Three Square Meals Ch. 084

"Okay, well that gives us a good starting point," John said, turning to look at the System Map. "Faye, can you display a Sector Map and mark New Eden at the centre, then show every system reachable within say... twenty six hours?"

A huge green globe appeared, covering scores of systems, including Terra itself.

Alyssa shook her head, saying, "Assume they were using a non-military Terran FTL drive for the transport vessel. That radius is based on modern military drives and this was seventy years ago."

Faye nodded obediently and the radius shrank dramatically, no longer covering the Sol System.

"We're making a few assumptions, but that backs up my gut feeling that he's not on Terra," John said, staring at the holographic map. "Trying to operate a coven of assassins with that much Terran Federation scrutiny on the Homeworld would be impossible..."

"We're still looking at a very large area. There's thirty-four systems still in range," Alyssa replied, staring intently at the map.

"Alright, what else?" John asked. "How about when Shinatobe attacked us?"

"My shuttle attached to the Invictus at Olympus shipyard," Sakura said, pointing to Alpha Centauri on the map. "I've no recollection of how I arrived at the system I'm afraid."

"Yeah, but we know where we were when we intercepted Mikaboshi's battlecruiser," Alyssa said, her eyes gleaming with a predatory light. She leaned forward and her hands danced over the Executive Officer's console with practiced familiarity. "When Shinatobe attacked, we were knocked out of hyper-warp right here. Irillith shut down their battlecruiser's FTL drive at that spot there."

John turned and glanced at the map, seeing two crosses appear on the map, one blue for the Invictus, one red for the Amaterasu. They were both a significant distance outside the previously marked green sphere, marking the point on the Invictus' route towards the Dragon March where Shinatobe had struck. "He was heading back this way..." John replied, seeing the red cross appear closer towards the Core Worlds.

"We shut them down very fast," Alyssa said with a note of satisfaction. She frowned then as she continued, "Unfortunately, that makes using this point for triangulation quite difficult. The Invictus was twelve hours out from Olympus Shipyard at that point and we'd covered a lot of ground. We were attacked some distance outside the primary shipping lanes, probably to avoid any interference from Terran Federation patrols."

"Does it help narrow things down?" John asked, tracing a line from the blue cross to the red one, then following it onwards. "It looks like they were definitely flying somewhere close to Terra."

"That does make sense," Sakura said, cupping her chin as she pondered the map. "The wealthiest Terran citizens and the most populated systems are in the Core Worlds. These were Shinatobe's prime hunting grounds for decades..."

Alyssa hesitated for a moment then said, "There's no guarantee they were heading straight for his base when we intercepted them, but if they were, there are five star systems they could have potentially been aiming for." She tapped in some more entries on the map and the five systems were highlighted. "He could have been heading for: Alpha Centauri, GJ 1061, GI 628, Kapten's Star, or Epsilon Indi. Alpha Centauri is a triple star system, so that's actually eight stars in total."

"So we just need to track every ship heading in that direction since the kidnapping?" John suggested, sounding more optimistic.

Alyssa nodded but the flicker of hope in her eyes faded a moment later as she looked at the Sector Map. "Twenty-seven vessels have already left Terra heading in that direction!"

"If Irillith were awake, I'm sure she'd be able to hack each of those ships and find out in no time if Calara or the assassins were aboard!" Faye suggested, her face lighting up with a bright smile.

"We're much faster than those vessels. We could easily catch up and start searching each of them in turn," Alyssa said, nodding her agreement with the plan.

John glanced at the map, his brow furrowing for a second. "I was about to suggest getting the Terran Federation involved, but most of the local fleets are in orbit around Terra. Even if they were able to catch up to these ships, I'm not sure I'd want to entrust Calara's life to a bunch of Terran-led, stop and search operations."

Alyssa looked at John with a raised eyebrow. "Looks like we need Irillith back on her feet then."

"We'll need Jade's help to feed the girls, but she's exhausted at the moment," John said, meeting the blonde's questioning gaze. "I don't want her exerting herself to... you know."

Alyssa's stoic expression wavered for a moment and he could see the anguish behind her mask of anger. "I'd normally have you load me up in a heartbeat, but... I can't handle that intimacy at the moment, I'll crumble like a pack of cards! I need to stay angry..." She darted a glance at Sakura who was standing between them.

