Cloak and Shadows 8

According to the star chart we were not that far away from where the second attack had taken place. Thrawn’s ability to make these mini and micro jumps amazed me. They were often a topic for hated debate amongst pilots as a theoretical possibility and I had been involved in many such discussions but always the general consensus was that it was far too dangerous to attempt. The forces of going into and coming out of hyperspace in such tiny increments of time were thought to do more damage than was worth it. While the two micro jumps he had made had put great stress on the hull so far I saw no real damage of any sort showing up on the sensor’s and the Sigiri had very good sensors. Micro jumps were thought to be improbable yet he managed to do it with the shuttle effortlessly.

The attack came at us from the starboard side. Laser blasts flashed brilliant in the darkness and for a moment it was all I saw. The ship rocked but the shields held. I scanned the instruments but nothing showed up on the screens.

“Swing around to port.” Thrawn said. I did as he asked, wondering what he was up to since the fire had come from the Starboard side.

“What are you doing?” I asked, watching him recalibrate something in the external sensors.

“Testing a hypothesis.” He told me. “If this is what I think it is then certain trace elements and residue will be emitted from the cloak, while we can’t see the ship the sensors will find this residue, exhaust if you like.”

The shuttle rocked violently as the cloaked ship fired on us.

“Evasive manoeuvres.” Thrawn said.

“Okay but do you mind telling me how I evade something I can’t see?” I asked as I swung the shuttle hard about.

“Do your best to not get us killed while I make these calibrations.” He said calmly with a hint of a smile.

I made a face. “If you say so.”

“The proper response to a command from a superior officer would be ‘yes sir’.” He teased.

“Oh… well in that case…Yes sir.” I said banking us hard to starboard and looping us around in a tight circle.

“There is hope for you yet!” he told me with a smile.

“How can you be so calm at a time like this?” I asked as the last of the latest volley of fire hit us. The shields strained and the engine whined. Thrawn fired a wide strafe of fire but nothing happened.

“Is there a reason to not be calm?” he asked.

“Oh, I don’t know maybe because some invisible ship is trying to blow us to tiny bits and we have no way to find them? I’d say that was reason enough to not be calm.”

He glanced at me and smiled. “Well then, my dear, allow me to give you something to sooth your concerns.” He flipped some switches and suddenly there was a blip on my screen.

“You can see it on the read out now?” He asked.

“Yes on the display, but not when I look out the window.” I told him. I banked us hard around to avoid the latest blasts to come out of nowhere. “How did you…?”

“Follow the instruments and ignore what you don’t see outside.” He said without giving me any explanations.

So I did what he said and followed the blip I was not what was out side, or rather not out side. Thrawn gave instructions and when we were close enough he fired on the invisible ship. I watched as the cloak began to fail and the ship slowly appeared. Thrawn fired again specifically at the engines and the ship twisted and lost power.

“That looks like a lot like some sort of weird TIE phantom copy.” I said.

Thrawn nodded. “The design is similar.”

The ship rocked and slowly stopped moving. I scanned her. “I read one life sign but her engines are not functional. She’s dead in space.”

“Hail her.” He ordered.

I did as he asked but shook my head. “Who ever they are, they are not answering. There is a power spike in the hyperdrive.”

“Ktah!” Thrawn swore. “Get us away from her, she’s set to self destruct.”

I powered the Sigiri away from the strange ship, watching the read out on the small screen the massive energy spike which would destroy the ship which had tried to destroy us. When she blew the explosion was surprisingly violent. The Sigiri rocked with the shock wave but the shields held as we were showered with debris that was much smaller than I would have expected. We waited in silence, watching as the debris scattered and slowed and everything returned to being quiet.

“That’s it?” I asked after what seemed forever.

“There would have been only one ship. They would not have wasted two.” Thrawn said coldly. When I looked at him I could see he was angry but I wasn’t sure of the exact reason behind it.

“You care to explain this?” I asked him starting to get annoyed.

He swivelled the chair to look at me, then looked at the small tracking device in his hand. He unstrapped the harness and got up. “Get us into hyperspace; we have a rendezvous to meet.” He said and left the cockpit as abruptly as he had spoken to me.

“Yes, Admiral.” I answered biting my tongue from saying what was really on my mind. He was obviously furious and I didn’t need to or want to provoke him further. I was reasonably sure he’d tell me in time what had just happened and more importantly why it had happened. I took a good look around the debris field. There was nothing but unrecognizable, tiny pieces of metal. The ship had definitely had an Imperial design but it had not been like any ship I had ever seen, and I was pretty sure I’d seen them all. I set the co ordinates into our nav-computer and then began a very thorough ship wide diagnostic. While the vessel that had fired on us had not done any visible damage I wanted to be sure. I didn’t really fancy the idea of blowing up in hyperspace. Once I was certain we’d be fine and we’d reached the jump point we slipped into hyperspace. If all went well we’d be in this route for the next sixteen or so hours. I watched the rippling and shifting of light that formed the hyperspace lane for a while then set the ship on auto pilot. I was tired, I was hungry and I needed to shut my eyes for a while. Angry or not it was Thrawn’s turn to stand watch and keep an eye on my ship.

