Three Square Meals Ch. 080

She let out a breathy moan, biting her lip as she writhed against him. Her eyes twinkled as she gasped, "I don't think you've ever said anything so sexy before! Keep going, I'm nearly there!"

John laughed heartily at her joke and she grinned mischievously, delighted to have given him a good chuckle. "Enjoy your afternoon, beautiful," he said with a smile, releasing her from his arms. "I'll look forward to seeing you when I get back."

Alyssa paused for a second, giving him a tender kiss before stepping away. "Don't worry about the armour, I'll be a good girl and fix it for you while you're away," she said with a loving smile.

He offered her his hand as they walked back to the ship and said, "Good girls get rewarded. Just let me know what naughty treat you've got in mind and we'll have some fun tonight."

"Actually, I've got something exciting in mind. I'll have a chat with Calara and see if she's up for it!" she replied, eyes sparkling with lust now, rather than mischief.

John gave her a brief kiss goodbye when he reached the ship, leaving Alyssa to her happy thoughts. He smiled to himself as he strode towards the grav-tube, wondering what she had in mind. After using the sluggish Ashanath anti-gravity fields, the grav-tube on the Invictus felt wonderfully quick and he thanked his lucky stars once again for finding Dana. He was about to walk back to his bedroom to change out of his suit, but he decided to stay in the grav-tube instead, floating up to the Command Deck.

Faye was there of course and the purple girl looked tremendously relieved when she saw him again, giving him a cheerful wave. He returned it with a smile, then jogged across to his Ready Room, conscious that he didn't have much time before he was scheduled to fly to the Legacy aboard the Raptor. The moment he sat down in the big leather chair behind his desk, he tapped a button on the console, bringing up the comm interface. Scrolling half way down his list of contacts, he swiped his hand across the relevant name, then eased back in his chair while he waited for the call to go through.

After a short wait, a very familiar face appeared as a holographic image before him. The older man's uniform was neatly pressed and his bushy grey moustache matched the flecks in his salt and pepper hair.

"John! It's great to see you, thanks for calling!" Vice Admiral Harris exclaimed, the broad grin on his face making his moustache lift with his upper lip.

John marvelled at the change in his old friend. The stress he'd been under last time had obviously eased, his worries melting away along with it. "You look ten years younger, Charles!" he exclaimed in surprise. "What's your secret? Have you finally decided to retire and follow in my footsteps?"

"Was I really looking that haggard?" Charles asked, chuckling in response. He shook his head and replied, "After your handiwork at the Battle of Regulus, the Kintark war has basically ground to a halt! Olympus had to accommodate a sudden rush of repairs to fix all the ships damaged in the battle, but we've broken the back of that now and at least half those ships have returned to service."

"So it's been quiet since then?" John asked with interest.

Charles nodded, grinning at him as he replied, "In the last three weeks, not a single ship's come back for repairs from the Dragon March! The truce is holding, so maybe things can finally calm down again."

"That's really great news," John said with a smile, pleased for his old friend. He didn't say anything, but he was surprised at how much Charles had been affected by the stress of the ongoing conflict with the Kintark.

*Your friend rose through the ranks commanding a starship,* Edraele thought to him quietly. *A man of action can have trouble adjusting to the more abstract nature of senior command. I've seen it before with newly promoted Fleet Commanders; they want nothing more than to be back in command of a battleship, actively involved in the thrill of combat. It can be frustrating for them until they learn to adjust, but some never do.*

Before John could reply to her, Charles asked, "So to what do I owe the honour of this call from the 'Lion of the Federation'? I hope you aren't calling to say you can't make the award ceremony, Admiral Devereux would be distraught!"

"Don't worry, we'll be there," John said with a grin. "Just to give you fair warning though, I've expanded the crew since the last ceremony."

Charles laughed at that, shaking his head in amusement. "Let me guess, another stunningly beautiful young woman? I hope you didn't poach her from the TF military; we've had words about that before!"

John shook his head and smiled self-consciously. "Don't worry, the new girls aren't from the service, but my crew is up to nine now."

"Nine!" Charles blurted out, gaping at him in astonishment. "Now I know I've left retirement far too late! The thought of keeping nine women entertained sounds positively terrifying!"

