Three Square Meals Ch. 126

"I've never seen mother this angry before," Lieralia faltered, her azure face pale with fear.

Rosanae flinched as she remember Gaenna's last outburst. "Don't provoke her again, Sarinia... I'm begging you."

The oldest of the three shot a venomous glance at her eldest sister. "This was your plan all along, wasn't it? You tricked us into coming to Genthalas to spread the blame!"

Sarinia sighed in exasperation. "Now you're accusing me of the same thing the twins conspired to do to Tehlariene? I told all of you not to come, but you insisted!"

"But-"

Rounding on her obstinate sister, Sarinia held a pointed finger in her face. "But nothing, Myrdina! Gaenna views all of us coming here as a mass insurrection against her authority. She would've been angry at my unexpected arrival at Genthalas, but with the four of you on Baelora, she would have no grounds to accuse me of dereliction of duty to my House. I would have been free to investigate whatever she's up to on Genthalas, without being dragged back to her chambers to endure the sharp bite of her tongue and the sharper bite of a neural lash! Do not blame me for your own rash decisions!"

Myrdina stared wide-eyed at her sister's finger, then slumped as she recognised the truth of her words. "I wasn't thinking rationally... Mother was acting in such a bizarre fashion, I just wanted to know what was happening," she mumbled quietly. Meeting her eldest sister's golden-eyed gaze, she added, "Have you found out anything so far?"

Sarinia glanced either way down the corridor, then beckoned her younger siblings closer. "I'm attempting to befriend the youngest of the ruling matriarchs. Kali Loraleth's barely an adult and lacks the hardened edge you would expect of a woman with her station; she has already let slip a few intriguing snippets of information..."

"Such as?" Rosanae asked in a hushed voice, her fear forgotten.

"She is soon to be bedded by one of the border males to begin building her dynasty," Sarinia whispered furtively.

Myrdina's brow furrowed in confusion. "What's so special about that? The first duty of every matriarch is to establish a robust noble lineage for her House."

"The male is coming here... to Genthalas!" Sarinia revealed, watching as her sisters gaped at her in astonishment. "And his name is Baen'thelas..."

"The righter of wrongs," Lieralia murmured, suddenly looking unsettled.

Myrdina felt a shiver run down her spine and there was a dark blush to her cheeks. "Who is he? I feel like I should know him..." she said in a breathless whisper.

"That's one of the things I intend to find out," Sarinia said, smiling at her co-conspirators. "Now, return to our quarters and try to calm Tehlariene. If she has a breakdown, it will only further infuriate Gaenna."

Rosanae's lip curled with disgust. "You can't seriously be suggesting we be nice to her?"

Sarinia gave her a look of incredulity. "A few kind words or a dozen lashes... is that so difficult a choice?"

Now it was Rosanae's turn to blush, but this time with embarrassment. "Alright, we'll avoid upsetting her any further."

"Thank you," Sarinia said graciously. "Now, I must go. The sooner we can find out what is happening here the better; we don't have much time before mother banishes us to Baelora."

She turned and hurried away, her three younger sisters watching her pensively as she departed.

***

Edraele stood by the sweeping window in her office, her gaze following a golden-hulled battleship manoeuvring into Genthalas' drydock. The House Baeloran vessel was the first to be upgraded in this newly opened section of the enormous shipyard, the facilities having lain dormant for many thousands of years. It should have felt satisfying to see Genthalas restored to its former glory, but she knew the grim purpose behind the massive refit program. Edraele sighed and waited patiently for John and the girls to gather, so that they could decide how best to deal with the fleeing Kirrix dreadnought.

*Sarinia's arrived at the arboretum, Edraele!* Kali exclaimed, interrupting her matriarch's thoughts. *Can you scan her for weapons?*

The Maliri Queen hesitated for a moment. *Kali, this isn't a good time. John is discussing the possibility of another battle with the Kirrix.*

*I'll be perfectly safe,* Kali said confidently. *I have Avelissa and Renaya right here. If Sarinia's unarmed, there's no chance she could hurt me before my bodyguards intervene.*

Edraele reluctantly walked to her desk and entered the security code for the localised sensor sweep. *Alright, but if you feel threatened in any way, I want you to promise me that you'll end the conversation with Sarinia and leave immediately.*

*I won't take any chances, I promise,* Kali pledged, sounding uncharacteristically sombre. Her tone lightening, she then added, *So... is she carrying any weapons?*

