Three Square Meals Ch. 053

With a shy smile on her face, she said, "I remembered you liked it long, so I left it for you. I'm glad you like it."

"You're a good girl. I appreciate it must have been a hard decision, considering Maliri culture," he told her sincerely with a grateful smile on his face.

Irillith shivered with delight at his warm praise, and bit her lower lip as she gazed up at him, marvelling as she said, "I should be furious at you for being so condescending, but I feel absolutely thrilled instead."

His cock jerked impatiently in her fingers, reminding her of the task at hand, and she laughed before resuming her work.

John smiled at the beautiful sound, and said, "You have a lovely laugh. Hopefully I'll be able to hear that more often."

She smiled at him the best she could, what with her lips spread wide around his girth. Deciding not to distract her any further, he just let her concentrate, and they stared into each other's eyes as she sucked and licked him eagerly. He could see how much she wanted his cum in her stomach, so he didn't hold back, and just let the climax well up as it surged out of him.

Irillith's throat bobbed as she swallowed down one big mouthful after another, gazing up at him adoringly with a euphoric feeling of completeness as he rapidly filled her belly with spunk. She sucked down every last drop until he was spent, then sighed ecstatically, and leaned down to give his quad a loving kiss of gratitude. She rested her head against his thigh with a dopey grin on her face, and when she darted a glance up at him, they both shared a good-natured laugh at her deliriously happy state.

John offered her his hand, and she rose gracefully to stand before him. He reached out to cup her heavily rounded abdomen in his hands, then leaned forward to give it a tender kiss. When he looked up at her face, he saw a beautiful doe-eyed expression on her face, and he knew exactly what she was thinking, without having to ask.

Doing up his trousers, he beckoned her to sit on his lap, and she sighed contentedly as he stroked her belly with his strong hands. They sat there like that for a while, until John's expression flickered, and Progenitor-John took control once more.

"Now, I think we should have a little chat," he told her with a resigned and exasperated look on his face.

Irillith nodded and turned to give him a smile, as she asked, "What would you like to talk about?"

He returned her smile as he said, "Let's start with House Valaden: the planets under your control, and the size of the fleet your mother commands..."

While Irillith started to talk, Progenitor-John listened to her, as he mulled over his current predicament. He hadn't realised just how taxing it would be, using his powers through the mind-barrier, and somehow John had cut him off from his matriarch and thralls, preventing him from tapping them for energy. After running back through those tunnels to the Raptor, he'd burnt through his power reserves, leaving himself at the point of exhaustion, and allowing John to take over again. Still, he was rested and recuperated now, and he was determined not to let John divert him from his current course, not when he was so close.

While he'd been unconscious, it looked like Irillith had fallen under John's control, but her impervious mind-shield was going to be a major disruption to his plans. Still, if he couldn't just yank what he needed to know out of her mind, then he'd have to do it the hard way. He concentrated on her fully, as she described the Maliri forces owned by House Valaden, and he began to form his plans.

***

The next couple of days had Alyssa and the girls growing frantic with worry. John seemed to be cutting himself off from them completely, and was in seclusion in the Ready Room. He spent all of his time in there, even sleeping on the sofa, and the only one of them he permitted to enter was Irillith. She would bring him his meals, and appear afterwards with a heavily rounded tummy, whilst carrying his plates back down to the kitchen.

Alyssa waited for the Maliri girl on the Bridge one morning, and smiled at her when she appeared, then asked politely, "Would you mind having a chat with me and the other girls in the Briefing Room?"

"I'd be happy to, but I probably shouldn't be too long," Irillith replied with a smile, glancing quickly at the Ready Room door, and followed after her into the room on the other side of the Bridge.

Alyssa stepped aside to let Irillith enter, then walked in after her. The whole crew were there, and they all stared at the Maliri with worried expressions on their faces. Irillith took a seat, and Dana blurted out, "What's John doing in there?! We haven't seen him in days!"

Irillith shrugged helplessly as she replied, "We just spend hours on end talking." She glanced down at her swollen belly, and added, "That, and other things."

The girls looked at her tummy longingly, until Alyssa asked, "What are you two talking about for so long?"

Irillith gazed up at her, and replied, "The Maliri. He started off asking me all about House Valaden, then moved on to the other major Noble Houses. He's mostly interested in Fleet assets, orbital facilities and military forces that each house owns, as well as the territory they control."

