashing.

"She frowned, throwing a surrept.i.tious glance around the chamber. No one but her family and closest aides were supposed to have this comm frequency, and they all had strict instructions that it was to be used only in an emergency. But in that case they were also supposed to key the indicator to a three-flash pattern, and at the moment it was merely blinking steadily.

Stifling a flash of annoyance, she activated her chair's privacy field. Drayson's voice dropped to a tenth of its normal volume as she swiveled the comm display up from its storage position along the side of her armrest. If this was Anakin asking if he could open a new package of cookies, she promised herself darkly as she touched the switch, he was going to be grounded for a week. "Leia Organa Solo."

But it wasn't Anakin. "h.e.l.lo, Leia," Talon Karrde said, nodding politely. "I hope I'm not calling at too inconvenient a moment."

Reflexively, Leia pulled the display as close to her as she could. Of all the awkward times for him to call&mdash "As a matter of fact, it is inconvenient," she told him shortly. "I'm in the middle of a Senate meeting."