The air was warm and, the sky was clear and dark spangled with glittering points of light. The mile high building of the Earth Academy for Talented Youth soared above most of the others around it. Its gleaming white walls interrupted by tall tinted windows was a symbol to all who saw it as the premier school in the system. Upon one of the balconies of the Academy sat Harmony Nocturne, clad in a long shirt that reached mid thigh. She only wore that because her sisters insisted. Harmony had argued that the balcony counted as being home, but this was an argument she had lost and so she made a token effort. To avoid the spanking if nothing else. Harmony sat in a small, padded, wooden chair among the hanging plants and small trees that her sister, Symphony, liked to keep. The sounds of the city were far away and a cool wind blew, rustling the plants and Harmony’s hair alike. She shivered faintly.

Harmony leaned forward and typed at the keyboard to her computer. The calculations she was working on were not, unfortunately, the abstract theories she wished to be testing, but rather a boring, practical, homework project. The project was due the next morning and though she’d had a week to do it, Harmony had waited until the night before to even get started. Melody would not have approved and so Harmony was sitting on the balcony late at night doing homework.

For a moment, she wanted to skip the project and go on to more interesting things, but then her bottom tingled in faint reminder and she went back to what she was supposed to be doing. At least it was math and not something as incredibly boring as Cultural Studies. She sighed at the requirement of the Academy to diversify and tried to block out Melody’s voice that would have told her the importance of inter disciplinary studies.

As Harmony typed though her calculations, an incoming message on her computer interrupted her. It bore the seal of the Academy meaning that it was an official message. Curious, she typed in a command and opened the message.

Harmony Joan Nocturne,

You have been selected, via instructor recommendations, for this year’s End-of-Term expert level student mission. You will be the Head Apprentice and responsible for all mathematics department personnel upon the vessel. This means that, baring necessary Instructor intervention, you will be acting as the Chief Mathematics Officer, a civilian position. This mission will require you to be absent from the planet for five days. The mission begins two days from now. Respond immediately so as to inform mission control whether or not you will be able to attend this mission.

The captain for this mission will be Melody Angel Nocturne.

Regards,

Mia Altan
Academy Mission Control

Harmony stared at the message after having read it, and then reread it. An End-of-Term expert level student mission? Head of Mathematics? Harmony had never heard of a student as young as herself receiving such an opportunity. But then there was the catch. Melody had been selected to captain this mission. It was a great opportunity and turning down the mission would not be well thought of. But still, she had never worked in an official capacity with Melody before...

“So, what do you think?” asked Melody from the door to the balcony.

Harmony jumped and glared at her sister. “Haven’t I told you not to sneak up on me?”

Melody crossed her arms. “Haven’t I told you to get dressed before lounging on the balcony?”

“I’m dressed,” Harmony protested.

Melody shook her head. “An argument for another time. At least you’re not nude.” Melody took a deep breath. “So what do you think of the mission?”

Harmony shrugged. “It’s a great opportunity, sis. I don’t want to pass it up.”

“Me neither. Will you be able to take orders from me?”

“I’ll be a civilian,” Harmony countered. “You won’t have the authority to give me orders.”

“But I will be in charge of the project as a whole,” said Melody.

Harmony smiled at the argument. “From all accounts, we’re already interacting like the pros.”

Melody smiled faintly and nodded. “All right. It’ll be interesting working with you.”

“Right back at ya, sis.”

Melody yawned. “I’m gonna go reply in the affirmative then. Love you sis. See you in the morning.”

“Good night, Mel. Love you too.”

Two days later, Harmony stood on the platform of the Academy docks dressed formally in the skin tight white uniform of the Academy with her Math Department cloak hanging from her shoulders. The uniform was wrinkled faintly, a result of having it in a pile on the bottom of her closet instead of hanging up, but she didn’t mind too much, despite Melody’s sigh of resignation. Rumpled was her style.

“I’m really gonna miss you two,” Symphony said, a tremble in her voice.

“We’ll only be gone five days,” Harmony reassured the artist. “You’ll be fine. Imagine the freedom.”

Symphony tried to smile.