"Sorry for the short notice, but I'll be able to give you an exact headcount tomorrow," John said with a smile, choosing not to comment. "I know one of them definitely won't be able to attend and I'm not sure about two others."

Over his shock now, the Vice-Admiral gave him an easy-going shrug. "An hour or two's notice will be fine, but thanks for the warning." His shrewd, hawk-like eyes narrowed as he added, "You didn't just call me to brag about how many gorgeous young women you're fraternising with, did you?"

Shaking his head, John admitted, "No, you're right, I've got something important I need to discuss with you. I want to acquire some technology when we arrive at Olympus station. I know that by now, the R&D boys will have been all over the Kintark ships we captured at the Battle of Regulus. We're after heatsinks and not just the generic Kintark variety, but the state-of-the-art gear in their elite ships. Have you found anything along those lines?"

Suddenly cagey now, Charles eased back in his chair and replied, "If such devices had been discovered, their existence would be considered highly classified. Radically advanced heatsinks could prove a game-changer should the Kintark initiate hostilities again. If we'd found any, of course."

"Of course," John agreed with a wolfish grin.

Charles hesitated for a moment, then said apologetically, "My hands are tied on this one, John. I know you're extremely wealthy now, but I'm afraid credits won't be enough, no matter how many you offered."

John raised an eyebrow and said, "I'll decline to mention that the Kintark were only captured after my intervention, because mentioning that would obviously be in poor taste."

Giving him a look of regret, Charles put his wrists together to mime having his hands tied, and said, "Obviously."

Leaning forward in his seat John said, "Actually, I wasn't intending on buying that technology, I wanted to make a tech trade."

"Really?" Charles asked, his interest suddenly piqued. "What are you offering in exchange?"

John grinned at him and replied, "Let's just say that if you can get permission to start negotiations, I'll make the deal so sweet you'll be begging me to take those heatsinks off your hands. Trust me, what I'm offering will be worth it."

Charles gave him a huge smile, his eyes gleaming acquisitively. After a moment, a look of confusion crossed his face and he asked, "Why come to me and not go directly to Devereux? I know you two are on friendly terms - she can't wait to see you at the ceremony."

Giving his friend a warm smile, John replied, "Just looking out for an old comrade-in-arms. Tell Lynette that I'll only broker the deal through you, if you think that'll help your career."

"You're not going to give me any clues as to what you're offering, are you?" the older man asked, his eyes crinkling as he smiled.

"Let's just say I'm looking forward to surprising you," John replied, winking at him playfully.

Charles chuckled, then relaxed in his chair. "I'll see what I can arrange. Thanks John, I really appreciate this."

"I still owe you for selling me the Invictus," John said with a laugh. "We'll consider ourselves square after that."

"You know we already were," Charles said quietly, giving him a grateful smile.

John returned his smile and said, "It's been great to speak to you again, but I better run. Let's meet up for a drink before the ceremony and we can sort out the tech trade then."

"I've got a wonderful bottle of whiskey with your name on it," Charles said and the two men exchanged salutes before they closed the call.

*Why go to all the theatrics of a trade deal if you were already planning to give the Terran Federation a suite of new technologies?* Edraele asked, as John rose from his seat and began making his way to the Bridge. *I'm sure Irillith would be able to acquire the Kintark heatsink technology for you from their data archives in a relatively short amount of time.*

*I suppose I just miss the haggling,* John said with a smile, having thoroughly enjoyed his conversation with Charles.

He greeted Faye with a grin, then stepped into the grav-tube to go and get ready for his return to the Legacy.

***

It came as a surprise when Senior Councillor Ularean himself announced that he'd be guiding Rachel and Sakura to Medical Centre. The two girls followed him as he guided them from the council chamber on the short walk to their destination. The hospital itself was a huge building that showed no outward signs as to its true purpose, looking more like some kind of busy starport than a medical building. There was a flurry of activity above the facility, with a steady flow of small silver discs landing somewhere up on the roof.

Rachel paused to watch them for a moment, then asked, "What are all those ships, Ularean? Are they medical transports?"

"That is correct, RachelBlake," Ularean replied, halting politely as he waited for her. "They are ferrying wounded from the fleet to this hospital.

