A Dry, Quiet War by Tony Daniel

"A Dry, Quiet War" is a 1996 science fiction novelette by Tony Daniel. It is about a hero from the war at the end of time who returns to his home planet only to find more trouble. Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell: "A Dry, Quiet War" follows Henry Bone, a man who for the past fifteen years has been serving in a future war - a big one at the end of time itself. He returns to his ranch on the planet Ferro and tries to start up a normal life once again. He begins distilling whiskey, and slowly gets re-involved with Bex, the woman he has always loved. It doesn't take long, however, before he discovers the new local thugs - and although he tries to stay out of their affairs some things are just too personal to ignore! I looked at it closely now. It was female, but that did not mean much in halandana splices. I could see it phase around the edges with dead, gray flames. I clicked in wideband overspace and I could see through the halandana to the chair it was sitting in and the unpainted…