Three Square Meals Ch. 055

He gave them a broad smile and said, "I'll just try and heal you for now, we'll discuss you having my children later. I think you're going to have your work cut out for you protecting Edraele over the next several months, and that's going to be a lot harder for you if I get you pregnant."

Their doe-eyed looks of adoration were incredibly heart-warming, and he immediately felt glad he hadn't turned them down.

*Thank you,* Edraele said to him earnestly. *These girls have suffered terribly following my orders, and it's wonderful to see you do this for them.*

*You're welcome,* John thought to her, turning and giving her a supportive smile. Looking back at the three girls in his arms, he gave them a flirty grin as he asked, "Shall we make a start?"

***

"That's right, now add in the new elements," Dana said nervously, as she watched Alyssa manipulate an enormous black sphere of liquefied crystal with her mind.

The slowly rotating globe was jet black, with telltale flecks of silver from the Etherite making it glisten in the light. The texture of the orb was bizarre, looking like shifting ice slush, the core component of the Maliri crystal making its presence felt. The brown and orange elements streamed out of the first two open ore containers they had brought back with them from the Power Core, then spiralled up and seeped into the colossal globe. Ripples began to appear in the surface of the orb as the complex mix of elements bonded together, and the sluggish sphere began to smooth out, and rotate at a faster pace.

Alyssa grinned at her friend, and exclaimed, "That's much better! It feels more stable and responsive!"

Without turning to look at Alyssa, Dana gave the blonde girl a terse nod as she stared at the huge rotating orb, not daring to take her eyes off it for a moment. White streaks began to appear in the roiling ball, which widened until they spread to engulf the whole thing, eliminating all traces of the old dark colouring. Alyssa shaped it into a perfect glossy white cube, and carefully brought it to rest on the deck of the drydock. She siphoned off a tiny amount, no larger than her palm, and it floated over to land in her outstretched hand.

"A souvenir!" she said jovially to Dana, as she handed it over to her.

Taking it with trembling hands, Dana stared at it reverently, seeing the tiny silvery flecks in the brilliant white surface that made the small disc sparkle in the light. She quickly fumbled for the scanner on her utility belt, then held her breath as she began to scan the sample.

Alyssa watched her curiously, and asked, "So, what's the verdict?"

"Woohoo!" Dana cheered in elation, leaping up and down, then flinging her arms around the blonde. "I can't believe it, it actually worked!"

They jumped up and down together jubilantly, un-phased by the chuckles and quiet applause of their Maliri audience, who had watched Alyssa's display of telekinesis in fascination.

"So we're good to go?" Alyssa asked her with a grin.

"Yep! Do you want me to get you the holo-reader with the Maliri weapon schematics?" Dana offered eagerly.

Alyssa shook her head, then winked at Dana as she said, "You're not the only one with a good memory." She turned to look at the huge cube of Crystal Alyssium and mused, "I think I'll start small, and begin with a Pulse Cannon barrel."

***

"Rachel, do you have a moment?" the pensive Maliri engineer asked the tawny haired girl as she walked over to her.

Nodding and giving her a friendly smile, Rachel replied, "Sure, Myriana, what's the problem?"

They were standing in the Officers' Lounge of the Invictus, the huge cutting beam having sliced open the outer superstructure, and then bored straight through the Command Deck of the assault cruiser. They had cut through to Deck Three a little while ago, and she could hear the engineers on that level talking to each other as they rerouted cabling around that area. Rachel had spent many hours in this lounge as they sailed through space, so she was finding it a little disconcerting to have a big gaping hole cut through the ceiling that went right out through the hull.

Myriana hesitated, then said in a hushed voice, "Your pet AI is trying to be helpful, but we aren't used to having unshackled constructs roaming loose. It's unsettling some of my crew, and distracted engineers shouldn't be anywhere near a cutting beam."

Rachel nodded, and smiled at her reassuringly as she said, "No problem, I'll go and have a chat with Faye."

The Maliri woman gave her a grateful nod, then crouched down by the bored out hole, and shouted some instructions in her own language to her colleagues. Rachel strolled out of the Lounge, then into the grav-tube, and descended smoothly to Deck Three. When she stepped out of the red glow of the grav-tube, she spotted one of the maintenance robots floating silently in the corridor, with the purple digital pixie sitting on its shoulder. A large section of wall panelling had been removed, exposing the area which would house the new Central Core, and several Maliri engineers were working away industriously.

