A true family, in whatever form, is like an island of chaotic love within a vast sea of indifference.

- Writings of the Sol Empress, Words of Faith

[Hope]

Hope sat in one of the four chairs that surrounded the kitchen table, leaning back against a wall and balancing on only two of the chair legs. She tapped her fingernails on the chair arm, making rhythmic clicks on the gray plas-steel composite material, the substance which also made up the table, cabinets, and most of the structural elements in the apartment.

She sighed. Aegeus is so boring. I wish something interesting would happen in my life.

Still, Hope realized, the family had a good existence compared to many others, even if it was in a backwater spaceport circling a backwater planet in a backwater corner of the galaxy. Her father's successful business afforded them one of the better apartments in the port, although it seemed cramped at times, and a forested cabin on the planet below. Outside of her school studies, she, along with her sister and brother, helped with the business. While not yet as knowledgeable as her father, Hope knew her way around fusion power units and quantum drives.

Hope's brother staggered into the kitchen. With unruly wavy brown hair and a wrinkled long sleeve t-shirt, it looked as if he just got out of bed. Tall, trim, and muscular, when better groomed he would turn the eyes of most young women. And with a practiced engaging smile, sparkling green-hazel eyes, and infectious charm, he could keep their attention.

The insufferable part is that he knows it.

He swung open the chiller, gazed inside for a few moments, then pulled out a blue plastic container and snapped the lid off of it. After a tentative whiff, he popped a half cinnamon roll into his mouth. Wiping his lips on a sleeve, he tossed the empty container back into the chiller.

Hope furrowed her brow and fumed. "Gab, you knew that was mine! I was saving it for later."

He shrugged. "You know the rules. Anything unmarked is fair game. You snooze, you lose."

"You are such a heathen," she huffed. "And you don't just put the empty back in the chiller — put it in the washer!" By the stars, he is aggravating.

Gabriel snarled, "Who made you Empress?"

An outside image appearing on a wall-mounted viewer interrupted any further retort. Gabriel's eyes widened and he held his breath as a young woman approached the apartment front door from the outside. "Oh, crap! It's Annie."

Hope plopped her chair down, then stood up at her brother's side. "It looks like she is crying. What did you do to her?" she said, narrowing her eyes.

He pushed his fingers through his wavy brown hair. "We just broke up. I don't think she wanted to."

The door chime rang. Behind the door, Annie dipped her head and wiped her eyes. Hope studied the visitor's image on the viewer, although distorted by the wide-angle lens. She was a pretty petite blonde, seventeen years old or so, a couple of years younger than Gabriel.

Faith, the first born of the triplets, limped around the corner and sat down at the table that dominated the small kitchen. She lifted an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

Hope smirked. "Another breakup drama." She turned to her brother. "Gab, you need to stop leading these girls on."

The door chime sounded again. Annie chewed on her fingernails as she waited.

Their father called out from the living room. "Is anyone going to answer that?"

"We'll get it." Gabriel yelled in return. He threw up his hands, facing Hope. "I was honest from the start, really. We were just going out to have fun, no commitments. But after a couple dates she was, like, starting to plan our wedding." He grabbed his sister by the shoulders. "You gotta tell her I am not here. Tell her I am out on a long haul with Dad and won't be back, maybe forever."

She smiled. "I'll see what I can do."

Oh, this is going to be fun!

Hope winked at Faith, who scrunched her face in apparent recognition of what was about to happen.

Hope opened the door to Annie. The girl's moist reddened eyes peered up at Hope, pleading. Annie tightened her lips, trying to regain composure, but her voice came out broken. "Is... is Gab here? I need to talk to him."

Hope glanced around the corner to the kitchen area, out of Annie's sight, and gave her brother a sly smile. His eyes widened as he shook his head, mouthing the words 'no, no'.

Hope said, "You must be Annie. Gab has told me so much about you."

A hint of a smile came to Annie's face. "He did?"

She motioned with her hand. "Come in, Annie. Gab is in the kitchen. I am sure he wants to talk to you too."

Gab shot a narrow-eyed menacing glare at his sister as she entered the kitchen, but changed his expression to something resembling concern when Annie followed her in. The tears started again as Annie rushed in to embrace Gab, her head nestled against his shoulder. Hope grabbed two bottles of juice from the chiller, giving one to Faith, and sat down with her at the table to watch the show.

