Three Square Meals Ch. 053

He was stunned a moment later, when the tawny haired brunette appeared on his right, and said sleepily, "Hey John, morning. What were you saying?"

He frowned, amazed he could have got his guess so wrong, and he glanced down to see Alyssa's blonde hair on his right, and Jade's dark green hair on his left. They felt him stir, and both looked up at him and smiled.

"Morning Master," Jade said drowsily.

Alyssa beamed a sparkling smile at him, and when she glanced at the ship's chronometer, she said with surprise, "You're up early! Morning, handsome."

Figuring his other guess must be right, he shrugged inwardly, thinking it must be Calara under the covers, but the gorgeous Latina appeared above Jade's shoulder, and gave him a lovely smile as she brushed her dark brown locks from her eyes. Now he really was shocked, never for a moment thinking Dana could have controlled herself enough for such a virtuoso act of misdirection. He was about to whip away the covers with a grin, when the redhead sat up on his right and stretched, before winking at him when she caught him watching her in mute bewilderment.

"What's all the hullabaloo?" she asked with a smile, then checked the time and frowned as she exclaimed, "Hey! I thought we were having a lie-in?"

With a sudden feeling of dread, John flung back the covers, and revealed Irillith in all her blue-skinned, white-maned glory. She sighed with delight as she cradled her hugely swollen belly with both hands, running her slender fingers lovingly over her stomach full of his spunk.

"What the fuck!" Dana swore, her eyes riveted on the Maliri girl.

Everyone else was thinking the exact same thing, as they stared, mouths agape, at this cum-stealing interloper in their midst.

Alyssa felt a strange surge in her mind, and closed her eyes a moment to concentrate on the feeling. A metaphysical image sprang into her mind in a flash, sharp and blinding in its intensity. She recoiled for a moment, then stared at it intently as the radiance subsided. A perfect blue rose had appeared, framed in delicate crystal. She admired its striking beauty for a moment, then noticed sharp thorns along its stem, marring its otherwise lovely appearance. The petals of the rose opened, and Alyssa was sure she could make out an abstract representation of Irillith's smiling face in the petals. Feelings of blissful contentment radiated from the image, with background swirls of emotion ranging from anger to self-loathing.

Opening her eyes, Alyssa let out a deep sigh, and thought to the Maliri girl, *Hello Irillith. Welcome to the family.*

Irillith's eyes snapped open, and she locked gazes with Alyssa, a look of shock mixed with horror flashing across her face. With a cry of despair, she lurched drunkenly from the end of the bed, and staggered out into the corridor. Alyssa immediately moved to follow her, but Jade moved faster, and she bounded off the bed, darting into the corridor as she said, *Let me handle this.*

Alyssa sat up, and looked down at John who was staring after Jade and Irillith in stupefied disbelief. She said in a resigned voice, "I get that she's a hot piece of ass, but if you really wanted a Maliri girl, couldn't we have got someone a little less high spirited?"

John stared up at her, and stumbled over his words as he desperately tried to defend himself, "I had no idea... I would never, you must believe me..."

She chuckled, and leaned down and gave him an affectionate kiss. When she sat upright again, she said with a shrug, "Relax, I'm not mad. I can see how it probably happened. I thought she was reacting a bit too strongly to your cum, and after all the behaviour modification from being near you for so long, then this..." she waved with her hand, "was the end result."

Rachel winced and said, "Eternity... with Irillith."

"Wait a minute now!" Dana said indignantly, "We can still just drop her off at Geniya Station!"

With a gentle shake of her head, Alyssa said, "You remember what it was like, even after just swallowing down three loads. Would you have voluntarily left John's side at that point?"

Dana was about to object, but she faltered, and slowly shook her head.

Calara had been looking thoughtful, and she smiled as she said optimistically, "I think she'll be a great addition to the crew! She made an enormous difference in the fight against the Armoured Cobras fleet, and I'll be glad to have her on the Bridge with me. She might have a bit of a difficult personality, but maybe that will change if we help her settle in?"

Alyssa smiled at the Latina affectionately, Calara's kind and generous nature being one of the reasons she'd fallen for the girl in the first place.

Dana heaved a big sigh, and then looking at John, she said, "You like your girls cheerful, friendly, compliant, and obedient, right? Well, If you want Irillith to be like that, you're going to need to keep her stuffed so full of cum, it's coming out of her ears!"

