He sat back in the pilot’s cradle. The hub’s ambient noise—the clatter of other runners, the distant thrum of ships cycling locks—faded into a dull roar. He pulled up the raw code of the Risky Haul script. Most runners never looked past the interface. But Jax had once patched security protocols for a living.
But his backup, Dials, was three cycles late, and the cargo bay timer was already blinking red.
Jax exhaled and accepted.
Jax unstrapped from the cradle and walked out. Behind him, the cargo bay timer stopped at 00:01 and never reached zero.
He sat back in the pilot’s cradle. The hub’s ambient noise—the clatter of other runners, the distant thrum of ships cycling locks—faded into a dull roar. He pulled up the raw code of the Risky Haul script. Most runners never looked past the interface. But Jax had once patched security protocols for a living.
But his backup, Dials, was three cycles late, and the cargo bay timer was already blinking red.
Jax exhaled and accepted.
Jax unstrapped from the cradle and walked out. Behind him, the cargo bay timer stopped at 00:01 and never reached zero.