The Asian girl traced her fingers along the epaulets on John's shoulder, before brushing them through his hair. "Let's go," she said with a tender smile.

Rising to his feet, John took her hand, then paused and turned back to look at Faye. "What about the assassin you captured? Should we interrogate him first? I'm still worried about leaving him in the Brig."

Alyssa sprang to her feet, her eyes blazing with anticipation. "Now that's something I'm more than happy to get stuck into."

"We'll go there now," John agreed, before taking a final glance at the green sphere in the Sector Map. He could see the limit of the Invictus' sensor range marked in a globe around the ship, which covered the local systems but not those further afield. "Faye, can you contact Terra Flight Control and tell them to forget the blockade. I assume they haven't been able to authorise anything yet as they haven't called us back. Instead, tell them the Lion needs full access to the Terran Federation Sensor net. When we're patched into that, we can make sure nothing slips past us in case we were wrong with any of our guesses."

"I'll contact them right now!" Faye exclaimed, nodding enthusiastically. "I'll start monitoring everything in the sector after that!"

"Thank you," he said, giving her an appreciative smile. "We'll meet you down in the Brig."

They turned and walked down the illuminated steps of the Command Podium, before entering the crimson glow of the anti-gravity field. The red shroud made Alyssa's glowering expression all the more terrifying and when they arrived on Deck Seven, she marched out purposefully. John chose not to comment, holding Sakura's hand as they followed the blonde.

The new Brig had been constructed to replace the old gym at the end of the corridor and Faye was waiting for them by the reinforced security door. She gave them a bright smile in greeting, then purposefully stepped in front of the door to block their path. "I took a few precautions to make sure that the assassin wasn't going to be a threat to any of you," she warned them, her tone uncharacteristically serious. "I'm just letting you know beforehand so it won't come as a shock."

John darted a slightly apprehensive glance at Sakura, while Alyssa snarled, "Don't worry, whatever you've done to him was just the warm-up act."

Faye nodded and stepped aside, opening the security door to allow them into the Brig.

The huge gym and swimming pool that had been there before had taken up a fairly substantial section of this deck, so with all those facilities removed, there'd been more than enough room to build a large prison. Directly behind the door was a spacious area flanked by more security doors, with one wall fitted with clear crystal Alyssium windows. The door directly ahead of them led to the Security office that monitored the Brig, while two long halls could be seen stretching away through the window, with ten cells per side.

"He's in the closest one on the right," Faye explained, opening the inner security door.

They followed her through, walking over to the first of the prison cells. The bars on the front of each cell were made of very familiar sparkling white metal, with a shimmering blue forcefield in place directly behind the sturdy cell door. There was something neatly piled up on the floor outside the cell and John's eyes widened as he recognised the shape of the golden-brown objects.

He shot a quick glance at Faye. "Are they...?"

"I had my boys remove his arms and legs!" she replied with a beaming smile. "They were all cybernetic, so it wasn't quite as grisly as it sounds."

Alyssa looked through the cell door and spotted the battered cyborg assassin, his dismembered torso lying propped up on the bed. Her pitiless laughter echoed around the Brig.

When Faye dropped the forcefield, the assassin finally realised that he had company, the opaque screen having blocked out all sight and sound from inside his cell. "Please!" he begged, seeing John and the girls. "Keep that AI away from me! She's fucking crazy!"

"She's the least of your problems," Alyssa said ominously, her eyes starting to glow with a fierce white light. She gestured at the barred portal with a flick of her wrist, causing the cell door to slam open with a crash.

The man's almond eyes widened with terror as he stared at Alyssa, who stalked angrily into his cell. "W-w-what are you going to do?!" Omoikane stammered in fear.

"Shut the fuck up," Alyssa growled, forcing his jaw shut with a telekinetic flick of her fingers. "You're going to tell me everything you know. If you even think about resisting, I'll lobotomise you."

A flicker of confusion crossed the terrified cyborg's metallic face as Alyssa closed her eyes.

It didn't take long. Time moves much faster on the Astral Plane, so it seemed to John that Alyssa's spirit walk into Omoikane's subconscious only took about thirty seconds. When Alyssa finally opened her eyes again, she looked down at the cybernetic ninja with disgust.

