Three Square Meals Ch. 031

"Thank you kindly, sexy!" Alyssa replied, blowing her a kiss.

She turned to look at John, and her face grew serious. "Both Dana and I had a tough start growing up as orphans on Karron. Neither of us were in great shape physically, and we both had our fair share of mental scars too. You gave me about as thorough a makeover as it's possible to do, and there's not a single thing I'd change. I just feel thankful every day that you picked me to do it with," she said honestly, staring into his eyes, so that he could see the truth in her words.

Dana walked over to him as well and took his hand. "She's much better with words than I am, but never, ever, regret the changes you made to me. There's not a thing I miss about the old me. She was a scarred and scared, lonely little girl, and I think you're totally awesome for changing all that." she said earnestly.

"Thanks girls," John said, pulling them both in for a hug.

They all started to get dressed again, but Alyssa paused when she noticed John's Invictium sword that was resting against the weapon rack at the end of the room. She looked at it for a moment, before continuing to put on her clothes.

"You know you need to get some training on how to use that, right?" She said to John, pointing at the black glimmering blade.

"If you're going to start charging twelve foot tall, four armed behemoths, with the intention of swinging that at them, you better get good, and fast!" she admonished him.

"Yes, ma'am!" he said, snapping her a sharp salute.

"I'm serious, John," she said firmly. "I'd never forgive myself for making that for you, if it ends up getting you killed."

"Ok honey, I promise. I'll try and get some training before I think about taking on anyone dangerous in a swordfight," he replied sincerely.

"Good boy," she said affectionately, stepping up to him and planting a loving kiss on his cheek.

They all finished getting dressed and then went down the grav tube to deck nine, walking down the corridor to the double doors that led into the cargo bay. John hit the button, and the doors slid open quietly. Glancing around the room, it took them a few moments to find Calara. She was up on one of the service gantries, securely attaching a long length of reinforced steel cabling to one of the robotic loading arms.

"Hey Calara, what are you up to?" John greeted her warmly.

"Oh, hey guys!" she called down to them in reply. "I'm nearly done!"

"Done with what?" Dana asked curiously.

With one last straining pull, Calara finished securing the cable, before she turned to walk along the gantry and darted down the steps to join the others.

"You'll see in a minute," she smiled excitedly. "Now all we need is Jade!"

*Jade, could you come and join us in the cargo bay please?* Alyssa thought to the Nymph, who was still frolicking in the swimming pool.

*I'll be right there!* Jade replied immediately, and surged out of the water, landing gracefully on the side of the pool.

"She'll be down in a minute," Alyssa smiled contentedly.

"You look like you had fun," Calara smiled at the blonde girl, taking note of Alyssa's heavily rounded tummy.

"Just refining the recruitment process," John said playfully, causing the other two girls to smirk.

"For when you try and convince Rachel to join?" Calara asked innocently.

That caused the girls to descend into fits of giggles, leaving the brunette quite bemused.

"We were just doing a little role-playing," John explained, smiling. "These two were extremely sexy secretaries."

"Ah, I see," Calara blushed cutely. "Let me know next time, that sounds like fun," she added, with a twinkle in her eyes.

"Will do," he grinned, meeting her gaze.

Just then Jade bounded into the cargo bay, still nude from where she had hurriedly left the pool. "Hey, everyone, what are you up to?" she grinned happily, jogging over to join them.

"Calara has a surprise for you," John explained helpfully, "We're dying to find out what it is too."

Jade looked towards Calara, who beamed a wide smile at her. "I really hope you like it. I just wanted to say thanks for saving me from getting eaten." the brunette clarified.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Jade smiled back at her. "But I am curious what this surprise is!"

"I'll need you to turn into your tiger form," Calara said tentatively. "Are you able to change to that at will?"

"I honestly haven't tried it when I don't have to charge to someone's rescue," Jade laughed. "But I'm willing to give it a try now!"

She stepped back from them a little way, before she dropped into a crouch and closed her eyes. Her breathing deepened, and her face grew calm and peaceful, while she focused on the image of the huge tiger that she had shifted into before. The others watched in amazement as her body shimmered in a dark green haze, before she began to grow slowly and steadily before their eyes. Eventually the shimmering dissipated, and Jade stood on four heavy paws, in all her majestic tiger form glory.

