Three Square Meals Ch. 073

Slumping back in her chair, Tashana grunted, "Hello, Valani."

It seemed Valani was not so easily dissuaded, and she slid into the chair next to her, waving her delicate fingers over the tilting control so that it rolled back to face the ceiling. "The stars always seem so mysterious. It's like they're beckoning me to go exploring!" the young woman said, gazing out into the night sky. "I wonder what's out there?"

"Nothing but pain and suffering," Tashana muttered back, her voice terse as she gazed out at the vista of stars. Her tone was mocking, but it was directed at herself rather than the naive young woman, as she replied, "It's no place for a sheltered little noble girl."

Valani turned to look at her, and apologised quietly, "I'm sorry, you must find my wittering annoying. I'll leave you in peace, if I'm bothering you?"

Tashana felt guilty for upsetting the young woman, finding polite conversation difficult after so long. She twisted her head to look at her, and said, "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be... rude."

The noble girl smiled at her, her teal eyes bright and innocent as she said, "It's alright, I don't mind. I was the one who interrupted you when you were thinking about something." She paused for a moment, and asked, "Are you alright? You seem upset about something."

Trying not to laugh at the absurdity of trying to calmly explain her current predicament, Tashana's mind raced as she realised the magnitude of the task ahead of her. How was she going to convince people that a member of an ancient race of space tyrants had stepped straight out of a child's fable, and was now attempting to enslave the Maliri? She realised the girl was still sitting quietly, waiting for an answer, and Tashana frowned as she glanced her way.

"A lot of people are in terrible danger. I'm trying to figure out how to warn them," she said, after a moment's hesitation.

Valani sat upright with a look of alarm on her pretty face, and exclaimed, "Maybe I can help?! I know someone who's very wise, she'll know what to do!"

Tashana gritted her teeth, and forced herself not to roll her eyes at the girl's youthful exuberance. The idea that some petty noblewoman would be able to assist against the Progenitor was laughable, but she bit down the bitingly sarcastic reply that immediately sprang to mind. She tried not to sound too bitter as she replied, "No, it's something I'll have to figure out myself."

"Oh, okay," Valani said, appearing crestfallen.

"Thanks for the offer, though," Tashana said by way of apology.

Valani smiled at her, and then that inquisitive look was back on her face, as she asked, "I don't mean to offend you, but why are you wearing that mask? It's got an... interesting expression embossed on it."

Tashana was half-tempted to remove the mask to show the wide-eyed girl exactly why, but she wasn't that cruel. Such a horrific sight would haunt the young woman's dreams for weeks, if not months. She let out a sad sigh before she replied, "I went out into the stars. There's terrible things out there, Valani. I hope you never have to tread the same path as me."

The girl reached out a with a tentative hand, and gently placed it on Tashana's arm, as she said softly, "It sounds like you've been through a lot. I wish I could help you."

Shrinking away from that well-meaning touch, Tashana snapped, "You've got no idea what I've been though!"

Valani jerked her hand away, and gasped, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean anything by it!"

Tashana rose from her chair, glancing once at the wary bodyguards who were now watching her like a pair of hawks. Feeling bad for upsetting the girl a second time, she sighed as she said to her, "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm just worried and I took it out on you."

With that she turned and strode away from the startled young woman, returning to the solitude of her quarters.

***

The soft, lilting sound of Faye singing an achingly beautiful piece reached John's sensitive ears, gently rousing him from his sleep. He did his best to stretch with two curvy warm bodies cuddled up against him, and when he brought his arms down again, he pulled Alyssa and Edraele in closer. They murmured in their sleep, and snuggled up against him holding him tight.

"Morning, Faye," he whispered to the AI, to let her know he'd awoken.

She finished the notes she was singing, then fluttered over to the bed, and gave him a huge smile as she came into view. "Hi, John!" she greeted him brightly.

"Thanks for the lovely wake up call. Much nicer than the old jingle!" he said, giving her a playful grin.

Her cute purple face lit up with his praised, and she replied, "I'm so glad you like it. I was self-conscious at first, but it's much easier knowing you like the sound of my voice."

"Very much," he agreed. His view of the ship's chronometer was obscured by Edraele's voluminous white mane, so her turned to Faye and asked, "What's the time, please? And was there anything I should know about?"

