Three Square Meals Ch. 130

Ramesh stared at his daughter in bewilderment when he saw her fond smile, then his eyes widened in sudden recognition when she gave him a guilty look. "You already knew he was engaged!"

Jehanna winced at his outraged expression. "Oh crap..."

"How you could do that to the poor woman?!" he exclaimed, looking appalled. "She's planning her wedding and you're sneaking around with her future husband!"

She froze, biting back a desperate denial, knowing that her father would be even more shocked by the truth. Jehanna couldn't meet her father's accusatory stare any longer and she dropped her gaze, feeling overwhelmed with shame at disappointing him.

Ramesh glared at her silently for several agonising moments, waiting for some kind of explanation. When none was forthcoming, he shook his head in disapproval. "Blake's fiancée is a war hero; she received a Stellar Cluster for saving Terra and you've disgraced our family by treating her so shabbily. I brought you up better than this, Jehanna."

"I'm sorry," she whispered, staring at the floor.

"It's not me you should be apologising to," he muttered, turning his back on his daughter and staring out the window.

Fighting back the tears, Jehanna retrieved her pistol and shield with shaking hands, then stumbled out of the study. Harini heard the door close and hurried out of the kitchen, eager to find out more about her daughter's famous boyfriend. She took one look at Jehanna's devastated expression and rushed to give her a hug.

"Oh my goodness! What happened?!" she gasped, looking at Jehanna with concern.

"I should go..." Jehanna replied, brushing at her eyes.

Her mother glared at the door to the study and yelled, "Ramesh, what did you say to your daughter?!"

Jehanna sighed dejectedly then met Harini's worried gaze. "Dad found out that John is already engaged."

"He's engaged?! That cheating rat!" Harini blustered indignantly. Her face flickered with confusion. "Wait a second... why's your father hiding in his study? Doesn't he realise how upset you are?!"

Looking away, Jehanna murmured, "He knows... but it's complicated."

Holding her by the shoulders, Harini frowned as she asked, "Complicated how?! What are you still hiding from me, Jehanna?"

"Dad thinks I'm sneaking around with John behind his fiancée's back... but I'm not."

Her mother looked bewildered, but there was also a hint of disapproval in her eyes. "But you said you'd fallen in love with John!"

"I do love him!" Jehanna replied insistently. "Look... you wouldn't understand."

"Jehanna Elani, you stop treating me like I'm an idiot right this minute! Now, tell me what's bothering you. I can't help you if I don't know what the problem is."

Worn down by her mother's persistence, Jehanna sighed with resignation. "Fine, you want the truth? I'm in love with John... and Calara doesn't mind in the slightest, because I'm sleeping with her too!"

Harini's eyes were like saucers as she gaped at her daughter. "What?!"

Jehanna shook her head and pulled away from her stunned mother. "See, I knew you wouldn't understand."

She walked down the corridor towards the front door, then paused to glance back at her mother, fervently praying that she would rush to reassure her that everything was going to be okay. Instead Harini was leaning heavily against the sideboard, a look of shocked disbelief on her face as she stared off into the distance. With a forlorn sigh, Jehanna opened the door and left her old home, not knowing when she would return. She walked to the dropship parked in the street, her floating suitcase following quietly in her wake, like a funeral procession for her once happy family.

*I'm so sorry, Jehanna,* Alyssa said softly. *I can feel how sad you are, so I'm guessing it went badly with your parents. We'll try to fix everything when we see you this evening, but don't hesitate to call us now if you need to talk.*

Jehanna gave the waiting marines a strained smile, then proceeded up the loading ramp. She appreciated Alyssa's offer, but she couldn't see how this disaster could possibly be fixed.

***

Calara patted the spherical Power Core's outer casing. "A single one of these could power every system in a Federation battleship."

"The amount of energy it generates must be astronomical," Jack said, staring at the Progenitor device in fascination.

Calara nodded, stepping over the cables snaking across the floor. "The Invictus has three of them. This one powers our engines and most of the original sub-systems, then we also installed two more amidships to support the Shield Generators and all our gun batteries. It takes a huge amount of energy to keep the Nova Lances, Tachyon Lances, Tachyon Cannons, and Singularity Drivers online during combat."

"I still can't believe how much firepower the Invictus is packing," Jack said quietly, studying the incredibly advanced Progenitor device.

