Vision of the future

didn't even believe it. At least, I didn't want to.'

Han shook his head. 'We're in trouble, Lando,' he said. 'From now on, we can't trust anything we see. Anything we see, anything we hear, anything we think we ought to do. Not with Thrawn back on the scene.'

'I don't know,' Lando said doubtfully. 'Thrawn or no Thrawn, the Empire is still down to eight sectors. Maybe this is really all he's going for, hoping to confuse Coruscant so badly it just freezes up.'

'Who knows?' Han growled, some heat starting to seep into his voice. At least he didn't sound dazed and demoralized anymore. About time, Lando thought. 'That's what drives you so crazy about him. You try to do something, and odds are it's exactly what he wanted you to do. You stand still and don't do anything, and he runs a smartrope around you.'

'So what do you suppose he expects us to do with this?' Lando asked, holding up the datacard.

'I don't know what he expects,' Han said, reaching over and taking it. 'But I'll tell you what we're going to do. First, we're going to read it and see if it gives those names everyone's so hot to get hold of. Second, we're going to call Leia as soon as we're in range of the HoloNet and let her know we've got it. And third—'

He jerked a thumb over his shoulder. 'We're going to turn Moegid loose on the thing and have him check it sixteen ways from center. See if he can find whatever surprises Thrawn has tucked away.'

Lando eyed the datacard warily. 'You think there are surprises?'

'It's Thrawn,' Han said simply.

Lando nodded. 'Right.'

Getting out of his seat, Han gave the instruments one final check. 'Come on—I don't trust this thing anywhere near the ship's computer,' he said, heading for the cockpit door. 'Let's get a datapad and find out what it says.'

CHAPTER

24

The first navigational stop the Wild Karrde had made after leaving Dayark had showed nothing ahead. Nothing but the twisting glow of the Kathol Rift and the fiery frozen wisps of ionized gas streamers and miniature nebulae that looked as if they'd been torn from it by violence. So had the second stop, and the third, until Shada had begun to wonder if the legendary lost world of Exocron was truly nothing but a myth.

On the fifth stop, they found it.

'It looks quite pleasant,' Threepio commented somewhat doubtfully from Shada's side as they gazed out the Wild Karrde's bridge viewport at the small planet rapidly approaching. 'I do hope they will be friendly.'

'I wouldn't count on it,' Shada warned him, feeling an unfamiliar and unpleasant dryness in her mouth. Down there somewhere, if Jade and Calrissian were right, Jorj Car'das would be waiting for them.

At the helm, Odonnl half turned in his seat. 'Shouldn't we have the turbolasers ready?' he asked Karrde. 'Just in case they're not happy at having their privacy infringed on?' Shada looked at Karrde. He was hiding his nervousness well, but she herself had no trouble seeing it. 'We're here to talk, not fight,' he reminded Odonnl, his voice steady. 'I don't want anyone down there getting the wrong impression.'

'Yes, but after Dayark—'

'We're here to talk,' Karrde repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument. 'H'sishi, are we picking up any sensor probes? Or transmissions, Chin?'

[No probes yet, Chieftain,] the Togorian said. Her fur, Shada noted, had fluffed out just noticeably. Apparently, she'd picked up on Karrde's mood, too.

'Nothing of transmissions either, Cap't,' Chin added. 'Perhaps they not see us come in.'

'Oh, they see us, all right,' Karrde said, a hint of grimness creeping into his tone. 'The only question—'

He broke off at a beep from the comm. 'Incoming starship, this is Admiral Trey David, second-in-command to Supreme Admiral Horzao Darr of the Exocron Combined Air-Space Fleet,' a courteous but firm voice said. 'Please identify yourselves.' Chin reached for his board— 'No, I'll do it,' Karrde told him, visibly bracing himself as he touched his comm switch. 'This is Talon Karrde aboard the freighter Wild Karrde, Admiral David. Our intentions are totally peaceful. We'd like permission to land.' There was a long pause. A very long pause, in fact. Shada rubbed her knuckles gently, visualizing a heated argument going on in the Exocron Combined Fleet office...

'Wild Karrde, this is Admiral David,' the voice came back. 'I'm told you're here to see