Three Square Meals Ch. 054

Shaken to the core, Makaela was trembling slightly, but she nodded her acquiescence to Irillith's orders. "I will do as you command, Irillith," she said in a subdued voice.

She turned and hurried away, only glancing back once to steal a quick look at John before she disappeared through a door out of the drydock. When she was gone, Irillith grinned at John and whispered furtively, "You've no idea how satisfying that was! She bullied me for years when we were children."

John smiled at her and said, "You were very impressive. Do you think there's any chance she'll try and betray you, or subvert your orders?"

Irillith shook her head firmly as she said, "Makaela is a bully, but she's also a coward. She would never dream of disobeying my mother."

He nodded with satisfaction, then glanced up at the Invictus, and grinned with excitement.

*You're like a kid at Christmas,* Alyssa thought to him with amusement, a loving smile on her face.

He winked at her and said, *I'm not going to argue, I've missed them!*

She giggled and said, *Come on, let's go open your presents then!*

They jogged over to the broad white hull of the Invictus, and the airlock was already opening when they arrived. The girls' excited faces were peering out, and when John bounded over to join them, they squealed with delight to see him. He strode through the airlock door, and the girls flung themselves at him, as they all chattered at once.

"Group hug first, then we talk," he said with a broad grin.

Dana and Calara rushed into his arms, and hugged him fiercely, while Jade and Rachel leaned in to hug him from behind. "God, I've missed you girls," he said elatedly. "It feels like forever since I last saw you."

Alyssa piled into the group hug, beckoning Irillith over to join them. The girls welcomed them back with delight, and there was a collective sigh of relief from the whole crew at being reunited. They all felt a tangible feeling of completion at being back together, and glanced around at each other in wonder.

Dana was the first to break the spell, and as she gazed up at him, she said fervently, "I can't tell you how good it feels to have you back. Please don't ever let Progenitor-John take control like that again, I don't think my heart could take it."

Calara nodded and said sincerely, "Welcome back, Commodore. It was awful not having the real you around, I missed you so much."

Jade nuzzled him from behind, too busy purring with delight to speak, and he tilted his head to rub it against hers affectionately.

Rachel leaned in and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek, as she said, "It felt like part of me's been missing while you've been away."

John looked around at all of them, and said firmly, "I'm never going to let anything like that happen again." He glanced at Alyssa, before he added, "We've taken steps to make sure of it."

They relished their group hug for a few moments longer, before Alyssa said, "Let's catch up in the Debriefing Room."

Calara nodded animatedly, as they started walking to the grav-tube and said, "We've got a lot of important news for you. We all felt that surge when you and Alyssa reconnected, and it gave all of us a bit of a jump start!"

John nodded and said, "I want to hear everything."

They stepped out onto the Command Deck, then filed through the Bridge to the Debriefing Room. Irillith excused herself, promising to join them in a few minutes once she had retrieved the Maliri weapon schematics. She walked over to the station on the right of the Bridge, while Alyssa darted up the steps to the Command Podium and activated the consoles for her.

John paused and said, "You seem to have adopted that station on the Bridge. How do you fancy being my Intelligence Officer?"

Irillith smiled at him, then replied, "I'd love to. I can't think of a role I'd enjoy more."

"Join us in the Briefing Room as soon as you can," he said to her, returning her smile.

They all filed into the room on the right side of the Bridge, leaving Irillith to sit at her station, and rapidly tap away at her console as she established a connection to Genthalas' secure network. John walked over to his seat at the head of the table, and waited for the girls to fan out, taking their chairs. Once they had all sat down, he sank into his chair, and smiled at them all warmly.

"Alright, who wants to go first?" he asked, intrigued to hear what they had in store for him.

Calara cleared her throat and said, "I think I better go first. The other news is fascinating stuff, but what I've found out is deadly serious."

John nodded and said, "Go ahead Lieutenant, let's hear it."

She nodded grimly, and without further preamble said, "Admiral Leonard Norwood is the Dragon March traitor."

The room went silent as they all looked at John, and he looked shocked as he took in her news. Finally recovering enough to speak he said, "I've heard of Admiral Norwood. He's a highly decorated officer... Are you absolutely certain?"