Mateo glanced up at the ceiling, his eyes drawn to the broad patches of glistening white metal in the blackened titanium. "It looks like you took a nasty hit. You were very lucky the blast didn't rupture the core."

"They weren't trying to kill us, just disable the Invictus," Calara murmured, her thoughts filled with memories of Larn'kelnar's terrifying ambush. "When they knocked out power to the stern, we were forced to abandon ship."

"What?!" Mateo blurted out, gaping at her in surprise.

She gave him an apologetic frown. "Would you mind if we changed the subject? We lost Faye in that battle and it still hurts to talk about it."

He pulled her into a hug. "I'm sorry, Callie... I didn't know."

"That's okay," she said, embracing him back, before pulling away. "Come on, there's lots more to see."

Her father and brother followed Calara into the Deck Five corridor, both eager to continue their tour of the ship.

"I'd show you the Engineering Bay, but Dana's working on a present for mom and I don't want to ruin the surprise," Calara explained, leading them into the grav-tubes.

"A present?" Jack asked, looking intrigued.

"It was Sakura's idea, but Dana's helping to make it," she replied as they descended through the decks. "All the girls are very fond of mom and were horrified when they heard about the assassination attempt. Dana and Alyssa are both orphans and mom is the closest they've ever come to having a mother."

"That's awful," Mateo said, his expression one of profound sympathy.

Calara gave her father a sideways hug. "I love how close we are as a family, but it's painful to see how much it hurts the girls when they realise what they've missed out on. They all tell me not to feel guilty... but it's made me realise just how incredibly lucky I am."

"You're right, we really are very lucky," Mateo agreed, smiling self-consciously at his sister and father. "Hell, I know I am. If it wasn't for you, I'd still be slaving away in that Kintark sulphur mine."

She patted him on the arm. "We never would have let you rot away in there."

Mateo looked bewildered. "How did you manage to persuade them to rescue me from Xen-Nuchek? I was so deep in Kintark Space, I thought I'd never see home again."

"You've got a ship full of guardian angels watching over you, Mateo. John and the girls volunteered... I didn't even have to ask," Calara replied, a fond smile on her face. "It was the same with protecting the Damocles in the Battle of Regulus, then saving the Orion at the Battle of Terra. Protecting our family has always been their highest priority."

"Wait... that's why I was offered this transfer, isn't it?" Mateo blurted out, shocked as sudden realisation sank in. "John must have called in a favour with the Fleet Admiral, to keep me safe in the Core Worlds instead of in danger out on the Kirrix border!"

Calara shot him a guilty look. "I'm sorry, Mateo."

He laughed and smiled back at her. "Why are you apologising? I was promoted and offered my dream job!"

"They must really care about you, Callie... to go to such lengths to protect your family," her father said, looking thoughtful.

Calara hesitated, unsure how to reply.

*It's okay, you can tell him why,* Alyssa said softly.

"They do love me, but there's more to it than that. Lots of the girls had really horrific childhoods and never knew what it was like to have caring parents or siblings. They love how close we are as a family and don't want to let anything threaten our happiness," Calara explained, making eye contact with her father. "One day they all hope to be able to settle down for a peaceful retirement and start families of their own. Our family gives John and the girls something to aspire to."

Jack listened with interest, surprised by what his daughter had told him. He'd believed the Fleet Admiral when she told him that he and his sons were all being offered safe roles in the Core Worlds, so that Calara would stop worrying about her family being in danger. However, this latest revelation had a ring of truth to it and Jack was touched that Calara's crewmates held his family in such high regard.

He smiled at his daughter, knowing she was also referring to her own retirement plans. "Well they certainly have my blessing. I wish John and all his Lionesses the very best for the future."

Calara swallowed around the lump in her throat. "Thanks, dad... that really means a lot."

Mateo was oblivious to the subtext of their conversation, but he smiled, glad to see his sister looking so happy. "So what's next on the tour?"

They had already descended to Deck Nine, so Calara strode out of the grav-tube and beckoned them to follow. "I thought I'd show you the hangars, then we can work our way back to the pool."

"Sounds good," her brother said amiably.

Jack and Mateo followed Calara through a set of reinforced double-doors into the Secondary Hangar, the sleek Raptor gunship dominating the large room.

"You've already seen the Raptor when we visited Jericho," Calara said, casually gesturing towards the gunship as they walked past. "We mainly use it for boarding actions and combat drops."