I found him sitting in the dark of the galley. He had disassembled the tiny tracker and was toying with the pieces in his hands. I switched on the small blue light over the stove, then put the kettle on for tea and sat down across from him. For a long moment there was a thick silence between us then he looked at me, his eyes glowing with that eerie light they had of their own.

“You look tired.” He said sounding just as weary as I felt.

I nodded. “That would be because I am.” I told him.

He went back to looking at the pieces of the tracker. “I find it difficult to comprehend that someone working for the Empire would go to this much trouble to eliminate one being simply because they are alien.” He said after another lengthy silence. There was a bitterness in his voice which I had not heard before. It made me sad.

“You know who it is, don’t you? I mean, you know exactly who it is, not just some vague guess.” I asked, getting up to make tea.

He drew a long, slow deep breath. “I believe I do.” He said, “And it disgusts me.”

I poured two cups of white Chaya leaf tea and sat back down. “How did you know how to find the ship?”

“I am involved in a project dealing with cloaking devices.” He said. “What you saw was a prototype but it was not the same one that I have been involved in fitting with a cloaking device.” He took the cup of tea gratefully and sipped at it slowly. “Cloak technology is a tricky business and we have not yet managed to get it quite right. I knew how to track the ship because I knew exactly what to look for.”

“I don’t understand. Why did this happen?”

“I believe that I am a threat to someone high up in the Imperial echelon. One or perhaps several members of the Emperor’s elite think he is wrong to keep me in such a high position of power but their complaints about me have fallen on deaf ears as far as he is concerned. I had hoped the public disgrace we arranged would quell this but it would appear that not everyone believed it as we had hoped. I have experienced great amounts of prejudice for being non human, which was part of the reason for arranging the fall from grace. It is impossible for me to accomplish my work, my goals when I must deal with the day to day xenophobia which seems to run rampant in this galaxy.”

I sighed because I did not know what to say to this. I felt guilty just by association.

Thrawn must have seen this on my face because he said. “It is not just humans that act this way, tekari, my own people are also the same, fearing that which they do not know or understand. It is most counterproductive, but what happened here was a complete waste of Imperial resources over petty jealousy and hate based on prejudice and ambition.” He sounded so angry but underneath his words I sensed a hurt that I was not sure I fully understood and there was nothing I could do to ease it.

“All these incidents are connected aren’t they? The first tracker, the spice cake, now this….”

He nodded slowly. “It would appear that someone is trying to sabotage my career in the Imperial navy. At first they tried subtle means with the poisoned cake, hoping that by eliminating you while under my care I would feel Vader’s wrath, then the first tracking device which I now believe did have something to do with that pirate we ran into. Only, as luck would have it, you knew something about him the people who hired him did not, which was sloppy on their part but I suspect that when the incident with the spice cake failed they had to work fast. You are a lot tougher to kill than they thought and Doctor Thracer was much better at his job than the average ship’s doctor.” He paused to take a thoughtful sip of tea. “What this tells me is that someone on my own ship, of my own crew set these incidents up, now again it has to be someone on the Admonitor. That I cannot even trust those working on my own ship….” He shook his head in disgust. “You, my dear, are unfortunately caught in the middle of this and for that I am truly sorry.”

“Who is it?”

He shook his head. “While I have my suspicions I’d rather not voice them just yet, not because I don’t want to tell you but because it is better, safer for you if you don’t know. When I am certain I will address this issue but I beg your patience until such time. We are investigating this but covertly, while I am sure you know more than the average person does, it is better that you be kept out of it. I don’t want you becoming any more of a target than you already have been.” He spoke quietly and I knew then that it wasn’t just the attacks on him that had angered him but that I had also been in the line of fire. “I expect the rest of this trip will be quiet, unless the ship was damaged and you need to repair something.” He pinched the bridge of his nose and then looked at me.

“The diagnostic showed all clear. I expect there are some serious blast burns on the hull but apart from that I could not find anything that requires repair or attention. The hull’s integrity wasn’t compromised, she’s a tough little ship this. I suspect Lord Vader knew that when he assigned her for my use.”

Thrawn smiled. “So you won’t be spending anytime hanging upside down in the engine room?” He was teasing me.

“Not if I can help it, besides Sigiri’s engine room is better set up than the hwk’s.” I told him stifling a yawn. “I really do need to sleep.” I said.

“I told Rukh to take the crew cabin.” He informed me.

I frowned. “My stuff was in that cabin.”

He nodded. “I know. I had it moved to the one I was in. I thought that it made more sense, less work for the cleaning crew on the Avenger. And don’t worry, the broken glass has been dealt with.”

“So you assume that I want to share your bed?” I asked with a little smile.

“I don’t assume, sj’iu tekari, I know.” He said smugly. “Besides you’ll have it all to yourself because I will be on watch.”

