The advent of the Common Economic Protocol had settled things down and, in 
the eyes of the old-timers, begun to soften and ruin the place. There was 
nothing like getting up at three in the morning and riding the defensive 
perimeter in subzero cold, with a loaded rifle, to build up one's sense of 
responsibility and community. Carl Hollywood's clearest and best memories were 
of going on such rides with his father. But as they squatted on packed snow 
boiling coffee over a fire, they would listen to the radio and hear stories 
about the jihad raging across Xinjiang, driving the Han back into the east, and 
about the first incidents of nanotech terrorism in Eastern Europe. Carl's 
father didn't have to tell him that their community was rapidly acquiring the 
character of a historical theme park, and that before long they would have to 
give up the mounted patrols for more modern defensive systems.