Three Square Meals Ch. 118

"Finished with my boys?" Faye asked with a smile.

"All done! Thanks, fellas," Dana said, patting the closest maintenance bot on the arm.

They turned and floated out of the room, moving swiftly and silently on their hover platforms. Dana and Faye followed them out, with the elfin girl humming a cheerful tune to herself as she skipped along beside her friend. Dana joined in the jaunty melody and started skipping too, the two of them weaving through the maintenance bots along the corridor.

"You're in a good mood," Dana said, flashing a grin at her friend. "I take it you're as happy as I am to be off this creepy ship?"

"I am, but there's something else too!" the sprite replied, her eyes flashing with excitement.

Dana pirouetted around another robot. "Ah... it wouldn't have something to do with a certain somebody returning to the Invictus?"

Faye giggled as she bounded along. "I suspect that's why you're in such a good mood!"

The redhead beamed at her triumphantly. "He's going to be all mine... for a whole day!"

They had manoeuvred past all the maintenance bots and were approaching a broad door, so Faye darted over to it and tapped the runes. As the door started to open, she turned to study her best friend. "I apologise for eavesdropping, but I overheard your conversation with John yesterday. Why does it excite you so much to be his sexual plaything for 24 hours?"

Dana laughed and looked at her incredulously. "You're kidding, right?"

Faye leaned against the wall as the maintenance bots glided past them. "No, I'm genuinely curious. In all likelihood, you're going to have sex with John thousands of times in the future... so what makes 6 perhaps 7 consecutive sexual encounters with him over a 24-hour period so special?"

"Thousands of times..." Dana murmured wistfully, her sky-blue eyes glazing over.

Faye smiled and waited patiently.

Shaking off her blissful daze, Dana blushed and admitted, "Sorry, I zoned out for a bit there." She sighed and added dreamily, "A thousand times though... that's a lot of cum."

"There's no rush," Faye said, her smile broadening into an impish grin. "Take your time..."

Dana laughed and followed the last maintenance bot through the door into the next corridor, walking at a sedate pace this time. "I suppose there's a few reasons it turns me on so much."

"Which are?" the sprite prompted her, listening attentively.

"Well first, I won't have to share him. When I first joined the crew, I was getting to know the other girls and learning about the Invictus' systems in between feedings. Meanwhile, John had other business to attend to as well, so while we spent a lot of time together, I didn't get him exclusively to myself like Alyssa did when they first got together. Hopefully this time, he'll not only be constantly loading me up, but I'll have John's undivided attention for the whole day."

"Okay, I can see why that would be very appealing," Faye agreed, smiling as she pictured it.

Dana nodded, lost in thought. "Second, I'll be relying solely on John to survive, just like those first two weeks." She bit her lip and shivered with excitement. "Looking up at John as he fed me was incredibly hot... I felt so submissive... and totally dependent on him."

"That does sound nice," Faye said diplomatically, darting a curious look at her starry-eyed friend. After a long pause, she frowned as she admitted, "As a synthetic, I only need an active power supply to maintain my body, so it's a bit harder for me to relate to that one."

Giving her a sympathetic look, Dana patted Faye's shoulder. "As an organic, let me just say that it felt very intimate, gazing lovingly into his eyes as he filled me up. I knew I was swallowing his cum to build my new body..." She opened her arms and did a graceful twirl. "And he helped me grow healthy and strong until I looked like this."

Faye nodded in understanding. "Judging by your increased mass over that period, at least 40% of your new body was grown purely from John's cum?"

Dana's eyes widened and she looked down at her body in awe. "Holy shit... you're right! Yeah, he's like constantly part of me now!"

"Now that does sound wonderful," the purple girl agreed and it was her turn to sound wistful.

Dana frowned in frustration. "I wish I could get through to Alyssa to tell her. She was even smaller and skinnier than I was... she must have grown by about 50%!"

"Why can't you speak with her?" Faye asked, looking confused. "I thought all of you were in constant telepathic communication with Alyssa?"

"Oh right, sorry...I forgot you didn't hear her message," Dana said with a bashful smile. "About half-an-hour ago, Alyssa said she was going incommunicado for a while."

