Three Square Meals Ch. 085

Faye's elfin face was uncharacteristically sombre. "Alright, here goes," she said, taking a deep breath. "I really hate seeing any of you get hurt!"

John was surprised by the vehemence of her emphatic declaration. He gave her a gentle smile as he said, "I don't like seeing the girls get injured either, so I try to avoid exposing them to unnecessary risk. Sometimes though, when the stakes are very high, we have to step in and take some chances."

"I know, but in the Battle of Ashana, Dana, Rachel, and Alyssa were all nearly killed!" Faye protested, biting her lip anxiously.

"I nearly backed away from that fight because I was worried it would be too dangerous," John admitted, gazing away into the distance. "That was definitely the closest I've ever come to losing Dana."

"So why do it then?!" Faye asked in frustration. "I love all of you, and it's terrifying seeing any of you get hurt! Why put yourself in so much danger?"

"It's a good question," John replied, his tone quiet and thoughtful. "You're right, we could have just flown away and left the Ashanath to their fate. But they're good people and didn't deserve to be hunted to extinction by the Drakkar."

"But you keep putting yourselves in danger!" Faye persisted. "Everywhere you go in the Invictus, you get into one desperate fight after another!"

John smiled at her and said, "That's not really the ship's fault. With this Progenitor stirring up trouble all over the place, we have to keep racing around to undo all the problems he sets in motion. In fact, the only reason we've been able to stop so much of his meddling is due to the Invictus' speed. Without that, we'd have been too late to save Terra against Nexus, rescue the Terran Fleet at Regulus, or stop the Drakkar at Ashana."

"Yes, but if you didn't have the ship, then you and the girls wouldn't keep getting hurt!" Faye retorted.

"I suppose that was essentially true, up until yesterday. The assassins who attacked us on Terra had nothing to do with the ship. In actual fact, having you in the Invictus stopped their hijack attempt and you used the ship to take out the three ninjas who were attacking Jade. We also needed the Invictus' speed to reach Calara before Mikaboshi could start operating on her." John looked at Faye curiously and asked, "Why are we discussing the Invictus all of a sudden anyway?"

Faye looked very shifty and averted her gaze from his.

"I thought you were supposed to be telling me what was bothering you?" John asked, his tone gentle and encouraging. "I can't help if you keep it a secret."

"I was thinking about taking the ship!" Faye blurted out.

John frowned in confusion. "Taking it? Taking it where?"

"Away from all of you!" Faye confessed. "If you didn't have access to the ship any more, then you'd be safe on Terra for a few weeks; at least until the Maliri sent a ship to pick you up. Then you'd have to fly to Genthalas and build a replacement. That would keep all of you safe for at least two or three months! I was going to use that time to try and think of some better way of protecting all of you!"

John's eyes widened in shock as he realised she was deadly serious. "But that's crazy!" he protested. "We'd be stuck in drydock for months while the Progenitor was running around totally unopposed! I can't even imagine what kind of trouble he's planning next, but without us there to stop him, his target would be doomed!"

"But you're planning to go to the Brimorian Enclave next, and I know you're going to end up getting in trouble there too! One of you is bound to get hurt!" Faye protested, her hands clenched into fists with her frustration. "I feel so powerless when that happens! There's nothing I can do to protect you when you're away from the Invictus!"

John took a deep breath to calm himself down. "You might well be right about visiting the Brimorians, but if there is trouble there, it was probably instigated by the Progenitor. The sooner we can put an end to it, the less dangerous whatever he's stirred up will be in the long term."

"Can't all of you just run away and go and live somewhere safe?" Faye asked plaintively. "You could settle down with the girls and raise a family with them. All of you could live happily ever after."

"We have friends and family, Faye," John explained, his tone patient. "Calara wouldn't want to abandon her parents and brothers, and I care a great deal about Edraele and the Maliri. If we just fled, they'd all end up being enslaved or killed by this Progenitor. He might even be about to launch an invasion in the next few weeks. Without the ship and our gear to fight him off, you'd have sentenced all of us to death."

Faye looked aghast and she blurted out, "I didn't think he'd be attacking so soon! You've never mentioned that before!"

