It was our first kiss and it was electric, as I pulled away I looked at him as I was quite stunned by the impact it had on me. That was when I saw it....Pure unadulterated lust in his eyes and I knew that this was where I had to make a decision about our friendship. “Come on then” I whispered as I took a tentative step towards home and reached up and held the hand that was still draped over my shoulder. “Walk me home”. We didn't touch apart from that arm across my shoulder and barely spoke on. He weaved his way into the lighted kitchen, where Doug was studying. Bracing himself against the table, Hub leaned over in front of Doug and stuck out his chin."Take a poke at me," Hub said, his words running together, barely intelligible because of the amount of alcohol he'd consumed. "Kick my worthless ass good, 'cause I got it comin' and I know it."Doug grinned good-naturedly. "You're drunk, Hub. Go to bed, why don't you, and sleep it off." Doug had joined the service only a couple of months. Fed Suns doesn't sell much to the Concordat as there is still a lot of animosity between them. He has been selling them for 150 to 200 percent of the purchase price which is still a savings for the Industries. He has purchased a second Mule and it is presently being overhauled and he has his eye out for an Invader class Jumpship. This will increase our overhead a bit but will eliminate the jump cost so should save us credits.He has one refinery up and running, with a Rolling Mill being. It had been a year since we'd been there. I wanted to check something.Dropping the reins-Sam knew to stay put-I walked along the ridge to the knob at the end of it. Approaching carefully, to avoid leaving tracks, I carefully looked it over. Eventually, I spied a few old bones and, caught in a juniper bush, a scrap of denim. A rusted rifle lay half under a weathered log. On the way up the ridge, I'd seen the skull of a horse and a bit of old saddle, off the trail, among the junipers. No one, it.