Thrawn glanced around the conference table at the assemble Coruscant Security officers. If any of them resented his presence among them, they hid it well. From his discussion with the head of the task force, though, they were pretty frustrated at the complete lack of success they'd had in the six months since the task force had been assembled. By now they were no doubt ready to set aside their pride and accept whatever help they could get.

"Thank you all for bringing me up to speed. I've read through the data you've collected on Kali and applied my particular brand of analysis to it. I believe I have discovered a pattern linking her targets."

"Her?" The previous head, Captain Narov, furrowed his brow.

Thrawn gave him a cool smile. "Yes, Kali is a woman. Not that it changes how dangerous she is, of course. I intend to contract a hit, tailored to match her preferred targets, in order to draw her out."

Narov frowned. "We have considered doing that in the past, but there are a few issues with actually doing so, not the least of which was finding someone to be the bait."

"Indeed," Thrawn said. "It has to be someone that others with the means to hire an assassin would want dead. What's more, it needs be someone well-protected enough to be worth seeking out an assassin of Kali's caliber—and price tag. If it looks suspiciously easy she won't come within a kilometer of the job.

"Not only that, but if we request Kali specifically it could make her suspicious. It's much more likely to succeed if we don't request her by name, and instead tailor our target to match her skill level and criteria." Thrawn began pacing as he mentally reviewed his conclusions. "While studying her known and suspected targets, it occurred to me that none of those she killed—and very few of those we suspect—were what one might consider good people. I believe our assassin has delusions of being a hero."

"If I may, Admiral?" one of the men interjected. Thrawn gestured for him to go ahead. "I'm not sure the assassination of Jerome Rabban fits your pattern."

"I was personally acquainted with Rabban before his death. He gave generously to charity, as you no doubt know, but it was because he was greatly concerned with his public image. He was an angry, violent person in private; I personally witnessed him beat his wife for standing too close to another man in public. I would not consider him a good person.

"But this brings up another important point. Kali, it would seem, has access to information that is not common knowledge. Either she maintains a network of intelligence agents, or she has ties to someone who does. Either way, we'll have to move carefully to avoid tipping her off."

"This is all good to know, but it doesn't solve our core problem of who might serve as our target. I mean, I can think of any number of people who would fit the bill, but I rather doubt any of them would agree to be bait. And we can't risk setting someone up without at least warning them, since we'd have to take precautions to protect them—plus we can't guarantee that Kali won't succeed in taking out our bait."

Thrawn gave Narov an appraising look. "I believe I have a solution for that as well. As it happens, I'm nearly an ideal match for the position already. I have someone making some additions to my biography and personnel files to make me look like an attractive target."

His words were met by surprise. After a moment Narov spoke again.

"Are you sure that's wise, Admiral?"

"There are certainly risks, but I think they can be mitigated. After all, Kali will be expecting an unsuspecting target. I'll be prepared; I can wear armor and take some other precautions as well. Plus, I think we can create an opportunity that will draw her out when we're ready and waiting. She seems to prefer making her hits while her targets are away from home in a fairly private setting, where there will be enough people coming and going that she won't stand out but security is generally not as good as a home setup."

He gave them a hard smile. "As it's common enough knowledge in some circles that I'm an art connoisseur, I can set up some kind of private or semi-private showing to lure her out. I'll increase security at my apartment in the meantime to make it a less desirable choice.

"Now, I know you've all been working on this far longer than I have, so I'd welcome any additions or suggestions you might have to my plan…"

ψ

Thrawn cast a casual glance around the art gallery. His view was partially obstructed by the shaliz'na mobiles on display, but from what he could see, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Of course, any of the patrons he didn't recognize, any of the staff, could be Kali in disguise. Or perhaps she had chosen not to make her attempt here…or maybe she hadn't taken the job.

Thrawn turned his gaze to another mobile, setting his worries aside. The sculpture was composed of small pieces of metal, worked into stylized representations of animals and suspended from nearly invisible wires. Different kinds of animals hung from higher or lower bars, allowing them to turn independently and giving the impression that the predatory animals chased the prey as the gentle breeze from the display's fan made the mobile spin lazily.

Of course, the sculptures served another purpose for Thrawn aside from their beauty. Hanging as they did at head height for easy viewing, he hoped they would make it impossible for Kali to attempt a headshot. She would aim for the heart instead, and his body armor should protect him.

