Three Square Meals Ch. 30

"Good morning, Talari," John called out a warm greeting.

"Greetings JohnBlake, it is wonderful to see you and your companions today," the Ashanath councillor replied.

"Are you going to give us any clues as to what this surprise is?" John asked playfully.

"I'm afraid not, but if you would like to load up your gunship in the Invictus, I will lead you to it. We have completed the additional modifications that you requested, on the vessel you refer to as the Raptor." he said quietly.

"Fantastic, thanks Talari," John said gratefully.

"What did you make of the images and data I sent you about that mystery black ship?" Dana asked him curiously.

"We thank you for those, Dana. My team are analysing what we can ascertain from them as we speak, but I fear it will not be much. What I would give for an active scan of that ship," Talari said, even his synthetic computer voice sounding wistful.

The Ashanath Councillor returned to his ship, while Jade jogged over to the Raptor, excited to see the new modifications. The rest of the crew waited for her in the hangar bay of the Invictus, and the Nymph brought the gunship in through the huge doors, bringing it down for a perfect landing in the middle of the bay. They then travelled up the Grav-tubes and on to the bridge, where Alyssa fired up the engines on the assault cruiser, so that they could follow the nimble Ashanath saucer.

Talari led them away from the drydock in his agile disc shaped vessel, and they seemed to be retracing their earlier path through the twisting caverns, until they were back at the first docking bay that they had landed at several days earlier.

"This is eerily familiar," Alyssa said, as she brought them up to the awaiting robotic arms, in the rocky cavernous hangar in the underbelly of the Ashana shipyard. The arms attached themselves to their ship's hull with a magnetic clunk, before smoothly rotating them 180 degrees, and setting them down on the hangar bay floor.

"Let's go see what they have in store for us," John said, feeling a surge of excitement. The girls were equally as eager, anticipation building in the air, and they followed him down in the grav-tubes so that they could disembark.

Talari was waiting for them by his ship, and when they strode over to meet him, he turned to lead them over to the anti-grav shafts up to the surface of the shipyard. A hushed silence had fallen over their little group as they floated up to the top level, and stepped out onto the dusty red street. They followed the robed Grey quietly, as he guided them down the road to the main thoroughfare.

"Where are we heading?" John eventually asked their Grey guide, as he grew ever more intrigued.

"To the Trader's Emporium, you will see why, shortly," Talari said, as they re-trod familiar steps, the first they had taken on this alien world.

After they had walked for a few hundred more metres along the bustling main boulevard, Talari brought them to a stop by one of the anti-gravity tubes, that led up to the mezzanine level above them. "The high council is awaiting you up there, we will join them momentarily," he advised them in his quiet, eerie voice.

John nodded, and they stepped into the anti-gravity field, ascending upwards after Talari. They finally reached the top level, and stepped out, but stopped in stunned surprise at what awaited them.

All the merchant booths had been temporarily cleared, leaving the vast mezzanine completely open. Thousands of Ashanath awaited them, lined up in orderly rows and all watching and waiting for High Councillor Talari to appear with his honoured guests. There was a wide path through the throng of Grey citizens, leading directly towards eight robed Ashanath, who John recognised as being the High Council. They stood in a row, awaiting John and his crew, in front of a large silvery object that dominated the otherwise empty traders emporium.

"If you would follow me please." Talari whispered, with a deep respectful bow.

John glanced at the girls, who were looking a little overawed, and then nodded his assent to Talari. The councillor glided ahead of them, and the Invictus crew followed behind him as he led them through the huge crowd of staring alien citizens. Feeling very self conscious, they were relieved when they finally arrived in front of the High Council. Talari went to stand at his place with his colleagues, and Senior Councillor Ularean stepped forward.

"JohnBlake, we are honoured that you and your companions would grace us with your presence this day. As our loyal allies, you have done so much for the Ashanath Collective, saving many thousands of lives with your elimination of the vicious Drakkar raiders," he said, the unemotional voice of his speech modulator still conveying the gratitude in his words.

"It gives me great pleasure to announce that you will always be welcome on Ashana as a friend to the Ashanath people, and we wish to unveil a tribute we have constructed in your honour," he declared, before turning around to face the large silvery object behind him.

The silvery object began to rustle, and it became apparent that it was a silver coloured cloth of some kind, that was being pulled back to reveal whatever was concealed beneath. John and the girls watched spellbound, as the silvery cloth moved slowly up and backwards, before finally dropping away, leaving the huge monument to gleam brightly in the sunlight.

