Three Square Meals Ch. 118

Rachel looked at her in confusion. "Are you upset that I woke you? If so, I'm sorry. I thought it prudent to regenerate the damage to your thigh as quickly as possible, just in case there are any sinister side-effects from your Astral injury."

"I'm just missing John," Alyssa explained, reaching up to stroke the brunette's cheek. "Thank you for healing me."

"It's been hard being away from him," Rachel agreed, lying down again and cuddling her matriarch. "I really envy the two of you seeing John on the Astral Plane."

Sakura smiled as she admitted, "I'd still leap at the chance at another Astral trip just to see him again, despite all the dangers. I don't even mind that I was seriously injured... it was so worth it!"

Rachel reached across Alyssa to brush Sakura's silky black hair away from her face. "My diagnosis is that you're suffering from a serious love-addiction."

"Is there any cure?" the Asian girl asked, kissing Rachel's fingertips.

"Afraid not... it's a terminal case," Rachel joked, then her grey eyes widened as she realised the more sinister alternate meaning to what she'd just said. Looking deeply unsettled, she stammered, "Shit... I didn't mean it like that!"

Sakura shook her head. "It's okay... I know what you meant."

Alyssa rolled her eyes and hugged the brunette closer. "Just don't make any jokes like that when John's around. You'd set him off on a guilt trip that'd take us weeks to shake him out of."

Rachel nodded, then pulled away from the blonde and sat up with a determined look on her face. "I'm going to start work on my presentation..."

"I didn't mean to chase you out of bed," Alyssa protested with a frown of apology.

"You didn't," the brunette said, leaning down to give her a tender kiss. "But I have a feeling John will need perking up after this morning. I'd like to have everything ready for tonight."

"Do you need any help?" Alyssa offered, sitting up too.

"No, it's okay. You stay in bed," Rachel replied with a grateful smile, slipping out of the covers. "We already covered the basics the other day, then I spoke to Calara and she helped me calculate the most likely outcomes. It'll be interesting to see John's reaction... I don't think he's ever really stopped to think about what would have happened to each of us if we'd never met him."

Sakura shivered, her expression bleak. "I have..."

Rachel leaned across to give her a gentle kiss on the cheek. "And I'm so glad we saved you from that fate."

Alyssa made eye-contact with the brunette as she pulled back. "We'll start your psychic shield training tomorrow, okay?"

"Sounds like fun," Rachel agreed, her face lighting up with anticipation.

She dressed quickly then waved goodbye, leaving Alyssa and Sakura in bed together.

"Any plans this afternoon?" Alyssa asked her bedmate as she slipped under the covers again.

"Why? Do you have something in mind?" Sakura asked with a coy look, tracing her fingertips across the blonde's flat stomach.

Alyssa laughed and shook her head. "Actually, I was just genuinely curious. I'm going to try making contact with the Vulkat Queen this afternoon, so I wasn't attempting to seduce you." Her eyes hooded with lust as she stroked the Asian girl's unblemished golden-brown skin. "But now you mention it..."

Sakura smiled and gave the blonde a quick kiss. "I had planned on finishing the sparring session with Calara this afternoon. Perhaps after you've spoken to Nkkrrit, you'd like to join us in the Dojo? We can make sure your girlfriend gets a really intense workout..."

"I like the way you think," Alyssa said with an eager grin. "Count me in."

They shared an affectionate kiss, then Sakura exited the bedroom to retrieve her sparring gear and training armour from the Officers' Lounge. Left on her own, Alyssa stretched in bed, then checked on John and her fellow matriarchs. John was fast asleep, as was Edraele, but Jade was wide awake and seemed to be in high spirits.

*It sounds like you're having fun,* she said to the Nymph.

*I'm playing with the colonists' children!* Jade gushed, clearly elated. *We're playing tag at the moment! You should hear them laugh, Alyssa... I've never heard a more wonderful sound.*

*I wish I was there,* the blonde said wistfully. *How's John doing?*

*He was really down after the battle. I tried talking to him about it, but he wasn't in the mood for conversation and insisted I get some sleep to recover from being healed. When I woke up an hour ago, he seemed better... but I could tell he was still troubled.*

Alyssa flinched, her heart lurching at the thought of John torturing himself with guilt. *Fuck... I was too harsh with him.*

*The twins kept him busy and he's getting some rest now,* the Nymph said, her voice soothing. She was quiet for a long moment, then continued gently, *I know he scared you, but John needs to keep pushing himself to master his abilities. We should be encouraging him to experiment and be bolder with his powers, not chastise him when he gets creative. He's been held back by his upbringing for too long... and now he needs to unlock his full potential.*

Alyssa's eyes narrowed in suspicion. *Jade... you've been gung-ho about encouraging John for weeks. What's going on?*

*You should have seen him today, Alyssa... he was magnificent,* the Nymph quietly replied. *But I know he can be so much more...*

*How do you know?* the blonde pressed.

