Three Square Meals Ch. 075

Faye nodded, and said, "Sure! Let me just load that up for you!"

The interface flickered for a moment, before changing to a view of the Medical Bay, where Irillith lay unconscious on the medical scanner. A horrific gunshot wound had left a ragged, terrible hole in her lower torso, and Tashana watched as Rachel administered a stimulant via a hypo-syringe, waking her sister up.

Irillith let out a low, strangled cry of agony, moaning with the indescribable pain as she writhed on the bed. Tashana was riveted to the screen as she listened to John offering to help her, but only if she gave him permission to do so. She saw that moment when she broke, that dreadful look in Irillith's violet eyes as she agreed to become one of John's thralls, knowing what it would mean.

Watching her twin begging for help while convulsing in agony was an oddly conflicting experience, and Tashana sat back to try and make sense of it. While there was a brief moment of satisfaction at seeing Irillith suffer, she was surprised to find that joy was quickly replaced by feelings of pity and sympathy. Tashana knew pain and suffering like two old friends, and as much as she'd wished to introduce her sister to them both, to finally witness it in all its gory, merciless detail felt hollow, and filled her with sadness.

"Show me the rest, but as they were before John met them, not as they are now," she muttered, glancing at Faye.

"Will do!" Faye replied, giving her a kind smile. She paused for a second, her big luminescent eyes blinking once, before she added, "I've queued up all the footage. As you didn't specify an order, I've arranged them chronologically. Alyssa met John on his old freighter, the Fool's Gold, not the Invictus, so the camera footage isn't as good quality."

Tashana nodded, and said, "That's fine, go ahead."

Faye began the playback, watching the spellbound Maliri girl, as she stared at the screen. First there was the waif-like Alyssa, who made her fateful agreement with John that had so radically transformed their lives. Then it was Calara on the screen, smaller than she was now, with vicious scars across her back and a battered face. Tashana watched the Latina spying on John and Alyssa together, before walking over to willingly join them in bed together.

Dana was next, with her horribly burned waifish face, completely unrecognisable from the statuesque beauty she was now. She sat in a long meeting room with John, Alyssa, and Calara, where they offered her a job as their Chief Engineer, and she gladly agreed to join them. Jade was all over John from the start, while with Rachel it was a lengthier process, with hours of conversation fast-forwarded, before she agreed to join the crew.

To see Sakura start off as a deadly assassin, who had inflicted so much damage to the crew before she had been captured, was the most shocking of all. She watched in fascination as they operated on the Asian girl, removing a bewildering amount of cybernetic implants from her body, before leaving her a pretty, petite version of the glorious Amazon who had escorted her into the ship. The parallels to Tashana's own situation were striking. To see Rachel labouring away in surgery for hours, and then the miraculous results afterwards, gave her a sense of hope that she thought had long been extinguished.

The footage all followed the same pattern, with John seeking each girl's permission, before helping them in various ways. Faye began queuing up more footage, showing the girls as they recovered from their various ordeals, then as they began to grow and develop far beyond their humble beginnings. Tashana made no objection to her choice of videos, so the helpful digital girl spooled up hour-after-hour of footage. She cycled between the different girls in their moments of happiness filled with laughter, then showing them working as a team to beat impossible odds, and their loving victory celebrations afterwards.

Tashana flinched instinctively at first when she saw them naked in bed, but it didn't take long for revulsion to be replaced by fascination, and she found herself leaning forward to watch with eyes wide open. It was all so different from the brutality Tashana had experienced, and there was no violence, or pain, just playful fun as John and the girls enjoyed each other.

They sat and watched nearly six hours of video, detailing their lives aboard the Invictus, until an image finally shocked Tashana out of her transfixed state. It was Faye, but not as she was now. Instead, she appeared as a tiny, four-inch-tall androgynous sprite that Tashana instantly recognised. The image was taken of her speaking with Dana and Rachel, and the purple construct looked delighted, as she said, "I'd like to be called Faye."

Tashana looked at Faye in surprise, and the AI smiled at her, and replied to her unanswered question, "He's helped me too. They all have."

