Three Square Meals Ch. 025

There was a long moment of hushed quiet as John reeled from the unexpected announcement. The nine Ashanath High Councillors remained immobile, staring at him with their huge unblinking black eyes.

John glanced at the girls and they were as equally stunned at the surprising turn of events as he was.

"That sounds incredibly generous, but I have to ask why?" John asked, bewildered.

Senior Councillor Ularean paused for a moment, studying John.

"We have had... difficulties with the Drakkar for the last 6 months. Should you agree to enter into an alliance with the Ashanath Collective, we would ask for your assistance against this hostile species." Ularean said in his eerie voice.

"We believe you have succeeded against them recently, where we have not. We would like to thank you for that victory." The robed High councillor said neutrally, the unemotional voice leeching some of the appreciation out of its words.

"So you want us to go out and fight them on your behalf?" John said dubiously, remembering vividly just how difficult their most recent battle had been.

"Yes." Ularean stated bluntly in his whispery voice.

"If you are successful in your efforts, we will offer you one other thing, which we believe might have value to you JohnBlake." The Grey said cryptically.

"Go ahead, I can't wait to hear what it is." John said with a smile.

"We believe we can shed light on your parentage." Senior Councillor Ularean said quietly.

You could have heard a pin drop in the deathly silence of the audience chamber, as John was rendered speechless. The Ashanath were casually offering him an answer to a question that had haunted him for decades and he felt hope surge within him, his heart racing with excitement. He had to restrain himself from immediately agreeing and turned to look at the girls, before facing the High Council once more.

"I thank you for your generous offer." John said gratefully. "I would like to discuss this with my companions before I give you my answer."

"Of course JohnBlake. The anteroom you entered from is at your disposal." Ularean offered.

John nodded his appreciation and he led the girls back into the room they had just come from, closing the doors behind them. He walked over to one of the chairs and collapsed into it, blowing out a deep breath. Alyssa, Dana, Calara and Jade followed him to the chairs and sat in them demurely, waiting for John to process the exciting news.

"So what do you think girls?" John asked them. "Should I form an alliance with the Ashanath Collective?" he said, shaking his head in disbelief at the crazy notion.

He looked at his companions in turn, awaiting their reactions.

"Getting the power core and FTL drive for free is going to save us an absolute fortune!" Dana started excitedly. "They're also offering us the best tech they have!" she continued, her eyes gleaming acquisitively.

"It's not really for free though is it?" Calara said with a wry smile. "We're going to have to face who knows how many Drakkar in exchange for that equipment." she said looking troubled. "The Invictus was seriously outclassed by that Drakkar cruiser and I'm not sure we could go toe-to-toe with one like that again."

"I think it's wonderful that the Ashanath recognise how powerful John is!" Jade said proudly. "It's important that he receives the respect he deserves!" she said, looking at John adoringly.

Calara and Dana smiled at her affectionately, finding her unabashed worship of their lover quite endearing. Alyssa looked at the Nymph thoughtfully however.

"Councillor Talari was asking me to confirm your species when we chatted earlier." the beautiful blonde said quietly. "I don't think they're bluffing about knowing something about your parentage John."

"You all raise good points." John said appreciatively. "It sounds like this could be an amazing opportunity, but it's going to carry some very significant risks." he cautioned them.

"Ok time to let me know how you'd vote and please be completely honest. 'Yes' to an alliance, or 'No'?" he asked firmly.

"Yes!" Dana said enthusiastically.

Calara paused for a moment, studying John. "No, based purely on the risk involved with facing the Drakkar again." she hesitated for a second. "But yes including the offer to share what they know about your parents." she said, smiling at him warmly.

John returned her smile affectionately.

"I find the idea of you forming alliances as a galactic power in your own right very arousing." Jade said excitedly. "I wish to vote yes."

John grinned at the Nymph, shaking his head in amusement at her answer. He finally locked eyes with Alyssa.

"How about you honey? What do you think?" he asked curiously.

"I promised I'd help you find out about your parents. I vote yes." she said with a smile.

"Thank you for your honest replies." John said with a smile.

