Vision of the future

Leia frowned, stretching out to Pellaeon with the Force. But there was no duplicity in his thoughts or emotions that she could detect.

'You say 'reported alive,' Admiral,' Elegos said. 'Does your choice of words imply you don't believe he has actually returned?'

'I don't know what to believe, Trustant,' Pellaeon said. 'Certainly I had every reason to think he was dead. I was there on the Chimaera's bridge, standing at his side, when he appeared to die.'

'Again, you say 'appeared' to die,' Elegos persisted. 'Did he or did he not truly die?'

'I truly do not know,' Pellaeon said with a sigh. 'Thrawn was an alien, with an alien physiology, and...' He shook his head. 'Has he actually been seen by anyone from the New Republic? Someone whose word and judgment you trust?'

'My friend Lando Calrissian was intercepted and taken aboard the Relentless, along with the Diamalan Senator,' Leia said. 'Both of them claimed it was indeed Thrawn.'

'The Relentless,' Pellaeon murmured, frowning. 'Dorja's ship; and he was one of those who did meet Thrawn personally. Hard to believe he would be easily taken in by a trick. Or, for that matter, that he would risk his ship without exceptionally good reason.'

Leia hesitated; but there was no easy way to say this. 'It occurs to me, Admiral, that these talks may be somewhat premature,' she said. 'If Thrawn is alive, then you are presumably no longer head of the Imperial military.'

'If he's alive, he will most certainly relieve me of supreme command,' Pellaeon said evenly.

'However, at the moment that consideration is irrelevant. The military is subordinate to the Moffs; and the Moffs have authorized me to negotiate this treaty.'

'Wouldn't that authority be rescinded, though, in the face of Thrawn's return?' Leia countered.

'It may,' Pellaeon acknowledged. 'But until I'm informed of such a decision, my authority stands.'

'I see,' Leia murmured, gazing at the old Admiral with a sudden new understanding. He had learned about Thrawn's return a full week ago; yet, instead of rushing back to learn more, he had deliberately remained here under communications blackout. Not just to wait for Bel Iblis, but to make sure he still had the authority to negotiate if and when Bel Iblis arrived. To start the ball rolling, perhaps beyond the ability of the Moffs or even Thrawn to easily stop it. This was not a game, or at least not a game he was helping to run. Admiral Pellaeon, Supreme Commander of Imperial forces, genuinely wanted peace.

'Did Thrawn say anything to Calrissian and the Senator?' Pellaeon asked into Leia's musings. 'I presume they were allowed to leave—very few people simply escape from an Imperial Star Destroyer.'

'Actually, in some respects his message was similar to yours,' Leia said. 'He warned that the New Republic was headed for self-destruction and offered to help us avoid that.'

'Are you considering his offer?'

'Unfortunately, his proposed method was deemed unacceptable by the Senate,' Leia said. 'He wanted to speak privately with the Bothan leaders, and from those conversations determine who had sabotaged the Caamasi shields.'

'Interesting,' Pellaeon said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. 'I wonder how merely talking with them would accomplish that. Unless the clan leaders do indeed know the truth.'

'They claim they don't,' Leia said. 'And considering the growing threat to the entire Bothan species, I think they would give us that information if they had it.'

'You suggested you might also have a way to prevent civil war,' Elegos reminded the admiral.

'Would you care to elaborate?'

Leia could sense Pellaeon pulling his attention back from his own thoughts. 'I'm sure it's occurred to you that the crisis could be resolved by finding a complete version of the Caamas Document,' he said. 'In exchange for favorable peace terms, the Empire would be willing to offer you a copy of that record.'

Leia shot a glance at Sakhisakh, saw the Noghri's own subtle reaction. If they were on schedule, Han and Lando should be right now conducting their own search for that record on Bastion. 'Just like that?' she asked Pellaeon. 'You'd simply turn it over to us?'

'Once we have it in hand, yes.' He paused. 'There is, however, one problem. If it does indeed exist, it would be located in the Special Files section of the archives, which is severely restricted and heavily encrypted. I don't have any way into those files; neither does anyone I know. If we're going to get to the document in time, the New Republic will need to loan us a top-rate decryption expert.' There was a sort of choked-off gurgle from the direction