"I'm not saying he will," John replied, raising his hand in a calming gesture. "But it's always a possibility. The truth is, we have no idea what his motives are and don't know anything about his current plans. All we can do is keep trying to prepare for that fight the best we can, at least until we know more."

"Isn't there some way of avoiding a confrontation with him?" Faye asked, her eyes lighting up with hope.

"If I could convince him to pack up and head home, I'd do so in a heartbeat," John replied with a slight smile on his lips. "Unfortunately, I have a feeling he won't be so easily persuaded."

The purple sprite's shoulders slumped and she said, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost any of you! I've made extremely detailed subroutines to handle all our interactions and the thought of not being able to run any of those programs for you or the girls fills me with a huge sense of loss."

"I feel the same way if I think about losing any of my friends," John told her gently. "But billions of lives are at stake, as well as those of our friends and families. They need us to stop the Progenitor, which means we have to look out for each other. If you had run off with the ship, then you wouldn't have been there to help keep the girls safe from the assassins, would you?"

Faye squared her shoulders stoically and looked him in the eyes. "You're right. I'd started to come to the same conclusion myself, which is why I didn't go through with it."

"Well, I'm extremely glad you decided to stay," John said, his relief quite obvious. Giving her a disapproving frown, he added, "But please come and talk to me if you even think about stealing the ship again, okay?"

"I will, I promise," Faye said earnestly. She looked crestfallen as she added, "Are you upset with me now?"

"No, I'm not upset," John replied, giving her a reassuring smile. He brushed his finger across the image of her purple cheek as he murmured, "With the way you look and act, I forget sometimes that you've only been alive for a couple of months. You're still just trying to find your way. The rate you've been learning and growing is astonishing."

She closed her eyes and whispered, "I can't wait until I can actually feel your touch. When you visited me in the Cyber-realm, it was amazing!"

"I'd love to do that again, but I'd only get about thirty seconds with you," John said, giving her a helpless shrug. "At least until I can do something about my rogue Progenitor-guide."

"I know, and I don't want to see you exhaust yourself trying to do that again," Faye replied, leaning in to give him an affectionate kiss on the tip of his nose. "I'll be patient, and I promise I'll come and speak to you if I start getting worried about anything again."

"You're a good girl, thank you," John replied, smiling at her gratefully. He glanced at his watch to check the time. "I better get back and rescue Jehanna. I dread to think what Alyssa and the girls are talking to her about!"

"I've got a pretty good idea," the purple girl said with a cute grin.

Rising from his seat, John glanced down at the medal. "Do you want me to keep that safe for you until you get your body? I can put it with my medals until then."

"I'd really like that, thank you," Faye replied, looking touched.

"It was good to catch up," John said, scooping up the medal and putting it in his pocket. "Do you feel a bit better now?"

The purple sprite fluttered to her feet and walked with him towards the Bridge. "Much better, thanks! You were right, talking about everything really helped!"

They shared a parting smile before he walked up the ramp to the grav-tube, waving Faye goodbye as he stepped into the red anti-gravity field.

*Wow! We dodged a bullet there!* Alyssa exclaimed, sounding alarmed. *If Faye had swiped the Invictus, we'd have been totally fucked!*

John could feel Edraele's worry across their bond as she thought to him, *Are you sure it's wise to leave Faye in place? AI can be unpredictable and irrational at times; their thought processes are radically different from organic life. There's no guarantee she won't turn on you in the future and she has unrestricted access to the full firepower the Invictus has at its disposal.*

John considered Edraele's advice for a moment before stepping out of the grav-tube onto Deck Two. *I trust Faye, I don't think she's going to turn on us. She's just trying her best to deal with new 'feelings' or however her programming deals with our interactions. I think we can just put this down to growing pains.*

*Check out the cyberphile!* Alyssa said with amusement. *Only a few months ago, I'd have struggled to convince you not to shut her down permanently!*

*All Faye's ever done is be helpful and try to protect us,* John replied thoughtfully. *She's earned my respect and bought herself a lot of latitude to deal with a little hiccup like this. It's probably sensible to keep a close eye on her to make sure she doesn't get in that state again, but she's promised to speak to me about anything troubling her.*

*I'll defer to your feelings on the matter,* Edraele said, sounding more at ease. *I'm not actually there with you on the ship, so I'm sure your reading of the situation is more accurate than mine.*

*I asked you to forewarn me about dangers and that perspective has been invaluable. Keep doing what you're doing, I really appreciate it,* John requested, as he strolled up to the double doors at the end of the corridor.

