John closed his eyes, and was soon lulled into a deep sleep by the rhythmic breathing of the young women on either side of him. Just as it did every other night, the featureless darkness of the void had gently embraced him, as his mind had slipped into a restful slumber. Before he could surrender completely to its siren call, this time a faint light appeared, growing brighter, and illuminating undefined shapes that lurked in his peripheral vision. With mounting dread, he realised he was experiencing another dream, and upon that realisation the dim half-light disappeared in a flash, as he lurched into the surreal reality of the dreamworld.

Defeated enemies lay broken and ruined around him; a hulking cyborg, an enormous four armed Drakkar, and a huge reptilian beast, all evidence of his might and prowess in combat. He felt a surging sense of pride, and gloated at his victory over his stricken adversaries, revelling in his growing power.

As he looked beyond the immediate destruction at his feet, he saw that he was on a vast plain, strewn with the corpses of the foes he had mercilessly slaughtered. Men, Kirrix, Drakkar, Kintark... all those who had foolishly attempted to challenge him, and had fallen to his fearsome wrath. Above that desolate expanse of butchery, the endless night sky yawned wide, the dozens of stars that flecked that blackness twinkling with a malevolent light.

He suddenly felt an itching in his mind, as though he was being watched by some predatory figure that lurked just out of sight. He looked to both his left and right, before becoming aware of a vast eldritch presence that was scrutinising his every move. It seemed to be taking an obscene delight in observing his reactions to the scene of carnage, and he could sense its gloating satisfaction as he relished his gory handiwork. With a shocking moment of clarity, he realised that the dozens of stars were malignant eyes, that were watching him like a man might observe the antics of a bug. His mind shrank back from the hideous immensity of the abyssal horror, desperately trying to shy away, as if instinctively comprehending that attempting to confront this titanic monstrosity would lead to madness and despair.

As unspeakable dread threatened to overwhelm him, a glowing nimbus of light began to pool at his feet, before swiftly surging upwards to encase him in a brightly glowing sphere. Fortified by the radiance, and with his terror banished, he looked about him once more. Instead of broken corpses, he saw the thousands of people that he had saved, all turned to face him on that vast plain. Huge crowds of men and women raised their voices in a wordless cheer of gratitude, while great numbers of Ashanath joined a psychic chorus of praise to his name.

His heart bolstered by the grateful admiration of the souls he had saved, he faced the Stygian abomination with steely determination. He could sense it's smug satisfaction turning to disgust and loathing, and with an incomprehensible roar of rage, the lurking presence lashed out at him from the impenetrable darkness. Colossal writhing tentacles, tipped with sickeningly sharp barbs, coiled and undulated as they surged towards him, seeking to rend him asunder. At the last possible moment, they were deflected away harmlessly by the glowing nimbus of light that swathed him, and they lashed in the air, thwarted from their lethal purpose. The sickening ethereal behemoth roared impotently, and the dreamworld collapsed in an instant, as he was dumped unceremoniously from the cloying grasp of the nightmare.

John was brought back to consciousness in an instant, and he stifled the urge to cry out, as he was suddenly and shockingly wide awake once more. He could feel his heart hammering away, as though desperate to escape the confines of his chest, and his eyes were wide as he stared up at the ceiling. He took a deep breath and then let it out slowly, desperate to calm himself, but knowing that achieving a state of focus couldn't be rushed. He closed his eyes to help him concentrate, and after a long moment, his breathing returned to normal, as he felt at peace once again.

He opened his eyes again, but calmly this time, and noticed movement on his right hand side. He turned his head slightly to look over Rachel's slumbering form, and saw that Alyssa had sat bolt upright, staring at him in shock, her eyes wide with terror.

*What the fuck was that?* she asked him, her voice fearful as it echoed around his mind.

*I've been having dreams. That wasn't the first,* he told her grimly.

*No telepathy, I want to hear your voice,* she told him, her telepathic voice sounding small and scared.

John carefully untangled himself from Jade and Rachel, leaving the girls cuddled up with Calara and Dana respectively. He quietly and carefully left the bed by the base, and held out his hand for Alyssa, who took it eagerly. She gripped his hand tightly, and her fingers felt cold and clammy in his, while she shivered slightly. They left the bedroom, and walked down the corridor hand in hand, with John leading her to the Officers' Lounge so that they could talk without disturbing the others. The blonde suddenly pulled him into Jade's room as they passed the entrance, closing the door behind them.

"Jade never sleeps in here, she won't mind," Alyssa said with a tremor in her voice, as she led him to the bed.

