The screen fuzzed, then clarified into the image of a young girl—younger, even, than Reath Silas and Affie Hollow, though Cohmac thought only by a year or so. Her shining dark hair was pulled back into a neat tail, and her rounded cheeks blushed as she smiled. “Oh, thank goodness! We were so scared you might be pirates. But you don’t look like pirates. Wait. Are you pirates?”

Reath was smiling, too, as were most of the other people on the bridge. “Not pirates. Travelers bound for Starlight Beacon, and now stranded here.”

“At least we’re not the only ones,” said the young girl. “I’m called Nan. It’s just me and my guardian out here, and we don’t have much.”

Cohmac interjected, “Some of us, including Reath here and myself, are Jedi, sworn to protect and defend the peoples of the Republic.” All peoples, really, but he wanted them to understand the good that the Republic could bring to their lives. “We’ll contact all the ships in short order, work on organizing together. Sharing resources will be the best way to survive this crisis.” Nan beamed. Perhaps the Jedi had made their first friend in the sector. “Hold on. We’ll be back in touch shortly.” She nodded as the visual signal faded out.

No pirate attack was imminent. However, a vague feeling tugged at Cohmac—a barely conscious sense that something important remained undiscovered. “Captain Gyasi,” he said, “can you expand your scanner perimeters?”

Leox nodded. “Just so long as you know when we gain reach, we lose clarity. As with so much in life.”

“An acceptable trade.” Cohmac leaned closer to analyze any scraps of information they might receive.

Instead of scraps, the screen suddenly filled with data. Leox’s eyes widened as he scrolled in closer. “Whoa, whoa, whoa. What the heck have we got here?”

“A space station?” Reath said, making the leap faster than Cohmac would’ve guessed. “But—it’s nowhere near the system’s star, and the energy levels are low—”

“Doesn’t look like anybody’s aboard,” Affie said while bent over her own readings. “Though at this distance we can’t tell for sure.”

“We’ve heard nothing from the station, despite the unexpected arrival of eleven ships in this system,” Cohmac said. “Energy readouts are fairly low. The likeliest conclusion is that the station’s abandoned.”

“Abandoned?” Reath asked. “Why? Simply gone derelict? Or has it become dangerous for some reason?”

Cohmac shrugged. “Maybe. Or could be this area was once a prosperous shipping route, and now is less so. Or it could simply have gotten old. Regardless, we should search it.”

“I’ll add to that,” Leox said. “We need to search it soon. As in, right around now. And so should every other ship in the area. Because the local star isn’t happy.”