2.1 Gdps -

Lia swallowed. “Six hundred and eighty billion. And climbing.”

“How much have we racked up?” Aris asked.

Two point one giga-dollars per second . The meter had been running for the last eleven minutes.

The meter ticked past for the 713th second. 2.1 gdps

They paid it.

She looked.

Because some bills aren’t paid in currency. They’re paid in courage. Lia swallowed

“Lia,” he said, pointing at the screen. “Look at the second line of the message.”

The cost kept climbing. The Earth behind them kept spinning.

He grabbed her wrist. Not hard. Just… present. Two point one giga-dollars per second

Below the double helix, in faint but unmistakable English characters—as if etched by a human hand a billion miles from Earth—were four words:

But Aris was watching the Aurora ’s final transmission scroll across the secondary screen. Not geological data. Not atmospheric spectra.

But to send data across 4.2 light-years without a four-year delay, they’d used the quantum entanglement relay—a miracle of physics that cost more per second than most nations printed in a year. The relay was leased from the Conglomerate, a post-human cartel that didn't negotiate. They simply billed.