Being relative new-comers to faster than light travel has meant that only in the past thousand years have they managed to establish themselves in mult...ple systems. Though one advantage the Human Federation had over the other races was their ambition and tenacity. This would of course, lead to many conflicts, which is why the Federation of today resembles an autocratic military oligarchy, always fighting to expand.At the top of this massive fighting force was a single squad. The best of the. "I left, but instead of turning towards the end of the corridor, I turned the other way. About half way along the corridor there had been a small alcove, not unlike the one we had arrived on, I was guessing, hoping, there would be a transporter there that would take me direct from the middle of the West Wing to the same place on East Wing. To my eternal relief I was right, and with probably only seconds to spare, I got to my destination.I took a couple of deep breaths to calm my shattered. What I hadn't planed on was what happened on Christmas Eve Night.The weather was cold and snowy and we were home sitting in front of the log fire after I had made a traditional holiday dinner, you know, the turkey thing and all the fixings. We were both a bit lethargic from all that L-Tryptophan and just sat companionably gazing into the fire.For some reason my mind wandered back to my high school days, maybe it was just being home, but thoughts popped into my head of growing up and of our. The next step was to help the Lees pack the equipment they needed to take to the mining camp. While this was going on, Jenn, Sul and I went shopping. We bought a queen size bed, a feather down comforter, pillows, finally sheets.On the way back, at my suggestion, Art took us to a gun shop, which also had an indoor range. Art suggested I buy a 44 magnum and I laughed, saying, "I could get off four to five shots with a good 9mm before you could fire three times."That meant we had to have a little.