Three Square Meals Ch. 037

The dark skinned girl looked even more enthusiastic when she heard this. "We've had sketchy reports about the battle, but I hadn't heard about this award ceremony. Do you think I could attend, and bring a film crew?"

"It's fine by me, but I'd run it by Vice Admiral Charles Harris first," John advised her with a smile.

"We can make a real feature of it," the young reporter said, buzzing with excitement. "Okay, I'll set everything up! Thanks so much, Commander Blake."

"You're very welcome, and you can call me John, remember?" he chuckled.

"Thanks, John, I'll be in touch!" Jehanna said with a grin.

He waved goodbye and ended the call. That just left him one last thing to set up, and he scrolled through his list of contacts until he found the name. He had spent some time searching earlier, looking for Swordmasters, and apparently this person was a legend in his field. A Kendo champion who had retired to further hone his technique, and had then become a recluse. Although John had left a couple of polite messages asking to speak to the man, he was disappointed to see that he had still not yet had any replies.

He took a big breath and tried once more, clicking the man's name, and hoping for the best. He had to wait for a few seconds for the call to connect, and then he waited patiently while it rang and rang, staring out across the room as his mind drifted. Eventually after nearly ten minutes, the call went through, and a stern faced, middle-aged man appeared as a hologram above his desk.

"What?" he asked bluntly.

"Mr Yamamoto!" John said with a start, as he was jolted out of his reverie. "Thank you for taking my call. I'm sorry for hounding you like this, but I'm desperately in need of sword training, and I heard you're the best. I'll be willing to pay you whatever fee you ask."

"No," the man said curtly, and reached over to end the call.

"Wait, please! There must be something I can offer you to change your mind? Improving my technique is becoming a matter of life and death, not just for me, but my crew as well," John said urgently.

The man looked up and narrowed his eyes, his interest piqued. "You are fighting for real? Not as a sport?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, that's right," John replied honestly.

"Fighting with a blade is about killing. Have you killed with a blade before?" the man asked with a gleam in his eye.

"Yes," John said quietly, with a nod.

The man sat back, and looked away for a long moment, staring into the distance as he pondered his decision. Finally, his hawk-like eyes fixed upon John once more.

"I will train you. Prepare your equipment," he said cryptically, and ended the call.

John sat back, feeling an odd mixture of relief and confusion, after the call with the strange man. He stared out the window for a while, thinking back over the conversation, when the console beeped softly, drawing his attention. He saw that he had received an incoming message from an Eito Yamamoto. There was no text on the message, other than a list of simulation devices and communications boosting equipment. With a shrug, John did a quick search, found a number of retailers that stocked the listed equipment, and began to place his orders, with the delivery address destination set for Oceanus.

John had just finished placing the last of the orders, when Alyssa's voice suddenly appeared in his mind. *Hey handsome, did you miss me?* she asked him playfully.

*Yes, but it's been a constructive couple of hours,* John replied. *How's the shopping trip going?*

*We've been having loads of fun, but we've spent an awful lot of your money,* Alyssa replied playfully, and he could hear the mischievous tone in her voice.

*Yeah, likewise,* John said in amusement. *You girls earned that bonus just as much as me, though, so it's really your own cash to spend,* he added generously.

*Ah, but can your property really own things?* she asked him teasingly.

John didn't reply, and was lost in thought, Alyssa's question taking his thoughts on quite a different tangent. He searched quickly, finding what he was looking for, and a touch of a holographic button put him through to the relevant firm.

"Brooks and Lartner, Attorney services," the middle aged woman said as she answered his call, and appeared as a hologram above his desk.

*John, you don't have to do that...* Alyssa's voice murmured to him, and he could tell she was overcome with emotion.

"Hello there. My name's John Blake, and I'd like to draw up a will," he stated politely.

***

It was a couple of hours later when John noticed the gleaming white Raptor glide past the window of his ready room. He grinned happily, eager to see the girls again, and leapt to his feet to go down to meet them. Alyssa had stayed quiet after their last contact when he had spoken to the lawyers. He could still feel her presence at the other end of their bond, so she wasn't in any physical peril, but he figured that she probably needed some time to adjust to her change in circumstances. After all, if anything happened to him, she would become a very wealthy woman.

