Three Square Meals Ch. 055

Alyssa's eyes were wide as she shot John a shocked look, but he focused on Edraele, rubbing her back soothingly, and said, "That wasn't you who did that, remember? You might inhabit the old Edraele's body, but you're a new person now. I'm sorry that you still retain all these painful old memories though, do you want me to try and erase them to make it easier for you?"

She looked him in the eyes, squaring her shoulders as she said, "That's very kind of you to offer but no, I think it's important to know just what I, -sorry I mean 'she'- did. I might not be able to atone for everything, but I think it's important to try."

He leaned down and kissed her tenderly, then said, "I'm very proud of you. You're turning into a lovely person."

Edraele blushed at the compliment, hugging him tightly in gratitude for his kind words. John brushed his hands through her hair, and when Alyssa hugged the Maliri woman as well, he brushed his fingers through her golden tresses too. A loud grumble shattered the poignant moment, and John looked sheepish as both women turned to look at him with a smile.

"I'll send for Luna, she'll bring us some dinner," Edraele told him, smiling at him fondly.

***

Rachel nodded with satisfaction, as she watched her team of engineers sealing off the superstructure at the top of the central core. Dana was standing beside her, having just installed the huge anti-grav generator in the centre of the Inertia Negation Device successfully.

"Just this to go, and we're done!" Dana said jubilantly.

Rachel smiled at her, and asked, "Are you happy with how everything has progressed?"

"Yeah, the Maliri did a really great job," Dana replied with a relieved grin. "I can't wait to test everything!"

Calara had been speaking to a couple of her team, as they got ready to secure the last of the armoured plating over the final exposed section of the hull. She strolled over the glossy white armoured topdeck of the Invictus, and said, "You can't wait? How do you think I feel!"

"Asteroid field test?" Dana asked her with a wild grin.

The Latina nodded animatedly, her dark-brown eyes flashing with excitement, as she said, "This is the biggest upgrade we've ever given the Invictus. I'm so excited, I can't think of anything else!"

Rachel chuckled, and said, "You two are as bad as each other!"

They watched quietly, as Rachel's team moved out of the way, and the engineers from Calara's armour team started securing the armour plating onto the hull. The engineers who had just finished were chatting excitedly as they walked down the gentle slope of the topdeck, making their way to the maintenance gantries.

"We'll be done in a few minutes," Dana said confidently. She looked at Rachel, and added, "You better go and get the Psi-detector. Alyssa wanted to check the psychic flows of energy from all these Maliri, while Edraele's speaking to the crowd again."

Rachel nodded, then said, "I'll go and get it right now. See you girls in a moment."

She walked away briskly, and when she reached the maintenance gantry, she stopped for a moment to look out over the side. The Maliri engineers were gathering down on the deck of the drydock, assembling to hear another speech from Edraele, now that the work was complete. Rachel surveyed her handiwork with pride, the snowy white hair on all the women below clearly marking John's influence on the Maliri, and their freedom from the Mael'nerak's tampering. When she strolled away to collect the Psi-detector, she had an extra spring in her step.

***

John, Alyssa, and Edraele emerged from the airlock in the side of her ship, and he smiled when he saw the dozens of Maliri waiting for them. Irillith was speaking to Makaela by the podium, and they both turned and smiled at him as they approached. Not wanting to waste any time, Edraele gracefully ascended the steps of the podium, then stood behind the lectern to address the engineers.

"I feel I must apologise to you all," Edraele started, her voice sincere, and causing the Maliri to look up at her in astonishment. "I had to threaten you into helping with this refit, relying on my terrible reputation for inflicting suffering to get you to comply with my orders. I want you to know that things will be changing for the Maliri of House Valaden in the future, and I'll be doing my best to improve all of your lives in the coming months."

The crowd murmured in excitement, and one bold Maliri, who John recognised as Filaurel raised her hand hesitantly. When Edraele smiled at her kindly, Filaurel asked in a tremulous voice, "Is it really true? John told us that you'd be helping to arrange matches for us, with the men on the border stations?"

Edraele nodded, and said, "Everything he told you was the truth. Any Maliri with white hair, you can consider a close ally, and someone you can trust with your life." She glanced to her side to smile at John, before beckoning him to join her up on the podium as she added, "I know that trusting one another is something new for all of us, but I'm sure I don't need to remind you what our new look signifies... or who we have to thank for it."

