Three Square Meals Ch. 005

Calara contacted them by vid-feed after a couple of days and after some initial shyness, she chattered away with Alyssa as though the two were best friends. The Port Heracles medical team had decided that she didn't need surgery, but she was recovering in hospital there under their careful supervision.

The troubled young woman admitted that she had been having trouble sleeping, her dreams quickly turning into nightmares as she relived the traumatic events of her capture. She seemed to be making good progress with her physical recovery, but it was clear to John that Calara was suffering from PTSD. Alyssa and John did their best to cheer her up and promised to speak regularly. Vid-feed calls soon became part of their routine and they spoke frequently in the final leg of their journey.

Eventually the Fool's Gold arrived at Alpha Centauri, home of Olympus Shipyard, John's final destination after all this time. The Olympus shipyard was the centre of Terran Federation power, the drydocks there constructing the biggest and most powerful spacecraft in this quadrant of the galaxy. This mighty spaceport sat in high orbit around Alpha Centauri B, or the planet Gravitus as it was known to locals.

John sat in the pilot's chair as he watched Alyssa plot their approach to the Olympus shipyard. He couldn't believe their journey together was nearly over. He studied the girl who had stowed away on his ship four weeks ago.

The stunningly attractive teenager was concentrating intensely on the console in front of her, her head tilted slightly to the side. He looked up and down her gorgeous body, drinking in every exquisite detail of the ravishing young beauty before him. She wasn't just the most physically beautiful woman he had ever met, he also loved her intelligence, her fun personality, her enthusiasm and her zest for life.

Yes, he did love her he suddenly realised. How was he ever going to let her go? His heart caught in his throat at the thought of this incredible young woman walking out of his life. He realised he would be bereft without her.

Then there was the age gap though, he was old enough to be her father for god's sake! John berated himself. The girl was a genius with a blazingly bright future ahead of her. Her First Class Navigator's license that she had earned so effortlessly was her ticket to a comfortable life filled with adventure. He couldn't be so selfish as to deprive the young girl of that. A black depression took hold of him as he realised he loved her too much to hold her back. He would have to let her go.

The abrupt realisation that he had to do the right thing brought tears to John's eyes. He turned to the girl he now realised was his soul-mate and tried to mentally prepare himself to let her go. It was the hardest thing he had ever had to do.