Many people needed help, then. Possibly soon. Cohmac felt reenergized with purpose. Already he’d been itching to do something, anything, of use; it appeared that he would be called upon even sooner than he’d hoped. The Jedi’s mission at the frontier would begin with both mercy and strength. First, however—“What about the others?”

“What about that one?” Reath asked, pointing over Affie’s shoulder. “The bigger one? Some of those readings—those are high radiation levels, right?”

Leox nodded, but his lack of concern was so complete that it nearly operated as a tranquilizer. “Looks like Mizi to me. They’re not as susceptible to radiation as most sentient species, so they haul cargo a lot of other ships can’t. And that one there”—he pointed to the next-to-last dot on the screen—“that looks Orincan, which is bad news. Their lack of outer beauty is perfectly matched by their lack of inner beauty. I hate to be disparaging of an entire species, but if there are any Orincans overflowing with wit, charm, and kindness, I’ve yet to make their acquaintance.”

Cohmac asked, “What about the final ship?”

“That’s the one that bothers me.” Leox zoomed in until the specs for that particular ship—the farthest out—became clear. “Smallest of the lot. The one that sent the original signal we intercepted. But I can’t make heads or tails of it.”

Cohmac could see the difficulty. “The engines of a racer—the plating of a transport—sensor strength almost akin to a research vessel—and yet some of the components are weak.”

“Old, to judge by the readings,” Affie said. “So they’ve souped up some of their systems but ignored the others until they’re almost falling apart. Which is weird, right?”

“Yes. But hardly unique.” Cohmac considered the possibilities. No armaments showed up on scans. Armaments could be shielded with certain plating. However, the engines didn’t seem powerful enough to support that kind of shielding. He weighed the possibilities and decided. “Let’s contact them directly.”

“But if they’re pirates—” Affie began, then stopped when Leox shook his head.

“You saw their scanners,” he said. “They know we’re here. They know what we’re about. If they want to attack, they’re gonna. So far they haven’t. It’s worth a shot. You want to make the call, Pawaman?”

It took Reath a moment to make the connection. Cohmac concealed his amusement. “Oh, uh, it’s Padawan, actually. But I can make the call.” He stepped closer to the comms and flipped the toggle. “This is the vessel—ah, Vessel. What’s your designation? Can you transmit a visual signal? Over.”