Star Wars - Darth Plagueis

haunts. As often as not they could be spotted on Vestral, Sikkem IV, or Carlix’s Folly. But all were similar in that Captain Lah and her shipmates rarely saw anything more of the planets than what lay within a radius of five kilometers from the principal spaceports, and their contact with indigenes was limited to spaceport functionaries, merchants, information brokers, and those in the pleasure professions.
    Theirs was a precarious business, at a time when pirates plied the intersystem trade routes, hyperspace beacons were few and far between,and a lapse in judgment could result in disaster. The cost of fuel was exorbitant, corrupt customs officials had to be bribed, and import–export taxes were subject to change without notice. Delays meant that cargoes of foodstuffs could lose the freshness that made them desirable, or worse yet spoil altogether. Dangers were manifold and the earnings were meager. You had to love the work, or perhaps be on the run—from the law, yourself, or whoever else.
    As a consequence of having imbibed too much local grog and gambled away too many hard-earned credits—and perhaps as atonement for so much carousing—concerns about the coming trip had bobbed to the surface of Captain Lah’s mind like an inflated balloon held under water, then released.
    “No oversights this run,” she was warning the crew in a gentle way, as they made their way across the landing zone to their waiting ship.
    The fact that she had used the same euphemism Blir’ had to minimize the impact of the near catastrophe he had caused made all of them laugh—except the Balosar, who lowered his head in mock shame, his twin antenepalps deepening in color.
    “We take your meaning, Captain,” Maa Kaap said. “No inopportune omissions—”
    “Ineradicable errors,” the Kaleesh, PePe Rossh, interjected.
    “Dumbass mistakes,” Doo Zuto completed, his close-set, inward-curving tusks in need of a thorough scaling.
    The captain allowed them a moment of merriment.
    “I’m serious,” she said as they approached the Woebegone ’s lowered boarding ramp. “I’ll say it again: this ship operates as a democracy. I’m your captain because knowing who’s good at what is just something I have a talent for.” She looked at Blir’. “Do I ever tell you how to pilot?” Then at Semasalli. “Do I ever question your decision about jump points?”
    “No, Captain,” the two said, as if by rote.
    “So I’m simply speaking as a member of what should be a competent team, and not as a commander.” She blew out her breath in a way that shook her trio of striped head-tails. “Either we turn a profit on this run, or we think about going to the Hutts for another loan.”
    Even Wandau, who had had more dealings with various Hutts than anyone else, bemoaned the mere prospect.
    “That’s right,” Lah told the tall Klatooinian. “And don’t any of you fool yourself into thinking that we can float an honest loan. Because no bank worth its assets is going to accept the Woebegone as collateral.”
    Maa Kaap and Blir’ traded quick glances before the Zabrak said, “Excuse me for saying so, Captain, but you didn’t seem particularly concerned about credits last night—”
    “Watch what you say,” Lah told her first mate, barely restraining a smile.
    “I thought you were ready to give that young thing the ship,” PePe said, joining the tease.
    Lah waved a hand in dismissal. “I was just toying with him.”
    “ Toy being the operative word,” Maa Kaap said. “Since he was young enough to still play with them.”
    The captain planted her hands on her hips. “I can be convincing when I want to be.”
    “Oh, that you were,” Zuto said, reigniting a chorus of laughter that accompanied them into the Woebegone ’s main cabin space, where 11-4D was waiting.
    “Everything in order?” Lah asked the droid.
    The droid raised three of its appendages in an approximation of a salute. “Shipshape, Captain.”
    “All the cargo is aboard and accounted for?”
    “Aboard and accounted for, Captain.”
    “You checked the thermo readouts?”
    “In each bay, Captain.”
    She returned a satisfied nod. “Well, all right then.”
    The shipmates split up, each with duties to perform. Blir’ and Semasalli to the cockpit; Zuto, Wandau, and PePe to check that the cargo had been properly stowed; Maa Kaap and 11-4D to seal the ship; and Captain Lah to get clearance from Bal’demnic spaceport control.
    Without fanfare the ship left