Calara and Alyssa shared a pointed look as they had a silent telepathic conversation. Alyssa then smiled kindly at Irillith and said, "Thanks, that's all. I guess John wants you back again after breakfast?"

The Maliri girl nodded enthusiastically, and got up, then smiled tentatively at the rest of the girls before walking out of the room. When the door swished close behind her, Alyssa slumped in her seat, and let out a big sigh.

"What's the matter?" Jade asked, then frowned and added, "Well, besides the obvious."

Calara looked deeply worried as she said quietly, "He's planning on conquering the Maliri."

***

Later that afternoon, John was in his Ready Room, staring up at the holographic Sector Maps he'd fleshed out. They showed the full extent of Maliri Space, and clearly marked the systems owned by each of the major Houses. Irillith had been giving him a run down of their fleet dispositions, and her intel seemed remarkably accurate. She had explained that she had been in charge of intelligence gathering for her House, using her remarkable hacking skills to keep accurate tabs on all House Valaden's enemies, which was basically every other Maliri House.

He was about to ask her to start detailing the minor Houses, of which there were dozens, when a light flashed on his desk console. He pressed the button and asked, "What is it?"

Rachel replied tentatively, "We're being hailed. There's a merchant freighter in distress, and they're asking to speak to you."

John grimaced, and said curtly, "Tell them I'm busy."

Rachel paused, then said, "They said it was urgent, and that they really need our assistance."

He rolled his eyes and tutted with annoyance, causing Irillith to laugh at his expression. He smiled at her grimly, then said to Rachel, "Fine. I'll be right out."

Standing, he turned to Irillith and said, "We need to move on to the minor Houses now. We'll start with territory, then Fleet assets, and any orbital platforms they might own. Ruling families can wait until later."

Nodding obediently, Irillith waited for him to move out from his desk, then sat down in his seat. She started to highlight which systems belonged to House Venkalyn, building up a territory map of the seventh largest Maliri House. John watched her for a moment, then strode out of the Ready Room onto the Bridge. He walked straight over to Rachel, and ignored the rest of the girls, who watched him with wide eyes.

"Put this merchant through, I'll take the call here," he said curtly, glancing up at the local sector map.

Rachel did as he asked, and the viewscreen crackled for a moment, before the image settled on the face of an overweight middle aged man. He had long sideburns, and he looked to be on the verge of panic.

"Oh, thank goodness you responded!" The man exclaimed with relief, his jowls quivering. "Commodore Blake, we're in trouble! Our FTL drive had a critical failure, and the explosion knocked out Navigation Control and our engines! We're trapped in the gravity well of a Gas Giant, and if we don't get help, we'll crash!"

John frowned, and said brusquely, "Send me the system data for your location."

The fat man nodded gratefully, and had a quick word with a colleague, who then sent them the requested data. Alyssa brought up the system map, and the Freighter 'Melpomene' was clearly flagged on the map in a rapidly decaying orbit around an orange Gas Giant.

"They'll hit the lower atmosphere in three hours," Dana said urgently.

John glanced up at the Command Podium, and said to Alyssa, "Zoom out the map a bit, show me traffic in the adjacent systems."

She nodded, and following his orders expanded the view of the map, showing the busy space lanes arcing around the Delta-Ophiuchus system. His eyes narrowed in anger, and he looked up at the man on the viewscreen.

"You seem to know who I am, but we haven't been properly introduced. Who are you?" John asked the rotund merchant.

"My name's Degory Milligan," the man replied with a grateful smile.

John smiled at the man pleasantly, and said, "Well Degory, I just have one question for you."

"Ask away, Commodore!" the relieved looking man said.

Still smiling, John asked, "Do I look like I'm running a fucking tugboat service?"

Degory looked just as shocked as the girls on the Bridge, and he spluttered to reply as he blinked in amazement.

John waved his hand at the expanded system map and fumed, "I can see four Terran Federation vessels that could be there within the hour! Go and bother one of them instead!"

He reached over and pressed a button on Rachel's console, cutting off the comm channel himself. It left Degory Milligan's stunned face frozen on the viewscreen before it turned off a moment later. Turning he stalked back into his room, and said over his shoulder, "Don't waste my time with crap like that again."