"The third cable down supplies power to the lighting, so be very careful not to cut through it," Faye called out to one of the flustered Maliri. "I wouldn't want you to accidentally hurt yourself!"

"Hi Faye," Rachel greeted her warmly, "How's it going?"

The robot rotated smoothly, and Faye waved at her with a huge sparkling smile on her face as she said, "I'm making such good time on the electronics refit, I thought I'd come down here and help keep these Maliri safe. I wouldn't want anyone to have an accident."

Rachel smiled at her, and forced herself not to be distracted by the slightly creepy grin on the hovering robot's face. "That was a lovely thought," she began kindly. "But if you use all the robots to finish upgrading the subsystems quickly, then they could help install the weapons on the sides of the ship. The Maliri are forced to rely on anti-grav platforms there, which makes that job even more dangerous."

Faye listened to her, nodding eagerly, and she exclaimed, "You're right! I'll let Delta here finish his work, while I go prepare the bots a program to help install the new Pulse Cannons!"

"Perfect!" Rachel agreed cheerfully, then looked at her curiously, and asked, "How come I can see you in the corridor? And who is Delta?"

Faye giggled, and said, "I came up with a great solution so I could keep an eye on the boys. I fabricated some holo-projectors and had the fellas install them on each other. I'm sitting on Delta right here. Alpha, Beta, and Gamma are up on the Command Deck swapping out electronics. They didn't have names before, so I hope it was okay for me to come up with some?"

Rachel was careful not to let any alarm show on her face, as she asked, "How did you get the robots, sorry, I mean the boys, to install the projectors on each other?"

The purple AI sprite smiled at her proudly and replied, "It was easy. I just hacked into their data cores, then added a new subroutine. Dana was busy, and I wanted to be helpful, so I decided not to burden her with anything so trivial."

Nodding, Rachel said with an air of caution, "Well, it sounds like you've been doing a really great job, and I'm sure Dana's going to be delighted. Promise me you won't make any more changes to the robots unless you speak to her first though, okay?"

"I promise!" Faye said without hesitation. She smiled at Rachel as she waved her goodbye, then looked down at Delta, and said enthusiastically, "Let's go, big fella, lots of work to do!"

Rachel watched her leave, then glanced across through the hole in the ceiling, where Myriana gave her a grateful thumbs-up.

***

John walked around the side of the bed with Ilyana cradled in his arms, then carefully placed her next to Luna, so that all three Maliri assassins were resting comfortably. They were all fast asleep, with blissful, satisfied expressions on their faces. None of them had any experience with men before, but they'd been extremely willing and eager students. Their lives depended daily on working flawlessly together as a team, and it seemed it was a handily transferrable skill.

With Edraele working as their mentor, they had given him a superb triple blowjob, teasing his length with their flickering tongues, while staring up at him in adoration. Just the thought that his would be the first cum they had ever swallowed would have been enough of a turn on, but knowing that the three beautiful women longed for him to impregnate them, soon brought him to an epic climax. He came long and hard, as each girl took their turn, greedily swallowing down one mouthful after another as they each filled their stomachs with just over a pint of his spunk.

They had sat there afterwards, eyes glazed, as they gently stroked their slightly curved slender tummies. Now that they were all tucked up in bed, he looked over at Edraele, who was gazing down at them fondly.

She felt his attention, and looked up at him with a grateful smile on her face, as she said, "Luna's been with me the longest, but even Almari and Ilyana have worked for me for over thirty years. In many ways, these girls are like my daughters."

John walked around the bed to join her, and placed an arm around her shoulder as he said gently, "I'll do what I can to heal them. Don't forget though, your actual daughter is here, and will be leaving with me tomorrow."

Edraele looked up at him, her eyes sorrowful, as she said, "I know, and I'll try and make things right before she goes."

"Good girl," John told her approvingly, leaning in and giving her a tender kiss.

She smiled at him, then said, "I'll stay here and keep an eye on them. Do you know how long they'll be asleep for?"

He shrugged helplessly, and replied, "Afraid not, I'm trying something new here, but I'm sure it won't be longer than the fourteen hours it normally takes." He rubbed her shoulder then stepped away, and said, "I better get back to the weapon refit. I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm letting the side down."

