“They’ve noticed,” Thrawn said. [] He shook his head slowly. “I can beat them, Ziara. I can take all four, right now, without any serious damage to the Parala.”
“Serious is a highly relative term,” Ziara pointed out. “Even if you can, we have no justification. Chiss territory hasn’t been invaded, and we haven’t been attacked.”
“If we move closer, we might be.”
“Deliberate provocation is also disallowed.”
Again, Thrawn shook his head. “I can see it all,” he said, his voice strained. “Their tactics, their patterns, their weaknesses. I could tell you right here, right now, how to beat them.” []
He turned, and Ziara was struck by the intensity of his expression. “No damage,” he said softly. “No damage.”
Ziara turned away from that look to gaze again out the viewport. No damage… except the ruin of his career. And hers, if she gave him permission.
People were fighting and dying out there. True, they were aliens, but Chiss merchants had traded with them and found them to be reasonable enough people. []
“You say you could tell me how to defeat them,” she murmured, still gazing out at the battle. “Could you tell anyone?”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the subtle shift in his stance. “Yes,” he said. []
Ziara swallowed hard. Her career… “Permission granted,” she said. []
“Yes, Captain.” With a whisper of displaced air, he turned and headed to the hatchway.
~
Ar'alani shifted her attention to the Springhawk. Normally, she would never do this to the captain of one of her task force ships: giving a vague order on the assumption that the other would pick up on her intent. But she and Thrawn had worked together long enough that she knew he would see what she was seeing and know exactly what she wanted him to do.
And so he did.
~
Trust, yes.
But not a gamble. Not "blind".
Built. Weighted. Often painful.
And, ultimately.
Unbreakable.
“There’s your canvas. Paint me something."
[Photo: beautifully crafted ears by @poppourrico]
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