The footage showed Faye interacting with the crew, speaking with John as she learned from them and developed at an astonishing rate. They watched as he helped her deal with her shock over Jade's death, and the bonding moments where their trust in her grew and she was given more responsibilities, truly becoming part of their team. Finally she watched as Dana and Irillith laboured away for days on end, building a new Nexus server for her, and saving her from an untimely end. The final image was taken from her special archives, showing John planting a kiss on her lovely holographic cheek, with Faye's eyes closed in bliss.

"You're in love with him!" Tashana gasped, staring at the AI in shock.

Faye blushed demurely as she glanced at the image of John, and said with a fond smile, "I am. He didn't trust me at first, but we've both grown a lot since then." Turning back to look at the stunned Maliri girl, she added quietly, "I'm a digital creature, so I'm not affected by any of John's Progenitor abilities that influence organic women. I can quite objectively tell you that he's a good person, genuinely trying to help people. I'd give everything I have to be in the position you're in right now, but as much as I wish for it, I know it's something I can never experience."

Tashana stared at the forlorn purple girl in amazement, and said, "You wish you were me?!"

The purple girl nodded, then gave her a sad smile, as she replied, "Please don't waste this opportunity, they're offering you a wonderful gift."

"Alyssa said that Rachel could heal me too," Tashana said cautiously.

Shaking her head, Faye replied, "No, I don't mean that. They're offering to let you join their family." With that, she rose from the desk, and gave Tashana a gentle smile as she added, "I think you've seen enough to make your decision. I'll leave you to think it over, but Sakura and I will be waiting outside for you, when you've made up your mind."

Tashana stared at the purple girl in shock, then said, "Thank you for showing me everything." She paused for a moment, then smiled, as she added, "I hope your wish comes true one day."

"Thank you, that's nice of you to say," Faye replied, returning her smile, before vanishing in a purple flash.

Turning and leaning back in her chair, Tashana stared at the window, her mind a blur. The kind-hearted sprite had given her a lot to think about.

***

It had only taken ten minutes for the Invictus to return to the Epsilon Aquarii system, and they docked at Genthalas while John's burns regenerated as he slept. The rest of the Matriarchs jumped into the system shortly afterwards, while the allied fleets dispersed, returning to their respective House territories. The entirety of the House Valaden fleet returned to Genthalas too, to provide additional security with so many House flagships in attendance.

When Gaenna, her cohort of Matriarchs, and their Fleet Commanders all arrived on the station, Edraele greeted them like long-lost sisters. After that first dramatic meeting John, they were all so eager to see him again, they agreed to put past differences aside, and gladly accepted Edraele's offer of guest suites until John was available.

Now that all the Matriarchs were settled and a disastrous battle averted, Edraele could attend to the business of running House Valaden. Her first command was to begin the deployment of fresh comms beacons around her territory, to replace the ones destroyed by hostile Houses. She then began the long process of refitting her ships with all the new technology that John had provided, using nearly nine-hundred fanatically dedicated engineers to commence work immediately.

The "Young Matriarchs" agreed with her plan the moment she raised it. They all understood the value in upgrading the most powerful vessels in their alliance with the new Tachyon Drives, as doing so would enable them to respond more quickly to threats. House Loraleth's forces were to be next, then Aeberos, Naestina, and finally Ghilwen's, the Maliri following House Rankings by instinct.

With those important matters attended to, Edraele was forced to wait for John to recover from his injuries. True to their word, Kali, Leena, Nyrelle, and Valani kept her company, distracting her with questions about running their Houses. She knew what they were doing, but she smiled at them and played along, always eager to help them learn, and grateful for something to take her mind off her worries.

***

John awoke feeling fully refreshed and brimming with energy, and he grinned as he felt warm, soft female bodies draped over him. Glancing down, he saw thick manes of blonde, red, and brown hair, and he smiled at the thought of an energetic foursome with the three nubile teenagers.

"If you're thinking about fucking us, you must be better," Alyssa said, looking up at him with a sparkling smile on her face. She hugged him fiercely, and added, "I'm so glad you're okay!"

Dana and Rachel had only been lightly sleeping, and they awoke with only the slightest of telepathic nudging. They hugged him too, overjoyed to see John looking vibrantly healthy once again.

"Thanks for looking after me," he said, with a grateful grin. "I feel amazing!"

