AN: Everyone has been quiet for the last few chapters. Does this mean good things, or bad things?

Chapter 10

They stayed on the planet for about a week before Thrawn had the Springhawk launched to perform some reconnaissance of the system. He still wasn't satisfied with any of the options for the base on the planet and seemed to be hoping they could find somewhere else. On their second day in space, Chiara and Thrawn sat looking over charts in Forward Visual One as the Springhawk cruised silently through space, sublight engines throbbing quietly in the background.

"So why didn't you like the cave, again?" she asked Thrawn, pointing to the sizable cave she had climbed up to during their stay. "It was pretty large and would be easily defensible. No one could get to you up there."

"Yes, and there would be no way for us to get down if we needed to evacuate. Besides, it wasn't large enough for an entire base and that granite is far too dense for us to practically be able to clear out enough of it to accommodate the base. There is nowhere nearby that we could keep the ships, either," he explained patiently, shifting his arm where it draped around her shoulder.

She nodded in understanding. "I hadn't really thought about the problem of needing to be able to get out quickly, if needed. You can tell I haven't had your military training."

"You do a good job of faking it, most of the time," he told her.

Chiara set her datapad aside and gazed out at the stars. So, he wanted something unusual that would be hard for an enemy to penetrate, but would be easy to get in and out of and where they could have their ships easily accessible. It really was asking a lot. She could see them perhaps finding two out of his three requirements, but she suspected he would end up having to compromise on one of them. Movement caught her eye and she turned her head to look at an unusually large asteroid that was tumbling across the viewport. It was many times the Springhawk's size and moved through space with a slow rotational wobble. Many times the Springhawk's size...

"Thrawn," she said casually, getting up and going over the viewport. "Is there any reason why this base of yours has to be on the planet?"

He frowned at her. "No, but where else in this system would we put it?"

"What about there?" she asked, pointing to the asteroid.

"Now that is an interesting idea," he said, standing up and moving to join her. "I don't believe anyone has ever tried building a base inside an asteroid, before."

"No one would ever suspect it."

"Indeed." His glowing eyes glittered with thought. "Why don't we suit up and take a closer look?"

It didn't take long for them to don vacsuits and for the navigator to match the asteroid's speed. They waited for the airlock to cycle, then opened the airlock door and carefully jumped across the remaining distance to the asteroid. They were already within the weak gravity field that the asteroid was generating and landing on its surface was relatively easy. Thrawn knelt down to examine the asteroid's soil composition and take a sample.

"It sees solid enough," he observed, his voice crackling in her ear through her helmet's comm. Chiara nodded.

"I think I see a cave over there," she said, pointing. "Shall we check it out?"

Thrawn caught her wrist before she went far. "Wait. The Springhawk should run scan for lifeforms, first. There could be a space slug in there, and those are not pleasant."

"No need to bother the sensor's officer," she told him, closing her eyes and reaching out to the Force. She probed the area around them and into the cave. "There's nothing there," she told him, opening her eyes. "You and I are the only things alive on this rock."

"Let's have a look, then."

It took them longer than Chiara expected to reach the cave, but when they did, they saw that the opening was easily large enough to accommodate a ship the size of the Springhawk. Thrawn lead the way in, holding a glowrod aloft to light the way.

"This looks promising," Thrawn commented. The followed the cave for about four hundred meters before they stopped. Even in the semi-darkness, Chiara could see his eyes glowing through his helmet. "If we put the base far enough under the surface, it would be virtually indestructible. There could be defensive emplacements at the mouth of the tunnel to defend against possible incursions, as well. Yes, I believe this would work quite well. It was a brilliant suggestion."

Chiara felt a blush creep up her neck at his compliment. "I bet you could put a few weapons emplacements in craters on the surface, too," she pointed out.

"You're forgetting one important feature," Thrawn told her.

"What's that?" she asked, turning to look at him.

"It's far enough away from the meadow that I don't think we need to worry about anyone stumbling across it."

Chiara laughed. "See, it meets all of your requirements and mine. Where else are you going to put the base that can possibly meet such exacting specifications?"

They spent a few days in orbit around the asteroid while Thrawn sent a few teams in for further exploration and more detailed sensor readings. All the reports that they received were quite promising. The asteroid was made up of a study rock, but wasn't as hard as the granite on the planet and would be both easily to excavate and quite stable once the base was in place. It would take time, but it was perfectly doable. Thrawn told Chiara that this was nothing compared to some of the other places where the Chiss had established bases and even entire colonies.

When the time came for them to return to Csilla, Chiara felt a bit reluctant to leave and return to the quiet drudgery of life on the planet, as well as to the unyielding attitudes of the Chiss that plagued her everywhere she went. Thrawn assured her they would return relatively soon, though, and that they would be able to live in the small camp on the planet until the base was ready. She did her best to content herself with that and to enjoy their last few days of peace as they returned to Thrawn's icy homeworld.