My family saw the Ageless as a Peloran plot to take over the human race. I was the only member of the Family who was Ageless. They used my mind to further Family interests, but never trusted me, never placed me in positions of true power in the Family. They never forgave me for using Family funds to build a colony, in Peloran space, welcoming of Ageless. I knew they would not. I underestimated how far they would take their grudge though.
Most Veterans got to enjoy the celebrations of War’s End, but we Cowboys, and the other Ageless, got truncated real quick. It started when the media asked how someone scarred by twenty years of War could be trusted in normal society with a deadly weapon. They provided a platform for “experts” to demand the confiscation of our weapons, our ships, and even our partners. The War was over after all. What need did we have for weapons?
It’s amazing really, just how short an attention span people can have. Realty shows bracketed by one-minute news reports simply don’t provide for an informed citizenry. And when the news cycles can be measured in days, today’s heroes who fought in the greatest battles of the Hyades can be tomorrow’s forgotten figments of imagination. They tried to make the people forget us. They almost succeeded.
Most Veterans got to enjoy the celebrations of War’s End, but we Cowboys, and the other Ageless, got truncated real quick. It started when the media asked how someone scarred by twenty years of War could be trusted in normal society with a deadly weapon. They provided a platform for “experts” to demand the confiscation of our weapons, our ships, and even our partners. The War was over after all. What need did we have for weapons?
I arrived late to the celebration at Old New York. I was late enough that I did not have time to celebrate at all. My guide never arrived. That was my first clue that while The War was over, we would not yet know peace. It is the lot in life for Veterans to always have problems with that notion. We fight, and then we are forgotten. To their credit, America tried to remember the Veterans. But it is hard to remember a warrior, when you try to forget The War.