A quick scan showed the danger; the star of that blank, empty system was a volatile one, not yet ready to go supernova but beginning the final millennia leading up to that cataclysm. As such it would be prone to solar flares of dangerous scale and intensity. Their readings indicated it was about to flare up, sending out plumes of superhot matter that would be a million kilometers in length. When that happened—as it would within the day, if not the hour—the individual ships would be at risk of immolation.

“We have to put the space station between our ships and the star,” Cohmac said. “Obviously the station has shielding that allows it to endure in this system. If we anchor ourselves on the far side, we have a chance.”

Leox nodded. “Sending out the alert right now.”

Thank the Force, Cohmac thought, for problems with simpler solutions. They allowed the illusion that the universe could be controlled—an illusion everyone needed from time to time.

For the first time since Master Jora had told him of their assignment to Starlight Beacon, Reath felt excited. An abandoned space station seemed likely to offer adventure without bugs, and some stories to tell his friends—whenever he got to see them again.

But Reath wasn’t going to think about that just yet. Finally, he could get back to living in the present moment, as a Jedi should. It had been too long.

Every second they traveled closer to the station, his fascination grew. The design was one he’d never seen before: Its center was a large sphere made of hexagonal plates of some transparent material. Heavy metal rings clustered on square-shaped tethers at its poles, with another metal ring stretching around its equator, which he estimated at roughly five hundred meters in diameter. One airlock was part of the sphere itself, but was unusable, mostly because it was both enormous and highly irregularly shaped, built to welcome some kind of ship none of them had ever seen before, perhaps because it had ceased to exist. Master Cohmac’s theory about the station’s abandonment seemed to be accurate, because signs of damage and wear were apparent—missing panels, a small chunk of one ring broken away. However, its power core must have remained strong, because light still shone from the transparent central globe. Their readings confirmed this as the Vessel got closer.

“Gravity, check,” Affie said. “Life systems, check. Atmosphere’s an oxygen/hydrogen mix, so we can go on board if we want to.”

Reath wanted to. “How long do you think that place has been abandoned? Decades? Centuries?”

“More like millennia, to judge by the tech,” Leox said, squinting as he studied the station. “That looks…familiar, but I can’t place why.”

“The Amaxines.” A thrill of recognition swept through Reath, bringing a smile to his face as he placed the familiar curved shapes and patterns of the metal. “That’s Amaxine technology!”