He strode happily over to the grav-tube, and stepped into the red glow, descending down to Deck Nine, where the Raptor would now be landing. He hit the button that would open the Hangar Bay door, and strode into the huge room, just as the front loading ramp began to lower. It sank to the ground with the smooth motion of well oiled hydraulics, and the girls walked down the ramp quietly, with multiple bags in each hand.

Shocked at the girl's subdued mood, he then watched in amazement as Alyssa brushed past him, not saying a word, as she strode into the corridor behind him. The other four girls walked up to him silently as he turned back to face them, with a utterly confused expression on his face.

"What's up with Alyssa, and why are you girls looking so forlorn?" he asked them with concern. "I thought you were having a good time?"

"Yeah, we were," Dana said with a heavy sigh. "Then Alyssa suddenly got all upset, started crying, and wouldn't tell us what was wrong."

"I'm sorry girls, I think this was my fault," John said ruefully.

"What do you mean?" Calara asked him curiously.

"Alyssa and I were talking via the telepathic link, and something she said made me think that I ought to plan for the future. I called up a Lawyer and set up a will, so that if anything happens to me, my assets would be split between you girls, and any potential children," he said with a smile.

His announcement was met with horrified looks by all of the girls, which really wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

"You can't die!" Dana blurted, her face crumpling and on the verge of tears.

"No, that can't happen," Calara said firmly, refusing to even countenance the thought, as she shook her head stubbornly.

Jade looked mortified, and unable to speak, and even Rachel began to look worried and distressed.

"Hey, calm down!" John said in alarm, doing the exact opposite of his own advice. "There's nothing wrong with me, I'm not dying or anything!"

The girls still looked upset, so with a frustrated sigh, John turned back to the corridor.

"Follow me," he ordered them brusquely.

*Meet me in our room,* he commanded Alyssa, in a tone that would countenance no disobedience.

They rose up in the blue glow of the anti-grav tube, and then walked along in silence into the Commander's Quarters, where Alyssa was sitting sullenly in the chair by the bed.

"Alright, all of you sit over there, we need to sort this shit out right now," he told them in an irritated tone of voice, as he pointed to the bed.

The girls all followed his orders, and sat quietly on the bed, staring up at him bleakly.

"This is obviously some weird, Progenitor behaviour altering bullshit or something, but it ends right now," John told them sternly.

When he saw he had their complete attention, his voice grew kinder. "The only reason I drew up a will is if something should happen to me in the future," he explained gently. "I love you girls so much, and I'd hate to think of you having money worries if something should happen to me."

At the thought of this again, the girls started to look upset once more, and he gritted his teeth with frustration.

"I'm not saying that's going to be any time soon, it could be decades in the future, but I'm older than you, so it makes sense to prepare for it," he said reasonably.

"No, I can't even think of it," Alyssa blurted out, and ran towards him, with tears rolling down her cheeks. "Promise me you won't die!" she sobbed dejectedly.

The other girls followed her lead, and John stared at them wide eyed as they surrounded him, pleading with him not to leave them. They were growing more upset by the moment, and dealing with five weeping women was more than he was prepared to manage.

"OK, I promise!" he blurted out abruptly.

"Really, you mean it?" Alyssa said to him hopefully.

John narrowed his eyes, and concentrated hard. The Ashanath had told him he had created this mind-fortress in his head, and if that was the case, he wanted her out. Now.

"Yes, I really mean it. I promise I will never leave you," he told them firmly, while inside he balked at the craziness of the situation.

The effect was immediate and dramatic, with all five girls instantly calmer and more relaxed, relieved smiles appearing on their beautiful faces once more. He hated having to blatantly lie to them like that, but under the circumstances, he instinctively knew they couldn't be reasoned with. He heaved a heavy sigh, and flopped down on the bed, while the girls began to chatter amongst themselves happily.

He watched them grinning and smiling at one another as they giggled and chatted, the traumatic events that had just occurred seemingly wiped from their memories. It was bizarre. The room was the busiest it had ever been, but for the first time aboard the Invictus, he actually felt alone.

"I'm just going to the Officers' Lounge for a bit. Come and join me in an hour for an early dinner," he said, as he climbed off the bed.

