A beam of light streaked itself across the face of Stephan Ogden, disturbing a rather good dream in his opinion. Stephan was never a morning person, and this little wake up was as subtle to him as the school's fire alarms. He rolled away from his window, struggling to grasp the last straws of the previous nights rest. It's my birthday, he thought, I deserve a few more minute sleep.

Minutes which seemed like hours passed, until Stephan lurched upright in his bed. Today is my birthday, which means… "Dad's coming home," The words were but a murmur, barely audible to even himself. He threw off the blanket covering him, this revelation shutting out any ideas of further slumber. Dad was going to be there at three o'clock that Saturday afternoon, and since shore leave was always a rare occasion, he had to be presentable.

Picking up a pair of ragged-looking jeans from the floor, he energetically bounded across his rather small room to the door. Entering the hallway, he used his momentum to spring upon the handrail leading to the lower half of the apartment. His father may be a captain, but Alliance wages in the military weren't always so generous. Besides, his mother had insisted upon living "solely on their needs" as she would put it. Sliding down the rail, he came to a stop landing in the kitchen in front of a startled middle aged woman with dark brown hair.

"Stephan Ogden, what the hell are you doing?" Marie Ogden said after the initial shock had faded away, her emerald eyes ablaze with fury. "You're going to break your neck one of these days, young man, and I won't be sobbing at your funeral."

"Relax Mom," came her son's reply, clearly not taking her scornful tone in its entire seriousness. "I'll be damned if all it'll take a set of stairs to do me in." He smiled slightly as he headed through the kitchen to another corridor. Marie's brow furrowed slightly.

"And what did I tell you about that language? If I hear it again I'll slap the piss outta you!" She yelled at him, her empty threat falling upon deaf ears as he pretended to be out of earshot. They both knew that she wouldn't do anything to him on his birthday, but it wouldn't do to push his luck. He decided it to be safer to censor himself a little more.

Samantha Ogden heard three sharp raps on the bathroom door. She had just gotten out of the shower a few minutes prior, and had been in the process of doing her hair when her twin brother shouted through the door.

"Get out Sam, I need to get ready." She smiled. This was going to be fun.

"Why don't you wait your turn? Or maybe I just might misplace my hairbrush for awhile?" she could feel her sibling's rising temper flow through the door, and couldn't help not suppressing a giggle.

"I'm really not in the mood right now, or maybe I'll get my precision laser out of my room and slice through the control panel?" It was his turn to smile as he heard her gasp in response.

"You… you can't do that!" she stammered, the shock and annoyance clear. "You'll, you'll break the panel or something, and Mom said you couldn't get that last month. She wouldn't buy it for you!"

"That didn't stop me from looking up some homemade schematics off the extranet for examples. I built it." Stephan stated matter-of-factly. He was proud of his technical proficiencies, a natural gift of his, even if it did make him come off as arrogant.

"What?" His sister gasped.

"You sound surprised?" he smirked, realizing that this was more than an argument, but rather a ploy his sister was using to buy time. But he was too amused to stop; he knew her responses were genuine in their entirety.

"You can't of, that's impossible!"

"Not really. Especially if you're best friend works at the local appliance store. It's pretty useful knowing what components and equipment that are defective, getting thrown out, or on sale are. Actually, I got the ezo from…" The door opened, cutting him off. His twin stepped out, her long, black hair flowing down her back, blonde streaks shining in the light. Glitter sparkled below her dazzling, light emerald eyes.

"I don't care," she smiled, walking slightly toward the kitchen before adding, "You're gonna blow yourself up one of these days, y'know?" Stephan smiled.

"Yea, I know."

After a quick shower, Stephan himself off, his black hair falling down to its original shaggy state after a few minutes. A young boy with dark emerald eyes looked back at him through the mirror as he applied cleaning paste to his toothbrush. Unlike everyone else in his family, his lacked the sparkle or shine accustomed to the Ogden family. He placed the brush in his mouth as he put on his worn, ragged pants. A hole was developing in its right knee, and the ankles were frayed in places. Stephan rushed to the kitchen for a quick bite before returning to his room for a shirt. It was noon, which meant he had three hours.

Stephan's room wasn't as homely as his parent's or sister's, but it served his purposes. Mounted on the walls were certain models of Alliance and alien cruisers, dreadnoughts, frigates, fighters, and carriers, all of them built by him over the years. A work bench was bolted into the far corner, put up by him and his father four years ago. He walked over to the bench, and picked up a small device before proceeding to his closet.

I'd better make sure this stays in a safe place for awhile, he thought, as he placed the device in his pocket. Sam probably won't keep her mouth shut. After wresting on a t-shirt with the logo I Love NY on it, his mother called for him to go to the living room.

"Kids," his mother started, the small hint of disappointment suppressed from her voice. "You're father isn't going to be able to come. His shore leave permission has been revoked, and he is being transferred to reinforce the Attican Traverse." Stephan's heart fell, devastated by this development. It had been a year and a half since he last saw his father.

"But," his mother continued. "He does have permission to chat with us for today." This didn't help the twin's disposition at all, though their mother tried. Marie rustled around behind the couch, pulling out two boxes, one wrapped with blue paper, the other pink. She briefly lit fourteen candles on the cake Stephan had overlooked on the coffee table in front of them. It read "Happy Fifteenth Birthday! August 17, 2154" on the front of it.

"What's in them?" Samantha asked.

"Open them and find out." was their mother's only response.

The twins ripped the paper off of the boxes. Stephan's eyes lit up, as much as they could for their rather dark hue, as he realized the contents.

"An Aldrin Labs Bluewire omni-tool!" he yelled in surprise. Marie smiled.

"Yes, your father and I thought it was time you two deserved omni-tools of your own, instead of borrowing school lend outs."

"Hey," Samantha complained. "Mine's not a name brand!"

"Honey," her mother comforted. "We thought that Stephan would like one from the manufacturers that supplied your father and the Alliance. Besides, he'll use his more than you will." Samantha grumbled. Stephan took out two plastic molds from the package, each with clear pads inside. One had a large pad, which he placed on his left palm. It spread a warm sensation up his arm as it linked with his nervous systems. He placed the others on his fingertips, and they melded the same way. A request for a multi-way chat immediately popped up on his omni-tool. He smiled.

"Commanding Officer on deck!" he announced as he accepted.

"XO Ogden is relieved," came Captain Charles Ogden's voice through the speakers. Stephan grinned even wider. "Happy Birthday son."