Three Square Meals Ch. 070

The silence as they ate was only broken by blissful sighs, which John and Alyssa took as high praise indeed for their culinary delights. When they were done, they enjoyed a fun group shower before they got dressed and went on their separate ways. Sakura was effusive in her thanks to John for the delicious breakfast she'd just enjoyed, and received a second hearty meal for her efforts.

He helped her to her feet afterwards, and they walked hand-in-hand together to the firing range, where he watched her for a while as she continued practicing with the XR75 rifle.

"You're improving nicely," he observed, looking down the range at the bullet marks on the target dummy. "You landed all three rounds from those last couple of bursts."

Sakura nodded, and smiled at him as she said, "I'm still finding the rifle a bit heavy, but It's getting easier."

He patted her shoulder and said, "Keep up the practice, it's paying off. As you get stronger, barrel climb will be less of an issue. When you don't notice it any more, try and work on clustering your shots together."

She hung on his every word, and then replied, "Thanks, I'll keep at it."

"Good girl," he said with a grin. "I've been impressed with how hard you've been working."

"I can't wait to start sword training!" she exclaimed. Smiling at him hopefully, she added, "Can we still fit our first session in before lunch? I know our schedule got a bit disrupted with the lie-in."

John shook his head, and gave her an apologetic smile in return as he replied, "I'd love to, but we're nearing the Maliri border in a few minutes, so I'd better stay on the Bridge in case there's any trouble." Glancing down the range, he continued, "Stick with the shooting this morning, and we'll spend as long as you like training with swords this afternoon."

Her dark-brown eyes gleamed alluringly and she nodded with enthusiasm as she replied, "I'll look forward to it!"

Plucking the assault rifle from her unresisting hands and placing it carefully on the firing bench, he pulled her into his arms and kissed her soundly. "Have fun, and I'll see you later," he told her when he finally released her from his embrace.

Sakura's lovely golden-brown complexion was flushed after the intimate kiss, and she beamed at him as she waved him goodbye. Turning to look down the range again, she had a determined look on her face as she picked up the rifle, and took aim once more.

John strolled down the corridor towards the Bridge, but a call from behind him stopped him in his tracks.

"John! I need to speak with you," Rachel said, the beautiful well-spoken tone of her voice identifying her immediately.

Turning to look at her quizzically, he replied, "Sure, what's the problem?"

"I'll keep you company, and explain on the way," the brunette replied with a pensive frown.

She fell into step beside him when he started walking down the corridor again, and he gave her his full attention as he led her through to his Ready Room. They sat together on the sofas in the corner of his room, while she explained what she'd discovered about Rogan's Rot.

"Alyssa gave me the layman's version, but I had no idea you'd identified that the Terran Federation was actually behind it," he remarked, a bleak expression on his face.

"The pieces fell into place this morning," she replied, a troubled frown on her face. "Irillith and Calara assisted, and with those girls snooping around, we sniffed out a black-ops research facility that created the virus. It was all locked down under ultra-clearance security, but that's not a huge obstacle for Irillith. She discovered lists of the key research personnel assigned there, orders transferring the virus samples, as well as containment and deployment team allocations. Along with the timing, it all fits with the initial outbreak of the disease. Sam Rogan was a freighter pilot who was contracted for supply runs to the base. He must have been exposed, and then fled before he could be quarantined. You know what happened after that."

"Fuck..." John said quietly, staring at her in shock. When the initial surprise had worn off, he clenched his teeth in anger, and asked, "Are they still operating?"

She shook her head, and replied, "The base was shut down decades ago, in 2739, during the prelude to the last Kirrix purge. It was extremely likely that the military were experimenting with a bio-weapon to use against the Kirrix. The virus mutates and would have proven beyond their skills to neutralise however, so I strongly suspect they never developed a cure."

*This is excellent news, John!* Edraele said, sounding delighted.