The two Fernandez men stared at the Raptor in fascination, their eyes lingering over the exotic weapons bristling the gleaming white hull.

"What guns are those?" her father asked, stopping to study the sinister-looking barrels jutting out of the chin turret. "I don't recognise them."

She paused and faced the Raptor. "Dana recently upgraded all those turret mounts from Pulse Cannons to Tachyon Cannons. The Invictus' defence grid is made up of the same guns."

"I've never even heard of them before," Mateo said, raising his hand to run along the gleaming barrel. "How powerful are they?"

Calara considered that for a moment. "They fire pulsed tachyon beams that hit like a Laser Cannon blast. They're basically a one-shot-kill on strike craft and could tear apart a Kintark cruiser in about ten seconds. I found them really handy for crippling hive ships; those pulsed beams slice through their chitin armour like a hot knife through butter. It was great being able to knock out engines or power regulators without worrying I was going to core through the entire ship."

Mateo exchanged a shocked glance with his father. Terran Federation Laser Cannons had ten-metre-long barrels and were the primary weapons of much larger ships like a destroyer. It was astonishing to think that a mere gunship could be packing so much firepower.

"How fast do they fire?" Jack asked, turning to look quizzically at his daughter. "Once every ten seconds like a Laser Cannon?"

"No, they fire in a continuous stream. Imagine if a Laser Cannon could fire as fast as a Gatling Laser, but didn't have any spin-up time and never had to stop shooting to cool down," She made a flourish with her hand towards the terrifyingly powerful gun. "And that's essentially a Tachyon Cannon."

"Jesus..." Mateo muttered, his eyes wide in awe.

Jack looked at the glinting muzzles of the ten-metre weapons mounted in the hull above the Raptor's wing. "Wasn't this originally fitted with a pair of Laser Cannons too?"

Calara nodded, a nostalgic smile on her face. "That's right. It seems so long ago now..."

"What have you upgraded those weapons to?" he asked, turning to study his daughter

"Tachyon Lances," she replied with an enthusiastic grin. "They're very similar to the Nova Lances mounted in Maliri battleships, but more compact and faster firing. They don't have the same punch, but a pair of those is still strong enough to take out a cruiser in a single shot."

"And you've got two of them mounted on a gunship?!" Jack marvelled, truly astounded.

"Unfortunately, we haven't got the hard points to add any more; too much hull space is dedicated to troop carrying capacity," Calara replied, looking ruefully up at the Raptor. "We've got forty Tachyon Lances mounted on the Invictus and they're my go-to gun batteries now. The Nova Lances are incredibly powerful, but they take thirty seconds to recharge and are forward-firing only."

Mateo let out a low whistle. "So you could take out thirty cruisers in an alpha strike?!"

"Yes... and Tachyon Lances have got double the range of Beam Lasers," she replied with a smile of satisfaction. "If we fought the Battle of Terra again, the Invictus would've destroyed triple the amount of Kintark warships without taking a scratch."

"How did you get your hands on guns like this?" her brother murmured, staring at the Raptor's primary weapons with newfound respect.

"Dana designs all our equipment..." Calara replied evasively, before turning to stride over to the hangar wall. She pressed her hand to the concealed DNA reader and opened the hidden door, then beckoned for them to follow. "Come on, there's lots more to see."

They stepped into the express grav-tube with her, then let out startled shouts when they were hurtled upwards to Deck Four.

"You could have warned us, Callie!" Mateo protested with a groan as he stepped clear of the tube.

"I forgot they take a bit of getting used to... sorry," she apologised, steadying her father as he stumbled out of the blue anti-gravity field.

He leaned on her for support until his stomach had stopped roiling, then looked around in fascination. "What is this place?"

"Our main Armoury and the Combat Bridge," Calara explained, walking past the weapon racks filled with Tachyon rifles. She gestured towards the second set of express grav-tubes. "Those lead up to the Officers' Quarters. John wanted us to be able to respond quickly to interdictions if we were ambushed while sleeping, so we built all of this so we could be combat-ready within thirty seconds of an alarm being raised."

Mateo choked back a laugh.

Calara looked at him quizzically. "Why is that funny?"

"I just pictured all of you sitting at the Bridge in your pyjamas," he replied with a grin.

