Three Square Meals Ch. 093

Bracing himself for a very unpleasant conversation, Charles was about to swipe his finger across the name of Henry Voss' personal assistant, when he hesitated and switched to a cluster of files instead. Searching through numerous folders, each tagged with a picture of a stunningly beautiful woman, he stopped at a grey-eyed brunette and opened up her file.

The dossier on Lieutenant Commander Rachel Voss was far more comprehensive than his files on the rest of the lionesses, the one exception being Commander Calara Fernandez. Both of the young women had served in the Terran Federation military, so he'd been able to uncover a wealth of information on each of them. Scanning through Rachel's file, Charles froze when he read one line, then let out a humourless laugh of disbelief.

Doctor Rachel Voss - emancipated from Henry Voss, 16th October 2776.

Charles knew that John Blake and the lionesses had recently travelled to New Eden, which he also knew was the homeworld of one of the richest men in the Terran Federation. It was shortly after that visit when Henry Voss had blown billions of credits on his acquisition spending spree. Could it really be that appallingly simple? Surely all this trouble couldn't be over some personal feud between father and daughter?!

As phenomenally wealthy as Henry Voss was, Charles could safely assume that one or more of the Admiralty were in his pocket. It was definitely in the realm of possibility that Voss might have found out exactly who John was and what he'd been working to accomplish at Olympus Shipyard. Charles grimaced, knowing just how small-minded, petty, and vindictive the fabulously rich could be. It wouldn't surprise him in the slightest if the mega-billionaire had squandered a huge sum of money, just to spite his estranged daughter and her lover...

"Fuck!" Charles swore vehemently, rubbing a hand over his face.

There was a short knock on the door, a double-rap of the knuckles that Victor only used to let Charles know it was urgent. Charles had a bit of a headache, but delivering some pain medication would hardly warrant Victor's emergency knock.

Sitting up straighter in his chair Charles called out, "Come in!"

Victor darted inside, glancing over his shoulder as he started to shut the door, "Sir, there's someone here to see you, I-"

"Stop wasting time and let me in!" a man's stern voice demanded, the door rebounding off a foot wedged in the doorway.

Victor's expression darkened and he looked like he was about to sternly rebuke the owner of the foot.

"It's alright, Victor," Charles said, eyes narrowing as he rose from his chair. "Let Mr. Voss in..."

The young lieutenant stepped aside and gestured for the smartly-dressed older businessman to enter the office. Once Henry had walked purposefully into the room, Victor looked at Charles and asked, "Will that be all, Sir?"

Shaking his head, Charles replied, "I'll call if I need anything. Thank you, Victor."

Closing the door after him, the lieutenant left the two grey-haired men staring at each other.

After an uncomfortable moment's silence, Charles frowned and said, "I've been trying to speak to you all day. You're a difficult man to track down."

"Yes, I heard," Henry Voss said with a wry smile.

Gritting his teeth in irritation, Charles gestured towards the sofas. "Why don't you take a seat, Mr. Voss."

Henry shook his head. "Actually I'd prefer to stand. I've been on a ship for the last twenty-two hours and it feels good to stretch my legs."

Charles nodded, then leaned against his desk, studying his guest. He'd seen numerous holo-images of the phenomenally successful entrepreneur, but he was surprised to see Henry Voss looked younger and more vital than the recent pictures he'd seen. Henry crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow in return, both men staring at one another, trying to gauge the other's measure.

"Alright, I might as well cut to the chase," Charles finally snapped. "Why are you sabotaging my refit?!"

"Sabotaging the refit? That couldn't be further from the truth." Henry Voss gave him another maddening smile and slowly shook his head. "I've brought a veritable army of technicians with me to assist with the upgrade of your vessels, as well as the initial batches of FTL Drives, Power Cores, and heavy-grade heatsinks."

Charles gaped at him in shock. "But I thought... you fired all the board members!"

"They were proving obstinate, so I dismissed them all," Henry declared with a glint of satisfaction in his grey eyes. "I've cancelled all civilian contracts with every corporation I now own and have initiated the expansion of facilities in all divisions. I intend to start manufacturing enough state-of-the-art components and weapons to support a massive shipbuilding program at Olympus Shipyard. The various boards objected to me running their companies at a massive loss for the foreseeable future, so I had to take steps."

"But this must be costing you billions!" Charles gasped, shocked to the core by Voss's announcement.

