Three Square Meals Ch. 089

"We picked up all the debris on our long-range scans," John said, his tone sombre. "It looks like you guys managed to survive one hell of a battle. Is there anything we can do to help with the recovery efforts?"

The comms officer looked shocked for a moment, as he was able to see from the comm signal just how far away the Invictus was and how powerful that meant its sensor systems were. He recovered quickly and shook his head. "Your kind offer is much appreciated, but Fleet Warden Thandrun requested that you dock with this vessel as soon as you arrive. He wishes to discuss an urgent matter with you."

*Twelve minutes, ten seconds until we arrive in the Delta Corvus system,* Alyssa surreptitiously informed John.

He'd been expecting Thandrun to request an immediate meeting, so he nodded and replied, "We should be with you in just over twelve minutes."

The comms officer was amazed for a second time as he realised just how fast the Invictus must be travelling in hyper-warp. Shrugging it off a moment later he gave them a broader smile. "I'll inform the Fleet Warden of your imminent arrival."

John nodded and Alyssa closed the comm channel. He turned to look at her afterwards and said, "Let's get the rest of the girls up on the Bridge in case there's further trouble. I'd like you and Calara with me for the meeting with Thandrun."

"They're on their way," the blonde replied, rising from her chair.

It didn't take long for the rest of the crew to start arriving and they greeted John with a smile before fanning out to take their stations. Rachel was the exception and she paused at the foot of the Command Podium, looking up at him with a question in her eyes.

John walked down the illuminated steps and placed a hand on her arm as he looked into her grey eyes. "Let me guess? You'd like to come along so you can offer to heal the wounded?"

"Is that okay?" she asked hesitantly. "Alyssa warned us that we needed to be cautious with our psychic ability usage; at least until you can re-bond with Edraele. I'd really like to help the Trankarans if I can, but it's also a good opportunity for me to practice my psychic healing."

"Sure, you can come along," John replied, sharing a smile with her. "Just don't tire yourself out. If the Trankarans ask us for assistance against the Kirrix, we might end up in combat as early as this afternoon."

"Don't worry, I'll triage my patients," the tawny-haired brunette said, nodding her understanding.

John looked across the Bridge at his Security Chief. "Sakura, would you mind keeping an eye on Rachel for me while we're aboard the Anvil?"

The Asian girl sprang from her seat and jogged up the ramp to join them. "Of course! I'll keep her safe."

Alyssa placed a hand on John's shoulder. "Let me watch over Rachel instead. That'll free up Sakura to get some target practice with the Valkyrie and I'll still be able to overhear your entire conversation with Thandrun anyway."

He frowned for a moment, giving the excited Asian girl a worried glance. "We need the Invictus on standby in case we need to depart in a hurry and Trankaran Space seems to be crawling with Kirrix at the moment. I definitely don't want her going off alone to shoot up asteroids."

The blonde turned towards the Tactical map and waved her hand at the hundreds of wrecked insectoid spacecraft. "Sakura doesn't need to find an asteroid field, this place is ideal! The Trankarans were kind enough to set up this lovely firing range for her and she can even get used to shooting Kirrix ships. She'll be perfectly safe right here."

John nodded thoughtfully, then turned to smile at Sakura. "You better get suited up. Make sure you contact the Trankarans and let them know what you're planning, they'll be jittery after the fight they've just been through."

"Will do!" she agreed, beaming a sparkling smile at him, before dashing into the grav-tube.

Faye blazed onto the Bridge in a purple flash, bouncing up and down with anticipation as she gazed at John with her big luminous eyes. "John! Should I still proceed with refitting the heatsinks in the Pulse Cannons?"

Calara saw his momentary hesitation and gave him a confident smile. "It should be fine. With the huge sensor range we have, it'll take any Kirrix ships at least ninety minutes to close with us. That should give the maintenance bots more than enough time to finish working on any Pulse Cannons they're upgrading at that particular moment."

Faye nodded enthusiastically. "Actually, with all twelve of my boys out there, it shouldn't take much more than an hour to upgrade the full defence grid!"

"That fast?" John said in surprise, before giving the purple sprite a broad grin. "Okay go ahead, Faye."

"Already on it!" she exclaimed with glee, blinking out of sight a second later.