"Actually, Alyssa prefers to sleep nude... all the girls do," Calara said blithely, then giggled at the reaction that evoked from her guests. "But we usually put on a jumpsuit and body armour before combat."

"In thirty seconds?" her father asked sceptically.

"I'll show you," she eagerly volunteered, kicking off her shoes.

Calara walked over to one of the armour equipping frames, then stepped into the armoured boots and slipped her hands into the gauntlets. The robotic arms swung down, bringing the armour plating with them, and within seconds she was fully-geared in a suit of Paragon armour. Calara grabbed one of the rifles and a spare magazine, then loaded the weapon as she sprinted down the ramp into the Combat Bridge. Sliding the Tachyon rifle into the holster at the Tactical Station, she took her seat, then spun around to wave at her startled guests.

"Damn... what was that, ten seconds?" Jack marvelled, sharing a startled glance with his son.

"It took the Damocles' Bridge Crew nearly three minutes in our last combat drill... and we weren't even wearing armour!"

Calara retrieved her rifle, then jogged back up the ramp to join them. "We usually just have one person watching the Bridge instead of running full shifts, so every second counts."

"Amazing," Jack murmured, watching as his daughter unloaded her weapon, then removed her Paragon suit.

"Which one is John's?" Mateo asked, his gaze flicking from one frame to the next.

"That's his Lion armour right there," Calara replied, pointing to a slightly larger set of white boots. "The rest are for the Lionesses; luckily we're all very similar builds, so we can all wear any of the female suits."

She glanced meaningfully at her father and he nodded his understanding.

Mateo reverently touched the gold-embossed Paragon gauntlets, then turned his attention to the adjacent weapon rack. Taking pride of place was John's archaic rune sword, the flawless white blade gleaming as it reflected the light. He reached out to brush his fingers over the hilt, then jerked them back, startled by the sudden tingling in his fingertips.

"Let's head back down to the lower decks and I'll continue the tour," Calara said over her shoulder, already walking towards the express grav-tubes.

They dropped down to Deck Nine, taking a few seconds to recover after the rapid descent, then followed Calara through the reinforced doors into the Primary Hangar. Both Jack and Mateo froze when they got their first glimpse of the Progenitor Shuttle, staring up at the alien ship in awe. Unlike the sparkling white Raptor, the large black vessel looked sinister and malevolent, looming over them like something out of a maddened old spacer's nightmare.

"What the hell is that?" Mateo muttered, shivering with dread.

Calara made brief eye-contact with her father. "We captured it last week. I'm afraid I can't go into too much detail about its origins... for your own safety."

Jack stared up at the terrifying vessel, finally getting a true glimpse of the enemy his daughter was facing. The trio stood in hushed silence for a long moment, studying the shuttle in all its malignant glory.

A minute later, Jack cleared his throat. "Mateo, would you mind giving me a moment alone with your sister? We need to discuss something above your clearance level."

Mateo nodded respectfully. "Of course, dad. I'll go take another look at the Raptor."

"You can wait for us in the Mech Bay, if you'd prefer?" Calara suggested, pointing across the vast room to the doors on the far side. "Just go through those doors and the ones opposite; that's where Sakura keeps the Valkyrie."

His eyes lit up with anticipation. "Oh, I have to check that out!" With a parting wave, he set off, jogging across the cavernous hangar.

Jack waited until his son was well out of earshot before he asked quietly, "This is a Progenitor ship, isn't it?"

Calara nodded, her expression turning bleak. "This was Larn'kelnar's personal shuttle. His dreadnought was about fifty times bigger... and packed with enough firepower to exterminate both sides in the Battle of Terra single-handed. He ambushed us in orbit above a planet called Arcadia and cut the Invictus in half before we even knew what was happening."

He looked appalled, then quickly wrapped his daughter up in a comforting hug. "My God... I nearly lost you, didn't I?"

She shivered in his arms and said in a whisper, "It was terrifying, dad... I've never been so scared. Larn'kelnar was an absolute monster. He killed millions of people just for fun... and he almost killed most of the girls too. Dana, Rachel, Sakura, the twins, Jade's sisters... they all nearly died."

Jack stroked Calara's back to comfort her. "He's gone, Callie. You're safe now..."

Pulling back to look him in the eye, she shook her head. "The rest of the Progenitors are still out there. There're dozens more of them and they're all twisted evil monsters! They sacrifice their own thralls... murder women by the thousands... just to make these cursed ships!"