"It's nine in the morning, local time," the digital girl replied pleasantly. "The Valaden homeworld is four hours ahead of Terran standard time."

John nodded, and said, "It's a good job we all had an early night, I don't feel that bad this morning."

"Hey, John," Alyssa said drowsily, his busy thoughts stirring her from sleep.

"Good morning," Edraele said, as she was woken in a similar fashion, glancing up at him from where she lay against his chest.

"Hello, my beautiful Matriarchs," he greeted them both cheerfully, with a broad smile on his face.

Alyssa looked at the Maliri woman across his muscular chest, and said with a teasing grin, "You must've really screwed his brains out last night. He's not normally this chipper in the morning!"

Edraele sat up and stretched, before she replied boldly, "I believe I left my Lord very satisfied."

John laughed, and he stroked Alyssa's shoulder as he said, "After buzzing around in my head for months, she knows all your tricks by now. I think you're going to have a hard time getting her to blush."

Edraele winked at the blonde when Alyssa pouted, then lay down again, and said, "Thanks for letting us have some time alone together. It felt really special."

Alyssa reached over John's chest to stroked Edraele's arm as she replied, "It was only fair. I've been hogging him for months, he's yours to have fun with now."

"Don't I get any say in the matter?" John asked them both with an arched eyebrow.

The blonde planted a lingering kiss on his chest, before she replied, "I know this Maliri temptress drives you wild, and you've been flirting together for months. You two should definitely make up for lost time."

She didn't need to say it, but the subtext was clear: enjoy each other while you can, before we have to leave Maliri Space once again. Edraele picked up on it immediately, and as sad as she was at the prospect of them leaving, she was touched by Alyssa's considerate gesture.

She leaned across John, and said, "I can see why he loves you so much. You're a lovely girl." With that she pressed her lips against Alyssa's and they enjoyed a very sensual kiss.

"Mmm, delicious," Alyssa noted, as she pulled back. The two women shared a look for a moment, then lay back against John, tracing mysterious shapes on his chest with their slender fingers. With their legs draped over him, they could both feel him stiffening as they caressed him, and Alyssa purred, "How are you going to take her this morning?"

Edraele spoke up before he could answer, and with a look of nervous excitement on her face, she said, "Actually, if it's alright with you, would you mind holding off for a few hours? I have my surprise for you later."

Alyssa sat up then, and her cerulean eyes sparkled in the light as she said, "I can't wait to see what it is!" She glanced at John, and added, "I bet she's lined up some luscious Maliri vixens to bury you in nubile flesh!"

John watched Edraele's face, but she just smiled enigmatically, and didn't give anything away. He chuckled, and said, "Alright, we better get rolling then. Is everything ready for us in the drydock?"

The Maliri Matriarch nodded, and replied, "The Engineers are assembling there to hear you speak, as long as that's alright with you, John."

"Of course," he replied, glancing down the bed at the purple sprite, who was watching and listening attentively. He smiled at her and added, "Could you move the Invictus to the drydock please, Faye?"

"I'll contact Genthalas flight control right away!" she replied, putting her Secondary Avatar to work.

"The girls will be here in a minute," Alyssa informed him, with Edraele nodding her confirmation.

The sound of voices reached John's ears then, as the girls brought their guests along with them. John's eyes darted to the doorway as they started to appear, gently leading Edraele's bodyguards over to the bed with them. Luna, Almari, and Ilyana all looked a bit dazed, and they blushed when John stared at them in fascination. The Maliri women were all nude, following the ship's standard dress code in the bedroom, but it wasn't their gorgeous athletic figures he was gazing at.

"I love the hair, you girls look gorgeous!" he exclaimed, making no attempt to hide his appreciation.

Ilyana raised a self-conscious hand to her shoulder-length white hair, and asked, "Do you really like it? I can't believe how much it grew overnight!"

"You all look stunning!" he agreed, enthusiastically.

The three assassins all looked very similar to Edraele now, with their flowing white hair and flawless azure skin. They climbed on the bed between their pair of bed-mates from last night.

Alyssa grinned at the three women, and asked, "So, did you all enjoy your walk on the wild side?"

She beamed at John in satisfaction when she saw the dark blue blushes from each of the assassins, the women mortified at being singled out in front of John and his girls.

"Ignore her, she's just teasing you," John advised the lithe Maliri women, and they smiled at him self-consciously.