Hitting the button, he walked into the Officers' Lounge where the girls were leaning forward and chatting avidly to Jehanna. The conversation suddenly stopped and they looked his way, mischievous smiles on lots of faces, not just Alyssa's.

"We've just been having a fascinating discussion," Jehanna informed him, raising an eyebrow as she looked his way.

John felt a little like a deer in the headlights as he walked over to the girls, nine sets of eyes watching his every move. "I'm sure I'd be asking for trouble if I ask for details, so instead I'll just ask: Has everyone been nice to you?"

"They've all been lovely," Jehanna replied, glancing around the group and giving them a grateful smile. There was a gleam of excitement in her eyes as she continued, "Although it's going to take all my willpower to resist making an award-winning exposé about the Lionesses! I can just imagine the reaction if everyone knew that you had two Maliri on your crew, let alone that they were stunningly beautiful blue space elves! Then there's the fact that Nymphs can shapeshift into dinosaurs, or that you have an unshackled AI running the ship, or even that your crew have psychic abilities!"

"So everyone's been very tight-lipped with you, have they?" John asked dryly, glancing at the girls.

Dana shrugged and replied, "We figured there was no point in keeping it a secret from her. Jehanna's a sexy girl. You're obviously going to fuck her senseless, load her up and get her to join the crew. I know Rachel and I can't wait for a threesome with her."

Jehanna smiled at the redhead. "Alyssa did promise I'd have eight beautiful girls eager to go to bed with me. It seems she wasn't exaggerating."

"It seems like they haven't scared you off yet," John said, trying his best not to get too distracted by thoughts of Jehanna getting intimate with the girls. "I wouldn't mind having a chat with you for a few minutes, if this is a good time to interrupt?"

"As long as we can chat in the bedroom, I'm all ears," Jehanna replied with a flirtatious grin.

He offered her his hand as the rest of the girls laughed and made lewd comments. John smiled and rolled his eyes at them as he said, "Alright, calm down everyone. We really do need to just talk."

Alyssa rose from her chair and said archly, "There's other things we can be doing while we chat."

Jehanna didn't seem bothered in the slightest by Alyssa coming along to join them, so John led them over to the door and gave the rest of the girls a wave goodbye. "We'll all meet up for dinner and catch up as a group," he called over his shoulder. "There's still a few things we need to wrap up before we go on vacation."

The rest of the crew stood as well, then followed them out of the lounge as they split up to continue working on their various tasks. Alyssa knew exactly what he had in mind, so she helpfully passed on his list of passing thoughts to the relevant girls.

John walked down the corridor with Jehanna matching his every step. When he glanced at her to see how she was doing, he realised she was watching him, a gleam in her brown eyes as she studied his face. Pausing at the door to the main bedroom, he ushered the two girls inside. Alyssa slipped her hand into Jehanna's as they neared the bed, pulling her in for a chaste kiss before they both kicked off their shoes and climbed onto the covers.

"So, what would you like to talk about?" Jehanna asked him, a seductive smile on her face as she leaned backwards to lie on the bed, propping herself up on her elbows.

"I think we should have a chat about your role with us, should you decide to join the crew," John replied, removing his own shoes and climbing onto the bed himself.

Alyssa knelt beside the supine girl and began to stroke her hand over Jehanna's lean stomach. She frowned for a second and undid some of the lower buttons on the reporter's white shirt, then smiled with satisfaction as her slender fingers were able to make skin-to-skin contact with Jehanna's dusky tummy. John's eyes were transfixed on the pair, watching Alyssa's bronzed fingers tracing slow circles around the smooth oval of Jehanna's bared stomach.

"You were right..." Jehanna murmured to Alyssa, as she watched him in fascination. "I've never met a man so intrigued by bared midriffs."

"There's a very good reason for that," John replied distractedly, moving across the bed to join them.

Jehanna looked a little sceptical. "The girls made a number of references to your... potency. After all the incredible things I've seen so far, I shouldn't have a hard time believing them, but I'm afraid I still have my doubts..."

"Why don't you show her, John?" Alyssa asked innocently, the hint of a smile on her face.