"I'm leaving the Invictus in your capable hands, Dana," John called over to the redhead. "Just let us know if you spot any Kirrix on the long-range scans."

"We'll keep our eyes peeled!" Dana said, turning her chair at the Engineer's Station to give him a thumbs-up.

"After you then, ladies," John said to trio of girls standing beside him as he gestured towards the grav-tube.

They descended in the red anti-gravity field, then walked briskly along the corridor on Deck Two towards their bedroom and the express grav-tubes. John felt his stomach lurch as he dropped down to the Combat Bridge, still finding the sheer speed of the accelerated grav-tubes startling to use. Alyssa glanced at their armour and guns for a moment, then raised an eyebrow as she turned to look at John.

"I trust Thandrun, I don't think for one minute he'd try ambushing us," John said, thinking about the calm and sensible Fleet Warden. He paused and looked at the three teenagers standing before him, then changed his mind with a frown. "Let's not take any chances though. I doubt he'll be offended but I'd rather deal with a bit of diplomatic fallout than put you girls at risk."

No one objected and they walked over to the armour-equipping frames and stepped into Paragon Armour boots. Activating the thumb controls, robotic limbs brought armour plating down to fully enclose their bodies, the joints sealing with a series of clicks. Rather than taking a Quantum rifle, John just took one of the Quantum pistols, attaching the waist harness and sliding a couple of magazines into the pouches around the belt.

The girls followed his lead and once they were all equipped, they walked over to the second set of express grav-tubes, to sink down to the Secondary Hangar. All Faye's avatars were busy taking direct control over the dozen maintenance bots, so she wasn't there to greet them when they arrived in the Raptor's cockpit. John was surprised to find how much he missed her cheerful presence and he watched Alyssa distractedly as she glided over to the Pilot's chair then began powering up the gunship.

"Sorry, just little old me flying you today," the blonde said, catching his eyes as she glanced over her shoulder, her own twinkling in the amber light from the glowing consoles.

John grinned at her and relaxed back in his seat. "I guess you'll have to do." He turned to smile at his two companions. "How are you girls doing? Everything alright?"

"I started attempting to track the Nymphs this morning," Calara replied, her slight frown not boding well. "Attempting to follow the trail after more than three centuries is proving... challenging."

"That trail's pretty damn cold alright," John agreed, giving her a sympathetic look. "Still, it's early days yet. Don't get disheartened, I know you'll start finding some solid leads soon."

The Latina relaxed a little and smiled back at him. "Don't get me wrong, I've been relishing the challenge. If any of Jade's sisters are still alive out there, I'll track them down."

"I know you will," John said, his voice ringing with his confidence in her. He turned to look at Rachel who was sitting beside him. "How about you, honey? Has it been difficult getting back into your analysis of incurable diseases?"

The brunette shook her head, a bright smile on her face. "I've been able to make some great progress already! I've developed a cure for Thyron Fever."

John frowned, having heard of that horrible disease. "I remember that about ten years ago... the outbreak was all over the news."

"What happened?" Calara asked, leaning forward and listening with interest.

"It spread like wildfire through Thyron, a planet in the Dragon March. The entire system had to be quarantined, but the whole colony was wiped out within a week. Millions died... There were a lot of people pointing fingers on the holo-net," he explained, remembering the shock and fear that had rippled through the Terran Federation.

"It's extremely contagious," Rachel agreed, her voice sombre. "The virus is airborne, so it can be transmitted very easily. The virus itself is also highly mutable, so I can sympathise with the medical teams that were attempting to treat it."

"Please don't tell me that one was bio-engineered as well," John said, grimacing at the thought.

She shook her head giving him a reassuring smile. "Thyron Fever was simply down to mother nature feeling particularly vicious. I looked into the planet's history and Thyron was a newly terraformed jungle world the Terran Federation acquired from the Kintark. The planet was teeming with lifeforms and I suspect the virus jumped species from an indigenous creature, finding Terrans to be an ideal host. In any case, I was able to neutralise it by disabling its ability to bind to a cell's receptor proteins, crippling its ability to replicate itself. The antiviral I've developed would render it harmless to a patient within the hour."

"That's outstanding work," John said looking suitably impressed. "You've only been working on the cure for that for what... six hours?"