"You look amazing," Dana said appreciatively, running her hand over Jade's soft fur on her five foot high shoulders.

Alyssa and Calara stood on either side of the monstrously huge green tiger, stroking the ethereal viridian lines that formed the tiger stripes on her powerful muscles. John walked around to Jade's head and scratched behind her ears, which made Jade begin a loud rumbling purr from deep in her throat. She looked at him with her feline emerald eyes, and then stepped forward to gently rub her huge head against his, her soft fur tickling the side of his face.

Alyssa laughed abruptly, which made the others all turn to look at her. "Oh, sorry," she apologised. "Jade says that its lovely being stroked like this, but she's curious what the surprise is."

"Oops! I got a bit distracted," Calara said, before turning and jogging over to the controls for the robotic loading arms. She powered them up, and then moved the big robotic arm that she'd been modifying, out into the centre of the cargo bay. The reinforced steel cable dragged behind it with a clank, as the robotic arm moved quickly across the room, several metres above the ground.

Jade's sharp eyes followed the cable as if drawn to it with magnets. Her whiskers came forward, her ears swivelling around as well, and she stalked ahead eagerly, her tail lashing behind her. The others got well clear and watched entranced as she prowled after the long cable, before dropping into a crouch as she got closer. Calara had a happy grin on her face as Jade stalked after the robotic arm, and she stopped the cable, just before it would disappear out of sight behind a big stack of ore containers. Jade froze and hugged the ground, creeping ever closer to her prey. Calara nudged the controls repeatedly, causing the thick steel cable to twitch and writhe, before suddenly disappearing out of sight. Jade leapt into action, tearing across the cargo bay and racing after her quarry, her heavy forepaws flashing out to try and catch it, as Calara swung the cable tantalisingly out of reach.

Laughing with delight, Calara manoeuvred the robotic arm around, making the thick steel cable twist and turn, as she swung it around the maze of containers. Jade charged after it, her massive jaws snapping at the end of the cable, as she repeatedly pounced on the smooth cord of steel, trying to trap it under her six inch long claws. Eventually the Latina slowed down the movements of the arm, letting Jade catch the cable in her maw. The enormous tiger rolled on her back, gnawing and biting the steel cable, while hugging it to her chest with her forepaws, and kicking out at the length of corded metal with her powerful back legs.

Alyssa smiled as she read Jade's thoughts. "She loves it!" the blonde said happily.

"Can I have a go?" Dana said eagerly, and when Calara nodded enthusiastically, the redhead skipped over to the controls to take over. She swished the robot arm away, the cable slithering out of the tiger's grasp, and she led Jade on a merry dance through the maze of ore containers once again.

"What made you think of setting this up?" John asked the beaming brunette as she walked over to join them.

"I had a pet cat when I was a little girl, and she loved to chase after bits of string. I figured that with Jade having cat-like eyes even in her Nymph form, some of those hunting instincts might be ingrained in her." Calara explained with a happy grin on her face.

"It was very thoughtful," Alyssa said, stepping up to Calara and giving her a big hug. "And she really does love it!"

"Jade isn't the only one having fun," John noted with a grin. He nodded his chin towards Dana, who was giggling at Jade's antics, as the massive tiger raced around chasing after the elusive steel cable.

They each took it in turns playing with the nine hundred pound tiger, and led Jade around, chasing after the now somewhat frayed and shredded steel cabling. After a couple of hours, they decided to call it a day, and Calara turned off the controls for the robotic loading arms, while Jade came padding over to them on her huge paws. Her flanks were rising and falling rapidly as she breathed heavily, her long tongue lolling out as she panted, with a happy bright eyed expression on her tiger face. She stopped a few steps away from them and then began to shimmer, her form becoming indistinct. After a few seconds she began to shrink in size, the fur disappearing into her body as she reformed into her green skinned Nymph shape.

Jade stood from her crouch, and dashed over to Calara, lifting her off the ground and spinning her in a circle. "Thank you so much!" Jade exclaimed, as the brunette laughed with delight. "I had the best time ever, that was so much fun!" the green skinned alien gasped exuberantly.

"I'm so glad you liked it!" Calara replied, hugging her friend tightly.