As John walked up the steps, Alyssa's voice flashed through his mind, and he could hear the naughtiness in her tone. *I'll remind you if you like?* she offered mischievously. *It means that all those azure skinned beauties you see before you have your cum in their stomachs.*

John reached the top of the steps, and smiled at Edraele, before turning to look out over the gathered crowd. The four-score of white haired Maliri standing before him all smiled at him in wonder, looking radiantly happy with gratitude shining in their eyes.

*You know that you could pick any one of them, and she'd gladly spread her tender thighs for you, urging you to put your baby in her belly? Eighty women primed and ready for you, and you only have to say the word to breed them... How hot is that?* she purred excitedly, turning herself on with her lewd talk.

*Ninety-two, actually,* he corrected her matter of factly. *The assassins seem pretty enthusiastic about the idea, and I've been getting come hither looks from Makaela, Alyndra, and Edraele. Then there's you and the girls on the crew, unless of course you've gone off the idea of giving me as many children as I want from your hot little body?*

Alyssa whimpered with desire, and he got the very definite feeling that she was still quite on board with that plan.

He stifled a laugh, then said, *Now shush you, I need to concentrate for this.*

Smiling warmly at the assembled Maliri, he said in a loud voice, "Firstly let me just say, thank you for all the tremendous hard work you've all put in to upgrading the Invictus. I mentioned this to a few of you yesterday, and although this might seem like an ordinary maintenance refit, the work you've done on my ship will help me make a real difference to a great many people." He looked out at them, and said, "When I say people, I don't just mean Terrans in the Terran Federation. I also mean Maliri, and working with Edraele, I plan to help your people forge a bright future in the galaxy."

"Will you be gone long?" Thessalia called out to him, looking forlorn at the prospect of him leaving.

He looked at her kindly, and answered, "I'm hoping no longer than a month or so, but Fate seems to have a habit of throwing plenty of unexpected obstacles in my path. I've loved being able to spend time with you, getting to know you a bit better, and I want to thank you for being such wonderful hosts. I do promise that I'll try and return to the Maliri as soon as I can."

He gave them a grateful wave goodbye, and they returned it, looks of longing on their lovely faces. Turning to Edraele, he nodded to her graciously, then walked down the steps from the Podium.

Edraele smiled at the crowd or engineers, and her voice sounded caring as she spoke to them telepathically, *Being with John has changed more than the colour of your hair, and you are now linked with him, just as I am too. Your lives will be different now, with John and me caring for you, and looking out for your future.*

The Maliri women looked stunned to hear Edraele's voice in their thoughts, and they darted shocked looks at each other, then at Edraele and John.

She looked at the awestruck faces of the Maliri women, and said, *John needs to depart very soon, but If any of you wish to say goodbye to him personally, you may do so.* She smiled at them and added, *No long tearful goodbyes though, we don't want to scare him away with all of us descending into floods of tears!*

The Maliri laughed at that, amazed at the kind and sympathetic words from their Matriarch. To discover that Edraele Valaden wasn't the tyrant they had feared for all their lives, was actually more of a shock than hearing her telepathic voice in their heads.

John had walked over to stand with Alyssa, and the other girls, and they smiled at him brightly, with both Calara and Dana looking impatient to get underway. Rachel came running to join them a few moments later, with the futuristic Psi-Detector clutched in her hand. She had hurried down the steps from the maintenance gantry, which had provided her a bird's-eye view over the assembled throng of women.

"I took loads of video footage with the Psi-Detector," she said excitedly. "I got some great images showing the psychic energy flows!"

"Nice work, honey," John said to her appreciatively. "We'll have to review that when we're back on the ship."

Further conversation was interrupted by Filaurel, Thessalia, Syndra, and Farryn, who walked up to their group. Edraele was with them, and she said, "Sorry to interrupt, John. Some of the women wanted to say goodbye, and wish you a safe journey."

