Three Square Meals Ch. 107

He looked at her in surprise, then scowled at the two reporters and stomped off towards his office, yelling at a startled intern to make him a drink.

"You look incredible, Jehanna," Bill murmured, studying her in admiration. "I can't believe you were kidnapped only last week; you look the best I've ever seen you! Camera-ready without any makeup!"

"Perhaps being tortured agrees with me?" she joked.

He suddenly looked aghast and gave her a one-armed hug. "God, I'm such an insensitive ass," he mumbled. "Sorry, J, will you forgive me? We were all worried sick when you went missing."

"There's nothing to forgive, Bill," she replied, embracing him back while trying not to aggravate his shoulder. She placed a gentle hand on his cast. "You poor thing, I can't believe you were shot."

"You know me... anything for the sympathy ratings," he replied, trying to make light of it, but Jehanna could see that his confidence had been badly shaken. She brushed her fingers against his cheek and continued, "I need to speak with Avery but we'll catch up afterwards, okay?"

He nodded, giving her a grateful smile. "It's really good to have you back. It wasn't the same around here without you."

Jehanna glided across the newsroom, exchanging subdued waves and smiles with the handful of reporters that were in the office that day. There was a mournful air pervading the place, so unlike the feverish excitement that normally sent an electric thrill through her body. She could see more signs of fighting here, with several overhead lights broken and bullet holes marking the walls. The door to Avery's office had been kicked open, the lock broken, but she was able to push it quietly shut behind her after walking inside.

Avery was standing by the long windows, watching the evening sun cast long shadows from the city's skyscrapers. Jehanna walked over to stand beside him, then slipped her hand into his as she stared at the lights flickering on to hold back the dark of night.

He glanced down at their joined hands in surprise, then looked at her with concern, picking up on her sombre mood. "Are you sure you're alright, Jehanna?"

She hesitated then shook her head. "No, not really. My friends were attacked while making a stand for free speech and I feel like I let everyone down by not being here with you."

"That's the last thing I would've wanted," he said gently. "I would never have forgiven myself if you'd been shot for presenting a story I'd approved."

"Like Bill?" she asked, giving him a lopsided smile.

Avery winced and shook his head. "Don't... I feel terrible about that."

Jehanna was startled by how genuinely upset he was, so uncharacteristic for the brash newsman. She slipped her arms around him and gave him a hug. "I don't know what I'd have done if something terrible happened to you, Avery. You've been like a father to me these last five years... I just... I'm so glad you're safe."

He smiled and gently rubbed her back. "I know exactly what you mean. I was terrified when you were abducted... I've never been more scared in my life." Pulling back to look at her face, he continued, "How bad was it?"

She gave him a brave smile. "The bed was a bit lumpy and the room service was appalling."

Shaking his head, he kept eye-contact with her. "You can talk to me, Jehanna."

Her expression softened as she saw his heartfelt concern. "I was scared, Avery. It was obvious they were going to torture me to find out what I knew about the Lion. They tried to break me with sleep deprivation and didn't feed me for several days... I made it difficult for them and got smacked around a few times, but I knew John and the girls would come for me." She made no attempt to hide the relief on her face. "And they did."

"I made a terrible mistake letting you front all that pro-Lion propaganda," Avery said, his expression deeply troubled. "I should have stopped it weeks ago... I was worried it would make you a target. I-I just didn't expect High Command to push back so hard."

She shook her head, steely determination in her eyes. "We had a responsibility to tell the people what was really going on. I didn't become a journalist to conceal the truth, I wanted to shine a bright light on it!"

"Ah, a crusader..." he noted with a wry smile. "I vaguely remember the days when I still had principles."

"You can't fool me, Avery," Jehanna replied, her tone affectionate. "You were just as eager as I was to see Buckingham brought down... and we did it... he's finally gone."

"And now we have Fleet Admiral Devereux to replace him," Avery said, stepping away from her and returning to his desk. "I wonder how long it'll be before absolute power corrupts her too..."

"Trust me, she's nothing like Buckingham," the dusky reporter insisted, shaking her head. "Lynette's a crusader like me... but she's campaigning for humanity and our place in the galaxy."

Avery raised an eyebrow. "So it's 'Lynette' now is it? It must be nice to know the Fleet Admiral on a first-name basis."