John sat up with his back against the headboard, as the girls fanned out in a big semi-circle on the bed. Despite the vast size of the colossal bed, space was at a premium with John, eleven women, and a very feminine AI all sitting on the covers. He admired the mouth-wateringly beautiful girls, and they posed from him as he took a moment to admire them all. Luna, Almari, and Ilyana copied the others, rolling their shoulders back and arching their backs slightly to give him an awesome, gravity-defying view of luscious flesh.

*Just think what a view that's going to be when we're all pregnant,* Alyssa thought to him, her fingers lightly tracing along his arms.

John noticed she didn't make any disclaimers regarding Edraele, and he glanced at the blue-skinned woman to his left. Her purple eyes shone brightly, and her dark-blue lips were crafted into a benevolent smile, carefully masking the guilt he could feel emanating from her. Remembering the source of that remorse, he looked at Irillith, who seemed perfectly relaxed, although her eyes were locked rigidly on him.

*Is Irillith alright being naked in front of Edraele?* John asked Alyssa, concerned about the predicament that this was putting the Maliri girl in.

*She's fine, but she wants to talk to you about it later,* the blonde replied, refusing to elaborate.

He gave Irillith a brief nod in acknowledgement, then smiled at the gathered group, and said, "This feels like a gathering of the inner circle. I know we've got scores more Maliri bonded to Edraele, but my connection with each of you is different, and much more personal."

The girls understood the heartfelt sentiment behind his words, and smiled at him affectionately.

Turning to look at the Maliri assassins, he said, "It's lovely to have the three of you here, and I'm not trying to embarrass you when I say that I hope your hostesses took good care of you last night."

Ilyana smiled fondly at Dana and Rachel, and then looked at him coyly as she replied, "It was a magical night, and very enlightening."

John groaned, and looking at the redhead and brunette, he asked suspiciously, "What have you been telling her?"

"Everything a girl needs to know to adjust to our unique little living arrangements," Rachel replied with an enigmatic smile.

Dana grinned at him, and putting an arm around the exotic Maliri next to her, she said, "We like Ilyana a lot. Can we keep her?"

John frowned and shook his head as he replied playfully, "It was just a loan I'm afraid, she's already taken."

Dana pouted as she pretended to be upset, but Ilyana's angular turquoise eyes caught the light as she gazed at him, a beautiful smile on her curved lips.

"If you're going to flirt with everyone, we'll be here all day," Alyssa gently prompted him. Flashing a quick look at Edraele, she continued, "And I suspect we've got a busy morning ahead of us."

John nodded, and then looking at Rachel, he said, "Okay, Miss Project Manager, what're your plans for the refit?"

The tawny-haired brunette was already well prepared, and she picked up the remote she'd brought in surreptitiously and placed on the bed behind her. Pointing it at the holo-projectors, she said, "I've been drawing up plans over the last couple of days, and working with the girls to come up with a comprehensive list of all the tasks we need to complete. She frowned then, as she continued, "We've got a huge amount to do, John. The Invictus is going to be in drydock for weeks."

"The upgrade to our firepower will be phenomenal," Calara said enthusiastically. "It's going to be well worth it!"

Dana grinned at him, as she said, "The Invictus is going to be one mean fucker when we're done!"

John laughed and said, "Alright, you've got me fired up! What's the plan?"

Rachel pointed to the layered tasks, showing the various dependencies for the later stages, and said, "I've decided to break down the refit into phases, with teams allocated to each of us, and working on different areas to maximise our efficiency."

Everyone looked at the long list of tasks broken down into phased sets of activities, and John grimaced as he said, "I'm glad you stepped up to manage this. There's so much to be done!"

Rachel nodded as she replied, "If everything goes smoothly, I'll have shaved two weeks off the refit time by organising the work like this."

Studying the groups and scanning through the list, John frowned as he couldn't see his name listed. "Wait a moment, I'm not on the list." he said with confusion. "Don't you want to put me in charge of a team again?"

"You just want to do some more showing off," Alyssa said, winking at him knowingly.

Shaking her head, Rachel replied to him, "You'll be working on... 'team motivation'. Jade hasn't got a team either, specifically for that reason - so she can help you recruit more Maliri."

He frowned as he protested, "There must be something useful I can do! I can't just spend the next few weeks sitting around waiting to get group blowjobs!"

