"She hates us." The sound of metal skidding across the floor echoed in the mostly empty chamber as Eli kicked at the scattered remnants of broken machinery around them. "She really hates us."

"That is the third time you have made that observation since we have entered this structure," Thrawn calmly pointed out, his glowing red eyes standing out even more in the gloomy atmosphere.

Eli shuddered and glanced away. "Yeah, well, it's just as true now as it was those other times." The beam of his flashlight swept the area around them as they proceeded cautiously. It wasn't that they risked setting off any alarms or alerting anyone to their presence. The place was abandoned and had been for ages, by the look of it. Whatever had been left behind had either been raided for parts or had just been broken down by time. "There's absolutely no reason for us to be here. This is just another one of her—" He caught himself, biting his tongue and taking a breath before rewording his thought. "This is just another activity to keep us busy and out of her hair."

"Perhaps," Thrawn said quietly, pausing and staring at something.

Eli stopped beside him and looked as well, but nothing out of the ordinary caught his eye. He sighed. "How much longer do you want to give this?"

Thrawn glanced sideways at him with that disconcerting glow. "Our task is to thoroughly investigate this compound for any sign that one of the local smuggler groups is using it for their purposes. A quick walk-through may not be enough to determine one way or the other."

"Yeah, but...it's creepy." Eli ran his hands up and down his arms as if he was cold. And it was that which made Thrawn's eyes so disturbing right now. Eli had grown used to the Chiss' glowing crimson gaze, so it normally didn't bother him; but being in this setting with that beside him really set off some of those stories he had heard when he was growing up.

"All the more reason to use it as a hideout," Thrawn countered, clearly done with whatever he had been inspecting as he turned away and moved forward again. "If local stories keep people away, then what's to stop the unsavory from taking advantage of it? Unless..." He looked over his shoulder, and Eli could tell by the way his eyes squinted that he was raising an eyebrow, "...do you believe in ghosts, Ensign Vanto?"

"Wh-what? No!" Eli said hastily, shaking his head for emphasis. "I mean...well...I don't know." He bit his lip, focusing his gaze on the floor as if merely watching his footing, although he was really avoiding the condescending look he knew was being directed his way. "There's a lot in the galaxy that I don't know about."

Thrawn made a sound in his throat, and Eli wasn't entirely sure what it meant. "That is a wise answer," Thrawn then said, surprising Eli. "All the same, I am certain you can proceed with the assurance that there are no ghosts here."

"Yeah, I know." Up ahead, Eli could see that Thrawn's flashlight had landed on what appeared to be a turbolift door, and they were now moving toward it. "It's still not fair that she sent us here alone. It's not really safe, either, especially if we do find something here."

"We are not to engage if we discover that this place is not as abandoned as it appears," Thrawn reminded him. "And the Blood Crow is still in the system. We have the means to contact them if the need arises." He patted his side where a long-range comlink was hidden.

"That makes me feel a lot better," Eli muttered. They stopped by the door. "You don't actually expect that to be functional, do you?" he asked dubiously when he realized that Thrawn was contemplating their options. "I don't think anything in this place has power. None of the remaining terminals did, and none of the lights seem to work, either. Besides, who knows where it goes?"

Thrawn's flashlight slid from the door to the wall beside it, illuminating a deteriorated but still readable map of the complex, including the lower floors. Eli felt his ears burning with embarrassment at missing such an obvious detail.

"Your assessment is likely true," Thrawn said, stepping up to the map and leaning close to examine it. "If this place is truly abandoned and is not merely allowed to appear so."

The uneasiness that had been with him since they were first given the mission churned Eli's stomach at Thrawn's words. Turning to look back the way they had come, he could just see the fiery remains of the sunset as it filtered through the filthy windows lining the upper portion of the warehouse.

"It's getting dark," he commented, trying and failing at keeping the nervousness out of his voice.

Thrawn stared at him for a long, anxious moment. "Would you like to abandon the mission?"

Honestly? Eli thought. Of course. But then Captain Rossi would win. And the ramifications of that could be so much worse than simply carrying through with this despite his misgivings. Or fears.

He sighed. "No, go ahead," he said in a resigned voice, waving his flashlight weakly at the door. "Let's see what happens."

At first, there seemed to be no response to the call button, and Eli felt relief flood through him. But that quickly changed. Within moments of Thrawn pressing the button, Eli became acutely aware that something had happened. What exactly it was, he couldn't tell. It was almost imperceptible, so low-level that it could have easily been missed had Eli's senses not already been hyper-aware. He knew that Thrawn had felt it as well.

Something far below them had powered up.

They waited for a few minutes, but nothing else seemed to happen. Thrawn tried the button again, but this time there truly was nothing. Glancing around the room then, he moved away with purpose as Eli followed behind him in confusion. When Thrawn picked up a piece of metal that was long and flat on one end, Eli realized with a start what he was planning on doing. Eli's objection died on his lips as Thrawn strode resolutely back to the turbolift door and worked on wedging the metal into the space where the two sides of the door met. It was only a minute later when he managed to pry the doors apart enough that the mechanism to open them kicked in, sliding them back the rest of the way.

