Star Wars_ The Black Fleet Crisis 03_ Tyrant's Test - Michael P. Kube-McDowell [68]
“We are truly the inheritors, darama,” said Tal Fraan. “But even within the boundaries of the All, our claims have been contested. It would seem that ambition alone cannot measure our destiny.”
“Nowhere is there a ship the equal of this one. Nowhere is there blood as powerful as that of the Pure,” said Nil Spaar. “They will all yield to us, in time.”
“I have come to speak with you of one who still resists,” said Tal Fraan. “I have had a new insight into the heart of the pale ones. We must not send them the recording from the viewing hall. It will move them to anger, not to surrender.”
Nil Spaar flexed his large hands. “Does my memory deceive me, or was it not you who counseled that we must show Leia our hostages?”
“I did so in error,” Tal Fraan said bluntly. “Only fear will give us the result we desire—fear for themselves, for their own safety. Fear for the safety of a hostage can stay a hand, but it will not turn a heart. And when a hostage is harmed, fury replaces fear.”
“And from where does this insight come?”
“From the vermin,” said Tal Fraan. “I spoke with him aboard the shuttle. I wished to measure his response to the execution of his companion—whether it had served to make him fearful for his own life. I wished to know if the experience had heightened his sensitivity to our concerns or increased his eagerness to be helpful.”
“You were disappointed.”
“I was alarmed. I am now convinced that if you transmit the recording of the execution, the vermin will never turn away,” said Tal Fraan. “My alarm was so great that I ordered that message held until I could speak with you.”
“So Vor Duull informed me,” said Nil Spaar. “Knowing me well, he wondered at your presumption and came to me for confirmation.”
Tal Fraan’s face was painted with dismay. “Have I forfeited your trust, darama?”
“That remains to be seen, Proctor.”
A flicker of relief crossed Tal Fraan’s eyes. “Has the message been sent, then?”
“No,” said Nil Spaar. “But I am not yet convinced it should not be. When there has been a problem of obedience with the Imperial slaves, the public slaughter of a handful has always been sufficient to guarantee the behavior of the rest.”
“There is little spirit in them after so many years,” Tal Fraan said. “They were bred for obedience. These others—the vermin queen, her consort, even the pilots we have faced—seem different. They show a foolish stubbornness and a dangerous independence.”
“You find them unpredictable, then.”
“No, darama. I will still risk my own blood on my understanding of them. Showing them the ones we hold will strengthen them, not weaken them. Uncertainty better befriends us.”
“And yet there is this,” said Nil Spaar. “An hour ago Vor Duull brought to me news of a conversation one of his guildsmen had with Belezaboth Ourn.”
“The Paqwe spy? He has given us nothing of value for many weeks.”
“Perhaps he has done so now,” said Nil Spaar. “The vermin reports that Leia does not believe we hold her consort—that she does not think us capable of such an interception.”
“But we allowed there to be witnesses!”
“Then their witness went unheard or unbelieved,” said Nil Spaar. “Ourn said she grieves for him but continues on her course unchecked, even in the face of an effort to unseat her. Surely this confirms that your first counsel was correct. We must show our hostage to the vermin queen. That will surely change her tone.”
The backs of his hands pressed to his cheeks, Tal Fraan walked the length of the viewpane wall and back before responding. “No, darama. I cannot agree. There is nothing in what he says that promises that knowledge of the truth will deter her aggressions. Han Solo answered me with defiance and threat. Surely her fire is of the same temperature as his. You yourself have noted the uncommon