Melody hugged Symphony and kissed her forehead. “Try not to get into any trouble. Don’t forget your deadline tomorrow afternoon.”

“I won’t.”

Then it was Harmony’s turn to hug Symphony and kiss her cheek. “We’ll call every day.”

And then two of the three Nocturne’s left the third and approached the ship.

Symphony sighed. Mel and Harm were participating in an important mission. Well, of simulated importance anyway. It wasn’t that the Academy didn’t already know about the anomaly and hadn’t figured it out. It was that extra confirmation was never a bad thing and it made an excellent exercise for students. There was no place for art students in such a mission though and so she was to be left behind. Symphony tried not to cry.

Soon the students had boarded the ship. The thrusters came to life and it left the dock, headed for the void of space.

~*~

“The mission is basic. The skills required to perform your tasks are not.”

Instructor Treppe paced the small briefing room between the senior officers in command of the starship Sulaco, lined up against the far wall, and the Academy students in their rows of seats. The five Cadets sat straight, the five trainees from the Math Department listened faking interest.

“You all have been chosen because of your academic excellence, and this is a great opportunity for you to prove your worth.”

“Yes, sir,” the Cadets said in unison. The mathematicians weren’t required military salutes or procedures, but still nodded and replied politely.

“Very well.” Professor Hart, standing aside him, handed him an electronic notepad. “These are the commanding tasks, including of all procedures to be performed in the coming days. The captain of this simulated on-field mission shall memorise them within the next twelve hours. Miss Melody Nocturne, please step forward.”

As Melody concealed her trepidation and did as asked, expressions of discomfort came from the rows, earning a stern look from Instructor Treppe. The girl walked to the tall man and stood in front of him. He handed her the notepad before addressing the other Cadets:

“Cadet Nocturne may be only thirteen but her record is perfect... and also, I personally wish to give her a second chance to prove her worth,” Treppe said as he eyed Melody, clearly referring to last month’s incident. The girl nodded and smiled to show her gratitude.

From her seat, Harmony couldn’t but roll her eyes. Not that her sister didn’t deserve the recognition she was given, but still, the idea of being supervised by her in an official mission wasn’t all that appealing.

“Cadet Nocturne will be in charge of Navigation,” Treppe continued, “but will also co-ordinate the general functioning of the mission. Cadets: consider her directions as direct orders. Remember that teamwork is vital in space exploration. As for the civilian component, I’ll leave it to Professor Hart to explain. Professor,” he invited her on as he stepped aside.

The tall, thin woman nodded firmly and surveyed her students with a glance. “I named Harmony Nocturne as Head Apprentice of the Math Department. Please join us, miss Nocturne.”

Taking a deep breath and straightening her white outfit with both hands, Harm made her way down the small flight of stairs to the front of the room, where she sided Hart. She exchanged looks with Melody, who smiled just a bit.

“You are to ensure that your colleagues work with their military counterparts as efficiently as possible. I’d like to remind you all that although you are not technically expected to take orders from the Cadets and the senior officers, your tasks in this mission are vital, and therefore the Cadets expect your full co-operation.”

Harmony felt only slightly irritated, because professor Hart’s words meant that even though they didn’t have to take orders, in fact they had to! She had every intention to co-operate and make it all go as smooth as possible, but she wasn’t sure how to deal with her colleagues, let alone with Melody and her people. She showed none of this on the outside, but she was quite nervous.

“As for the mission itself,” Treppe resumed, “all stand up and welcome Admiral Julius Tarses.”

There were more than a few “ooh’s” and “wow’s” among the young students: no mention had been made of the Admiral being present. Julius Tarses was a walking legend in the space exploration field, and had been in command of more missions than anyone else. The word ‘walking’ didn’t quite fit, though, since he had lost the ability to move except for his head. Sure enough, he entered the room on his wheelchair, and silence fell.

Julius Tarses was eighty-three, but looked twice as old. He was dressed in a long, tight, black hooded tunic and his white hair and beard only partly concealed the large scar across his face. He manoeuvred the chair from a tiny device attached to his eyebrows. Despite everything, anyone who saw him couldn’t but understand the great wisdom he emanated; his presence in the room made everyone stand on tiptoes just waiting for him to speak.

