I enjoy Victorian Faires. The best ones are on British colony worlds of course, or in England itself. Charles and I dress up in our best clothing and walk around with all the other people in their fancy outfits. It is make believe of course, everyone trying to recreate a time long gone with technology at our fingertips that would seem like magic to the people of that time. But it is fun, and that is the most important point. We should all enjoy our lives.
NASA truly went where no one had gone before in the twenty second century. On ships that flew between four and twelve times the speed of light, they scouted over a hundred lightyears away. They spent decades in space. The Vulcan Missions left for The Wall in 2170. Most of them were not home when the Peloran made Contact. It was years, over a decade for some, before their crews found out. They were the last NASA Astronauts, the last of a great generation.
When they wanted us controlled, they scared the people into thinking we were dangerous to them. It was class warfare performed by masters of the art. Charles sent me to fight back in my own way. I’m good with music and stuff, so I went on tour with T&J. Thank God they never believed the stories. I played instruments, sang, and did interviews. Put myself out there in the public and played the good little retired singing Cowboy. It was the best con of my life.
I first visited Francia several years after The War. Like so many worlds, it appeared open and waiting for us when we arrived, a perfect near-Earth world. It has many beautiful vistas, from coastal regions bordering warm oceans to high mountain peaks covered in snow year round. I stayed there as a mountain guide. It is amazing to stand on top of the world and to see only sky in every direction. The world is at peace up there. I love it so much.
NASA and so many others flew out to Alpha Centauri and Epsilon Indi and so many other systems on rocket ships, barely touching the barest depths of hyperspace for fear of running afoul of a rogue gravity wave. We lost many ships scouting safe routes for the colony missions and transports to take. A generation of our bravest men and women went where no one had gone before, just to see what was out there, knowing they might never come back. They were truly amazing.