The Price of Advancement
The hangar’s emergency lights snapped to half-power at 17:52:09 remaining, throwing long shadows across the scarred deck plates. Kai sat on the edge of the cockpit hatch, left eye still patched with medical film, right eye locked on the public board projection that dominated the far wall.
Provisional Rank 874 → Challenger Slot Accepted Opponent: Voren Kane, Rank 312 Duel Window: 17:52:09 → 00:00:00 Stakes: Oxygen Rights (Mercer Family Line) + Memory Shard (Lira Voss) – Court Execution Pending
The numbers burned brighter than the burns on his temples. Eighteen hours had felt impossible. Now the guild had found a way to make it worse.
Mara’s boots scraped the grating behind him. She carried a diagnostic slate under one arm and a sealed ration canister in the other. The repairs were finished: cockpit glass patched with emergency polymer, Auxiliary Lance 2 still dark but physically reconnected, the tracker on the shoulder mount left deliberately in place. Removing it would scream alarm straight to Kane’s crew.
“You’re really doing this,” she said.
Kai didn’t turn. “Board’s public. Forfeit now and the court buries the shard at zero hour. You know what that means.”
Mara set the canister down hard. “I know what it means when they cut our feed while we’re sleeping. Kane’s runners were at the oxygen exchange two hours ago—official ‘inspection.’ They left a blinking red tag on Dad’s old locker.”
Kai’s jaw tightened. Lira’s voice slid through the fresh neural link, low and edged. They’re not bluffing, Mercer. I watched them choke a family of four in Sector 9 when the father missed a single payment. Eighteen minutes of footage before the feed died. You want Mara to be next?
“Enough,” Kai muttered, aloud and in-link at once.
The board flickered. A new line appeared beneath the duel window.
Interim Challenge Issued – Guild Sanctioned Voren Kane requests acceleration: duel rescheduled to 04:00:00 remaining Reason: Challenger medical status unstable – safety override Accept / Decline
Four hours. Not eighteen.
Mara sucked in a breath. “He’s trying to kill you before you can even step on the sand.”
He knows about the eye, Lira whispered. The burns. The sync tremor. He wants you rattled, not recovered.
Kai’s hand hovered over the projection. Accept would lock the duel four hours from n
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