Thalias had envisioned either a stealthy creep through the warehouse area that filled the ground outside the spaceport security fence, or else a mad dash across that same obstacle course. Both mental scenarios ran into a blank space as she tried to imagine how they would get past the fence itself.

In the end, it was neither the dash nor the sneak. It was, instead, a box.

Not just any box. A box—a large crate, really—sitting with a dozen others near one of the entrance gates. Thrawn took a careful look around as they reached it, then popped one of the side panels open and ushered Thalias inside.

From the size, she’d recognized that the crate would have enough room to comfortably house both of them. What she hadn’t expected was the seats, the supplies of food and water, and even the crude but serviceable, if potentially awkward, bathroom facilities.

“My apologies for the accommodations,” Thrawn said as he sealed them in. There was no lamp, but carefully concealed slits on all four walls admitted both air and light. “I wasn’t sure how quickly we could get here, or whether we would have to dodge or outwait patrols, so I specified our pickup for the day after tomorrow.”

“That’s all right,” Thalias said, looking around. “It beats being a prisoner on a Nikardun ship.”

“Or floating dead in space.”

Thalias winced. “Definitely beats that. You think that’s what Yiv was planning?”

Thrawn shrugged. “He certainly has an abundance of confidence. That would suggest he’d want to interrogate me before my death. On the other hand, we captured one of his ships, and the Nikardun may have a strict code concerning vengeance. I’d need more information before I could determine that.”

“Erring on the side of caution works for me,” Thalias said. “How did you find this crate, anyway?”

“I didn’t find it, I made it,” Thrawn said. “Rather, Defense Overlord Frangelic and I made it. You’ll recall I asked him to bring a shipping container aboard with us?”

“Ah,” Thalias said, remembering now. “You said we’d be using it on the trip back.”

“And so we are,” Thrawn said. “He and I put it together on our journey to Primea, and once we’d learned the Vaks’ shipping protocols we labeled it for transfer.”

“So you’ve done this sort of thing before?”

Thrawn smiled. “Hardly. But it seemed straightforward enough.”

If it works, Thalias thought. “So where are we being shipped to?”

“We’re just going inside the fence,” Thrawn said. “The ship we’re supposed to be delivered to isn’t here yet, but once it arrives it’ll need to make a fast turnaround. The standard Vak pattern under those conditions is to gather all the cargo containers together near the designated landing area so that the loading can go more quickly.”

“Okay,” Thalias said, frowning. “So we’re going to some alien world?”