Three Square Meals Ch. 070

"The bedroom was a lovely touch, but the Dojo itself was spectacular. That was Mount Daisen on Terra, wasn't it?" Sakura asked the Maliri girl.

Irillith nodded and smiled as she replied, "Well-spotted. I took a little artistic license with the images Rachel supplied me, but yes, that was the original source."

"It looks like Alyssa isn't the only one with artistic flair," John said to the tawny-haired girl as he sat down next to Calara. He smiled gratefully at the blonde, as she handed him a plate with a steak sandwich and a tall glass of chilled water.

Rachel's expression was warm as she looked at Sakura, and said, "I thought you'd appreciate it."

John took a big bite of his sandwich, and then groaned with delight, as he exclaimed, "Damn, that's good! Who was the chef?"

Calara snuggled in against him, and gave him a peck on the cheek. "Glad you liked it," she said happily.

"It's delicious, thank you!" he said with a grateful smile. Looking around at the rest of the group, he asked, "What were you girls up to before we arrived?"

Alyssa laughed as she sat down beside him, and said, "Faye found your interview with Jehanna. TFNN must have fast-tracked it through approvals."

John gave Dana a stern look, and she giggled with delight at his disapproving frown. "Hey, don't look at me like that! You agreed to let me suck you off while you spoke to her!" she said, shaking with laughter.

John's mouth turned up into a smile as he remembered ravaging the redhead over the desk afterwards, their glorious climax more than making up for her thirty minutes of teasing. "Have you seen the interview yet?" he asked them.

They all nodded, and Alyssa said, "Don't worry, your tense, intent expression made you seem sincere and deeply concerned for Terran Federation forces. You'd never be able to tell you had your cock buried down a naughty teen's throat."

Dana burst into a fresh round of raucous laughter, and John deeply regretted that she was outside of his tickling range.

"Thank you for what you said about me," Rachel told him, and he could tell she was touched by his glowing praise in the interview.

"You deserved the credit for your work," he said firmly. "I wasn't going to take any chances and let the Port Medea medics steal your rightfully-deserved accolades. There are tens of thousands of personnel with horrific burns, and they deserve to know who it was that helped heal them."

"Actually, there's all sorts of wider applications for your work, aren't there?" Alyssa prompted Rachel with an encouraging smile, having heard the unassuming girl's thoughts on the matter.

Rachel nodded and replied, "Rapid skin regeneration could be useful in all sorts of ways, from aiding surgery patients with faster recovery times, to cosmetic applications such as reducing the visible effects of aging."

Alyssa cuddled in closer to John, and said, "I was thinking, I could acquire a pharmaceutical company with some of our funds, and then create separate brands for each area. We could start marketing the 'Voss Miracle Cure' for both medical and beauty markets." The brunette nodded, and said, "Either application could make us obscenely wealthy."

John smiled at each of them in turn, and said, "You don't need my sign-off for this, girls. It sounds like an excellent idea to me, but you two are the experts, and I know you'll be doing your best for a very worthy cause."

Alyssa and Rachel shared a satisfied look, and the blonde said, "I'll get started on it immediately." She snuggled in closer to him and added, "Alright, not right now, but before bedtime, definitely."

Dana suddenly sat upright, and said, "I nearly forgot! Faye, run that clip you showed me, but skip past all the boring Zero-G football trailers."

John gave the purple sylph a curious look, and asked, "What did you find?"

"One moment, I'll show you!" she replied, with a cheerful smile. "Irillith asked me to record the Asphalt Arena Cup highlights."

Chuckling, John said to the Maliri girl, "Asphalt Arena? I didn't know you were a fan."

"I started watching it with Tashana when we were young," she replied, a little defensively. "It wasn't the same after Titanium Jake retired, but I still like to see the final Arena Cup duel."

Rachel winced, and said, "I was never into all that pointless violence. The amount of fatalities every year is ridiculous."

Irillith shook her head, and replied enthusiastically, "Terrans killing each other is the best part!" She looked a bit guilty then, and added, "But it's all a tragic waste of life, obviously."

"Yeah, obviously," Dana said, with a snicker and a wink at the embarrassed Maliri.

John was sitting on the middle sofa, and the wall opposite flickered before displaying a big clear image of a reporter standing amongst dozens of placard-waving demonstrators. He finished off his sandwich, then put his arms around Alyssa and Calara as he looked at the screen.

