Elizabethlovestatu: Hopefully I didn't characterize you too badly! (:P)

Chapter 2

By the time the portal—or whatever it was—spat me out, I was thoroughly disoriented and dizzy to boot. Gravity seized me mercilessly, dumping me on the ground. For a second I just lay there, enjoying the sensations of mass and gravity that I'd always so foolishly taken for granted.

Finally I dragged in a deep breath and opened my eyes. Come on, Ellie, you've got a grand admiral to save. I levered myself to my feet, looking around as I did. I was in a small room furnished with a couch and a bookshelf. It was tastefully decorated in a subdued smile, with a strange landscape painting on the wall and an artsy lamp at one end of the couch.

Intrigued, I stepped closer to the painting, trying to figure out why it seemed off to me. Suddenly there was a sharp tug at my scalp and I found myself pinned against the wall.

"Hey," I yelped indignantly, then swallowed the rest of my tirade as I felt cool metal come to rest against my temple. Careful not to move my head, I rolled my eyes to the side, glimpsing a blaster out of the corner of my vision.

I'm not ashamed to admit that, for a few seconds at least, I was more excited about seeing a real, actual blaster than I was scared that it was pointed at my head.

"Who are you?" demanded a cold male voice from directly behind me.

"Um, I'm Elizabeth Ravelle." Stupid, I berated myself. No one here knows who you are. "Um, I'm looking—"

"You will not speak except to answer my questions," interrupted the man behind me, and I nearly swallowed my tongue in my haste to stop talking. The pull on my hair released, and I breathed a silent sigh of relief. I heard a click and a quiet, tinny voice, too low for me to understand what it was saying.

"I have an intruder in my home," said the man, as calmly as if he were ordering lunch. "I have her subdued. Send a retrieval team at once." The quiet voice spoke again, followed by another click and then silence.

I wondered suddenly if the man behind me could be Thrawn. Would the portal really dump me in his living room?

Whoever he was, he began issuing me instructions. "I am moving back, but my blaster is still trained on you. If you make any sudden moves, I will shoot you. If you turn around, I will shoot you. If you don't comply immediately with my orders, I will shoot you. Do you understand?"

I nodded vigorously, afraid to speak.

"Good. Remove the pack from your shoulders, slowly, and set it down to the side as far away as you can reach."

Which side? I wondered hysterically as I let the straps slide off my shoulder. Being right-handed, I decided to go with the right side. It seemed like the thing to do.

"Now take a step to your left." I did. "Get on your knees."

Really, is this necessary? I grumbled mentally as I complied. I crossed my ankles and laced my hands together on top of my head at his command, then he began questioning me.

"How did you get in here?"

"I don't know." I winced. That's not gonna cut it. I'd better come up with a convincing story post-haste. "I mean, I don't know how the, um, portal technology works."

"Portal," said the man, skepticism and humor warring in his voice. "Please, do go on. Dig your grave as deep as you like."

Oh, come on! The portal bit is actually true! I took a deep breath, organizing my ideas. "I work for a group of beings who, uh, police the timeline. I mean, they take people who are going to die and make sure they live. Or, you know, make sure certain people meet each other, or find important information at the right time." I was proud of myself for coming up with such a creative story on the fly; it actually sounded like a pretty awesome place to work.

"Right," he said, irony heavy in his voice. "So you work for this powerful group, but you don't know how the technology operates. Fascinating."

Whoever this was, he was starting to really annoy me. "Look, it's something of a family business," I growled, "and this is my first mission. How about you cut me some slack?"

He chuckled, but it wasn't the kind of laugh that made you feel relaxed. It was more like the way you laugh when someone is looking at their cell phone and walking straight toward a telephone pole or a fountain.

"So tell me then, what are you here to do?"

Finally. "My mission is to find Grand Admiral Thrawn and prevent his death."

There was a moment of thoughtful silence. "I can't say I know who that is."

Damn, so much for it being that easy, I thought darkly.

"Grand Admiral, you say? Is that above a regular Admiral, then?"

I started to panic quietly. What if I'm in the wrong place? Or the wrong time? It's not like I can just hop on over to the next universe!

"I'm not sure what to tell you," he continued. "You may find your mission rather difficult to complete, as I don't believe that rank exists, let alone this 'Thrown' you're searching for."

I felt my shoulders slump. He doesn't even know the name. What am I going to do?

I heard a beep from behind me and fought not to turn my head reflexively.

"Yes?" I was pretty sure this wasn't directed at me.

Sure enough, the same barely audible voice as before said something I couldn't hear.

"Hold your comlink to the speaker." A pause. "Voice override." Those words were followed by a long phrase in some lilting, musical language I'd never heard before.

In the distance I could hear footsteps, lots of them, coming closer.

"In here," came the calm voice of my captor. "Now, you—Elizabeth—slowly put your hands behind your back."

I did, and seconds later the tread of numerous feet and an odd clanking filled the room. I felt handcuffs snap onto my wrists, and I was hauled roughly to my feet and turned around.