Jade faltered, suddenly sounding uncertain. *I-I'm not sure... but I can feel it in my heart...*

Alyssa paused and considered that for a moment. *Alright, we'll play it your way... but only if you promise that you'll help me convince John to stay out of the Astral Plane. It's just too dangerous there; we don't know what the hell we're doing half the time and I'm the only one that can easily reach him if he gets in trouble. You and the rest of the girls can't enter the Astral unless John or I drag you in there with us, so we're usually fighting at a big disadvantage.*

*I promise,* Jade said earnestly. *I'll do whatever I can to encourage him to embrace his abilities, but I'll do my best to dissuade him from any further Astral visits.*

Feeling more at ease than she had in months, Alyssa sent her a grateful telepathic smile. *Thanks, Jade. I appreciate it.*

*We both want what's best for him.* The Nymph waited for a few seconds, then added, *Good luck with your Astral trip, I hope you're able to speak with Nkkrrit.*

Alyssa blushed, suddenly feeling like a huge hypocrite. *That's not the same thing,* she said defensively, sensing Jade's amusement over their bond.

*No... but please be careful anyway.*

*I will.*

Leaving the Nymph to enjoy playing games with the colonist children, Alyssa curled up in the covers. Despite her confident words with John earlier, there was no guarantee that she'd be able to make contact with the Vulkat Queen. What she'd said to Jade still held true: half the time, Alyssa had no idea what the hell she was doing on the Astral Plane... but she had a hunch... and this felt right.

Deciding to act before she started having more doubts, Alyssa closed her eyes and steadied her breathing. She reached out to peel her spirit form away from her body, stepping clear as an ethereal silhouette a moment later. A glance around for threats quickly set her mind at ease, with nothing in sight as far as the eye could see.

When Alyssa had crossed the Astral to visit the Ashanath sub-plane, she had at least been there once before, but she didn't have that history with the Vulkat Queen. She had delved into Nkkrrit's mind during a Spirit Walk, but that was of no help in tracking her down now. Alyssa was hoping that the venerable arachnid would make contact with her... which meant announcing her desire to speak to Nkkrrit. Coughing nervously, she took a superfluous deep breath, then opened her mouth and began to sing.

Alyssa raised her voice to the ancient hymn of the Vulkat, growing more confident with each verse as her bold eldritch call echoed out over the Astral. She felt unfriendly eyes drawn to her before she saw them... then banks of fog appeared on the horizon, making her heart flutter with fear. Resigning herself to giving up on the attempt to contact Nkkrrit, Alyssa ceased her singing and made her way back to her body. Just as she reached out, she saw a black shape in her peripheral vision, the dark presence rushing towards her.

Eyes widening in alarm, Alyssa stumbled towards the sanctuary of her physical form, but the strange sphere came to an abrupt stop right beside her. It was jet-black, with a set of orange stripes running around it vertically. Sensing no hostility from the object and recognising Nkkrrit's markings, Alyssa sighed with relief and placed her hand on the orb... then felt herself being drawn inside.

The Vulkat Queen was waiting for her inside the subplane, the huge arachnid pacing nervously. When Alyssa stumbled inside, Nkkrrit rushed to her side, long forelegs curling around her in a protective embrace.

Concern, fear, worry...

Alyssa felt the Vulkat's flurry of emotion as she hugged her back. *I knew you'd come to me if I called! I was going to leave the Astral when I saw the fog approaching.*

Affection, appreciation, curiosity...

*I wanted to speak to you for a few reasons. First, I just wanted to see if you were doing okay?*

Nkkrrit paused and looked down at Alyssa with her multiple eyes.

Duty, loyalty... friendship...

*Did joining my choir help stave off the loneliness and the grief? If only for a few moments?*

The ancient arachnid raised a jet-black limb and gently caressed Alyssa's cheek. She echoed back the feelings she'd experienced, with a wistful note of longing.

Family, love, belonging...

