As Matt rises to near-mythic power among the V’ren, T’mari faces the reality that their paths may no longer run side by side. In a quiet, reflective dinner that follows a galactic-shaking livestream, they confront status, grief, and the weight of unintended destiny—with one last moment of normalcy between them.
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.
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.
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.”
With wounded V’ren in need of urgent care, Matt Marmaduke turns diplomacy into action. Clinics are opened, quarantine zones established, and medical teams coordinated between species. Trust is built in real time as Missouri’s infrastructure shifts into high gear—fast enough to impress even the alien doctors.
In the shadow of the landed V’ren ship, Matt Marmaduke meets the alien delegation on scorched Missouri ground. What begins as formal posturing shifts to mutual trust, ending in a decisive agreement—refuge for the V’ren under his charter, and a direct line of truth between him and their chosen ambassador.
When the V’ren ship settles across Matt Marmaduke’s northern fields, it flattens nearly two hundred acres of prime crop. The ramp lowers, and Missouri’s first alien visitor walks into the sunlight. In measured words, Matt greets her—balancing local pride, corporate authority, and a farmer’s blunt pragmatism.
From the observation alcove of the VMS Kalnareth, senior V’ren officers watch Missouri fields and a dusty human truck come into focus. Ten thousand lives ride in stasis below decks. Translator units are prepped, landing plans are set, and the question remains: will they be welcomed—or merely tolerated?
As the alien refugee ship enters Earth’s atmosphere, Beacon technology takes control—slowing and cradling it toward an unknown landing site. Drones scatter, mapping the planet in real time. The search narrows to Missouri, where one stubborn former Amazon officer is about to become the most important man on the ground.
When eight alien ships drop into the solar system, the long-silent Beacon Network roars to life. General Leonard Octavius Wood takes the first call—and learns a crippled colonial transport the size of a city is falling toward Earth. No one knows who built the Beacons, or why they’re answering now.