But they were two hours into the show, and as far as the security officers could tell, there'd been no sign of her. There probably wouldn't be, of course, not until she made her move. But it was possible it wouldn't come during this viewing like he'd predicted it would. Hopefully she was just waiting for the patrons to thin out a bit.

Of course, she could be waiting for something else, particularly if she hadn't gained access to his profile in the military databases and read up on the atrocities he'd planted in his past. He raised a hand imperiously, and a moment later a serving girl approached.

"Your pleasure, sir?"

He looked her up and down, pleased to see that she was the woman he'd paid ahead of time to put on a little scene with him. "Whiskey. Arnor's Reserve, the '57."

She bowed and disappeared, returning a few minutes carrying a tall glass with a few fingers of a deep amber liquid. He took it, swirling the liquid and taking a drink. He turned to face the woman, who was waiting to be dismissed.

"This is not '57." He made his voice ice-cold.

She glanced upward for a second before returning her gaze to the floor. "My apologies, sir. Let me—"

"If I'm not mistaken," he went on as though she hadn't spoken, "this is a late '80s vintage." He gave the woman a cruel smile. "'87, perhaps?" He let the glass slip from his fingers to shatter on the floor, sending shards of crystal and liquid scattering across the floor, and backhanded the woman. "Next time, bring someone who can read with you." He turned away and continued studying the mobiles on display, ignoring the staff who scurried over to clean up the mess.

A few minutes later another waitress approached with his replacement drink. He took it and waved her away after sampling it. A nice touch on his actress's part, he mused; sending someone else with the "corrected" order helped to play up how traumatized she was by his treatment of her. If Kali was here but hadn't decided whether or not to pull the trigger, that ought to make up her mind for her.

A half hour later, Thrawn was beginning to think it had all been a waste. The show was winding down; if Thrawn didn't stay late at these types of events as a matter of course he would have left already so as not to provoke suspicion in case she was just observing him. Of course, if her intel was as good as he suspected, she might be counting on—

An impact rocked him back, then another hit, making him stagger into a mobile. He reflexively clutched his chest, where he'd been struck, and the smell of charred cloth rose to his nostrils. That, plus the fact that his armor was growing uncomfortably warm just over his heart, brought the realization that the blows he'd felt had been blaster bolts.

Finally! Excitement and adrenalin coursed through him. Others began to realize what had happened, and once they started panicking and making for the doors Thrawn let himself slump to his knees. By now Kali had to have moved, though if she hadn't the fleeing patrons would give him some cover. The security forces hidden in one of the storerooms would fan out to block the exits and cut off her escape. It was out of his hands; all he had to do was act like he was dying so she wouldn't realize it was a trap until too late.

After a minute, Thrawn stood and dusted himself off. By now, it would be over. He pulled his comlink out. "Report."

"We got a glimpse of her, but she escaped somehow. Still trying to determine how."

Thrawn frowned and headed toward the employee area. He quickly located the head of the security team, busy speaking to a few other officers.

"What do we have so far?" Thrawn asked.

The human gestured back the way Thrawn had come. "Seems she took her shots from the doorway there. We got eyes on her," he indicated one of the men standing with him, "and he swears she disappeared into one of the storerooms. It was locked behind her, and when he got back with our slicer it was unlocked again and there was no one inside. I've got men searching it top to bottom right now. If she's hiding we'll find her, and if not we'll at least figure out how she got out."

Thrawn turned to the officer who had seen her. "How well did you see Kali?"

"Not all that well, I'm afraid. That is, I had a clear line of sight, but she was wearing a dark jumpsuit with a hood. Definitely female, though," he held his hand up around Thrawn's shoulder level, "about so tall, willowy build. Couldn't see any skin, but human-shaped at least."

"That rules out some species, at least. Nothing unusual about the shape of her head?"

The officer shook his head. "No horns or lekku or anything."

"Get with a modeler and work up a model of what you did see before the memory fades or gets distorted." The man acknowledged and took off, and Thrawn turned back to the security head. "I'd like to see this storeroom."

"This way."

Thrawn followed him to a door near the back of the building. Before they reached the door, it slid open to show a young human in a security officer's uniform. He stopped short on seeing them.