*I wish you could join us permanently,* Alyssa said, brushing the backs of her fingers against the huge creature's pedipalps, mirroring Nkkrrit's gesture of affection. *Then I'd be able to share those feelings with you all the time.*

Regret, rejection, solitude...

*I'm going to find a way to help you, Nkkrrit,* Alyssa said quietly but firmly, looking into that monstrous inhuman face. *I won't stand by and leave you to this lonely vigil... you've suffered for far too long as it is.*

Gratitude, love... rejection...

Alyssa shook her head and smiled. *You're so stubborn, but I'm not going to force you to do anything you don't want to do.* She paused for a moment, then continued, *I also wanted to thank you for the Eternity Crystals and the Vulkat technical archive you gave us. They made all the difference against the Kintark... we would've had no chance of defeating their armada without that tech.*

Pleasure, relief, surprise...

She could tell that Nkkrrit was startled that the tech archives had made such a big difference. *We haven't been able to translate your tech archives yet, but we found pictures... of the black ships that attacked your people. We were able to reverse engineer some of that technology.*

Astonishment, fear, apprehension...

Feeling a sudden pang of wariness, Alyssa instinctively knew that disclosing John's heritage would be a mistake. Nkkrrit had suffered heartbreaking loss over thousands of years, first watching helplessly as the Vulkat Empire was extinguished by a Progenitor and then witnessing the torturously prolonged extinction of her kind. Alyssa wasn't sure how she could possibly explain that John was a member of the same species responsible for those horrific atrocities, not without risk of permanently alienating Nkkrrit.

*We won't be sharing that technology... there's no way the Brimorians will get their scaly hands on it,* Alyssa said, her voice soothing. *Besides, you don't need to worry. We have plans to deal with the Brimorians... they won't be a thorn in your side for much longer.*

The Vulkat Queen drew back and looked at her curiously, clearly surprised at the blonde's adamant reply. Alyssa could feel the flurry of questions that Nkkrrit wanted to ask, wondering if there was to be war between the Terran Federation and the Brimorian Enclave.

Shaking her head, Alyssa said, *This is personal and we aren't planning to involve the Terrans. If we do end up going to war with the Brimorians, we'll be asking the Maliri for support... they're our allies.*

Nkkrrit stared at her with eight unblinking eyes, not registering any kind of reaction to that news other than bemused curiosity. It was immediately apparent to Alyssa that the wizened creature was unfamiliar with the Maliri and it came as a surprise that the Vulkat had never made contact with the Regency. As she gave it more thought, Alyssa realised that the extinct arachnid civilisation must not have ventured far enough out into space to meet them during the Vulkat Empire's heyday, located as they were on the far side of Brimorian territory. Similarly, the Maliri hadn't left their borders for many thousands of years, so would not have trespassed into the Desolation of Vulkat.

Support, alliance, assistance...

Roused from her thoughts Alyssa looked up at Nkkrrit, who had surprised her once more. *You want to help us fight the Brimorians?*

Ambivalence... vengeance, isolation...

Nodding her understanding, Alyssa murmured, *You'd prefer to stay in your territory and be left alone, but you want to punish the Brimorians for their repeated encroachment into Vulkat Space...* She met the huge spider's black-eyed gaze. *I really appreciate the offer, but we should be able to take care of them ourselves. Perhaps we can get some vengeance on your behalf? We'll be using technology you gave us to punish them, but you won't have to leave Vulkat territory.*

Nkkrrit inclined her head, radiating pleasure at the thought.

*Consider it done,* Alyssa said with a wicked grin. Her expression turned thoughtful as she continued, *Speaking of technology... I actually wanted to ask you about a device that John discovered. We're fighting the Kirrix at the moment, to stop their invasion of Terran Federation territory and to rescue all the colonists they captured. John tracked their hive ships into Kirrix Space and assaulted one of their planets, where he met an ancient hive queen. She was using life support technology that reminded him of yours... so I just wondered if you gave that tech to the Kirrix?*

The Vulkat Queen flinched, cringing backward at the question and looking away from her.

Shame, distaste, regret...

