Three Square Meals Ch. 118

With a hiss, the airlock opened, the sound quickly drowned out by enthusiastic cheers from the crowd. Ochre-armoured Kirrix troopers marched into the reception hall, then approached the group of smiling Terrans.

"Welcome to the Dove of Peace!" Melody gushed, stepping forward and placing a garland of flowers around the neck of the closest trooper.

The insectoid soldier reached out to wrap a chitinous hand around her wrist, then began pulling her back towards the hive ship. Her smile wavered and she darted an anxious glance at Lobard.

"Hey, we'd love to meet your leader, man," Lobard said, stepping forward with a broad smile plastered on his face. "No need to be rough... we want to be friends."

More of the Kirrix troopers began grabbing the civilians, then herding them towards the airlock.

"Ow! You're hurting me!" Melody protested, trying to pull her arm away from the soldier's tight grip.

Lobard dodged a trooper that made a grab for him and darted forward to place his hand on the Kirrix drone dragging his girlfriend. "Hey! Let her go, man! Stop being a dick!"

The Kirrix soldier he'd avoided raised a neutron pistol and shot Lobard in the back, the young man collapsing to the ground and screaming in agony. The atmosphere in the reception hall changed as if a switch had been flicked and the frightened crowd backed away, some of the peace activists turning and fleeing. The Kirrix shot several others and Melody's terrified screams were soon joined by a chorus of blood-curdling shrieks from the wounded.

Alyssa looked away, unable to watch any more. "Turn it off, Faye... please."

The sprite abruptly ended the recording, her luminous eyes downcast after witnessing the horrific fate of the peace mission. "The initial entries are date-stamped nine weeks ago when the Dove of Peace left Port Heracles. The vessel was boarded by the Kirrix a month later..."

Rachel slumped in her chair. "Five weeks ago... We're too late..."

Dana turned to face the command podium, her expression stricken with guilt. "Shit... I was so harsh about those guys... but no one deserves to go out like that."

"I was hoping they'd be turned back at the border," Calara said, shaking her head sorrowfully. "I can't believe the fleet just let them sail off to their deaths."

A tear rolled down Helene's cheek. "That was awful... those poor people were so scared."

"I wish we'd done something to stop them," Alyssa said with a sigh of regret. "If we'd interceded, we might have been able to talk them around and convince them not to go."

"They were too militant in their views to be persuaded on a holo-call," Rachel said, with no trace of doubt in her voice. "Our only chance of preventing them leaving would have involved travelling to Port Heracles to speak with them personally... and even then, there was no guarantee of success."

"We'd already promised Irillith we'd rescue her sister," Sakura interjected. "If we'd gone on any diversions, Tashana would have died by the time we reached the Underworld."

"I know," Alyssa said, slowly nodding. "I remember John saying that we can't save everybody..."

Faye turned to the blonde. "I found a passenger manifest listing the names of everyone aboard the ship when they left Port Heracles. When we return to Terran Space, I'll notify the Federation authorities."

Rising from her chair, Alyssa gave her a sad smile. "Thanks, Faye... Their families will want to know what happened to them."

"No problem," the sprite replied. She powered up their FTL drive, launching the Invictus into hyper-warp once again.

Alyssa walked down the steps of the Command Podium and slipped her hand into Helene's to give it a comforting squeeze. "Alright, ladies," she said, glancing around at her friends. "Let's get back to work; we've all got plenty to keep us occupied until we see John this evening."

"Only three hours to go," Rachel said with a very relieved smile.

Alyssa nodded and said wistfully, "I'll be counting the minutes..."

"I've got the Mass Fabricators churning out parts for the new Tachyon Drive. It'll be done in thirty minutes," Dana said, walking over to the grav-tube. "I could use your assistance in the Engineering Bay if you've got some free time?"

"Of course," Alyssa agreed. She glanced at Sakura and Calara, "I'll definitely join you later."

Two sets of soft brown eyes looked at her with understanding.

"We'll be waiting," Calara said, wrapping her arms around the blonde and giving her a loving kiss.

***

In the Matriarch's quarters within the palace of House Baelora, Sarinia stared at the images on the holo-screen in fascination. Her contact on Genthalas had managed to capture several such pictures and they had entranced the eldest daughter of House Baelora the instant she laid eyes on them. She raised a hand and traced Edraele Valaden's long flowing white hair with a finger, shocked and intrigued in equal measure.

