Car'das waited until the guards had positioned him three meters back from the throne, then bowed low. "I greet the great and mighty Vagaari-" he began in Minnisiat.

And was slammed to his hands and knees by a sharp blow across his shoulders. "You do not speak in the presence of the Miskara until spoken to," one of the guards reproved him.

Car'das opened his mouth to apologize, caught his near error just in time, and remained silent instead.

For a long minute the rest of the room was quiet, too. Car'das wondered if they were waiting for him to get up, but with his shoulder blades throbbing from that blow it seemed a better idea to stay where he was until otherwise instructed.

Apparently, it was the right decision. "Very good," a deep voice came from the dais at last. "You may rise."

Carefully, tensing for another blow, Car'das stood up. To his relief, the blow didn't come. "I am the Miskara of the Vagaari people," the Vagaari seated on the throne announced. "You will address me asYour Eminence. I'm told you have the insolence to demand that I bargain with you."

"I make no demands of any sort, Your Eminence," Car'das hastened to assure him. "Rather, I'm in terrible difficulty and came here hoping the great and mighty Vagaari people might be willing to come to my assistance. In return for your aid, I hope to offer something you might find of equal value."

The Miskara regarded him coolly. "Tell me of this difficulty."

"My companions and I are merchants from a distant realm," Car'das told him. "Nearly three months ago we lost our way and were taken captive by a race of beings known as the Chiss. We've been their prisoners ever since."

A twitter of muted conversation ran around the room. "Prisoners, you say," the Miskara repeated. The visible part of his face had seemed to harden at the mention of the Chiss, but his voice wasn't giving anything away. "I see no chains of captivity about your neck."

"My apparent freedom is an illusion, Your Eminence," Car'das said. "My companions are still in Chiss hands, as is our ship. Of equal importance, the Chiss now refuse to release to us some of the spoils of one of their raids, spoils that we were promised and that we need to pay off the late fees our customers will demand. Without that treasure, we will face certain death when we reach home."

"Where are your companions being held?"

"At a small base built deep inside an asteroid, Your Eminence," Car'das said. "The navigational data necessary to locate it is contained in the computer of the vessel in which I arrived."

"And how did you know how and where to find us?"

Car'das braced himself. I will do whatever necessary, Thrawn had once told him, to protect those who depend on me. "Because, Your Eminence," he said, "I was present aboard the Chiss attack cruiser that raided your forces here during your battle of conquest five weeks ago."

A deadly silence settled over the room. Car'das waited, painfully aware of the armed soldiers standing all around him. "You stole one of our ship nets," the Miskara said at last.

"The commander of the Chiss force did that, yes," Car'das said. "As I say, I was his prisoner, and took no part in the attack."

"Where is this commander now?"

"I don't know exactly," Car'das said. "But the base where my ship and companions are being held is under his command. Wherever he might travel, he will always return there."

The Miskara smiled thinly. "So you offer to trade your companions and some of our own treasure for nothing more than a chance at revenge?"

That was not, Car'das thought uneasily, a very auspicious way of phrasing it. "You'd get your ship net back, too," he offered.

"No," the Miskara said firmly. "The offering is insufficient." Car'das felt his throat tighten. "Your Eminence, I beg you-"

"Do not beg!" the Miskara snapped. "Grubs beg. Inferiors beg. Not beings who would speak and bargain with the Vagaari. If you wish us to help you and your companions, you must find more to offer me."

"But I have nothing more, Your Eminence," Car'das protested, his voice starting to tremble. No-this couldn't happen. The Vagaarihad to agree to the deal. "I swear to you."

"Not even those?" the Miskara demanded, pointing over Car'das's shoulder.

Car'das turned. Sometime during the conversation someone had brought in four large crates, two of them a head taller than him, the others coming only up to his waist. "I don't understand," he said, frowning. "What are those?"

"They were aboard your transport," the Miskara said suspiciously. "Do you claim ignorance of them?"

"I do, Your Eminence," Car'das insisted, completely lost now. What in the worlds could Thrawn have had stashed aboard the shuttle? "I stole the vessel solely to come ask for your help. I never looked to see if there was anything aboard."

"Then look now," the Miskara ordered. "Open the crates and tell me what you see."

Carefully, half expecting to be shot in the back, Car'das made his way back to the crates. The Vagaari had already opened all of them, of course, merely setting the front panels loosely back into place. Stepping to one of the smaller boxes, he got a grip on the panel and pulled it off.

And caught his breath. Inside, folded up neatly with their arms wrapped around their knees, were a pair of Trade Federation battle droids.

"Do you recognize them?" the Miskara asked.

"Yes, Your Eminence," Car'das confirmed. Suddenly it all made sense. "They're battle droids of a sort used by one of the species in our region of space. The commander also raided a force of those people; this must be part of the spoil of that raid."

"What are droids?"

"Mechanical servants," Car'das said. So Thrawn had been right: apparently no one out here knew anything about droids. At least, no one the Vagaari had run into. "Some are self-motivated, while others require a centralized computer to give them their instructions."

"Show me how it 'works."

Car'das turned back to the crate, peering inside. There was no sign of a controller or programming console. "I don't see the equipment I need to start it up," he said, stepping to the other small box and pulling off the front. There were two more folded battle droids inside, and again no sign of a controller. Each of the two larger boxes turned out to contain one of the even deadlier droideka destroyer droids. Still no controller. "I'm sorry, Your Eminence, but without the right equipment I can't start them up."

"Perhaps this would be of use," the Miskara suggested. He gestured, and one of the non-armored Vagaari watching the proceedings pulled a datapad from beneath his robe. Stepping up to Car'das, he offered it to him.