The most devastating wars are not fought with weapons, but with numbers on a digital screen that can erase a billionaire's life savings in less than a heartbeat.
The air inside the fortified lower level of the Vance Group data facility remained cold, smelling faintly of plastic casing and active cooling liquid. Dozens of flat wall panels projected shifting matrices of international trade traffic, blinking under a pale white glow. Ethan Vance stood dead center in the room, his large hands folded calmly behind his back as his gaze tracked the massive data streams. Behind him, Sarah sat at a wide workstation, her fingers dancing across a dual panel setup as she monitored the opening bells of the European stock exchanges.
"The London exchange just went live, Ethan," Sarah announced, her voic
