“Perhaps,” Thrawn said, still sounding thoughtful. “The timing certainly suggests that, as it was only thirty seconds ago that the ship ran its thrusters to this level of power.”

“It’s coming straight toward us,” she said, feeling a sudden surge of claustrophobia in the cockpit’s tight grasp. They were in a shuttle, not a combat ship, with no weapons, no defenses, and all the maneuverability of a fen slug. “What do we do?”

“That may depend on who they are, and where they’re going,” Thrawn said.

Thalias frowned at the display. “What do you mean? They’re coming toward us, aren’t they?”

“They could also be heading toward the Springhawk,” Thrawn said. “Or possibly it’s merely a scheduled run to the mining station and the timing is purely coincidental. At their distance, and at this point in their path, it’s impossible to more precisely define their ultimate endpoint.”

“So what do we do?” Thalias asked. “Can we get back to the Springhawk in time?”

“Possibly,” Thrawn said. “The more immediate question is whether we want to.”

“Whether we want to?” Thalias repeated, staring at him.

“We came here to find out if this is the origin point of the doomed refugees,” Thrawn reminded her. “My intent was to study the mining station, but a direct conversation would be quicker and more informative.”

“Only if they don’t shoot us on sight.”

“They might try,” Thrawn said. “Tell me, have you ever fired a charric?”

Thalias swallowed hard. “I practiced with one a few times at the range,” she said. “But always on low power, never on high.”

“There’s not much operational difference between those settings.” Thrawn tapped a few keys on his console. “Well. Unless the ship increases its speed in the next two hours, we should arrive at the station twenty to thirty minutes ahead of it.”

“What if it’s aiming for the Springhawk?” Thalias asked. “Shouldn’t we warn them?”

“I’m sure Mid Captain Samakro has already noted them,” Thrawn assured her. “Even if they’ve spotted the Springhawk—and there’s a good chance they haven’t—I think there’s a way to make sure our visitors stop by the station first.”

“How?”

Thrawn smiled. “We invite them in.”

The mining station was equipped with several docking ports, grouped together at various points around its surface. One cluster included two of the so-called “universal ports” that many species in the region had adopted over the centuries to accommodate varying sizes of ships. Thrawn docked the shuttle with one of them, waited until the bioclear system had run the usual toxin/biohazard check on the station’s air, then led the way inside.