“I assume the appointment was pushed through by one of his friends.” Nightswan’s eyes narrowed as he studied Eli’s face. “No,” he said slowly. “Not just a friend. A nonhuman from the Unknown Regions…it would have to be someone very highly placed. No—wait.” His eyes widened. “Hell and brimstone,” he breathed, leaning forward over the desk. “That was him?”
“That was who?” Eli asked, reflexively shrinking back a little. Nightswan’s sudden intensity was more than a little intimidating.
“Hell and brimstone,” Nightswan murmured again, his eyes fixed on Eli. “You really don’t know?”
“Apparently not.”
“So that was Thrawn,” Nightswan said, his gaze drifting to somewhere over Eli’s shoulder. “I heard about it a couple of years ago, from someone working the Thrugii asteroids. There was this unknown nonhuman—blue skin, glowing red eyes—who’d somehow teamed up with one of the Jedi generals fighting in the Clone Wars.”
Eli felt his throat tighten. “Anakin Skywalker,” he murmured.
In a flash Nightswan’s eyes came back, an invisible hatch seeming to slam shut over the memories. “Yes, General Skywalker,” he said, his voice wary. “So you do know the story.”
“All I know is that Thrawn once met the man,” Eli said. “He wouldn’t tell me anything else.”
The desk intercom beeped. For a moment Nightswan continued to lock gazes with Eli. Then, leaning back in his chair again, he touched a switch. “Yes?”
“We searched the freighter, sir,” a faint voice came. “No one else aboard. But listen—the engine compartment’s showing a radiation leak.”
“A radiation leak, you say,” Nightswan repeated, raising his eyebrows at Eli.
“Yes, sir, and it looks bad. You think we should tractor the whole thing out of the bay before the reactor goes critical?”
“Oh, I doubt we need to go to such extremes,” Nightswan said. “How many troops do you have with you?”
“All six. You said to be careful.”
“So I did,” Nightswan said. “Get everyone together by that hatch and figure out how to get in. There should be an override control near the main release.”
“Wait a minute,” the man protested. “You want us to go in? Without radiation suits?”
“You won’t need them,” Nightswan assured him. “It’s just another Imperial or two hiding among the baffles. They’ll be armed, of course, so continue being careful.”
“Got it,” the man said.
Nightswan touched the intercom switch again. “Really?” he asked Eli with a wry smile. “A radiation leak?”
Eli shrugged, stifling a curse. Of all the ploys for Thrawn to pull out of his hat, it had to be one Nightswan already knew. “It is a classic.”
“So it is,” Nightswan agreed. “Though like you, I don’t know whether to be flattered or insulted. You’re probably wishing you’d tried something else.”
“I didn’t know I’d be playing to an audience who’d already put on the same show.”
“True,” Nightswan said. “I hope that whoever’s in there doesn’t put up a fight. Simmco’s people aren’t too bright, but they’re very good shots.”
“I’m sure they are,” Eli said with a sigh. However this worked out, Nightswan was in for a surprise. He’d either have Thrawn himself, or he’d have his body.
“But you were telling me about Thrawn and Skywalker,” Nightswan continued.
“No, I already told you about Thrawn and Skywalker,” Eli corrected. “Everything I know. That Thrugii story sounds interesting, though.”
“I’d rather talk about you,” Nightswan said. “With Thrawn about to leave the stage, your career will finally be out of his shadow.” He raised his eyebrows. “It has been rather in his shadow, hasn’t it?”
Eli smiled. Once, he’d indeed felt that way.
But not anymore. Not for a long time.
“I’m not worried about it,” he assured Nightswan. “The future is what you make of it, as my father used to say. I’m a commander, I have a fairly decent list of victories on my ledger, and I’d like to think I’ve picked up one or two friends along the way.”
“Really?” Nightswan said. “Because Thrawn doesn’t seem to have. Not politically astute at all, from what I hear.” He snorted. “As for you, my young idealist commander, do you really think you have any friends on Coruscant? A Wild Space nobody who’s spent his entire career as a house pet to a nonhuman?”
“It’s not like that,” Eli insisted. “You saw how they came around with Thrawn.”
“Probably because favors were bought or sold,” Nightswan said. “You really need to learn more about Coruscant.” The intercom pinged again, and he tapped the key. “Yes?”
“Sir, it’s Simmco,” the man’s voice came. “We’ve searched the engine compartment, and there’s—”
He was cut off by an explosive concussion erupting from the intercom speaker. An instant later Eli felt a quieter echo of the blast through the bulkhead behind him.
And suddenly the room erupted with the thunderous cadence of the universal abandon ship alarm.
Nightswan snatched up Eli’s blaster from the desk with one hand, jabbing at the intercom with the other. “Captain?” he called over the cacophony. “Captain, what’s going on?”
Eli braced himself. You’ll know, Thrawn had promised. Reaching casually to his insignia plaque, Eli pressed the innermost tile. Nightswan caught the movement, turned the blaster warningly toward his prisoner—
As the hold-out blaster in front of him exploded into a blinding cloud of smoke.
Eli was out of his chair in an instant, wincing as Nightswan’s blaster bolt sizzled through the space he’d just been occupying and shattered the back of the chair. For a fraction of a second he thought about trying to counterattack, realized it would be suicidal, and instead sprinted for the hatch. If he could get it open before Nightswan’s vision cleared he might make it.
He was nearly there, his hand stretched out toward the release, when the hatch slid open of its own accord and a looming figure charged inside, a blaster gripped in his hand. Eli slammed into him at full speed, sending the man toppling backward onto the deck and squeezing out an agonized whoof as the impact knocked the air out of his lungs. Eli grabbed his blaster, twisted it out of his grip, slammed it across the side of his head to make sure he stayed down, then scrambled to his feet and made for the docking bay.
Even over the noise he could hear multiple shouts and running footsteps as the rest of the crew reacted to the alarm. Fortunately, he didn’t have far to go. He burst through the hatchway into the repair bay—
Into a churning honeyhive of activity. Everyone who hadn’t yet made it out of the main ship seemed to be there, some of them climbing into damage-control equipment, most of them sprinting toward the various ships with the clear intent of getting out.
And more men and women were streaming into the bay every second. Sooner or later, Eli knew, one of them would spot him. Clenching his teeth, he turned toward his freighter, hoping that blast had been Thrawn getting rid of Simmco’s boarding party.
A blaster bolt sputtered past him, jerking him back and nearly throwing him off his feet. He grabbed for balance, lost the fight, and came down awkwardly on one hand. Spinning around, he brought up his borrowed weapon, wondering if he would even have time to get off a shot before his attacker nailed him—
And spotted Thrawn a quarter of the way down the bay, a blaster in his hand, beckoning to Eli from the entryway of one of the other freighters. Bounding back to his feet, Eli sprinted for the ship.
Thirty seconds later he was there, racing up the ramp and through the hatch. Thrawn had already disappeared, presumably to the cockpit. Eli locked down the hatch, double-checked that the seal was holding, then headed forward.
Thrawn was seated in the pilot’s chair, the displays and indicators already up and running. “Welcome aboard, Commander,” he said as Eli maneuvered his way through the cramped space to the copilot’s seat. “We should be clear before they realize we’re not part of their group.”