Three days later, Ethan and his group were back aboard Shatterstar, the floating city drifting high above the clouds. Far below them lay Ascension Isle, a familiar stretch of land that now felt like the eye of a gathering storm.
Over the past three days, using the Serenity Hotel and its discreet proprietor, Henry, as a public-facing cover, the sale of more than two thousand tons of gold had been completed in its entirety. Every step of the process went through cleanly, smoothly, and without the slightest hitch.
The gold had been sold at a price of one hundred eighteen dollars and twenty-five cents per gram. When the final transaction cleared, a total of two hundred thirty-six billion, five hundred million dollars appeared in Ethan's account.
