The Settlement Bond

Settlements fund their expansion by selling bonds on the Orbital Exchange, backed by future energy shares and freight throughput. Now traders have noticed that the newest bonds are collateralized by beam-corridor access and shipyard slots that the settlements don't fully control — assets other people can throttle or delay. A widening spread suggests the market is pricing in the possibility that a settlement's promised energy could simply be narrowed. If confidence cracks, the colonies that most need capital to survive their early years lose it exactly when the physical infrastructure fights turn against them. Financiers, colony treasurers, and Exchange regulators are watching the yield curve like a barometer.