Over a century of cultural conditioning made her want to shun the woman for her total lack of propriety, but at the same time, that snowy white mane looked... stunning. Edraele looked so poised and elegant as she left her quarters, the exquisitely styled tresses framing her beautiful face and giving her an air of alluring femininity that Sarinia found herself desperately wanting to emulate. She swiped past the image to the next, showing five young women smiling at each other, each of them with identical hair styles and colouration as Edraele.

Sarinia narrowed her eyes, counting off Tsarra Perfaren, Leena Ghilwen, Nyrelle Aeberos, Valani Naestina and Kali Loraleth. They were all the youngest daughters of their respective Houses but every one of them had recently attained the position of matriarch. The next images showed the remaining thirteen ruling matriarchs, including her mother, all of whom now had white hair... although theirs was at least kept respectably short.

She returned to the image of Edraele and shook her head in bewilderment. Nineteen matriarchs, all with that distinctive white hair, the youngest amongst them growing it scandalously long, the eldest still keeping it short. There was obviously some special significance to it, but Sarinia couldn't work out what it could possibly be. She had asked her mother about it the first time Gaenna had appeared for a holo-conference with her new look, but the House Baelora Matriarch had refused to give any explanation, giving her that smug look of condescension that she'd grown to despise.

Sarinia's first guess was that perhaps it was some new fashion trend that the matriarchs had adopted, dying their hair to separate themselves from the rest of Maliri society. That hypothesis had been torpedoed when she'd been informed by her contact that there were now hundreds of engineers working within Genthalas who also had the same white hair. The next step was to have Gaenna's quarters bugged to try to get some answers, which her spy aboard the station had promised to do as soon as possible.

"What does it all mean?" she murmured, staring intently at Edraele's picture.

Sarinia knew that the House Valaden Matriarch must be a key conspirator in the bizarre changes of appearances sweeping through the Maliri on Genthalas. She studied the woman's beautiful features, not seeing so much as a wrinkle in her flawless complexion, and wondered how she could still look like a fresh-faced thirty-year-old when she'd been Matriarch of her House for well over a century. Sarinia suddenly frowned as an idea came to her, then swiped away the images and accessed the comms archives.

Her mind raced as she scrolled down through the long list of historical communications logs, trying to pinpoint the exact date she was looking for. She smiled grimly as she remembered; it was thirteen years ago, on her 116th birthday. Sarinia had repositioned a fleet to counter what appeared to be Valaden aggression, only to discover the fleet movements had been a feint... and the bulk of Edraele's forces swept in unopposed to annex one of House Baelora's systems.

Finding the date she was looking for amongst the archive logs, she searched through the relevant files until she found the specific conversation. With trembling fingers, she activated the recording and stared at the holo-screen.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of this call, Edraele?" Gaenna hissed, her voice dripping with barely concealed hatred. "I heard you lost one of your daughters recently... how careless."

"Ah, Gaenna, as charming as always," Edraele said, her purple-eyed gaze cold and hard. Her lips curled into a sinister smile as she gloated, "Speaking of daughters, I wondered if you could pass on my gratitude to whichever of your half-witted spawn you placed in charge of your border fleet? I appreciate her allowing me to annex the Loraqen system without so much as a shot fired..."

Gaenna shrieked in fury, her strangled curses met by Edraele's mocking laughter.

Sarinia paused the recording and shivered as she remembered the aftermath of that delightful conversation. Gaenna had been incandescent with rage and taken a neural whip to Sarinia, giving her another set of vicious scars to add to the permanent reminders of her mother's cruelty. Shaking away the unpleasant memories, she rewound the footage and paused it during a brief lull when Edraele wasn't speaking.

Shaking her head, Sarinia stared at the House Valaden matriarch in mounting disbelief. Edraele had short dark hair back then, which was to be expected, but it was her face that drew Sarinia's undivided attention. While Edraele had always been a very attractive woman, there was simply no comparison between the way she'd looked thirteen years ago and the almost supernatural beauty she now possessed. Reopening the recent picture of her and placing it alongside the one from the archives, the changes in appearance were even more apparent. Enhanced beauty aside, it was almost as if the House Valaden matriarch had been supping from the fountain of youth...

