At a crowded agribusiness conference, Matt Marmaduke skips migrant-labor platitudes and goes straight to the V’ren, the beacons, and the hard math of borders. He unveils Elkhart, Kansas as a third inland port, invites Ten Tribes and DFZ haulers to cross free, and reminds everyone how little anyone can do about “space cowboys.”
Matt’s phone buzzed again, crawling across the table like it wanted out. “Answer it,” T’mari said, eyes on her tablet. “Or turn it off.” “If I turn it off, Angelina will materialize by sheer will,” Matt said. The wall screen floated with edits. “That title is dead,” T’mari added.
A first-year plan maps the V’ren Trust tethered rail from Columbia to Rolla, Stockton, and Pittsburg, then west to Elkhart and north to Ogallala before looping through Ames Depot. Freight-heavy 200 kph segments give way to 800–1,550 kph high-velocity runs. Hubs and spurs seed 340 new settlements across CCA territory.