Scribe-Nine

"Flat," Torv added. "That includes the mounting flanges and the synchronization software…"

The silence in the machine shop landed like a dropped anvil.

Harper's mouth hung open. Elena frowned sharply, and Jin-Ah said the number softly, as if reading out a sentence.

"Eighteen thousand."

They had ten thousand four hundred in the chest… If they spent every token from the ingots, the slugs and the vegetables, they'd still be seven thousand six hundred short for the coils alone, and they'd have nothing at all left for the fifteen-thousand-Zuni landing fee.

Leo let the number stand without a word of haggling. 

He knew real hardware when he saw it, and Torv was a craftsman who'd laugh at market indices… The coils were worth every coin, and the old reptile knew it.

He straightened and stepped back from the bench with a calm nod.

"We appreciate your time, Torv. We'll be back when our money's heavier."