***

The crew of the Invictus tried to adjust to this new, uncomfortable, and tense routine, with the girls attempting to keep themselves busy, while being worried sick about John. He stayed in the Ready Room, only spending time with Irillith, who only emerged to bring back meals for him. It therefore came as quite a surprise, when Dana and Rachel heard the door to the Engineering Bay swish open, and the blue-skinned Maliri girl walked in.

She looked up at the two of them awkwardly, and said, "Hello. I hope I'm not disturbing you?"

Rachel smiled at her and shook her head, while Dana looked at her more warily and asked, "What do you want?"

Rachel frowned, gave Dana a disapproving gaze and nudged her with an elbow, causing the redhead to let out a big sigh. The redhead then smiled politely and asked, "How can we help you?"

Irillith flushed, looking ashamed, then asked in a quiet voice, "Could you tell me where my armour and laser rifle are please?"

Dana studied her cautiously for a drawn out moment, before walking down the illuminated steps of the Engineering Podium, and over to Irillith's storage case that she'd brought on board weeks ago. She stood beside it and jerked her thumb at the case, then said defensively, "It's all in there, and don't worry, I haven't so much as glanced at it."

Rachel walked over to join them, and she smiled at Irillith as she said considerately, "When you got injured, we had to strip your armour to take care of you. I asked Jade to pack up your body armour and store it safely in your luggage."

Irillith nodded at the brunette, and smiled at her in gratitude. She walked over to the case, and pressed a button on its side as the other two watched her intently. The case swung open silently, and after looking inside, she pulled out the deadly laser rifle then examined it carefully.

"See, there's nothing wrong with it," Dana said grumpily.

Irillith turned towards her, and then handed the laser rifle to the redhead, and said in a soft voice, "I just made sure the safety was on. I wouldn't want you to hurt yourself when you study it."

Dana stared at her in shock, completely dumbfounded as Irillith placed the weapon in her hands.

Irillith stared into her eyes, and said earnestly, "I said some truly horrible things to you, and I'm really sorry for the way I behaved. I hope you can forgive me someday."

Turning away from the stunned redhead to look at Rachel, she said, "I was awful to you too, and I apologise for the way I treated you. If hadn't been such a horrible bitch, I wouldn't have ended up in this situation. It seems that fate isn't without a cruel sense of irony."

Rachel opened her arms, and Irillith smiled at her gratefully as the two of them hugged. "I forgive you," the brunette whispered in Irillith's pointed ear, and gave her a gentle squeeze.

Irillith let out a relieved sigh, and said quietly, "Thank you, you're very kind."

As soon as the two women parted, Dana opened her arms for a hug too, having carefully placed the Maliri laser rifle on her workbench. Irillith looked surprised, but she stepped forward and the two of them embraced.

"I forgive you too," Dana said with her infectious grin, "And letting me look at your laser rifle was an awesome make-up gift. Thanks!"

Irillith smiled at the redhead, and said, "You're welcome. Feel free to take a look at my armour too, but it's nowhere near as effective as the incredible gear you've developed. If I hadn't been so horrible to you, and let you upgrade my armour, then I wouldn't have spent hours rolling around in agony."

Dana laughed and said, "Don't worry, you'll be able to wear our gear now!"

The Maliri woman chuckled and smiled at her in relief, happy that the redhead had been so forgiving. She was about to step back out of the hug, when Dana frowned at her.

"Hold on!" she said with a mischievous smile. "We have a tradition aboard the Invictus when we girls have a fight."

Irillith frowned and said, "I don't remember any fights. What do you mean?"

Dana grinned and explained, "Alyssa and I have squabbled a few times." She then looked at Irillith coyly and said, "Anyway, after a fight, we should always kiss and make up."

Irillith looked shocked, but when she saw Dana's playful expression, she smiled at her and nodded. Dana leaned in close, and gently brushed her lips against the Maliri's, the two of them kissing for the first time.

"Mmm," Dana purred when they separated, "That was lovely."

The Maliri flushed and admitted shyly, "I haven't kissed a girl before. That was nice though, soft and tender."

"Yay! I was your first," Dana said with a grin as she released Irillith from her arms. She winked at Rachel and said, "It's your turn now, you two had a mini-fight too remember?"

Rachel laughed, rolling her eyes, but she saw the hint of curiosity in Irillith's expression, so she walked over to stand next to her. "You want to?" she asked her considerately.

