"They will," Mitth'raw'nuruodo assured him. "The droid starfighters are ready?"

"Very much so," Kav assured him in turn, and Doriana could hear the vindictive anticipation in his tone. The starfighters were ready, all right, complete with the second command layer the vicelord's chief programmer had built in on top of Mitth'raw'nuruodo's close-approach pattern.

The commander inclined his head to the Neimoidian. "Then we have only to wait." He turned back to the canopy

And suddenly, with a flicker of pseudomotion, there it was, floating in space not five kilometers ahead.

Outbound Flight had arrived.

"The device is called a gravity projector," Mitth'raw'nuruodo said. "It simulates a planetary mass, thus forcing out any ship whose hyperspace vector crosses its shadow."

"Really," Doriana said, trying to sound calm. To the best of his knowledge, no one in the Republic had ever figured out how to turn that particular bit of hyperspace theory into an actual working device. The fact that the Chiss had solved the problem sent discomfiting ramifications ricocheting across his mind.

Kav, predictably, wasn't nearly as interested in such longterm thought. "Then they are in our hands," he all but crowed. "All forces: attack."

"Hold," Mitth'raw'nuruodo said. His voice was still calm, but there was a sudden new edge to it. "Igive the orders aboard this ship, Vicelord Kav."

"It isour mission, Commander Mitthrawdo," Kav countered. "And as we debate, we lose the precious element of surprise." Fishing into his robes, he pulled out a comm activator. "You and your ships may do as you wish. But my starfighters will attack."

"No!" Doriana snapped, making a grab for the activator. If Kav fouled up Mitth'raw'nuruodo's plan, whatever that plan was, Outbound Flight might yet slip through their fingers.

But his reach was too short, his grab too late. Twisting his long arms out of range, Kav triumphantly keyed the activator. Swearing viciously, Doriana looked over at the asteroid where the lines of droid starfighters waited.

Nothing happened.

Again, Kav keyed the switch. Again, nothing. "I'm afraid that won't work, Vicelord," Mitth'raw'nuruodo said calmly. "I took the liberty of removing the alternate command layer your programmers had created in the starfighters' systems."

Slowly, Kav lowered the activator. "You are very clever, Commander," he said softly. "Someday that cleverness will turn against you."

"Perhaps," Mitth'raw'nuruodo said. "Until then, allow me to thank you for showing me how such secondary programming is done. That will prove useful today."

"So what now?" Doriana asked cautiously.

"We talk to them," Mitth'raw'nuruodo said, keying his board. "Communications: create a channel."

By the time Lorana arrived, D-1's bridge had become a hive of quiet pandemonium. C'baoth was standing beside Captain Pakmillu's command chair, his back stiff as he gazed out the canopy. Pakmillu himself was over at one of the engineering stations, his flippered hands opening and closing restlessly as he studied the displays.

Outside the canopy, arrayed in the distance in front of them like a pack of hunting howlrunners, were a dozen small ships of a configuration Lorana had never seen before.

"The readback seems to indicate we're in the middle of a planetary mass shadow," the engineering officer was saying tautly as she reached Pakmillu's side. "But you can see yourself that can't possibly be right."

"This is Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo of the Chiss Expansionary Defense Fleet," a cultured voice boomed over the bridge speakers. "Please respond."

"Who's that?" Lorana asked.

"The commander of that force over there," Pakmillu rumbled, still studying the readouts. "He's been calling every five minutes for the past half hour."

"You haven't answered him?"

Pakmillu's mouth tendrils stiffened. "Master C'baoth has forbidden it," he growled. "He insists we know what happened to our hyperdrive before we reply."

"Maybe the commander couldtell us what happened," Lorana suggested.

"Of course he could," Pakmillu said sourly. "But I cannot persuade Master C'baoth to that point of view."

Lorana grimaced. "Let me talk to him."

C'baoth was still gazing at the alien ships as Lorana joined him. "So, Jedi Jinzler," he greeted her. "We meet our first challenge."

"Why does it have to be a challenge?" Lorana asked. "Maybe all he wants to do is talk."

"No," C'baoth said, his voice dark. "I can sense a deep malice out there, malice directed at my ships and my people."

"They're alien minds," Lorana reminded him, feeling her pulse starting to pick up its pace. She'd seen C'baoth in this stiff-necked mood before. "Perhaps you're simply misreading them."

"No," he said. "They intend trouble, andI intend to be fully prepared to deal with it before I talk to them."

"Command, this is Ma'Ning," a voice came from the command chair speaker. "We're standing ready at D-Four's weapons systems."

"Acknowledged," C'baoth said, giving Lorana a tight smile. "Dreadnaught-Four was the last. Now we're ready to talk."

Deliberately, he lowered himself into Pakmillu's command chair and touched the comm switch. "Alien force, this is Jedi Master Jorus C'baoth, commanding the Outbound Flight Project of the Galactic Republic," he announced.

Lorana looked back at Pakmillu, wincing to herself at C'baoth's casual preemption of his command authority. But there was no resentment in the Mon Cal's expression or stance, only a quiet sense of resignation. Apparently, he'd bowed to the inevitable.

"Master C'baoth, this is Commander Mitth'raw'nuruodo," the cultured voice replied promptly.

"Let me see your face," C'baoth ordered.

There was a brief pause; then the comm display came to life, showing a near human with blue skin and blue-black hair and glowing red eyes. He was dressed in a black tunic with silver bars on the collar. "There are matters of great importance we need to discuss at once," Mitth'raw'nuruodo said. "Would you care to join me in my flagship, or shall I come to you?"

C'baoth snorted gently. "I will discuss nothing until you stand away from my path."

"And I will continue to hold here until we have spoken," Mitth'raw'nuruodo replied, his voice as firm as C'baoth's. "Are the Jedi afraid of talk?"

C'baoth smiled thinly. "The Jedi fear nothing, Commander. Come aboard, then, if you insist. A hatchway will be illuminated for your shuttle."