But it would do him no good. The corsairs were on the move, and if there were Pathfinders aboard there was nothing Thrawn could do to prevent them from following him back to Chiss space. They would get him, and the oh-so-clever backup ship that had already left, and the Lioaoin ships would continue to attack and plunder everyone in the region.

Maybe the corsairs would try to rescue Qilori and the other Pathfinder before they destroyed the Chiss ships. Probably they wouldn’t.

But at this point, all he could do was hope. “Where are we going?” he asked as they approached the edge of the gravity well.

“Kinoss,” Thrawn said. “It’s the closest system, and there should be fast couriers there who can take our message to Csilla and Naporar.”

“Fine,” Qilori said, setting his hands on the controls. Maybe one of the two Chiss freighters would at least be able to send a message before the corsairs jammed their transmissions and then destroyed them.

Probably they wouldn’t.

The trance this time was one of the hardest Qilori had ever experienced. On top of the usual course intricacies was an overlaid mesh of dark and distracting images, visions of pursuing ships guided by fellow Pathfinders. He nearly lost the path more times than he cared to remember, and twice he was forced to return to space-normal to regain his connection to the Great Presence.

Thrawn said nothing during those retrenchments. Probably dreaming of glory for ending the pirate menace, or assuming the course stutters would throw off any pursuit.

The other Chiss freighter had already arrived when they finally reached the Kinoss system. Qilori could see its thrusters in the distance ahead, driving the vessel toward the planet. Even as Qilori finished rising from his trance Thrawn had taken the controls and turned to follow.

Futility. Even before the thrusters were up to full power, four Lioaoin corsairs winked into view on the aft display.

“Ah,” Thrawn said, still with that maddening calm. “Our guests have arrived.”

“I’m so surprised,” Qilori muttered.

“I doubt that,” Thrawn said. “I did some study on the Pathfinders after our first encounter. Your colleagues can track you through hyperspace, can they not?”

Qilori shot him a startled look. That was supposed to be a deep, dark secret. “That—no. Not true.”

“I think it is.” Thrawn gestured to the aft display. “The Pathfinder style was evident in the last pirate attack. I hoped you and I would arrive at the Lioaoin heartworld before those navigators were returned to their bases.”

“You wanted them to follow us?”

“Of course,” Thrawn said, as if it was obvious. “With any other navigators there would be uncertainty as to their emergence point, if indeed they were able to follow us at all. With Pathfinders aboard, I could be sure the pirates would arrive precisely where I wanted them.”