Traders Haber Trell and Maranne Darmic and their freighter (the Hopskip) are captured while smuggling arms for the Rebels and threatened by the Galactic Empire into assisting a helmeted figure, who claims to be the notorious bounty hunter Jodo Kast, in catching his prey on Corellia. It is all part of a devious plan by Admiral Thrawn that includes the father-and-son team of CorSec investigators Hal and Corran Horn, who are working undercover to nail the infamous Corellian warlord Zekka Thyne. But one slipup can get them all killed.
In the end, Thrawn's plan succeeds and allows him to track the smugglers to the Rebellion's new base, Derra IV, using tracking devices hidden in the smuggler's shipments of blasters. His victory also gains the Chiss Admiral a substantial favor from Darth Vader: command of his Noghri Death Commandos.