What is your profession?" Thrawn asked in Cheunh.

"I am a merchant trader," Car'das said carefully in the same language, forcing the odd sounds through unwilling tongue and lips.

Thrawn lifted his eyebrows politely. "You are a fishing boat?" he asked, switching to Basic.

Car'das looked at Maris. "That's what you said," she confirmed, an amused smile on her face.

He lifted his hand slightly, let it fall back into his lap. "I am a merchant trader," he said, giving up and switching over to the Minnisiat trade language.

"Ah," Thrawn said in the same language. "You're a merchant trader?"

"Yes." Car'das shook his head. "I really said I was a fishing boat?"

"Pohskapforian; Pohskapforian," Thrawn pronounced. "Can you hear the difference?"

Car'das nodded. He could hear the difference between the aspirated and unaspiratedp sounds in the second syllable, all right. He just couldn't make the difference with his own mouth. "And I practiced that all evening, too," he grumbled.

"I warned you Cheunh would most likely be beyond your physical capabilities," Thrawn reminded him. "Still, your increase in comprehension level has been quite amazing, especially after only five weeks. And your progress with Minnisiat over the same period has been nothing less than remarkable. I'm impressed." His glowing eyes shifted to Maris. "With both of you," he added.

"Thank you, Commander," Car'das said. "To have impressed you is high praise indeed."

"Now you flatter me," Thrawn warned with a smile. "Is that the correct word? Flatter? "

"The word is correct," Car'das confirmed. Whatever progress he and Maris might have made with their studies, Thrawn's own work on Basic had far surpassed them, a feat rendered all the more remarkable given how much less time he'd had to devote to language studies. "But I would argue with the usage," he added. "Flatteryimplies exaggeration or even falsehood. My statement was the truth."

Thrawn inclined his head. "Then I accept the tribute as given." He turned to Maris. "And now, Ferasi, I'm ready with your special request."

Car'das frowned. "Special request?"

"Ferasi asked me to create a description of one of the artworks aboard the Vagaari pirate vessel," Thrawn told him.

Car'das looked at her. "Oh?"

"I wanted some extra practice with abstract terms and adjectives," she said, meeting his eyes coolly.

"Okay, sure," Car'das said hastily. "I was just wondering."

She held his gaze a fraction of a second longer, then turned back to Thrawn. "May I ask which piece you've chosen?"

"Certainly not," he admonished her with a smile. "You'll have to deduce that from my description."

"Oh," she said, sounding momentarily nonplussed. She glanced at Car'das, then set her jaw firmly. "All right. I'm ready."

Thrawn's eyes seemed to defocus as he gazed across the room. "The changing of colors is like a rainbow's edge melding into a sunlit waterfall. ."

Car'das listened to the melodious flow of Cheunh words, struggling to keep up as he studied Maris out of the corner of his eye. She was struggling a little, too, he could see, her lips occasionally moving as she worked through some of the more complex terms. But behind the concentration he thought he could sec something else in her eyes as she looked at Thrawn.

Only it wasn't the kind of look a language student should be giving her teacher. It most certainly wasn't a look a captive should be giving her captor.

An unpleasant sensation began to drift into his gut. She couldn't actually be falling for Thrawn, could she? Surely she wouldn't let herself be drawn in by his intelligence and courtesy and sophistication.

Because she wasn't just Qennto's partner and copilot, after all. And while Car'das had never seen Qennto in a fit of jealousy, he was pretty sure he didn't want to.

. with a deep sense of disconnection and strife between the artist and his people."

"Beautiful," Maris murmured, her eyes shining even more as she gazed at Thrawn. "That was the flat with the carved edging, wasn't it? The landscape with the darkness growing upward from the lower corner?"

"Correct," Thrawn confirmed. He looked at Car'das. "Were you also able to identify it?"

"I-no," Car'das admitted. "I was mostly concentrating on understanding the words."

"One can concentrate so closely on the words of a sentence that one thereby misses the meaning," Thrawn pointed out. "As can happen in any area of life. You must never lose focus on the larger landscape." He looked over at a series of lights on the wall above the door and stood up. "Today's lesson is over. I must see to my guest."

"Guest?" Maris asked as she and Car'das also stood up.

"An admiral of the Chiss Defense Fleet is on her way to take possession of the Vagaari vessel," Thrawn said as they all headed to the door. "Nothing you need concern yourselves with."

"May we observe the welcoming ceremony with you?" Car'das asked. "This time we should be able to understand what's being said."

"I believe that will be permissible," Thrawn said. "Admiral Ar'alani will certainly have heard of your presence from Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano and will want to see you for herself."

"Are they both from the same family?" Maris asked.

Thrawn shook his head. "Senior officers of the Defense Fleet belong to no family," he said. "They're stripped of family name and privilege and made part of the Defense Hierarchy in order that they may serve all Chiss without deference or prejudice."

"So military command is merit-based, and not something that comes from Family connections?" Maris asked.

"Exactly," Thrawn confirmed. "Officers are taken into the Hierarchy once they've proven themselves, just as the Ruling Families themselves select merit adoptives."

"What are merit adoptives?" Car'das asked.

"Chiss brought in from outside a Family's bloodlines to enrich or diversify or invigorate," Thrawn told him. "All warriors are made merit adoptives when they're accepted into either the Defense Fleet or the Expansionary Fleet." He tapped the burgundy patch on his shoulder. "That's why every warrior wears the color of one of the Families."

"Which one is yours?" Maris asked.

"The Eighth," Thrawn said. "My position is actually different from that of most warriors, as I've been named a Trial-born of the family. Most warriors' positions automatically cease when they leave the military, but mine carries the possibility that I will be deemed worthy and matched permanently to the Family. I may even be granted the position of ranking distant, which will tie my descendants and bloodline into that of the Family."