Three Square Meals Ch. 036

"Oh, really? I would have thought Admiral Cartwright might have become more directly involved with the Dragon March? What with the escalating tensions over there," John asked offhandedly.

"No, he's strictly in charge of logistics and ship-building. It's Admirals Lynton, Norwood and Santini running the show over there, but they're making a right mess of things," Adams said conspiratorially, before looking abashed and darting a worried glance at John.

"I can't wait to see Charles again!" Alyssa gushed excitedly, hanging on to John's arm as she bounced along beside him.

*Use me as a distraction,* she thought to John in a heartbeat.

"Yeah, it will be great to see him and catch up on old times, but no excessive flirting this time!" John agreed with a laugh.

Alyssa giggled brainlessly. "It's not my fault, the girls like the attention!" she replied, thrusting out her chest to emphasise her impressive cleavage.

John turned to the young assistant. "Sorry Victor, please forgive my XO. You were saying?"

Victor's wide eyes were drawn like magnets to Alyssa's gravity defying figure as she bounced along at his side, and when he looked back at John he flushed with embarrassment. "Oh, err... nothing Commander!" he stammered, before he recovered quickly, and attempted to cover his earlier slip-up. "Erm... The Vice Admiral's been looking forward to seeing you again too, he's been talking of little else since yesterday."

"He probably wants to make sure I'm taking good care of his old ship," John joked to the young man.

*Nice work, honey,* his voice said, as it echoed in Alyssa's mind. She squeezed his arm in response as they strolled along together.

They went up an elevator to the top deck of the shipyard, and after strolling along a few busy corridors full of naval personnel going about their business, they eventually arrived at the Commanding Officer's Suite for the Olympus Shipyard. It was the same office they had visited a couple of months ago, but it had just been John and Alyssa that time, on their first visit here.

Lieutenant Adams ushered them in, and gestured for them to sit on some comfortable sofas in an expanded waiting area. He then went behind his desk and hit the intercom, before speaking quietly into it, letting the Vice Admiral know that his guests had arrived.

"He'll be with you shortly," Victor told them with a smile. "Would you like a drink? Tea, or coffee perhaps?"

Before they could reply, the door to the main office swung open, and Vice Admiral Charles Harris strode out. He was an older man in his late 50's, and had an impressive bushy grey moustache that twitched as he grinned. He seemed tired since they'd seen him last however, and a few more worry lines creased his brow.

"If I know my old friend, you'll be wanting a whisky to toast your resounding victory!" Charles said exuberantly.

"Charles! It's great to see you again," John said with a grin, as he stood up to greet his friend. "I must confess a whisky would be very nice about now."

Charles looked towards his assistant, who nodded immediately. "I'll bring them through, Sir," Victor said helpfully.

"We'll have vodka instead please," Alyssa said to Victor with a cheeky grin, as she hooked her arm through Calara's.

"Of course, Miss," Victor replied, trying not to stare at the beautiful young women.

Charles rolled his eyes, and beckoned them into his office, John and the girls following in his wake as they entered the other room. When John walked inside the office, he whistled appreciatively, looking around the greatly extended office space. The office had been doubled in size, the wall to the adjacent office having been knocked through. Now there were two huge windows overlooking the traffic in and out of the shipyard, and the girls stood by them to watch the massive Terran Federation ships making their ponderous way to the Nav Beacon.

"Very nice Charles! You said your old offices were being refurbished, but this is very impressive," John said with a smile.

"I can't complain," the older man replied with a smile. "But enough about me, let's talk about you." he added, as he waved them over to the plush sofas arranged around the window.

"You might want to check this out first," John replied, throwing a small storage device over to his old friend, as he walked over to one of the sofas.

Charles caught it deftly, and then moved behind his desk, inserting the device carefully into the storage slot. "Ah, I wondered when I was going to see your After-Action-Report," he said to John with a raised eyebrow.

"I figured we were seeing you soon anyway, and with everyone so cagey about what's happening in the Dragon March, I thought it might be prudent to just hand it over in person," John replied, as he sat down on the sofa.

Charles' eyes darted to John at that, and he paused and studied him carefully for a long moment, before shifting his focus to the monitors built into the desk. He scanned through the report, pausing briefly half-way through.