“There’s a space anomaly we want to reach, 70,000 kilometres into the outer Asteroid Belt,” Tarses explained in a calm, if rough, voice. “You have 72 hours to make contact with it, and that will win you the mission. Science Team, study the local asteroid cluster and extrapolate the safest possible navigation route for the Piloting Team to follow. Cadets, maintain the Sulaco stable and alert at all times, and navigate following the Science Team’s template. Ship damage will be considered. Lack of co-operation between the teams will most probably result in failing. Good luck.”

He talked without an inflexion to his voice and without ever looking at anyone in the face, then steered the wheelchair and exited the briefing room. Even Instructor Treppe seemed taken aback, though Tarses’ don’t-go-wasting-my-time approach to things was notorious.

“Well,” Treppe resumed. “You heard the Admiral. You all have your orders. Actual mission starts twelve hours from now. Everyone of you will be closely observed by the senior officers, who shan’t intervene if not in emergency, though.”

“Good luck everyone,” Professor Hart added. “Dismissed.”

As the students filed out of the room, Melody caught a glimpse of Harmony shaking her head. She wondered whether she was finding this all boring, and it was probably so, but was also confident that her sister would stick to what she was told anyway. But she did start to wonder about her sense of responsibility as she overheard the conversation she was having with her peers...

“They say it’s a great view from the starboard windows,” Saarinen was saying.

“Oh yeah I wanna take a look at it,” Harmony replied enthusiastically. “I’ve never seen Mars up close before.”

“Neither did I,” said West.

“You are born on Mars, West.”

The guy chewed on his liquorice stick and shrugged. “So what? I left when I was three.”

“Ahem.” Melody’s cough drew their attention as they turned to face her. “May I have a word with you, Nocturne?”

“Oh come on Mel,” West addressed her. “No need to be so formal. She’s your sister.”

“Not on this mission.” Melody fixed him a death glare while Harmony again rolled her eyes and reluctantly followed her sister. “You should be doing something more active than star-gazing.”

Harmony gave a nervous giggle and again shook her head. “You’ve got to be kidding. The mission starts in twelve hours, you’ve heard it yourself.”

“You should be using those hours to get ready, Harm, as I am going to do,” Mel replied quietly.

“Yes well you have your ‘captain procedures’ to review,” Harmony teased, then twisted her sister’s nose affectionately like she always did – Melody was very embarrassed, given the situation: everyone was looking at them! “Dontcha worry, sis. It’ll be just fine. ‘sides, most of these guys haven’t been into space for years, it’s a new experience for them. Give us a break, will ya?”

Melody sighed. “I will when you will start behaving responsibly. This is no game, Harm, and you are in charge, you’re responsible for them and I want you to keep them in line. Is that clear?”

Harmony arched her eyebrows and crossed her arms, suddenly serious and trying not to show her irritation. This was going to be a long mission after all. “Is that an... order?”

Melody took a deep breath too in order to remain calm. “It is a... warm suggestion, dear sister.”

~*~

Thirty seven hours later, Mel found herself staring out the window of her quarters. Harmony’s companions had been right, the landscape of space was quite a sight. They were at their desired location near the Asteroid Belt. Mel watched the large chunks of rock just floating out there in the nothingness. Like giant beasts suddenly gifted with grace and taking advantage of the opportunity to perform a slow dance. Melody sighed and looked at her data pad and the message she had just received.

Captain Melody Angel Nocturne,

Due to the Math Department’s lack of dedication, this mission is no longer ahead of schedule. As captain of this mission, it is your duty to make certain that the Math Department performs their assigned tasks. If this mission falls behind schedule it will reflect poorly upon you.

Regards,
Josiah Treppe

Melody had been keeping track of the Math Department aboard her ship. They were lazy and insubordinate. Not that they were required to follow her orders as any of the military students were, but they were supposed to follow the instructions of the Chief Mathematics Officer who was supposed to follow the Captain’s. As far a Melody could ascertain, no work had been done on the asteroid anomaly. She had received no briefing, no preliminary reports, not even a memo to tell her that they’d gotten started. She stood and began to pace.