Calara nodded with conviction, and said, "It's definitely him. The orders in the Dragon March are classified, so I went through each of the suspects' Fleet order history. The feints and subterfuge he's used throughout his career give him a distinctive style, and I recognised the same patterns in orders that have led to four catastrophic engagements in the Dragon March."

John gazed into her deep brown eyes, and said, "I trust you absolutely on this, Calara. If you say he's the traitor, then we're going to stop him."

She smiled at him gratefully for his vote of confidence, but her smile faltered as she said, "He's already caused thousands of deaths, and lost the Terran Federation dozens of ships. I think we need to act to stop him straight away. I recommend that we postpone the refit, and return to Terran Federation Space immediately."

John paused, and studied her for a long moment before he said, "I understand your concern for the Terran Federation, and we'll head there as soon as we can. Admiral Norwood's men are likely to be loyal to him though, and we don't know if he's managed to convince others to betray the Terran Federation. If we end up in a fight, I want us fully upgraded beforehand."

Calara looked ill at the thought of fighting Terran Federation forces, and John got up and knelt next to her so that he could give her a hug. She clung to him fiercely, and her voice quavered with worry when she said, "Mateo and my father are both serving in the Dragon March..."

"We'll get back to Terran Federation space as soon as the refit is complete, I promise," John said sincerely. He glanced at his blonde XO and said quietly, "Alyssa filled all of you in on what happened with Edraele. While the refit's happening, I need to use the time to try and heal her mind. I've got an opportunity to improve the lives of millions of Maliri, and I don't want to squander it."

He looked around the room, and the girls all nodded to him soberly, agreeing with his decision. He finally stopped at Calara, and stared into her eyes, looking for her reaction.

"You're doing the right thing," she agreed reluctantly, gazing back at him.

John gave her a tender kiss on the cheek, then sat back in his chair. He looked over at the rest of the girls and said firmly, "So, we know we're on a tight timeframe. We're going to have to try and get this refit finished as quickly as possible. We've got just under three hours until Edraele addresses the Maliri engineers, so I suggest we work up a full schedule for the refit. Dana will be in charge, and she can hand out supervisory tasks for all of us, so that we can act as her gophers, keeping an eye on the Maliri as they work." He turned to his right to look at Dana and asked, "Is that alright with you?"

She gave him a confident grin, and said, "Absolutely! Although, I can't give you any detailed estimates, until I know exactly what kind of weapon tech we're getting from the Maliri."

John nodded, and said, "Alright, we'll come back to you at the end then." He glanced at Jade, and said encouragingly, "Do you want to go next?"

Jade grinned at him, then got out of her chair, and began to walk around the table to the space in front of the Armour equipping frames.

***

Irillith rapidly tapped keystrokes into her console, and smiled with satisfaction as detailed schematics for Maliri weapon technology began the transfer to the Invictus. A slight flickering at the edge of her vision made her sit up straight, and she blinked her eyes a couple of times in surprise. She leaned over the console once the distracting spots had gone, and there it was again, a strange flash on the periphery of her line-of-sight. She frowned and closed her eyes, rubbing the bridge of her nose with her fingers.

Her body clock had been upset with the recent trip to Valaden, and with all the emotional turmoil she'd been dealing with, it made sense that she was getting tired. She sank back in her chair, and listened to Alyssa's soothing voice as she described everything that was happening in the Briefing Room. She was sad to hear Calara getting upset about her family potentially being in danger, and Irillith felt a momentary pang of envy at her close-knit relationships. Her mind drifted to her own utterly dysfunctional family, and she began to feel a deep well of sadness bubbling up in her chest.

A soft chime on the console brought her out of her reverie, and she sat up with relief, then nodded contentedly to see that the schematics had been successfully transferred. She got up, then walked into the briefing room, and her eyes went wide in amazement as she saw Jade suddenly shapeshift into a massive, dark-green Tiger. She had seen Jade in action on the video feeds, but witnessing her transform into a nine-hundred-pound predator first hand, was something else entirely. Watching the Nymph in fascination, she returned the welcoming smiles from John and the girls, then walked past him to the left, to take her new place amongst their ranks.