I sighed and although I felt oddly disappointed by his statement I just nodded. I really was tired. “Okay.” I said getting up. “Wake me up in four hours or so?”

“As you wish, although you can sleep longer if you need it. There will be no more such attacks and especially not while we are in hyperspace.”

“You sound awfully sure of yourself there.”

“I am.”

I stared at him for a moment then nodded. I was too wrung out to even contemplate trying to argue or get into a discussion with him about how and why he was so certain.

The stateroom he had chosen was the largest of all the rooms and was the most comfortable. The crew cabin had four single bunk beds. I could see why he’d prefer this room to that one. I readied for bed and when I was done I slipped in between the covers. His scent lingered on the pillow and I found that comforting. Surprisingly enough I did not toss and turn with thoughts of the past couple of day’s events racing through my mind. Sleep came swiftly and was welcome.

After the second time Thrawn and I were parted from each other and from Coruscant I would dream of him often. I would slowly surface from sleep with the essence of his touch on my body and his voice in my mind. Always upon waking fully, only to realise that it was just a dream and he was not really there, I experienced a terrible sense of sorrow. Now, as sleep receded and I began to wake up, I found myself once again caught in this reoccurring dream. It was so real it made me ache with longing that was painful and I fought against opening my eyes until I realised I wasn’t dreaming, that the touch of fingertips on my skin was very real. I rolled over to find him lying on top of the blankets beside me, his head propped up on his arm. He was smiling.

He brushed tangled hair from my face. “And she who dances as light upon snow finally awakens.”

“Finally? How long did you let me sleep for?” I mumbled, ignoring his strange poetic manner of calling me by my Dantassi name.

“It’s been almost eight hours.” He said. “You needed it. The last thing I want is my pilot exhausted.” I frowned but before I could protest that I had only needed four hours of sleep, he added, “Especially since I plan on working her hard.”

“The ship okay?” I asked wondering if we now had some sort of engine trouble I needed to deal with.

He nodded. “Everything is fine. Rukh is keeping busy practicing being stealthy, the ship is working within normal parameters and we are on schedule.”

I yawned and stretched. “So… now what, you mentioned work?”

His fingertips brushed down my bare arm and then followed the curve of my waist to my hip. “I thought we could spend some time catching up.” He said with a lazy smile.

Goosebumps prickled along my skin and there was a sudden flash of heat that danced through me, making me momentarily dizzy. “Catch up on what?” I was trying to think of what work he could mean. The only job I had been given was getting him to the rendezvous with the Avenger on time. As far as I knew I was on schedule with everything else. I was still waking up and therefore a bit slow on the uptake. He smiled at the sleepy confusion on my face then he pulled me closer to him. He shifted to lie over me, covering me, nudging my knees with his own so that I made a place to accommodate his body.

“Our covert conversational practice. We are a little behind on that.” He whispered in my ear.

“Oh.” I said finally getting it.

“Too much sleep makes you slow.” He chuckled softly and then before I could make a sound of protest he shut me up with the easiest, fastest and most delightful method he knew. I didn’t complain, I just followed his lead and wrapped myself around him. I had missed him, missed this physical contact. He took his time showing me just how effective his lips could be at expressing themselves without uttering a single word. We were in no hurry. It wasn’t as if there was any place we could go and there was nothing in particular we needed to do.

Rediscovering the wonder of what his touch, his kiss could do to me was as much fun as my exploration of his beautiful body. He had once told me that seduction was an art form but so was this and I delighted in the lessons given and learned. We came together, pieces of a puzzle that fit perfectly, one within the other and despite the lingering shyness I still sometimes felt there was no hesitation. He slipped me out of the night clothes I had slept in and I undressed him the way I might have unwrapped a Boonta Eve gift, carefully, with utter delight and expectation of all good things. I was not disappointed.

“I hope you locked the door.” I breathed in his ear as he nibbled that place on my neck which always made me crazy.

“Why?” he asked, taking delight as I shivered under his caress of fingertips that were exploring possibilities.

“I would hate for Rukh to think someone was being murdered in here.” I told him. “And come bursting in at an inopportune moment.”

His expression was one of amusement. “Yes, I locked the door. Yes, the ship’s auto warning systems are all on and no, Rukh will not think anyone is being murdered. Now before I have to take drastic measures to keep your oh-so inquisitive mind occupied are there any more questions?”

I grinned as my fingers traced that fine line of blue-black hair which ran from his navel to his groin. “Yes.”

His smile was slow and hungry as his body responded to my touch. He couldn’t find his voice so he arched his eyebrow in that get to the point before I devour you sort of way.

“Can we do this more than once?” I asked as sweetly as I could.

His smile widened. “I think that could be arranged, tekari, given enough time. Though if you keep that up…” he said catching my hand in his. “I can’t be held responsible for the consequences…” His voice was all warm and husky, his breath brushing against my skin. I pulled my hand free from his.

“Good, because you did say that we have some serious catching up to do!” I told him poking his chest with my finger.

“And now you understand why I wished you to be well rested.” He said.