It’s not like they hadn’t had the time. Sure, on the way over they had been assigned to assist navigation calculations and such, which they had done grudgingly, but the ship had been in position for half a day and still nothing. Melody could have dealt with the rudeness and aversion to work if only they had actually been getting something done. But they weren’t.

It made her hand itch. But society at large did not approve of such disciplining methods and certainly she had no right, as captain of this ship, to administer such discipline. And so instead, Melody had called Harmony to talk with her about what had been happening and what was to be done about it. She had failed once already, she was not about to do so again.

Melody started as the chime indicating Harmony was about to enter, sounded. Melody sat up straighter as the door opened.

Harmony walked in chewing on a long red liquorice stick and waved at her sister. “Hiya, Mel,” she chirped happily. “You should’ve been there, at the starboard windows. The view is great, let me tell you!”

Crossing her arms, Melody listened and shook her head. “I might have been there if I wasn’t working... which is exactly what you should’ve been doing too.”

“Yeah, yeah I know,” said Harmony as she took off her Math Dept. cloak and threw it on the bed. “Listen, Mel, gimme a break, okay?” Her skin-tight white suit followed, and Melody ran fingers through her hair. “I know you’re head of the mission and everything...” Her undershirt and underwear were next to go. “... but that doesn’t give you the right to be on my nerves, ‘kay?”

With a huge sigh, she sat on the bed and removed her socks too, then rested her head on the pillow, hands crossed behind it, crossed her ankles and just stared at the ceiling. Melody wasn’t sure if it was Harmony’s usual nakedness or her usual scowl to be getting on her nerves the most... she just knew that this wasn’t the way to behave on a mission.

“Harm!” she bellowed as she strolled towards the bed.

“What?” said the dark red-haired Nocturne.

“First of all, what if there’s an inspection? It happens on ships, you... you... you can’t just go around naked!”

“It’s our quarters. I do whatever I want here.”

“No you don’t, it’s a ship, not our home...” Melody shook her head and switched subjects, knowing this one was a losing battle. “But anyway, get this.” She threw her an electronic notepad. “It’s a non-official reprimand by Treppe which says that...”

“I can read, thanks. The keyword there is ‘non-official’, heh.”

Melody counted to ten. “So?”

Harmony shrugged. “You’re right, he’s right. We’ll work harder.” And she kept chewing on her liquorice stick as she looked dreamily at the ceiling, her mind immersed in her own projections and abstract calculus.

“Is... is that it? ‘We’ll work harder’?”

“I said you’re right, I’m sorry, we’ll get to it... don’t get your panties in a knot, c’mon. Relax, it’s going to be just fine. What ever else do you want me to do, huh?”

“You could get up, get dressed, and get to work now!” Melody insisted, on the verge of losing her temper. “And it’s not just not getting work done, Harm, you know? You have responsibilities. The whole Math Department relies on you for this mission, and if their job is sloppy it’s your fault, and if your job is sloppy it’s my fault. Do you realise this is not a game anymore?”

With another sigh, Harmony sat up. She wondered why her sister couldn’t just leave her alone, at times. True, things were getting a little slow, and as much as she would hate to admit it, Treppe’s non-official reprimand was pretty serious in itself. What if the mission really did fail because of her inability to keep her own people in line? Harmony felt a slight pang of guilt as she pondered Mel’s words in her head.

“I do,” she said in a softer voice, nodding, “but please, trust me with this one. I know what I’m doing. I won’t screw this up.”

On the other hand, though Melody was always so concerned, so anxious, wanting to get things done right here, right now, right that way and so on. Typical soldier, in Harmony’s mind. If those methods worked for her, fine, but why in the blue hell she’d have to impose them over Harmony as well was beyond her.

“Well, forgive me if your reassurance doesn’t exactly reassure me,” Melody joked bitterly as she crossed her arms again, turned around and looked away.

Harmony was having a hard time controlling her temper too, but she *had* learnt something in the past, and one of those things was that you need to come to terms with facts sometimes and just let it all flow. So she sighed and hugged Melody from behind.

“Don’t worry, sis. It’s going to be okay, promise. Trust me?”

