The auction chamber's silence was deafening.
It wasn't that no one was speaking. In fact, the attendees of the Starborn Consortium's underground auction were as animated as any group of political predators and economic tacticians might be. But voices were low, murmured in cryptic languages, shielded by personal silencers or neural encryption fields. Everyone had something to hide—and something even more valuable to gain.
Raidan stood in the private observation deck assigned to him by the Nova Merchant's Circle—a subtle but public recognition of his status as one of the most promising sovereign traders in the new galactic quadrant. It was a power move from the consortium, no doubt. They were acknowledging his rising influence, while simultaneously placing him under the scrutiny of the upper echelons of galactic economics.
