Damage Control (S.A.G.): On my right, there's... uh... some alien that looks like a... I don't know what it looks like. It just looks foreign. There's another one next to it. Do you see 'em?" "Yeah. We see 'em. How did this happen? What's your status, Mister Commander? I'm detecting no life-signs." "Negative, Control. We took a hit to the port side—there was a hull breach. We're damaged but the crew is fine." "Can you still steer?" "Affirmative. We're moving but it's tough." "All right, Commander. I'm on my way. Out." Kurle got up and went over to the comm. control panel next to the door. "Commander," he called out, looking over at her, "we have a small breach in the side. We can still maneuver and I'm maintaining communications. I can get us home." "Get us home, and then the rest of you get down and wait for the cavalry. Now go!" She started to rise, and then stopped, as she remembered. They were going to be in trouble for that. She settled back down. She shook her head. "How about you, Commander?" she heard Kurle call out. "We'll get out of it. We have a plan." "I never doubted that, M'Lady." At least he didn't. She smiled at the back of his head. He was always a man of action; he was good at problem solving. She closed her eyes for a moment. The action in her dreams had been very, very bad. As he had, she would never doubt his courage. That was something she was very proud of. All she needed now was for him to do his job, and get the ship back to _Falc_ as quickly as possible. * * * Commander Thrawn leaned back in his seat, listening. There was no sound to give him an indication of the enemy ship's status. Even if he couldn't see it, he could feel the ship through the Force. But there was nothing, which meant they were not firing. It was as it should be. Now it was time to get the _Falcon_ back to safety. He put out a Force call. * * * "What are they doing?" the sensor tech asked in exasperation. He pressed his forehead against the sensor display. "They've changed course. They've pulled way off! Why aren't they shooting at us? What are they doing?" "I have a bad feeling about this," said the senior mechanic. She had finished her survey of the starboard side and was now slowly creeping forward toward the port side door. From this angle, she could see that the door was off-center, almost closed. "Stop," Thrawn said from the back of the bridge. The two officers immediately froze. "Where did the ship come from?" "Over there, the _Starkiller,_ " said the junior officer. "We saw it a few minutes ago." "Tell them to get back," Thrawn said. "Tell them to go back and contact Admiral Pellaeon. They need his shuttle, and they need to tell him to send it right away." The officer saluted and headed back through the hatch. Thrawn turned to look at the mechanic and the other two officers. The mechanic had frozen at his first command, while the other two looked at him with disbelief. Thrawn's first officer had the only expression of any real emotion: fear. Thrawn shook his head slowly. "We've been out maneuvered," he said. "That means that they know what we are." * * * Pellaeon felt his belly twisting in a knot. There was no way they were going to make it back to the _Falcon_. They would all die here. Not that the thought was one he had to worry about, but it gave him an odd feeling. "We're cut off from the _Falcon_ ," the comm. officer said in a flat voice. "Commander Thrawn said for us to contact you." "Who is Commander Thrawn?" Pellaeon said. He didn't recognize his first officer. He didn't recognize either of his XO's, for that matter. "Who is Commander Thrawn? What's wrong with your head?" "No, my first officer," he said patiently. "I thought you said there was no one at your base with the name Thrawn." "That's right. But the commander on the _Starkiller_ —" Pellaeon shook his head. "Never mind." "But what's going on?" Pellaeon turned to the comm. officer. "You heard my order," he said. "All right, people, come in here." They started to gather around. Pellaeon eyed them carefully. He couldn't tell them what was going on. And yet if Thrawn had found out that they were taking the _Falcon_ into hyperspace, he had to figure he was still on board, and he would have made arrangements for someone to let him know if he didn't have access to the comm. system. He could only hope that Thrawn would be smart enough not to leave any open frequencies while he was maneuvering. "Let me make this quick," he said. "It doesn't matter that Thrawn knows we're here. The important thing is that he didn't manage to take down the _Starkiller_. That means he didn't know we were here." The lieutenant nodded, but he didn't look as convinced as Pellaeon would have liked. The captain took a deep breath and decided to do the talking. "Now, look, I want everyone to stand by quietly and let me explain something." The lieutenant frowned. "Aren't we being attacked?" "I wish we were," Pellaeon said. "But the fact is, the ship is running itself, and the only reason it's doing that is because there's a presence on board that we've never seen before." He raised his eyebrows. "I need volunteers to get on board." "But—that's suicide," the lieutenant said. "The enemy—" "What do you mean, suicide?" the captain snapped. "Is there something about a ship that I should know?" "There is," said another officer. "The first time it was discovered, we were only able to save a handful of people from the wreckage. I heard that Commander Thrawn died in the attack." Pellaeon felt his belly twist again. "No," he said. "He survived." "Are you sure?" "Yes, I'm sure." "The _Star's Delight_ was abandoned soon after that." "Yes." "So..." "So..." Pellaeon nodded, and saw understanding flash in their eyes. "It's his ship," he said. "It's his command. Thrawn is here." ## THE _STARKILLER_ Pellaeon felt his hands shaking as he keyed the command override code. They were far enough from the _Starkiller_ not to give away the location, but close enough to pick up what was happening on board. The blinking lights from the tactical station told him that his officers were monitoring as well, as closely as they could without actually being in the same room with him. He just prayed that he wasn't being overheard. "All right, here goes," he said. "I'm going to bring the _Starkiller_ out of hyperspace and I want everybody to brace for it. This isn't going to be pleasant." "Captain, don't do it!" Thrawn's voice came over the comm. system. "I'm on my way." The captain ignored him. "Get away from the ship!" he ordered his people. "Get away from it now!" He grabbed the lieutenant's arm and propelled him toward the lift door. "Get down the shaft, I'll call you an evac shuttle when I can." He turned to the XO. "Get that last-stand gear on. We're going to need it." * * * "This is the captain," Pellaeon said. "I want you to leave. Get out of your command and get out of your ship. Just get away from here." "I'd rather not, Captain. However, I will leave when I am ready. For now, I would like to know what is going on here." Pellaeon glanced over at the officer at the tactical station. He was a young lieutenant who hadn't been with him very long. Good enough for this job, but not good enough to be trusted with the information Thrawn had given him. "We're being attacked by a mysterious enemy, Lieutenant. It seems they've penetrated deep into the Empire and are now destroying our bases one by one. We had no idea they were this