***

Jade caught up with the fleeing Maliri woman half-way down the corridor, and sprinted in front of her, then raised both her hands in a soothing gesture.

"Get out of my way!" Irillith sobbed, as she tried to barge past.

The Nymph was determined however, and said to her firmly, "No. We need to talk, right now."

Irillith stared at Jade's face, and seeing the steely look in her emerald eyes, her shoulders slumped and she nodded dejectedly. Jade smiled at her, and gestured over to one of the doors leading off the corridor. "Those are my quarters, let's chat in there," she said firmly.

She walked over to the door, then hit the button opening it, and stepped aside to let Irillith wander through with heavy footsteps. When the blue-skinned girl was safely inside, Jade followed her in, then closed the door behind her. She gestured towards the bed, and Irillith sat down on it gingerly, while keeping a wary eye on the Nymph.

Her angular violet eyes narrowed, and she asked in a testy voice, "What did you want to talk about?"

"You," Jade said simply, leaning against the desk opposite. When Irillith frowned, the green alien girl elaborated, "More specifically, what do you want out of life?"

Irillith's lip curled in contempt, and she snorted, "if this some bizarre form of counselling, please spare me. I'm not interested."

Jade chuckled at her condescending tone and replied, "No, I'm serious. Just think about it for a second. What do you want out of life?"

With a sneer, Irillith said immediately, "Power! And to be feared by my enemies."

The Nymph looked at the other woman with a smile, and said, "Really? Those sound like pretty empty goals to me."

"What would you know?" Irillith scoffed. "You've got no idea what I'm talking about!"

Jade smiled at her sadly, and said, "Don't worry, I've got plenty of experience. I'm ideally suited to tell you that your goals lead down a bleak and lonely path." She then gazed at Irillith and asked, "Besides, is that really what you want? Or is that what drives your mother? You need to live your life for yourself, not for Matriarch Edraele Valaden."

Irillith looked shaken for a moment by Jade's perceptive insight, but her lip curled again and she said in a challenging tone, "What about you then? What are your goals?"

Jade let out a happy sigh, and smiled at Irillith as she said, "To love and protect John and his mates. Then one day, I'm hoping to bear his children."

The Maliri woman rolled her eyes, and said, "I might have known it would be something so sickening, coming from one of his harem."

The Nymph shrugged off the insult and smiled as she asked, "Really? You've never wanted to start a family?

Irillith shook her head immediately, and was about to snap an angry denial, when she faltered. She suddenly imagined holding a beautiful blue baby in her arms, while John smiled at her proudly. Her heart surged for a moment, and she had a wistful smile on her face as she began to stroke her swollen tummy.

Jade sat next to her, and smiled at her knowingly, reaching out to tenderly stroke Irillith's rounded belly, "You long for the same thing too, don't you?"

Irillith felt a surge of anger, and she brought her hand back and slapped Jade across the face as she snapped, "How dare you touch me like that! I'm not one of his half-witted mares to be bred whenever he feels like it!"

Jade carefully withdrew her hand, then brushed at the cut where Irillith's fingernail had sliced her cheek. The dark-green skin reformed immediately afterwards, hiding any trace of the injury.

Irillith saw what she had done, and she gasped, suddenly appalled at her actions. "I'm so sorry!" she blurted, "I don't know what came over me!"

"It's alright," Jade said softly, staring into her eyes. "I've experienced far, far worse over the centuries."

Irillith stared into the Nymph's cat-like eyes, and she faltered under that serene gaze, seeing the hard-won wisdom of someone who had lived for many long millennia.

"You remember it all, don't you?" Irillith whispered, her voice hushed. "But I thought you said you couldn't remember your past! I heard you say it on the video archive footage."

Jade nodded, and said, "I was telling the truth. At the time. I've grown since then, nurtured under John's loving care."

Irillith shook her head in confusion and asked, "But why didn't you ever say anything? They'd all want to know, I'm sure of it."

The Nymph smiled, but it was a smile tinged in sadness as she replied, "They would, but why burden them with something like that? Would it help them, for me to recount tales of centuries of abuse? One of my previous 'Masters' was a powerful warlord, who used to enjoy flaying the skin off girls he acquired with a barbed lash. Their dying screams of agony used to excite him. He eventually bought me, and decided to have some fun, but I didn't bleed, healing from any wounds he inflicted. He got bored of me, but he still used to make me watch him torture his other slaves to death. At least until one of his men finally killed him, and I was acquired by a new 'Master'."

