Our work on the moon was done—for now.
We left Tycho with crews in steady rhythms, Redeemer pylons breathing their quiet light, and the crater's bad hum down to background noise. On the warp back to Valdris I kept my eyes open and my hands still. It's easy to call a job finished and miss the piece that bites you later. Nothing bit. Good.
By the time I hit Ouroboros HQ, Elias already had the preliminary budget model spinning above the long table.
"So this is why you've been hoarding every spare coin," he said, eyes flicking through columns and projections.
"Yes," I said. "Because this is going to eat them all and ask for dessert."
He grinned despite himself. "If it works, it's worth it."
"It has to work," I said, and brought up the second hologram.
Not a pretty base. A stubborn one.
Three rings. Inner, middle, outer. Everything else hangs off those.
