Three Square Meals Ch. 088

John chuckled at the thought. "Let's just concentrate on the saving the galaxy part first, okay?"

Distracted by thoughts of lining up in front of billions to show off her baby bump, Alyssa quickly got over the fright she'd received that morning. They finished off their shower and padded back into the bedroom, where Tashana was on the receiving end of Jade's loving tongue.

"I'll stay and watch," Alyssa whispered, giving him a quick kiss. "I'll take Tashana to train in the Cargo Bay when she's had her breakfast. I told Calara you wanted to spar with her this morning, she's waiting for you in the Dojo."

"I don't know what I'd do without you, beautiful," he said, giving her a parting kiss.

Striding into the walk-in-wardrobe, John dressed in training gear, then waved the girls goodbye as he walked through the bedroom. Tashana grinned at him as she returned his wave, her cheeks flushed a dark blue as she held Alyssa to her breast, while Jade was busy between her splayed thighs. Stepping into the express grav-tube, John dropped down to the Combat Bridge, smiling to himself at seeing the Maliri girl look so happy.

He walked past the rows of runed Paragon Armour that were standing vigilant over the Combat Bridge in their armour-equipping frames. Dropping down in the second express grav-tube, he entered the Secondary Hangar, then hit the button to open the double doors into the huge Primary Hangar. Sakura was already in the mech as he suspected she would be and he lingered in the doorway, watching her work on her piloting.

The Valkyrie moved with an eerie grace that was disconcerting to see in such a huge war machine. The thirty-metre-tall mech pivoted, shifting its weight from one foot to another as it extended both hands forward. He recognised the precise movements immediately and watched Sakura go through a tai-chi routine for a couple of minutes. She made a couple of mistakes, the mech stumbling once or twice as she overextended herself too much. It was strange to see the Valkyrie straighten itself and shake its head with irritation, before starting the routine again from the start.

Deciding against disturbing her, he turned and left her to her training, walking past the Raptor on his way towards the aft grav-tube. He was greatly impressed by the incredible level of control Sakura had already begun to develop with the Valkyrie and admired her commitment and dedication to her new role. Feeling a lot less anxious about seeing one of the girls in the mech again, he walked into the glowing blue anti-gravity field and began to ascend up the levels.

He wasn't in there long, stepping out onto Deck Seven as he made his way towards Dana's workshop. He hit the button to open the door into the Engineering Bay, stepping forward in anticipation of the door sliding open. When the door stayed firmly shut, he blinked in surprise, narrowly avoiding bumping into it. Thinking he must have not hit the button properly, he tried once more, but again nothing happened.

Glancing up at one of the cameras in the corridor he frowned in confusion. "Faye, the door seems to be broken! Can you ask Dana to take a look at it, please?"

She appeared in a purple flash and gave him a friendly smile in greeting. "Hey John!" she said, ephemeral wings fluttering in excitement.

"Morning, Faye," John replied. "Did you pass on my message to Dana?"

Her smile wavered and Faye looked a bit anxious. "I did. She'll be here in a moment to explain."

Quite bemused by this turn of events, John glanced back at the door and only had to wait for about ten seconds before it slid open with a whir. Dana stepped through, but carefully barred his way, giving him an impish grin as she did so.

"What are you up to?" John asked, trying to peek over her shoulder.

She only stopped waving her hands in front of his face when the door shut behind her. "You're banned from the Engineering Bay until we've finished!" she declared, her sky-blue eyes twinkling with mischief.

"You're banning me from part of my own ship?" John asked incredulously. "What are you up to, Chief Engineer?!"

Dana darted a look at the purple girl hovering nervously beside them and asked her politely. "Would you mind giving us some privacy for a moment please, Faye?"

Faye looked startled then quickly nodded. "Sure!"

When the AI had disappeared in the blink of an eye, Dana smiled at John and stepped closer to him. She stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his ear, just in case Faye was still listening, and whispered, "I don't want you to see her body until I'm finished. If you see her in bits, you'll find it harder to think of her as a real girl and she wants that so much..."

John put his arms around the redhead and gave her a warm hug. "I understand. That's really thoughtful, thank you on Faye's behalf."

"She's my friend, I want her to be happy," Dana said with a shy smile.

"Is everything going well so far?" John asked her curiously.