*Hey, I'm here,* Alyssa informed her a moment later. *We're just walking back up the tunnel and we should be out soon. Did you have any problems with the hive ship upgrade?*

*Nah, it was fine. Anyway, did you hear what I was talking about with Faye?*

*I only caught the end... something about me growing by 50%?*

Dana quickly explained, but was met by stunned silence from her matriarch. *Alyssa, did you hear what I said?*

*Damn... that's hot as hell,* the blonde eventually purred, sounding feverish with lust.

*I know, right?* the redhead gushed. *No wonder I feel like John owns me...*

Alyssa's sultry laughter echoed over their bond. *No, Sparks, that's just because you're a kinky little minx.*

Faye raised an eyebrow at Dana's giggling. "Did I miss something?"

"Alyssa's back... so lots of flirtatious teasing," Dana replied with a smile. They started walking after the maintenance bots again and she studied Faye with an appraising eye. "It totally sucks that you can't hear her telepathically. I wonder if there's some way we could adapt one of the Ashanath psi-shapers? It's a machine that receives incoming telepathic commands, so if Alyssa projected her thoughts at it, then perhaps you could receive the signal..."

"You really think that would work?!" Faye asked, a hopeful gleam in her eyes.

"There's no harm in experimenting with a prototype," Dana replied, giving her an encouraging grin. "I've got a few other things I'm working on at the moment, but I'll add it to the list."

The purple sprite darted over to give Dana a sideways hug. "Thank you! I've longed to be involved with Alyssa's psychic conversations like the rest of the girls. If we could get that to work, it would be amazing!"

Dana put her arm around Faye's shoulder and hugged her back. "I'll do my best. I'm working on the schematics for a psychic communication device at the moment, so I'll keep your device in mind too."

"Yay!" Faye exclaimed in delight.

"Somebody sounds happy," Irillith said, appearing at the junction ahead of them. Her fair-skinned face lit up with an affectionate smile through the crystal faceplate.

"Hello, creator!" Faye bounded down the corridor to give the Maliri a hug that was happily reciprocated.

Dana walked over to join them, unable to take her eyes off Irillith's Terran holo-disguise. "You look gorgeous as a blonde... but I still prefer the original."

"Perhaps that's a bit of John's influence on you," Irillith said with a coy smile. "He does seem to be quite fond of my sister and me."

"A pair of super-hot blue space elves who think the sun shines out of his ass... Yeah, I can see why he might be a fan," Dana smirked, falling into step with the Maliri hacker. She gave Irillith a perceptive look and continued, "Now, tell me the truth... the trip on the Raptor was one long fuckathon, wasn't it?"

"It wasn't all sex, Dana," Irillith said haughtily. Her voice lowered an octave and she caressed her stomach suggestively. "Admittedly, John seemed to be obsessed with packing us full of as much cum as possible... but Shan and I were so exhausted after all those orgasms, we ended up sleeping off one huge meal after another. "

Dana groaned at the thought. "You're evil tormenting me like that... I was wrong before, Tashana's totally my favourite twin!"

Irillith laughed and hugged the redhead. "I missed you while we were away."

"Me too," Dana replied, returning the hug.

"Only for a minute though..." Irillith clarified. "The rest of the time, I was too busy getting screwed senseless, or sleeping to recover for the next session of debauchery."

"Like I said... evil," Dana pouted.

Irillith pretended to cackle with malevolent glee, making Faye giggle at their banter. They followed the procession of robots out of the hive ship into the brisk evening, long shadows sweeping over the docking bay as the sun began to set. The rest of the maintenance bots were busy loading food and drink into the vessel, the operation overseen by the rest of the girls and the colony administrators.

Calara waved to them and walked over, leaving Sakura with the robots. "We're just about finished here. Are you all set?"

"Tachyon Drive installed, Captain," Dana replied with a cheeky salute.

Irillith nodded, turning slightly to study the hive ship. "I introduced the new crew to the organic computer running the 'Fruitful Harvest' and asked it to obey their commands. Alyssa's course has been preset, so the colonists won't actually have to do anything with the requisitioned ship and it'll take them straight back to Menganus IV."

"Requisitioned?" Alyssa asked with a grin as she walked over to join them. She nudged John with an elbow and added playfully, "You're such a bad influence..."

He chuckled at the recurring joke and nodded to the girls in greeting. "It sounds like we're ready to depart?"

"A couple of minutes," Calara agreed, glancing at the team of maintenance bots rapidly transferring the supplies into the hive ship.