And on the other side of the door was the turbolift car itself, fully lit and ready to go.

They glanced at each other, Thrawn with a small look of triumph in his eyes and Eli with a look of trepidation. The lift may actually be functional, but it looked as decrepit as the rest of the place.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Eli asked as Thrawn moved into the car. He followed hesitantly, pausing at the threshold as if afraid the car would drop from under him the moment he stepped inside.

"It appears to be used on a regular basis, despite its cosmetic deficiencies," Thrawn said, running his fingers along the control panel. "Fascinating," he murmured, bending forward. "A second panel has been added after the fact."

Eli frowned, noting that Thrawn had not actually answered his question. "So what does that mean?" he asked, knowing better than to expect anything more.

"It means, Ensign Vanto," Thrawn replied, looking back at him with a glint in his eye, "that there is more here than meets the eye." The corner of his mouth turned downward briefly. "That is the correct phrase, is it not?"

Eli nodded. "Yeah. So does that mean we can call the captain then and get out of here? Or at least get a bigger crew together to explore—" Eli jumped as the door slid shut behind him then turned to glare at Thrawn.

"I did not touch anything," Thrawn said, holding his hands up innocently.

The lift began to move downward.

"Well, then, where is it taking us?" Eli demanded, hearing his voice waver and feeling angrier because of it.

"I do not know," Thrawn said, and Eli could see that he was now tense as well. No, he wasn't responsible for this. "Perhaps whoever is using this facility was not pleased with someone breaking through their front door."

Eli crossed his arms over his chest, narrowing his eyes at Thrawn. "Imagine that."

The lift shuddered and screeched to a halt. Eli fell back, gripping the rail that ran around the wall of the lift. His knuckles were white, and his eyes were wide. Thrawn appeared equally concerned.

"It would seem—" Thrawn was cut off as the lift suddenly lurched again, but this time Eli's stomach was in his throat as he felt the terrifying sensation of freefall.

"Sir—!"

"Brace for impact."

Eli's gaze darted back and forth across the tiny lift. Brace for impact? In a falling lift? How?! Was there any way to survive such a thing? He was pretty sure he had only ever heard of fatalities in such incidents, and now here they were on some forsaken planet, plunging to their deaths, and he was pretty sure Captain Rossi wouldn't shed a tear. Would his parents ever find out? Or would they just be told that he was killed in the line of duty? The line of duty. If he could, he would snort with disgust right now, but the immanency of death filled his mind until there was nothing else.

Then, with a bone-shattering crunch, everything went dark.

He wasn't dead.

That was the first thought that went through his mind.

There was something soft beneath him.

That was the second.

With a start, he realized that the "soft" thing was actually a body—Thrawn's body. Gasping, he scrambled backward. His head pounded. Only one dim bulb remained flickering above him, threatening to go out any moment and send him back into the darkness.

Thrawn was not moving.

"Sir?" Eli asked hesitantly. When Thrawn didn't respond, he tapped his face lightly. Still nothing. Holding his breath and hearing his heart pounding in his ears, he placed his fingers at Thrawn's neck, hoping that a Chiss pulse could be as easily determined as a human one. He waited for several agonizing seconds and then nearly collapsed with relief. Thrawn was still alive, just unconscious. Unconscious was not good, but it was far better than death. He could not bear the thought of being alone here.

"Sir, please wake up," he begged quietly, wincing at the sound of his voice as it echoed slightly in the lift car.

How far had they fallen? Had they actually reached the bottom, or were they caught up again as they had been before the freefall? He had a feeling it was more likely the latter, given that they were both still alive. But how tenuous was their current situation? They should probably get out of the lift right away before it fell again. But how to get out? What if opening the door was enough to shift them loose and drop them again?

And what would he do if Thrawn didn't wake up?

Eli felt his breaths coming quicker as he began to panic. He could not panic. That would not help them right now. Help. Yes, they needed help. He slipped his hand into the pocket of Thrawn's tunic, his fingers finding the comlink and pulling it out. They were still in the system, Thrawn said. This should be able to reach them. He switched it on—

—and nearly threw it across the car as the static of jamming filled the air. He immediately switched it back off, glancing automatically at Thrawn as he did so. Still no response, however. His anxiety level increased just a bit more. So, no communication. He remembered his conversation with Thrawn about military comlinks lacking any sort of distress call and swore quietly under his breath. That could have been really useful right now. Sliding the comlink back into Thrawn's pocket, he sat back on his heels, surveying the car and working hard to keep from panicking.

Then, from somewhere outside the lift, he heard a scraping sound.

Not like someone was trying to break in, but rather like something was dragging along the ground. It was very faint, as if from a distance. Eli pressed his ear to the door. Yes, there was definitely something on the other side. He fell back, huddling against the wall near Thrawn, opposite the door. That meant there was a hallway or a room there, if he could get the door open. But it also meant there was something there. And if his ears were working correctly, it was coming closer.

And it would probably know how to open the door.

With that final thought, the lightbulb went out.