"Definitely," Irillith replied with a self-conscious laugh.

As the two girls stepped close, their full breasts lightly grazed each other, and made their nipples firm up to erect points. They both glanced down at the accidental contact, then moved together more deliberately as they kissed. Rachel reached up to brush her hand through Irillith's long flowing hair, then kissed the Maliri more passionately, and flicked the tip of her tongue through her full blue lips. Irillith's eyes widened in surprise momentarily, before she moaned, and then began to kiss Rachel back just as fiercely.

When the two of them finally separated, they were both panting with excitement, and Dana hissed, "That was fucking hot!"

Irillith blushed, then smiled shyly at Rachel and murmured, "Yes, it was."

Dana clapped her hands with excitement and said, "We should totally get you to join us with John for our next threes-." She faltered, and trailed off, as her face fell.

Rachel gave her a comforting hug and said, "It will all work out alright, don't worry." But Irillith could hear the concern in the brunette's voice too.

With a sigh, Irillith said, "I better get back to John. Thank you both for being so kind and forgiving me."

The two girls smiled at her, and Dana said, "It meant a lot, you coming down here to apologise. I'm glad you've joined us."

Rachel nodded her agreement, and the two of them waved Irillith goodbye as she walked out of the Engineering Bay.

"Wow!" Faye exclaimed. "My creator sure looks different! Do you two love her now? Is that why you were kissing?"

Rachel and Dana chuckled, and smiled at the inquisitive purple sprite who had suddenly appeared up on one of the Engineering consoles. "We do like her a lot more now," Rachel said cautiously.

"Is that because she has long hair now?" Faye asked, lifting her hands up to feel her own, shortly cropped, pixie haircut.

Faye closed her eyes as she concentrated, and suddenly her short bob was replaced by long flowing purple hair, that fell mid-way down her back. She looked at the two girls for a reaction, her tiny face hopeful.

Dana giggled and said, "We loved you anyway, but your new hair looks great!" Faye did a leap of joy, and fluttered up on her gossamer wings to give the redhead a kiss of thanks. Dana smiled at her, then raised an eyebrow and asked, "How's the new holo-suite coming along?"

"It's done!" Faye said eagerly. "I finished configuring the software, and with all the projectors you set up, it's all ready to go. That's what I came down here to tell you."

"You're the best!" Dana said with a grateful grin at the diminutive digital construct. She turned to Rachel and said, "I'll head up to Deck Three to check it out. Do you want to come along as well?"

The brunette smiled, and shook her head as she replied, "I'd like to continue researching the Trankaran genetic code. You two have fun though." She winked at Faye, and added, "I love the new hair too!"

Faye blew her a kiss, then disappeared abruptly. Dana took the grav-tube up to Deck Three, and after strolling down the long corridor, walked into the biggest room on this level. She found an exuberant Faye doing cartwheels around the massive empty space, which Dana and Rachel had cleared earlier by removing all the furniture. Over the last few days, the redhead had been hard at work installing hundreds of holo-projectors around the room, which would hopefully allow her to really make some progress on her research.

Faye came to a halt, and looking up at Dana, she asked eagerly, "Do you want to turn it on?"

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, Dana nodded, then walked into the centre of the room. Faye dimmed the lights around the huge room, until the whole room was shrouded in darkness apart from one light above their head.

"Ready?" the AI asked her.

When Dana nodded, the last light winked out, and a second later, an image started to take shape in front of her. Two spheres appeared, one larger than the other, with the smaller slowly circling the first, its orbital path clearly marked.

"A hydrogen atom," Dana said, immediately recognising its distinct shape, with its single proton circled by an electron. "Great, now give me the rest."

One after the other the elements appeared, spreading out in a broad tapestry for her to survey at once. She gestured with her hand, and began to drag copies of elements in, building up the complex structure for firstly Onyxium and then Etherite. She took a deep breath, then set to work, her hands moving in a blur as she used the building blocks of the universe to shape her creation.

Faye sat on her shoulder, and stared in awe at the rapidly expanding structure that Dana was forming. She was completely familiar with all the elements, having sorted and categorised them through detailed analysis of their sub-atomic components. She had an excellent understanding of quantum physics, chemistry, and applied mathematics, in part supplied by her core programming. She'd been building on that these past few days, recognising that her new friends found her useful in aiding them with their research, and she found helping them greatly rewarding.