“It does seem to go that way a lot,” the officer said, his stiffness bending a little more.

“Well, if I can’t get aboard as an observer, is there any other way I can join the ship?” Thalias asked. “Some other job I could do? I’m proficient in computers, data analysis—”

“Sorry,” he cut in, stopping her with an upraised hand. “You’re a civilian, and the Springhawk doesn’t have any positions for civilians.” He frowned suddenly. “Unless…just a moment.”

He keyed his questis, paused, keyed it again, scrolled slowly down the pages. Thalias tried to read along from her side of the desk, but the text was upside down and he was using one of the scripts specifically designed to be hard to read that way.

“Here we go,” he said, looking up again. “Maybe. There’s one job you might be able to take. The Springhawk’s just been assigned a sky-walker, but a caregiver hasn’t been appointed yet. You have any experience or qualifications in handling children?”

“Not really,” Thalias said. “But I was once a sky-walker myself. Does that count?”

His eyes widened. “You were a sky-walker? Really?”

“Really,” she assured him.

“Interesting,” he muttered, his eyes shrinking back to normal, and maybe just a little in the other direction. “A hundred years ago all caregivers were former sky-walkers. Or so I’ve heard.”

“Interesting,” Thalias said. There was her opening.

If she wanted to go for it.

It wasn’t an easy or obvious answer. That part of her life was far behind her. More than that, it was filled with some memories she’d just as soon leave there.

Of course, many of those unpleasant memories were wrapped around the women who’d been assigned to look after her aboard her ships. Some of them had been reasonable; others hadn’t understood her at all. She would be on the other side of the relationship this time, which should help a lot.

Maybe. If she was being honest, she would have to admit that she probably hadn’t been the easiest of caregiver assignments, either. A lot of that time blurred together, but she distinctly remembered several long-term sulks and more than a few full-rage screaming fits.

To take that job onto herself—to face a sky-walker with all that entailed—to try to make a little girl’s life less stressful—

She squared her shoulders. Visiting those dark parts of her past would be hard. But it might be her only chance to once again see Thrawn. It would certainly be her best chance for real observation of him. “All right,” she said. “Yes. I’ll take it.”

“Whoa,” the officer warned. “It’s not that easy. You’d still need—”