Edraele turned and gave him a quick kiss, then gave him a warm smile as she waved him goodbye. Her voice echoed through his thoughts as he strolled back through the lounge, as she said, *Why don't you and Alyssa come up here when she needs you to re-energise her. I overheard your conversation earlier about 'fumbling in the dark' regarding psychic powers, and I can tell you both everything I know.*

*Thanks, Edraele,* John replied, surprised but grateful. *We'd both really appreciate it.*

*That sounds interesting, my Lord,* she replied, and he chuckled at her playful tone.

***

The nearly two-metre-long gun barrel floated through the air, guided and controlled by Alyssa's outstretched hand, before coming gently to rest on the ground beside Dana. The barrel was glossy white, but it differed slightly from standard Alyssium. There were now microscopic silver flecks in the finish that made the curved Pulse Cannon barrel glisten brightly, catching the light.

"That was fast!" Dana exclaimed as she crouched down beside the barrel, quickly scanning its dimensions and composition. "That was the last one, wasn't it?"

Alyssa nodded, standing up straight, and stretching her muscles after standing motionless for a while. "Triple-shaping seems to be the way to go. It's still pretty effortless, which is good, because I've got the Beam Lasers and the armour plating to go next."

Dana didn't acknowledge her straight away, as she was studying the rapidly diminishing cube of Crystal Alyssium, which Alyssa had used to psychically forge the barrels for fifty-four Pulse Cannons. She did some quick calculations in her head, then looked at her friend and said, "You've got enough for the first ten Beam Lasers, then you'll have to whip up a new batch."

Giving her a confident grin, Alyssa said, "You don't need to hang around for that, if you want to make a start on the Pilot Station upgrade. When I make some more crystalline alloy, or whatever you want to call it, I'll just use the same amounts as the first time."

The redhead leaned in to give her a quick hug, saying, "Great! I'll head off to the Bridge then."

As she started to walk away towards the open Hangar Bay, Alyssa said to her, *You might want to give the bots a quick check. Rachel's worried that Faye's been making her own upgrades.*

Dana turned to look at her in alarm, then nodded animatedly, and began to run towards the ship.

***

Irillith walked over the exposed hull of the Invictus, carefully stepping over bundles of cabling, and walking around stacks of armour plating. She strolled over to Calara, who was conferring with a couple of Maliri engineers, and the brunette was shaking her head regretfully. The engineers walked away looking forlorn, and the Latina watched them leave for a moment before turning to look at Irillith, having spotted her approach.

Calara's face lit up into a welcoming smile, and she said, "Hello! It's lovely to see you, Irillith. Is everything going okay?"

Irillith returned her smile, and said, "I just came over here to ask you the same thing." She turned and looked at the two departing engineers, and asked, "Are your work crew giving you any trouble?"

The brunette laughed, shaking her head as she replied, "No, they're hard workers, and we're making good progress. Every once in a while a few of them come over and plead with me to let them help the weapons refit crew, but other than that, we're ahead of schedule."

"Are the weapons crew taking too long? Do they need more assistance?" Irillith asked with a frown.

Calara grinned, and replied, "No, they just want to join the team that John was supervising."

Irillith let out an embarrassed chuckle as she said, "They're making me ashamed to be a Maliri, the way they're all carrying on."

Calara smiled at her, and stepping close she whispered kindly, "Don't be too hard on them. The way you held out for so long proves what an exceptional woman you are, but they aren't as gifted as you."

Irillith blushed at the compliment, then opened her arms tentatively to give the Latina a hug. Calara stepped closer with a bright smile on her face, and the two of them embraced each other for a moment before parting.

"Thanks for being so nice," Irillith said awkwardly, unsure exactly how to respond in this situation.

Stroking her shoulder Calara said, "You're part of our group now. We all work as a team, to help and look out for each other. It might take you a little while to get used to being with us, but I'll do my best to help you feel welcome. Okay?"

Irillith relaxed and gave her a beautiful smile, as she said wistfully, "The galaxy is full of such strange ironies. I used to be so afraid of John, terrified that I'd lose myself, if I fell under his thrall. Now that I've joined you, I'm finally able to see how empty and sad my old life used to be, and I'm actually starting to feel really happy for the first time I can really remember. The thing I most dreaded, turned out to be the best thing that could have happened to me. Isn't it strange how life works out?"

