Three Square Meals Ch. 091

Feeling vastly better after a good sleep, he smiled at Faye and said, "I slept like a log!"

"That's wonderful to hear," Faye replied, sounding delighted. "I don't think I've seen you looking that tired before."

John rubbed the sleep from his eyes and glanced up at Faye and asked, "When will we arrive at Thandrun's fleet?" When she hesitated before replying, he noticed a slight nervousness in her expression. "Everything okay, honey?"

"There were no problems while you were asleep," she replied, sounding slightly cagey. The source of her anxiety soon became clear as she continued, "But, we actually arrived in the Delta Corvus system four hours ago."

"Why didn't you wake me?!" John blurted out, blinking at her in surprise. "Is everyone ignoring my orders now?"

"You were exhausted and I didn't have the heart to disturb you!" Faye replied defensively. Before he could say anything else, she continued in a rush, "I spoke to Irillith about Tashana; she was fine about it and slept in your bedroom with the other girls. I informed the diplomats that you were weary after fighting for five hours and that you needed a bit of time to recover. They were very understanding and most of them are still asleep themselves; I suspect they didn't get much rest while they were under siege!"

"I contacted Fleet Warden Thandrun as soon as we were in comms range and let him know that your mission to rescue Niskera was a complete success. He wanted to speak to Niskera, but I told him that she was exhausted and was resting; it seemed prudent not to mention you were sleeping together. Thandrun would like to speak with you at some point this morning. I've also been overseeing the transfer of the civilians to the Trankaran fleet. They haven't experienced any complications after treatment for Kirrix infestation and there were no problems with the wounded. So far, over eight-thousand of the civilians have disembarked and I estimate it'll take another two hours to move the remaining 2847 passengers to the Anvil. Finally, Niskera is still asleep and seems to be fine, although she's started to glow!"

John darted a glance to his left and saw that Niskera's grey skin had changed, just as Faye had described. The Trankaran woman was now covered in faint swirling orange lines, that made elaborate patterns over her big body. Niskera still looked peaceful and content, her hands cradling her slightly curved stomach.

"Jade has stopped glowing but she's still fast asleep," Faye concluded. "Rachel suspects that Jade will wake up in one-hour, thirty-four minutes, which would be exactly fourteen hours after you fed her."

After finishing her hurried speech, Faye looked at him apprehensively, worried that he'd be upset with her.

Taking a deep breath to collect his thoughts, John smiled at the elfin girl. "It sounds like you handled everything perfectly. You were right, I did need the sleep. Can you let the girls know that we'll be getting up in a couple of minutes? I'd like to meet with all of them and we can do a quick debrief after the mission."

"No need to tell the girls, I've just let them all know," Alyssa announced, sweeping her long blonde hair away from her face before leaning in to give John a kiss. "Good morning, handsome!"

"I'll leave you two to get up," Faye replied, darting a look at John. "Unless there's anything else you wanted to talk to me about?"

"No, we're good. Thanks Honey," he replied, giving her a grateful smile. She gave him a sparkling grin in return before disappearing in flash of purple.

Alyssa purred as she felt the heat of his shaft against her tummy. "Looks like you're up already!"

"Can you blame me with someone as beautiful as you lying on top of me?" John asked, stroking her flanks with the tips of his fingers.

His compliment earned him a kiss, before Alyssa twisted slightly, so she could reach down to gently cup his balls. She gave him a look filled with sympathy. "You feel really full up! Do you want to use me to lighten your load, or save it for the girls?"

John positioned his cock against her already wet pussy and slid himself home, relishing the feel of her warm young body stretching to mould herself around his shaft. "Let me just think about that for a minute," he said playfully, enjoying the sound of her soft moan as she took his entire length.

"I slept so well wrapped in your arms with you inside me," Alyssa said in a hushed voice, her hips gyrating in a slow, sensual motion. She had an uncharacteristically vulnerable and open expression on her beautiful face as she continued, "I felt so safe and loved, it was amazing..."

"That's because you are," he replied, gently stroking her back.

She let out a happy sigh, then relaxed on top of him. "So what's the verdict? Am I going to spend the rest of the morning with a full tummy?"

