The three-foot-thick star-alloy shutters locked into the marble floor with a deep hydraulic thud, cutting off Pier #44 outside.
Inside the vast crystal dome of the Celestial-Crown Luxury Showroom, a dozen chandeliers made of floating star-diamonds bathed the hall in pale silver light. At the center of the showroom sat a colossal anti-gravity drydock basin holding the pride of Nebula Hub #1: a gleaming, three-mile-long silver-and-gold luxury dreadnought cruise liner.
Near the champagne fountain by the VIP lounge, Broker Gideon let out a loud, theatrical sigh of relief.
Beside Gideon stood three young men in flashy gold-embroidered flight capes—the Star-Baron heirs (Goodness: 9–12/100) of the neighboring Red-Salt Sector—along with a grizzled, sour-faced old pilot wearing a Celestial-Crown Senior Navigator badge, Senior Navigator Hok (Goodness: 18/100).
“Well, well,” Gideon jeered, swirling a fresh glass of synth-brandy as he walked toward Lin Mo’s group. “It looks like Director Vane triggered the VIP Showroom Containment Protocol. Do you know what that means, country bumpkin?”
Lin Mo was busy looking at a glass display counter near the east wall labeled Celestial-Crown High-Grade Cybernetics & Astral Medical Suite. He didn’t even turn his head.
“It means the air conditioning in here is free?” Lin Mo guessed.
