In the year 2147, the Veil did not announce itself with fanfare or fire. It simply waited, patient as gravity, until the moment humanity’s collective curiosity and desperation aligned like stars in syzygy. Daniel Okonkwo felt that alignment in his bones the instant the transfer pod cleared the lattice’s outer filaments. The two-hundred-kilometer gap between the Wangari Maathai and the structure closed not with thrust, but with a gentle pull—as though the Veil were inhaling them.