"Nice work, ladies," he said appreciatively. "Head back to the Invictus and I'll be with you shortly. When we take off, we'll have a quick debrief session so we can catch up on what everyone's been up to."

The girls nodded and turned to leave, except for Faye, who looked at him with excited anticipation.

"Wait for me inside the airlock," he said with a fond smile. "Then we'll be away from prying eyes."

She bounded away to catch up with the rest of the girls, leaving John and Alyssa alone.

"I just spent the last two days missing you, I'm not leaving your side," she replied, arching an eyebrow defiantly.

"What did I do to deserve getting stuck with such a disobedient matriarch?" he asked affectionately, putting his arm around her as they walked over to the maintenance bots.

Governor Reyes Angevin was there with his entourage, watching the robots hard at work. A huge stockpile of food and drink had already been loaded onto the hive ship, giving the 10,000 colonists more than enough supplies to return home.

"Hello, Governor," John called out in greeting. "Are your people all settled aboard the ship?"

The man jumped in surprise, then turned to look nervously at John, running a hand over his bald pate. "Ah, Admiral Blake... Y-yes, we're nearly all aboard..."

John recognised the woman he'd spoke to before, who looked relaxed and happy now. When they made eye contact she said, "We're having a hell of a job dragging the kids away from Jade. Not that we don't appreciate her entertaining them all afternoon, but maybe you could have a word?"

"Of course, I'll speak to her now," John agreed. "Before I go, I just wanted to let you know that Fleet Admiral Devereux has sent relief fleets to the border worlds full of supplies. They should be arriving next week."

"Free supplies?" Reyes Angevin asked, his eyes gleaming at the prospect.

"I believe so," John replied, glad to be dealing with simple avarice rather than bitter hatred of High Command. He nodded respectfully to the governor and his advisors and continued, "I hope you all have a safe journey home."

The Governor gave him an awkward salute, which John returned, then there was an uncomfortable moment until John and Alyssa walked away.

*Wow, you really freaked them out,* Alyssa said, glancing back at the colonists over her shoulder. *When you turn into giant John with me and the girls, we'll try not to be scared of how... huge... you become.*

John laughed and shook his head. *I'm not actually sure how I did that. I definitely need to practice and work out how to do it again.*

She clasped his hand, interlacing her fingers with his. *You should. We'll make it worth your while...*

Jade was tearing around the docking bay, still playing with a handful of children. The rest were exhausted, sprawled around on the floor with happy grins on their faces as they watched the Nymph in action.

Seeing John and Alyssa approaching, Jade padded over to greet them. She shifted form into a catgirl again, then gave John a quick peck on the cheek. *You look so much happier, Master!*

He flashed a smile at Alyssa. *I am... I missed my girls.*

The blonde embraced the cheerful Nymph. "It's lovely to see you again, Jade. Well done looking after him."

"It was my pleasure," the green girl replied, returning the hug.

"The hive ship is nearly ready to depart," John said, stroking Jade's back. "Do you want to say goodbye to your new friends?"

She nodded, then turned to face the tired but happy children. "I'm afraid I have to go now... but it's dinner time for all of you. We've brought lots of snacks, they're waiting for you aboard the spaceship."

Mention of food had them on their feet in no time, but they gathered around to give her hugs, many of the children crying at having to say goodbye.

A cute little blonde girl flung her arms around Jade's waist. "Bye bye, Dwagonlady."

Jade squatted down carefully and hugged her back. "Goodbye, Lucy. Be a good girl and listen to your mommy and daddy, okay?"

She nodded, wiping away the tears from her eyes. "Do I have to listen to Timmy too?"

"Yes, he's a very nice big brother," Jade solemnly replied.

"Kay..." Lucy then joined her brother and parents who stood a few paces away, the family waving goodbye to the Nymph one last time before heading for the hive ship.

Once Jade had finished saying her farewells, she watched the children leave with their parents before slipping her hand into John's.

"You were amazing with all those kids," Alyssa said, genuinely impressed. "I think I know who I'll be asking to babysit..."

"I'm not sure I'll be able to be quite so energetic," the Nymph replied with a wistful smile.

"You'll be fine. It looked like you had boundless energy," John said, gently squeezing her hand.

"Yes, but she's also planning to be constantly pregnant for the next few centuries... that might make running around a little difficult," Alyssa said with a knowing look at her fellow matriarch.