Looking at the messages on the placards, he frowned as he read variants of, "Stop the warmongering!" and "Kirrix are people too!". Glancing at Dana, he asked curiously, "What's this all about?"

"Get a load of these chuckleheads," Dana smirked, nodding towards Faye who started the video.

***

A smartly dressed man with immaculately groomed hair began to speak, in the deep resonant tone you'd expect from a professional reporter. The banner on the bottom of the screen helpfully identified him as Bill Armstrong, anchor for TFNN.

"I'm standing here today at Port Heracles, where a group of protestors are about to embark on what they describe as 'The most important mission of our generation'. With me now is Lobard Jackson, son of famous holo-movie legend Troy Jackson," Bill said, before turning to the tousled-haired man in his early twenties who was standing by his side. "Tell me and our viewers, Lobard. What are you and your friends protesting about today?"

"Thanks, Bill!" the energetic young man replied. He seemed to be particularly vexed about his cause, and keyed up with excitement as he continued, "We're launching our peace ship today, to raise awareness about the injustices meted out by the Terran Federation military complex!"

"You're protesting about the recent defensive skirmishes with Kirrix ships on the frontier of Terran Space, is that right?" Bill prompted his guest.

Shaking his head, Lobard blurted out, "That's just High Command's line, man! Don't buy into that fake propaganda bullshit! The Kirrix just want peace, and are responding to Federation aggression!"

Bill nodded sombrely, indulging his guest, then asked, "And I believe your plan is to take your passenger liner, 'The Dove of Peace', into Kirrix Space to act as some kind of envoy?"

Lobard nodded, and said, "That's right, man! We're going as peace delegates to show the Kirrix that not all Terrans are murderous warmongers! We should be paying the Kirrix reparations for the 'Purges'. That genocide shit wasn't right!"

Frowning, Bill asked, "But didn't the Kirrix instigate that war by unprovoked attacks on Terran colonies?"

Before Lobard could reply, a pretty blonde stepped into view, and said, "Don't listen to him, Lobard, he's just a TFNN puppet!" She looked at the camera and screamed furiously, "Peace not War! Don't give in to hate!"

Bill Armstrong turned to look at the camera and raised an eyebrow, before the video cut to the next segment. The camera was focused on the same TFNN reporter, but this time he was in a grey-walled office, sitting opposite a stern, lantern-jawed military man.

"I'm here with Commander Paul Richards, ranking officer from the Terran Federation Marine Corps. Thank you Commander, for agreeing to this interview," Bill said politely.

"You're very welcome," the Marine replied, looking a little stiff and uncomfortable to be in this position. He was wearing his full dress uniform and his hair had been recently trimmed in a high and tight haircut.

Bill leaned forward, and said, "You recently earned a Nova Burst for your actions against the Kirrix. Would you like to make a comment about this 'peace mission' being undertaken by Lobard Jackson?"

Commander Richards gritted his teeth with anger, and replied in a tightly-controlled voice, "I've warned Mister Jackson and his affiliates about the dangers involved with their proposed voyage. Unfortunately, they chose not to heed my advice."

"And how would you respond to their claims that the threat posed by the Kirrix is merely 'propaganda'?" Bill probed, his face set in a well-practiced look of concern.

Narrowing his eyes, Commander Richards replied bluntly, "Suicide isn't illegal, so I can't impound their ship."

"Thank you for your time, Commander," Bill replied, turning to the camera with a grim expression.

***

Faye froze the video clip there, and everyone sat silently for a moment, until Calara blurted out, "How can they be so stupid?!"

"People are easily led," John said with a sigh. "You wouldn't believe some of the crazy shit I've seen in my day. These Xeno-sympathisers pop up no matter how nasty the alien race. There's even people who feel the same way about the Drakkar."

Alyssa looked troubled, and she asked, "Isn't there anything we can do? We've seen what the Kirrix do to people."

John nodded towards the marine commander on the screen, and said, "We met him on that Kirrix Hive ship, remember? He seemed like a sensible guy, and there's probably not much more I could say that he hasn't tried already."

Dana rolled her eyes and said, "I don't think humanity is going to miss those fucking morons!"