"Let's go discuss this with the Ashanath and see if we can play a little hardball." he said, with a predatory grin.

They rose and walked back into the round council chamber, somewhat surprised to see that the Ashanath High Council were all still sitting motionless, not appearing to have moved while awaiting his response.

"Firstly let me say that I am honoured by your generous proposal for an alliance." John began. "I am sympathetic to your plight with the Drakkar, but I'd rather not fight their entire empire on my own!" he said with a wry smile.

Senior Councillor Ularean spoke up in his whispery voice. "We do not require that you conquer their entire empire. We suspect that this is a raiding group, as the attacks occur deep within our territory, rather than on our borders. If you are able to find and stop the source of these attacks, we will consider that fair payment for the items we have offered."

"That sounds more than fair." John replied. "I have a critically important meeting I must attend in just over a week's time, so I'd like to get things wrapped up well before then." he said, glancing at Calara with a wink.

Calara stifled a disbelieving laugh, shaking her head in amazement that he would be considering the meeting with her parents at a time like this.

"We believe the raider force is extensive JohnBlake. I do not believe you will be able to locate and defeat them in such a short timeframe." Senior Councillor Ularean said, managing to sound dubious even with his emotionless whispering voice.

"We'll see." John said confidently. "This leads me on to the second thing I'd like to discuss with you. I have a number of additional requests I'd like to include to secure this alliance."

"Name them by all means." Ularean said quietly.

"I'll need your best operatives to work with my Tactical Officer on this. We'll need access to all your information on the Drakkar: Scanning data on their ships, attack locations and time of occurrence, everything you have that might help track them down." John requested.

"Acceptable." Ularean agreed.

"I'd like a fleet of Ashanath ships to assist us in any confrontation." John said reasonably.

Ularean paused, looking troubled. "We have sustained considerable losses against the Drakkar. Our ships appear to be woefully ill equipped to deal with them." he said hesitantly.

John's eyes narrowed. "So you expect us to do all the fighting." he stated unamused.

"In that case, I will expect you to assign your best engineering crews under the direct command of my Chief Engineer. As many teams and whatever resources she requires to help rapidly refit my ship. I want the Invictus ready for war, councillors." he demanded.

"This is acceptable." Senior Councillor Ularean said immediately.

John paused and studied the unblinking Ashanath Council for a long moment, the room silent as the grave as all present awaited his next pronouncement.

"If I ask for your information about my parentage up front, you will say no, won't you?" he asked perceptively.

"Regrettably, you are correct JohnBlake." Senior Councillor Ularean whispered in his eerie voice.

"I understand. You need your leverage." John said astutely.

"Then I agree to your terms of alliance." he stated with a warm smile.

The Ashanath visibly slumped with relief, quiet audible sighs echoing uncannily around the council chamber.

"We thank you most sincerely JohnBlake." Ularean said gratefully.

John walked forward and offered his hand to the Ashanath Senior Councillor to seal the bargain, who reached out to shake it, the gesture unfamiliar to the alien creature.

"I look forward to a long and happy alliance between us Ularean." John said with a smile.

"As do we, JohnBlake." The robed Grey whispered gently.

"Well I suggest we start immediately." John said, taking control.

"Alyssa is my Executive Officer and my second in command." he said, turning towards the beautiful blonde girl. "She will move my ship to your drydock, so that we can begin the refit with the new power core and FTL drive immediately."

"Yes, I'm feeling fine now." Alyssa said with a smile, answering the unspoken question in his mind.

"Dana is my chief engineer. She will head over to the drydock too, so please assemble your engineering teams there so that she can put them to work. How many teams will you require Dana?" he asked the eager auburn haired beauty.

"I'll need crews for the core and drive refit. I'll need to repair the damage to our hull and I want to replate the ship with tech I'm going to reverse engineer from the Drakkar." She said confidently.

"I'm going to reinforce the Invictus to repel boarders and I intend to replace our central elevator with anti-grav tubes." Dana said ambitiously.

"I have plans for our personnel weapons and armour, so I'm going to need schematics for your power core technology." the redhead said, her eyes gleaming. "Then the use of your fabricators to supply the components I need."

