Three Square Meals Ch. 072

Alyssa's eyes smouldered as she replied, "She's on her way!"

***

Tashana peeled back the pre-packaged emergency combat rations she'd found stashed in one of the medical cabinets, and dug in with one of the dull spoons she'd scavenged. She didn't trust that AI further than she could throw her, and as a light-based hologram, she wouldn't be able to throw her at all. There was no way she was going to allow Faye, or any of the indoctrinated thralls, to prepare her meals.

"So you just rode in there and killed everything in sight, just to rescue me from the Underworld?" she asked Faye, waving a spoon at her for emphasis. She felt a sharp pang of loss as she added sarcastically, "Did you really have to wait until my crew got slaughtered before coming along to try and save the day?"

Tashana peeled off her mask and cowl so she could eat from the spoon, and did her best to ignore the look of pity that flickered across the digital creature's face.

"I'm really sorry about your crew, we had no idea!" Faye replied, her cute face turned down into a sympathetic frown. "John wanted to come here to rescue you straight away, but he had some other commitments we had to attend to first. After that, we raced straight here, and just followed the signal from the tracking implant."

The spoon clicked against Tashana's teeth as she froze, but she managed to mask her shock well, and swallowed down the dry, bland rations. Reaching for a glass of water, she said offhandedly, "Ah, right, that makes sense now."

Her mind whirled as she drank from her glass. A tracking implant... How the hell did that get there, and how the fuck did the Progenitor get the tracking devi-

Irillith...

That fucking bitch had screwed her over again. The only explanation that made sense was that her sister must have stuck an implant in her before she was banished, then handed over the tracking device to this Progenitor when she'd fallen under his thrall.

Tashana stifled a near-hysterical laugh, as she realised that she'd wasted decades of her life searching for answers on Mael'nerak, when her twin who'd mocked her relentlessly, had whored herself out to a Progenitor the first chance she'd got. She was forced to grudgingly admit to herself that those long years spent unearthing Progenitor troves had served one useful purpose: It had provided her with enough knowledge to know exactly what a Progenitor was, and what he could do. Otherwise, she might well be one of his hapless slaves, just like Irillith was. There might be a sense of cruel irony there, but Irillith still needed to suffer, just as she had.

Faking a yawn, Tashana said politely, "I'm tired, would you mind leaving me to rest, please. I'd like to get some sleep."

The AI nodded graciously, duped by her subterfuge, and smiled at her as she said, "Of course! Remember, just ask me if you want anything, and I'll be happy to oblige in any way I can!"

"Would you mind giving me a bit of privacy?" Tashana asked, faking embarrassment. "I need to use the bathroom, and it feels weird knowing you're watching me."

Faye shook her head, and replied, "No, I don't mind at all! Sorry, I should have thought of that before, but as a synthetic lifeform, I tend to overlook some of the realities of life for organic creatures."

The purple girl waved her goodbye with an endearing smile on her face, clearly designed to lull the foolish and unwary into believing her lies. Tashana had to trust that she was telling the truth about this however, and she walked towards the ensuite bathroom while glancing over at the full-body scanner. Taking a deep breath, she abruptly changed direction, then darted over to the medical machine.

The controls were fairly rudimentary, with the labels adjacent to each control written in Terran. She'd learnt the rather primitive language as a child, to better enjoy the ribald and gratuitous entertainment shows their civilisation insisted on blasting out around the galaxy. It took a couple of quick taps to bring up the last scan results - her own, just as she'd suspected.

The image of her body should have been swathed in green, but her catalogue of injuries left most of her highlighted in yellow, with various areas in orange through to red for the most severe. She scowled at the bright, clinical depiction of what actually represented long years of horrible abuse, but her eyes were drawn to one particular area painted in a bright scarlet. There was an ugly misshapen ball in the middle of her cerebral cortex, which the scanner helpfully diagnosed as a terminal brain tumour. Data scrolled down next to the tumour, listing fatal strokes or seizures as potential risks to her life, with preliminary symptoms identified as debilitating headaches and mental instability.

She stared at it in horror, her scarred hand pressed to her forehead as she reeled from the scan results. Realising there was nothing she could do about the tumour now, she forced herself to ignore it for the moment. Her eyes flashed over the image once again, until she found what she was looking for. Ringed in red, the tiny device was in her neck, an inch above her collarbone.

She jabbed the power button, killing the display, and rushed over to the bathroom stall before her activities might be detected.

***

Later that evening, Nymaleth started to come around, stretching languidly then cuddling up against the warm, soft body in bed with her. The realisation that she was desperately thirsty, hit her just at the same time as she reeled at the fact that she was in bed with another woman. The soft, smooth body cuddled up against her definitely did not belong to a man! Her eyelids fluttered open, and she found herself staring into Darana's equally shocked, dark blue eyes.

