When T’mari and L’Tani arrive at Matt Marmaduke’s Freehold, their reception is more than diplomatic. As the younger sister battles grief and the older watches everything, a turning point in Earth-V’ren relations quietly begins—inside a farmhouse steeped in myth.
A cultural failure, not a biological one—the Great Culling reduced the world population from 13 billion to under 4 billion. By 2440, the United States was gone, replaced by armed freeholds, corporate city-states, and one man who doesn’t deny he’s a techno-feudalist.
In the quiet of Matt’s kitchen, T’mari meets Angelina Reyes—part friend, part gatekeeper, and wholly in charge. Over coffee and conversation, belonging begins not with permission, but with an open seat and a shared meal.
Discover the background, leadership style, and legacy of Matt Marmaduke—Freeholder of central Missouri and the man who changed Earth’s future during humanity’s first contact with the V’ren. Farmer, strategist, and one of the last sovereign landowners on Earth.
At the edge of a wheat field destined for permanent shadow, Matt offers three hundred untouched acres to the V’ren for their dead. What begins as a practical choice becomes a covenant—one that binds him not just as host, but as kin to a grieving people.
Global headlines and social media explode as Matt Marmaduke, Freeholder of Missouri, offers sanctuary to 120,000 V’ren refugees. His defiant, grounded leadership redefines first contact—turning a cornfield into the fulcrum of human history.
On June 1, 2440, less than 24 hours after the Calnareth’s unplanned Missouri landing, Freeholder Matt Marmaduke answers direct questions about first contact, rapid response, and the challenges of welcoming 100,000 alien refugees into the Freehold.
Past midnight, Matt and Leonard discuss the million V’ren refugees still in orbit, their skills, and the politics of settlement. Matt plays for time, looking to secure long-term leverage and stability in the continental interior—offering Missouri hospitality as part of the plan.
Over a simple farm dinner, Matt offers T’mari the ancient welcome of his family’s land—guest right at his hearth and table. Between shared histories, cultural respect, and talk of futures under open skies, a bond begins to form, rooted in hospitality and the promise of sanctuary.
T’monn stared out the window, the Missouri night rolling past in streaks of dark and light.
“If you told them to leave,” she said, “they would. But most would rather stay.”
Matt didn’t answer right away. The red demon called Pickup growled beneath them, chasing its own headlights through the gravel dark.
“They’re not going anywhere,” he said. “This is home now.”
Alone in her quarters at day’s end, T’mari records a private message to W’ren. She admits her first-contact misstep, reflects on Matt’s quiet gravity, and shares her worries for L’tani. Between the Missouri twilight and her own sleepless thoughts, she resolves to do better—for her people, and for Earth.
Matt and T’mari face the cameras for the first time since the V’ren’s unplanned arrival. She offers grace, he offers grounded reassurance—and when the first silly question lands, he sighs, answers, and moves on. It’s diplomacy, Freehold-style: do the work, absorb the nonsense, keep the mission on track.