Melody shrugged. “I suppose I have no other options, Harm, do I.”

“Yep,” Harm said with a giggle. “You can spank me if I fail!” she laughed.

“Big news,” Melody rolled her eyes, but then she turned around to face her sister, and pointed a finger at her. “But jokes aside, this is an official mission: even though technically I’m not your commanding officer, I’m still officially responsible for your conduct, and to my eyes that means I can’t spank you if your conduct is less-than-perfect, but mark my words, Harm: you promised you wouldn’t screw this up and I trust you, ‘cause you’re a good girl and a hard worker when you want to... but don’t disappoint me. Is that clear?” She glared at her in a no-nonsense, firm way.

Like many times before, Harmony knew that look, and had learnt not to argue with her sister when given it. So she just nodded, eyes downcast. “Yes, Melody. I won’t screw it up.”

~*~

I should never have made that promise, Harmony thought angrily as she sat next to her sister in a small meeting room aboard the ship.

Professor Hart had just finished giving her quietly disappointed lecture aimed specifically at the young genius. That thin, severe woman had told her just how badly she had behaved in her inability to discipline herself and her subordinates. It hadn’t lasted long, but that was Professor Hart’s way, short, blunt and to the point. That wasn’t the worst of it though.

The worst was that now Instructor Treppe was giving a lecture on much the same thing, but to Melody.

It’s not fair! Harmony protested silently as Treppe gave Melody her dressing down. It wasn’t Melody’s fault the calculations hadn’t been completed yet. It’s my fault. She even warned me! How did I let it get to this point?

But what was done was done. Or rather, not done, and Harmony’s team was still hours away from finishing the calculations required of them. They were now officially behind schedule. And as captain of this mission, it was not Harmony who would bear the brunt of the repercussions, but Melody.

Instructor Treppe’s lecture continued and suddenly, Harmony couldn’t stand it any longer.

“Enough!” she shouted, gaining her the attention of all in the room. “Sir, this is not Mel’s fault. It’s mine,” she said into the sudden silence.

Instructor Treppe frowned. “Ms. Nocturne, I am aware of the Math Department’s failings in this matter. If you had been listening, you would have heard me just explain why Captain Nocutrne is also to blame.”

Harmony shook her head. “No, sir.”

Treppe’s frown deepened. “Ms. Nocturne, I would appreciate it if you would respect my authority in this situation and keep quiet.”

“No sir, I won’t!” Harmony found herself shouting.

Sitting quietly at attention, Melody wished she dared break protocol and tell her sister to shut the heck up, but considering Instructor Treppe’s current mood, she knew that would not help the situation. Instead she pleaded silently for Professor Hart to step in and stop Harmony before something unforgivable was said.

“As a civilian advisor aboard this ship I am not required to recognize your command,” Harmony plowed on. “Furthermore, I believe it is my job to point out to those in military service when they are wrong.”

At that point, Melody’s pleas were granted as Professor Hart stepped forward and fixed Harmony with a furious look. Hart succeeded where Treppe had failed in that Harmony was immediately quiet.

The two beats of silence that followed were the loudest and longest the nocturne girls had ever experienced.

Then Instructor Treppe cleared his throat. “Well. I think that this meeting is over. You will both be served with pending official reprimands. If we can arrive home on schedule the reprimands will not be permanent.”

Then Instructor Treppe and Professor Hart turned and left the room. A minute later, Melody stood and left as well without saying a word to her sister. Melody stayed in her seat only a moment longer.

~*~

“She wasn’t wrong you know,” Hart said to Treppe as they walked down the hallway to their respective quarters.

Treppe shrugged, “I suppose not, but I don’t appreciate such outbursts. It’s of no matter however, they’ve still fallen behind schedule.”

“You don’t think they’ll be able to get back on schedule?”

Treppe stopped in front of his door and turned to look at Professor Hart. “They’re young, but great at what they do. We’ll just have to wait and see.”

~*~

Melody walked a few feet in front of Harmony, never turning back but talking a mile a minute. She kept repeating how defying Treppe’s authority like that was totally out of place regardless of the circumstances, and Harmony kept repeating how she was just trying to defend her and take her own part of guilt for what happened.