"You're looking at her new Press Liaison," Jehanna replied with a proud grin. "I've been given a permanent office next to hers on Olympus... and unrestricted access to the Admiralty!"

He whistled appreciatively. "How on Terra did you manage that?!"

"The Lion saved her life... and he called in a favour, putting in a good word for me," she replied, her brown eyes twinkling with excitement. "I've been a very busy girl for the last two days..."

Avery studied her for a moment, his lips lifting into a knowing smile. "Alright, what've you got for me?"

Jehanna reached into her bag and started to pull out data-sticks, describing each one as she handed them over. "An interview with the Lion inside Tartarus, Buckingham's highly-illegal secret research base. Exclusive Lioness interviews... with every single one of them. Footage taken from the Lion and Lionesses helmet cams during the Battle of Terra." She dug around for the last one, then grinned as she placed it in his hand. "And the first official interview with Fleet Admiral Devereux!"

He stared at her wide-eyed with astonishment, then fumbled with one of the data-sticks, slotting it into his desk console. Avery watched the first minute of the interview with John, then he broke out into a huge grin. "Your desk is going to be groaning under the weight of all the awards you'll get for these! Outstanding work, Miss Elani!"

She beamed back at him. "Surely you'd expect nothing less, Chief?"

Avery rose from his chair and strode over to the door. He glanced back at her and gave her a playful wink, then inhaled deeply and threw the door open with a crash. "Intern? Where's my goddamn coffee?! I didn't ask you to grow the bloody coffee beans first!"

"Right here, Mr. Gibson, Sir!" the intern gasped, rushing over with the mug and wincing when the hot drink slopped onto his hand.

Looking at him with disdain, Avery carefully took the mug then handed over a data stick, making sure to place it in the intern's hand that hadn't been doused in coffee. "Get this to programme scheduling! Tell them to run it on the 9pm timeslot!"

"But the programme schedule was finalised an hour ago!" the intern protested, his eyes widening.

"They better get cracking then!" Avery roared at the shocked young man. He glowered at him and added. "What're you still doing here? Get moving!"

"Yes, Mr. Gibson, Sir!" the young man gulped, before turning tail and running across the newsroom.

Avery slammed his office door behind him, then relaxed and gave Jehanna a furtive smile. "I do have a certain reputation to uphold..."

She gaped at him in surprise, then burst out laughing.

***

John pictured the sweeping barrel of a Tachyon Lance in his mind, remembering the graceful shape of the fluted grooves that ran for six-metres before ending in an intricate muzzle. Dana had showed him the updated schematics earlier that afternoon, practically dancing with glee as she described the embedded flux heat-exchangers that were intended for those channels. While his Chief Engineer had been working to modify the original Thrall blueprints, she'd suddenly had a brainwave, miraculously inventing the next generation of heat sink.

Alyssa kept her eyes fixed on the Crystal Alyssium she was shaping, her brow deeply furrowed with concentration. "John... how many of Dana's inventions are actually her idea? Or do you reckon they're all Progenitor hand-me-downs?"

John didn't answer straight away, his jaw clenched tight as he forced the liquid metal to match the shape in his mind. Re-formed for the fifteenth time, the Crystal Alyssium moved like molasses, the densely packed Etherium lattice fighting him every step of the way. It was like using a feather to bend a steel beam and was using every bit of his willpower to maintain the telekinetic shaping. With a tortured groan he finally released his will, letting the newly-shaped barrel float to the floor. He leaned heavily against an ore container and inhaled deeply, then slowly let it all out as he tried to steady his breathing.

"It's hard to say," he finally replied, wiping the sweat from his brow. "All the military tech is probably Progenitor-related, but not everything she's come up with has been intended for combat. She invented the armour-equipping frames after reverse-engineering Kirrix carapaces, then there were the grav-tubes, the air-filtration system, and the holo-disguise for Lynette." Glancing her way, he added, "Why do you ask?"

Alyssa floated the completed Tachyon Lance barrel over to the stack of eight they had already created. "I was just thinking... about the future." She tottered over to him and slumped against the same crate, resting her head against his shoulder. "When you finally unlock all the Progenitor tech in your mind, we're going to need Dana to start improving it to give us an edge... but what if she can't?"

