Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order_ Dark Tide 02_ Ruin - Michael A. Stackpole [53]
“I believe you asked me to confirm information you had from prisoners interrogated here.” Elegos pressed his lips together in a thin line. “I am certain that if the ship is yet commanded by Admiral Kre’fey, he’ll again turn up where you do not expect him.”
“So you sought to fool me with your earlier assessment?”
The Caamasi shook his head. “The admiral’s appearance at Sernpidal surprised me and you. I merely am predicting, on the basis of this fact, his continued unpredictability.”
“I see.” Shedao Shai granted Elegos his smile and received a solemn nod in return. “It strikes me you are not stupid enough to believe I learn nothing of you or your people from these games we play. I have learned, such as broaching the subject of these games, something we have not spoken of before, which surprises you. I am able to surprise you, Elegos. In this same way I will surprise your Admiral Kre’fey.”
Shedao pressed a hand against the transparisteel sheet as a large gray fish swam past. “This admiral is a Bothan. How does he compare to this Chiss admiral you mentioned? Does he study art, too, to learn about his enemies?”
“He does not have Thrawn’s habits, but is considered highly skilled.”
The Yuuzhan Vong’s eyes narrowed. “But he is a Bothan, a species about which much is known and much has been communicated. They are duplicitous, these Bothans. Few trust them, and many revile them. They slaughtered your people, did they not?”
“They did some, and more of them are not to be trusted, true.” Elegos shifted his shoulders stiffly. “But to judge Admiral Kre’fey by other Bothans is a mistake you should not make.”
“Well played, Elegos.” The Yuuzhan Vong clapped his hands together. “You force me to choose now to believe what you are telling me, or to assume you are tricking me so I will believe the opposite.”
“If I am here to learn from you, and to teach you, then tricking you would be stupid.” The Caamasi clasped his hands behind his back. “I warn you fairly.”
“There are those, Deign among them, who think I could be scared by your words, or influenced into acting against our best interests. They believe my time with you has tainted me.”
“Perhaps it has.”
“Has your time with me tainted you?” Shedao Shai watched him closely. “Have you learned enough of pain that you would share it with others?”
“Inflict it upon them? No.” Elegos’s violet eyes all but closed. “Violence is upsetting to my people, horribly so.”
“But you have killed in the past.”
“Only to save others from that horror.” The Caamasi shook his head. “I would not willfully inflict pain.”
“Even if the victim wished the pain?”
“Such as strapping you into the Embrace? No. I would not do that.”
“And if I threatened to kill a person for every minute you did not do it?”
Elegos’s expression hardened. “Any people who are subject to such a capricious order of death are beyond my protecting. If not killed then, they could be killed later, at your whim. They would never be safe as long as they were in your power. I would let you kill them, knowing you would be denying them greater pain by taking such quick action.”
The Yuuzhan Vong leader turned away, slowly, and let talons trail across the transparent wall between him and the water. “You have learned much, Elegos, and have taught me much. Chief among it is this: Your people, blasphemers, heretics, and damned though they may be, have a resilience that may prove troublesome.”
“A good lesson for you to learn.”
“Indeed, and one to test.” Shedao Shai smiled, enjoying the twisted vision of his face he saw in the transparisteel. “One we will test when next the New Republic sends its forces against us.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Anakin Solo felt pretty good about himself. Once Luke, Mara, and Mirax returned to the Pulsar Skate, a discussion began concerning the possible places Daeshara’cor could have gone from Vortex. It