She nodded then continued walking, falling into step beside him. "How many wounded are being treated here?" she asked, as Ularean led them though the broad entranceway into the building.

"The latest count has exceeded nine-thousand but more are arriving by the hour," the Senior Councillor explained in his eerie voice.

Sakura couldn't help noting that security seemed surprisingly light, only spotting a couple of guards as she followed Ularean through spotlessly clean silver corridors deeper into the hospital. She felt a flicker of a memory, but managed to suppress it by concentrating intently and not letting it overwhelm her conscious mind. The surge faded as quickly as it arose and she relaxed once more, letting out a shuddering breath as she trailed after her two companions.

*Are you alright, lovely girl?* Alyssa asked her sympathetically.

Sakura gave her a brief nod, before remembering that the telepathic blonde wouldn't have been able to see it. *Shinatobe plied her trade in hospitals on a number of occasions,* she replied, her tone grim. *Death already stalks the halls in these places, so when a client requested a more subtle approach to fulfilling a contract, it was easy to hide the real reason behind her victim's untimely demise.*

*I'm not a fan of hospitals either,* Alyssa agreed, an undercurrent of sorrow in her voice. *All that pain and grief focused in one place...* Her voice trailed off as she was lost in her own memories.

They passed through a big set of doors at the end of the corridor, leading into the vast open ward beyond. The Ashanath medical facility was quite unlike any that Rachel had been in before. Admittedly her experience had been strictly limited to Terran Federation hospitals, but the difference was quite remarkable considering the sheer volume of wounded being treated here. Had this been a Terran facility, the cries of pain from so many injured would have built into a heart-breaking chorus, but the thousands of Ashanath were almost completely silent.

An Ashanath medic wearing a long silver coat glided over to join them, a holographic display floating along at its side. The doctor bowed respectfully to Ularean, although the Grey's eyes were fixed on his guests.

"This is Facilitator Makiri," Ularean murmured, inclining his head towards to new arrival. "She is the Senior Medical Practitioner here and runs this hospital."

Makiri turned to face Rachel, bowing to her respectfully as she did so. "You are most welcome at Ashana Medical Prime, RachelBlake," She said, staring at the brunette with her huge black eyes. "I believe that I have you to thank for saving Ularean. You did so utilising psychic healing, no-less?"

Rachel smiled at the thin, bulbous headed alien. "I just did what I could to heal him. With the Ashanath's psychic ability, such a thing must seem fairly mundane to you."

"On the contrary," Makiri replied, her whispering voice warbling with a strange note. "There are over a billion Ashanath in the Collective, but not one has manifested such an astounding gift."

"None of you?!" Rachel blurted out, shocked at the thought.

Ularean shook his head, replying, "We are all telepaths. The more potent amongst us have developed additional abilities, but the kind of Psychic-healing that you performed on me is unheard of."

She nodded thoughtfully, then turned to look at Makiri. "I'm not sure how much of that I'll be able to do now, but I'm a great diagnostician. I'll definitely be able to make a difference in identifying critical injuries that might have been missed on an initial assessment. I assume you've triaged all these patients?"

The Ashanath medic turned to point towards the closest Ashanath injured, who were lying on small silver cots, overlaid by detailed holographic body-scans. "Those bearing only light wounds are at this end of the ward, while the critically injured personnel are at the other."

"Isn't there a significant risk of infection in such a large open space?" Rachel asked, glancing over the hundreds of neat rows of silver cots.

"Each treatment area is separated by force-fields to limit the risk of contamination," Makiri replied, stepping over to the closest cot. Her arm was ringed in a shimmering blue field as she waved it through the decontamination field.

Feeling greatly relieved, Rachel smiled at the Grey medic. "Let's start with the most severely injured and work back from there," she said, glancing across at the far side of the enormous room.

"Of course, please follow me," Makiri replied, leading the small group along the broad aisle between the cots.

The injures became progressively worse as Rachel glanced at the wounded with a professional eye. Unlike the aftermath of the Battle of Regulus, the number of patients suffering from burns was relatively small with no raging plasma fires to scorch personnel. Instead the injuries ranged from oxygen deprivation due to life-support failure, through to broken limbs and various lacerations caused by explosions. When they reached the far side of the ward, the Ashanath there were barely clinging to life, with most in artificially induced comas. Some were showing terrible bite marks in their flesh, identifying them as survivors from the Legacy - the various crewmembers that John and the girls had personally saved from being eaten by the Drakkar.