He put his arm around the troubled blonde. "It's not like you to have doubts, you're normally our cheeriest cheerleader. What's wrong?"

"Just tired I guess," she said, wavering unsteadily. "I'd forgotten just how hard shaping could be when you really push yourself."

"Yeah, I know the feeling," he replied, twisting his torso to ease his muscles. "But I don't get why my back's killing me when I'm shaping things with my mind."

"Rachel said it's because we lock our bodies up while we're straining to concentrate," the blonde murmured, leaning into him.

John glanced down at Alyssa, then scooped her up into his arms. "Come on, time for bed. You're dead on your feet." He looked at the orderly stack of Tachyon Lance parts with satisfaction. "We made a huge leap shaping that many times... Faye's boys have enough there to start building the first batch of guns; let's wrap the rest up tomorrow."

She rested her head against his chest. "I'm not going to argue with you there... bed sounds lovely."

"You really must be tired... that just sounded relieved rather than seductive," he noted with a playful smile as he walked out of the Cargo Bay towards the grav-tubes.

"I'm not going to be much use to you, unless you've got a secret necrophilia fetish you haven't told me about," she said with a wan smile. "I can manage 'lifeless corpse', but that's about it."

"And with that charming image in mind, I'll respectfully decline your generous invitation," he said with a chuckle.

She looked up at him in confusion. "How're you so chipper? I know you found all that shaping as hard as I did."

The anti-gravity field cast an eerie blue pall over his startled face. "I... I don't know."

*You've been carrying a heavy mental burden for the entire time I've known you,* Edraele said, her tone thoughtful. *Winning that skirmish against your Guide reduced some of that dragging weight. Perhaps that's why you're finding psychic activity easier now?*

*Right... like weight training for my mind,* John agreed, nodding as the idea seemed to fit what he was feeling. *I can't believe I might have to thank that bastard for the mental workout.*

There was a long pause for a moment, before his Maliri Matriarch replied, *I actually meant that it should be easier for you to undertake psychic tasks, now that you've reclaimed another substantial portion of your mind. I hadn't considered the possibility that being in a constant state of war with your own subconscious might have beneficial side-effects.*

*That which does not kill us makes us stronger...* John said with a grim smile. *That's basically been our motto for the last six months.*

Alyssa shook her head. "No, we discussed this before. Our motto is: 'Recruit the galaxy's hottest girls'..."

He laughed, remembering the conversation they'd had a few months earlier. "That's right, we had three others as well: forgive and forget, wipe out all bad guys, and loot all the best tech; now I guess we're adding one more to the list."

"Forgive and forget?" Alyssa asked, raising an eyebrow. "Are you sure? That doesn't sound like us."

*As I recall, it only applied to bad girls who turned over a new leaf,* Edraele said with amusement. *My daughters and I were all eligible.*

John sent her a wry telepathic smile. *Yes, the three of you proved to be quite the handful.*

"Which made taming them all the more satisfying," Alyssa said, giving him a knowing smirk.

He walked into their bedroom and set her down on the bed but couldn't help noticing her erect nipples tenting the fabric of her blouse. "It looks like someone's getting excited... Have you changed your mind about some bedroom action?"

She pulled him down for a kiss, then shook her head. "I'm feeling wasted after all that shaping. I'd like another full tummy tonight, but you'll have a lot more fun fucking one of the girls..."

John cupped her face in his hand and gave her a sympathetic smile. "Get some rest, beautiful. You pushed yourself hard today, I'm proud of you."

Alyssa quickly stripped off, then lay back on the soft sheets and stretched out with a contented sigh. "Damn that feels good..."

He watched her relax on the bed and to his surprise she was asleep in less than a minute, her chest rising and falling in a slow steady rhythm. Pulling the covers over her naked body, he tucked her in, then leaned over to give her a loving kiss on the forehead.

Alyssa murmured in her sleep, "Love you, John..."

"I love you too," he whispered, then walked quietly out of the bedroom.

Out in the corridor, he glanced at one of the overhead cameras as he walked towards the grav-tubes. "Faye, where's Sakura?"

The purple sprite flashed into view beside him. "She's in the dojo with Calara and Helene!"

"What's Helene doing there?" he asked in surprise, stepping into the gravity field.