"I've been reliably informed that the total cost of this venture, forecast over the next three years, will be 212 billion credits," Henry said, not batting an eyelid at the incredible sums of money involved.

Charles shook his head in wonder. "Why would you do that?!"

"Two reasons," Henry said, his expression turning bleak. "Firstly, what's the use of all that money if we're all dead in a matter of months..."

"So you know then," Charles said, suddenly understanding what was driving the man.

With a heavy sigh, Henry nodded. "I found out when John and Rachel visited... They turned my world upside down; everything that used to seem so important, now feels hollow and pointless." He turned and walked over to the window, then stood and gazed out at the sprawling expanse of stars. "Even the stars look different now... dangerous, threatening..."

Charles walked over to join the troubled man, standing beside him and looking out into space. "I always used to find that view inspiring, wondering what kind of remarkable creatures might live in all those systems far beyond Terran Space. Now I finally know what lurks out there, I can only think that ignorance was bliss..." It came as quite a relief to actually have someone other than John to confide in. He glanced at Voss and added quietly, "What was the second reason?"

Henry didn't say anything for a long moment and when he did, his reply was barely more than a whisper and loaded with regret. "It's my last chance... to create a Voss Legacy that my daughter will actually be proud of..."

***

For the first time in what felt like weeks, Rachel awoke naturally rather than with a gentle telepathic prompting from Alyssa. She loved the blonde like a sister, but to be able to sleep through the usual morning wake-up call was glorious. The second surprise was not having Dana sprawled on top of her. Her gorgeous redheaded girlfriend was a hugger and liked to sleep as closely wrapped around Rachel as possible. Instead, she had a set of broad strong arms around her and she bit her lip with excitement, knowing who they belonged too.

"Happy birthday, beautiful," John whispered in her ear, sending a shiver of delight up her spine.

Rachel turned around so she was on her back and looked up at his smiling face. "I wasn't sure if you knew..."

"Sparks reminded me a few days ago," John replied, a fond look in his eyes. "How's it feel being nineteen?"

The brunette grinned at him. "Compared to my eighteenth birthday? I think it's fair to say I feel quite a bit different... Maybe it's because of that unexpected growth spurt?"

John laughed and placed a hand on her toned tummy. "It's amazing how much of a difference a healthy diet makes..."

She licked her full lips and glanced downwards. "Speaking of which, are you serving me one of your delicious breakfasts this morning?"

He gave her a playful smile and gestured to himself, sweeping his hand down his body. "Consider me your beck and call boy. I'm at your complete disposal today."

Rachel grinned with anticipation then pushed John's shoulder so he rolled over onto his back. The brunette moved with him, straddling his waist and smoothly impaling herself, her supple body yielding for his huge shaft. She shuddered with delight to feel him penetrate her so deeply, then once she was settled, placed her delicate hands on his chest to support herself.

Leaning forward, she began to move, gazing into his eyes as she purred, "I want to ride you like this until you're close, then I want you to flip me over and pound your cum into my womb. Dana's been complaining about getting withdrawal symptoms, so I'll share this one with the girls, then lunch and dinner you're all mine!"

"Whatever the lady desires," John replied with a grin. He reached up to cup her large breasts, each more than enough to fill his hand. "And how many times would you like to orgasm this morning?"

"I think two should suffice," she replied airily.

John frowned and shook his head. "I think we can do much better than that for the birthday girl..."

***

"Would you do the icing?" Sakura pleaded, a hopeful expression on her face. "I'll put on the candles!"

Calara looked dubious and replied, "Surely icing is part of the Head Chef's duties?"

"This is too important to mess up!" the Asian girl protested. "Please!"

"Oh, alright then," the Latina said with a smile, rolling her eyes.

Sakura gave her a delighted hug, then darted over to the cupboard to retrieve the tiny decorative candles. She searched through the drawer and pulled out a couple of the small containers. "You'll need to get a lot more when it's my birthday."

Calara frowned at her and said, "We should have more than enough. You'll be twenty-one won't you?"

"Ninety-six actually," the raven-haired girl replied, a hint of a smile teasing her lips. "I was in cryo for the last seventy-five of them..."

"How are you getting on with the cake, sleeping beauty?" Alyssa asked, sweeping into the kitchen. Before Sakura could reply, the blonde bent down to examine the layers of coffee sponge and icing with a critical eye. "Looks perfect!"

