Thrawn: Alliances (Star Wars: Thrawn, #2)

by Timothy Zahn

and powerful in the Force. They were watching him, Palpatine knew, each trying in his own way to glean some understanding as to why they’d been summoned. Grand Admiral Thrawn was observing his Emperor’s voice, face, and body stance. Lord Vader, in contrast, was stretching out with the Force toward his Master. Palpatine could feel all that. But he could also feel the tension between these, his two most useful servants. The tension wasn’t simply because each wished to be the one standing alone at his Master’s side at the center of Imperial power, though that was certainly part of it. There was more. Much more. Thrawn had recently suffered a serious defeat, permitting a small group of rebels he’d successfully trapped on the planet Atollon to slip through his fingers. That failure had earned Vader’s contempt. Thrawn, in his turn, strongly opposed the Death Star project favored by Vader,

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Anakin and taking a couple of steps to the side. “But we’re not necessarily your enemies. We seek information, and believe you can supply it.” “Or we can kill all of you and get what we want from this one,” Anakin offered, tugging on the shoulder of Oenti’s

would only gain a few more hours at the

over his shoulder in response to the sudden shout. Neither had time to do anything else before Viq and Elebe appeared around the opposite corner and coolly put a single shot each into each Grysk’s skull. “It’s all right,” Kimmund said, keeping his E-11 pointed away from the children as he hurried toward them. They were gazing up at him, their blue-skinned faces pinched with fear, their glowing red eyes narrowed, their bodies flinching back against the machinery behind them. One of them, perhaps braver than the others, lifted a tentative finger to point at something across from them. Kimmund looked that direction, feeling his stomach tighten. Nestled beneath an overhang of old machinery were more familiar devices: eight hibernation tubes like the ones Vader and Thrawn had retrieved from Batuu. Three

ships is breaking

memory swirling up through the mist: the slaughter of the Sand People who’d tortured and murdered his