They walked back to the rest of the group, with Jade's breathing still heavy after all the exertion, doing interesting things with her rapidly rising and falling chest.

"The best time ever?" Alyssa asked the Nymph coyly.

"Ok, perhaps not quite," she giggled, her emerald eyes sparkling as she glanced at John. "But that was still loads of fun!" she replied, with a huge smile on her face.

Laughing together, they went up to the officer's lounge to cook an early dinner, joking and chatting as they worked as a team to get everything prepared. They ate dinner together, with wine, conversation and laughter flowing in equal measure. John glanced around at the girls at one point, a wide contented smile on his face. Alyssa heard his train of thoughts, and she looked up from dinner to smile back at him warmly.

*You look happy,* she said, her voice ringing with pleasure.

*I don't remember ever being happier,* he admitted to her honestly.

*Good. You deserve to be,* she told him fondly.

They finished dinner, stealing the occasional affectionate glances at one another, while joining in the playful banter with the other girls. When dinner was done, Alyssa rose and offered John her hand, leaving the other girls to tidy up while she led him to the comfortable sofas.

"Please take a seat," she said with a grin, enjoying the bemused expression on his face.

John did as ordered, and then watched as Alyssa glided around behind him, before placing her hands confidently on his shoulders. "Oh god..." he groaned, as the blonde's slender, agile hands began to do wonderful things to his tense muscles.

She leaned down to put her full lips to his ear, while her hands continued to work their magic. "I could feel how much you enjoyed it when Jade gave you a massage," she murmured to him softly. "She gave me a few pointers when we were in bed together the other day. That girl can do amazing things with her hands..." she added in a breathy whisper.

John chuckled at her comment, then reached back to quickly grab the lithesome blonde, and pulled her over the chair and into his grasp. She giggled happily and looked up at him with her piercing cerulean eyes, as he held her in his arms.

"You're perfect, do you know that?" he asked her rhetorically.

"I should think so, I was designed by a wonderful creator," she replied to him piously, with a wicked grin on her face.

letting out a deep laugh, John leaned in and kissed her, which she returned enthusiastically. They lost track of time in each other's arms, but the eventual appearance of the other girls on the sofas drew them apart. They sat up so that the other girls could snuggle in with them, and they watched the stars flashing by as they flew deeper into Terran Federation territory, having left the Ashanath Collective some hours earlier.

"Well that was a fun little adventure into Grey Space," John said with a smile. "If you ignore the bits where we all nearly died a few times."

"We did get some awesome new tech though!" Dana chipped in eagerly.

"Don't forget everything we learned about the Progenitors," Calara noted thoughtfully.

"We forged a new alliance with people who respect your power," Jade said excitedly.

"And started to find out a bit more about what each of us can do," Alyssa said speculatively.

"Well, let's hope our trip to the Maliri will be just as interesting." John laughed. "Once we've faced our toughest challenge yet... making a good impression with Calara's family!"

They laughed and hugged him tightly, relaxing happily together for a while, before finally retiring for the night.

***

John woke before the girls, and he immediately began thinking about the upcoming meeting with Calara's family. He cared about the lovely brunette a great deal, and it felt very important that he make a good impression. The last thing he wanted to do was burden her with some unnecessary family drama, not when they had so many other things to worry about. The revelations about the nature of his parentage had been a depressing surprise, but in all honesty he'd been preparing himself for bad news. He found himself remarkably at peace with everything they'd discovered so far, and he glanced down at Alyssa, knowing very well that she was a large part of the reason why he'd shrugged off these dark revelations with relative ease.

The beautiful blonde he was focusing his attention on eventually awoke, followed shortly afterwards by the other girls, who all began to stretch in a Mexican wave of unblemished young flesh.

"Morning girls," he said to them warmly, and four sets of bright eyes looked up at him, as they chorused their own good mornings.

"We aren't going to arrive at Episilon-Eridani until three this afternoon, so we have plenty of time to kill before we arrive at Jericho," he said, referring to Calara's home planet. "Is there anything you ladies want to do this morning?"

"Well I've been putting it off, but I should probably look at reshaping the Invictium armour plates in the Phalanx armour," Alyssa admitted ruefully.