"She spent most of the day with me getting lessons about the galaxy, so I thought she might like to watch the girls sparring before bedtime," Faye replied, her gossamer wings fluttering a blur. "I hope that was okay?"

"Of course," he quickly replied, feeling a flash of guilt. "I was just feeling bad for neglecting her. I had planned on giving Helene some attention myself, but I've been so busy shaping parts for the Shield Matrix and Tachyon Lances."

Faye shook her head and beamed at him. "I think Helene enjoyed herself today; I know I had fun teaching her. She's a bright girl and very curious about aliens and their cultures."

"Thanks for looking after her," John said gratefully, striding out onto Deck Three. "I really want her to feel happy and settled with us."

Faye swooped ahead then twirled around, so that she was hovering in front of him, a cute frown on her elfin face. "John... do you have a moment to talk?"

He stopped by the dojo door and looked at her with concern. "Is everything alright?"

Faye tangled her finger in her long purple hair, playing absent-mindedly with the tendril. "I just... I agree with what you said before, about Helene."

John folded his arms across his chest and studied the holographic sprite. "About leaving her with Edraele if we decide to start a family together?"

"Well yes, that too... but I actually meant about involving Helene in the fighting," Faye replied, her voice quiet and thoughtful. "Please don't do it."

He looked at her in surprise. "I think this is the first time you've asked me for anything. I'm not disagreeing with you, but... why?"

She nibbled at her cupid-bow lip, her expression conflicted. "Helene's not like the other girls you've rescued... she's sheltered... innocent. What happened with her and that Abandoned boy was terrible, but she's led a simple life... working crops and looking after babies. She has a charming way about her which I don't think would survive if you turned her into a battle-hardened Lioness... and that thought makes me very sad."

"I know what you mean," John said quietly, nodding his agreement. "I don't want that future for her either."

The sprite hovered closer, her big luminous eyes watching him closely. "When the fighting's done, you'll need someone around who hasn't been exposed to that kind of darkness... I think all of you will."

He winced, remembering how distraught Dana had been after the Battle of Terra. Locking eyes with the anxious girl hovering before him, he gave her a grateful smile. "You're right, Faye. Thank you, I really mean it," he said sincerely, reaching out to brush his fingers down her bare arm.

When they passed through her holographic image she giggled at his startled expression. "Yep, I still love it when you forget!"

He laughed along with her. "You need to bring your body down here so I can give you a proper hug."

"Will do!" Faye replied, waving goodbye as she blinked out of existence.

John entered the dojo's training room and nearly tripped over the block of Crystal Alyssium that had been left in the middle of the room. He frowned, wondering why it had been abandoned there, then went through the door to the sparring area. When the door opened, the ringing clash of metal striking metal reached his ears, and his attention was immediately drawn to the two women locked in combat.

Both Calara and Sakura were wearing Paragon suits, each wielding one of Sakura's training ninjato. They circled each other, with the Latina lashing out with her short blade and Sakura effortlessly parrying. John immediately recognised the basic Kenjutsu strikes and watched as Calara went through the kata. Her form was excellent, giving the impression that she'd been studying the sword for months if not years.

He waited until they had finished their set then politely applauded. "Very nice."

The two girls turned to smile at him and Calara bowed. "Thank you!"

"I can see why you enjoyed training her, she's got an incredibly retentive memory," Sakura said with an affectionate glance at her olive-skinned companion. "Believe it or not, I only started teaching her a couple of hours ago. We've been helping Dana in the workshop for most of the day."

Calara blushed at the praise, but John could see she was proud to have impressed her demanding instructor.

"I can't wait to see what you can do after a week," John said to the Latina, giving her an encouraging smile.

"Hey, John!" Helene said as she bounded over to give him a hug from where she'd been sitting by the wall. "I was going to say hello when you came in, but I didn't want to disturb you while you were watching them fight."

"Hi, gorgeous," he said, placing his hands on her shapely hips. "What did you think of the sparring?"

"Really exciting!" she gushed, her blue eyes alight. "The way they move is amazing... they're so quick and sure of themselves!"

"I think I'll find it a lot harder once we move past the basics," Calara said with a self-deprecating smile.

Sakura glided across the mat towards John and said, "Actually, while you're here, would you mind making us some more training weapons?"