It turns out that the ship is in fairly good condition.  Luke and Mara sense that many people are still alive onboard.  While out exploring, Luke, Mara and Drask encounter a young girl named Evlyn.  She directs them to a passage that locks them inside and drops them several floors.  They are told by someone named Guardian Presser, Evlyn’s uncle, that they are not to leave the turbo lift.  Eventually all the others fall into the same trap.

Presser agrees to talk to Jinzler since he recognizes the last name and he is the supposed ambassador.  Jinzler convinces Presser to release Formbi and allow them to meet Ulier and the rest of the Managing Council.  Formbi tells them that they must leave Chiss space.  The Council members argue over what to do next.  They also argue over Evelyn’s Jedi abilities.  Presser is very protective of her.

Luke and Mara are able to escape into a storeroom type area.  They realize that someone onboard is communicating with their ship.  Drask tells them no one with them would be using such a signal.  They run into Fel and the Stormtroopers who have also escaped.  They split up to investigate two other dreadnaughts and hopefully find the others.

A council member takes the other group on a tour of the facility.  They all have an obvious great disdain for Jedi.  They discuss the nursery in the lower area where there is less radiation.

Jinzler has a great since of jealousy for his sister.  His parents worked for the Jedi and his sister was chosen.  From then on Dean felt his parents love for her was much greater than for him.  Presser tells him that he remembers his sister from years earlier.

Making their way into another passage, Luke and Mara encounter little debris, but a large number of decayed bodies and bones.  They reach the bridge where they find a lightsaber and Chiss charric.  Drask had told them that there were never any Chiss onboard this ship.  Luke begins to suspect that the mysterious Vagaari race, who disappeared right after Outbound Flight, may in fact be the Chiss themselves!  Perhaps Thrawn created this race for his own purpose.

Drask and Fel head towards the nursery area.  They are attacked by several troopers who are guarding something unseen behind the nursery.  They set for stun and subdue all the snipers in the area.

Much of the group meets in the Council chamber to discuss how to handle the situation.  Uliar is not happy with the plan for reparations.  They want a new ship to help them fulfill their original mission.  Unfortunately contact with the outside world cannot be made from within Outbound Flight.  Someone must leave to contact the New Republic and the Chiss.  Presser is called to investigate an issue.  He thinks that perhaps they've inherited a batch of conduit worms.

Back on the bridge, Mara and Luke sense that several violent deaths occurred nearby.  They go off to investigate.  Suddenly, like a shot, a revelation hits Mara.  The Gerron’s may not be what they appear to be!  Mara suddenly realizes why she felt odd about the Gerron’s saying goodbye to their ship when they went into Outbound Flight.  The images in the background of the monitor on the Gerron ship were the exact same as an earlier transmission.  It was actually a recording playing in the background to give the illusion that children were playing on board!  The black marks they had seen on the side of the ship weren't portholes; they were ejection ports for fighters!

Fel, Drask, and the Stormtroopers encounter a prison area with women and children inside.  The women reveal that the children inside are Force sensitive and they are being held captive.