"Why are you telling me this story?" Irillith asked quietly. She felt unfamiliar pangs of sympathy welling up inside her for the good natured Nymph, and found it most unsettling.

Jade tilted her head to one side, and studied the Maliri for a long moment before she replied, "Because I want you to understand that the pursuit of power for its own sake can be a lonely, empty goal, which often leads to misery and death. In most cases for the person striving for it. That warlord was powerful, but his men feared and loathed him, which ultimately led to his death. I've been a slave for a long line of petty pirate lords and despots, and almost without exception, they've met a grim end with their mad lust for power. I think you have far greater potential, and you could unlock that by living your life here with us."

Irillith reached out to the Nymph, and gently stroked her arm as she said, "I'm really sorry I hit you. You've been nothing but kind to me, and it was unforgivable for me to treat you like that. Please forgive me?"

Jade smiled back at her, and reached up to stroke her blue face, trailing her cool fingers down her jawline in a gesture of affection. "You're one of John's mates now. That means I shall love and protect you too. Of course I forgive you."

Irillith let out a sigh, and leaned into Jade's comforting hand. She closed her eyes, then said in a small voice, "I just feel so adrift. Like I'm hopelessly lost. I'm confused about everything, and I know most of that is because of this 'behaviour modification', but being around John feels so good, I just don't care any more."

Opening her arms, Jade drew her in for a hug, and whispered to her soothingly, "Everything's going to be alright. With time, you'll see you've got a new family now, and we'll look after you and keep you safe."

Irillith stiffened at the mention of family, bristling at the thought of her mother.

"What's wrong?" Jade asked her, sensing the abrupt mood change in the Maliri girl.

Shaking her head with disbelief, Irillith said, "I can't believe my mother would betray me like this. This is exactly what she wanted to happen, sending me off on this mission with all of you. I can see it so clearly now."

Jade frowned and asked, "Why would she betray her own family like that?"

Irillith shrugged helplessly, and said, "My mother's plots and schemes are dizzying to behold. I can't begin to fathom what she would possibly hope to achieve by having me enthralled by the Mael'nerak."

Jade smiled at her as she rose from the bed, and held out her hand as she said, "Why don't we go and ask him?"

They walked back into the bedroom hand-in-hand a few moments later, and a quiet hush descended as John and the girls stopped talking, and looked on curiously at the new arrivals. Irillith had been lost in her thoughts, but suddenly became shockingly aware of her nudity, and she blushed as she attempted to cover up.

Jade leaned in and whispered, "You've watched hours of us in bed together. At this point, and considering what just happened this morning, modesty seems a bit ridiculous, doesn't it?"

Irillith smiled, then stood up straight self-consciously, and followed the Nymph's lead in climbing onto the bed. The girls fanned out into a semi-circle, and Irillith marvelled at witnessing their synchronicity first hand. John sat up, leaning against the headboard, and watched Irillith for a moment, admiring her otherworldly beauty. She sat up proudly, and let him admire her figure, while looking around at the other girls surrounding her. They were all beautiful in their own right, she grudgingly acknowledged, and settled down a little, seeing no reason to deliberately try and upset them.

Jade smiled at everyone, and said, "We had a little chat, and I think everything's going to be okay. Irillith raised an interesting question though, and she thinks her mother deliberately tried to set this up." She turned to the Maliri girl and said, "Do you want to explain?"

Irillith nodded, then said, "My mother told me to infiltrate your ship, and steal all your technology. Even when I explained later on, that it was needlessly risky, because..." She faltered and trailed off, unwilling to admit her part in the discussion with her mother.

"Go ahead," John said kindly. "The situation is different now, we understand that things have changed."

With a sigh, Irillith said, "I suggested we wait until we all returned to Valaden instead. Then Edraele could have you all killed, and we could strip the Invictus of tech."

Dana snarled, "You treacherous blue b-."

"Dana!" John said sharply, cutting her off. "Remember, Irillith's on our team now."

The redhead took a deep breath, before slowly letting it out, and saying politely, "I'm sorry, please continue."

