Oen and Jarred

Oen and Jarred are life mates: Oen is a brilliant and handsome engineer and inventor. Jarred is tall, dark, and large, a former acolyte from within The Order, trained to despise the kind of man he now loves. Together they helped free Oen's homeworld from domination by The Order and weaken its evil empire. But The Order has no intention of accepting defeat and kidnaps Jarred with the intention of controlling his mind with their secret nano-technology. Despite their plans, Jarred escapes the Temple compound and makes his way to the home of Darrik Madron, the rich and powerful descendant of a space pirate and friend of Oen. With the help of Dominik, a Temple employee, along with Oen and friends Alon and Shanra, the group uncovers The Order's plan to infect leaders from multiple worlds with nanobots that will control their thoughts and actions. These friends are pursued by Monsignor Zeisman, also known as Zeisman the Sliceman, the Order's head of security. But unknown to Zeisman, they are assisted by Captain, Darrik's advanced AI, and Arlana, a scientist from a world lost long ago to a nanobots plague. From their cloaked base on an ancient world, this team races to prevent bot dispersal and the enslavement of every inhabited world in their galaxy.

Oen and Jarred are surprised by the arrival of not one but two teenagers. Jeromy, who met Jarred in Book Three of the Paths Trilogy, loves and admires Jarred. When Jeromy's mom remarries, the young Jeromy asks to live with Oen and Jarred. Rhea is sent my Dolana to find safety with Oen and Jarred. Raised in the shadow of the brothels, Rhea is a brilliant young woman who longs for safety and the opportunity to learn from Oen, the most gifted member of the Geneer tribe. Oen and Jarred successfully help both teens to complete their education and discover life partners. Their reputation as good parents leads the inter-tribal Council to recruit Oen and Jarred to oversee the construction and development of the first inter-tribal school. But, tribalism rears its ugly head as members of a deviant group called the Proud Men seek to sabotage the school and all it represents. Oen and Jarred go on the hunt to track down each member of this secret group and bring them to justice. On the day of the school dedication, would-be assassins throw knives at the assembled leaders. Jarred protects a member of the Council by jumping in front of him, only to be nearly killed by the knife embedded in his spine. While he recovers, the source of the kill order is found and linked to yet another member of The Order. With their work at the school completed and their teens starting their own families, Oen and Jarred look forward to something approaching a normal life. But, their desire is interrupted by a message from their friend Dolana. She and others want to leave the patriarchy and bigotry of their planet and start afresh on Zeta, the original destination of all the people who now comprise the tribes of their world. Should Oen and Jarred leave their home and all they've built to help Dolana build a new society? Can the dream of Zeta even be achieved? If they fail, will they make a path for the return of The Order and its evil oppression?

Oen and Jarred help Dolana establish a new colony on Zeta, the planet selected three hundred years ago to showcase the benefits of collaboration. Previous attempts to settle Zeta were thwarted by The Order, corrupt and evil religious men who craved power and control. Thanks to Oen, Jarred, and their friends, The Order is defeated and removed from power, though not destroyed. But now a new threat appears that is determined to destroy the fledgling colony. The same advanced androids sent to help build the colony suddenly turn destructive. Only with the help of an advanced android sent by Darrik Madron, the head of a rich and powerful family descended from a space pirate , are Oen, Jarred, and the other colonists able to save the colony. The person directing the rogue androids, Councilman Gorm, is a rich scientist from the advanced civilization where Oen and Jarred's daughter lives and works.The two men are close friends with several others from that planet, including the world leader and her mate. Gorm's plans are discovered and he is forced to flee along with some sycophant followers and a team of androids operated by an artificial intelligence. Darrik cuts the flow of funds to Gorm but is not able to capture him. Damaged in a fire fight with Darrik's men and machines, Gorm transfer his consciousness into an android fashioned to look just like him. Now he has unlimited time to plot his domination of the galaxy. Gorm in his new android body now sets his sights on controlling The Order and their many hidden pockets of wealth and information. With caution and secrecy, Gorm replicates the top leadership tiers within The Order, replacing the men with android copies that he controls. When Gorm attempts to capture and replicate Lady Saphora Madron, Darrik extracts details of Gorm's plans from Gorm's secret cloaked base. Soon there is open warfare that leads to the destruction of the Madron mansion and the relocation of Gorm to an obscure planet where The Order has a secret base. Oen and Jarred work with the captain of a warship to track Gorm to this secret base. Jarred joins the team assigned to infiltrate the compound but his team is discovered and their shuttle shot down. A squadron of spacecraft from the advanced planet is dispatched to confront Gorm but cannot overpower his defenses. Going on the offensive, Darrik sends his most advanced artificial intelligence to join the battle against Gorm. This AI bring Oen as they infiltrate Gorm's base and rescue Jarred. Darrik's AI has the two men transfer their consciousness into storage just moments before it destroys Gorm and neutralizes all his androids. Darrik is tasked with contacting Oen and Jarred's friends and family about their deaths. The two died and as they had lived, fighting side by side against evil. Or did they? Perhaps the new couple living at Oen and Jarred's former home know the answer.