Life, Death
The Tapani Sector is already dark; as, one by one, another light of the Galaxy gets snuffed out, we can say for sure that it's only getting darker.
Admiral Angelo d'Arcy hired the private transport Mismatch and her captain-owner, Eleni Benacor, to transport Lod Zorad, Vanya Ysadora, "Emperor" Danar Vorpadaran, and his bodyguards Hicks and Rico. The plan is to rendezvous with the Crimson Wind in Mentis System, retrieve three people -- a scientist, a spy codenamed Maniac, and a Jedi -- and return them to New Dendarii. The challenge and response are parts of an equation, typical Mentat intrasystem chatter.
What could possibly go wrong?
The trouble is just starting when the Crimson Wind is found to be holed, derelict, and with only one fading life sign barricaded in the cockpit.