...him being a-okay with his sole acknowledged offspring and heir running off to be a murderer-for-hire (mercenary) or smuggler, ...
'OK with', 'running off'? He suggested it!
Remember, Victor founded Steele Tech in the chaos of the 13th Rush by going out and finding resources to mine. 'Crazy' Carl says he was a regular customer, so there was probably a lot of violence involved. He wants to ensure his heir has the skills/life experience to run the company.
How many heirs of fortunes have you heard of that squander their inheritance and end up in poverty? How many Nobles/Royalty inherit the position without really understanding what got their ancestor the position to begin with, and mismanage their domain? The Cousin seems like exactly this kind of person.
As it is, Captain Steele is given a huge head start.
1. Presumably excellent schooling.
2. Gets a cutting edge microbot immune system booster for free. Makes it possible to eat alien foods, repairs genetic taint, increases resistance to disease (and prevents spreading the ones Steele does get).
3. Gets an old ship with a new engine for free.
4. Doesn't have to worry about living expenses like food or ship refueling (remember how valuable Savicite is).
5. Only needs to go to a handful of planets and find one specific object that will only activate for Captain Steele*, instead of finding resources before anyone else does.
*Or a very close relative
At the least, it'd be a very different game if Captain Steele just automatically inherited.
I also take exception to characterizing Mercenaries as 'murderer-for-hire'. Mercenary =/= Assassin. 'Trained killer', sure, but there are plenty of potential jobs that don't involve murder.