*We'll head back to the Invictus, and prep her for take-off,* Alyssa thought to him, sounding amused. *I think 'some of the women' actually means all of them.*

John looked over at the Maliri engineers, and saw that they were forming an orderly queue to wish him farewell. As he greeted Filaurel with an affectionate smile and a hug, he watched Edraele glide over to the waiting engineers, and start to chat to them amiably. The Maliri still looked very wary to start with, but they answered Edraele's questions shyly and politely, eventually warming up to her kind and pleasant personality. She even managed to get a few of the engineers to laugh at her light-hearted jokes, and John could see newfound respect in their eyes for the Valaden Matriarch when they eventually left her company to walk over to meet him.

John spent the next ten minutes saying goodbye to everyone, receiving tender kisses before the Maliri wandered away, looking back at him wistfully. Soon the big crowd had thinned out to just Edraele, her bodyguards, and Irillith, who was waiting patiently to escort him back to the Invictus. Luna, Almari, and Ilyana all swore that they'd protect Edraele with their lives, but he made them promise not to take any unnecessary risks, and to look after each other too.

He watched Edraele and Irillith give each other a loving hug goodbye, and when Edraele eventually pulled away and moved into his open arms, she whispered, "Please look after my little girl, and keep her safe for me."

Nodding, he headed back to his ship, waving goodbye to them one last time before stepping through the airlock and closing the door behind him.

Irillith turned to look at him, and shook her head in amazement as she said earnestly, "Well I never expected our return to Valaden to turn out that way. Thank you for the part you played with Edraele."

John pulled her into his arms, and gave her a gentle hug as he said, "You're part of my crew now, and I just want good things for you. I'm glad I was able to help bring you and your mother closer together."

She gave him a tender kiss, staring up at him with her angular violet eyes. The intense look of gratitude and adoration she had for him was quite heart-warming, and he enjoyed feeling her lean into him, as they kissed more passionately.

*Ship's prepped and we're ready for take-off,* Alyssa prompted him, interrupting his kiss. *You can have fun with Irillith later. She's still going to be just as grateful when we're flying back out of Maliri Space, and we've got several days travel time, until we get back to the Terran Federation. I'm sure the girls will help you find fun ways to fill it.*

Taking Irillith's hand, he led her over to the grav-tube, then stepped inside, ascending in the soft blue glow until they reached the Command Deck. When they stepped out onto the Bridge, he released her hand so she could walk to the IntOps Station, while he strolled up the illuminated steps to the Command Podium. Alyssa spun her XO's chair, and turned to look at him when he reached the top, greeting him with a wide grin.

"Command of the ship is all yours, Commodore," she said to him respectfully, a sparkling smile on her face.

"Very good, XO," he said with a grateful nod, sitting down in his Command Chair. He turned to look at Dana and asked, "Everything looking good, Chief Engineer?"

She grinned at him, nodding enthusiastically as she said, "I've thoroughly checked all our new computer systems, and we're upgraded to the tits! Everything's working at optimal efficiency."

He chuckled at her choice turn of phrase, then nodded gratefully to Faye who was sitting on Dana's Engineering Console. "It sounds like you and your bots did a great job, thanks Faye," he said to her with sincere gratitude.

"Thanks for letting me assist," the tiny purple sprite said to him with a happy sigh. "It was wonderful being able to help you guys."

Rachel looked up at him on his left as she said, "We've been granted permission to depart, so we can leave whenever you're ready."

He smiled at her, then looked at Jade, who was sitting at the Pilot's Station directly in front and below him. She had a cleverly designed flightstick in her right hand, and the perfect ergonomics of the design seemed to fit her hand perfectly. In her other hand was a throttle control, and both the glossy white flight controls were covered with buttons that glowed with a soft blue radiance.

"Take us out, Jade," he ordered, with a smile.

The Nymph grinned at him eagerly, and she lifted the Invictus off the deck with the use of retro-thrusters controlled by a hat-control on the flightstick. As soon as they had risen ten metres off the deck, she eased back on the throttle, smoothly reversing them out of the Genthalas drydock. She pulled back on the stick once they had successfully drifted out of the vast docking bay, and once she had an unobstructed path away from the shipyard, Jade powered up the engines.

John had expected her to crank the engines up to maximum immediately, but Jade was very controlled, staying well under port speed. Once they cleared the booms and gantries that filled the inner circle of the shipyard, she looked up to him as though seeking permission.

"Let's see what she can do," John said, leaning forward with an eager gleam in his eye.