"It's going great!" she replied, nodding exuberantly. Dana giggled then, her body shaking with laughter. "Although it was a bit of a shock when Irillith suddenly started cumming her brains out! You must have really fucked Tashana senseless!"

He gave her a wry smile. "It was definitely mutual. Was Irillith alright afterwards? Not too embarrassed I hope?"

"Nah, she fucking loved it!" Dana said, grinning at him. Her smile faded for a moment and she added, "I hope she wasn't coding anything important this morning though. She's been starry eyed for the last couple of hours..."

John patted her on the bottom. "I better let you go back to work. Let me know if you need my help with anything."

"Thanks, but we're good. Alyssa did all the psychic shaping I needed." She gave him a farewell kiss, then flounced over to the door, giving him a cheeky smile when it opened obediently for her and disappeared inside.

Respecting her wishes, John didn't try to look into the Engineering Bay this time, turning and walking back down the corridor instead. Taking the grav-tube again, he ascended all the way up to Deck Three, then strode briskly down the corridor. It felt like weeks since he'd last had a sparring session with Calara and he found himself grinning at the prospect. She was a highly skilled opponent and he was looking forward to seeing if she'd continued to improve by fighting against Sakura instead.

He walked into the equipping area, but ignored his training sword and armour, turning right and heading for the door to the Dojo itself. When the door opened he saw the familiar teak wood Dojo simulator was running, with its spectacular panoramic views of mist-covered mountains. He normally stopped to appreciate that vista, but his eyes were immediately drawn to the young Latina who was warming up in the centre of the mats. Calara was performing the same tai-chi exercises that Sakura had been running through in the thirty-metre-tall Valkyrie downstairs. Seeing the sleek perfection of Calara's glorious body, he decided that she was the more impressive sight.

She spotted the movement at the door and eased to a stop, turning to give him a challenging look. "It's been a while... ready to spend some time sprawled on the mat?"

Relishing the gleam in her dark-brown eyes, John walked slowly across the sparring area before giving her a respectful bow. His teasing smile was far less respectful as he replied, "You're throwing in the towel already? You'll be far more comfortable in bed than on the mats!"

She grinned at him as she adopted an offensive stance, readying herself for action. He could tell Calara was going to be a handful today; she looked totally focused, her poise and balance perfect as she studied him warily. She wasted no time in launching her offensive, crouching low as she spun towards him, building momentum that she unleashed in a devastating kick towards his head. He was astonished at the amount of power she put into the blow, a testimony to her flawless execution of the spinning kick. Wincing as he blocked, he had to move quickly as she followed up with a leg sweep.

He jumped her leg as it whipped around, barely clearing it in time. Her driving punch to the stomach came as a shock and as he staggered backwards, he realised he'd been set up, the first two moves simply diversions and distractions from her main strike. She gave him a confident smile, both of them knowing that it was inevitable who was going to win this first round.

He concentrated for a moment, gathering his will before giving his gorgeous opponent a playful wink. He sprang into action, surging across the mat to close the distance, catching her by surprise with his psychically enhanced speed. She nearly managed to ward him off, but he grappled her in an inelegant bearhug, bringing her crashing to the mat with his empowered strength.

"You cheated!" Calara cried out indignantly. "That wasn't fair!"

"It's not my fault," John said with a helpless shrug. "You looked far too tempting. I didn't want to spend an hour dancing around the mat before I could get a kiss."

Her angry glare softened for a moment and she gave him a gentle kiss, her full lips brushing lightly against his own. She wriggled out of his grip and rolled away before springing to her feet. "No powers this time!"

John nodded as he stood up, readying himself in a defensive stance. He knew that effectively cheating to win the first bout would rile Calara up and he wasn't disappointed. She came after him with a vengeance, alternating between flurries of punches and cartwheeling kicks that kept him on the back foot. He spent the first twenty minutes fighting a strictly defensive match, trying not to expose himself to one of her subtle traps again.

All the practice Calara had been having with Sakura had really paid off and he found she was very evenly matched with him now. With the skill levels the same, it all came down to the differences in their physique. John had the obvious masculine edge in physical strength, but with Calara's stunning athletic figure, she was still able to hit very hard. She was faster than he was though and she put that speed to devastating effect, using it to seize and take hold of the initiative in the fight. It took another five minutes before she outmanoeuvred him, counterattacking with a roundhouse kick to the chest which brought him crashing to the mat.

