Three Square Meals Ch. 076

"There they are!" Jade noted, pointing towards the Raptor as it broke clear of the cloud cover.

Not possessing the Nymph's impressive eyesight, it took John a few seconds to spot the white-hulled gunship against the fluffy white cloud banks. Eventually, it became much easier to see as it raced towards them, swirling vapour trails left in its wake. The Raptor banked around gracefully on its final approach to the Invictus and Jade hit the button to open the hull doors for the Secondary Hangar.

"I've laid in the course for you, Jade," Alyssa announced, bringing up the Empire map which showed the snaking trail she'd plotted.

The Nymph turned to smile at her over her shoulder and asked, "I'm not being demoted am I?"

Shaking her head, Alyssa replied, "Don't worry, sexy. I just wanted to get a bit of practice in."

John studied the holographic map, which showed a glowing green flightpath that bounced from system to system, using the gravity wells to accelerate their hyper-warp speed. Alyssa's route would take them past Genkiri station on the most direct route to the Ashanath Collective.

"Only two days to the Terran Federation border?" John marvelled, shaking his head in amazement as he read the ETA tagged against that milestone on their journey.

Alyssa grinned at him as she replied, "The new Tachyon Drive is crazy! We'll be zipping all over the galaxy with that installed." Pointing towards their final destination she added, "Clearing the Terran Federation and crossing the Collective to Ashana will take another eleven hours. We should reach there at around seven in the evening."

Rachel turned her chair to look towards the Command Podium and stated, "We'll be able to establish a comm channel with the Ashanath Collective as soon as we get in range of the Federation Comms Beacons. Going by our projected flightpath, that'll be in forty-five hours' time."

*I've arranged for a prioritised comm channel to be dedicated to your ship,* Edraele informed him helpfully. *You'll be able to reach out to the Ashanath whenever you need to, and any emergency communications will be routed through to you.*

*That's great news, thank you!* John replied, sharing a smile with Alyssa as she overheard the telepathic conversation. He turned to Rachel to ask her to contact the Ashanath, but he saw the light of understanding in her eyes before he'd uttered a word, Alyssa having informed her telepathically.

Her grey eyes glinted at his look of surprise and she said, "I'll establish the call. It may take a little while with the distances involved."

"Thanks honey," he said gratefully, before turning to watch the Raptor manoeuvring into the Hangar.

As soon as the gunship was safely aboard and locked into place, Jade closed the Hangar door, then tilted the nose of the Invictus upwards, filling their field of view with stars. She shoved the throttle forward and the Invictus leapt away, clearing the upper atmosphere in a roar, before falling silent as they entered the vacuum of space. As fast as their ship was, they raced past Genthalas and in just under a minute they had reached the Nav Beacon. Jade powered up the new Tachyon Drive and after a second to swathe the battlecruiser in tachyon particles, they surged into hyper-warp.

"I've got a Councillor Talari from the Ashanath High Council wanting to speak to you," Rachel announced, glancing at John.

"He's a friend, he helped us a lot on Ashana. Put him through, please," John said, nodding to her appreciatively.

Councillor Talari's grey face coalesced as a holographic image before them, appearing just the same to John as every other Ashanath he'd ever met.

"JohnBlake, thank goodness. It is so good to see you," Councillor Talari said, the relief robbed from his voice by the telepathic communication device that spoke for him.

"It's good to see you too," John replied, giving the expressionless alien a warm smile in greeting. "We got the message from Ambassador Contarean. It sounds like the Drakkar are giving you trouble again?"

"That is correct, JohnBlake," Talari replied, blinking a couple of times in his agitated state. "We have been on the receiving end of unchecked aggression from Drakkar raiding parties for weeks. The High Council wish to formally request your aid as our ally against this deadly foe."

"Don't worry, we're already on our way," John replied, his tone calm and reassuring. "We're scheduled to arrive in just under three days."

Talari blinked once, his eyelids covering his huge black eyes in a single slow, measured motion, before he asked, "You are deep within Maliri territory are you not? How could you reach us so quickly?"

Nodding, John replied, "That's right, but we've had a few upgrades since you and your people worked on the Invictus. We'll be with you as soon as we can."

The Ashanath Councillor stared at him for a few seconds before saying, "That is excellent news, JohnBlake. We eagerly await your arrival."