I felt my eyes go wide as I saw the man who had pinned me to the wall—the only one not in stormtrooper armor. He was wearing charcoal slacks and a black turtleneck instead of a uniform, but with that pale blue skin, blue-black hair, and those unmistakable glowing red eyes, it could only be Thrawn.

"You—" I sputtered, so furious I could barely speak. "Thrawn, you, you—" He raised an eyebrow, expression faintly amused. "You lied to me!" I finally managed.

"Did I?" he said, and I ground my teeth together in frustration. "You seem so sure that I'm the one you seek."

"Duh!" I exclaimed, cocking a hip. I was so aggravated I halfway expected to see smoke pouring out of my ears. "It's not like I could get you confused with someone else. There's only one of you in the Imperial Navy!"

His eyes narrowed at me, and I swear the temperature in the room dropped a few degrees. "You are about to be taken in for interrogation. You may want to reconsider your attitude." I subsided, chilled to my core. He turned to the stormtroopers holding me. "Take her away."

"Yes, sir."

As we left the room, I heard him instructing another trooper to bring my bag along to be searched. I forced myself to breathe deeply and calm down. I'm here. That was the hardest part. Now all I have to do is convince him. It'll be fine.

*~.

I had no idea how long I'd been sitting in my cramped cell, but it must have been several hours at least. Everything had been taken away from me, even my clothes, and I was wearing a dull grey jumpsuit that was a couple sizes too large for me.

Finally, my door slid open. I was taken a short distance to a small room that looked a lot like a police interrogation room. It had a heavy metal table with a chair at each end, all bolted to the floor. There was no window with one-way glass, but I saw something that had to be some kind of camera in the corner as I sat down. Two of the guards stayed at the door, and after a few minutes a pair of men entered the room. One sat down across from me, and the other stood behind him.

"Here's the deal," said the seated man. "None of the details you gave us while checking in are matching up with our databases. Do you have an ID?"

"Yes," I said patiently, "but you're not gonna be able to read it any more than I can read your writing."

"See, now, there's another problem." He gave me a distinctly unpleasant smile. "If you'd come through customs, even if you were from outside the Empire, they would've given you a temporary ID along with your visa."

"I didn't come through customs," I said, my stomach clenching in worry. "I came through a portal. Pretty sure those aren't regulated. I don't even know what planet I'm on right now."

He looked a bit surprised at that. "You took some portal and you didn't even know where it would take you?"

"The technology is not that precise," I lied. "Just traveling to the correct galaxy is impressive enough, I should think."

He sat back, rubbing his chin. "Are you sure there isn't any part of your story you'd like to change? When we find out the truth, it will not be pleasant for you."

I sighed, squashing my anger with an effort. "I don't know what to tell you. I'm telling the truth."

He stared at me for several seconds, as though he could look through my eyes and into my brain if he stared hard enough. I held his gaze, refusing to back down.

Finally he stood and left the room without another word, his crony following him. I was escorted back to my cell.

*~.

The next time I was taken out, I got to see a refresher for the first time. Of course, since no author ever bothered to describe how it worked, I had to get help. And apparently there wasn't a single woman working for the people who were guarding me, so it was super awkward.

After that we went back to the interrogation room, or one just like it at any rate. This time there was just one man, already waiting for me with a tray of food.

"I managed to get them to feed you," he said, sliding the tray to me. I was starving, and, figuring I was entirely at the mercy of my captors, decided to go ahead and eat.

So this is the good cop, I thought wryly, studying him as I ate. He had a handsome, friendly face and a charismatic bearing. It was pretty obvious why he'd been chosen to play the part.

"I'm trying to do more for you," he said, giving me a sympathetic look, "but everyone else thinks you're lying. You have to admit," he said with a lopsided grin that reminded me powerfully of Han Solo, "it is a pretty incredible story."

I wonder if he's Corellian, I thought, eating as fast as I could. Something told me that I might not be getting anything else to eat for a while. I wasn't saying a damn thing until the food was gone. It wasn't a huge meal, and I'd been hungry, so it didn't take long for me to polish it off.

"I'm sorry," I said, pushing the tray toward him. "I'm telling the truth, believe it or not."

He shook his head. "Look, the others are on my back about this. I don't know when I'll be able to convince them to feed you again. Can't you give me just a little something I can use to bargain for better treatment?"

Damn, he's good, I thought, secretly admiring his talent. Even though I knew exactly what kind of game he was playing, I still wanted to cooperate with him. I genuinely felt bad that I didn't have anything to give him.

"I'm telling the truth. I've been telling the truth all along. Surely you don't want me making up a lie for you to report?"

He looked upset at that, wringing his hands. His concern for me was palpable. "Elizabeth, I can't help you unless you help me."

I shrugged. Even while pinned against the wall with a blaster to my head, I hadn't felt this helpless. He left, shaking his head, and I went back to my cell.