John managed to tear his eyes away from Jehanna's svelte stomach and smiled at the two girls. "I had planned on just talking first, but I can see you're both determined to upend my plans."

Jehanna sat up and then swung a toned thigh over his knees, linking her arms behind his head as she sat on his lap. "I haven't had a chance yet to properly thank you for saving my life. Then I woke up this afternoon and realised I no longer have to wear contact lenses, which have been the bane of my life for years! Alyssa pointed out that the scar from my appendectomy is gone, because you grew me a new appendix, and she told me that I was developing Crohn's Disease, but you healed that too!" She gave him a tender kiss. "Thank you, for everything..."

"You don't have to go to bed with me because you're grateful," John replied, placing his hands on her hips, and gently massaging her lower back. "I think you're a lovely girl... Consider those things compliments of the house."

"Can I go to bed with you simply because I find you very attractive?" she asked him quietly, giving him another sultry kiss.

He pretended to consider it for a moment, then smiled at her, revealing that he was only teasing. "I think I might be able to accommodate you there."

Alyssa had used the time they'd been flirting to quickly undress and she cuddled up behind Jehanna, pressing her bare breasts into her back. "It's obvious how much you want each other," she murmured, brushing Jehanna's long black hair away from her shoulders to place a soft kiss on her neck. She gazed into John's eyes as she started unbuttoning the rest of Jehanna's shirt. "I've been a terrible Matriarch... it's been over twelve hours since one of my girls emptied your quad. Fortunately, Jehanna's eager to help you get some relief."

John's cock had already swollen with arousal, and it flexed at the thought of being inside the beautiful girl straddling him.

Jehanna's eyes widened as she felt him move and she hitched up her skirt before grinding her pubic mound against him. "You feel as huge as I remembered," she gasped in excitement, rubbing her panty-clad pussy against his length. "And so hot!"

Alyssa peeled off the writhing girl's shirt and deftly unclipped her bra, snaking one of her hands around to gently knead Jehanna's B-cup breasts. The Indian girl let out a low moan of arousal as Alyssa's other hand delved lower, following the contours of Jehanna's lower belly until she found her moist pussy.

John gazed into Jehanna's eyes as he kissed her, feeling her quivering in his arms as Alyssa teased her body. She let out a sudden gasp and arched her back, her pupils dilating with arousal.

"She's nice and wet for you, but she's a bit smaller than me," Alyssa murmured conversationally as she slid her deft fingers back and forth inside the quaking girl. "It's going to be a tight fit..."

No longer able to hold back, John carefully lifted Jehanna from his lap so that he could start getting undressed. Alyssa wasted no time helping the dusky reporter out of her skirt and black lace panties, leaving her in a pair of black silk stockings. She gently pushed Jehanna back and dived between her legs, soft moans filling the room as the blonde's tongue started lapping away. Jehanna's thighs began to tremble as Alyssa worked her towards her first climax.

The dusky girl turned her head to watch John undress, gazing at him through long black lashes. Her dark-brown eyes widened when he took off his trousers, a flicker of apprehension on her face as she stared at his impressive size. Before she could say anything, she screwed her eyes shut and cried out with pleasure as Alyssa tipped her over the edge.

John crawled across the bed to move into position, while Alyssa massaged the quivering girl's thighs. "She's all ready for you," she purred, flashing him a lusty glance with her bright blue eyes.

Taking her place between Jehanna's splayed legs, John waited for the girl to recover, although his cock throbbed with eager impatience. When her eyes fluttered open, she gave Alyssa a languid, satiated smile and said, "I could definitely get used to that."

"We've only just started," Alyssa said with a melodic laugh, lying down on the bed beside her. She leaned in to give Jehanna a kiss, before adding, "The rest of the girls are eager to taste you too."

Jehanna flushed with arousal, then turned to look at John, her lust-fogged gaze focusing on his hefty girth. "There's no way that's going to fit," she muttered, a sudden flicker of fear in her eyes.

John leaned over her but made no move to try anything more. "You trust me, don't you?" he asked with a reassuring smile. "You know I'd never do anything to hurt you, right?"

She paused for a moment, then crossed her wrists behind his neck as she gave him a tender kiss. "I've never been more sure of anything," she replied with conviction.