4 Chapter

The next evening I returned from my ship, frowning as I scrolled through the latest reports from the office on Corellia.

Their job is basically to coordinate the reports from the freighters, send out jobs that have been located and scout for jobs locally. I could just as easily have had it on a City World, but Corellia was a major ship producer and most people pass by at some time. It was a good hub.

The 'Problem' was that one of my ships keeps getting upgrades it should not be able to afford on the profits they report back to the company. They keep getting extremely good deals, parts at less than 75% or even less of the market.

Sure, it was possible that Captain Mart of the Autumn Flower or one of his crew is one hell of a haggler or they had a private supplier...but the receipts kept popping up from random places from all over the galaxy.

The money for upgrade and repair was paid directly from the ship account, but if they were trying to siphon money into their own pockets, wouldn't they be making worse deals than standard? But they also consistently pulled in more money than the rest of the ships.

Either way, something fishy is going on here...

I shook my head and flattened my head feathers, putting the PAD back into my harness. I need to discuss the matter with Swan next time we meet in person.

I picked a fruit from the drone floating next to me and crushed it in my beak as I approached my quarters. We have been there for a while now and I have not seen the Queen since we arrived.

Though, I do guess she is ruling a star cluster, she has more important things to do than meet a captain of a cargo ship.

I am Morrigi...but I can not hold the dustlings, even a very attractive one, to my traditions.

Hitting the button to let the door to my room slide open I walked inside only to find out that I had a visitor.

"Anaxa." I said in greeting as I lowered my beak while walking in, slightly surprised to see her.

Ni'Korish smiled and turned to face me from where she was looking out the 'window', she was wearing a red silk dress and her red hair had been released from the complicated arrangement it had been in before. "Captain Atreus." she said in greeting.

"I thank you for the consideration that went into this room, Anaxa." I said as I walked up to join her, looking out over the sea.

She smiled and shrugged her left shoulder "You would not fit in a normal set. Besides, if you do something, you might as well do it right. I never liked the room that used to be here anyway."

"It is good to meet you again in a less formal setting. I am glad you were able to take your throne safely." I said, raising my head feathers happily.

Ni'Korish grimaced slightly "Not safely. You saved my life more times than you know about." she said.

I tilted my head curiously so she clarified.

"If you had not recommended the Jedi, I would not even have considered going to them. They saved me five times before I was able to root out the most dangerous conspiracies. If you did not convince me to go to them, I would likely be dead." The young Queen said as she looked out over the ocean with a small frown "I was...prejudiced against Jedi."

I stayed quiet, letting her speak.

She glanced up at me and sighed, raising her hand to stroke the feathers on my neck "What do you know about the history of this world and my people?" she then asked.

Blinking I tilted my head in thought. Past history? Not much. Future history? Only well enough to know that she would not have died even if she did not go to the Jedi.

Finally, I shook my head "Close to nothing."

Ni'Korish nodded "Hapes was first discovered by a group called the Lorell Pirates. They were the first ones to find a way through the mists. They brought slaves, almost all Women to their bases here. They colonized Hapes, leaving the females behind when they went on their raids into the rest of the galaxy." she said before she turned to look out over the sea as the sun started to lower behind the horizon "They took the boys with them, raising them on their ships. They only returned when they had to get supplies and rest."

I shifted my wings slightly. To the untrained observer that sounded like the Morrigi way of life...but completely different.

The human woman then gave me a small smile "It does sound somewhat like your culture...but it is different, isn't it? Your Women were the ones in control, they controlled the resources."

I shifted slightly and then shook my head "Neither. It is a dance, Anaxa. Equal but different. Neither could survive without the other, nor would we want to. The women were everything, our lives revolved around impressing them....and their lives revolved around us. Building to attract fleets, build our ships and technology."

Ni'Korish sighed and ran her fingers through my neck feathers down to where they went over into scales "Like I said...different. But as much as the raiders were disliked, they were the husbands, brothers and sons of our ancestors. One massive raid went badly...most was killed by the Jedi in a battle about four thousand years ago. The Women took over the Hapes then...no man have ruled us since. Despite the fact that they freed us, the Jedi took a lot from us as well. They are not well-liked."

"But you have a Jedi bodyguard?" I asked, eyes half-closed as I enjoyed her touch. She did not mean it like it could be seen, but that didn't stop me from enjoying it while it lasted.

She smiled slightly "Like I said, you talked me into going to them. It is hard disliking somebody that has saved your life multiple times. I was wrong about the Jedi. Many on my worlds do not agree, however. I do not doubt that there will be trouble because of it if it has not started behind the scenes already."

I slowly nodded, opening my eyes fully again "Is my crew in danger?" I asked her.

She bit her lower lip and then shook her head "I do not believe so, Captain. No more than anyone else in the castle but me. None of you should be a direct target."

Slowly nodding I glanced out through the air shield as the sun finally disappeared beneath the water to reveal the full glow of the nebula "I can not help but notice a lack of bodyguard, Anaxa."

Ni'Korish smiled and walked a few steps into the room before she turned to me again "I believe I am safe with my dragon, am I not? Especially as he has defeated a Sith Lord?"

I snorted "You are safe." as I follow her into the room. I might have downplayed Yoda's roll a bit in my tale.

"Did you like the pillars? They are handcrafted...I tried to get the details right from what I read about your species and culture?" She asked as she ran her hand down one of them.

I raised my head feathers and shifted my wings "They are very comfortable. Just the right depth in the carvings to be comfortable claw holds."

"Good..I'm going, to be honest, and say that we cheated." She said as she turned me again, leaning back against the pillar "We acquired a copy of the blueprints of your ships refit."

I blinked "Industrious. I did suspect something like that due to the dimensions of the pillars." I answered. They were the same size as those in my quarters on the Skies...I just hadn't made the connection before now.

Was I bothered they were able to get the blueprints? Yes. If they could, so could somebody else...but then again, not everyone had the money of a Hapan Queen to use for it. I doubt it would have been cheap.

Ni'Korish shrugged "I wanted to get it right. I owed you at least that much if nothing else." she said before she looked slightly nervous "Atreus, I did read up on your culture and traditions while I was at the Jedi temple. I know what you offered with your gift...What it meant when I accepted your Token."

Letting out a small breath, I laid down on the marble floor, keeping my head raised to put us at more or less even level "Anaxa, I do not keep you to the traditions of my people. To do so would be foolish. I simply did what I saw as the right thing to do."

Ni'Korish smiled slightly "Atreus." She said "I said...I knew what your gift meant. I accepted." as she reached up, sliding the shoulder straps of her shoulders, letting her red silk dress flow of her and onto the floor around her feet.