Shaking her head, Alyssa grimaced as she remembered their ghastly descent through the Hive ship, and said, "What the Kirrix do to the people they capture is horrific; their young eat their way out of their victims. No one deserves to die that way, no matter how idiotic they are."

Squeezing her shoulder gently, John said, "I've got other commitments to honour, honey. I can't save everybody, especially those who don't want our help. I'm the 'Lion of the Federation', I'd be dismissed as a High Command puppet if I tried to talk them around."

"That report raised another point though," Calara said, looking worried. "They mentioned there's been more Kirrix activity on the border. The Terran Federation military is stretched pretty thin at the moment, I'm not sure they'd be able to repel a major Kirrix incursion."

"It's also very coincidental," Alyssa said thoughtfully. "The Drakkar start harassing the Ashanath again, and now the Kirrix are getting more aggressive. Could the Progenitor be stirring up more trouble?"

Dana tapped a finger on her chin, and said, "With that wormhole generator he's got, he could jump around all over the fucking place. Getting around to see all these bad guys isn't going to be a problem."

John nodded, and said, "I think we're going to have to assume he's behind it all. As Alyssa says, it seems very coincidental that all these hostile races would kick off at exactly the same time, and you know how I feel about coincidences."

"So does this change our plans at all?" Calara asked, turning slightly in the chair to look at him.

"No I don't think so, at least not in any major way," he replied, while thinking about it carefully. "We've got a promise to keep to Irillith, and after we've rescued her sister, visiting Valaden and Genthalas station is the only logical move. Upgrading the power core will let us bring the Nova Lances online permanently, and improving our hyper-warp speed with the Progenitor version of the Tachyon Drive is going to save us weeks of travel time in the long run."

The Latina met his gaze, and said, "We might be needed against the Drakkar or the Kirrix. If they mount a major invasion, the Terran Federation forces probably aren't strong enough to stop either of them at the moment."

John stared at the frozen image of Commander Richards, while remembering their last entanglement with the Kirrix. Heaving a sigh, he nodded as he replied, "Yeah, that's true. We'll have to limit our visit to Valaden to a few weeks at most. I suppose we can't afford to take our eyes off the Terran Federation for too long, not with this many hostile enemies arrayed against them."

Jade looked at him intently, and asked, "Do you remember what I said, about a cat playing games with a mouse? I think we're still being the mouse."

Dana nodded eagerly, and exclaimed, "Yeah, let's just be the cat! When can we start fucking this guy's shit up?! It's getting annoying having to clean up his mess all over the bloody place!"

"We need more answers," John replied, feeling a surge of frustration. Looking towards Irillith, he asked, "Would Tashana be able to give us any useful information? She spent years investigating Mael'nerak and the Progenitors, right?"

The Maliri girl nodded, and replied, "Decades, in fact. I doubt there's anyone in Maliri Space who knows more about the Progenitors than my sister." She sighed mournfully before she continued, "I just wish I hadn't been such a god-awful bitch to her about it. Tashana was right all along, and I never believed a word."

Sakura stroked Irillith's thigh as she said quietly, "She's still alive, so it's not too late to make amends. You can still apologise."

Irillith placed her hand on the one stroking her leg, and interlaced her fingers with Sakura's, while stroking the back of her tanned hand with her thumb. She smiled at the Asian girl gratefully, and said, "You're right, I can still make it up to Tashana."

***

After finishing the rest of the evening chatting, the girls eventually gathered around John as Irillith rode him until he filled her womb. Then they watched Sakura as she knelt between the Maliri girl's legs to have her final meal before bedtime. The two girls stared into each other's eyes as Sakura filled her stomach, Irillith's slender blue fingers brushing through the kneeling girl's long dark locks as she lapped away.

John held Alyssa in his arms as they watched the intimate coupling, and the blonde shivered with delight in his arms as she said, *I love this so much! It's almost like I can see the girls bonding while they work together to fill her tummy.*

He kissed her neck, sending a thrill of excitement through her young body, as he replied, *It's an unorthodox approach to team building XO, but I can't disagree with the results. You're right, it's amazing seeing them all embrace Sakura into our group.*

The following morning it was Dana's turn, and she bucked against the smaller girl's questing mouth as she sucked out her breakfast. After watching the show, everyone showered and dressed before going to get some coffee and toast to start the day. After kisses goodbye, they parted ways to continue with their tasks.