"Corporal Gibbons?" he asked with a questioning look.

"He and his men fought against the Kintark bravely, while outnumbered and outgunned," John explained, glancing at Alyssa, who nodded approvingly, and smiled at him fondly.

Charles continued reading through the rest of the report, until he had finally finished. He stood up and walked around his desk to join them, just as Lieutenant Adams appeared with the tray full of beverages. The girls gratefully accepted the tall glasses of vodka, and looked out over the vista of space from the window, sipping their drinks as they watched the colossal ships drifting by. The older man waited until they all had their drinks, and his assistant had left the room, before he began to speak once more.

"Your AAR corroborates everything I've read from the other officers who were involved in the battle," Charles began as he stared at the amber coloured liquid in his glass. "I can hardly believe what you managed to accomplish, John," he added with a wry smile.

"Well, I like to help out where I can," John said magnanimously.

"Actually, while we're on the subject of defying belief, I'm intrigued to know more about how you got all the way to the Dragon March from the Core Worlds in less than a day," Charles said, studying him carefully.

"We helped out the Ashanath, and they upgraded the ship," John said cagily.

"Everyone knows they build the best FTL drives, but the best we've seen is double the speed of our fastest military drive. We acquired a couple, but we can't easily replicate them," Charles said, his eyes burning acquisitively. "We'd pay an awful lot to take that drive off your hands."

"Afraid it's not for sale, sorry," John said apologetically. "We put blood, sweat and tears into that little job, and I like being able to get around nice and fast. Besides, my Chief Engineer would kill me if I even thought about selling it."

Charles looked like he was going to push him again, but when he saw the determined look on John's face, he clenched his jaw in frustration. With a sigh he gave up, and changed the subject.

"Well let's get back to the main reason I asked you to come here," Charles said with a smile.

"I'm all ears," John said wryly, as he adopted a disarming smile.

"You did an amazing thing stepping in and saving Port Medea like that. I read the reports from both Captain Harding, and Lieutenant Commander Mortensen. I would have dismissed it all as some fanciful tale, if I hadn't already had experience of your exploits against the Kirrix and that group of pirates," Charles said, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Like I said, I was happy to assist. I'm sure R&D will appreciate being able to take a look at the Kintark heavy carrier," John said with a grin.

"That they will. Those Kintark crew will be invaluable for prisoner exchanges as well," Charles agreed, then paused as he looked thoughtful. "Oh, that reminds me. As you're officially a civilian, the Terran Federation has decided to reward you with a bounty for your efforts. Two hundred million credits have been transferred to your account in gratitude for your phenomenal work in capturing that carrier, as well as defending the Spaceport, the refineries, and our ships in the system," he added gratefully.

"I can always find a good use for credits," John said with a grin, raising his glass in gratitude before taking a sip.

"High Command would also like to award you and your crew a medal, in honour of your heroic defence of the Iota-Leonis system. If you can stick around for a couple of days, I'll arrange an award ceremony." Charles said with a broad smile.

Calara and Alyssa exchanged glances, and beamed wide smiles at one another, before reining in their urge to go and give John a hug.

"Unofficially, we're promoting you as well. You'll still be listed as a retired Commander, but anyone in the military who looks up your personnel record will see your new rank. Congratulations, Commodore Blake," Charles said with a dry chuckle.

This was too much for the girls, and they squealed with delight as they dashed over to give him an exuberant hug. Charles shook his head with equal parts amusement and envy, while John laughed, embracing an overexcited young woman in each arm, as they leaned over him where he sat.

"Congratulations, Commodore!" Calara gushed breathily, as she sat down beside him, and looked at him adoringly.

"Thank you, Lieutenant," John said, as he grinned back at her fondly.

"I don't even know how the ranks work, but I'm guessing that's good?" Alyssa bubbled excitedly as she sat on the other side of him, her eyes open wide.

"Commander, Captain, Commodore," Calara interjected helpfully, her eyes sparkling with admiration for John.

*OK, nice work at appearing young and naive, but you and Calara can dial it down a bit. Charles knows how capable you both are,* John thought to Alyssa, with his amusement filtering through to her.