"You'll be able to assist with the heavy lifting while you recover between sessions," Rachel explained.

Calara smiled as she said, "There'll be plenty of opportunity for that. We've got lots of big guns to install."

Sakura grinned at him as she said, "I'm looking forward to seeing you show off! That doesn't sound like anything my wise sensei would get up to."

Jade smiled at her as she said, "He proved quite a hit with the Maliri engineers last time."

Edraele glanced at him, and said, "It's probably for the best you don't have a team, actually. There were -complications- after the weapons team spent so long around you."

Looking at her in surprise, John said, "You never said anything! Those women are all okay, aren't they?"

"Oh yes, they're perfectly happy. I'll explain later," she replied, a smile teasing the corner of her lips.

"And on that maddeningly cryptic note, we better get ready," John said, smiling at the gathering. "Time for a shower, then breakfast."

Faye raised her arm and looked at him with an eager smile on her face.

He chuckled, and said, "Go ahead, honey. You don't have to raise your arm to speak."

The sprite blushed a deep mauve colour, then said, "We'll be landing inside the drydock in four minutes!"

Edraele smiled at John as she read his thoughts, and said, "We can have breakfast, they won't mind waiting."

With a few telepathic commands from Alyssa, her entourage of six girls waved their guests goodbye as they retired to their own rooms to shower and get ready. That left John with Alyssa, Edraele, and her three bodyguards. John had been wondering how they'd all fit, so it was an elegant solution even though he missed the presence of his well-established group of girls.

The shower was a lot of fun though, and Alyssa explained to the Maliri how to wash and take care of their new lustrous manes of silky white hair. Seeing the three gorgeous blue-skinned women glistening under the water was an enticing view, but John distracted himself from their limber bodies by paying attention to Edraele and making sure she was exceedingly clean. After drying off, getting dressed, and having a quick breakfast, they finally left the Invictus via the huge door in the Hangar, rather than taking it in turns to troop through the airlock.

As the Hangar door rose up into the Invictus' hull, John got his first look at the teams of engineers that were waiting for them, and was astounded by the sheer number of Maliri arrayed before him. They appeared to be split into five distinct groups, watching each other warily as if expecting betrayal at any moment. He heard a shocked gasp from behind him, and when he turned around, he saw that Irillith was gaping at the vast throng of personnel gathered in the drydock.

"House Valaden doesn't have this many spacecraft engineers!" she exclaimed, staring in astonishment at the hundreds of Maliri personnel. "Where did they all come from?!"

Edraele had a proud look on her face as she said to John, "I promised you as many engineering staff as you might need, and have made appropriate arrangements to facilitate that. I've assembled eight-hundred engineers, who will be at your disposal for the entirety of the refit."

"This is excellent news, Edraele!" Rachel exclaimed, looking delighted. "Based on Irillith's estimates for available resources, I only factored in two-hundred engineers. However, with this many personnel available, it'll save considerable time on the refit."

The Maliri Matriarch frowned slightly as she half-joked, "It appears I've made a terrible blunder. I should've sent all the engineers away instead, then you wouldn't have to leave."

John smiled at her, and said, "You've seen how much Rachel's got planned. We're still going to be here for quite some time!"

Looking relieved to hear it, Edraele said, "If you'll just excuse me a moment, I'll address the personnel."

With that, she walked towards the podium and lectern that had been set up in front of the crowd, and gracefully ascended up the steps. "May I have your attention, please," she said in an even, pleasant tone, her voice boosted by amplifiers installed in the lectern, and drawing the attention of the crowd. "Many of you will have heard of me by reputation, but please let me introduce myself. My name is Matriarch Edraele Valaden."

At this the distracted muttering stopped in the space of a heartbeat, and clearly audible gasps of fear could be heard throughout the drydock. All rivalries were forgotten now, as the engineers stared at her in terror. Edraele was a picture of unruffled elegance, and knew exactly what she was doing. She waited patiently for several long moments, without saying a word, her full lips set in a disarming smile.

The fear from her reputation gradually began to fade, as row after row of wary blue faces watched her, this vision of serenity quite unlike the horrifying rumours they had all heard. It was like a spell started to fall over the women, their pensive gaze flickering over Edraele's long, flowing hair as they drank in her startling appearance. When she spoke again, the crowd listened on tenterhooks.