Several of the girls were headed up to the Command Deck, and after they reached the top of the grav-tube, they split up to continue their work. Dana and Jade still had more to do to complete the second Bridge station, while Alyssa gave Calara a loving kiss before sending the brunette on her way to the Briefing Room, to continue her investigation into the disappearance of Jessica Blake. That left the blonde Matriarch to retire to the Ready Room, where she planned to continue her studies into galactic finance.

John accompanied Sakura, Irillith, and Rachel down to Deck Seven, and after checking to make sure his trainee marksman was happy in the firing range, he jogged down the corridor to the Engineering Bay. He'd expected to find Rachel there, but Irillith was by herself, sitting cross-legged up on the Engineering Podium, her eyes closed as she delved into the Cyber realm. Faye had been watching him on the Invictus' dozens of internal security cameras, and when she saw his look of confusion, she popped into existence before him in a purple flash.

"Hi John!" she said with a charming grin. "Are you looking for Rachel?"

He nodded at the nude girl, and replied, "Yeah, I'm used to finding her in here. Is she in Medical?"

The cute purple construct nodded enthusiastically, and replied, "She's running the DNA analyser on that sample of Dragon Blood from your sword. Shall I let her know you're looking for her?"

He shook his head, and replied, "It's okay, I'll go and find her." He glanced at the seated Maliri girl, and added, "How are you two getting on with the network upgrades?"

"It's going really well!" Faye replied, beaming at him happily. She paused then, and added nervously, "If it's alright with you, can I let Irillith tell you about the upgrades? What we're working on at the moment is her idea, so I think she'd enjoy telling you about them."

"That's very considerate of you, Faye, and fine by me," John replied, giving her a reassuring smile to put her at ease. He looked at her curiously then as he added, "You had some ideas as well, didn't you? Can you tell me about those?"

Faye brightened then, her luminous eyes blazing with excitement as she replied, "I'd love to! We're thinking of creating more copies of the Progenitor server that runs me, and we're planning to use them as defensive fortifications for our network. At the very least, I'd like to install one to defend our external gateway."

He nodded as he thought it over, and said, "It sounds like a good idea to me. Does Irillith approve?"

The sprite's wings quivered, reflecting her excitement as she replied, "She thinks it's a good plan too!" She frowned slightly as she added, "Unfortunately we'll have to take the ship's network completely offline to replace the hardware, so we're going to wait until we're in drydock at Genthalas. Installing it shouldn't take too long though, maybe a few hours?"

John wasn't perturbed by this in the slightest, and he replied, "The Invictus won't be going anywhere for a few weeks, anyway. We've got some major upgrades to take care of, and I'm thinking it might be a good idea to replate the ship while we're at it. It should be much easier with me helping Alyssa now, and we've both got stronger since last time."

Faye nodded, her eyes wide, as she said, "I know, you're both amazing!"

He chuckled, and replied, "Thanks Faye, I think you're wonderful too."

She seemed to visibly vibrate with joy, and he smiled at her affectionately as he waved goodbye. Turning to leave the Engineering Bay, he spotted something new over in the corner of Dana's workshop and wandered over to take a look at it. It looked like a wrapped bundle of intricately woven metallic tubes, which were white in colour and sparkled in the light, making it obvious they'd been constructed from Crystal Alyssium. It vaguely reminded him of a human leg muscle, only it was a couple of metres long.

"Any idea what this is, Faye?" he asked the AI who flitted along at his side.

"One of Dana's secret projects. I'm sworn to secrecy, I'm afraid," she replied, with an apologetic smile.

"Don't worry, I think I might know what it is," he replied, eyeing the strange, glimmering device. He shook his head, and added, "I told her we'd never find any use for it, but I guess I did say she could work on whatever she liked."

Faye nodded, and noted, "She did seem very excited when she was working on it."

He chuckled and said, "Alright, I better go. Thanks for your help, Faye."

She waved him goodbye as he left the room, then blinked out in a purple flicker.

It was only a short walk over to the Medical Bay, and when he entered, he looked for Rachel amongst the growing suite of medical equipment in the room. The clever doctor had clearly been busy, putting together a multitude of new devices with help from his Chief Engineer. He finally spotted Rachel staring at the slowly rotating double-helix strands that were being projected above the DNA analyser. The brunette was completely absorbed in her work, and didn't appear to have heard him enter the room.