Unable to sleep in the dead silence of his room, Coran was already up well before the break of dawn, dressed and ready to be back aboard his home of a vessel. As the sun rose over Stewjon’s mountainous terrain, Coran found himself groggily throwing on his jacket as he trod out the manor’s front door. In his early-morning stupor, he had forgotten completely about the digital net he had cast the night before. But as clarity seeped back into both his eyes and mind, he began to feel around for his holopad, locating it in the large pocket sewn into the left-side interior of his jacket.
He pulled it out and powered it on, clicking through a few menus until he finally fired up NetHire. Crossing his fingers, he continued walking as the notification page began to load.
While Coran had expected at least a couple of the trillions of NetHire users to respond to his request, there was only a singular notification and message waiting for him so far. According to the applicant’s profile, he was named Gryphys Kentaega. Scrolling slightly further down revealed that the man was a 60-odd year old Ranat, a rodent species hailing from somewhere in the outer rim territories. His occupation was listed simply and vaguely as a “Mechanical Helper,” and he had left a message specifically addressed to Coran. What was in this message momentarily took Coran aback.
It read, “Dear Mr. J’Bari. I have been trying to find you for some time now. And by the will of the Force, I have located you here of all places. My name is Gryphys, and I served on your mother for more than a decade. She told us all stories of you often, and while it feels a though I almost knew you, I know Kira most likely never spoke of me to you. I was most saddened by her sudden disappearance. However, I believe she would have raised you well, and if you are even half the captain that she was, I am more than willing to meet and discuss working for you if you would have me. Let me know what world suits you best to meet in person, and I will readily board the first outbound shuttle there. Once we have met, we can further discuss arrangements. I would very much like to meet. I await your reply with sleepless anticipation, Gryphys Kentaega.”
Coran was stunned.
An old cohort of his mother’s had just reached out to him, and he knew for a fact that she only flew with the best of the best. This was the chance of a lifetime. A mechanic with that level of experience could do wonders for the Devotion, and if Coran could prove himself to this Ranat, the man could turn out to be a loyal and valuable asset in the future.
He just needed to get off the Devotion off the ground and find a nice, safe meeting place.
Coran was running through a list of a dozen nearby systems as he reached the boarding ramp of his ship when his uncle’s voice snapped him out of his mental frenzy.
“Are you leaving so soon?”
Coran turned to face his man, who was watching the repair team collect their tools and return to his hangar. “You know I don’t like it here. I’ve told you that before. So why do you think I would want to stay another day? I need to be out there! The stars are calling for me to come back!”
His uncle huffed as he began floating up the ramp after his nephew, holopad in hand, “for your information, kid, I just wanted to tell you that Marco Cale’s brother reached out to me last night, He heard about what happened with the droids and his brotherm and he wants to give you a second chance. His family’s business urgently needs a shipment of scarn taken on a short run, and he’s out of smaller vessels to transport it in. He wanted to know if you could meet him today to arrange the job real fast.”
“Well, I’m flattered he thinks so highly of me and, yanno, doesn’t blame me for his brother’s death, but I actually need to meet with my first potential crewmate. He says he’s some Ranat named Gryphys. Used to fly with mom back in the day. Know him?”
Jeremiah lowered his holopad, looking thoughtfully for a moment before turning back to Coran.
“Yes, I seem to remember her mentioning a Ranat a time or two. He was her main mechanic, was he not?”
Coran smiled, “that’s the one! He wanted to meet on a nearby planet and I thought I might give him a try. Hopefully he hasn’t lost his touch over the past few years.”
Jeremiah shoved his personal holopad into Coran’s arms, “well, luckily for you, Cale’s brother is only a couple of parsecs away. You’ll able knock two birds out with one stone.”
As Coran reluctantly took the holapad from his uncle’s grasp, he looked down at the job description. “I really don’t know why you’re trying to shove this onto me. Neither of us really know the guy, right? So why not let him find somebody else to-“
At that moment, Coran felt a wave of anticipation spill into his stomach. The details of the meetup with this Oram Cale fellow clearly highlighted that the world it would take place on was one Coran’s mom had always spoken highly about. A place he had wanted to visit since he was a child but never had a reason, nor the proper clearance to.
Jeremiah grinned, “I knew you’d like it. I’ve been once myself, and it’s definitely… something. Worst at least one visit in your life if you’re really committed to being a smuggler.
Coran bit down hard on his lip as he tried to suppress an excited smile. “Thanks old man,” he said as his uncle descended back down the Devotion’s boarding ramp.
“Don’t mention it, son,” he said, maintaining a slight smile, “it’s my job. Just come back safe, you hear.”
“By the way, I had my service crew spruce up those pod hatches in the back of the ship. When I ordered the Devotion, I had a couple custom-made snub fighters come with her to be attached back there, just in case I ever get into a dogfight with one of your mom’s enemies. They’re still holed up in the hangar collecting dust, so when you get back, we’ll fit your ship with one or two of them for a little added protection.”
Coran flashed a satisfied grin at his uncle, “You know what? You’re not so bad, old man.”
Jeremiah jokingly retorted, “You always say that, and yet I feel you never learn it. I expect to get chewed out for something else the next time you touch down here, just like always. It’s a universal constant, I fear.”
An amused, yet almost worried look lingered on the man’s face as his hover whirred and propelled him back towards the manor. Coran watched him for a moment before pressing the square, red button beside the Devotion’s entryway.
As the door sealed shut, Coran made his way to the cockpit. He could hardly contain his excitement.
Not only was he picking up the first member of his very own crew, but it was someone who knew his mother, and who could help him understand the in’s and out’s of smuggling much better than he did at the moment, unguided and alone.
Aside from that, he was also getting to travel to the planet on every smuggler in the making’s wish list, for a job that he would hopefully, finally get paid for.
As he primed the engines and unlocked the landing gear to prepare the Devotion’s liftoff sequence, he grabbed his holopad and opened up Gryphys’s request. He thought about typing out an entire paragraph of questions and conversation pieces, but decided to leave those for the countless hours the two of them would be stuck on the together traveling if all went well.
Instead, he decided to simply reply with his destination. The place they would shortly meet. An infamous world. A single word:
“Kessel.”
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