“Yes, but I mostly only see the insides,” Qilori said, frowning. “Why the sudden interest?”

“That vessel shows many of the same characteristics as a group of pirate ships that have been attacking freighters at the outer edges of the Chiss Ascendancy.”

“Really?” Qilori asked, trying to sound surprised. There were dark rumors among the various navigator groups that the Lioaoin Regime had turned to piracy to prop up their failing economy. Most of the stories came from the Void Guides, who did more work in that particular region, but he’d heard a couple of his fellow Pathfinders talking about it, too.

He couldn’t tell the pilot that, of course. The Navigators’ Guild rules of confidentiality and neutrality were unbreakable. “Sounds pretty unlikely.”

“You don’t believe a pirate group would buy their ships from a local manufacturer?”

“Oh,” Qilori said, feeling a slight sense of relief. So the Chiss wasn’t even thinking that the Lioaoi were officially involved. “No, I see what you mean. I suppose that’s possible.”

“Yes,” the pilot said. “Have you ever traveled to Lioaoin space?”

“Once or twice, yes.”

“You could find your way there again?”

“From the Chiss Ascendancy? Of course. I could find my way to any system you wanted. That’s what navigators do.”

“The Lioaoin Regime will do for now,” the pilot said. “Suppose I wanted to approach from a different direction than the Ascendancy? Say, from here at Bardram Scoft?”

“Are we heading there?”

The pilot gazed out the viewport for another moment. “Not yet,” he said, his voice thoughtful. “Perhaps later. What’s your name?”

“Qilori of Uandualon,” Qilori said, frowning. Where was the Chiss going with this line of questioning?

“Are you normally to be found at the Navigators’ Guild station where we hired you?”

“I move around a lot between the various guild stations,” Qilori said. “Obviously. But Concourse Four Forty-Seven is my official base station, yes.”

“Good,” the Chiss said. “Perhaps we shall work together in the future.”

“That would be wonderful,” Qilori said, studying the Chiss’s profile. Few of them even bothered to learn his name, let alone want to know how to find him. Fewer still would bother to study another species’ ship design.

Who was this Chiss, anyway?

“And your name?” he asked. “In case you specifically ask for me?”

“Junior Commander Thrawn,” the Chiss said softly. “And yes. I shall most definitely ask for you.”

Chapter Seven

Qilori had never expected the Chiss named Thrawn to ever blacken his sky again. He’d certainly hoped he wouldn’t. But yet here he was, back at Guild Concourse 447, asking specifically for Qilori of Uandualon.

And a senior captain now, to boot. Qilori didn’t know a lot about Chiss military ranks and promotion schedules, but he had the distinct impression that Thrawn was younger than most Chiss who’d achieved that rank.