With that he closed the comm channel, leaving the crew staring at static.

John glanced at Alyssa and muttered, "Was it just me or was he acting a bit weirder than normal? I've never seen a Grey do that kind of slow blink before."

She shrugged helplessly and replied, "Without having a telepathic conversation with him, I've no idea what he's feeling. I'm as lost as you are, I'm afraid."

"I'm probably just being paranoid," John said, looking thoughtful.

Alyssa tilted her head to one side then said, "If the situation with the Drakkar is so bad that they're calling for help, they must be in dire straits. He's probably just worried."

"Yeah, that makes sense," John agreed. He paused for a second then turned to Rachel and added, "Can you send a message to the High Council and ask for a summary of their encounters with the Drakkar. It'd be nice to know what we're up against."

"Of course, I'll send the message immediately," Rachel replied, opening up her comms interface and typing rapidly.

Calara looked his way and offered, "I'll review any data they send. Perhaps I'll be able to spot a bigger picture to the attacks."

"Excellent! Thank you, Commander," John replied, giving her a grateful smile.

"Dana and the twins are on their way up. Are you ready for a tour of the new facilities?" Alyssa asked him with an eager grin.

He nodded, just as enthusiastic as she was and said, "I can't wait to see what you've done with the ship!" John glanced at Faye and added, "Meet you there?"

She nodded, giving him a wide smile as she replied, "I've got Tertiary all ready and waiting!"

They rose from their chairs and glided down the illuminated steps with the rest of the girls joining them at the grav-tube. When John stepped into the red glow of the anti-gravity field, he spotted the maintenance bots descending below them, floating down to Deck Nine.

"Where are they off to?" he asked, curious to see the bots on the move.

"They're unloading all the artefacts Tashana retrieved from her vault," Alyssa explained, then waved to Dana and the two Maliri girls as they appeared in the blue field at the bottom of the shaft.

John and the Bridge crew got out on Deck Two, then waited there for the brief time it took for the trio of girls to join them. He smiled at Tashana and asked, "Did you find everything you were looking for?"

She nodded, her violet eyes burning with excitement as she replied, "We did! We also made an amazing discovery!" Turning to the bouncing redhead beside her, she continued, "Would you like to tell them?"

Dana grinned with delight and said, "She looted the data crystals from the fucked-up Progenitor server she found! They're intact, too! With a few minutes of recalibration, I'll be able to hook them up to our Gateway Server!"

Tashana frowned and said, "I'd prefer to think of it as a painstaking retrieval of ancient artefacts, which were previously lost to antiquity."

Alyssa laughed and said, "Yeah, John calls it requisitioning. It sounds like you two are kindred spirits."

The girls all laughed at that and seeing Tashana's confusion, John put his arm around her and said kindly, "It's a long-standing joke at my expense. I'm sure Alyssa will delight in explaining it to you sometime." He turned to face the gathering of girls and said, "I'm sorry we haven't had a chance to formally introduce all of you to Tashana yet. I know you'll all do a wonderful job of helping her settle in."

Dana slipped her hand around Tashana's waist and said with an affectionate smile, "She might look just like Irillith, but Tashana's quite different. She didn't need several gallons of cum to make her into a lovely girl!" Dana snaked her other arm around Irillith and hugged her too, as the Maliri girl laughed.

John raised an eyebrow and said to Tashana, "It looks like you've made a good impression on Dana already, and you already know Alyssa, and Irillith, obviously." He smiled at her, and continued, "I'll let everyone introduce themselves, so you know their names. We're a close-knit family and you'll get to know everyone really well soon enough."

When John's eyes darted to the Latina on his left, she stepped forward and said, "It's so lovely to meet you at last, Tashana. My name's Calara, I'm the ship's Tactical Officer."

The two girls shared a brief but warm embrace, before Calara stepped back and glanced at the green-skinned Nymph to her left.

"Hello, my name's Jade," she said, a gentle smile on her face, as she opened her arms to hug Tashana. When she stepped back, she added, "I'm the ship's Pilot, but I've also started assisting Dana with building her equipment."

"Yeah, she's been an amazing help with that," Dana agreed, nodding enthusiastically. A playful grin twitched on her lips as she added, "Don't forget that you're our nurse, too!"

The Nymph's cat like eyes met Tashana's and her voice was sincere as she said, "That's very true, but let's hope you never need my help like that."