As much as he was enjoying these close-fought battles, there was a reason why John had requested this sparring session. He knew what was troubling her and it was time to do something about it. They took a quick break to recover and he made a show of adopting a Zen-like pose to focus himself, as if he was taking the bout more seriously now. He willed his psychic speed into effect again, but was far more subtle about it this time, just speeding up enough to give himself the edge.

They began again, battling each other in that graceful but deadly dance. John was moving slightly quicker than Calara now and he became far more aggressive in his approach, pushing her onto the defensive as she blocked and dodged his relentless kicks and punches. He could see her surprise at the sudden turn this fight had taken and although he felt bad for deceiving her this way, he ruthlessly exploited his advantage.

A leg sweep sent her ignominiously to the mat, then a counterattack to a kick brought him into grappling range where he overpowered her and brought her down. He caught a kick aimed at his head, pushed her off-balance and lashing out at her other leg, tripping her. The last one quite deliberately revealed his enhanced speed and Calara looked up at him from the floor, her eyes showing her hurt as she suddenly realised what he'd been doing.

"Why?" she asked simply, panting for breath after an hour of punishing defeats.

"Because I can," he replied bluntly. "Real opponents won't hold back just because it isn't fair. If you don't like it, do something about it..."

Calara's eyes glimmered with fury and she sprang to her feet, readying herself for battle. Abruptly she calmed herself, realising that the anger would be a distraction. Steadying her breathing, she approached this fight as she would a genuine opponent, like the assassin that had attacked her in the Enigma club. She knew John's fighting style as well as her own, having racked up hundreds of hours sparring against him. Yes, he was moving faster now, but the kata were still the same, his technique still based on his particular style that she knew so well.

When they began the fight again, she was wary now, doing nothing that would leave her vulnerable to an aggressive takedown. Calara's focus seemed to intensify and she felt a shiver run down her spine, a sudden thrill of... something, excitement perhaps? Now that she was studying him intently, John almost seemed to be telegraphing his moves and she began to see patterns in those attacks.

She went along with the flow, blocking his kidney punch, ducking the roundhouse to her head, then narrowly dodging the knee he launched at her chest. Although John was moving faster than her, knowing what was coming let her reposition herself just in time, allowing her to stay out of his grasp. Realising she only had the briefest of windows to strike - because he'd be able to react fast enough to counter anything elaborate - she bided her time, waiting for the perfect opportunity.

John watched in amazement as Calara dodged and blocked dozens of his punches and kicks. She was only moving at normal speed, but she was slippery as an eel, anticipating and countering everything he could throw at her. He sent her backpedalling across the mats to avoid a series of spinning chest-high kicks, but just as she avoided the third, she lashed out with a simple counter-kick to his knee. Her blow landed just as he was shifting his weight and he crashed down to the mat with a thump, taken by surprise by the deceptively simple, but devastating precision strike.

"Again..." she said quietly, watching him in fascination.

John saw the inner glow in her eyes, but suppressed a smile of satisfaction and did as she asked. He leapt to his feet and ramped up his speed to maximum, launching himself at her in a blur.

Calara's mind seemed to expand as she stared at John in wonder. Time seemed to fracture and she was no longer seeing just one kick or punch ahead, but the whole chain of attacks he was lining up to unleash on her. After twenty-seven moves, she would be caught in an armlock and brought down to the mat. She felt a bizarre feeling of déjà vu as she went through that chain. Despite John's incredible speed, she knew exactly what was coming, the perfect counter to the overwhelming advantage of a lightning fast opponent.

She picked her moment carefully, choosing the precise point in the chain of attacks. Catching John's lunging fist, she fell backwards, using her weight to pull him off-balance into a forward roll. Lifted off the ground, he could no longer use his speed to avoid the inevitable conclusion. John watched in astonishment as she rolled underneath him, Calara's momentum pulling her onto his chest, pinning him effortlessly with such a deceptively simple manoeuvre.

Calara grinned with elation as she nullified that future sequence of events, breaking the chain and inserting her own alternate scenario. Suddenly the enormity of what she'd just done hit her and she gaped down at John in stunned disbelief.

"I knew you'd get there on your own," he said, his eyes shining with pride.