Thrawn Chimaera : Galactic Civil War

Chapter Fifteen

It was only much later after Thrawn arrived with those girls that she saw him again. They were still under strict rules, and there was a lot of work to do before they would be back with the rest of the Fleet.

Ziinuuvitas had been forging paperwork about their fake patrols on Lothal, in her office, when the door-system rung.

"ISB-"

"Good evening Captain. I presume that this time you are not in the middle of a shower, considering the current status of the ship." Thrawn's voice came from the system.

"I'm at the office." She said. "I believe you can come in on your own, sir."

The Grand Admiral didn't need permission to enter any room of the ship. His codes were the ultimate unlocking mechanism.

And she was hoping he would just say what he needed through the COMS because she was hoping to avoid him.

First there was the situation on the day he left, with the shower he decided to remind her about, then her falling sick...
Then there was the kiss that was not even real... But it was a product of many things brewing in her head.
And then the while situation of the charric thing and him putting his hands on her body and...

I really need some distance from him.

"I can. But that would be extremely rude, Captain. These are, after all, your private quarters."

Ziinuuvitas sighed, before pressing the button to remotely unlock the front door, and a few seconds later Thrawn was entering the office, with his usual pleased, controlled expression.

"You look better than last time, Captain." He said first.

Ziinuuvitas blushed and tried to hide it. "Yes... Actually. Uhm... I suppose I should thank you, Grand Admiral, for uh... What you did. Sir."

"Think nothing of it." He walked forward and took the chair in from of her, at the desk. "You speak Sy Bisti."

He said the last part in a serious way, and it wasn't a question. He went straight to the point.

"I do. I can also understand the binary of the astromech R series and Jawa. And I know a few insults in Huttese."

Thrawn smiled at that. "I hope you avoided the Huttese part in front of the girls." He said in Sy Bisti.

Hearing him using that language made Ziinuuvitas feel a swarm of Yellow-barred Heliconians in her stomach. It was very beautiful and much more fluid than Basic.

Which made her wonder how Cheunh sounded, if Sy Bisti had roots in that one. The songs she had checked in his office were all very dramatic, and yet, the choir voices were haunting, delicate, smooth...

It probably explained his way of talking, even in basic.

She was looking him in the eyes now, trying to somehow understand something more about this person. He had a private side after all, and it was slowly starting to show in the small things.

But was it something worth mentioning to the Rebellion? That he had a caring side for his kind? That she could tell he had a bigger purpose than simply serving the Empire?

Did she even want to tell the Rebellion those things?

But it is what they asked. Everything. They wanted to know everything, his favourite drink and food, his sleeping schedule, his family, friends, enemies, pets... Anything that they could dissect and use against him.

"If they start cursing in other mouths than yours, before blaming me remember: they were with criminals." She told him also in Sy Bisti.

"Languages." He corrected. The word mouth and language was very similar. "You said mouths instead." he explained.

"Languages." Ziinuuvitas corrected herself.

"Perfect." He smiled. "You have a curious accent in Sy Bisti."

"Did you come here to discuss my linguistic skills?" she raised an eyebrow.

"Perhaps..." Thrawn dragged. "Is it self taught?"

"Would you believe if I speak yes?" she asked.

"Said."

"... If I said yes?"

He looked at her in silence for a moment before replying.

"No. I would not. Where did you learn it?" he asked.

"Am I being interrogated?"

"Would you believe if I said no?" Thrawn spoke in the same way she had before.

"I learned it with a doctor that would often visit the planet. He enjoyed teaching in his spare time."

It was better to lie by using the truth in this case. Especially if he was whatever a sky-walker was and could maybe read minds or something.

Thrawn seemed to consider her explanation.

"My former, trusted, aide could speak it." He changed the direction of the conversation a bit. "But his accent was different. It was that of a human who spoke Basic as his native language, with linguistic talent that allowed him to learn several others."

"Is my accent that bad?" she scoffed. "I know it's been a while."

"No. It shows you have seldom used Sy Bisti in your life, but the accent is not... Bad. It is, however, curious. You speak it with a set of rules, that are typically an acquired pattern for those who, learn a language from people who already learned it with an accent from the start." He says. "If you had learned it directly from me, for example, someone who can speak it flawlessly, your accent would be one derived from the source. Yours, is the accent of several generations having lost contact with the original source, passed down to you."

Ziinuuvitas cursed mentally. Of course on top of everything else, he could also dissect and analyse accents.

"This doctor... He visited Naboo often?" Thrawn asked next, not giving her time to come up with an answer.

"Yes."

"An off-worlder I assume?"

"I believe so. He didn't seem to have any family there at least." She lied more. She knew Doctor Bekk had travelled to Naboo in his youth, to study the Blue Shadow Virus precisely, but aside from that she was just sticking to a plausible story.

"He must have enjoyed a few retreats in the Lake Country then. Convergence I bet. Or perhaps Pamasus or Varykino ?"

What is he trying to ask?

Convergence was the seat of House Palpatine, everyone knew it. And Varykino was from House Naberrie and ever since Senator Amidala died, it wasn't exactly a touristic destination.

Whatever the other option was, it was more logical.

"Pamasus."

She saw something crossing Thrawn's eyes then, a shadow of realisation or something similar to the look a person would have after being told a big secret. It was quick, but it was there.

And then his face was back to the unreadable usual.

"Did you investigate Sealla Reindar?" he changed the subject completely.

"I have, yes. It is as you said, he seems to have..." she paused, thinking about the word in Sy Bisti. "well, vanished." She finished I'm basic.

"Vanished." Thrawn provided the right translation. "What is your opinion?"

"He's dangerous, no doubt. Somehow unpredictable maybe."

"I disagree, although I understand from where you come from with that impression." He tells her. "However, it is perhaps, very predictable. He will try to infiltrate, if he hasn't already. Sabotage, and in the meantime take down as many people as he can. We are searching for a cluster of accidents, possibly, a sudden rise on small, seemingly unrelated events that culminate in the unfortunate death or permanent injury of personnel. He will not want attention, so he will likely avoid harming higher ranks, for now. But his violent disposition won't allow him to do his real job without some bloodshed, he can't help it, it is stronger than logic."

"Low ranks then. Lieutenants and such?" she asks.

"Not even. Think better. Who would you target if you were so blinded by hatred that you absolutely had to kill someone, but at the same time not draw attention?"

Ziinuuvitas thought about for a moment, and then she remembered the incident with that boy and Dr Quell.

"Guards. Troopers. Cleaning and Maintenance crew. Ensigns and... Are there cadets on board of the ships?" she asked , feeling a small panic growing.

"Occasionally. A brigade is often deployed to tour the ships with a Sargent."

"So we should be looking for the ships with young cadets."

"Unless... He used that obviously anticipated strategy to trick us. He knows there were videos, he knows that there's a chance someone would have thought about it. What better moment to infiltrate the 7th Fleet than during the routine maintenance of the ships? A maintenance that was scheduled to occur during a tour of cadets at the yard." he told her.

"Which would mean that stranger faces would be seen around, and no one would look twice at him. Not that we know his face, but still. When is the closest maintenance schedule for?" she asked.

"It was scheduled for the day of your graduation, Captain."

That was bad. It meant Sealla Reindar had infiltrated the Fleet at the same time she had. And no one told her a thing.

"Where are the girls?" she asked in basic.

"Safe. There's nothing to worry about."

But Ziinuuvitas got up from her chair. "How can you say that?! He can be here right now! If he's targeting you and knows about them, what do you think will happen?!"