"Think we've got something, sir." They followed him through the doorway, and he pointed to the ceiling. There was a faint square visible where he was pointing; in the dim lighting and from this distance, he couldn't tell if it was part of the building's design or if it had been cut and replaced.

Two men had ducked out after they entered the storeroom; they returned carrying a ladder and set it up under the hole. Time to find out how she had slipped their cordon.

ψ

Thrawn snapped awake, wondering blearily what had awoken him. He sat up, rubbing his face, and said, "Lights, ten percent."

A mechanical voice jolted him to full wakefulness. "No sudden movements, now."

He froze in the middle of reaching toward his nightstand, where his sidearm was tucked away. There was a figure in a black bodysuit leaning against the wall of his bedroom, leveling a blaster at him. It could only be Kali. He slowly lowered his arm, knowing he'd never get to his pistol in time, and began analyzing his options.

To be honest, he didn't have many. If Kali was here to kill him, he was dead. She'd gotten the drop on him. Unless he could get her talking, get her to relax a bit, lower her guard, then try for his blaster. That would be chancy, though. Probably better to try and figure out why she was here. If she just wanted to kill him, he'd already be dead. Probably.

He had made sure to cancel the hit after they'd failed to catch her at the art gallery. It had been four days, so she shouldn't be here to finish the job. More likely she'd figured out he was trying to catch her.

"What's wrong?" she asked. The voice scrambler was a good one; he could hear the amusement in her tone through it. "I thought you wanted to see me?"

"You could say that," Thrawn murmured. "You can lose the voice scrambler, by the way. I know you're female."

Her lips, the only part of her visible beneath her hood, curved in a smile. "No thanks. I know you're hunting me. I suggest you give it up. That sort of work can be bad for your health, you know."

Thrawn knew a threat when he heard one. He arched an eyebrow in return. "Are you suggesting I chance the emperor's wrath instead?"

Without seeing her face it was hard to be certain, but he thought she seemed surprised by that. "Bad luck for you, then. I have work to do." Her lips compressed to a line. "I don't care who you are. If you get in my way, I'll take you out."

"Perhaps there's another way," Thrawn said, his thoughts whirling. "You're obviously highly intelligent and skilled. The Empire could use you. I'm confident I can negotiate amnesty for your past crimes in return."

"No deal." Thrawn was taken aback by the vehemence in her mechanized tone. "I have no interest in being the government's attack dog."

Thrawn was silent for a moment, considering her words. "I'd noticed that you seem to target bad people, almost exclusively."

"There's no shortage of those," she replied. "If you dig deep enough almost everyone's got some nastiness hiding in their past. You can bury it, but sooner or later it comes to light."

"And you?" Thrawn asked. "Do you consider yourself a good person?"

She snorted. "I make a living killing people. What the frell do you think?" She shook her head.

"That seems a bit hypocritical," he said, keeping his tone mild. He wanted to convince her to spare him, not piss her off.

"At least I make the galaxy a little better by killing off some of the scum." Cool amusement colored her voice. "I like to think they'll be reincarnated somewhere they can do less harm." She cocked her head to the side. "Surely you aren't trying to pretend you're any better, now."

"The incident with the serving girl?" He smirked. "Scripted. I paid her well for her willingness to put on a show. I wasn't sure where you'd draw the line when it comes to your targets."

"And the massacre on Tonfar?"

So she did access the military database. Good to know. "Never happened. I fabricated that, as well as a few other damning incidents, and had them added to my personnel files in the hopes that you'd take the bait."

She seemed unimpressed. "Ah, so you're actually a good person, and anything that made you look bad was just planted to draw me in. Is that about right?"

Something told him that lying would be a bad idea. She didn't seem inclined to kill him now, but if she found out later he'd lied to her, she might change her mind about that.

"Not everything. I'm probably no better a person than yourself. My intent has always been to make the galaxy a safer place, but I've faced my share of hard decisions, and I haven't always been proud of the outcome."

She seemed to find that amusing. "An Imperial officer working for the greater good? That's rich." She grinned. "I don't think I've heard that one before."

Thrawn grit his teeth, refusing to rise to the bait.

She watched him for a long moment, then shrugged. "Back off. Stop trying to catch me. Or I'll visit you again, and it won't be to talk." She gave him a hard smile. "Sleep tight, now."

There was a flash of blue, and then nothing.