*Who says we're faking?* Alyssa replied chirpily, before her voice suddenly took on a sharp and cunning edge. *You'd be surprised at how quickly a beautiful but ditzy young woman can be dismissed as harmless, even by men who should know better.*

John turned his attention back to the older man opposite him, who was watching the three of them.

"Bumping me up two ranks?" John asked with a raised eyebrow and a big grin, as he glanced over at Charles. "Someone must be very happy with me right now."

"If we'd lost the Iota-Leonis system, the situation in the Dragon March would have dramatically deteriorated, and there would have been significant repercussions," Charles said sombrely. "We haven't officially declared war with the Kintark Empire yet, but in order to mobilise enough forces to repel them, we would have had to. The bloody nose you gave them will let us keep this as a controlled border skirmish for a while to come."

"It didn't look like a border skirmish to me, and there was nothing controlled about it," John said grimly. "We also passed a flotilla of ships on the way back to Olympus, that told a very different story."

Charles said nothing, and watched him again, his eyes narrowing. "Yes, well let's not get into all that, shall we? It would no doubt be for the best if you kept that little observation just between us for the time being. Oh, and unless you have any more pressing business in the Dragon March you haven't told me about, I'm going to have to insist you stay well clear of that whole sector," he ordered John firmly.

"Whatever you say, Charles," John replied amiably.

The Vice-Admiral studied John and the girls for a long moment, his face stern, before he looked away to stare out of the huge window. When he finally turned back to them, he now wore a smile on his face, his mood much lighter as he changed the subject.

"If you're still feeling helpful, we'd also like you to do another media interview, if that's alright with you? The last one you gave was some phenomenal PR. High Command's approval rating actually went up 3 points," the Vice Admiral remarked dryly.

"That isn't a problem," John replied with an easy-going shrug of his shoulders. "Is there any particular line you want me to take?"

"We could certainly use another popularity boost with the public, so more of the same would be greatly appreciated," Charles explained.

"Well, if you're still feeling in a generous mood, the Raptor that Admiral Cartwright gave us got pretty dinged up in the fight against the Kintark. We've fixed the armour, but we could use a replacement starboard engine, and a couple of Gatling lasers," John asked with a smile. "Dana could fabricate some new ones, but it will take some time, and I'd rather the gunship was in fighting shape as soon as possible."

"Certainly, I'll get you the parts transferred immediately," Charles said agreeably, rising and walking over to his desk to place the order straight away.

He sat down and rapidly authorised the requisition of the required equipment to be sent to the hangar bay housing the Invictus. Once he had completed the order, he looked up and spoke to John, "There, the parts should be transferred in a couple of hours."

"Great, thanks a lot," John said appreciatively.

"So you're off to see the Maliri now, aren't you?" the older man asked him curiously, as he rose and walked around his desk to lean against it.

"Yeah, that's the plan. I think we've earned ourselves a little vacation time though, so we might take a little detour to Oceanus on the way," John said with a grin.

Charles laughed again, but for the first time in this meeting it seemed unforced. "The civilian life has certainly been good to you, you rascal!" he chuckled merrily.

"I can't complain," John agreed, joining him in his laughter, and hugging the girls tightly to him.

Sensing the meeting was near an end, John and the girls stood up and got ready to depart.

"Oh, one last thing John," Charles said with a frown. "I seem to recall your next stop after the Maliri, on your little jaunt around the galaxy, is to visit the Trankarans. Is that right?"

"It probably won't be for a while, but yeah, I want to upgrade the ship's engines and thrusters. As you know, they make the best," John replied openly.

"I've been reading some really strange reports coming from the Trankaran border. The Trankarans have been randomly attacking merchant shipping, and I've even heard that they've been firing on their own ships as well. Something very odd is happening there, so you might want to rethink those plans," Charles cautioned him.

"We've never had any trouble with the Trankarans before," John said with a puzzled look on his face. "What could have got them all riled up?"

"No idea, but I just thought I'd mention it," Charles said, as he walked with them to the door of his office. "By the way, we're on Terran Standard Time here, so it's nearly one in the morning. I'll get the media to make contact with you tomorrow at a more sensible time, and you can discuss the interview with them."