"That piece of shit volunteered for this," she said, waving a contemptuous hand towards his obviously inhuman body. "He's killed hundreds performing contracts for Mikaboshi."

"Any information on Mikaboshi's base?" John asked, watching the blonde as she strode out of the cell, the door slamming closed behind her.

"It's in a mountain range, protected by a battery of holographic projectors to conceal it from view," she replied, walking back to the security area. "Mikaboshi keeps the location secret from all his assassins. He's paranoid about security and arranges all the transportation to drop off and collect his operatives."

Sakura nodded and said quietly, "I've no memory of anything other than the interior of Yomi-no-kuni."

John put his arm around her and squeezed her shoulder supportively before saying, "Well, it was worth checking, even if it wasn't useful."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that," Alyssa replied, a gleam in her eyes. "Omoikane, that cyborg back there, has been on guard duty a few times. I've seen the views of the mountain ranges where the base is located. I'm going to go up to the Bridge and start checking the topography of all the mountain ranges in those systems. Who knows, I might get lucky..."

John reached out to catch her arm, stopping her from striding away. "Are you sure you're alright? I'm not sure I should leave you alone right now."

Her glowering frown faded away and she gave him a troubled smile as she murmured, "No, I'm not alright, but I will be when we get Calara back. You two go and take care of the girls. We've still got the assassins' black shuttle attached to the hull, so I'll need to move that into the Primary Hangar before we can jump into hyper-warp. When I'm done, I plan to do a bit of brooding up on the Bridge."

After pulling her in for a brief kiss, John let her go and watched as she strode away. Alyssa was radiating with the anger she was using as an emotional crutch and he could practically see it pouring off her in waves.

Sakura rubbed his hand and when he glanced her way, she gave him a look of sympathy. "We'll rescue Calara, then everything will be alright again," she said quietly.

He breathed a heavy sigh and nodded. As furious as John was with Mikaboshi for taking Calara, letting himself succumb to his own considerable rage wasn't a risk he was prepared to take. If Alyssa needed her fury to stay sharp and focused, then he'd play good cop to her bad cop and do his best to look out for all the girls.

Giving Sakura a grateful smile, he nodded then said, "We needed to talk anyway. I'm glad we've got the opportunity."

They walked along the corridor together, with Sakura holding his hand in both of hers as she leaned into him. When they stepped out into the corridor on Deck Two, she paused by the grav-tube and said, "Your bedroom is full of sleeping girls at the moment, so let's use mine. Make yourself at home and I'll be with you shortly."

She turned and went through the double doors into the Officers' Lounge, leaving him to walk the few metres to her room. He pressed the button to open the door and went inside, raising the illumination to a warm glow. The light sparkled off a large disc on the table to his right and he walked over to look at the crystal Alyssium sculpture that Alyssa had created for Sakura.

The incredibly lifelike portraits of Shiro and Emiko Honami smiled at him, a look of parental pride on their faces, with love shining in their eyes. John marvelled at the telekinetic skill Alyssa had displayed in creating this piece for Sakura, recreating exact replicas of her parents using only images recalled from the Asian girl's memory. He studied Emiko's face, seeing her daughter's features in her kind, almond-shaped eyes and in the soft smile gracing her lips.

"I'll never be able to repay Alyssa for that gift," Sakura murmured, gliding over to stand beside him, her entrance unnoticed with John so absorbed by the portrait. "My memories fade and I sometimes forget..." her voice caught for a moment before she swallowed. "But now I'll never forget their faces."

"You can tell she was a kind and loving person," John said, putting his arm around Sakura. "It wasn't just her beautiful smile she passed on to you."

She turned to look at him, a riot of emotion over her face. "It feels like my head's spinning, I've got so much going on inside me right now," she finally admitted, staring into his eyes. "I'm just not used to this amount of emotional turmoil; I don't know if my heart can take it."

He slowly rubbed her back to soothe her. "Do you want to talk to me about it?"

Sakura leaned against his chest, resting her head against him. "Yes, but in bed. I want to feel as close to you as I can when we talk."

