Ar’alani sighed. He’d been wrong once—spectacularly wrong—and it had cost him. But it was no use arguing about it.

Besides, he was right. Yiv and the Nikardun had to be challenged, and doing so in a system the enemy wanted to hold on to was their best chance. “I’m not sure the techs are entirely finished with the Vak fighter we brought back from Primea, but Ba’kif can probably talk Ja’fosk into letting us return it. You’re sure Che’ri can fly it?”

“Absolutely,” Thrawn said. “She proved quite adept at flying our scout ship, and the fighter has similar parameters. I’ll just need to relabel some of the controls and run her through an exercise or two and she’ll be ready.”

“I assume you aren’t going to let Ba’kif or Ja’fosk in on that part of the plan?”

“I’m not that crazy,” Thrawn said with a small smile.

“But they’re going to find out eventually,” Ar’alani said. “Have you thought about what they’ll do to you afterward?”

A muscle in Thrawn’s throat tightened. “If we’ve eliminated Yiv as a threat, it doesn’t matter what they do to me.” He cocked his head. “My real concern is you. What they’re going to do to you when it all comes out.”

“I’m an admiral,” Ar’alani reminded him. “Not nearly so easy to get rid of.”

“They’ll still try.”

“Only if we fail. If we succeed—” She shrugged. “But the future’s out of our hands. Let’s go with the present. So. First job: Retrieve the Vak fighter from the techs and get it prepped to fly. Second job: Teach Che’ri how to fly it. Third job: Get started on the customized freighter you want. Fourth job: Work out the message you want delivered to the Vaks. Fifth job: Get the Republic shield ready to go for our surprise attack. Sixth job: Get my fleet ready to go.”

“That one may be seventh,” Thrawn interjected. “Sixth job is probably to get Ba’kif and Ja’fosk to sign off on this.”

“I was thinking of waiting on that until after Che’ri and Thalias have left,” Ar’alani said. “That’s not going to be a pleasant conversation, and it’ll be safer if it’s too late to call the fighter back. Eighth job—” She braced herself. “Spin it all up, and turn it loose.”

“And hope that my assessment of General Yiv is correct.”

“Right,” Ar’alani said. “Let’s really hope that.”

“They’re calling us,” Che’ri announced. “That light, right there.”