Relic

Poul Anderson, The Fleet Of Stars, 6.

In the Lunar Cordillera, Zamok Vysoki, originally a Selenarchic stronghold:

"...had been a historical relic these eight hundred years, empty except for caretakers and the occasional tourist." (p. 86)

This is one of the things that a future history series can do very well: a building that was a stronghold in an earlier installment becomes a relic in a later installment. Fenn's artist mother, Elitha, constructs:

"...a monument to Niolente, the last great Lunarian rebel..." (ibid.)

- who had been a character three volumes previously. Although "'She fought for no liberty but her own...," she was a hero and should be remembered as such.

Sf functions, among other things, as social commentary. Elitha asks:

"'How free were men when government squeezed half their earnings from them and sent them off to die in wars anytime it chose?'" (ibid.)

How free indeed? Sf writers imagine everything from future wars to eras when taxation and warfare have become - history.