Alyssa stepped closer and cupped Nkkrrit's face in her hand. *What happened?*

The ancient creature focused on Alyssa once more and after a lengthy pause, she tentatively pushed outwards with a mosaic of images and emotions. Making no attempt to resist, Alyssa let the memories sweep over her, drawing her into a vision from a very distant past...

~~~

Nkkrrit related a fleeting snapshot of events taking place many centuries before her time, events she learned about as a young spiderling.

The fledgling Vulkat Empire was thriving, rapidly expanding its territory by sending out colony ships full of brave pioneers, who made planetfall on numerous unclaimed worlds. At the same time, deep-space survey vessels were sent further afield, eagerly searching for other sentient species, each alien civilisation like a precious jewel amongst the bleak inhospitable darkness of space. All were offered membership of the United Affiliation of Free Species, the Vulkat seeking to build cooperative relationships with every civilisation they encountered.

While most of the aliens were peaceful and just as eager to establish friendly relations with the benevolent arachnids, there were always exceptions to the rule. A number of survey ships had attempted to explore the galaxy's lower spiral arms, but all vessels sent in that direction were lost without trace, simply never to be heard from again. Encounters with hostile aliens were suspected, so exploration in that direction was halted to avoid antagonising them. Likewise, survey ships sent perpendicular to that course had stumbled across a xenophobic civilisation who named themselves as the Kirrix.

The insectoids had been courteous at first, their psychic hive queens making polite contact with the Hymn of the Vulkat. They had been disinterested in most forms of trade, other than the acquisition of weapon technology, offering a broad selection of disturbing non-military technologies to choose from in exchange. Several other members of the UAFS had encountered the Kirrix before and warned that the insects were notorious for preying on weaker species... visiting unspeakable horrors on those they considered beneath them.

The Empress made the decision to prohibit the exchange of weapon technology with the Kirrix, concerned that those weapons might be turned on innocents. Relations were kept cordial, with the Vulkat politely declining the offer to trade. The Kirrix had no real desire to improve relations beyond that and with both empires keeping a respectful distance from the other's borders, any future hostilities were averted.

~~~

The scenes and images changed, now cast with the telltale signs that they were from the Vulkat Queen's own experiences.

Nkkrrit was aboard her command ship, the 'Dream of Salvation', wracked with anguish and despair after returning to Vulkat territory. The invaders had extinguished the light of the Vulkat, obliterating every colonised world and destroying every spacefaring vessel in sight. What was left of her people were teetering on the brink of madness as they realised that all hope of salvation had been lost.

Desperation, revulsion, remorse...

The Vulkat Queen made psychic contact with the Kirrix Hive Mind, seeking to trade for the forbidden technologies they had offered the Vulkat all those years ago. She had expected diplomacy to be awkward and tense after millennia of frozen relations, but to her shock, the Kirrix were desperate to trade. The hive queens looked haunted, the stink of fear surrounding them... although they were quite unwilling to discuss what had them so terrified.

Nkkrrit offered to share some of the Vulkat's unparalleled expertise with missiles, in exchange for technology that bordered on necromancy... as well as life support systems that would extend her lifespan far beyond its natural limitations. She felt ashamed to be breaking the Empresses decree, especially one that was made with such good intentions, but the Kirrix were not the only ones that were desperate. The Hive Mind eagerly accepted and Nkkrrit transferred the schematics for EMP missiles to them, in exchange for technology that would let her maintain her ghastly vigil over the Desolation of Vulkat.

Once the deal was done, the Vulkat Queen left feeling sickened at herself for trading with such a vile predatory species. Nkkrrit could only pray that Vulkat weapons would not be turned on innocents... as the Empress herself had feared all those centuries ago.

~~~

Alyssa felt dizzy as the disturbing memories fell away. She looked at Nkkrrit with sympathy, having had no idea how much it had personally cost the Vulkat Queen to stand sentry duty over the graveyard of her civilisation. On top of everything else she had sacrificed to preserve her people, she had been forced to compromise her self-respect, making a deal with the devil in a desperate attempt to maintain enough Vulkat personnel to man her fleet.

*If you hadn't done what you did, the Brimorians would have picked Vulkat territory clean,* she said softly. *The remains of your worlds would have been ravaged for resources and every Vulkat ship would have been stripped of any useful equipment they could find.*

Nkkrrit gazed at her with profound sadness in her eyes.

Regret, guilt, sorrow...

Alyssa let out a heavy sigh, not sure how to console the remorseful creature. An EMP missile that could immobilise a vessel, leaving the crew unscathed and ready to be captured as hosts, was a dream weapon for the Kirrix. Those missiles would have been used on countless ships that were desperately trying to defend their civilisations against depredations by the Kirrix. The Vulkat Queen felt the unshakeable weight of those innocent souls pressing down on her, knowing that she'd contributed to the many atrocities committed by the Kirrix.