Three Square Meals Ch. 098

At the same time, she'd been able to avert most of the more dangerous threats to the Lion, heading off some of Weber's more galling moves before they got any traction. She could still scarcely believe that Buckingham would choose to deliberately antagonise John Blake. Her contempt for the Fleet Admiral had turned into genuine fear, that Buckingham might ultimately doom humanity by enraging someone with Blake's power.

For Devereux, meeting John aboard the Invictus after his intervention to stop Nexus, had given her a moment of epiphany. She had never felt more terrified... or more reassured at any time in her life. It had been like standing in the presence of a god; a god who claimed to be benevolent and whose actions backed his words... but all the while she instinctively knew that John possessed enough power to end her in an instant. It was a humbling experience that she'd never forgotten, solemnly vowing to herself never to make an enemy of the man, or risk allowing anyone to turn him into an enemy of the Terran Federation.

Unfortunately, Buckingham had drawn a very different conclusion after meeting John, which led them to the current state of affairs. Now they were dealing with an invading Kintark battlefleet, the borders of the Terran Federation lay abandoned, and High Command was clueless as to the deadly threats arrayed against them. To compound this disaster, the one man who might be able to save the Federation had no clue of the danger looming over them. The whole situation was nearly enough to make her scream with frustration.

The shuttle trembled as it landed and when the vibrations stopped, Devereux realised she was still shaking... with worry or fear she wasn't entirely sure. Rising from her seat, she secured her peaked cap on her head then strode towards the airlock doors as they began to open automatically. Once the portal had spiralled open, she stepped into the massive Hangar, glancing around for her guide.

Admiral Harris was waiting for her, just as she had hoped he would be, and by the expression on his face, he didn't look too furious. It had been uncomfortable taking that curt tone with a man that she respected as an excellent officer and she had prayed that he would be able to read behind the lines without taking offence. Contacting a known friend of John Blake's had been a big risk for her, so she'd had to make the meeting seem as innocuous as possible, just in case her actions were being monitored, which she was certain would be the case.

"Admiral Devereux," Charles said frostily, but when she met his gaze, she saw curiosity there, not anger.

"Admiral Harris," she replied, her own tone haughty and standoffish. "So good of you to agree to this tour."

"I don't see why this is necessary," Charles said with a scowl, his moustache quivering as he gestured for her to walk with him. "Operations at Olympus are my remit, not yours."

Devereux matched his pace, following him across the shuttle bay and into the broad corridor beyond. "And your station falls within the jurisdiction of the Homeworld Sector; I am quite within my rights to perform a spot check to make sure that Federation resources are being utilised in the best way possible."

"Preposterous," Charles scoffed indignantly. "You have no room for complaint here, the shipyard is running at optimal efficiency. With the assistance of the Voss Corporation, we've been able to-"

"Ah yes, Henry Voss..." she interrupted him, arching an eyebrow. "It's a... bold move... to so heavily rely on civilian contractors."

"One that's paying off handsomely," Charles replied sounding smug, but the emotion never reached his eyes. He sighed and nodded towards the broad entrances to the drydocks up ahead. "We might as well get this over with. I assure you, you'll be most impressed with the progression of the refit."

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes until they reached the first of the hangars that were dedicated to spacecraft repairs, the signs declaring this to be "Docking Bay 15". Charles led her into the massive drydock and Devereux winced at the din from heavy machinery in operation, while squinting against the glare from safety lightning and plasma torches. A huge battleship was undergoing the last stages of the refit, engineers swarming over it as they finalised their repairs and upgrades. A section of armour plating had been removed from the upper decks so that an enormous power core could be lowered into the rear quarters of the warship, the sphere held steady by an enormous crane.

Devereux stopped to glance up at the grey titanium monolith, her eyes wandering along the hull until she spotted the name "Hyperion" emblazoned in ten-metre-tall lettering. Her eyes widened and she gasped in astonishment, "The Hyperion! It was a burned-out hulk after Regulus!"

With a start, she realised that Charles hadn't waited for her and was now standing on one of the loading lifts, waiting patiently by the control box. Devereux walked briskly over to the metal platform, stepping over the yellow and black chevrons onto the lift. As soon as she had both feet safely on the platform, Charles hit a button and it began to rise with the deep whir of anti-grav cyclics.