Rachel was next and she smiled as she said, "I'd like to echo Jade's sentiments. My name's Rachel and I'm the ship's Doctor." She paused for a second then added, "I'm also the ship's geneticist and I'm also fascinated by the Progenitors, although my research has been purely from a biological standpoint."

She embraced Tashana when she had finished introducing herself, then moved aside for the Asian girl to her left.

"We met the other day, but I'm sure you must have forgotten in all the excitement. My name's Sakura and I'm the Security Chief, so my job is to protect you while you're aboard the Invictus, as well as on any missions away from the ship," she explained, bowing her head in greeting. She smiled then and added sympathetically, "Would you like a hug? Or are you feeling overwhelmed enough as it is?"

Tashana smiled at her happily and opening her arms she replied, "I was always a tactile person, so all this attention has been wonderful!"

The two girls hugged and grinned at each other before parting.

John looked at Irillith next and added, "Does Tashana know your role on the ship?"

The twins shared a smile and Irillith replied, "Actually, no, we haven't discussed that yet. We've just been catching up and making up for lost time." She drew herself up and with a hint of pride in her voice, she continued, "I'm the ship's Intelligence Officer and I'm essentially in charge of cyberwarfare and hacking."

"She's saved our skins loads of times already," Alyssa said, smiling at her affectionately.

John glanced up at the nearest camera and said, "Come and join us for a minute, Faye. You're as much a part of the crew as everyone else."

The elfin girl appeared in a purple flash and she said, "Hey, Tashana! We met before but I'm not sure how much you remember, you were quite distracted at the time."

"You showed me lots of video footage," the Maliri replied hesitantly, frowning at the hazy memories. Her expression brightened as she remembered something distinct, adding, "You told me you were in lo-"

Faye squeaked and cut her off. "Yep, that was me!"

Smiling in bemusement at the flustered sprite, John said, "Would you like to tell Tashana what you do aboard the ship?"

Looking greatly relieved at being able to change the subject, Faye nodded eagerly. "I'm the Watch Commander so I keep an eye on the ship while everyone sleeps."

"You also man our Security Systems to prevent hostile infiltration and helped me design our new countermeasures," Sakura reminded her.

"Don't forget, you've been a big help with my research!" Dana interjected, grinning at her petite friend.

"You've been a great assistance with mine, too," Rachel added gratefully.

Irillith gave the purple girl a fond smile and said, "You're basically in charge of the defences in the Invictus' digital network and you built most of it as well."

Faye's darted wide-eyed glances from girl to girl as they listed her accomplishments, her mouth half open in surprise.

Alyssa nodded and said, "You also reprogram and operate the maintenance bots."

"You're our backup Raptor pilot, too," Jade offered thoughtfully. She smiled as she added, "Which means I get to fly the Invictus instead."

"You assist me at Tactical by manning the Invictus' Pulse Cannons," Calara said, getting in on the act.

John grinned at Faye and finished for them by declaring, "And last but not least, you're also a lovely alarm clock, aren't you, my little siren?"

Faye blushed at all the effusive praise and she gave Tashana a bashful smile as she explained, "After they upgraded me, I can run twelve avatars at once. It means I can help out a lot!"

Shaking her head in amazement, Tashana said, "It's astonishing that you originally came from the projection device I found." She studied the digital girl, and added, "You certainly seem to have flourished here."

Faye nodded exuberantly. "Being here is wonderful! You're going to be so happy!"

They all smiled at the cheerful sprite, until Alyssa shared a glance with John and said, "I might as well explain my role too, while we're at it."

He nodded and said, "Sure, go ahead."

Turning to meet Tashana's curious gaze, Alyssa said, "I'm the ship's Executive Officer, which basically means I'm John's second-in-command." She grinned at him as she added, "Although, he did grant me full control over recruitment."

Looking around at the gathering of girls, John said appreciatively, "It was an uncharacteristic moment of wisdom on my behalf. I must say, she's done a spectacular job."

When the laughter died out, Alyssa said, "I'm also John's Matriarch, which means I'm psychically linked to all you girls, except Faye of course." She gave the purple sprite a sympathetic smile, then turned to stare into Tashana's violet gaze. "That means I can act as a communications hub between everyone, as well as look out for you if you get sad or upset. You and I only share an empathic connection at the moment but eventually we'll be able to bond and upgrade that to a full telepathic one."