She winked at him. "Four actually! I completed my cure for Thyron Fever yesterday evening. I spent this morning researching a form of Pneumonic Plague. It killed tens-of-millions in the core worlds two centuries ago and still resurfaces occasionally out on the fringe. It's particularly unpleasant; the victims drown in their own blood."

Calara shivered, a flicker of fear in her dark-brown eyes. "That sounds hideous! There's no risk of any outbreaks from your research is there?!"

Rachel smiled at the brunette reassuringly and shook her head. "I don't have access to samples of the virus, so my research and subsequent analysis is purely theoretical."

"How do you know the cures will work then?" the Latina asked in confusion. "Don't you need to prove that they can actually neutralise all these horrible diseases?"

"They'll work," the tawny-haired girl replied, not a shadow of doubt in her mind. When she saw that Calara still looking unconvinced, Rachel continued, "After all your research into the Dragon March Traitor, did you need to speak with Admiral Norwood to know that he was guilty?"

"No... but all the evidence against him was absolutely damning!"

"This is the same kind of thing," Rachel said with a shrug. "When I distribute the cures to the Terran Federation medical community, I'll provide them advice on how best to perform safe trials. They aren't necessary though, the anti-virals I've developed are flawless." She blushed then and darted a self-conscious smile at John and Calara. "Sorry, I realise how arrogant that sounded!"

John put his arm around her. "No need to apologise. You're both incredibly intelligent women and there's no point being modest about your achievements. You can each accomplish truly remarkable things and to pretend otherwise would be disingenuous."

Rachel smiled at him in relief. "You know what I really love about you? I don't have to worry about playing games, like having to hide being bright, and I don't have to try to work out how you want me to act. You just want me to be... me. I can't tell you how refreshing that is! Everything's just so easy being with you."

Calara nodded, watching him with a loving look in her eyes.

"Hey! I'm not easy!" John joked, smiling self-consciously at the two girls.

"Yeah you are," Alyssa called over her shoulder. "Don't worry, we love that about you too!"

He laughed and looked her way, then blinked in surprise when he realised they'd already docked inside the Trankaran battlecarrier. The Raptor glided to a halt on the glowing landing pad and Alyssa's hands flew over the consoles as she shut down the gunship. Rising to his feet, John offered Rachel and Calara a hand and they stood beside him while they waited for Alyssa to finish at the controls.

"All set?" he asked, as she rose to join them.

Alyssa nodded, slipping her arm around his. "It looks like things got pretty hairy here on the Anvil."

"What do you mean?" John asked as they walked out of the cockpit.

"You'll see in a minute," she replied, her mouth twisting into a frown as they descended in the grav-tube.

He didn't have to wait long to find out exactly what the blonde was referring to. As they walked down the loading ramp, his eyes widened at the carnage in the broad hangar. Several Kirrix dropships had landed inside the Trankaran ship and the insectoid marines had been met with fierce resistance.

The gunfight had been intense. Sticky green blood was spattered all over the deck and scores of yellow-brown Kirrix corpses littered the Hangar floor. Although the Trankarans had repelled boarders, they'd paid a heavy price to do so, with a number of their huge armoured forms lying still on the deck. That the Trankarans hadn't yet had the time to inter their corpses showed just how recent the fierce battle had been.

"John Blake, it's so good to see you again!" an eight-foot-tall Trankaran male rumbled, clomping towards them with loud, heavy footfalls. Despite the noise of his approach, Bhaken stepped carefully around the broken corpses on the deck, avoiding walking over fallen friend or foe alike.

John struggled with telling most Trankarans apart, but he recognised the friendly robed figure that greeted them in the Hangar. "Associate Bhaken! Thank you for coming to meet us. I'm glad to see you survived the battle unscathed."

"It was a truly horrible business," the mild-mannered rockman said, shuddering at the thought. His face fell and his dark-grey face looked mournful. "But I'm sorry to say that I've grown accustomed to receiving dreadful news. The past couple of months has seen an unrelenting string of disasters."

"I hoped everything would get better for the Trankarans after we left," John said, feeling sorry for their distressed guide. "That was only about two months ago. How did everything go downhill so rapidly?"

Bhaken looked at him quizzically for a moment. "My apologies, John Blake. I am unfamiliar with that Terran phrase."