Calara nodded, her face serious, and she leaned in close as she asked, "Can I make a confession?"

The Maliri woman nodded, looking at her with curiosity as she asked, "Of course. What is it?"

The Latina smiled at her, and said, "When we were on Valaden for the first time, we had a vote on you being allowed aboard the ship. I voted no, dreading the thought, but I was wrong, and now I think it's been the best thing that could have happened to us. Isn't it strange how life works out?"

Irillith let out a joyful laugh, the lovely sound making some of the nearby engineers turn and look at the Valaden noblewoman in surprise. She pulled Calara into a tight hug, and said, "I can see why Alyssa and John fell for you, you're absolutely lovely."

The two women embraced each other affectionately, and this time Irillith didn't feel awkward at all.

***

"That's the last of the Gatling Lasers, Jade," Ioelena called over to her with a proud smile.

The Nymph had been watching Alyssa smiling happily as she moulded and shaped a ten-metre-long weapon barrel from Crystal Alyssium, using only her mind. She marvelled at the ease with which the blonde teenager seemed to have mastered her telekinetic powers, effortlessly guiding the psychically responsive metal into the forms she desired. Alyssa had been positively radiant ever since she had rescued John from his evil alter-ego, and it lifted Jade's heart to see her friend looking so happy as she worked.

Turning to face the Maliri who had spoken to her, Jade cast her eye over the long line of weapons her team had constructed. She had twenty engineers at her disposal, which was too many to all work on the Raptor's Central Core at once, with only room for roughly ten of them to usefully contribute. This meant that the others had been standing around with nothing to do, while they waited until the new armour plating and weapons were ready for installation. Jade had therefore split the team, and put ten of the blue-skinned engineers to work, busily replacing the barrels on the Maliri weapons with the gleaming replacements that Alyssa had just forged. They had also swapped out the old heatsinks with the greatly superior versions that Dana had been fabricating non-stop for the last few hours, and the Pulse Cannons were now all ready for installation.

Jade gave them a bright grin, and said, "Great job, girls! We can start installing the first six on the Raptor."

Surprisingly, the Maliri women didn't react to her praise, and instead stared off behind her, gazing excitedly at something in the distance. The Nymph giggled at their spellbound expressions, guessing the cause immediately, and eagerly turned to look for John herself. He had left Edraele's ship, walking quickly in her direction, and he waved at her with a wide smile on his face. The fact that he was always genuinely pleased to see her made her heart skip a beat, and she couldn't help striding over to greet him.

"How's it going, my gorgeous little Nymph?" he asked her cheerfully, while wrapping her up in a hug.

She gazed up at him, delighted to see him looking so happy, and said, "We're making great time. These Maliri are lovely, and working really hard!"

He nodded, then looked out at the Raptor, where the Maliri Engineers were rapidly scrambling out of the bored out hole for the Central Core. The ten engineers fanned out to sit on the exposed substructure of the gunship's wings, the armoured plating having been removed a few hours earlier. The other ten engineers who'd been working on the weapons, had gathered around as well, and were gazing at him in adoration.

"Thanks all of you, for helping us out with this refit," he told them with a grateful smile. "It might seem like just another bit of maintenance to you ladies, but I promise you're going to help us make a big difference to a lot of people, the Maliri included."

The women all grinned back at him, looking overjoyed to receive his praise, and seemed to be sunning themselves in his presence.

Jade smiled at him, and gazed at her pre-occupied crew as she said, "What's your plan now?"

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully, and said, "I was going to get suited up, and use the mag-boots on the Phalanx armour to help remove the Laser Cannons on the flanks of the Invictus. It looks like we aren't quite ready with the Beam Lasers yet though, so I guess there's no great rush."

"You could help us upgrade the barrels on the Beam Lasers!" Ioelena gasped in excitement, leaping at the chance to have John stay with them. "We were able to swap them on the Pulse Cannons, as these new barrels are so light we could easily lift the new ones into place with two people helping. The Beam Laser barrels are ten metres long though, and far too heavy for us. That means using a grav-hoist, which is going to be much more time consuming."