"Fleet Commander!" Darana blurted out, trying to scramble clear.

"Captain!" Nymaleth croaked, but her eyes were drawn to a sight that instantly made her forget about the nude woman in bed with her.

Two tall glasses of water were placed within easy reach on the table beside her bed, and she lunged over the shocked woman beside her, grabbed the nearest glass, before gulping it down in her haste to slake her thirst. She was about to down the other one too, but a gentle voice in her mind made her freeze.

*Why not share that with Darana, the poor girl's just as thirsty,* the voice said.

Nymaleth reached for the glass, and handed it over in a shaking hand to her second-in-command, who was staring at her wide-eyed in fright. Darana gave her a grateful smile, then gulped down the drink, her throat bobbing as she quenched her parched throat.

*Good girl, I can feel how much better she feels already,* the voice praised her, sending a shiver of contentment up Nymaleth's spine.

"Nymaleth..." Darana said, staring at her in amazement. "Can you hear a voice talking to you?"

The House Ghilwen Fleet Commander slowly nodded, her own icy-blue eyes staring back at the younger woman in equal astonishment.

*I'm speaking to both of you,* the soothing voice stated, the warm tones sweeping through Nymaleth's mind, and easing her worries. *There's nothing to be afraid of, something wonderful has happened to both of you. You met John Blake.*

The two women relaxed as Edraele spoke to them at length, and Nymaleth lay back on the bed, her head resting on the pillow as she stared into Darana's eyes. They smiled at each other as the voice explained their wonderful new status, and they reached out in awe to touch the snowy white head of hair they both had received, courtesy of being blessed with John's cum in their stomachs.

That had come as quite the revelation, as neither of them remembered anything beyond coming back to the bedroom with him. Nymaleth ran her hand over her toned abdomen, and felt a thrill of excitement as the voice explained that she still carried his cum inside, at least for a couple more hours. When the voice finally revealed that she was in fact Edraele Valaden, and was one of John's Matriarchs, neither Nymaleth nor Darana were fazed in the slightest, feeling at peace with her gentle mental caresses. When she told them that if they were good girls, Edraele would ask John if he could visit them again, their eyes gleamed with excitement, and they grinned at each other with anticipation.

***

The Invictus weaved its way closer to Epsilon Aquarii, the home system for House Valaden and the massive shipyard known as Genthalas Station. The next day passed uneventfully, with Tashana keeping a low profile, and the crew busying themselves with their various projects, training, and research.

Dana took full advantage of Tashana's wholehearted rejection of all things Progenitor, by kneeling down to enthusiastically service John every chance she got. As soon as he loaded her down with several pints of rich creamy cum, she would glide across the Bridge to the Briefing Room, moving elegantly despite the almost-constantly swollen belly she cradled with her slender hands. She would then pore over the picture of the smashed Progenitor spacecraft on Arcadia, feeling that extremely irritating, nagging itch in her mind, teasing her with the knowledge that there was some kind of wondrous Progenitor schematic, just waiting to be unlocked.

She spent hour after hour wracking her brain, desperately trying to conjure whatever mysterious data was hidden away in her mind, but sadly, to no avail.

Until the very last day that is.

It was dinner time, and the crew gathered in the Galley, chattering excitedly as they discussed their imminent arrival at Genthalas station. Calara had led the kitchen team in preparing a delicious roast dinner, and they all eagerly sat down to eat, when they smelled the incredible aromas wafting from the kitchen.

While Calara and Sakura served up, Dana slipped under the table, eager to get started on her own rich, sweet-tasting dinner. John smiled at her affectionately as she went to work, and he massaged her neck and head as Jade had taught him, while Dana pressed her nose into his groin and moaned in delight at his skilled touch. The vibrations in her clutching throat soon tipped him over the edge, and they stared into each other's eyes as she swallowed repeatedly, providing her own skilled massage to his pulsating length.

He helped her up when he was done, and groaned, "I don't know how you manage it, but you seem to be getting better every time!"

Alyssa laughed, and said, "I'm not surprised! She's getting a ton of practice."

John and the girls laughed at that, but Dana was quiet, her sky-blue eyes flaring wide in wonder. "Holy fuck!" she blurted out, drawing everyone's attention to her, the laughter dying on their lips. She turned to Irillith, and reaching out her hand across the table, she gasped, "I need your help!"

The Maliri girl flinched as she realised what the redhead was asking from her, but with a resolute expression on her beautiful face, she clasped Dana's outstretched hand. Irillith's angular eyes flared with a fierce inner light, and from that violet nimbus, a glowing projection blazed out across the room. A huge and incredibly detailed schematic appeared before them, revealing yet more of the Progenitor secrets that had been locked inside Dana's remarkable mind.

"Fuck me..." John swore under his breath, as he gaped at it in wonder.