John rolled her over so that she was beneath him, being careful not to disturb Niskera. He ran his fingers through Alyssa's soft blonde hair and gazed into her bright cerulean eyes as he said, "How about we just focus on you for now... then we can have some fun with the girls."

"The life of a selfless hero," she teased him, giving him a kiss. Pulling him down closer she whispered in his ear, "I'm sure me and the girls can come up with a nice reward for you later..."

John began to move and she wrapped her graceful legs around him, murmuring heated words of encouragement as he began to pick up the pace.

***

Tashana stretched like a cat, having been gently roused from her sleep by Alyssa's telepathic wake-up call. She was about to get up, then relaxed back in the covers, still feeling drowsy. After her conversation with John, she'd stayed awake for a couple more hours, ignoring Faye's urging to go to sleep.

Having thirteen years of memories suddenly reawakened in her mind had been a... unique... experience. Reliving over a decade of horrible mental and physical tortures should have been horrifying, but she felt numb as she'd thought back over those years in slavery. The memories had dulled with time, and her newfound sense of purpose and perspective helped to further mute the pain.

She still felt enraged at thoughts of the sadistic Enshunu slaver who had inflicted so much abuse on her, but remembering the day she'd taken to slowly burn him to death helped ease her fury. Thoughts of the Bolon rapist filled Tashana with an eager desire to hunt it down and make it suffer in return, but she did her best not to dwell on that and tried to focus on the few positives instead.

Her crew on the Infernal Retribution had been one of the few points of light shining through those years of bleak darkness. She cried for her crewmates when she remembered what had happened to them, particularly the Terran, Bull. He'd always looked out for her, doing his best to keep her calm and on an even keel. Bull was the closest to a friend she'd had in those long years and with a start, she realised that also included the years before her banishment. She bitterly regretted not being able to save him from Hades, but there was nothing she could do about that now, only remember him fondly in her heart.

She still struggled with her sense of outrage and grief towards Edraele and Irillith. While she knew that they were radically different women now, it was difficult to reconcile the two versions of her sister and mother in her mind. Her feelings towards Irillith in particular were especially conflicted. Her twin's betrayal had hurt Tashana more than anything, but she also dearly loved her sister, the growing intimacy between them and John the brightest highlight of her new life.

All those terrible memories felt almost surreal now, compared to her idyllic existence on the Invictus. Whenever anything got too difficult to deal with, she just reminded herself that it was all in the distant past and she had started building a wonderful life with John and the girls. It almost felt like she'd died and been reborn, fighting at his side to destroy the kind of scum that had preyed on her and so many others like her.

Tashana felt overwhelmed with admiration and gratitude to John for the careful way he'd healed her mind. Giving her those weeks of respite, while enhancing her psychic strength, had given her enough mental fortitude to adjust to the reunification with the damaged aspects of her mind. She knew that the tortured girl who had hidden behind the Malifica persona would always be a part of her, but now she was just a tiny facet of her much more potent subconscious, and not the driving force behind her personality.

When she rose from her bed, she felt renewed, filled with an inner strength that felt unburdened by her past. Tashana showered and had just finished dressing when she heard a knock on the door.

"Come in," she called out as she stepped into her shoes, her voice bright and clear.

When the door opened, John and Alyssa were waiting in the doorway. John walked inside with a look of concern on his handsome face. Tashana rushed to greet him, smoothing the lines of worry on his forehead with her slender fingers, before giving him a loving kiss.

"How are you feeling this morning?" he asked, wrapping her in his arms. "I was so worried how you'd cope with everything..."

Her arms snaked around behind him and gently caressing his back, as she gazed into his eyes."I'm still me... but better now. It was hard reliving all those terrible memories, but you made me strong enough to deal with everything. Thank you so much..."

Feeling immensely relieved, John held her tight, then smiled at Alyssa over Tashana's shoulder as the blonde hugged the Maliri girl from behind. Tashana let out a happy sigh of contentment and relaxed between them.

"She's not our wounded little bird any more," Alyssa said, gently kissing Tashana on the shoulder.

John shook his head and as he leaned in to kiss Tashana again, he murmured, "She's a powerful lioness..."

Tashana kissed John passionately, her heart soaring as they wrapped her in a loving embrace.

***

Dana nodded her eager approval as she skipped through the holographic footage on the viewer. "This shit is amazing! Nice job compiling it all, Faye!"

