And even with it couched in terms of permission, Obi-Wan nevertheless knew an order when he heard one. "Very well," he said with a sigh. "I presume I'll be bringing my Padawan, as well?"

"You can hardly let him go running off to the next galaxy without you," Palpatine agreed, the lines smoothing out a bit, and Obi-Wan could sense his relief. "I'll take the two of you down in my ship. After that, I'm afraid I must return to Coruscant, but I'll leave one of my guard and his escort ship to bring you back when you're finished."

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said, wondering briefly if he and Anakin should instead take the Delta-12 Skysprite that Windu had set up for them in D-3's hangar. But it would take time to activate and prep, and time seemed to be of the essence here. Besides, one of Palpatine's escort ships would undoubtedly be more spacious and comfortable, even if it did mean putting up with one of those humorless men Palpatine always seemed to be hiring as his guards these days. "I'll have Anakin start packing. We'll be ready to go within the hour."

"Thank you, Master Kenobi," Palpatine said, his voice low and earnest. "You may never know how much this means to me."

"My pleasure, Chancellor," Obi-Wan said, feeling a twinge of regret as he pulled out his comlink. "We Jedi live only to serve."

"There it goes," Anakin murmured as Palpatine's shuttle dropped toward the hazy atmosphere of the planet below them.

Obi-Wan looked up, but where Outbound Flight had been there was no longer anything but empty space. "They have a schedule to keep," he said.

"I suppose," the boy said, and Obi-Wan could hear some of his own unhappiness echoed in the other's voice. "I wish we could have gone a little farther with him."

"Who, Captain Pakmillu?" Palpatine asked.

"No, Master C'baoth," Anakin said. "He's a really good leader-always seems to get things done. Cuts straight through the clutter and finds a way to make everyone do what's best for them."

"He does indeed have that gift," Palpatine agreed. "There are so few like him in these troubled times. Still, our loss is Outbound Flight's gain."

"I'm sure they're pleased to have him aboard," Obi-Wan murmured.

"But he has his task before him, and we have ours," Palpatine continued, handing Obi-Wan a data card. "Here's all I have on the Roxuli dispute. You'd best familiarize yourself with it before we land."

"Thank you," Obi-Wan said, taking the card and slipping it into his datapad. "No doubt the complainants themselves will provide any details you've missed."

"No doubt," Palpatine said drily. "Settle yourself in, Master Kenobi. It's likely to be a very long and weary day."

Ar'alani's inspection group returned to Crustai from the Trade Federation battle site nearly two hours before Thrawn made it back from the inspection tour the admiral had sent him on. His report, not surprisingly, went quickly, and he was back with Car'das and Maris for a quick language session less than an hour later. If he realized something significant had happened in his absence, Car'das couldn't find it in his face or voice.

The next two days went by slowly. Ar'alani spent most of her time in her quarters studying the data she'd collected from the battle site, emerging only for meals or to roam the base looking for warriors to question. So far she didn't seem to have run into the two who'd heard Thrawn announce his suspicions about theBargain Hunter 's crew, but Car'das knew it was only a matter of time before she did.

Thrawn himself was in and out quite a bit over those two days, apparently taking Ar'alani's phony inspection order very seriously. Car'das had only a single real conversation with the commander during that time, a long late-night talk in Car'das's quarters right after Ar'alani's battle-site survey. Thrawn's fatigue and tension were evident, and when he finally left Car'das pondered long and hard as to whether the commander might have finally overstretched himself

During those days Car'das also tried to spend more time with Qennto and Maris. But their conversations were even more depressing. Qennto was beginning to act like a caged animal, his broodings peppered with wild plans involving raids on the armory and storage room followed by a daring escape in theBargain Hunter. Maris, for her part, still professed confidence in Thrawn's honor, but even she was clearly starting to have private doubts about his ability to protect them against Ar'alani.

Something had to be done. And it was Car'das who would have to do it.

There were few preparations he could make. TheBargain Hunter was too well guarded, and anyway he had no intention of trying to fly the ungainly freighter through the entrance tunnel with Thrawn's fighters in pursuit. But at the far end of the docking area was a long-range shuttle the Chiss seemed mostly to be ignoring. A few hours spent in the piloting tutorials of the base's computer system, combined with his previous training in reading Cheunh symbols, and he had learned the rudiments of flying it. Later, he managed to slip aboard the shuttle without being seen and spent an hour in the pilot's seat, mentally running through the lessons and checklists and making sure he knew where everything was located. When the time came, he didn't want Admiral Ar'alani charging into the shuttle to find him fumbling with the wrong controls.

Getting a hold of Ar'alani's copy of theSpringhawk 's navigational download was somewhat more problematic. Thrawn himself provided the opening for that one, inviting Ar'alani and Thrass to a formal dinner on the second night. The cylinder the admiral had shown him was mixed in with a batch of similar tubes carrying the data she'd recorded at the battle site, and it took him several tense minutes to locate the correct one.

And with that, his preparations were finished.

He went to bed early that night, but it didn't do him any good. He spent most of the night thinking and worrying, his sleep coming in short, nightmare-filled dozings. Like the eerie calm before the bursting of a massive storm, he knew the quiet of the past couple of days was about to end.

Midmorning on that third day, it did.

"No," Car'das said firmly, meeting Ar'alani's glowing eyes as calmly as he could. "We're not spies. Not for the Republic, not for anyone else."

"Then what precisely did Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo mean by his accusation?" the admiral countered. "And don't deny he said it. I have the sworn statements of the two warriors who were present at the time."

"I don't deny it," Car'das said, his eyes flicking to Thrass. The syndic was standing silently a few steps behind Ar'alani, his expression harder even than the admiral's. Perhaps he knew better than she did what a charge of harboring spies would mean to his brother's career. "But I also can't explain it. Maybe he was trying to confuse the Trade Federation commanders."