Jade leaned against his shoulder, rubbing her head against him as she started to purr. "Absolutely."

They walked over to the Invictus and stood in the airlock, then watched the families look warily up at the hive ship before herding their children inside. The maintenance bots had finished loading on the supplies and were returning to the Invictus, so the colonists turned and waved goodbye before closing the outer hull doors.

"The girls are up in the Briefing Room," Alyssa said, stepping into the airlock. "We can watch the hive ship depart from there."

John followed her inside the battlecruiser and closed the door behind him, the portal spiralling shut with a quiet hiss. Alyssa and Jade carried on along the corridor, darting smiles at Faye as they passed. Before John could say anything, the purple sprite jumped into his arms, showering his face in kisses.

"I'm so glad you're back!" she exclaimed, before switching to giving him a deep kiss with lots of tongue.

Faye crossed her wrists behind his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist, so he cupped her deliciously pert little bottom in his hands to support her 90lb frame. John thoroughly enjoyed the enthusiastic welcome home and hugged her tight. "I missed you too, honey."

"Really?" she asked, her face alight with glee.

"Of course, really!" he replied, kissing the tip of her nose. "I ended up spending hours in bed, because I didn't have my Faye to wake me up with her lovely singing."

She giggled and gave him a knowing look. "I suspect having Jade and the twins with you might have had something to do with your inability to get out of bed."

"Perhaps," he conceded, smiling at her affectionately. "But I found myself thinking about you anyway."

Faye let out a happy sigh and snuggled into his chest. "I could stay like this forever."

"How about until we reach the Command Deck?" he offered, walking towards the grav-tube.

"Okay..." she agreed, a blissful look of contentment on her face as they floated up in the blue anti-gravity field.

***

High Prelate Zorlin stood on the Command Platform of the battlecarrier Breklan'tohok, his clawed hands clasped behind his back as he looked out over the Bridge. The atmosphere was subdued, the Kintark crew in a state of depression after languishing in a Terran high-security prison for the last two months. Although they'd been freed as part of the peace accord that ended hostilities between the Terran Federation and the Kintark Empire, this was no triumphant voyage home. He could only imagine what reception awaited them when they returned to Kintark Space. The reputations and honour of his crew would be forever stained by the catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Regulus.

His mind turned to his family and he dreaded to think of the retribution his family might have suffered as a consequence of that disaster. Emperor Baledranax had a well-deserved reputation for being vindictive and cruel, taking out his anger on the loved ones of citizens he felt had failed him. Zorlin had shared command with High Prelate Grakira, so their families would have faced the brunt of the Emperor's wrath.

Letting out a dejected sigh, Zorlin turned to study the holographic Sector Map floating above the command table, trying to distract himself from such bleak thoughts. He was leading a huge fleet of over 200 warships back to Kintark territory, the green vessels shimmering with an iridescent hue as they reflected the starlight. It would have been an impressive sight, but all those ships had been declawed, the heatsinks stripped from their Plasma Cannon batteries. Firing those massive guns now would melt the barrels and render them inoperative with a single shot.

His attention turned to the grey titanium-hulled fleet escorting them through the Dragon March. The Terran Federation were taking no chances, keeping a close eye on his forces as he sailed back to Kintark territory. Zorlin shook his head and stared morosely at his battle-worn flotilla. It was such a stark contrast to the feelings of elation he'd felt when they'd invaded Terran Space two months ago.

The Kintark fleet had swept through Federation territory unopposed, the traitor ensuring that they wouldn't be detected by the Terran sensor grid. Zorlin had then laid the perfect trap for Buckingham's armada, using the traitor's Interdiction Beacons to drag the loyal Terran forces out of hyper-warp. He clenched his fists and ground his fangs together in anger. It would have worked flawlessly, if it wasn't for that thrice-damned imbecile Grakira!

Zorlin had replayed the battle in his mind over and over again since the crushing defeat. If High Prelate Grakira hadn't rushed after the Lion on a fool's errand, attempting to capture his incredibly advanced ship as a trophy for the Emperor, the Kintark forces could have torn the Terran armada apart. The massed defence grids on the vessels she stripped from the Kintark lines, would have helped protect the other half of her fleet she'd abandoned, minimising the damage sustained by torpedo attack. Instead, Terran bombers had run amok through the remnants of her forces, obliterating scores of cruisers and battleships.