Three Square Meals Ch. 18

The young women of his crew left their chairs and moved to join him at the elevator. John glanced at Jade's delightfully nude form and raised an eyebrow.

"I think you could probably do with wearing something a little less revealing." he joked.

"I'm sure we can find you something nice!" Alyssa said happily as they went down to deck two. She held Jade's hand and led her off to her quarters to pick out something for her friend to wear.

John, Calara and Sparks waited for the two girls by the elevator.

Calara suddenly laughed out loud, causing the others to look at her in surprise.

"What?" John asked curiously.

"This will be the first time I've set foot outside the ship since I joined your crew!" Calara said in amusement.

John laughed along with her. "You shouldn't be so deadly with the Invictus, then I'd let you out more!" he said, grinning at her affectionately.

Calara smiled back at him happily.

After a relatively short wait, Alyssa and Jade strode back to join them. Alyssa was wearing her charcoal pencil skirt suit, while Jade was wearing black knee length boots, a form fitting black jumpsuit and a finely tailored red jacket.

"Wow! Very nice ladies!" John said, whistling appreciatively and the girls' eyes sparkled at his open appreciation of their efforts.

The group reconvened in the elevator and then headed to the airlock when they reached the lowest level.

"Be my guest." John said, smiling at Calara, as he remembered she hadn't left the ship yet.

The gorgeous young Latina walked up to the door and placed her hand on the DNA reader, grinning back at him. The green light flickered as it travelled across the panel and then flashed red when it scanned her hand.

"Unauthorised access." the computer said in a dispassionate voice.

Looking puzzled, Calara placed her other hand on the DNA reader. The green light swept across the panel, flashing red once again.

"Unauthorised access." the computer repeated stubbornly.

"I thought you added Calara to the list of personnel with security clearance for the airlock?" John asked Alyssa with surprise.

"I definitely did, as soon as she joined the crew!" Alyssa said, confused. "I did the same for Sparks and Jade as well!" she protested.

Calara stepped back and made room for Sparks to place her hand on the DNA reader.

"Unauthorised access." the computer repeated infuriatingly.

"Please try as well, would you Jade." John asked her politely.

"Of course master!" Jade smiled at him happily and strode up to the panel by the side of the airlock as Sparks moved out of the way. She placed her hand on the panel like the other girls before her.

"Unauthorised access." the computer repeated, sounding almost smug this time.

Alyssa and John shot each other a worried look.

"Is the ship malfunctioning?" Alyssa asked him with concern.

"I'm not sure, but this doesn't look good." John replied.

Alyssa walked up to the airlock and tentatively placed her hand on the panel. The green light flickered over the panel reading her DNA and then beeped softly as it recognised her. The airlock door spiralled open smoothly.

"What's going on?" Alyssa asked in confusion.

"We'll have to take a look at it later." John said, looking behind her at the figures gathered in the docking bay waiting for them. "It looks like we have a welcoming committee!"