It took two minutes in the privacy of the restroom for her to set things in motion. Two minutes of time, and way more courage than she thought she possessed. But then it was done, and she was committed, and she could only hope she hadn’t brought complete ruin upon herself.

They arrived and, still in silence, Thurfian walked her down the corridors of Ascendancy power to his office.

“All right, I’m here,” she said as Thurfian ushered her into his office and motioned her to a chair. “What’s this all about?”

“Oh, please,” Thurfian protested mildly. Closing the door, he circled behind her and sat down at his desk. “Don’t pretend you don’t know what this is about. You promised me a report. It’s time to deliver.”

He activated a questis and pushed it across the desk to her. “Tell me everything you know, everything you’ve learned—everything—about Senior Captain Thrawn.”

For a long minute the young woman just sat there, her face rigid, her body unnaturally still. Seeking, no doubt, a way out of the trap.

The trap she’d stepped into of her own free will, of course. It was either that promise, or Thurfian would have turned around, walked back into the personnel office, and canceled her appointment as the Springhawk’s sky-walker’s caregiver. With a threat like that hanging over her, she’d had no choice but to agree.

But it hadn’t been willingly. Not by a long shot. Even now, as he looked at her expression and body stance, it was clear she was hoping to get out of the deal.

Too bad. Her hopes didn’t matter, nor did her reticence. All that mattered was that Thrawn was up to something new, and Thurfian was getting tired of his antics. He needed a lever he could use against the maverick, and Thalias’s detailed knowledge of Thrawn’s other recent activities was that lever. “Come, come—we haven’t got all day,” he said into the taut silence. “The sooner you finish, the sooner you can go back to fawning over your big hero.”

“I assumed this would wait until the entire campaign was over,” Thalias said, making no move toward the questis.

“I never gave you any sort of timetable,” Thurfian reminded her. “The deal was very clear: I would get you aboard the Springhawk, and you would be my spy.”

Thalias flinched visibly at the word. Thurfian didn’t care about that, either. “Everything you need to know about Senior Captain Thrawn is in the official records,” she said. “Once you’ve read them, I can answer any other questions you have.”

“I have read them,” Thurfian countered. “And you’re stalling.”

“Not stalling,” Thalias said, standing up. “It just so happens I have an appointment elsewhere. If you’ll excuse me—”