The Council had been formed.
The declaration had been made.
And the Free Exchange finally had a center of power again.
But even empires built on credits could be stolen with a whisper.
Shadow in the System
Kairos stared at the suspended holoscreen in the center of his command chamber aboard the Unyielding Trust. It replayed the moment Lok Atren slipped a micro-node into the Sovereign Ring's auxiliary conduit.
There was no mistaking it.
He had planted something.
Not sabotage—too elegant for that. It was data.
And data was currency more dangerous than credits in this game.
Vael's voice came over the internal comms. "Arbiter, I've traced the pulse from Lok's beacon. It bounced off a derelict relay outside Sector Kilon-5."
Kairos frowned. "Was it intercepted?"
"No. It was received—clean, coordinated. Whoever's listening on the other end knew exactly when and how."
That made Kairos' jaw tighten.