"Finally I have something special lined up for our mass drivers, so I'll need crews to assist with a rapid refit based on schematics that I'll provide." She said, with a feral grin.

"Oh and we'll need some cleanup crews to help tidy up the mess we made of those Drakkar that tried to board us." she said as an afterthought.

Senior Councillor Ularean turned to one of the High Councillors seated to his left, who nodded his agreement.

"The required resources and engineering teams will await your arrival at the drydock Dana." the robed Grey consented. "High Councillor Rathus will return you to your vessel and then meet you with the required crews at the drydock."

"Excellent, thank you councillors." John said happily.

"Calara and I will meet with your analysts now. We need to establish the site of their base and the size of their forces." he stated firmly.

Turning to look at Jade, he smiled at her warmly. "Who do you want to accompany honey?".

"I'll go with Dana and Alyssa back to the Invictus, I wish to practice flying the gunship." Jade said, excitedly.

She was about to ask him something, but stopped herself at the last second.

"Go ahead, ask me whatever you want." John said encouragingly.

"I was about to ask your permission to join the other girls instead of being at your side." Jade said hesitantly. "But I stopped myself, because I knew you'd prefer me to make my own choice." she said smiling shyly.

John opened his arms to give her a big hug and the Nymph happily embraced him. "I'm proud of you honey." he whispered in her ear sincerely.

Jade cheerfully moved away to join Dana, Alyssa and High Councillor Rathus, who had risen from his seat to glide over to them. The girls waved John goodbye as they left the council chamber.

High Councillor Talari rose from the seat at the end of the row and moved over to join John and Calara.

"If you would follow me, I will take you to meet our analysts." Talari said with an ethereal whisper.

John nodded his assent and he followed behind the robed Ashanath councillor with Calara at his side.

"I can't believe you mentioned meeting my parents as a reason for finishing this up quickly!" she whispered to him quietly.

"Why not?" John said in all seriousness. "Your family is clearly important to you and I'm eager to meet the people who raised such a wonderful girl." he said fondly.

Calara sighed happily, linking her arm through his and pressing up tightly against him as they walked.

Talari led them out of the council chamber via another door and after a short walk they strolled out to another landing pad. John glanced back at the landing pad they had arrived at and instantly recognised Alyssa, Dana and Jade as they were led over to a disc shaped craft that was parked on the pad. Alyssa realised he was watching them and turned to speak animatedly to the other girls, before they all turned and waved at him exuberantly.

*Take care and I'll be with you soon.* he promised, forming the thoughts for Alyssa's benefit.

*I love you.* the hollow echo of Alyssa's voice whispered faintly in his mind.

*I heard you!* John thought in amazement. *I love you too!* he thought back to her, feeling deliriously happy.

"What?" Calara asked, seeing his overjoyed expression.

"Just chatting with Alyssa!" John said with a grin.

"Your female shows remarkable potential." Talari murmured quietly, startling John who had forgotten they had company for a moment.

"Is there anything you can do to help her hone her abilities?" John asked the Grey curiously.

The Ashanath stared at him for a moment, it's normally un-expressive face managing to look puzzled by something. It paused as if considering the next reply.

"I have guided her on the first steps." Talari said mysteriously, before turning away. "Our transport awaits." The Grey said abruptly, gliding forward and entering the waiting saucer shaped vehicle.

John looked at Calara and rolled his eyes with a smile on his face. Calara stifled a grin and they followed the robed councillor into the transport.

***

Dana chattered away excitedly to Jade and Alyssa, talking about her plans and about how eager she was to get started. Alyssa listened to her absently, nodding in the right places and letting the redhead throw out ideas in an unrelenting stream of consciousness. She had known Dana for years now and whenever her friend got really excited about a project, she would throw herself into it wholeheartedly, her mind usually working too quickly for Alyssa to keep up.

Alyssa's main focus was on John as she listened to his thoughts. She was overjoyed that he had been able to hear her very first attempt to communicate telepathically with him and now she was concentrating on maintaining his presence in her mind as they flew in opposite directions from each other.

