Chapter 140

Epilogue

These letters were discovered by my cousin and me as we checked the archives after the death of my grandmother Sage. We knew a bit about the Poseidonat branch of the family. John did travel there once he became a citizen and his research led to some advances in ship hulls that saved many lives by preventing hull breaches from causing catastrophic decompression.

I have to admit that I never knew just how active Willow and Erica were in the war. These letters got Vladimir and me interested in the history of the Rhinos. We knew that the tank unit had a storied history, but no one ever told me that Willow had been a member. I'll admit that I was the youngest child of a youngest child so Willow and Erica were almost seventy when I was born. By then they concentrated on caring for their descendants while their children maintained a number of small businesses on the mainland. I knew that Willow and Erica were respected on Wadi as they lived on Trinary Island. The island has become a bit of a refuge for the elite on the planet, but they never talked about it and I just thought they were receiving credit for their age and the fact that they were the last two original colonists.

Yes, they outlived most of their unit. That isn't a huge surprise since the other members were all in their thirties and even forties when Wadi was first colonized. The main they knew as Fabio retired as a General. He was transferred to a training base where he took many of the techniques my ancestors had developed and tried to teach the next generation. I understand that Blackthorn did not retire. He was killed in action about five years after the last letter here. His daughter joined our household and one my grandparents was her eldest son. Sadly, the records show she died less than a year after her father and owner.

The family has thrived though, as has the Philips-Murphy clan on Poseidonat. The Sa'arm front here is quiet. The infestations remain, but the lack of resources has shrunk their populations down. Rumor has it that we'll begin cleansing the local worlds. Vladimir is talking about volunteering. I want to, but my place is with the family. Willow's dream that the family would go into entertainment was realized. We have a battered, but working small transport that carries three pods. Two we have set up as barracks for the cast and crew while the last is set up as a theater. We try to keep the classics from Earth alive, but also perform many songs written by my great-grandmother Violet. We even found more than a dozen ballads about the time written about in these letters. They are songs of loss, longing and a never ending love.

I sent these out so that the men and women of the vast Confederacy can remember. The initial years of the war were fought not just by the incredible machines and technology we were offered by the aliens, but through a fighting spirit that we can barely comprehend today. May that spirit always thrive in the hearts of men

Thorn Murphy