The girls nodded eagerly, and waved to him happily as he strode out of the room, then made his way down the corridor to the Officers' Lounge. He pressed the button on the double doors, and when they swished open, he walked over to the bar, leaned over the counter, and grabbed a bottle of whisky and a glass. He poured himself a sensible sized drink, and was suddenly about to tip in a whole lot more, when he sighed and put down the bottle.

He took a sip, and as he felt the burning liquid go down his throat, he pondered this recent revelation. "Why would the Progenitors make their women react that way at the thought of them dying?" he asked himself, frowning with confusion.

Not having any answers, his thoughts drifted to what would happen to the girls if he should actually die. Based on the irrational overreaction he'd just witnessed, their grief would be totally overwhelming, and all-consuming. He sighed sadly, thinking that this was exactly the sort of thing he relied on Alyssa to perk him up from, but she seemed to find dealing with this more traumatic than any of them. It was a troubling thought, but he realised there was absolutely nothing he could do about it for the moment, so he resolved to put it behind him for now.

He finished the rest of his drink, and then carefully placed the glass in the cleaning device behind the bar. It whirred for a moment as the glass was scrubbed and sanitised, then it was transferred automatically to stand with the other tumblers. He turned to head into the kitchen, and he consciously dropped the barriers he'd erected in his mind, allowing Alyssa's breezy presence to skip through his thoughts once more.

***

The girls began to drift into the kitchen a short while later, confessing that they'd rather spend time with him, than look at any more clothes. The last to arrive was Rachel, who was just wearing one of his white shirts, and a flirtatious look on her face. John couldn't help but be amused at the lusty grin she flashed him, and the other girls took over the cooking as the brunette led him out into the lounge, and over to one of the comfortable chairs. She gave him a wanton look, then pushed him back into the chair, and sank to her knees in front of him.

He lost himself in the glorious sensations of her hot, wet mouth, as she sucked on him eagerly, and he realised he needed the release more than ever. He cupped her head in his hands protectively, and stared into her flashing grey eyes as she gazed up at him longingly. With a groan of deep satisfaction he began to cum, and she sucked him with long, hungry motions as his spunk began to fill up her empty stomach. It didn't take long for her to drain him completely dry, and soon the contents of his four balls were now neatly packed into her belly.

John offered her a hand, and she gladly accepted, rising a little awkwardly with the heavy weight of his load filling out her waistline. He pulled her to him, and she sat sideways across his lap with her back supported by his left arm. His white shirt was now pulled taut across her swollen midriff, so he carefully undid the buttons, and peeled back the soft cotton to reveal the smooth skin beneath.

"How are you doing? Still finding this weird?" he asked her kindly, as he began to gently stroke her rounded belly with his hand.

"No, I love it," Rachel murmured ecstatically, as she relished his touch.

"Do you think that's because you've grown to enjoy it, or because you've been changed by me to like it?" he asked her probingly.

"I don't honestly know, and even after all my tests are complete, I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell you anything that specific. I just know that carrying your cum feels amazing, and I don't care why I feel this way, I'm just happy that I do," she told him with a little shiver of pleasure.

Mollified by her explanation, he kept stroking her tummy as she was obviously enjoying it, and he thought about the award ceremony later that evening.

"What do you want to do tonight? Would you like to come to the award ceremony too?" he asked her with a smile.

"I'd rather stay out of the limelight if it's alright with you, but I'd love to see you and the girls receiving your medals for your heroism. Especially as I was one of the people you saved," she replied gratefully.

"It would be lovely to have you there. You can stay back and watch from a distance then, if that's what you'd prefer?" he asked her considerately.

"I'll have absorbed all your cum by this evening, so I'll be nice and slim for the event. There isn't any room for a big tummy in the dress Alyssa picked out for me," the tawny haired girl said with a grin.

"How are you getting on with the girls? I hope they're being nice to you," he asked her in a playfully stern voice.

"They're wonderful!" Rachel replied, her face lighting up with joy. "We all get along so well, it's amazing."

"I'm glad to hear you're settling in without any trouble," he told her with a smile.