"We have the Invictus on the same time setting," John replied. "I appreciate you meeting us this late at night. I thought it important to get in contact straight away."

"No problem, that's why I stayed up late. I might be career military, but I don't normally work all hours," Charles laughed.

"It was good to see you, Charles," John said warmly. "You might think about taking a vacation yourself, you're looking tired."

"If I had such lovely company, I wouldn't think twice," Charles grinned, his moustache twitching with his amusement.

Alyssa and Calara smiled at him coyly, where they stood flanking John.

"All joking aside, it's not a good time right now, but I appreciate the concern. It was good to see you again John, you too Alyssa, Calara," he added, nodding to each of them in turn.

They waved him goodbye, and strolled out through the reception area, with Alyssa winking flirtatiously over her shoulder at Lieutenant Adams as he watched them depart.

*He's obviously hiding something,* Alyssa thought to John grimly. *Calara feels exactly the same way.*

*Okay, keep it light, we're probably being watched.* John cautioned her, *We'll discuss this back on the ship.*

"So, what's this Oceanus place?" Alyssa beamed up at him excitedly, "I've never heard of it before!"

"It's a resort world, terraformed to make it a perfect place for a vacation," John grinned at the exuberant young woman, playing along with her diversion.

"And ludicrously expensive!" Calara gasped. "I could barely believe my ears when you said that. I've always wanted to go there."

"What use is money if you can't spend it on deserving young women?" John joked.

"Oh, we'll be very deserving," Alyssa promised him seductively.

John laughed heartily, and they kept up the banter all the way back to the docking bay housing their ship. When they re-entered the vast room, they paused for a moment and looked up at the assault cruiser.

"We must find the time, and a good location, to give the Invictus a makeover," Alyssa said offhandedly, as they stared up at the glistening jet black ship.

"Something in white?" Calara asked with a knowing smile.

"Yes, I think that would look much nicer. Far less sinister," Alyssa nodded approvingly.

"I must admit, I did quite like the black look," John sighed regretfully, thinking about the newly plated Phalanx armour. "It felt less... ostentatious, and more stealthy."

"Well it's not like it matters in space anyway. Sneaking around out there is a question of energy signatures," Calara reminded him.

"I know, but it still doesn't feel right," John said with a smile.

"Just be thankful, it could have ended up being pink!" Alyssa giggled, as she imagined the fearsome assault cruiser in the same bright pink they'd seen glowing around the Invictium ore.

"Just... don't even go there," John laughed with a theatrical shudder.

They walked up to the ship and John placed his hand on the DNA reader by the airlock. The door spiralled open, and he gestured for the girls to go in first. Once they were inside the ship, and the airlock door had closed behind them, the jovial banter ended the instant the door sealed shut.

"Charles is definitely hiding something," Calara said regretfully, as they walked down the corridor to the grav-tube.

"I can't believe he'd be involved in this," Alyssa said sadly. "He's always been so nice."

"Well, hold on for a second," John replied in defence of his old friend. "I agree he was very cagey about what's happening in the Dragon March, but it doesn't necessarily mean he's a traitor."

"That's very true," Calara agreed. "Unless we have definitive proof either way, we don't know what he's trying to cover up. We'll still have to treat him as though he's a suspect until we know for sure," the Latina added, looking at John sympathetically.

"I know, it makes sense to be careful," John agreed with a sigh, as they stepped out of the grav-tube onto Deck Two.

Alyssa slipped her hand through his, and rubbed her thumb against his, as she looked at him sympathetically. She could sense his worry and doubts about Charles, and although her immediate instinct was to distract John from any emotional pain, she knew they still needed to update the other two girls too.

They walked up to the Commander's Quarters, and Calara smiled when they reached the sign. "Maybe we need to update that," she suggested proudly.

"It's okay, I've got lots of fond memories of the room as the 'Commander's Quarters'," John replied with a grin.

"Whatever you say, Commodore," the Latina replied, with a smile.

"Commodore? What do you mean?" Dana called out to them softly.

John, Alyssa and Calara walked into the room, and saw a nude Jade and Dana flanking a sleeping Rachel. It had only been an hour since she'd been fed, so the tawny haired brunette was still curled around a hugely swollen belly.