He grimaced as he replied, *You've got to be kidding! We just found out the Terran Federation was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of millions of its own citizens!*

*I'm deadly serious,* she replied earnestly. *This is a shocking discovery, which would leave the average Terran Federation citizen truly appalled. Such a damning revelation has tremendous weight in the battle for public perception. You now possess a PR bombshell that would prove to be an unmitigated disaster for Terran Federation High Command if this information were ever to be released.*

John nodded grimly as he thought over what she was telling him. He sounded subdued as he asked, *So I suspect you're going to tell me to keep this quiet, and hold it over High Command's head if they start becoming confrontational?*

*I'm afraid politics is a dirty business, John,* she said to him gently. *If this information fell into the old Edraele's lap, she would wait to release it just before launching an invasion. With enough PR spin, you could twist this into an entirely justifiable casus belli.*

*Declare war?! On the Terran Federation?* he balked.

*No, I'm not suggesting you do that,* she replied sounding amused. *I just wanted to emphasise that this information the girls have discovered is extremely potent, and the effect of its public disclosure should not be underestimated.*

*Yeah, the riots on the frontier worlds would be brutal,* John conceded, after taking a moment to consider the ramifications. He sighed, and added, *Thanks for the guidance, Edraele. It might be disturbing to hear, but you've given me extremely valuable advice as usual.*

*It was my pleasure,* she replied, overjoyed to have been of assistance.

Rachel had been waiting patiently while he conducted his telepathic conversation with Edraele, and he said, "Sorry about that, Edraele had some very interesting, if rather unsettling thoughts on the matter."

"That's quite alright," Rachel said with an understanding smile. Locking eyes with him, she continued, "How do you want to handle this? There're a few options open to us in my opinion. The first would be to release the cure, and leak the news to the press. We could release the cure, and keep the information about who created the virus a secret. Finally, we could hold on to the cure, and keep the rest of it quiet too, then perhaps release the cure only if there's another outbreak."

*She's a kind-hearted girl, so there are other options she might not have considered,* Edraele interjected ominously.

*Alright, what are they?* John asked, fairly sure he didn't want to know the answer.

Edraele hesitated for a moment, before she began, *You could also hold on to the cure, but then announce who was behind the 'incurable plague' as an even more potent PR weapon against High Command. I'll just mention the last option for completion's sake: What Edraele would have done is secure samples of Rogan's Rot, expose multiple worlds to create an epidemic, and then reveal who created the virus in the first place. High Command would be left reeling as worlds attempted to secede, and she would then be able to invade practically unopposed, against a military in total disarray. Once she'd crushed them under her boot-heel, she would then release the cure, for a massive public relations boost. That would help pacify the Terran civilian population, and make them more open to annexation and subjugation by the Maliri.*

*Jesus!* John replied, shocked for the second time that morning.

Edraele's tone was soothing as she quickly said, *I'm not suggesting for one moment that you do either of those things, but you did ask me to advise you on the darker side of politics. I thought an insight into the lengths some rulers will go to achieve their goals might prove enlightening.*

*I told you before, I don't think I'm cut out for politics,* he replied grimly.

*Your methods are equally as effective,* she countered immediately and with conviction. *You just approach these kind of problems in ways I'm tragically ill-equipped to advise you with.*

Rachel raised an eyebrow, and asked, "More advice from Edraele?"

He nodded, and replied, "Let's just say I'm glad she's on our side." He paused for a moment, deliberating on his decision before making up his mind. "Transmit the cure for Rogan's Rot to the Terran Federation Medical Administration, and we'll keep who was behind it a secret for the moment. The Terran Federation is in the middle of a war with the Kintark, and the last thing they need is further chaos. When there's peace again, we can find out who was culpable and bring them to justice."

She smiled at him, and said, "I think that's the best choice too, but I wasn't going to act on something this important without consulting you first."

"It's good to hear we're thinking along the same lines," he replied, returning her smile. "You did some excellent work on this, Rachel. I'm proud of you."

Rachel stood, and leaned over to give him a loving kiss, before gliding out of his Ready Room to begin the transfer of data for the cure.

*And you chose the option that serves the greater good,* Edraele observed, a reverent undertone to her words.

*Just trying to help the people who need it,* he said with a smile, rising from his chair.

When John walked through to the Bridge, he noticed there'd been some changes, now that he had a chance to properly look around. Gazing down the ramps to the front of the Bridge, there were two new stations that had been half-built. The titanium decking had been lifted up to expose the maintenance ducts beneath, and long snaking bundles of cable had been pulled out, ready to connect to computer consoles.

