And if Palpatine let her keep tabs on his favorites like Thrawn - she would be in a position to do something about it. But that, in the end, is what is keeping her up. There are threads, dangling loose - none of which she can do anything about.

The greatest secret of her life, the one she will not even consider, is this: in many ways, she is much shrewder than Palpatine. Better able to judge which threats are more pressing. At the pinnacle of power, a Dark Side master unlike any the universe has ever seen, Palpatine's concerns reach incomprehensible levels - and means that his system mismanages the day to day.

She faced the alien, too, looking into those inscrutable red eyes, her own blue and red eyes searching.

"Indeed - though at least some funding has been flowing your way, I understand."

She's not supposed to know about TIE Defenders and their development, as it is meant to be a project known only to the chiefs of staff, Thrawn and the Emperor - but it pays to keep informed. And her erstwhile superiors on the staff are so very terrible at keeping secrets.

"A project of immediate use to the fleet, it seems."