“Like a child?” Thalias suggested.

“I’m not a child,” Che’ri flared. “I’m almost ten years old.”

Thalias’s first reflex was to point out that ten years old was well within the definition of childhood. Her second reflex was to try the kind of soothing there, there noises that her caregivers had so often given her.

But as she looked into the girl’s eyes, into all that fear and uncertainty, she realized neither approach would be any good. The two of them were far more alike than Thalias had realized until now, and for her the only thing that could ease fear was knowledge. “I know,” she said, nodding tacit recognition of Che’ri’s assessment of herself. “More than that, you’ve lived through more pressure and stress in the past three years than most Chiss will face in their entire lifetimes.”

Che’ri’s eyes turned away. “It’s okay,” she muttered.

“It’s okay—and it’s going to be okay—because you’re strong,” Thalias said. “You’re a sky-walker, and Third Sight seems to come with a special mental toughness.”

“I don’t know,” Che’ri said, her eyes focused on something light-years away that only she could see. “I don’t feel very tough.”

“Well, you are,” Thalias said. “Trust me. And for whatever it’s worth, most of the things they don’t tell you they also don’t tell anyone outside the military. Most of what I just said I had to dig out on my own after I left.”

“Did you get in trouble?”

“Not really. I got a few warnings, though.” Thalias made a show of wrinkling her nose as if in thought. “Though I suppose I might have gotten some other people in trouble.”

That got her a small, tentative smile. “Did they deserve it?”

“I like to think the galaxy runs on balance,” Thalias said. “Those who deserve trouble get it, and those who don’t, don’t.”

“You really think it works that way?”

Thalias huffed out a sigh. “Not even close,” she conceded. “Sadly. You hear that?”

Che’ri looked up, frowning. “No.”

“Exactly,” Thalias said, feeling a small sense of relief. “There haven’t been any more shrapnel thuds. I think the battle is over.”

“I hope so,” Che’ri said, straining her ears. “I hate battles.”

“So does everyone else,” Thalias said. “Well. There’ll probably be some talking now, and Captain Thrawn will let the Lioaoi know he could have flattened their whole planet if he’d wanted to, and then some more talking. Somewhere along in there we’ll be called back to the bridge, and you’ll start us on the path for home.”

“I hope so,” Che’ri said, a shiver running through her.

“Trust me,” Thalias said. “So that leaves us only two questions.”

Che’ri frowned. “Which ones?”