Sarinia froze and her golden eyes went wide in horror.

***

*Time to wake up, Master...*

John stirred in his sleep, the Nymph's gentle telepathic contact nudging him awake. The twins shifted in the bed when he moved, lithe blue legs and arms curling around him possessively. He glanced at the ship's chronometer and saw that it was 5:30 pm, four hours of sleep having done wonders for his energy levels. He felt fully refreshed again, even if he was still feeling guilty about the way the battle with the Kirrix had ended.

*Have there been any problems while we were asleep?* he replied, managing to stretch without waking the Maliri girls.

*The colonists are getting a bit restless, but I haven't heard any complaints.*

John smiled at the thought of one of the colonists trying to berate the colossal dragon. *I'm not really surprised...*

*The Invictus should be landing in 45 minutes,* the Nymph informed him. *The girls made a brief stop to investigate a deserted Terran vessel they discovered. It was the 'Dove of Peace'... the passenger liner with the peace delegation to Kirrix Space.*

He remembered those idealistic men and women from the TFNN report, and shook his head remorsefully. *It was inevitable it'd end like that... tragic, but inevitable. I was hoping they might see sense and turn back in time.*

*Such a waste of young lives,* Jade agreed, her voice uncharacteristically sombre.

John was surprised that Alyssa hadn't contacted him yet and his heart clenched as he realised she must still be fuming. He decided against asking her directly, as she would be arriving soon and he could then apologise in person. *How are you feeling now, Edraele?*

*Much better for some rest, John,* his Maliri Matriarch replied, sounding cheerful and alert. *I actually awoke just before you went to sleep yourself... but you were a little preoccupied at the time, so I decided not to disturb you.*

He blushed as he remembered exactly what he'd been doing with her daughters at that precise moment... and apparently Edraele was fully aware too.

Her carefree laughter echoed through his mind, making him smile despite his embarrassment. *I don't remember you being quite so self-conscious before, my Lord... You seemed quite content to have Irillith and me on our knees, while Tashana slept off her first feeding on the bed beside us.*

John felt himself stiffening at the memory of the Valaden women all sporting bellies swollen with his cum... a spectacular vision of a future he desperately longed for. *I can't help it... you three drive me wild.*

"Mmm... and what's got you so excited?" Irillith purred, her slender blue fingers gently surrounding his throbbing shaft.

Tashana propped herself up on an elbow, then looked down at him with a playful smile lifting her lips. "I seem to recall you telling us that you'd need at least a week to recover after last time..."

The twins paused, tilting their heads to one side as if listening attentively to someone. John guessed that Edraele must have been filling them in on the precise details of their conversation and he blushed again when he saw the knowing looks they both gave him. The Maliri sisters began to laugh at his reaction and he forgot his embarrassment, the twins never looking more beautiful to him than at that moment.

"I love hearing you laugh," he said quietly, cupping their faces and stroking soft azure cheeks. "Seeing both of you happy makes everything we do feel worthwhile."

Their laughter died as they looked at him with big violet eyes, then he was on the receiving end of tender kisses, Irillith and Tashana taking it in turns to show him how much they loved him. The kisses quickly escalated into passionate lovemaking, with John taking each of them in turn as they lay intertwined together. The twins were incredibly responsive and caring, working together flawlessly to heighten each other's pleasure.

Irillith cried out through her third climax, then sagged against Tashana. "Fill her womb, John..." she panted, gazing lustily at him over her shoulder. "I want to see what I'll look like... when I'm carrying your baby."

He felt Tashana trembling with anticipation as he eased himself out of Irillith, dropped down a few inches, then pushed deep inside her sibling again. John hilted himself with his quad bumping into Tashana's firm ass and it didn't take her long to match Irillith with a third orgasm, her ecstatic moans overwhelming John's ability to hold back any longer. He groaned as he came, thrusting rhythmically into the euphoric girl as long spurts of cum filled her womb. John lay down on Irillith's back, kissing her over her shoulder as he pumped Tashana full. With Irillith sandwiched between them and draped over Tashana's swelling tummy, she had to raise herself up to give her sister room to grow.