She felt genuinely sorry for having been so careless in the first place, and was only now starting to realise the entity of her mistake in Treppe’s office. At the moment, she was probably being considered as the silly child who can’t keep her feet on the ground when it really matters – and Melody as the spineless captain unable to keep her people in line. She wondered if her sister’s career was going to be screwed up as well as her own.

“I’m sorry, really! I swear, Mel, I... please... don’t be so mad. I’ll get to work on it right now.”

“Oh sure you will, and I’m not mad, I’m furious!” Melody roared. “I told you to make sure you and your guys wouldn’t procrastinate. We had a deal, Harmony, and you broke it! I’m so furious I could spank you so hard you’d never sit down until we get back to Earth!”

They were lucky the corridor was deserted when she exclaimed that. Harmony felt a familiar pang of guilt and fear and her stomach formed tight knots. She knew those sensations all too well.

“I suppose,” she just muttered.

“Well, tell you what...” They reached the laboratories and Melody motioned for Harmony to walk in. “Stay in there and work until the end of next shift, I want this mission to be back on schedule. Then go straight back to our quarters and meet me there. I need to think about it. Understand?”

Harmony had rarely felt so bad about something, and the anger she was still feeling sure wasn’t helping much. But she was very determined to make up for lost time, so she muttered a subdued ‘yes Melody’ and got to work.

~*~

Admiral Tarses’ call had been a total surprise. He had reached Melody through the intercom and said he wanted a private, non-official meeting in his quarters right away. The girl would’ve just wanted to spend a few minutes alone before regaining her post, but there was no refusing such a request from the greatest personality in the fleet, even if it wasn’t a direct order.

So she found herself shifting from foot to foot and looking at the ground, standing by the door in his quarters as he spoke in his deep voice, his face constantly hidden by shadow.

“How old are you, child? Fifteen?”

“Thirteen, sir.” Melody hated to remind people of her youth.

“Thirteen... I was a few weeks short of twenty when I commanded my first simulated mission like this, and I was already considered the best,” Tarses stated in an atone voice.

“I know, sir. Times have changed, though.”

Tarses quirked an eyebrow. “I do not need you to remind me that, little girl. I have helped these times change, don’t forget that.”

Melody wanted to be six feet underground. “I’m sorry sir, I didn’t mean to be rude...”

“And learn to acknowledge a praise when you get one.”

“Yes, sir. Thank you for your compliment, sir.”

“Hmph,” Tarses grumbled. He moved his wheelchair around the desk, making Melody all the more nervous, until at last he stopped in front of her. “That sister of yours... what’s her name?”

“Harmony Joan Nocturne, sir, second-level Logical Theoretic of...”

“Harmony will suffice. She’s a handful, isn’t she.”

It was Melody’s turn to sigh. “Quite much, sir.”

“One wouldn’t say you’re twins.”

“We are actually triplets, sir. Our sister Symphony is currently on Earth.”

“Ah, I see. Well, one more reason to be shocked. She is so... unruly, to say the least, while you are constantly in control of things.”

“Thank you, sir. I do my best.”

“No, you don’t. Harmony is the living proof.”

“I...” Melody hesitated. Where was this going? “I beg your pardon, sir?”

“It is useless to be self-disciplined if one can’t impose that same discipline to their co-workers,” Admiral Tarses stated. “In my case, I just need to roll this chair in a room for everyone to snap to attention, but truth be told, that is childish. There are other ways. Harmony is a natural, just as you are, and like this third sister of yours probably is too. But she doesn’t have the touch, little girl. You only have that. You got the lead. You’re the one she looks up to, that you like it or not.”

Melody gulped and stared blankly in front of her as protocol required, not moving a muscle.

“Where are your parents?”

“Deceased in the Cormoran Incident, sir. About one year ago.”

“I see. Then you keep her in line. I don’t care how you do it, but do it. Do yourself and her a favour, because you don’t want official reprimands. Dismissed.”

~*~

“I think Admiral Tarses is right, Mel.”

Symphony chewed on a paint-stained straw of hair as she spoke. She looked and was happy to be speaking to her sister, even though she was sorry to learn there was trouble to deal with.