The Maliri Matriarch glanced at the sensor readouts, which had not detected any sign of firearms or blades on the House Baelora noblewoman. *No, she appears to be unarmed.*

*See, I'll be fine!* Kali said breezily. *If there's anything you don't want me to discuss with her, just tell me and I won't say a word.*

*Alright, I'll let you know. Just remember your promise, Kali. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you.*

*You can trust me, Edraele,* the young matriarch said sincerely. *Here she comes...*

***

Sarinia smiled when she spotted Kali in the arboretum. She'd expected to have a long wait ahead of her before the House Loraleth Matriarch made an appearance, but there she was already, looking resplendent with her gorgeous mane of long white hair cascading over her shoulders. Nibbling her lip in an affectation of nervousness, Sarinia slowly approached the young woman, while trying not to appear threatening to the pair of bodyguards that stood vigilant nearby.

"Hello, Kali. I'm very glad you're here," she began, looking contrite. "I wanted to apologise for the way I behaved yesterday. I really enjoyed speaking to you and I never should have ended our conversation like that."

Kali's anxious expression softened. "I was hoping to meet you again too, Sarinia. I'm so sorry for the way we parted company... I never meant to scare you away by being so intrusive. Will you forgive me?"

"You were only concerned for my wellbeing; there's nothing to forgive," Sarinia replied, ending with a warm smile.

The Loraleth matriarch startled Sarinia by giving her another hug, catching her off-guard with the physical display of affection. After instinctively tensing, she relaxed and embraced Kali back, surprised at how good it felt to hold another person in her arms.

When they finally separated, Kali gave her a shy smile. "I keep hugging you and we barely know each other. I forget how aloof everybody normally is... you must think I'm crazy!"

Sarinia found herself captivated by the alluring white-haired beauty and she was quick to return the smile. "I do find it a little strange..." When Kali deflated, she quickly added, "But only because I'm unused to how pleasant it feels to be held like that."

Kali's face lit up with delight. "Hugs do feel wonderful, don't they? I don't recall my mother ever hugging me, but I've had so many in the last couple of months, I honestly believe I've become addicted!"

"I can understand why," Sarinia replied, feeling an unexpected surge of affection for the guileless young woman. She had to remind herself that she was befriending this naive girl to pump her for information, but Kali was so endearing it was impossible not to like her.

Gesturing to the park bench nearby, Kali waited for Sarinia to take a seat before joining her.

"Sarinia, I must confess to not being completely honest with you yesterday," the young noblewoman said with a rueful frown. "My name is Kali... but I neglected to tell you that I'm-"

"Kali Loraleth, Matriarch of House Loraleth," Sarinia finished for her, wanting to ease her new friend's guilt at keeping her status secret. As soon as the words were out of her mouth, her golden eyes went wide with shock... she had never intended to reveal that!

"So you already knew?" Kali asked, looking strangely unsurprised.

Sarinia blushed and nodded. "I must admit that I sought you out, Kali. My name is Sarinia... but I neglected to tell you that I'm-"

"Gaenna Baelora's eldest daughter?" Kali asked with a knowing grin.

It came as a shock to realise that the youthful matriarch knew exactly who she was, but Sarinia was relieved to see that her new friend wasn't upset. "It seems we were both hiding secrets..."

Kali gently bumped shoulders with her. "I didn't find out until this morning, but I can understand why you might want to hide your true identity. House affiliations can make things very... unpleasant at times. I have met your mother before, she can be-"

Sarinia raised an eyebrow and interjected, "A spiteful, vindictive bitch?"

This time it was Kali's turn to blush. "I wasn't going to say it quite like that."

"There's no need to use honeyed words, Kali. I'm Gaenna's eldest daughter; unfortunately, I've got to know her very well over the past 129 years."

Kali clasped her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "My mother had a vile temper too."

"It seems that being a spiteful, vindictive bitch comes with being a matriarch," Sarinia said with a sardonic smile.

"I don't think I've ever been called that before," Kali joked, giving her a lopsided grin.

Sarinia's eyes widened at the inadvertent insult to the House Loraleth Matriarch. "I didn't mean you!"

Giggling at the distraught expression on the other woman's face, Kali patted her hand. "I wasn't offended; I'll just have to work harder at being mean to everyone."

"Please don't," Sarinia quickly replied, surprising herself that she genuinely meant it.