"That's a good idea," John agreed wholeheartedly, his hand drifting down to his chest just below the ribs, where he'd been impaled by a Drakkar blade. "If double shaped Invictium is more durable, it makes sense to try and improve the toughness of our armour."

"As long as you're there to provide 'healing' afterwards, I don't mind," Alyssa said with a sly grin.

"It looks like my morning plans have been decided for me then!" John joked, triggering amused giggles from the girls.

"I've got a few side projects I'd like to start, but I'd better keep you company for the reshaping, just to make sure we get all the armour plating correct," Dana said with a shrug.

"Are you sure you're not looking for a little 'healing' yourself?" Alyssa laughed teasingly.

"Hey! I'm the chief engineer on this ship, and your gear is my responsibility. I'm a dedicated professional!" Dana said indignantly, but the lusty glance she stole at John gave her away.

"Ok, ok, chief engineer, settle down," Alyssa grinned and gave her a wink.

"I'll give my mother a call, and let her know when we'll be arriving," Calara said considerately.

"And that just leaves Jade," John said, looking over at the Nymph. "How about you honey, got anything in mind for this morning?"

"I'll just keep you company too if that's ok?" she replied eagerly.

"Of course, I love having you around," he grinned at her happily, and enjoyed seeing a delighted smile light up her beautiful features.

They rose together, then showered and had a quick breakfast. Calara waved them goodbye and left to go up to the bridge, while the rest of the group paused for a moment in the officer's lounge, unsure what the best way was to proceed.

"Ugh, this is going to be annoying," Dana said, blowing out a deep breath. "We just have the one Psi-shaper down in the cargo bay, but all the Phalanx armour is scattered around the ship. There's five suits up on the bridge, two in the commander's quarters, two in the firing range and then one in my workshop. We'll have to gather up all the armour pieces from the armour equipping frames, and then bring them to the cargo bay, so that Alyssa can work on them one piece at a time."

"Wouldn't it just be easier to go and get suited up, and then walk the suits down to the cargo bay?" Jade asked the redhead curiously. "We can stand under the Psi-shaper and Alyssa can remould the plates while we wait."

Dana looked surprised for a moment. "Hey, that's a great idea!" she exclaimed. "Why didn't I think of that?"

"Maybe because you're used to taking things apart before you start to modify them?" John observed with a smile.

"Yeah, that makes sense," Dana agreed with a grin. "Ok then, John and Jade can you go and get the first couple of suits, and come and meet us down at the cargo bay please."

"You got it chief engineer!" John grinned, holding out his hand to Jade and leading her back to his quarters. Alyssa and Dana waved them goodbye and stepped into the grav-tube, disappearing downwards in the red glow.

They walked into the bedroom, and as Jade started to head towards the walk-in-wardrobe, he surprised her by scooping her up into his arms and carrying her onto the bed. The surprise on her face quickly shifted to delight, and she sighed happily as he put her down and kissed her tenderly, holding her close to him.

"Mmm, this a lovely surprise," she purred contentedly when he pulled back to smile at her. "What brought this on?"

"I haven't thanked you properly yet for saving my life back there against the Drakkar," John said with a smile.

"It's what any good Nymph would do for her master," Jade joked with him gently.

"Well you're the best Nymph a master could ever hope to have," John replied playfully, before he turned serious and stroked her face lovingly, mirroring a gesture she had used before with him. "But I do intend to show you just how much more than that you mean to me."

She looked up at him with her cat-like emerald eyes, studying his face and then stroking it lovingly, starting at his ear and then tracing her finger down along his jawline. "I was being quite serious when I said you gave me a life to live, John." she said, staring into his eyes. "I feel like everything that happened to me before I met you was just a bad dream; blurry and indistinct."

"Well I'm glad I woke you up from that bad dream," he said, before leaning in to kiss her again, losing himself in her sensual lips, and the feel of her cool firm skin under his fingertips. Jade moaned and sighed, her luscious green body responding eagerly to his touch, as she kissed him back fiercely.

*Ahem* Alyssa's voice sounded clearly in both of their minds, and they looked at each other in surprise.

*I'm really sorry to interrupt a beautiful moment, but we've already started working on the female armour suits and we'll need your help John, to get your suits down here too,* the blonde said apologetically.