“I don’t know, sis,” Melody sighed.

She sat in front of her terminal, while in the adjacent room Harmony had tossed her clothes off and was laying on her bed on her tummy, nervously biting her tongue. She had said a quickly hi to Symph and couldn’t overhear now.

“I don’t want to spank her. It’s as simple as that.”

“Why?”

“It’s... well... I don’t know, just not proper. I’m an officer and she’s a civilian, this is official, there’s pending reprimands and... you know. I hate to mix things up.”

“Gotcha. But still... I guess you’re a sister first and then a captain, but that’s just my two cents,” Symphony said in a little voice as she diverted her eyes from the screen.

“Your two cents are cool, sis,” Melody forced herself to smile as she thought it through. “Hey, did you turn in your shadow projection study on time?”

Symph blushed. “Kinda... I was late to class and Wiluly was tapping his foot and was getting cranky. But I got top marks!”

Mel smiled for real this time. “Way to go, Symph. You’re the best. Tardy, but best.”

“Naw... Hey, gotta go back to this canvas before it dries off, ‘kay?...”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Do the right thing, Mel,” Symphony said, then she kissed her hand and touched the screen. “Call tonight, you two. Promise? Don’t leave me alone.”

“Yeah, promise,” Melody repeated the gesture. “And thanks for talking.”

“Don’t mention it. Bye!”

As the screen went off, Melody dried her sweaty palms on her uniform, then took a deep breath and walked to the other side of the quarters. If she’d had doubts, they were gone now and she knew exactly what to do – and most of all, she knew why.

For a moment, Melody just stood in the doorway, contemplating her sister who was staring at the bed covers, still fidgeting nervously. Then she cleared her throat. Harmony jumped at the sound and sat up turning her attention to Melody.

“After thinking about the situation and receiving counsel… I’ve decided to spank you, Harm.”

Harmony gave a nervous grin. “Symph told you to spank me?”

“No, she suggested I do the right thing. And she’s not the only one. Admiral Tarses also… firmly suggested that I do something.”

Harmony’s eyes went wide. “Tarses told you to spank me?”

Melody frowned. “That’s Admiral Tarses. And he didn’t tell me to spank you. He sees our relationship for what it is and suggested that I take action to keep you in line.” Melody sighed. “I didn’t want to spank you during the mission, Harm.”

“I know. But I didn’t give you any choice, did I?”

Again Melody disagreed with her sister. “There’s still a choice, I could simply not spank you and instead demand that you get us back on schedule. But that’s not really the way things work between us. It would be… unfair.”

Harmony rubbed at her bare bottom nervously. “To you or me?”

Melody sat down upon the bed next to Harmony and took her sister’s shoulders, guiding the mathematician firmly across her lap. “To you, Harm. And you know it.” Melody slapped Harmony’s right thigh sharply eliciting a yelp of surprise.

The next several spanks landed in no preset pattern all over Harmony’s bottom. Harmony managed to bite back most of her cries but Mel was spanking hard. After only five or six spanks, Harmony was emitting a high pitched moan.

“I asked you Harmony,” Melody admonished as she spanked. “I asked you to keep your people in line and on task.”

“I know, I kn-owww ow ow ow!”

“I warned you too. I told you of the unofficial reprimand.” Melody peppered Harmony’s slightly chubby bottom, watching as it bounced with each strike and turned a stinging pink. “You should have heeded the warning.”

“I’m- sorry!” Harmony gasped between sobs. Her face was damp from sweat and tears. Her fists tightly clenched as she tensed before each spank.

“It should not have…” and here Melody punctuated each word with a resounding spank, possibly harder than she had ever spanked one of her sibs before, “come (Spank!) to (Spank!) this (Spank!).” Each of those spanks was followed by a squeal of pain and contrition.

Melody took several deep breaths to calm down. Her own hair was damp with sweat and her palm stung. Harmony was limp over Melody’s lap crying her heart out creating a damp spot on the bed where her tears fell.

“It’s okay, Harm,” Melody said soothingly as her sister cried. “It’s okay now. I love you and I have faith you’ll get us back on schedule.” Melody continued to croon to her sister gently until Harmony crawled off her lap and levered herself to her knees.