Jade glanced at Dana, who nodded confidently saying, "You can bring her up to full speed cautiously if you like, but it's not necessary. I've performed a full diagnostic on the engines, and the Inertia Negation Device. We're perfectly safe."

Alyssa brought up the local System Map, which showed the vast ring of Genthalas Shipyard, with the Invictus displayed as a tiny, gleaming white ship in the centre.

"Full speed ahead, Commodore," Jade said with a grin, as she brought her left hand forward in a sweeping motion, ramping up the engines to max.

John felt the vaguest sense of motion as the Invictus roared away, the four massive Trankaran engines finally put through their paces for the first time.

"Holy fuck! Look at us go!" Alyssa swore vehemently, as the assault cruiser raced away from the space station.

Jade nodded eagerly, and said, "Our acceleration is incredible!"

John darted a glance at Dana, and asked, "What's the performance like? As you were expecting?"

Dana pressed a couple of buttons on her console, showing the engines highlighted in a floating hologram above the Engineering Station. Alongside the holographic display, stats for the ship's flight characteristics were displayed, showing long lists of data.

"Even faster!" she said gleefully. "Crystal Alyssium is very light, and without all that extra mass, the Invictus is even quicker. Three-point-one-seven times our old speed, and nearly five times the old acceleration!"

Calara turned in her chair and gasped, "John, only fighters have this kind of tactical speed! Nothing in the cruiser class can even hope to catch us!"

John had a wicked grin on his face as he asked Jade, "What's the turn rate like?"

She eased off on the throttle, then yanked back on the stick, pulling the nose up in an incredibly sharp turn. The dozens of Trankaran retro-thrusters that dotted the hull flared brightly as the Invictus swung about in a tight loop. She then proceeded to roll the assault cruiser, flinging it about it a series of wild, erratic manoeuvres.

"It feels like I'm flying the Raptor!" Jade blurted out, sounding overjoyed. She shook her head in amazement as she said to Dana, "I can't believe how much you increased the performance! The ship feels so responsive now, it's incredible!"

Dana grinned at her, and asked, "What do you think of the new flight controls?"

"They're perfect!" Jade said eagerly. "I've got so much more control, and it feels so much more natural to fly."

Alyssa had brought up the local sector map, and she said to Irillith, "Taking the Invictus to a local asteroid field for a weapon test is sort of our tradition after a big upgrade. Is it alright if we go shred some rocks?"

Irillith smiled at her, and nodded, saying, "All the nearby asteroids were mined of anything valuable centuries ago. Pick any you fancy for your weapon test."

Turning back to the Sector Map, Alyssa highlighted Beta-Aquarii, and quickly plotted a course. Jade had swung the Invictus around, and they charged over to the Nav-beacon, to get clear of any nearby gravity wells. Alyssa powered up the Tachyon Drive, and the ship was shrouded in a swathe of light blue particles, before leaping into hyper-warp.

"Two minutes," Alyssa stated, as they watched the ship leave the Epsilon-Aquarii system and make its way to their new destination.

She brought up the destination system, and plotted a route from their projected entry point to the thick band of asteroids she had randomly selected for their assault. They dropped out of hyper-warp exactly as she had projected, and Jade cranked the engines up to full, as she followed Alyssa's guide path.

Calara's hands were trembling with excitement as she reached for the weapon controls, and she forced herself to take a steadying breath to calm herself down. She grasped each stick in her hands, then flipped the switches to expose the ship's batteries, the armour plating on the hull pulling back to reveal their deadly new arsenal. The weapon loadout began to light up, as weapon after weapon came online, filling the full display with detailed weapon statistics. The hologram representing the ship appeared in front of her, with all the fire arcs for their weapons faithfully reproduced, and clearly indicated in the targeting sphere.

The two Nova Lances had comparable range to the old Beam Lasers and Mass Drivers, with forward mounted fire arcs represented by narrow thirty degree cones. The really big difference was with the Beam Lasers, that had replaced the old Laser Cannons. The new turreted Beams had the range of their old fixed Beams, but now each weapon had a sweeping fire arc, covering the outer circumference of the ship in a vast, long-range web of offensive firepower.

The passive sensors had pulsed out, populating the System Map with detailed information about the asteroids. Near the midpoint of the asteroid field was some kind of derelict mining facility, and according to the Maliri records, it had been abandoned for decades.