John released her and she took his hand, leading him over to the large bed on the far side of her room. She'd placed a big glass of water by the bed and giving him a knowing smile, she passed it over to him for him to drink. Sakura slipped her backless dress over her shoulders and climbed under the covers, then watched him with a gleam in her eyes, as he quickly removed his white Lion uniform and joined her.

Facing each other only a few inches apart, Sakura moved closer to kiss him, her soft full lips pressing against his. They spent a couple of minutes like that with John running his fingers along the perfect curve of her hips to her slim waist, enjoying the touch of her gloriously soft skin. She hooked her leg over his, then pushed him so he was lying on his back.

"It'll be easier to chat together this way," Sakura said, straddling his hips and lining herself up to take him.

He watched the slight flutter of her eyelashes as she pushed down, saw the way her teeth tugged at her lower lip as she let out an almost inaudible moan. She felt hot and tight around his broad girth, and he could feel her stretch to take him as she inched her way down his length. Sitting up slightly, she undulated her hips, making them move in an altogether enticing and wonderfully erotic way.

There was familiarity in that exquisite motion and he smiled as he looked into her almond-shaped eyes. "Jade?"

Nodding in confirmation she groaned in delight as she took him to the hilt.

Placing his hands on her gloriously firm cheeks, he held her still, simply revelling in being inside this beautiful girl's womb. Sakura leaned forward, resting her weight on him and pressing her large supple breasts against his chest. She brushed her hair out of the way and gazed into his eyes, a look of contentment on her face.

"I feel calmer now, like you've centred me," she said softly, giving him a tender, appreciative kiss.

John let his hands wander up to stroke her back. "You said you were conflicted... struggling with your emotions?"

She nodded, relaxing further in his supportive arms. "So much has happened in the last few months... I can barely keep up with everything." Seeing the look of curiosity in his eyes as he waited for her to elaborate, she continued, "First, there's my parents. I'm still grieving and I miss them so much, but living here with you and the girls makes me so happy... I end up feeling guilty because of it."

"That's only natural. You can't help-" John started to reply, but she silenced him with a brief kiss.

"I love you, and I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me. You've asked for nothing in return, acting selflessly and looking out for my best interests every single time. I never imagined I'd meet anyone like you, which ends up making me feel sad," she explained, gazing at him with her lovely dark-brown eyes.

Giving her a quizzical look, John asked, "Sad? Why's that?"

"Because I wish that my parents had been able to meet you. They'll never know the man I want to spend the rest of my life with," she replied, letting out a forlorn sigh. Hesitating for a moment, she took a deep breath. "I've imagined how it would have been, taking you to meet my parents for the first time... Mom would have loved that you can cook and when you offered to help prepare dinner, she'd have leapt at the chance. I can just picture the two of you sharing recipes and her teaching you how to prepare my favourite dish."

"What's your favourite?" he asked, brushing his fingers through her silky black hair.

"Okonomiyaki," she replied with a wistful smile. "When I was very young, I was going through a phase and told her I didn't like green onions any more. She still wanted me to eat my vegetables, so she used to chop them up so fine, I didn't realise she still kept adding them. Years later, I tried the dish in a restaurant after requesting 'no onions' and it tasted so bland, I immediately realised what she'd been up to. I never mentioned it to her and she kept making Okonomiyaki the same way right up until..." Sakura's voice trailed off, thick with emotion.

John gave her a moment to compose herself, then asked gently, "What about meeting your father? Would he have been overprotective of his precious daughter?"

She laughed and nodded. "At least until I told him you were a real-life samurai. He loved all that ancient feudal Japanese stuff and would have been awestruck."

"What sword style did he prefer?" John asked, genuinely interested.

Sakura smiled affectionately as she replied, "My father was an intelligent and successful businessman, but he was hopelessly uncoordinated. He told me the first time he tried handling a katana he nearly took his own hand off. Very wisely, he decided to admire swordsmanship from a safe distance."

"We would have had to cover all this extensively beforehand," John said, catching the tear running down her cheek and brushing it away. "I'd have wanted to make a good impression."

"I know..." she said, giving him a loving smile. "You would have been so earnest. They would have seen that and been delighted with the man I chose to bring home to meet them." Her eyes narrowed in anger as she snarled, "But Mikaboshi took all that away from me!"