“I-I already ha-have,” Harmony said though her heavy breathing.

“What?”

Harmony took a few more moments to catch her breath. “The calculations are done, we can leave for Earth when you’re ready. Captain.”

Melody hugged her sister hard.

~*~

A bunch of untidy drawings crowded Symphony Nocturne’s sketchbook as the girl waited for the training ship Sulaco to land at the El Mahaara Interplanetary Spaceport. She had a full view of the landing pad from where she sat and was almost dying with anticipation. A soothing male voice announced on the speakers in a multitude of languages that the arrival was scheduled in 5 minutes...

Sure enough, Symphony soon heard the familiar engine roar as the giant steel monster soared overhead and deposited itself on the mile-wide pad with the delicacy of a butterfly. “Yippee!” the girl exclaimed as she gathered her stuff and bolted from her seat.

She made her way through the crowd to the gates where the Academy trainees usually came from, and she waited in a row with many others. It felt weird to be the only youngster in a bunch of parents waiting for their kids, but she got over it as soon as she saw her sisters walking towards her.

Their bags flung over their shoulders, Melody and Harmony were lost in carefree chatter and didn’t even notice the storm rushing their way and hugging them so tight they were almost wrestled to the floor.

“Welcome back oh my God I’m so happy to see you!” Symph chanted as she smiled broadly. She eagerly kissed their cheeks before settling in between them and taking them both by the hand.

“Wow, that’s what I call a welcome-home party. Nice to see ya sis,” said Harmony.

“Yeah, seems like ages,” echoed Melody.

“I missed you two so much. But hey you’ve been great!... everyone’s talking about how the mission was a success despite the problems and how class is going to be the year’s best and...”

“Easy now,” Melody chimed in. “That remains to be seen, ya know. Still a week to the real end of term.”

“Yup,” said Harmony as they walked towards the transportation area, where they’d hop on a local shuttle which would take them back to the Academy buildings. “But we escaped the official reprimands. That’s something good already.”

“Oh definitely, I was so sorry when I knew, err...” Symphony stopped and there was an awkward silence for a moment as she looked at her sisters. “Well, you know. So it was alright in the end?”

Harmony sighed, one hand instinctively reaching for her backside. “If you call that ‘alright’.”

Melody laughed. “Aww, she always whines, but she’s good in the end. Like someone I know.” She made a show of tickling Symphony’s belly, and the girl rewarded her with a fit of giggles.

“Felt alone?”

Symphony faked a pout. “Huh-huh...”

“Oh come on, we called everyday.”

“Still...”

“Little witch’s kidding.”

The girl smiled. “Yes I am. But really, I’m glad you’re back.”

“Glad too. Whatcha been doin’?”

“Stuff. Good stuff. You gotta hear this, the weirdest thing happened: this guy called and said he wanted a picture painted or something, I’m not sure. Says he wants to see me tomorrow in his office but it’s on the other side of the planet and it’s so boring to travel and...”

She stopped when Melody and Harmony looked at her in disbelief.

“Way to go, Symph!” exclaimed Harm.

“Yeah sis, great chance. You’re so going!”

“Am notttt...”

“Are too!” Melody shook her head and hugged her. “Ah, no time for this now. I’m tired. I want a double coffee and a Double Cheeseburger and a double nap.”

Symphony smiled as Harmony sighed. “Add a double ice pack for my bum and I’m in.”

Her sisters’ laughter was loud and clear throughout the spaceport.

– The End –

This story does not necessarily represent the authors’ point of view about anything. It is simply a work of fiction. The characters herein portrayed are invented and do not resemble reality to the best of the authors’ knowledge. This account is entirely fictitious. Any similarities to other persons, living or deceased, is purely coincidental.

This story is written for the sane amusement of adult readers. It does not intend harm and does not promote violence of any kind, including spanking. No offence is meant to any group, ethnicity or individuals.

The authors do not necessarily endorse the non-consensual disciplinary spanking of actual children and/or teenagers.

Copyright © 2004 Haley Brimley, Lawrence Kinden. Contact for information and/or feedback.