The purple sprite's wings quivered in delight as she peeked over the redhead's shoulder. "I made two sets of videos while you were all asleep! The one you're looking at now shows the highlights of all of you in action, which I thought might be useful for the debrief. I made the second set of footage for John to give to Jehanna for her to broadcast via TFNN. It shows some exciting segments of the battle, but I've removed any references to any of you using psychic powers, face shots of the twins, or anything that gives the viewer too close a look at our gear."

"John's guaranteed to get laid when Jehanna sees him in action!" Dana said with a giggle, shaking her head in awe as she watched John hurling her clear of the falling train. "I'm getting turned on watching him save my ass and I still remember how fucking terrifying that was!"

"Can I see?" Calara asked, walking out of Alyssa's wardrobe in an outfit she'd borrowed from her lover.

Dana patted the bed beside her. "Of course, gorgeous."

The Latina sat down and watched the images on the holo-viewer for a few minutes, her expression slowly changing to one of shock and horror. "God... I thought boarding the hive ships was frightening!" she finally gasped, pulling the startled redhead into a hug. "I'm so glad you came through all that unscathed!"

Rubbing the Latina's back soothingly, the redhead darted a glance at her girlfriend, who was sitting beside the still-sleeping Jade and scanning her with a medi-scanner. "I got off lightly. It was Rachel's turn to get shot this time..."

Irillith glided in from the bathroom, her stunning blue figure completely nude. "Actually, we all got shot quite a bit, but our lovely doctor was unlucky enough to actually get hurt. That's something I wanted to raise with you, Dana. The shields were amazing for short skirmishes, but we lost all the benefit in a protracted gunfight."

Before Dana could reply, John walked into the bedroom, with Alyssa and Tashana following close behind. "Has the debrief started without me?" he asked with a broad smile.

"John!" the rest of the girls all replied simultaneously, greeting him with a warm welcome.

Alyssa padded off to the bathroom, hand-in-hand with Tashana. She clasped Irillith's hand as she passed her and said, "Looks like you're having two showers this morning, beautiful!"

Irillith laughed and let herself be led back to the bathroom with her twin. Dana and Calara shared an eager smile, quickly stripping off and linking arms with John as they walked into the huge shower. Sakura was in there already and she welcomed them all with open arms.

"Time for a celebratory group hug," John announced once all the girls were there.

An instant later he was surrounded by slippery nubile bodies and he did his best to put his arms around as many of them as possible. He managed Alyssa, Sakura, and Calara in front of him, while Dana, Rachel, and the twins hugged him from behind.

Glancing over Alyssa's shoulder at Faye's holograph, he said to the redhead snuggled up against his back, "I hope you're making Faye's new body waterproof. It's a mandatory requirement that she can join us for group hugs in the shower!"

Dana nodded, stifling a giggle. "Don't worry; making sure she was able to cope with huge volumes of liquid was at the top of the list in the design specs. You'll be able to hose her down to your heart's content and she'll just get very wet..."

Faye beamed a happy smile at her friend, until her subroutine on idioms alerted her to the redhead's innuendo. She squeaked and blushed furiously as she realised what Dana was really saying, while the girls laughed and gave her a knowing look. Faye darted a shy smile at John and he could see the wistful look in the purple sprite's luminous eyes turn into one of eager excitement.

"All joking aside," John said, looking around at the group. "What we achieved yesterday was incredible. We accomplished our primary mission, saving Niskera and the diplomats. But we also eliminated the Kirrix threat to Khalgron and managed to save the Trankaran civilians. I'm very proud of all of you."

He deliberately avoided giving Sakura a pointed glance, or mentioning anything about mission creep, just focusing on their spectacular victory for now. The girls beamed in delight at his praise, hugging him closer.

"Speaking of Niskera, is it true that you've changed her into a Glowing Queen?" Rachel asked, quite fascinated.

John arched an eyebrow at Alyssa.

"I didn't say anything!" the blonde protested, blushing under his scrutiny.

"She didn't need to, it was obvious after the three of you slept together," Rachel said, rubbing her hand on John's back. "Besides, I suspected events might play out that way, so I asked Niskera for a DNA sample yesterday. I can't wait to do a comparison after she's finished her transformation!"