Rachel smiled at him, then urged him to sit up so she could examine his wounds. They all sat up and gave him some space, before the brunette carefully peeled away the bandages and gel packs, revealing perfect, fully-healed skin.

"I know I was expecting it, but it's still astonishing seeing it work like that," she said, examining his back in wonder.

*Talking of healing, we have company,* Alyssa thought to him, glancing towards the bedroom doorway.

Sakura was still armoured, but she'd removed her helmet, her long jet-black hair fanning out over her shoulders and tumbling down her back. She stepped into the bedroom with Tashana following behind her, and glancing at the Maliri girl, she said kindly, "Our guest has made a decision. She wanted to speak to you."

"Thanks, Sakura," John said, giving her a warm smile.

"You're welcome," she replied, grinning at him in delight to see he was fully recovered. She glanced at Alyssa, then turned and left the bedroom to remove her combat gear.

"We'll leave you to talk," Rachel said, sliding out of bed, and beckoning Dana to follow her.

The redhead pouted, but scooped up her clothes and left with the brunette, whispering furtively, "I wanna know what she says!"

John smiled at the departing girls, then glanced at the chair near the bed, and said, "Take a seat, Tashana. What's on your mind?"

She watched him warily for a moment, then seemed to make a decision before she walked across the bedroom, and sat on the edge of the bed. Looking from Alyssa to John, she asked, "I've chosen to let Rachel help me. So, what happens next?"

He gave her a reassuring smile, as he replied, "Then we'll take you down to Medical, and she'll prep for surgery to remove that brain tumour. After that, Rachel will help you with the rest of your injuries."

"That's it?" she asked him dubiously.

Nodding, he replied, "Once she's helped you as much as she can, whatever you choose to do then is entirely up to you. Although, if you'd be willing to share some of your expertise on Mael'nerak, I'd really appreciate it. Any information you have that might help me protect the Maliri against the other Progenitor would be invaluable."

Tashana had been wary when he mentioned her research into Mael'nerak, but she looked at him in shock when she heard the last, and blurted out, "Another Progenitor! What do you mean?!"

Alyssa smiled grimly, and said, "As I explained before, John's a good Progenitor, but there's an evil one out there too, busy fucking everything up. He's been using a Wormhole Generator to jump around the galaxy, stirring up shit all over the place."

John met Tashana's startled glance in his direction, and said, "We've intervened and stopped him on three occasions so far. Firstly, he was behind a series of Drakkar raids against the Ashanath. Then he enthralled a Trankaran called 'the Glowing Queen', and tried to use her to start a civil war in the Trankaran Republic. Finally he enthralled a Terran Federation Admiral, and used her to stir up conflict between the Kintark and the Terrans in the Dragon March. Hundreds of thousands of Kintark and Terrans were killed before we managed to disrupt his plans. Unfortunately, he killed Admiral Lynton before we could question her."

"What about the Maliri Regency?" Tashana asked, looking ashen as she stared at him with big, frightened eyes.

John studied her for a moment, before he asked, "You already know what Mael'nerak did to the Maliri? How he turned your women into soldiers for his armies?"

"I've seen pictures, heard testimonies... He changed the Maliri, to make us welcome his subjugation," she faltered, wringing her hands together nervously in her lap. Her violet eyes hardened then, as she added in an accusatory tone, "Just as you've done to the Matriarchs!"

He gave her a look of regret as he replied, "I never wanted that to happen, but it's better this way."

"Better for who?! How can you be 'good', if you've turned the Maliri into your slaves?!" she demanded indignantly.

"They aren't my slaves," he replied, with a firm shake of his head. He gave her a reassuring smile, as he continued, "Now that we're back at Genthalas, just talk to anyone from House Valaden. Edraele and the Matriarchs from all our allied Houses have outlawed torture and murders - political assassinations have been practically eliminated overnight."

Alyssa nodded, and said, "All those white-haired Maliri on Genthalas, you must have seen them... Do you know what the white hair actually means?"

"That they've been turned into Thralls," Tashana replied, her tone blunt and damning.

John said in a quiet voice, "They do have a psychic connection to Edraele, but that's not the most important difference. I've undone Mael'nerak's tampering with the gender birth ratios. Any children those women have will have an equal chance of being male."