Rachel walked over to the closest, seeing the horrible wound to his torso that looked more like a shark bite with double rows of teeth having torn into the poor creature's body. She reached out a hand to brush his arm, getting a reading from his aura. Species: Ashanath - mortally wounded, critical injuries to intestines and kidneys. She knew exactly what she would need to do to fully heal him and if she merely applied her will to regenerate his ragged flesh, the Ashanath soldier would be able to get up and walk out of this room. He would be in a state of exhaustion but otherwise fully recovered.

She hesitated before she did so, glancing around at the hundreds of equally wounded Ashanath all around her. There were so many and she knew she wouldn't be able to save them all.

*Remember what John said earlier. Healing takes up a lot of psychic power and you're still very new at this,* Alyssa cautioned telepathically, her sombre voice brushing through Rachel's mind. *I can feed you energy to help, but be careful and don't wear yourself out.*

Rachel's mind was whirring as she turned back to the Ashanath lying before her. *I've just had an idea,* she replied quietly, lost in thought as she began to gather her will.

Focusing on the very worst of the small alien's injuries, she reached out with her mind to start healing his wounds. Her grey eyes shone with a soft light as his body was shrouded in a misty aura. She started rebuilding the chunk torn from his kidney, before carefully knitting his intestines back together, working methodically to undo the worst of the damage to the Ashanath soldier. Although she could have rebuilt the rest of his ravaged body, she stopped herself, even though it felt wrong not to take this process through to its logical conclusion.

Makiri blinked rapidly as she stared at the organs being reconstructed before her huge black eyes. She turned to look at the young woman and said in wonder, "I had heard the legends about the Progenitors, but never thought I would be able to see one at work..."

Rachel shook her head and smiled. "I'm not a Progenitor, just a regular Terran girl I'm afraid."

"You are far beyond that, RachelBlake," Ularean interjected in his whispering voice.

Sakura stroked the brunette's arm and said quietly, "He's absolutely right. You saved both of us, so you can consider that testimony from two expert witnesses."

Rachel gave the Asian girl an affectionate smile, before glancing at Makiri who stood in silent awe beside her. "I've healed the most critical of this patient's injuries. Are you able to clean and then close his wound with artificial skin grafts?"

The Ashanath medic nodded emphatically. "Of course, RachelBlake. His recovery is all but guaranteed now."

"Excellent, thank you," the brunette replied, walking over to the next Ashanath in the adjacent cot. Conservation of energy and focusing purely on the most critical of injuries - that was the key to saving as many lives as possible. She enveloped the next Ashanath in her misty aura and began to go to work, focusing on his fractured skull and cerebral damage, while ignoring his broken arm and leg.

*Very clever, beautiful,* Alyssa purred, opening their connection wider and pouring more Eldritch power into the glowing doctor.

***

"Hey! What kept you?" Dana called out to John as he jogged across the Hangar towards the Raptor.

He gave her an apologetic smile as he strode up the front-loading ramp. "Sorry to keep you waiting, Sparks. I just gave Charles a quick call." He winked at her as he added, "We were right! They did find more advanced heatsinks after Regulus!"

"Holy fucking shit!" Dana exclaimed, bouncing up and down with excitement.

John hit the button on the wall to close the ramp. "I haven't got specifics for you yet, Charles was being very secretive, but I'll trade for them as soon as we arrive at Olympus," he explained, while offering her an armoured gauntlet.

She grinned at him through her clear-crystal faceplate and took his hand as they walked from the loading area to the grav-tube in the corridor beyond. "When I get my hands on those, I'll be able to upgrade our rifles and all our ship-based energy weapons!" she gushed, as they floated up to the Command Deck.

Nodding thoughtfully, John smiled back at her as they walked into the cockpit. "You should be able to study the Drakkar gear on our flight back. By the time you get your hands on the new heatsinks, I'm sure you'll be able to come up with some fascinating new weapon designs."