"Once in place, they're to clear out the enemy fighters and create a defensive perimeter between the projector and the war vessels," Thrawn continued. "TheSpringhawk will follow and attempt to retrieve the sphere."

Car'das squeezed his hands into fists. Very straightforward… unless they missed the edge of the cone they were aiming for and got pulled out somewhere in the middle of the battle instead. Or unless such a short jump fried all their hyperdrives, which would lead to the same result.

"Assault Teams One and Two are to prepare for out-hull operation," Thrawn said. "There will most likely be an operational crew aboard the projector; they're to locate and neutralize with minimal damage to the projector itself. They'll be joined by Chief Engineer Yal'avi'kema and three of his crew, who will either find a way to collapse the projector to a size we can take aboard or else attach it as is to our hull for transport. All groups are to signal when ready."

The minutes crept by. Car'das watched the battle, wincing at each defender that flared and died under the merciless assault and wondering how long Thrawn's own luck would hold out. Certainly the Chiss ships had proved their exceptional stealth capabilities back when they'd sneaked up on both theBargain Hunter and Progga's ship. But even so, sooner or later someone on the Vagaari side was bound to notice them sitting quietly out here.

Fortunately, Thrawn's crew also recognized the need for haste. Three minutes later, the fighters and assault teams had all signaled their readiness.

"Stand by, fighters," Thrawn said, his eyes on the battle. "Fighters attack. . now." In the distance there was a flicker of pseudomotion, and the six Chiss fighters appeared in a loose line just off the projector's starboard side. "Helm: prepare to follow."

Thrawn had called the enemy's defense setup overconfident, but there was nothing sloppy about their response to this unexpected threat. Even as the Chiss fighters swung into their attack the Vagaari ships began to spread out, trying to deprive the intruders of clustered targets as they returned fire with lasers and missiles.

Unfortunately for them, their attackers' commander had already seen Vagaari fighter tactics in action. The enemy ships got off perhaps two shots each before the Chiss settled into their own counterattack and the Vagaari fighters began exploding. Less than a minute after their sudden arrival, the Chiss held the field alone.

Alone, but not unnoticed. In the near distance, the three larger warships were beginning to respond, their aft batteries opening fire as they began ponderously turning around.

"Fighters: take defensive positions," Thrawn ordered. "Helm: go."

Car'das set his teeth. The stars began their usual stretch into starlines; then with a horrible-sounding thud from somewhere aft, the stars were back.

"Assault One to projector's starboard side," Thrawn called. "Assault Two to port. Chief Yal'avi'kema, you have five minutes."

"Question is, do we have five minutes?" Car'das muttered, eyeing the shots starting to sizzle past theSpringhawk 's canopy.

"I think so," Thrawn said. "They'll need to be much closer before they can attack in earnest. Otherwise, they risk overshooting us and destroying their own projector."

"So?" Car'das countered. "Isn't that what they probably thinkwe're trying to do to it?"

"Actually, I suspect they're rather confused about our intentions at the moment," Thrawn said. "An attacker whose sole purpose was destruction would hardly have had to move in this close." He gestured toward the battle. "But whatever they perceive our plan to be, they still must allow the projector to remain functional as long as possible. Once the gravity shadow vanishes, the defenders inside its cone will be free to escape and possibly regroup. They thus cannot risk overshooting us andmust come in closer."

Car'das grimaced. Certainly the logic made sense. But that was no guarantee the Vagaari wouldn't do something stupid or panicky instead.

The enemy warships had made it halfway around now, allowing them to bring their flank laser batteries into play. Still, so far they did seem to be concentrating most of their fire on the Chiss fighters arrayed against them.

And then, as the light of the distant sun played across the warships' sides, Car'das spotted something he hadn't noticed before. "Hey, look," he said, pointing. "They have the same bubbles all over their hulls that we saw on the treasure ship."

"Get me a close-up," Thrawn ordered, his eyes narrowing. On the main monitor display the running series of tactical data vanished and was replaced by a hazy telescopic view of the bubble pattern.

Car'das felt his throat suddenly tighten as, beside him, he heard Maris's sharp intake of breath. "Oh, no," she whispered.

The bubbles weren't observation ports, as Qennto had once speculated. Nor were they navigational sensors.

They were prisons. Each one contained a living alien being, all of them of the same species as the mangled bodies Car'das could see floating among the battle debris. Some of the hostages were cowering against the walls of their cells, while others had curled up with their backs to the plastic, while still others gazed out at the battle with the dull resignation of those who have already given up hope.

Even as they watched, a stray missile exploded a glancing blow at the edge of the telescope display's view. When the flash and debris cleared away, Car'das saw that three of the bubbles had been shattered, their inhabitants blown into space or turned into unrecognizable shreds of torn flesh. The metal behind the broken bubbles, clearly the main hull, was dented in places but appeared to be intact.

"Living shields," Thrawn murmured, his voice as cold and as deadly as Car'das had ever heard it.

"Can your fighters use their Connor nets?" Car'das asked urgently. "You know-those things you used on us?"

"They're still too far away," Thrawn said. "At any rate, shock nets would be of little use against the electronic compartmentalization of war vessels that size."

"Can't they shootbetween the bubbles?" Maris asked, her voice starting to shake. "There's room there. Can't they blast the hull without hitting the prisoners?"

"Again, not at their distance," Thrawn said. "I'm sorry."

"Then you have to call them back," Maris insisted. "If they keep firing, they'll be killing innocent people."

"Those people are already dead," Thrawn replied, his voice suddenly harsh.

Maris flinched back from his unexpected anger. "But-"

"Please," Thrawn said, holding up a hand. His voice was calm again, but there was still an undercurrent of anger simmering beneath it. "Understand the reality of the situation. The Vagaari have killed them, all of them, if not in this battle then in battles to come. There's nothing we can do to help them. All we can do is focus our resources toward the Vagaari's ultimate destruction, so that others may live."