"From a charred derelict to one of the most powerful ships in the Terran Federation fleet, the entire refit taking just under eight weeks," Charles said, with a hint of pride in his voice. He allowed himself a small smile. "That includes towing time to recover the wreck to Olympus."

"How remarkable..." Devereux murmured, truly impressed. "Does this ship have all the latest upgrades?"

He nodded, turning to look at the power core being lowered into the hull. "We're just installing the final components now. This is the last of the battleships in the group that needs one of the new Ashanath Power Cores, all the rest have already been fitted. In fact, the Nereus is now fully operational, and Rear Admiral Dacres is taking it out on its milk run as we speak."

The loading lift reached the upper levels of the maintenance gantry, coming to a halt with a clang.

"You've performed miracles here," Devereux said, sharing a smile with her fellow admiral as he turned and walked onto the metal decking. Her smile slowly faded and without thinking, she muttered under her breath, "We could use a few of them right now..."

Charles looked at her sharply, but didn't immediately reply, instead turning left and crossing the metal bridge to the titanium hull of the Hyperion. "I thought you might like to take a look at the Power Core being installed," he called over his shoulder.

Devereux had seen that glance from his hawk-like eyes, and suddenly realised Admiral Harris knew a lot more than she might have suspected. She followed after him, trying not to look down at the dizzying drop to the decking below, having never been particularly fond of heights. They strolled across the hull to the open section where the armour plating had been removed and Devereux saw that temporary steps had been lowered into the gaping hole.

A couple of Voss Corporation technicians paused and waved for the two admirals to proceed, so Devereux followed Charles down into the exposed Power Core chamber. Instead of loitering in the noisy room, he turned left and walked through an opened door into a darkened corridor beyond. Devereux realised the power must be out in this section of the ship until the new Ashanath device had been hooked up to the Hyperion's power grid.

Charles strode down the corridor and stopped outside a closed door. After glancing left and right to make sure there were no engineers or technicians nearby, he pulled a chrome device from his pocket and slapped it down next to the door controls. He pressed a button and a light turned green, the door in front of them sliding open with a quiet hiss as the device provided it power.

"After you," Charles said politely, gesturing into the darkened room.

Devereux felt a pang of nerves, but did as he asked, walking into a room filled with massive capacitors. Charles removed the device, placed it on the opposite side of the door, then plunged them into darkness as they were sealed in. She heard movement in the dark, then a soft light illuminated the room from the small lamp he had just placed on a lifeless console.

"This is very cloak and dagger," Devereux said, trying not to let her nervousness reach her voice.

"The walls on Olympus have eyes and ears... but not in here," Charles said, glancing around the gloomy powerless room. He fixed her with a steady gaze and continued, "Alright, what's this about, Lynette?"

She studied him for a moment, then said quietly, "Maybe it would be sensible to tell me what you know first, then I can fill in some of the blanks."

Charles raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "You're the one that arranged this little get together, so I'm afraid I'll have to insist that you go first. Besides, I'm not the one who suddenly switched allegiances and fell in behind Buckingham... If we're putting our cards on the table, let me start by saying I don't entirely trust you."

Much to Devereux's surprise, it actually hurt that he didn't trust her. She sighed and met his curious gaze. "Alright, I suppose that's fair." She paused for a moment to gather her thoughts. "First, let me say that I believe that it's in humanity's best interests to work with John Blake."

"A quite understandable and sensible stance," Charles agreed, not giving anything else away.

Devereux took a deep breath then said, "The Terran Federation is facing an existential threat... we won't survive without his help."

Charles relaxed and gave her a warm smile. "So you know then? I'm a little surprised John confided in you, but he's a good judge of character." A confused frown crossed his face as he continued, "But if you're working with John against this other Progenitor, why did you ally yourself with Buckingham?"

She tried not to let any surprise show on her face at the mention of another 'Progenitor', but inside her mind was whirring. "I'm just pretending to work with Buckingham until I can get him removed from office."