"Girls can be such bitches to each other sometimes, you wouldn't believe it; those shop assistants at the boutique were a nightmare!" she said rolling her eyes. "I honestly expected at least a little cattiness or awkwardness until your girls got to know me, but they've all been so kind and friendly from the start."

"Feeling like part of the family already?" he said with a grin.

Rachel nodded her head enthusiastically, with a broad smile on her face. Her obvious delight banished any lingering traces of his previous dark introspections.

"Thanks for this, I really needed it," John told her sincerely.

"The chat, or the blowjob?" she said with a cute giggle.

"Both," he replied with a hearty laugh.

"It was my pleasure," she told him happily, and he leaned down to give her a kiss.

"Let's go and see how the girls are getting on with dinner," he said, helping her stand. He turned her around so that she was facing him, and he leaned forward to plant a tender kiss on her swollen stomach, before buttoning up the white shirt she had borrowed once more.

Rachel watched him entranced, and then smiled when he finished with the last button. He rose to join her, and they walked hand in hand into the kitchen, where the girls were making final preparations for their dinner.

Alyssa beamed a sparkling smile at them when they came in, her eyes darting down to Rachel's cum stuffed belly. "That's a good look for you," she said approvingly to the brunette.

Rachel snorted with laughter as she looked down, noting her shoeless feet, her rounded stomach, and her current location. "Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen?" she asked with amusement.

"Very sexy," Alyssa said with a wink, and blew her a kiss.

"You're incorrigible," John said, as he laughed at the blonde.

"Oh, you love it," she told him happily, as she sailed over and planted a happy kiss on his lips.

"I love you," he told her sincerely.

"Everything ok?" she asked him curiously, tilting her head to the side. "Either you stopped thinking about anything for a while, or I was blocked from hearing your thoughts."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just experimenting with something," he replied offhandedly.

"Oh, I see. Just warn me next time, I've got way too used to having your inner voice in my mind, and I missed you terribly!" she pouted dramatically.

"Alright, I'll give you fair warning next time," he agreed, and she gave him a big hug in thanks.

"Dinner's ready," Calara announced, and they all helped carry out the lasagne that they had made, accompanied by garlic bread, and a big plate of Panzanella salad skewers.

John stood by the chair at the head of the table, waiting for the girls to sit down first, but the girls paused momentarily, unsure what to do about the seating arrangements.

"Sit in your usual places," Rachel giggled, "I'll find a spot, don't worry!"

The other girls laughed, and they fanned out instinctively, with Alyssa, then Dana on his right, and Calara, then Jade on the left. Dana patted the chair next to her, and Rachel grinned at the redhead as she took the third chair on the right from John.

"Well, looks like that's settled then," John joked, and finally sat down too.

Dinner was a lazy, unhurried affair, with lots of light hearted chit-chat filling the room. No-one mentioned the awkward events that afternoon, so John just let it go, quickly changing thoughts to avoid upsetting Alyssa. The girls were excited about the award ceremony later that evening, and they were delighted to hear that Rachel was going to be coming along with them.

"I think it's great that we're all going," John said tentatively. "But I just had a thought. We can't leave the Invictus unguarded, it's far too valuable to take that risk."

"Don't worry about that," Dana piped up. "I've thought of something that will make sure no-one will try and break in. I'll need a couple of hours to work on it, but we've got plenty of time before we have to leave."

"Sound interesting, I can't wait to see what it is," John said, intrigued.

They finished off the meal, and Dana quickly departed to go and work on her latest project. Jade wanted to go for a swim, and John suggested that Alyssa get Rachel started in the firing range, so the three young women departed together. That just left Calara and John, and he held out his hand for her which she eagerly accepted.

"What have you got in mind for me?" she asked him curiously, as they walked out of the Officers' Lounge and over to the grav-tube.

"I'd like you to take a look at something. It's just a little side project, and for the time being, I'd like you to keep focused on trying to find out more about the traitors," he told her casually.

John led her on to the bridge, and through to his ready room, before activating the console. The beautiful Latina looked on with interest as he searched for his folder on his mother. When she saw the name on the folder, she leaned forward, and watched with fascination as he expanded out the files. Finally he opened Jessica Blake's personnel record so that she could see his mother for the first time.