It took Tashana a couple of seconds to process what he was telling her, but she gaped at him in amazement as she suddenly realised the titanic shift this would have on Maliri society.

He smiled at her when he saw the light of understanding in her eyes, and said, "That's my long term plan to help your people - I'm just trying to stop the Maliri from driving themselves to extinction. Now that all the murders on the homeworlds have stopped, the men will start to return from the border stations. After that, nature will do the rest." He looked thoughtful as he added, "In the short term, with the matriarchs all linked to me, I can stop the other Progenitor from taking control of them. They'd be vulnerable to him, but I can keep the Maliri safe."

Tashana stared at him in silence for a long moment, the image of John pulling Tsarra Perfaren clear of her flames burned into her mind, just as she'd burned his flesh. Her hushed voice was full of regret as she murmured, "I was so wrong about you, you really do care about the Maliri. I'm sorry... about everything."

"That's okay, I'm just glad you can see that I'm trying to help your people," he said, looking relieved. After a moment's pause, a shadow of guilt crossed his face, and he sighed as he admitted, "You weren't completely wrong about me, though. I do have a darker Progenitor side. He was supposed to be a guide to my psychic abilities, but he fought against me, and managed to take control a few months ago."

"That sounds ominous. What happened?" she asked, her face impassive as she studied him.

"Edraele released him, trying to break into my mind. They fought, and when he defeated her, he wiped her mind as the first step of turning her into his Matriarch," John replied, meeting her searching gaze. He glanced at the blonde girl sitting beside him, and continued, "Alyssa helped me defeat him, and he's locked away in a psychic prison now."

Alyssa gave Tashana a regretful smile, and added, "I'm really sorry I was vague about that earlier. I'd only just started to build up a rapport with you, and I didn't want to scare you off."

"Is there any way he can take over again?" Tashana asked, her tone curious rather than angry.

Shaking his head, John replied, "There's no chance of him escaping, but I will need to face him again eventually. He's stopping me from unlocking my full psychic potential."

She thought about it for a moment, then gave him a tentative smile, and said, "Thank you for being honest with me. I appreciate it."

John returned her smile, and said, "I don't want to keep anything from you, and you deserve to hear the truth. Once Rachel's healed your injuries, I hope we can be friends." He glanced down at his state of undress, then gave her an embarrassed grin, and added, "If you give me a moment to get dressed, we'll take you down to Medical, and you can get started."

Tashana was quiet as she studied him. This kind, thoughtful man was nothing like the evil tyrant she'd envisaged. She'd spent years being abused by all sorts of vicious, sadistic monsters, but she felt instinctively that John had been truthful with her about everything. Calm and at ease now, she studied his handsome features, and finally letting her guard down, she felt a strong flush of attraction towards him. Tashana knew exactly what she was feeling. She was drawn to him by the instinctive lure that all Maliri felt towards a Progenitor, but she didn't fight it, she embraced it instead.

"I've changed my mind," she said swiftly, a slight flush in her scarred cheeks.

John looked worried, and trying to calm any worries she might have, he said, "I promise, there's no downsides to having Rachel heal your injuries."

She slowly shook her head, and said, "No, I don't mean that." She bit her lip, then added tremulously, "If I choose you to heal me, what happens next?"

When John glanced at Alyssa, she thought to him, *She's just watched six hours of video footage of you healing all of us. She knows the drill, I think she just needs to hear you say it.*

He focused on Tashana, and paused for a moment, before he replied, "Perhaps you should speak to the other girls on the crew? Then you can hear what they have to say, and get to know them a bit, before making your decision."

Tashana shook her head in a slow, deliberate motion, and replied, "What would they tell me? That you're a good man, and that they're in love with you? I've already seen how you helped each of them, and how all of you are together." She let out a forlorn sigh as she added, "I'm just so tired of being scared and alone, and of all the pain..."

John turned to face the Maliri girl, and beckoned her over. Tashana took a deep breath, before kicking off her boots and climbing over the bed towards him. She knelt there less than a foot away, staring at him with her violet eyes full of anxiety.

Reaching out with his hand in a slow and unthreatening manner, John paused with his fingers a few inches away from her belly. "May I?" he asked, quietly.