"I can't imagine how shocked my mom would've been to see me baking," the Asian girl said with a grin. "It's actually been good fun."

Alyssa slipped her arm around her friend's waist then gave her a friendly hug. "How about you two?" she asked Irillith and Tashana who were concentrating intently on preparing delicate-looking wraps.

Irillith turned and smiled. "Lunch is just about ready, we'll leave it in the refrigeration units, then we can pack it up when we're ready to go."

"Perfect!" the blonde declared. She sauntered over to Tashana and slipped her arms around the Maliri girl as she enquired playfully, "And how are you today, my lovely newly-bonded Thrall..."

"I'm feeling wonderful thanks, revered Matriarch," Tashana replied with a smirk, tilting her head back to give the blonde a quick kiss.

"Ugh, that makes me sound like I'm about two hundred years old!" Alyssa protested.

Calara turned around and playfully spanked her girlfriend on the bottom. "Haven't you heard the expression 'you shouldn't play with fire'? That probably goes double with teasing a pyrokinetic!"

Tashana snorted and shook her head. "Count yourself lucky that you haven't tried slugging it out with her. She doesn't pull her punches!"

Alyssa gave her a peck on a blue cheek. "Actually, I do. You got about fifty percent strength..."

The Maliri girl turned to gape at her in shock.

The blonde winked back, then turned to look at the others and announced, "Alright, Rachel's waking up again after her nap. We've still got a couple of hours until lunch, so we can finish everything off later. Let's go everyone!"

They filed out of the kitchen and Calara asked, "Are Sparks and Jade on their way?"

"Yeah, they're just heading up in the grav-tube."

The Nymph and the redhead reached the Deck Two corridor just as the rest of the girls left the Officers' Lounge. Jade's arrival was met with giggles from the rest of the girls and she gave them a helpless shrug as she toted the massive red present in her arms.

Dana gave the Nymph a reassuring pat on the shoulder. "Hey, it's what Rachel wanted..."

They strolled towards the bedroom to find John and Rachel in bed together, the brunette looking drowsy but very content after her post-coital snooze.

"Happy birthday!" everyone cheered, before treating her to a rousing rendition of the upbeat birthday song.

"Thanks everyone," Rachel said, giving her friends a warm smile.

Dana bounded onto the bed and flung her arms around her girlfriend. "Happy birthday, babes!" They shared a kiss, then the redhead asked eagerly, "Do you want your present?"

Rachel laughed at her exuberance and nodded. With an encouraging wave from Dana, Jade returned to the corridor and leaned around the door, where she'd hidden the huge parcel. It was wrapped in bright red wrapping paper, with the words 'happy birthday!' interspersed between a menagerie of cute baby animals.

"Is that what I think it is?" Rachel asked, her grey eyes shining with excitement. She sat up rather awkwardly, the heavy load of cum in her womb rounding out her abdomen.

Jade walked around the side of the bed, then carefully placed the huge present on the covers within reach of the birthday girl. Rachel tore open the packaging in a flurry of shredded paper and said playfully, "Just what I always wanted!"

Dana patted the brand-new Reaper Cannon. "I've made some tweaks just for you..."

The Nymph picked up the weapon again, then slid a pair of smart-linked glasses onto her face. After glancing at the built-in HUD, Jade let go of the underslung cannon, leaving the support weapon floating motionless in the air. She walked back several paces and the Reaper Cannon followed along silently at her side.

"That's perfect!" Rachel gasped, looking delighted.

Their Chief Engineer smiled at the brunette's joyful reaction. "I've built in extra anti-grav generators and there's a standby mode you can activate on the Paragon HUD. Turning that on ties the cannon to your body armour and it'll follow you around until you deactivate it again."

Rachel darted a glance at John. "That'll make it even more practical when I need to stop shooting to heal someone!"

"Very impressive," John replied, nodding his approval. "It might be worth incorporating that functionality into the standard version. I'm sure it'd be useful for all of you."

Dana grinned at him and replied, "One step ahead of you! I modified Irillith's Reaper Cannon this morning while Jade was building this one."

"I love my present, thank you," Rachel said, pulling her lover in for a tender kiss. She guided Dana's hand to her swollen tummy and quirked an eyebrow. "Want to share my birthday breakfast?"