"I was going to tell all of you about her after the debrief," John explained. "But yes, you're correct. After we told Niskera about the possibility of becoming a Glowing Queen, she was very keen on the idea."

There was real admiration in Alyssa's voice as she said, "Niskera's amazing! I've never met anyone so selfless before. She was willing to do whatever it took to save the Trankarans from the Kirrix."

"Did you fuck her?" Dana asked with an eager grin. "I've heard Trankaran men are packing! I bet she took your huge cock like a trooper!"

John hesitated before replying, feeling a bit uncomfortable about discussing the details of his encounter with the Trankaran woman. Alyssa patted him on the chest and glanced at the girls, filling them in on all the details telepathically, including her own mistake in pushing for it so aggressively.

Faye had already overheard their conversation and seen what had transpired, so there was no need to repeat it aloud for her benefit. The rest of the girls were quiet for a moment as they listened, eyes widening as they heard about John and Alyssa's heart-to-heart afterwards.

Irillith was the first to speak and she gently massaged John's shoulders as she said, "In my opinion, this worked out perfectly. The Trankarans have been genetically engineered to respond to a changed Trankaran female, just as the Maliri were. The improvement in the effectiveness of Niskera's leadership should be profound, just as it was with the Matriarchs now that they're united under your banner."

"And I wouldn't worry about Niskera's future happiness with the Trankarans," Rachel quickly added. "She'll be able to have her pick of suitors once the Change is complete. I spent a few hours with her yesterday and she seemed like a very level-headed and sensible woman. I think she has just the right kind of temperament not to be overwhelmed by the challenges her new appearance will present."

"If she isn't happy amongst the Trankarans in the long term, we can always make her welcome here with us instead," Tashana said softly. "I know it wasn't what you planned for Niskera, but the girls are incredible at making new arrivals feel loved and cared for; I know that's how I felt after my first day here with all of you."

"I reckon she'll look a bit like Jade when you're done stuffing her full of cum for two weeks," Dana speculated, looking intrigued. "I wonder what your kids will look like?"

John raised his hands and laughed. "Hold on, let's not get carried away! Alyssa and I do need to have a chat with Niskera about her future plans, but that's a long way off yet. All we've established so far, is that Niskera was excited about helping her people and overjoyed to be part of our new alliance. The rest we can address when the need arises."

"Fair enough," Dana said with a shrug.

Rachel bit her lower lip, then confessed, "I must admit, I am really intrigued to know what would happen if you keep feeding Niskera. The way we all look now is exceptional, but still within the bounds of normal Terran physiology. Jade didn't change, not physically at least, but a Trankaran... that's a whole different ball game."

John glanced down and smiled as he said, "Nope, still the same four..." After the girls' laughter had died down, he continued, "Niskera seems like a lovely woman, but to remake her into essentially a grey-skinned Maliri... I really hope it doesn't come to that. This once, I'm going to be hoping your professional curiosity stays unsatiated."

"I understand," Rachel said, kissing him lightly on the shoulder.

"Okay, let's get dried off and we can start the debriefing," John said, gesturing towards the shower door.

Dana bounded out of the shower first and started drying herself with the auto-driers. "Faye's done an awesome job with all the cam footage!" she exclaimed, grinning at the purple sprite. "Just wait to see what she's put together!"

John glanced at Faye and smiled. "I can't wait to see it. What order are the edited highlights in? Ground mission first, then the space combat?"

"Actually, I ordered them in the sequence the events occurred," she replied self-consciously. "I hope you like it. I'm worried I might have got a little bit carried away..."

Dana shook her head, making her auburn tresses swish around her shoulders. "You're a natural at this, Faye! You've got a real artistic flair with video!"

Faye looked worried and darted the redhead a nervous glance. "Please don't oversell it! I wouldn't want to disappoint everyone."

"I'm sure it'll be great," John replied, before turning to look at the girls. "Everyone get dressed, then meet back in the bedroom in... five minutes?"

In what could only be described as a minor miracle, the seven girls managed to get dressed and make themselves look gorgeous in the extremely tight timeframe. Tashana and Irillith had to jog to make it in time, and Irillith flashed her sister a radiantly happy smile as they ran down the corridor. Tashana hesitated a second, then grinned back at her twin, deciding to just embrace the moment.