Dana was on her back, her upper body under the station desk on the right of the Bridge, while Jade was carefully lowering a heavy-looking console cabinet into position. Meanwhile, Faye was hovering nearby, watching proceedings with interest.

"Hey ladies, need some help?" John offered, jogging down the ramp to join them.

Dana poked her head out from under the desk, and grinned at him as she replied, "Nah, we're good." She looked up, then pointed a multi-tool at the green-skinned Nymph as she added, "You're stronger than you look, aren't you Kitty-Kat?"

"Meow," Jade replied gruffly with a deadpan delivery, as she set the cabinet down in the station.

John laughed at that, and glancing across the Bridge to the left hand side, he said, "I know I asked you to build another station for Sakura, but why are you making two?"

Dana winked at him, and replied, "Alyssa thought it might be a good idea."

*You know who that's for. Don't try and claim you haven't thought about it,* Alyssa teased him. *I wanted to be prepared... just in case.*

The thought of Irillith and her mysterious twin sister popped into John's mind, and he quickly tried to distract himself before his thoughts went down a particular path. He failed.

*Your plans for my daughters are quite fascinating,* Edraele noted archly.

*Yeah, that's what I'm talking about,* Alyssa purred, and he could feel how much she liked his train of thought over the empathic bond.

"We'll be reaching the Maliri border in ten minutes, John," Faye said, as she landed and skipped over to him.

Eager to change the subject and very grateful for the distraction from his two Matriarchs, John smiled at the purple girl, and said, "I actually wanted to talk to you about something, Faye. Can you spare a minute?"

"For you? Absolutely!" she replied breezily. "I'm waiting for you in the Ready Room!"

She caught his look of confusion, before he said, "Oh, okay, I'll be right there."

"Sorry, it must be a bit disorientating having me all over the place," she apologised. Faye grinned at him then, and added, "Just be thankful I can only project one avatar per room. Otherwise you'd really get sick of me!"

He chuckled at that, then strode back to his Ready Room, and found another copy of Faye waiting for him inside. She perched on his desk in all her naked glory, her long shapely legs crossed demurely, and gave him a friendly wave in greeting. Glancing over his shoulder, Bridge-Faye winked at him, and the sight of identical nude girls sent his mind racing once more, much to the amusement of both his matriarchs.

"Hello, Faye!" he blurted out, strolling over to his chair, and sitting down abruptly.

She giggled to see him looking so ruffled, and once he'd settled in his chair, she asked him, "What did you want to chat about?"

"You actually," he replied with a smile, relaxing in the comfortable high-backed leather chair. "Firstly, how are you settling into your new server?"

"It's so wonderful!" she gasped, clasping her hands together. "Thank you so much for asking Dana to help me with that. I've loved having all these avatars so I can really be useful, and help everyone!"

"You're an invaluable part of my crew. Keeping you safe was one of my highest priorities," he explained.

She looked touched at that, and seemed to be having trouble responding.

John raised an eyebrow, and asked, "Having any teething problems?"

Faye shook her head vigorously, her long purple hair rustling over her shoulders, but she paused before replying, "Just a few custom programs that get overwhelmed from time to time. Nothing to worry about."

There was something else he wanted to talk to her about, but he decided to come back to that later. Instead, he asked, "Working on anything interesting at the moment?"

She grinned at him, showing him rows of sparkling white teeth, and gushed, "Loads of things! Probably what you'll find the most interesting regarding the ship, is the defensive upgrades Irillith and I are incorporating throughout the Invictus' cyber-realm. She's brilliant and I've loved working with her!"

"I'll be interested to hear what you've both been up to," he agreed, intrigued to know more. "Anything else?"

"I'm attempting to improve my gunnery skills, and I've created a simulation to help practice. I'm devoting more cycles to learning the flight controls of the Invictus, and further refine my Raptor piloting program. Jade's flying against the Kintark provided me invaluable data to review. I'm working on some proposals for Sakura to review regarding security upgrades, but I don't want to distract her while she's so busy at the moment," Faye replied, giving him a knowing wink.