She patted Calara's shoulder awkwardly as she passed her, and leaned down to whisper, "I'll start working with you to find out more about this Dragon March traitor as soon as I can. I should be able to hack this classified data for you, and we'll stop this Admiral Norwood before your family is put in any danger."

Calara looked surprised, but touched by her offer, and she said, "Thank you, Irillith, that means a lot."

Irillith smiled at her supportively, then walked past Jade's chair, and sat in the next one along. When she looked up, she saw the rest of the girls smiling at her warmly, and John gave her an appreciative nod. Her heart lifted at his gesture, and seeing the acceptance and gratitude in the eyes of the girls was a novel and uplifting experience for her.

Flushing a little with embarrassment she said, "Please don't let me interrupt. Jade, you were about to show everyone something?"

Jade gave Irillith a heartfelt, if rather toothy and unsettling feline grin, then raised one of her massive paws. Turning over the heavy verdant limb, she flexed the tendons that would expose her claws, and the six-inch-long sickle shaped implements came into view. She flicked her tail as she concentrated, and the ethereal green claws were suddenly swathed in crackling Eldritch lightning.

Rachel got up from her chair, and knelt down beside the cat shaped Nymph, staring at her claws in astonishment. "How did you do that?" she asked excitedly. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"I have," Irillith said grimly.

At her sombre tone, everyone in the room turned to look the Maliri girl's way. Alyssa looked intrigued, and she said, "It looks like some kind of psychic lightning to me. Who did you see do that? Was it your mother?"

Irillith shook her head, then darted a look at John and said, "You did it. Or at least your Progenitor alter-ego did."

"I did?!" John exclaimed in surprise, "I mean, he did?"

She nodded and said, "It was during the fight against the Fulmanax. You used telekinesis to pull your sword out of the Fulmanax Sentinel's leg, then used pyrokinesis to set the blade on fire. You then proceeded to brutally hack that behemoth apart. I've never seen anything like it."

Rachel's eyes widened, and she said, "That explains why all those chunks of the Fulmanax giant were burning!"

All eyes turned John's way, and he looked thoughtfully as he said, "I was able to start building up my supernatural strength after Progenitor-John used it during one of my blackout periods. Maybe this means I'll be able to start using those abilities too."

Alyssa smiled at him, and said, "I think psychic training is going to be high on your list of priorities for a while."

John nodded thoughtfully, then turned to Jade, and said, "That was amazing! Thanks for showing us. Was it hard to make your claws do that?"

Jade changed back into her Nymph-shape, and after a green shimmer, she reappeared crouching on the ground. She was nude when she stood up, and she carefully retrieved her discarded dress, slipping it back on, before sliding her feet into her shoes. Jade smiled at John, shaking her head as she walked around the table, heading towards the empty chair between Calara and Irillith.

As she returned to her vacant seat, she grinned at him as she said, "No, it was effortless! The first time happened by accident, immediately after you and Alyssa re-bonded. We all felt a surge in power, and since then, I can turn it on and off without any problems."

"I might need to speak to you for some advice then," John said to her with a grin.

Jade gazed back at him in delight, and said, "I'd love to help!"

"Thank you," he said to her gratefully. After a brief pause, he looked around at the rest of the girls and asked, "Who wants to go next?"

Rachel and Dana both looked eager to share their results, but with an indulgent smile on her face, Dana gestured for Rachel to go first. The tawny haired brunette shared an intimate, grateful glance with her red-headed best friend, before focusing on the rest of the group. Rachel's grey eyes were glinting with excitement as she rose from her chair, and retrieved the remote that controlled the holo-projector. She pressed a few buttons, then linked up with her console in the Engineering Bay, and connected to the relevant data. Suddenly a dozen long strands of genetic code were floating silently above the desk, and everyone turned to look at the brightly coloured helix with interest.

"I was working on analysing the Trankaran genetic code, and with Faye's help I had a sudden epiphany!" the tawny haired brunette began eagerly.

John looked around as though searching for someone, then asked, "Where is our tiny AI companion, anyway?"

Dana frowned and admitted, "I've only rigged up the holo-projectors in the Engineering Bay, the Holo-suite, and the Bridge for Faye at the moment. I'll try and come up with a way of either letting her roam around the ship, or maybe develop some kind of remote projector I can carry around, like the one built into Irillith's vambrace. I've been pretty busy, so I haven't had a chance to spend any time on it yet."