Charles brightened and nodded enthusiastically. "Oh, I see! So with you replacing him as Fleet Admiral, John hopes to galvanise all of High Command into preparing for the war." He shook his head in admiration. "He's far better at politics than I am. How long until you take over from Buckingham?"

Devereux relaxed a little when she realised that Charles must already know about the Kintark invasion. She looked troubled as she said, "I'm not sure, soon I hope, but unfortunately there's a problem. Buckingham's still Fleet Admiral at the moment and he's trying to dig up any dirt he can to undermine John in the public eye. So far he hasn't had any luck, but Buckingham's getting desperate."

Frowning with worry, Charles leaned against the console. "Why in God's name would Buckingham try and work against John?!"

"Buckingham's afraid of him, he thinks John's a threat to the Terran Federation," Devereux explained.

He waved his hand to encompass the ship. "I'm trying to get as many ships upgraded as quickly as possible for when the other Progenitor attacks, but without John and the Invictus we're doomed!"

She looked at Charles curiously, feeling a surge of hope that the situation might not be as dire as she once feared. "What about the Kintark?"

Charles let out a frustrated sigh and shook his head in disbelief. "Don't tell me Buckingham's thinking about starting another skirmish with them?! The only way we'll stand a chance is if we can get all the alien empires to work with us! I know John's already got the Ashanath and the Maliri on board, and after seeing his rescue of the Trankaran Chancellor he's probably allied with them too. We need to get past the problems with the Kintark in the Dragon March... we might actually need them when the other Progenitor invades."

Devereux felt her heart sink in her chest as the situation suddenly became clear and was far bleaker than she ever thought possible. Not only was it obvious to her now that Charles had no idea about the imminent Kintark invasion, it was evident that they were also facing a far deadlier threat from another 'Progenitor'... someone just like John, but hostile. That thought was utterly terrifying and she knew that battle would make the Kintark attack look like a playground squabble.

The other dreadful realisation was that ultimately, Charles was more important to the survival of the Terran Federation than she was. She couldn't risk telling him about the Kintark invasion, because he would try to contact John himself, and if Buckingham got wind of it, he'd have Charles arrested or worse. Without Admiral Harris here on Olympus to drive the refit of the Terran fleets, then the Federation would stand no chance in the wider battle against this other Progenitor. That meant it was down to her to reach out to John, no matter the personal cost, and she had to do it now.

"The last I heard, John had travelled to the Maliri Regency," Devereux stated calmly, although her heart hammering in her chest was anything but calm. "I'd like to get in contact with him... do you know if he's still there?"

Charles paused then spread his hands in a helpless gesture. "The last time I spoke with him was just before the award ceremony, when he brought me in on a lot of this. I'm not sure exactly where he is at the moment, but I know he has a very strong alliance with the Maliri. Even if you aren't able to speak to him directly, I'm sure his friends in charge of the Regency will be able to pass the message on to him."

She nodded gratefully, feeling a surge of empathy towards her fellow officer; Charles was striving almost single-handedly to do his utmost to prepare the Terran Federation for the coming conflict. Stepping closer she put her arms around the startled admiral and gave him a fierce hug. "Thank you for everything you're doing, Charles. I don't know how you can manage all this alone."

Charles' eyes widened in surprise, then he put his arms around her and awkwardly patted her on the back. "We're not alone, Lynette, we've got John and Henry working with us... I get scared too if I stop to think about it, but we'll get the fleets ready in time."

Devereux stifled her gasp of surprise as she suddenly realised who he meant by Henry. Rachel Voss was a lioness so of course her father would be involved too; no wonder the Voss Corporation had thrown all its assets into ship construction. That was another mystery solved, but it didn't bring her any comfort. The sheer magnitude of what they were facing left her feeling bewildered and afraid.

She pulled away from the embrace and did her best to smile despite the icy tendrils of fear that she could feel around her heart. "Thanks for agreeing to see me, Charles. You've been a tremendous help."

"Anytime," he said with a broad smile, his moustache twitching. "I'm relieved you're one of us, Lynette. It's good to know I can trust you."

"Likewise," she agreed, returning his smile, but her mind was elsewhere. All Devereux could think about was how she needed to word the plea for help she was going to send to John.