Finally spent, John collapsed on the bed and smiled as he watched Irillith reverently kissing her sister's hugely curved stomach. "I think I'm going to enjoy my retirement..."

They laughed to see his obvious happiness, then Irillith rolled to the side, making room for him to join her in caressing Tashana.

"I suspect we might enjoy it too," Tashana agreed, watching her sister staring at her new curves in fascination.

Irillith nodded, then gave John a sultry smile. "Just a few more months and the Young Matriarchs will start to show..."

John brushed his fingertips over Tashana's rounded navel, just imagining the five Maliri noblewoman lying in bed with him like this. He felt an incredible thrill at the thought of those stunningly beautiful women pregnant with his children, their toned blue tummies swelling by the day. They were all eager for large families too, feeling honour-bound to rebuild their Noble Houses.

*They each want at least four children,* Edraele said softly. *And I'm sure House Valaden's noble line is about to go through something of a population explosion...*

John kissed Tashana's stomach and smiled at the ecstatically happy girl. *Oh, I think you can count on that...*

Irillith stretched and glanced at the clock. "I better get up, I need to teach the colonists how to interact with the hive ship's systems."

"I'll languish in bed for a while, unless you need me for anything?" Tashana asked, cradling her swollen belly.

"Get some rest," John agreed with an indulgent smile. He took their hands in his and said sincerely, "The last two days have been amazing. I'm so glad we had this time together."

The twins didn't reply, but their loving kisses demonstrated their feelings for him far more eloquently than any words could describe. John rose from the bed and offered Irillith a hand as she followed him, then paused to pull the covers over Tashana. She curled up in bed with her hands caressing her curves, dreams of blue babies lulling her into a blissful sleep.

After a quick shower with Irillith, they parted ways, with the Maliri girl heading to the Armoury to don a Paragon suit. John strolled down the loading ramp and went outside, seeing that dusk had fallen while he'd been asleep. Three of the planet's moons were now visible in the sky, casting a soothing silvery light over the Kirrix starport.

High-pitched laughter reached his ears and he turned to see hordes of children fleeing from a big green tiger. Jade bounded after them, tumbling over with exaggerated clumsiness when the children darted out of her way. The giggling intensified and he found himself smiling as he watched them play.

*Have you been entertaining the kids all this time?* he asked the Nymph, leaning against the Raptor as he watched her antics.

*It's been wonderful!* Jade replied with a contented sigh.

*You're going to be an amazing mother, honey,* John said, meaning every word.

She skidded to a halt and turned to face him. Even from this distance he could see the sparkle in her emerald eyes, the intensity of her loving gaze matched by the rush of emotions across their bond. One of the children snuck up behind her while she was distracted and pulled her long stripy tail, so Jade roared in faux outrage and turned around to chase after him.

The roaring got louder and John glanced skyward, feeling a huge surge of relief when he saw the white battlecruiser descending from the heavens. Faye brought the Invictus down to land beside the hive ship, making sure that the Primary Hangar was lined up with one of the loading doors on the base of the Kirrix vessel. Retro-thrusters cut out as the mighty warship settled on the deck and as the clouds of dust billowed away, the forward airlock swirled open before him.

He recognised Alyssa's silhouette the instant he saw her and she sprinted out of the ship towards him, throwing herself into his arms.

"I missed you so much!" she sobbed, clinging to him like her life depended on it.

John held her close, feeling a shiver of relief go down his spine as they were reunited. "I'm so sorry, Alyssa... I never meant to-"

He wasn't able to finish the sentence as he was silenced by a flurry of frantic kisses.

*No, I'm sorry! I should never have been so hard with you,* she gushed, gazing into his eyes. *I know how much you're dealing with at the moment... me giving you a guilt trip was the last thing you needed!*

John shook his head. *You and Sakura both got hurt because I was a fool. I thought reading the Hive Queen's mind would be harmless... I was so wrong...*

*Sakura's fine... I'm fine...* Alyssa said firmly. *I've been thinking about it all afternoon... it was good this happened!*

He pulled back and looked at her in confusion. "Good? What do you mean?"

"Because now we know how much stronger your guide has become," she replied, pausing to let him consider that. "We were able to defeat his ambush by fluke... but imagine if you'd been facing him alone and unprepared..."

John nodded, finding himself in full agreement. "Still... I am sorry."