"Oh, wow!" Dana muttered, awestruck, as she stared up with disbelieving eyes at the monument that loomed above them.

The monument was made out of Etherium, and was a perfect replica of John, Alyssa, Calara, Dana and Jade. The attention to detail by the Ashanath sculptors was incredible, having managed to perfectly capture the beauty of each of the girls, and even going so far as to manage to get the order right in the way they arranged themselves around John. The five of them were positioned in a heroic pose, and the fifty foot tall statue dominated the view over the Mezzanine, clearly viewable from all areas.

"This is incredible," John said in wonder, his voice hushed.

"You have saved a great many lives with your intervention against... the Drakkar." Ularean murmured to him quietly, pausing significantly when he spoke. "We hope that by positioning the monument to you and your companions here, then tales of your exploits will spread amongst the other races that come to trade with us."

"Thank you for your amazing generosity, Ularean," John said sincerely, before turning to face the assembled Ashanath citizens.

"I feel honoured to consider the wonderful people of the Ashanath Collective my ally," John began, addressing the crowd in a strong voice that echoed around the plaza. "It was only through the hard work and technical skills of citizens here on Ashana, that we were able to defeat the Drakkar and bring an end to their brutal attacks. I hope that through future cooperation, we can continue to achieve great things together, forging a bright future, side by side as allies and friends!"

*That caused quite a stir, John!* Alyssa's voice said clearly in his mind, sounding impressed. *I didn't know you had a talent for public speaking!*

John turned back to the council once more, before he bowed to them, and they in turn all bowed deeply towards him. Ularean then stepped forward and spoke to him again, "We wish you a safe journey, and will always offer you the hand of friendship should you ever find yourself in need JohnBlake."

"Likewise, Senior Councillor," John replied, and then turned to walk back through the huge crowds of Ashanath civilians who looked on, following their every move as they left the mezzanine of the trader's emporium. They stopped by the anti-gravity tube that led back down to the boulevard and John and the girls waved the assembled Ashanath a warm wave goodbye. The aliens copied the movement awkwardly and then the crew stepped into the tubes and away from sight.

They walked along in silence for a few minutes until they were back in the anti-grav passage leading down to the hangar bay housing the Invictus. They glanced at each other with excited eyes, and managed to keep it together until they opened the airlock into the assault cruiser, and walked inside. The moment the airlock door spiralled shut, the spell of silence was broken and they exploded into excited chatter.

"That was wonderful!" Jade exclaimed excitedly, looking up at John adoringly.

"They built a statue to us!" Dana said, bouncing up and down with glee.

"My family would freak if they saw this!" Calara gasped in wonder.

John grinned indulgently at the exuberant reaction from the girls, but he glanced at Alyssa, communicating wordlessly with her. They both understood the deeper meaning behind the magnificent statue of themselves, now standing protectively over the trader's emporium. He led the girls up to the officer's lounge, where they sat on the comfortable sofa's to the sound of excited chatter.

"What's wrong?" Calara asked, finally noticing that John and Alyssa were not leaping up and down like the rest of them.

"The status was meant to honour us," John said, reluctant to bring down their buoyant good mood. "But it has a secondary purpose as well."

"It's meant as a warning," Alyssa finished for him soberly. "The Ashanath are terrified of the Progenitors, and they hope that by flaunting their alliance with John, it will protect them from further harm from the Progenitors or their allies."

"Well that's an interesting take on it," Dana said, quietening down abruptly.

"It makes a lot of sense though," Calara said thoughtfully. "Positioned where it is, the message will pass around to the other races very quickly."

"Possibly making us a big target, for more fearsome predators," Jade said ominously.

"We better make sure we're ready for them then," John said confidently.

***

"Where are you, you elusive bastard?!" the brooding figure snarled in anger, slamming his fist down on the gothic throne. He had been working through his vast network of informants, but none of his contacts seemed to have a clue where Commander John Blake had disappeared to.

"You can't have just vanished!" he exclaimed, finding this particular target to be absolutely infuriating.

The last reports he had received, showed John Blake and his assault cruiser to be sighted at Olympus Shipyard, but that was nearly two weeks ago, and there had been neither sight nor sound of him since then. Fortunately the contract didn't specify a deadline for its completion, but this was the longest he had ever taken to eliminate a target, and he wouldn't risk anything tarnishing his darkly won reputation.

"Maybe another approach is needed here," he mused to himself, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

He reached over to his console and made a call.