He nodded, then smiled apologetically at Rachel, and said, "Sorry for interrupting."

She shook her head, and said, "It's alright, it's just a shame she couldn't be here. She helped start me thinking on the right track."

Irillith unclipped the remote holo-projector that she always carried on her belt, and said to Dana, "Why don't you use this, at least until you can come up with a more permanent solution?"

The redhead grinned at her gratefully, and quickly hooked up the projector to a hand-held data analyser, which she pulled from her utility belt. She tapped in a couple of commands on the tiny holographic display, then placed the projector on the table, and switched it on. A couple of seconds later, Faye appeared in all her purple, pint-sized glory.

"Hey everyone!" she said perkily, greeting everybody with a cheery wave. Her luminescent eyes settled on Irillith, and she fluttered over to her on her iridescent wings, then planted a big kiss on the started Maliri girl's face. Faye sighed happily and said, "I love you, my wonderful creator. Thank you for giving me life, I'm enjoying it immensely!"

Irillith was too shocked to react to the AI sprite's unusual behaviour, and she reached up her hand to her cheek in surprise. She eventually managed to mumble, "You're welcome, Faye."

Everyone else had been watching this interaction with amusement, and they all said hello to Faye once creator and creation had parted. Rachel smiled at the diminutive sylvan creature, and said, "I was just telling everyone how useful you were, helping me find out something amazing with my research into the Trankaran code."

Faye beamed at the compliment, then shuffled her feet a bit nervously, and admitted to everyone, "I just asked about Progenitor fingerprints, and Rachel got very excited."

"Fingerprints?" John asked Rachel with curiosity. "What did you find out?"

Rachel pointed at the genetic strands above their desk, and said, "I've been studying these for weeks now, and after staring at them so much, I feel like I know some of these genetic enhancements like the back of my hand! Basically, I noticed there's a distinctive pattern in the modifications, which are unique to the Progenitor making the changes."

"Kind of like their own handwriting!" Faye added chirpily.

Rachel smiled at her, and nodded as she said, "Exactly." She turned to look up at the spiralling DNA molecules for Alyssa, Calara, Dana, and herself, then using the remote, highlighted them so they glowed more brightly. "That's the DNA code for us Terran girls. John's 'handwriting' is all over this code, where he's extensively enhanced us physically and mentally."

John looked a bit sheepish, and Alyssa grinned at him, saying, "You did a spectacular job! I enjoy the results on a daily basis."

He chuckled, then looked at Rachel and asked, "So how is that different from all the rest of the Progenitors?"

Rachel's eyes sparkled with excitement as she said, "That's just it! There's only two others!"

"Wait a minute." John said with a frown. "We've talked before about species being seeded by the Progenitors, and that they've made alterations to them. It was only two of them doing that?!"

Rachel paused a moment and clarified carefully, "Well just one actually. Whoever he was, his intellect must have been astounding. He possessed a mastery of genetic manipulation that I've only just begun to understand." She glanced at John apologetically, and then added, "His work on us Terrans was much more subtle than yours. So nuanced in fact, that I missed it when I started looking at my unmodified Terran DNA. Do you remember when I took a sample of my DNA before you started feeding me?"

He nodded, and said, "Yes, you wanted to get an unmodified sample as a baseline."

She grinned at him excitedly, and said, "That's right! It's a good job I did. I noticed very subtle alterations to base Terran DNA, which I'm still convinced is the standard template the Progenitors use for their seed species. I think he was experimenting with genetic mutation on us, which is why there are so many different races amongst humanity." She smiled at Irillith and asked her, "All the Maliri have your same shade of lovely sky-blue skin, don't they?"

Irillith nodded, replying, "Yes, unlike Terrans, we share a very similar skin tone."

Rachel looked more sombre and said, "The Maliri were tweaked to be used for his armies. Maliri females are stronger, more agile, and resilient than Terran females, with a genetic predisposition to lean athleticism. He would have just had to 'activate' you, and you'd be ready to go. I think the white hair colour change is an indicator that you've been activated for his purposes."