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. Even the Garwians who didn’t die today, those in the hub station for instance, would have their lives irrevocably changed. The Parala could cut short that destruction, possibly ensure that the Lioaoi would never return.

At the cost of her career.

It still wasn’t too late, she knew. If the rest of the bridge crew could be persuaded to keep quiet…

But of course they wouldn’t. Not with family politics and rivalries coloring everything they did.

Unless there was nothing for them to talk about.

“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. “May I remind the captain that the ranging lasers haven’t been checked recently for calibration.”

“I believe you’re right,” she said. Not that the low-power ranging lasers, which gathered distance and velocity data during combat, ever went out of calibration in the first place.

“Request permission to go to secondary command and run a check.”

Ziara swallowed hard. Her career…“Permission granted,” she said. “While you’re there, you’d best make sure all other systems are likewise at battle readiness.”

“Yes, Captain.” With a whisper of displaced air, he turned and headed to the hatchway.

Roscu returned to Ziara’s side. “Getting him off the bridge, I hope?” she asked.

“I sent him to check the weapons sensor systems,” Ziara said.

Roscu snorted. “And you don’t think he’ll be tempted to use them? Because I wouldn’t put that past him.”

“Senior Commander Thrawn understands the protocols.”

“Does he?” Roscu countered. “I wouldn’t have responded to an alien’s distress call if I’d had deck officer duty. I daresay neither would you, Captain.”

“Perhaps not,” Ziara said. “On the other hand, if the battle had been over when we arrived, we are permitted to render humanitarian aid.”

“But the battle isn’t over.” Roscu paused, and Ziara could feel her gaze. “I assume he relinquished his deck officer position when he left the bridge?”

In other words, with Ziara now back in full command, why was the Parala still here? “These pirates appear to be part of the same group I engaged last year off Kinoss,” she told Roscu. “I want to watch their attack, see if they’ve come up with any new weapons or tactics we should be aware of.”

“But we’re not going to intervene?” Roscu pressed.

“Do you feel a need to quote the protocols to me?” Ziara asked mildly.