They sat in silence for a long moment, then Kali turned to gaze into her companion's eyes. "Sarinia, why did you go to these elaborate lengths to speak with me?"

The eldest daughter of House Baelora studied the younger woman and found herself torn with indecision. All sorts of schemes raced through her head, offering cunning ways to deceive and manipulate... but she was shocked at just how much she wanted to answer truthfully.

***

"Hey, thanks for joining us," John said, greeting Calara and Sakura with a smile as they entered the Briefing Room.

"As if we'd miss it," the Latina said, leaning over to give him a kiss before taking her customary seat at his side.

"Alyssa said we're expecting more trouble with the Kirrix," Sakura said as she sat further down the table. "That you want to board another dreadnought?"

"I don't exactly want to, but unfortunately I don't think we have much choice," John replied with a rueful frown. "There was another Hive Queen with the Kirrix forces that landed on Dun Hergrun. They abducted a huge number of Trankaran colonists and have retreated into Kirrix territory. Lilyana wants to track them down and rescue the prisoners... but I don't think conventional troops are strong enough to tackle a Hive Queen."

"No fucking way!" Dana exclaimed, shaking her head for emphasis. "Don't let them even try it, John. That last Hive Queen was one mean bitch!"

"With the civil war kicking off within the Hive Mind, this Hive Queen will only be half as strong as the one we fought on Carolus III," Alyssa clarified. "Still... I think you're right. Any marines that board that dreadnought stand no chance."

"Intercepting the Kirrix fleet is going to mean another diversion," John said grimly. "I want to reach Olympus as fast as we can, but there's huge numbers of Trankaran lives at stake."

"We can't stand by and let the Kirrix murder millions of civilians," Sakura agreed, her expression sombre. "This Hive Queen breached Alyssa's treaty and needs to be punished."

John stared across the room at the Asian girl, momentarily lost in thought. "That's what I was thinking. Besides, this might actually be a good opportunity..."

Alyssa winced and looked away, losing some of her colour.

Calara was completely focused on John and missed her girlfriend's discomfort. She nodded her agreement with him and said, "Dana can pull the Kirrix fleet out of hyper-warp by creating another gravity well, then we'll be able to launch an ambush. It'll be a relatively safe environment for us to field test the cloak in combat."

"The Invictus should be fully repaired and ready for action by then," Dana informed them. "The bots have been going gangbusters with checking all the ship's guns. They still need to take a look at the Nova Lances and the Singularity Drivers, but they've scanned all our Tachyon Lances and Pulse Cannons. We need to fix a couple of them, but that should only take us a few minutes."

"I don't want to waste a lot of time tracking the Kirrix down," John said, drumming his fingers on the desk. "We know they left Dun Hergrun three days ago; how hard will it be to figure out where they're going and where they are now?"

Tashana started to reply, but Jade wasn't listening to what the Maliri was saying. She stared at Alyssa, who looked just as uncomfortable as the Nymph.

*What was that? John wants to train Sakura to kill him?!* Jade blurted out incredulously to her fellow matriarch.

***

Edraele felt her heart skip a beat and she collapsed in the chair behind her desk. The thought of losing John was too horrific to contemplate, paralysing her with dread. She stared listlessly at the holo-screens in front of her as she listened to the frantic conversation between Alyssa and Jade.

Alyssa couldn't keep the bleak resignation from her voice as she said,*John started preparing for this long before you became a matriarch, Jade. Sakura's his contingency plan... in case his guide wins.*

*But he promised!* the Nymph protested, aghast at the idea. *No more noble sacrifices!*

*This isn't the same thing,* the Terran teenager replied despondently. *If John is defeated, then he'll be gone forever and the guide will take permanent control of his body. There's no way John will risk exposing us to that kind of danger, so he wants Sakura ready to execute him if he loses. You won't change his mind on this, Jade.*

*We could keep training him, make John so strong his guide has no chance!* Jade exclaimed, refusing to give in.

Alyssa's voice sounded hollow as she whispered, *What if he still loses? Could you kill him, Jade? I don't think I could do it... even to protect the girls.*

*He's my Master...* Jade whispered, her voice in agony. *I-I can't harm him!*

Edraele groaned, trying to fight off the crippling heartache assailing her.

***

"My mother's behaviour has grown increasingly erratic in recent months," Sarinia finally confided in the young woman sitting beside her. "I came to Genthalas to try to find out the answers to a whole host of puzzling questions."