"How did the situation deteriorate so quickly?" John clarified for him.

Reluctantly, Associate Bhaken shook his head. "I would be more than willing to elaborate further, but I believe the Fleet Warden would like to discuss the woes that beset the Trankaran Republic with you in person."

"That's no problem, let's go and see Thandrun," John said with an amiable smile. Rachel cleared her throat, drawing John's attention to her before he turned back to meet Associate Bhaken's curious amber gaze. "Rachel Voss, my Chief Medical Officer, has volunteered to help with your wounded. She'll be able to make a significant difference, she's extremely capable."

Bhaken's expression brightened and he nodded enthusiastically. "The medical facilities aboard the Anvil are quite overwhelmed at the moment! Any assistance you can provide would be most gratefully accepted!" He waved at a couple of Trankaran soldiers who were kneeling beside the body of their fallen squadmates, beckoning them over.

Rachel's eyes narrowed as she looked around the bloodsoaked battlefield. "Would you mind if we take a couple of these Kirrix husks when we leave?" Seeing Bhaken's look of distaste, she quickly added, "I want to study their remains and see if I can discern any weaknesses. I'd be more than happy to share any pertinent results with your people."

Nodding his understanding, Bhaken turned to give the two approaching soldiers a look of sympathy. "Please forgive me for disturbing your death-rites for these fallen rock-brothers. I would not dream of doing so under normal circumstances, but this Terran woman is a medic and needs your assistance to aid the living. Please escort Doctor Voss to the Primary Medical Facility."

One of the Trankaran Marines snapped a sharp salute. "If you would care to follow us, we'll show you the way, Doctor Voss."

Rachel and Alyssa peeled away, following the enormous soldiers as they led them away to the right across the hangar. Associate Bhakan gave John a respectful bow, then partially turned to gesture back the way he'd arrived. John and Calara did their best to fall into step with Associate Bhaken despite his huge stride. It only took a few metres for the considerate Trankaran to measure his pace so that they could keep up.

They skirted around the biggest pile of Kirrix corpses, which were clustered near the exit from the hangar. The fighting here had reached the peak of ferocity, with the light-brown deck dripping in viscous green blood, while the grey walls were pockmarked by scores of hits from the insectoid creatures' neutron guns. Bhaken glanced down at several Trankaran bodies, shaking his head with grief as they passed them to enter the corridor beyond.

He turned around to look at John and Calara, managing to keep walking backwards without pause while doing so. It was a surprisingly deft move for such a huge creature. "The Fleet Warden is up in the Command Chamber. It won't take long to get there."

Associate Bhaken spun around to walk normally down the corridor again, leading them past the sturdy buttresses that lined the way deeper into Kerhom's Anvil. Their passage was lit by glowing orange lines which threaded through the lofty grey metallic ceiling high above their heads. The ship seemed deserted at first, but John's sharp ears heard bustling activity from deeper within the vessel and realised that the Trankarans were simply busy elsewhere.

They walked into a massive square elevator, which their guide activated by placing his hand on the glowing runes set into the wall. The platform began to tremble as they were lifted upwards, whatever mechanism it was powering the lift was certainly much noisier than the near-silent Terran equivalents. It didn't take long to reach their destination, a low ringing note echoing as they stopped at one of the upper levels.

There was a short corridor beyond the lift with two guards at attention in front of the reinforced blast doors. Equipped in the same glowing heavy armour that they'd seen on the other soldiers, this pair were carrying molten rifles, the same kind of weapon that had nearly been the end of Irillith. The weapon had a segmented barrel, with throbbing red power lines running the length of the rifle, the slow throbbing making the guns almost seem alive.

The soldiers nodded respectfully to Associate Bhaken as he approached, with the guard on the right hitting a rune-marked panel to open the portal onto the Bridge. The Trankaran Bridge design was quite different to the Terran layout and Calara looked around in fascination as they followed their guide across the room.

There was a long straight path that ran along the length of the Command Deck, with scores of Trankaran Bridge crew working at stations deeply recessed into the floor. The lowered bridge stations meant that their heads were just visible at floor level, their blocky features underlit by the green and red glows from consoles. It was an efficient design, with the ship's Captain able to look across the entire Bridge and easily make eye-contact with any of his officers.