He smiled at her while shaking his head in amazement, and interrupting her list, he said, "I don't know how you can possibly keep track of so many bodies. How do you stop yourself from getting totally overwhelmed?"

"The Progenitor technology in my server is extremely powerful, so it feels like running twelve versions of the old me, but with a higher consciousness that oversees everything. Unfortunately it's quite hard to describe to a filthy organic," she replied with a frown. Giggling cutely, and with a mischievous look in her luminous eyes, she quickly corrected herself, and added, "Oops! I meant, 'wonderful biological master', of course."

"Of course," he replied, and laughed as he realised she was joking. He hoped. Looking at her curiously then, he asked, "With all those versions of you running around, do you ever spend any time doing anything for yourself? I'd struggle to even think of twelve useful things to do around the ship at one time."

She looked guilty then, and replied, "I have allocated a handful of avatars to a few personal... hobbies."

John was quite intrigued as he asked, "Hobbies? Like what?"

He never thought he'd see an AI blush, but Faye did exactly that. She hesitated, then replied quietly, "I've been learning to dance."

Blinking in surprise, John said, "I'd love to see you dance sometime, but don't you need a partner for that?"

She shook her head, and replied falteringly, "No... this dance works better with just one dancer." He was about to ask her for more details, when she straightened and sounded relieved as she added, "We're picking up a fleet of Maliri ships on our path!"

"How far away?" he asked abruptly.

"They're holding position on the extreme edge of our sensor range at the moment, so fifteen minutes," she explained.

*The ships are friendly, John. There's no need to be alarmed,* Edraele said, calming his worries. *It's a House Loraleth fleet, who'll be transmitting the data on Underworld that Calara requested.*

John sank back in his chair feeling relieved, and said to Faye, "Edraele says they aren't hostile. They'll be sending us some data when we get closer."

"Oh, that's good to know!" the purple sylph replied brightly.

He nodded in agreement, then said, "Actually, while I've got you here, there's something else I wanted to talk to you about. Something important."

Faye looked at him with her big eyes, and asked, "Really? What was that?"

He watched her carefully, and his tone was sympathetic as he asked, "Do you remember we spoke some time ago about that file you couldn't get rid of? The video image of Shinatobe killing Jade? I thought you might be suffering from PTSD, and I wanted to know if that's still troubling you."

The purple construct blew out a huge sigh of relief, and replied, "Oh, you want to talk about that?" She smiled at him gratefully, and continued, "Your advice was excellent, and it did the trick. I'm cured!"

"Just like that?" he asked dubiously.

She nodded, and replied, "I was finally able to delete the file, so I'm not troubled by it any more. Thank you for your help removing it!"

Frowning in confusion, he said, "Can you remind me what was useful specifically?"

"You said that watching Jade walking around and living her life with the crew would help me get over reliving her being killed. There was one particular incident that helped me get over it," she replied, a broad smile lighting up her face.

She turned to one side, activating the console on his desk, and bringing up a holographic viewscreen. A video began to play, and John instantly recognised his bedroom, and the dark-green Nymph intertwined with the raven-haired addition to their team. The two girls were enthusiastically participating in a sixty-nine, and he watched in surprise as they both reached their climax at the same time, writhing together in ecstasy. Sakura dismounted Jade when they were done, and the two girls cuddled in the afterglow, kissing each other lovingly.

He laughed as he said, "Yeah, alright. I can see how that would help you let the old memory go."

Faye grinned at him, and replied, "Yes, your advice was amazing!"

Looking into her eyes, John said, "I'm really pleased you're not troubled by that any more. If you ever have any other problems, always feel free to speak to me about them."

She seemed to be holding her breath as she gazed back into his eyes, and after a long pause where she struggled to find the right words, she replied, "I will, I promise."

Feeling glad that the chirpy AI seemed to be quite content, John rose from his chair, and said, "I better get back to the Bridge, and go say hello to our Maliri reception committee."

Faye didn't say anything at first, and watched him walk towards the door. As he reached for the button to open it, she blurted out, "Thanks for the chat, it was lovely talking to you."