"Such as?" Kali asked, listening attentively.

Sarinia laughed and shook her head. "I don't know where to start. A couple of months ago she gathered the House Baeloran fleets, ventured into House Perfaren territory and never returned. I then discovered that my mother had taken up permanent residence in House Valaden territory, but she absolutely despises Edraele Valaden! What could have possessed Gaenna to reside with one of her most hated adversaries?"

Kali tilted her head to one side and appeared to be waiting for something. After an imperceptible shrug, she replied, "So I take it she didn't tell you anything about Baen'thelas and the civil war?"

"Civil war?!" Sarinia blurted out, staring at her in astonishment. "She never said a word! What happened and how is your mysterious man involved?"

"My mother never used to tell me anything either," Kali said with a wry smile. She leaned forward and gave her friend a conspiratorial grin. "Don't worry, I'll explain what's been going on. I doubt you'll believe me, but I promise it's the truth..."

***

"Oh, I've just had a great idea!" Dana gushed, bouncing up and down in her seat. "We could upgrade the Invictus with the Quantum Omni-Phase Scan Array! The long-range sensors would be totally insane... it'd massively increase our chances of finding and intercepting the Kirrix fleet!"

"Are you able to construct one without the black metal?" John asked, looking intrigued.

The redhead nodded confidently. "The power requirements aren't drastic enough to need that kind of durability; I should be able to easily rewrite the schematics and we can make it out of Crystal Alyssium instead. As for fitting it, that shouldn't take us very long. Ripping out the old sensor array will only take about ten minutes, then with you or Alyssa using telekinesis to manoeuvre the new one into position, I reckon we can be done in twenty minutes tops!"

"If Alyssa helps you with the array, I could focus on repairing the damaged guns," John suggested, glancing at the blonde who nodded her agreement.

"Awesome," Dana said with an enthusiastic grin. "The Mass Fabricators are currently churning out the missing parts for the comms system, but I can stop that and switch over to the Sensor Array if you want to save some time?"

He shook his head. "No, let's get everything upgraded in one go. I want to be able to talk to the Trankaran and Maliri fleets, so we'll need the comms systems back online anyway."

"I can help using the Valkyrie," Sakura volunteered. "I removed the old Hyper-Pulse generator at Valia Gate, so I shouldn't have any trouble installing a replacement."

"Sounds good," John said gratefully, gazing into her warm brown eyes. "Thanks, honey."

The Asian girl beamed a radiant smile back at him, delighted that she was able to assist. She looked so happy and at peace, John dreaded the thought of having to lay such a terrible burden on her.

***

Edraele listened to John's thoughts, feeling his conflict at honing such a sweet young girl into a deadly executioner. Sakura was fast, strong, and determined, possessing enough skill and psychic ability to very nearly assassinate Larn'kelnar on her own. With some more training and enhancement, John was convinced she could be made sufficiently powerful to end the possibility of his guide's tyrannical reign before it ever began.

Edraele wasn't the only one listening to his innermost thoughts, with Jade and Alyssa, disquieted by his macabre plans.

*But Sakura loves him!* Jade protested in anguish. *She could never kill John!*

*Sakura's the only one that could do it,* Alyssa said, her words heavy with sorrow. *She adores John and will do anything he asks of her. As much as it will destroy Sakura to kill him, if John's guide wins, her sense of justice will force her hand. She won't allow a megalomaniac to subjugate us and the Maliri Protectorate... billions would die if that happened.*

Edraele couldn't even imagine the pain that Sakura would go through if it came to this. Losing John would be horrific enough, but to be the one who was forced to kill him? A tear rolled down her cheek as she slumped listlessly in her chair, her heart going out to that lovely girl.

Wrapped up in her melancholy thoughts, she was heedless of the animated conversation between Kali and Sarinia.

***

"It sounds like we have a plan then," John said, looking around at the girls assembled in the Briefing Room. "When we've finished building all the components for the new sensor array, we drop out of hyper-warp for an emergency refit. Once we've got the Invictus combat ready, we'll track down and ambush the Kirrix fleet."

Everyone nodded their agreement.

He turned to Alyssa and asked, "How accurately do you think you'll be able to predict their flight path?"

"Well, the good news is that their ships are pretty slow," she replied, managing to conceal her distress at his maudlin thoughts. "The Kirrix won't have been able to cover much distance in only three days."