They rounded a corner, and Thrawn abruptly picked up his pace. "I've had a report of another Vagaari attack, this one still in progress," he said. "I'm going to take a look."

"How far away is it?" Car'das asked. "I mean, the treasure room's not going to hold their attentionthat long."

"It's approximately six standard hours away," Thrawn said. "And I fully expect Admiral Ar'alani to deliver a severe reprimand when I return, assuming she delays her departure until then. For now, though, all I need is for her to be distracted long enough for us to slip away."

Car'das's stomach tightened. "You're not just going there to observe, are you?"

"The purpose of the trip is to evaluate the situation," Thrawn said evenly. "But if I judge there's a reasonable chance of eliminating this threat to the Chiss Ascendancy. ." He left the sentence unfinished, but there was no doubt as to his intentions. He was going to attack.

And from the way he'd pulled Car'das out of the treasure room, it was clear he expected his language tutor to come along for the ride.

Car'das took a deep breath. He'd already been through more space battles than he liked, and going up against a fully armed Vagaari raiding party wasnot something he really wanted to do. But maybe there was still a chance of gracefully backing out. "I'm sure you'll do whatever is right," he said diplomatically. "Good luck, and-"

"May I go with you?" Maris interrupted him.

Car'das threw her a startled look. Her eyes flicked to his, a hard-edged warning in her expression. "It might be good to have a witness along," she continued. "Especially someone who has no connection to any of the Ruling Families."

"I agree," Thrawn said. "That's why I'm taking Car'das."

Car'das winced. So much for a graceful exit. "Commander, I appreciate the offer-"

"Two witnesses would be better," Maris said.

"Actually, Qennto would be a better choice than either Maris or me," Car'das tried again. "He's the one-"

"In theory, yes," Thrawn agreed, his eyes on Maris. "But no matter how carefully planned or executed, a battle always entails risks."

"He's the one who really likes this kind of excitement-"

"So does flying with Rak," Maris countered. "I'm willing to take my chances."

"I could go get him out of the treasure room-"

"I'm not sureI am," Thrawn countered in the same tone. "Should you be injured or killed, I wouldn't want to be the one to bring that news to your captain."

"If we're on the bridge together, you won't have to," Maris pointed out. "If I die, you probably will, too, and someone else would get stuck with that job." She jerked a thumb at Car'das. "It sounds like Jorj would rather stay behind anyway. He can do it."

"Forget it," Car'das said firmly, his mind suddenly made up for him. He'd seen Thrawn's combat abilities, and he'd seen Qennto's temper, and he knew which one sounded safer. "If Maris goes, we both go."

"I'm honored by your trust," Thrawn said as they reached the shuttle bay "Come then. May warriors' fortune smile on our efforts."

One minute to breakout," the helmsman called.

"Acknowledged," Thrawn replied. "Warriors, stand ready."

Standing behind the commander's chair, Car'das stole a look at Maris. Her face looked a little pale above the wide collar of her vac suit, but her eyes were clear and her jaw firmly set. Probably looking forward to Thrawn being all noble and honorable, he thought sourly. Waiting for him to bolster her already stratospheric opinion of him. Women.

So what in blazes washe doing here?

"If the reports are accurate, we'll arrive in a safe area a short way beyond the outer edge of the battle zone," Thrawn said, his eyes dropping to the helmets gripped in their hands. "Still, it would be wise for you to have your helmets already in place."

"We can get them on fast enough if we need to," Maris assured him.

Thrawn hesitated, then nodded. "Very well. Then stand ready."

He swiveled back to face forward. Car'das watched the countdown timer, his mouth feeling uncomfortably dry; and as it hit zero the starlines appeared out of the hyperspace sky and collapsed into stars.

And through the canopy he found himself staring at the most horrific sight he'd ever witnessed.

It wasn't the simple pirate attack he'd expected, with three or four Vagaari marauders preying on a freighter or starliner. Stretched out before them, writhing against the backdrop of a cloud-flecked blue-green world, were at least two hundred ships of various sizes locked in battle, linked together in twos or threes or groups by savage exchanges of laser- and missile fire. In the distance, on the far side of the planet, he could see the glittering points of a hundred more ships, silently waiting their turn.

And through the swirling combat drifted the debris and bodies and dead hulks of perhaps twenty more ships.

This wasn't a pirate attack. This was a war.

"Interesting," Thrawn murmured. "I seem to have miscalculated."

"No kidding," Car'das said, the words coming out like an amphibian's croak. He wanted to tear his eyes away from the carnage but found himself unable to do so. "Let's get out of here before someone sees us."

"No, you misunderstand," Thrawn said. "I knew the battle would be of this scale. What I hadn't realized was the Vagaari's true nature." He pointed through the canopy at the distant cluster of ships. "You see those other vessels?"

"The ones waiting their turn to fight?"

"They're not here to fight," Thrawn corrected him. "Those are the civilians."

"Civilians?" Car'das peered out at the distant points of light. "How can you tell?"

"By the way they're grouped in defensive posture, with true war vessels set in screening positions around them," Thrawn said. "The error I spoke of was that the Vagaari aren't simply a strong, well-organized pirate force. They're a completely nomadic species."

"Is that a problem?" Maris asked. She was gazing calmly at the panorama, Car'das noted with a touch of resentment, almost as calmly as she'd faced the piles of bodies aboard the Vagaari treasure ship.

"Very much so," Thrawn told her, his voice grim. "Because it implies in turn that all their construction, support, and maintenance facilities are completely mobile."

"So?" Car'das asked.

"So it will do us no good to capture one of the attackers and use its navigational system to locate their homeworld," Thrawn said patiently. "There is no homeworld." He gestured out at the battle. "Unless we can destroy all of their war vessels at once, they will simply melt away into the vastness of interstellar space and regroup."