Irillith smiled at her cautiously, then said, "When I suggested that plan, my mother refused, and insisted I continue to look for your tech. When I said it would be risky, she just smirked and said, 'don't get caught'. As soon as I saw that holo-projector she gave you, I knew she'd ordered me to try and steal your tech to provoke conflict between us, and maybe goad you into enslaving me by force."

The girls gaped at Irillith as she calmly laid out the extent of her mother's betrayal for them all to see.

John looked at her sympathetically, and said, "But why? Why betray your own blood like that? I can't even imagine the kind of person who would do that to their own daughter."

Rachel suddenly gasped out loud and said, "That's it!"

Dana frowned and asked, "What's what?"

The tawny haired girl rolled her eyes at the redhead, and explained, "Her own blood... Ceraden talked about Edraele being part of an 'Eldritch bloodline'. John just healed a tumour that I discovered in Irillith's brain, so perhaps the genetic anomaly that gives her family psychic powers also causes more damaging side effects?"

John looked appalled, and said, "So she sent Irillith off as a test subject, to see if being with me would heal her of her brain tumour?!"

Alyssa said quietly, "Do you remember when we objected to Edraele about bringing Irillith along with us? She said, and this is a direct quote, 'As a direct blood relative, she is the only one I can trust wholeheartedly'."

With a shake of her head, Irillith said firmly, "My mother doesn't trust anybody, me especially."

Rachel frowned and asked, "I thought the Maliri were supposed to know all about Progenitors? Yes, John's healing abilities are incredibly powerful, but it's not like there aren't strings attached. After everything I've heard about Edraele, I can't imagine her wanting to submit to anyone!"

"She has no idea about the side effects," Irillith confirmed in a subdued voice. "She did know about Progenitor healing abilities before we met you, though. In fact, thinking about it, that was all she really cared about when I told her what I'd discovered about you all. She wanted to hear all about Alyssa being healed after the Fulmanax fight, and about the times I saw you all being healed in the video footage I saw."

Dana looked puzzled, and asked, "So what's her plan exactly? Try and trade Maliri laser weapons for a stomach full of spunk to try and cure her brain tumour?" She snorted with laughter at how ludicrous it sounded.

Irillith was taken aback by the redhead's bluntness, but she answered politely, "She doesn't know exactly how the healing occurs. I only told her about the end results."

"So what do we do now?" Alyssa asked, looking at John. "If Irillith's going to be staying with us now, then going back to Maliri Space is pointless."

"Agreed," John replied. "We might as well head back to the Core Worlds, then we can take a breather. Maybe do the refit for the Invictus, and even take a holiday. Does that sound like a good idea everyone?"

The girls all looked delighted. Everyone except Irillith, who looked forlorn as she murmured, "I can't believe my own mother sent me off like some disposable lab rat. Using me to test Mael'nerak healing abilities, just to make sure they were safe for her..."

John's heart went out to the Maliri, as she sat there looking sad and alone; a lost little girl, betrayed by her own family. He held out his arms to her, and she came over to him, hugging him fiercely. She began to cry softly as he held her, mourning the loss of family that it now became abundantly clear she never really had.

*Would you ask the girls to give us a few minutes alone please,* John said to Alyssa.

She smiled at him, and with a sympathetic nod passed his instructions on to the other girls, then said, *We'll be around. Just let me know if you need anything."

They rose from the bed silently, and left John to console Irillith, lost as she was in her grief. He watched them leave, and gently stroked Irillith's back with one hand, while holding her comfortingly with the other. Eventually her shoulders stopped shaking, and she sat back, brushing the tears from her eyes.

"You're all being so kind to me," she sniffled, "and I've tried to kill you at least twice. I just don't understand it."

John smiled at her, and asked, "You don't want to kill me now, do you?"

She laughed wryly, and shook her head as she said, "I tried, but I can't." Turning, she pointed over to the chair next to the door, and he saw the gleam of the steel knife where she had abandoned it.

He shivered as he looked at the razor sharp blade, and said, "Well let's just say I'm extremely relieved it was your tongue I felt down there this morning, and not something altogether sharper!"

She blushed, then looked up at him with a wry grin and said, "I do have a pretty sharp tongue."

Laughing, John said, "Yes, you do at that."

She smiled at him, and then asked in a quiet voice, "Would you mind stroking my tummy? I really want to feel that for some reason."