I ruffled my feathers in annoyance, and tightened my hold on the pillar in my quarters.
The new Star Shuttle should soon be ready to leave the shipyard. The construction was delayed a bit, as I had them change the plans for it by a large amount. They were not happy to need to do that just before construction started, but as I did not need the shuttle to be able to handle my own form, I could put it to a different sort of use.
But no, that was not what was annoying me at this point. This was the second time in two months the Thail Corporation arrived and snapped up a job before we were able to arrive. A job carrying refined metal from Tatooine got snatched from beneath our claws before we were able to arrive to claim it.
Normally the system was that when a freighter in the company found a cargo they couldn't or did not have the time to pick up, they sent the info about it to the home office, which sent out daily updates to all freighters in case one of them could pick it up.
The Remembrance was the largest ship in the fleet, and as such usually went to pick up the largest cargo. It happened that we showed up and somebody had already taken the job, but that kind of thing happen. Simply part of the business plan. Even then you could usually find something else to carry from there.
No, what has been bothering me lately was the frequency with which the Thail Corporation has managed to beat us to a job. Since the incident with the overzealous border control officer six months ago, it had been happening more than could be explained by random chance, significantly more. More to my ship than the rest of the fleet due to being able to carry larger amounts of cargo, and the Thail mostly handled large jobs, but I have been getting reports from almost all of the ships in my fleet.
The incidents seem to be focused in the mid and outer rim though, nothing have been reported in the core worlds. Incidentally, the Autumn Flower was one of the few ships, and the only one that did not operate completely in the core worlds, that had not reported any run ins with the Thail.
I tilted my head and wondered for a second if there was a connection. Perhaps I should take the time away from carrying cargo to properly investigate that ship. If they were leaking the list of possible clients, that would explain a lot of things.
A chime from my door brought my train of thought to a halt and I pressed the button on the pillar to open it while I closed down my hologram display. The door opened to reveal Cormac, my chief pilot.
"Sorry to bother you, Captain, but do you have a moment?" He asked, running a hand though his short white hair.
I nodded "Of course, Mr Cormac." I answered "Would you care for an Ugmoc fruit?"
He shook his head as he walked inside "No thank you, sir. Never got a taste for them, too sweet for me."
I ruffled my feathers as I looked at the old spacer. Despite what one might expect, he didn't dress like Han Solo or even one of the jumpsuits the Honor sisters seemed to favor. Cormac always dressed more in the style of Lando Calrissian but without the cloak. Strong colors, in this case, red.
"What can I help you with, Mr Cormac?" I finally asked after a moments of silence.
He looked out the window at the surface of Tatooine, far below the ship, looking slightly nervous for a second before he shook his head "How old am I, Captain?" he finally asked.
I blinked at the question, shifting my wings a bit before I answered "I am not sure. I am not the best at judging age in humans, perhaps sixty standard years?" Even in my human life I was bad at judging peoples ages.
Cormac chuckled and shook his head "Well, I suppose I should thank you for that one, sir. I am seventy eight standard years old. I have lived in space since I ran away and joined the crew of a passing freighter at age fourteen. I'm...starting to feel my age."
"You are not yet old. If I remember correctly, humans can live to ages up towards two hundred." I finally said.
He grinned slightly "Force users, maybe. A pampered ground dweller nobleman might get up towards hundred and fifty. I should be glad if I see an even hundred." he said before he turned to look up at me "What I am saying, Captain, is that I am getting too old for this."
I climbed slowly down from my pillar and sighed softly "You are resigning?" I asked.
The old spacer nodded "Yes. Not immediately, mind you. If it is alright with you, Captain, I would like to stay keep working until we find a nice planet to retire to. Perhaps Corellia, or a similar place."
I lowered my beak, my head feathers flattening before I finally nodded "Very well, Mr Cormac. You are welcome to keep working with us until we find a port of your liking. All I can say is that you will be missed, you are a good pilot and an even better flock member."
He smiled slightly and nodded "You were good Captain to work for. Many micromanage everything. You trusted us to get on with our jobs, that is a skill many never learn. I think you will go far if you continue like you have. If I could ask a favor, sir...don't tell the rest of the crew. I will tell them myself when the time has come."
I nodded "As you wish, Mr Cormac."
Cormac nodded "Good Night captain. With your permission?" he said and then he left at my nod, leaving me looking out at the planet below, leaving me to my thoughts.
He might be the first, but he would not be the last person to leave my crew. Morrigi males in 'the wild' might live to be two hundred and fifty. With medical care that extend up towards four hundred.
With the force added to that...I might beat Master Yoda. Everyone I knew would die of old age before me. So would their children and grandchildren.
Sighing I picked a fruit from the floating droid before I climbed back onto my pillar to start looking though the database for the best merchant piloting academies. I might be able to hire one with experience, but Tel'te worked out great so I might give somebody fresh out of school a chance once more.
Once he quit, I will need to hire a replacement second pilot after promoting Tel'te. I really need two pilots now when I am reliant on shuttles to move my cargo. I could pilot one of them myself in the short term, but they were too cramped for it to be anywhere near comfortable for everyone else that rode down with me.
It was better for everyone involved if me and my armor rode down in the cargo area with the cargo droids.