They’re asking again what it’s like not to age. Like I live in some crazy world where everything is wondrous. Fact is, my life ain’t much different from anyone’s. I live out here in the real world, every day. I see all kinds of people, and we’re more the same than we are different. We’re all human. We all fall down, we all get hurt, and we all bleed red.
I had a family until the Shang killed them. I found a new family during the war. The Peloran gave us new names. Hawk. Snake. Bull. They have a thing for animals and a lot of the names are awful descriptive. Me they called Hart. I bled for the name, so I kept it. My name is Jack Hart. Some have taken to calling me Jack of Harts.
I’ve flown off Alliance ships. I’ve flown off Peloran ships. I’ve flown off Arnam ships. I’ve even flown off Aesiran ships. They made the difference you know. After the Arnam got pounded into dust bunnies it looked like we were going to lose. The Aesiran just didn’t want to get involved. In the end they did, grumbling all the way. In the end, we all survived. I’m awful happy about that.
Sometimes I really dislike choices. Walk away or stand and fight. I really don’t like to stand and fight. Did enough of that during the war. But some people just need to be stopped. Some just need to be killed. And if I can get paid for it, that makes everybody happy. Well, almost everybody…
I’ve heard it said that you can measure a man’s character by the quantity and quality of his enemies. Well, if that’s true, I’ve got an awful lot of character. And that’s the jump alarm. Looks like it’s time for me to build some more character…