***

Calara and Sakura were the last to arrive in the Ready Room and John exchanged smiles with the two girls as they took their places on the sofas. The Latina and the Asian girl were wearing form-fitting training gear and had been sparring in the dojo before being summoned by Alyssa. Sakura walked over to join Jade, while Calara sat beside her girlfriend, then ran her fingers through Irillith's hair, watching as the Maliri girl filled her stomach with cum.

Now that John had an active connection with Irillith, he was able to wrap his consciousness around her, fortifying her and banishing her fears. Well, he would have if Alyssa hadn't got there before him; he could feel her mental presence already soothing the Maliri girl, so with a shrug he just swaddled them both up in his loving psychic embrace.

"That feels amazing..." Irillith said with a breathy sigh, pulling back from Alyssa. She didn't possess Jade's prehensile tongue so she couldn't lick the bowl clean, so to speak, but between her and Dana, they had sucked out the majority of John's cum from the blonde.

"Tell me about it," Dana said with a lop-sided grin. She was kneeling beside the Maliri and ran her hand over her own curved cum-filled tummy. "I can't believe I'm going to be like this for two weeks!"

Irillith glanced at Alyssa then John with a look of gratitude in her enchanting eyes and he knew she wasn't just referring to her lunch.

He offered the kneeling girls a hand in rising to their feet and shared a cosy hug with them both. "I'm glad you're feeling better," he said to Irillith, giving her a gentle kiss on the cheek.

The girls took their seats, Dana cuddling up with Rachel, and Tashana welcoming her twin with open arms on the third sofa. John sat beside his blonde Matriarch, then patted the space next to him for Faye to join him. The purple girl had been unsure who to sit beside after receiving multiple offers, but she accepted John's invitation with a look of glee on her face.

"Alright then, ladies," John began, looking around at his crew. "I'm not sure how much you already know about my recent conversation with the Brimorians."

"All of it," Sakura said with a grin, her telltale glance at Alyssa revealing the source of that information.

He nodded to the blonde in gratitude. "Great, that saves some explaining." Turning to the petite girl on his right, he continued, "Have the Brimorians sent us any data on the Vulkat yet?"

Faye nodded eagerly. "Yep! Let me show you what we've got."

She blinked and a holographic map of the Brimorian Enclave appeared, projected above the seating area. It was a plan view, with the Terran Federation marked below the Enclave and a grey expanse of star systems above, the label identifying the area as the Desolation of Vulkat. The far edges of this mysterious empire had not been mapped, but the Brimorians had expanded the Enclave as far as possible so that they were abutting the closest edge of Vulkat territory.

"I've plotted a course, it'll take us a little over seven hours to reach the border," Faye informed them, peeking around John to look at the blonde sitting next to him. "But I'm sure Alyssa could get us there faster!" The purple sprite had calculated the total journey time down to the micro-second, but following the blonde's example, she rounded off for brevity's sake.

"Can you start us off in that direction please," John requested, putting his arm around the perky sprite. "Alyssa can make improvements to our flightpath once we're underway."

Calara looked at him in surprise. "Aren't we going to review the Brimorian's briefing first?"

"If we change our minds we can just stop and turn around," John said with a shrug. "Let's face it though, this does sound like a tempting opportunity..."

Dana grinned and nodded eagerly. "Getting our hands on some new tech would be fantastic!"

"And we might be able to learn more about Progenitors!" Tashana exclaimed, looking equally as excited. "An ancient civilisation wiped out by a cataclysm? It sounds awfully like Mael'nerak's assault on the Achonin!"

"Do you think he destroyed the Vulkat too?" John asked, having had similar thoughts.

The Maliri girl paused for a moment, then reluctantly admitted, "I've not found any references to the Vulkat in any of my research on the Maliri and Mael'nerak, so it might be a bit early to be jumping to conclusions. If we do see lots of dense asteroid belts and very few inhabitable planets, it might explain why the Vulkat are ship-bound nomads."

"Because Mael'nerak obliterated all their worlds..." John said quietly, meeting her thoughtful gaze.

Tashana nodded her agreement. "Exactly. Either him or Ranagon, the Progenitor who tried to wipe out the Trankarans."