“We can,” Ar’alani said, trying to keep her own irritation out of her voice. The Syndicure was not supposed to pull stunts like this.

On the other hand, maybe they’d missed an angle. The Springhawk’s repairs were supposed to take another two weeks, and Zistalmu was clearly expecting Thrawn to be out of commission that long. But much of the ship’s damage was cosmetic, and as the Springhawk’s captain Thrawn could declare the ship ready to fly without those particular repairs being completed. If he did, by the time the Vigilant left for Urch he could be nearly ready to pull the Springhawk out of bluedock and slip away for a surreptitious visit to the Lioaoin Regime.

“Sadly, though, Sky-walker Ab’begh has been reassigned,” Zistalmu continued. “However, as the Springhawk won’t be going anywhere for at least a couple of weeks, Sky-walker Che’ri and Caregiver Thalias have been transferred to your command.”

“As has Captain Thrawn,” Thurfian said. “He served under you once, and I’m sure his contributions will be equally welcome this time.”

“I imagine he’ll welcome the chance to visit Urch,” Zistalmu said with a condescending little smile. “I understand their art galleries are the pride of the Urchiv-ki people.”

Ar’alani suppressed a sigh. So they hadn’t missed a bet after all. “I’m sure he will,” she said. “I’ll be honored to have him aboard.”

With a sudden intake of breath, Che’ri’s hands twitched one final time against the controls; and as Thalias looked out the viewport she saw the star-flares disappear into the starry background and the blue-and-white half circle directly ahead.

They’d arrived at Urch.

Thalias scowled at the planet. Big deal.

She stole a look at Thrawn, standing with Ambassador Ilparg behind Ar’alani’s command chair. Thrawn himself was unmoving and calm; Ilparg, in contrast, was opening and closing his hands and rocking slightly back and forth on his heels. Clearly anxious to get to his new diplomatic post, and not very patient about the extra time it had taken the Vigilant to get here.

Thalias stepped behind Che’ri, rubbing gently against the tenseness of the girl’s shoulder muscles and sending a mental glower in the direction of the grouchy ambassador. Che’ri had had to make a small additional curve through the final section of the Chaos leading into the Urch system, and the unexpected detour had made the Vigilant several hours late. In Thalias’s experience that sort of thing happened quite frequently, and neither Ar’alani nor Thrawn had blamed Che’ri in the slightest for the delay. Nor would any other reasonable person.

Ilparg, unfortunately, didn’t fall into that category. He was clearly used to the more well-defined travel parameters within the Ascendancy and apparently had never understood that the term the Chaos wasn’t simply someone’s random idea of a good name.