She closed her eyes and breathed long slow breaths, copying the calming rituals that she had felt John use many a time. It allowed her to maintain her focus and keep his thoughts locked in place, as the distance between them increased at an alarming rate. 5km, 10km... she was unsure how she knew the precise distance, but she knew exactly how far away he was to the metre. By the time their disc shaped transport landed in the docking bay housing the Invictus, John had also reached his final destination too, 137km and 392m away in a north easterly direction.

"Are you tired Alyssa?" Jade asked her with concern. "You have had your eyes closed for the trip back."

"No, I'm fine Jade." Alyssa said, opening her eyes and smiling at her friend reassuringly. "I was just listening to John."

"That must be wonderful." The Nymph said wistfully.

Alyssa smiled at her gently, not having the heart to tell her just how much she had come to rely on John's constant reassuring presence in her mind.

"I will meet you at the drydock." High Councillor Rathus whispered eerily, interrupting their conversation abruptly. "Follow the guide path on your navigation computer." he murmured briefly.

Taking that as their queue to leave, the girls rose and left the parked saucer, stepping down the steps gracefully. The robed Ashanath councillor who had accompanied them closed the unfolding section of his vehicle unceremoniously as soon as they had disembarked and then the ship rose to fly away at a rapid pace.

The girls headed over to the Invictus and Alyssa produced her own copy of the remote that John used to access the cargo and hangar bays. She pressed her thumb to the control and after a half second pause to scan her DNA, the remote activated the cargo bay door and it began to slide up into the hull, granting them access into the ship.

"Shall we, ladies?" Alyssa said with a smile once the huge portal had yawned open.

They travelled up in the elevator and took their familiar places on the bridge before Alyssa prepared to take off. She fired up the Navigation computer and the shipyard traffic control supplied her with a guide path that would take them to the Drydock. She pressed a button on her console to hail the shipyard docking control.

"Ashana shipyard, this is the Invictus." Alyssa stated calmly. "Thank you for the guide path, we are ready for departure."

There was no response from the Greys, but the magnetic clamps that were holding them in place rotated them through 180 degrees and then released with a loud clunk. The robotic arms slowly withdrew, leaving the assault cruiser to hover in the docking bay, held motionless by the powerful anti-grav fields that were in place.

Alyssa powered up the enormous engines on the Invictus and then lowered the nose so that they dropped out of the docking bay. She turned them smoothly to follow the guide path and they proceeded on their way to the drydock. Dana turned towards her, bouncing up and down in her chair with excitement.

"This is going to be awesome!" the redhead said, her eyes sparkling.

***

John walked side by side with Calara as they followed High Councillor Talari towards the tall silvery grey building. Their saucer shaped craft had parked on a landing pad that was attached to the building, jutting out of the structure 50 metres above the ground and they now walked briskly towards the double doors ahead of them. The building looked fairly nondescript, but John's sharp eyes spotted the sinister barrels of anti-personnel weaponry set to both sides of the door, hinting that there might be more to this place than might appear at first glance.

Talari glided to a stop in front of the doorway and the doors slid open silently. Reddish orange dust billowed around the platform, but just as before, filters around the doorway seemed to prevent any particles from entering the meticulously clean interior. They walked inside into a lobby area and saw a uniformed Ashanath soldier sitting behind a desk. More weapon barrels set into the walls tracked them as they moved across the room and John felt very glad that he was among friends.

The soldier hit a button on his desk as the white robed councillor approached and a door opened out, revealing a corridor with many doors leading off it. Talari glided purposefully down the corridor and then stopped before another set of double doors. The councillor moved to stand in front of a device set into the wall and a bright green glow seemed to encompass the Ashanath's bulbous grey head. After being scanned for a few seconds, there was a quiet beep and the door slid open.

"Wow!" Calara said, suitably impressed by the view as Talari glided into the room.

They walked out onto a gantry that led into the centre of a huge sphere shaped room, which had a large holographic sector map floating in the middle. The gantry encircled the sector map and around the walls there were dozens of massive view screens, that were displaying vast quantities of data.

Three Greys wearing long silvery coats approached them and then stood immobile, staring at them with their disconcerting unblinking black eyes. Councillor Talari turned to face John and Calara.