Leading Annie out of the kitchen to the small foyer by the front door, Gabriel gave Hope another glare as he passed, apparently not wanting to provide for his sisters' entertainment. Although Hope and Faith could no longer see the couple, they could still hear their discussion.

Let's see how he handles this one.

Annie started it all. "Gab, if I've done something wrong, tell me. I don't want us to break up." She let out a single sob. "We... we were meant to be together."

He responded in a gentle voice. "Annie, I am so sorry. But we are just not right for each other. It would be unfair to you to continue this."

"Please, Gab..." She caught her breath, crying again.

"Listen, Annie. You are a great girl. You deserve someone better than me."

I shouldn't have been drinking juice just then.

Hope spewed the purple liquid onto the table, then clamped a hand over her mouth to keep from laughing out loud. Faith bit her lip to hold back a similar outburst.

He continued. "Look, I know this is difficult. It is for me, too. I want you to know that I shall always treasure the time we had together."

Faith put her hand over her heart and put on a sarcastic dreamy face look. Hope choked back another laugh.

Annie sniffed. "Okay..."

"Now go out there with your head held high and know that you are someone special!" Gabriel said with a lilting voice.

After a moment, presumably for a last embrace, the door opened and closed again. Gabriel stomped into the kitchen, his eyes bulging. His sisters burst out in the laughter they previously suppressed, Hope bending over at the waist.

A series of coughs and wheezes overtook Faith, her face turning pale while desperately sucking in air. Concern washed over Gabriel's face as he grabbed her inhaler from the counter and placed it in his sister's hand. She put it to her mouth and drew in the medicinal mist. After a few breaths, the color in her cheeks returned.

She motioned with her hand. "Better now, please continue."

Gabriel's angry face came back, and he pointed toward the door, glaring at Hope. "How could you do that to her? You should be ashamed!"

"What? As opposed to just letting her cry it out by herself?"

"It would be more humane that way."

"Only for you." Hope rolled her eyes. "Nice letdown speech, by the way."

He curled his lip. "You think that's funny? Wait 'till I tell Dad about how you snuck out for an all-night party last week with Carlos."

A tingling panic crawled up Hope's spine. "You wouldn't..."

A cruel grin crossed his face as he leaned into the hallway, yelling out, "Dad, would you come here for a moment? Hope has something to tell you."

Hope's body shook. They all knew that you don't mess with the father figure in this household. She turned toward Gab and narrowed her eyes, whispering, "You tell him that and I will tell him how you went out joy-riding with the Station Chief's daughter."

His eyes went wide. It was his turn to feel the panic.

Their father walked around the corner, and his gray-flecked sandy eyebrows lifted. He was in a fairly good mood - for now. "What is it, Gabriel?"

Gabriel gulped and stammered. "Umm, we just wanted to tell you what a great father you are. I know we don't say that enough."

Hope knew her father would not buy that statement. Gabriel and Hope received the 'mean dad look', where his narrowed moss-green eyes shot out parental dominance. Although technically an adult now, it still made her want to curl up in a fetal position and suck her thumb.

Moon let down his glare and turned toward Faith, who didn't get in trouble nearly as often as Hope and Gabriel. Moon said, "Do I want to know what is going on here?"

Faith replied, "I am fairly sure the answer is no."

"Good."

With another glare, he turned to leave the kitchen, but then halted, turning back to Faith. "Oh, I've got a quick haul to the Minos Colony tomorrow. Would you come along with me?"

Faith widened her eyes. "Me?"

"Yeah. Is there a reason you need to stay?"

This is a surprise. Because of her health issues, Faith rarely went out on any of the hauls.

Faith stammered, "No. It's just... Sure, I'll go."

Dad turned to Hope and Gabriel. "You two finish your school packets while we are gone. Also, we have a Nova Class Liner coming in for drive maintenance. Get it checked in and prepped." He pointed a finger at Gabriel. "And no shenanigans this time!"

Hope grinned. I do my fair share of shenanigans, but I get caught less.

She gulped as her father swung his finger in her direction and narrowed his eyes. "You too, Hope. No more sneaking out all night. Got it?"