Vision of the future

Tierce was standing near the door as Disra burst into the situation room. 'We've got an echo,' the former Guardsman murmured, a note of malicious satisfaction in his voice. 'Once we triangulate in—'

'Zothip's here,' Disra cut him off. 'He's in my quarters.' Tierce's smile vanished. 'How?'

'How in blazes should I know?' Disra shot back. 'But he's there. I recognized the furnishings when he called me in my office.'

Tierce threw a look at the consoles, at Flim holding position again behind the lieutenant. 'This just gets better and better,' he said darkly. 'Did Pellaeon hear any of it?'

'I don't think so,' Disra said. 'That slinker of his—Dreyf—started to come around the desk, but I don't think he could hear or see anything, either.'

Tierce hissed between his teeth. 'We've got to get rid of him.'

'Brilliant tactical thinking,' Disra growled. 'You have any suggestions as to how? He didn't come alone, you know.'

Tierce looked over at the consoles again. 'I can't just walk out of here,' he said. 'Solo and Calrissian are slippery. Until Security actually has them in their sights—'

'We can't just leave Zothip resting his feet in there, either,' Disra cut him off. 'Don't you understand? He's in my quarters. That means he has clear passage to my office. Where Admiral Pellaeon is.'

Tierce looked sharply at him. 'You left Pellaeon alone?'

'Of course he's alone,' Disra snapped. 'What was I supposed to do, tell the outer door guards to go in and watch him?'

'That wouldn't have been such a bad idea,' Tierce retorted. He held up a hand. 'All right, all right, let's take this in order. Pellaeon... I suppose he'll keep. Solo and Calrissian—'

'We've got a second biocomm frequency echo, Admiral,' one of the troopers reported, looking up at Flim. 'Security reports ready to move in as soon as we have a solid fix on the location.'

'Thank you,' Thrawn said, turning those glowing eyes toward the conversation by the door.

'Continue the operation. Is there a problem, Your Excellency?'

'A small problem only, Admiral Thrawn,' Tierce spoke up before Disra could answer. 'But it may require a few minutes of your attention.'

'Certainly,' Flim said easily.

'What are you doing?' Disra hissed as the con man crossed the room toward them. 'You aren't suggesting —?'

'There are only two ways to deal with someone like Zothip,' Tierce said, his voice cold. 'Kill him, or scare him.' He nodded toward Flim. 'Can you think of anything that could possibly scare him more than a Grand Admiral?'

Flim had reached them in time to hear the last part. 'Who are we trying to scare?' he asked.

'Captain Zothip,' Disra said. 'He's in my quarters.' Flim's eyes widened, just noticeably. He looked at Tierce —'You'll be fine,' the Guardsman soothed him. 'Zothip's in this for the profit, and you're our guarantee there will be profit. He's not going to risk hurting you.'

'Unless he's here for revenge,' Flim pointed out uneasily. 'For the job Pellaeon did on him out at Pesitiin, remember?'

'He'll forget all about that the minute he sees you,' Tierce said impatiently. 'At any rate, I'll be there with you. Whoever he's got in there, I can handle them. You'll be fine.'

'What about Solo?' Flim persisted, glancing back to the consoles. 'What if they lose him again?'

'How?' Tierce countered. 'We've picked up two echoes—we know what part of the city they're in. They'll have them in restraints by the time we get back. Now let's go.' Flim grimaced, but nodded. 'Continue the operation, Lieutenant,' he ordered, half turning, his calm Thrawn voice betraying none of his obvious nervousness. 'I'll be back in a few minutes.' Tierce gestured toward the door, and together the three of them headed out. 'I don't know,' Flim muttered, just loud enough for Disra to hear. 'I don't think I'm going to like this at all.'