Tashana looked at her in fascination. "So you'll be able to speak to me telepathically?"

*I can already do that, beautiful,* Alyssa replied, arching her eyebrow as she broadcast her thoughts to the Maliri girl's mind. She gave her a kind smile as she added, *I can feel your emotions, but I can't hear your thoughts. That'll come later, when we bond."

When Rachel saw Tashana's shocked expression, she explained, "We think that's the standard way Progenitors and Matriarchs operate. By having a telepathic connection with all the women linked to her, a Matriarch can pass on her Progenitor's commands to his Thralls."

"That's the kind of connection that Edraele has with all the Maliri linked to her," John explained, looking thoughtful. "She can contact each of them telepathically but they can't reply to her."

Alyssa grinned at him and said, "Since the two of us bonded, we can contact each other's girls too."

As if on cue, Edraele's loving maternal voice popped into Tashana's mind, *Hello my darling. I'm so happy you've decided to join us.*

Tashana's eyes widened and she glanced at her sister, gripping Irillith's hand tighter in surprise. Her twin smiled back at her, having heard a similar warm message from their mother.

John glanced at Alyssa, oblivious to the Valaden family conversation and said, "We haven't been able to figure out how Alyssa's been able to upgrade those links into more powerful bonds, but it might be because she's so close to all the girls on the ship."

Alyssa nodded. "That's my guess. I love all these girls like they were my sisters but a Progenitor's Matriarch is never normally that close to his 'Thralls'. I've asked Edraele to work on building her relationships with a select group of girls, to see if they can bond too."

Rachel looked intrigued and said, "I can't wait to find out if she's successful! If she isn't, there might be some other kind of contributing factor that's the catalyst, like the sheer volume of John's cum that we've each ingested. Alternatively, it could be because Alyssa is a Progenitor and therefore has more enhanced abilities."

Tashana gaped at the blonde teenager and blurted out, "You're a Progenitor?! That can't be right!"

Alyssa gave John a loving smile. "Not naturally, no, but John decided to give me an upgrade. I've got my very own psychic guide called Athena, who's been helping me learn my abilities."

Shaking her head in confusion, Tashana exclaimed, "But that shouldn't be possible! Valada said that Progenitors are all male. They've been perfectly designed as a species to dominate hordes of women for use in their wars! There are NO Progenitor females."

They all looked around at each other in bewilderment, until all eyes eventually settled on John. He raised his hands in the air defensively and said, "Don't look at me for answers, I've got no idea." He smiled at Tashana, adding, "As our new Progenitor expert, I was hoping you might be able to fill in some of the blanks."

Tashana smiled at him shyly and said, "I promise I'll tell you everything useful I can think of." Slipping her arm around Irillith's waist, she continued, "We're going to work together to sift through all of my research, along with the data crystals I found, then put together a presentation for you. Does that sound alright?"

"Perfect, thank you!" he said gratefully, already looking forward to any answers she might have for him.

Everyone was quiet for a moment until Alyssa asked, "By the way, is there any reason why we're doing the introductions here? Instead of standing around in this corridor, we've got a lovely new Officers' Lounge to relax in."

John laughed and looking around at the group, he asked, "Shall we, ladies?"

They nodded eagerly and Alyssa walked over to the double doors, pressing the button to open them. She grinned at her audience and said, "Welcome to the new Officers' Lounge!"

They wandered inside, making appreciative noises as they looked around at everything she had done. Instead of the dark and sombre decor, the Lounge was now a tasteful light grey with pale white-blue walls. The heavy furniture had been replaced by the Maliri equivalent which looked comfortable but was open-backed, adding to the feeling of spaciousness. Finally, numerous flowering shrubs and plants were now dotted around the room, giving the Lounge a more welcoming and less sterile feel.

Faye was already waiting for them inside, her avatar in the corridor winking out in a purple flash as the group switched rooms. She gave them a cheerful wave, then fluttered over to join them.

Beckoning everyone over to the cluster of sofas on the left, Alyssa began her tour by saying, "This is the informal briefing area and we can view videos here too - Dana's installed holo-projectors all around the place."

Dana nudged Tashana with an elbow and said, "We heard that you and Irillith are Asphalt Arena fans. You can watch the matches here."