After the girls had eaten their share of the late brunch, they spent the rest of the morning chatting together and relaxing in bed. After taking a shower and dressing in khaki slacks and a white shirt, John left his crew to get ready for their mysterious excursion, with Alyssa the only one who knew the details of their destination. He heard her declare that short floral dresses were the order of the day, and he smiled to himself in anticipation as he headed up to the Bridge. Bounding up the illuminated steps to join Faye on the Command Podium, he greeted her with a broad smile.

"You seem to be in a very good mood today, John," the purple sprite observed, grinning back at him as he sat in his chair.

"I am," he agreed feeling relaxed and carefree for once. "It's been wonderful to just have a few days without having to charge off to the rescue."

Faye gave him an anxious glance. "Are you sure it's wise to say something like that? We always seem to run into disaster every time the crew attempts to celebrate anything!"

Leaning forward in his chair, John nodded, his face serious. "Actually, that's what I wanted to speak to you about, honey. I'll have the watch communicator, so I'll be able to contact you if we get in any trouble, but I'd like to take a few extra precautions. Please keep the Invictus in geo-stationary orbit above our location and keep scanning the vicinity in case of approaching lifeforms or vehicles."

"Of course! I can perform sweeps with the Raptor and Valkyrie too!" Faye suggested, her brow furrowing in concentration. "The planet you intend to visit has quite varied topography, so I should be able to maintain a close vigil, while still remaining unobtrusive to the girls."

"We'll keep a good selection of firearms in the Raptor too," John agreed. "It's a shame we don't have any armour-equipping frames in there... that's something we need to install in the future."

"I know! I'll load the boys in the back!" Faye gasped, her luminous eyes widening. "If there's any trouble, they can do a low-altitude combat drop and you can use their armoured chassis as cover!"

"That's a great idea," John agreed. "We definitely need to prepare as if we're being extracted from a hostile battlefield."

"Don't worry, you can count on me to keep you safe!" Faye said, her elfin face looking up at him earnestly.

***

It had just turned one in the afternoon when the Invictus dropped out of hyper-warp into the Zeta Telescopii system. The battlecruiser's hull was bathed in the warm orange glow from the system's star as Faye ramped up power to the engines, sending them racing towards the planets within. Zeta Telescopii was a spectacular anomaly amongst the hundreds of systems in the Federation, containing over a dozen habitable planets, each one supporting a thriving Terran colony. Eleven of them were quite lovely continental planets, somewhat reminiscent of Terra itself, but the planet known as Myra's World was the crowning jewel of the system.

The Raptor descended through the atmosphere of the turquoise planet, with all the girls excited about their excursion to one of a handful of gaia-classification worlds within the Federation. Having secured permission to land from flight control, Faye brought them down through fluffy white cloudbanks over the hilly region that was their destination. Breaking through the clouds at last, they got their first glimpse of Myra's World and could only gasp at the beauty of the lush paradise planet. The Oberon nature reserve was a breathtaking sight, with its verdant meadows and majestic waterfalls, rainbows arcing gracefully over the cascading water.

"I've never seen anything so beautiful," Dana whispered in a voice full of awe. Her sky-blue eyes widened as if to take in every detail as she gazed through the cockpit canopy.

"I have," John said, gently stroking her back as he put his arms around her and Rachel. They both smiled at him, then leaned against his chest as they watched their approach to the planet's surface.

Faye brought the Raptor in to land in the centre of a broad meadow, hovering a few inches above the ground so as not to disturb the neat carpet of grass below. John picked up the backpack he'd prepared especially and slung it over one shoulder, then picked up two of the wicker hampers the twins had packed with their lunch.

He shared a pointed look with Faye, then led the girls from the cockpit and down to the lower level of the gunship. Their elfin pilot had already lowered the forward loading ramp and they followed it down, before hopping off onto the springy grass below. The air was fresh and clean, even more so than that on the Invictus itself and they took big lungfuls, broad grins on their faces as they did so.

After waving Faye goodbye and watching the Raptor soar skyward, John walked a few dozen paces to find a level spot, then unshouldered his backpack. He'd brought several blankets with him that they laid out together to form a tartan patchwork, which would protect them from the ever-present danger of roaming insects and grass stains. The hampers went in the middle and they unpacked the picnic that the girls had lovingly prepared, as well as the bottles of wine that he stood up in a couple of cooler buckets.