“Yes, sir,” Samakro said, eyeing him closely. He’d never been comfortable with top-secret missions, either. “Any chance of a preview?”

Thrawn gave him a small smile. “Yes, I always hated sealed orders, too,” he said. “What I can tell you is that there may be a new threat on the other side of the Ascendancy. Our task is to locate, identify, and evaluate this threat before they turn their attention to our worlds.”

“Ah,” Samakro said. So that was why they’d suddenly had a sky-walker assigned to them. Jump-by-jump was an inefficient way to travel any real distance into the Chaos, and with this kind of investigation there was no telling how far out the search would take them. “May I ask if you’re expecting this search to end in combat?” he added, his mind flicking back to Thrawn’s specific instructions to check the Springhawk’s weapons and defenses.

“There’s always that possibility,” Thrawn said. He saw the look on Samakro’s face and smiled again. “Don’t worry, Captain. I’ve had the protocols concerning preemptive attacks carefully and specifically laid out for me.”

“Yes, sir,” Samakro said. “With your permission, I’d like to personally supervise the checks on the barrier.”

“Very good, Captain,” Thrawn said. “Carry on.”

Samakro headed toward the defense station, his stomach tight. The electrostatic barrier was the Springhawk’s first line of defense against any attacker and, as such, needed to be in perfect working order.

Because he’d heard some of the stories about Thrawn. And just because the protocols had been laid out for him didn’t necessarily mean he’d listened.

Memories III

In nearly four years at Taharim Academy, Senior Cadet Irizi’ar’alani had built up a spotless record. She’d distinguished herself, she was well on the way to command rank and position, and not the slightest hint of scandal had ever touched her name.

Until now.

“Senior Cadet Ziara,” Colonel Wevary intoned in the voice he saved for the most heinous of offenders against Taharim’s traditions, “a cadet under your tutelage has been accused of cheating. Have you anything to say in your or his defense?”

Under your tutelage. All Ziara had done was to proctor the damn simulation exercise Cadet Thrawn had been taking.

But her name was attached to the charge, and so here she sat.

Not that there was much chance of serious consequences. Certainly the Irizi representative seated at one end of the three-officer panel didn’t look worried. At the other end of the table—

She felt a flicker of sympathetic pain. Thrawn was the one standing on the brink here, and yet the Mitth family representative hadn’t even shown up. Either he’d forgotten about the hearing or else he just didn’t care. Either way, it didn’t bode well for Thrawn’s future.