"Are you OK?" he asked her as she tugged gently on his hand to encourage him to join her.

"No, I'm scared," she said, as she shivered with fear. "We'll talk when you're inside me," she said firmly, lying back and pulling him with her, as she spread her toned thighs for him.

"I'm not feeling all that turned on right now," he said apologetically, still recovering from the nightmare himself.

Alyssa looked up at him with big eyes, her pupils having been dilated by fear. "I need you, my handsome hero. Help warm me up with your big hard cock, and tell me how you're going to protect me, and make everything better," she urged him gently.

Rising to the challenge both figuratively and literally, John was hard within a few moments, and when he pushed inside the beautiful blonde teenager, she clung to him fiercely. He could feel how cold she was, her body reacting to the stress, and he pressed himself down on her, so that she could leech his body-heat.

"Everything's going to be alright now," he murmured soothingly into her ear. "I'm here to keep you safe. Nothing bad is going to happen to you, my beautiful girl."

Eventually Alyssa stopped shivering as he warmed her up, and he cradled her head protectively in his hands as she looked up at him.

"That was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced!" she exclaimed with a shudder. "What the hell was that?!"

"I've no idea," John admitted. "That's the third dream I've had like it."

"That wasn't a dream, that was some kind of horrible fucking nightmare!" Alyssa said vehemently. "Why didn't you tell me about them?"

"I told you about the first one, but I haven't had any for the last few weeks. The last time was just after we rescued Jade from those pirates," he said, thinking back to when he had previously experienced one of the nightmares. "I'd hoped they were just a temporary thing."

"I didn't realise they were that bad," she said apologetically.

"Yeah, I'm glad I've never dreamt before, if they're anything like this," John growled.

"That first nightmare was just after we'd got Sparks to join us, wasn't it?" she asked him curiously.

"That's right. We'd picked up Dana from the Karron asteroid, and were heading back to the Olympus Shipyard," he said, nodding in agreement.

Alyssa took a big breath, which brushed her pert breasts against his chest, and she looked up at him with a cute frown as she concentrated. As her mind wandered, turning over the events he had mentioned, she spotted a nascent bundle of emotions that swirled playfully in her mind. She smiled inwardly at the metaphysical representation of Rachel, and then allocated her a little compartment of her own. Her image slotted in next to those of the other girls, that were positioned around the image of John, which took centre stage.

With an abrupt, startled gasp, Alyssa suddenly realised what the trigger was. "You're experiencing these nightmares whenever we permanently add girls to the crew! They occur every time a new girl appears in my mind!"

"So you're saying I'm a commitment-phobe?" he joked playfully, trying to calm the perceptive blonde.

"This is serious," Alyssa replied with a frown. "I'm worried that these nightmares are some form of psychic attack."

"But, what about Calara?" John retorted. "If your theory was correct, then she would have triggered a nightmare as well. When she joined us, and you started sensing her thoughts, nothing happened."

Alyssa was quiet for a moment as she pondered the conundrum. "You and Dana have been saying I've been growing in power, which we seem to have proved with the Invictium shaping. Maybe when it was just you, me and Calara, I wasn't powerful enough to appear on the radar of whatever is causing these nightmares," she guessed hesitantly.

"But if that's the case, why aren't the nightmares directed at you, instead of me?" John asked with a puzzled frown.

"I'm just a Terran, you're the Progenitor," she reminded him gently. "We're also very closely linked, and our bond has been getting stronger."

"You think it's Progenitors attacking me in my sleep?" he asked her with a worried frown.

"It could be, I've no idea," Alyssa said with a helpless shrug of her shoulders. "But once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, three times shows a pattern."

"Dana, Jade, Rachel," John stated, staring into the blonde girl's cerulean eyes.

"Yes, exactly," Alyssa replied, nodding.

"So should we stop recruiting anyone else?" John asked her cautiously. "After everything we discovered with the Ashanath, and that mysterious black ship, it looks like Progenitors are active again. I don't think we want to attract any more attention than we have already."

"Well you're in charge, so ultimately, it's your decision," she replied, studying his face.

"The more girls we add, the more powerful our team becomes, with more skills to draw from," John mused. "I can't imagine trying to tackle the recent challenges without all of our existing crew, and I'm sure Rachel will prove to be just as helpful."

"Plus, it's very exciting seeing you break in new girls," Alyssa purred at him, starting to rock gently underneath him.

"It looks like you're feeling better," he smiled down at her wryly.

"Being stretched out by your big cock always makes me feel wonderful," she sighed blissfully, as her hands moved down to rest on his bottom, urging him to push deeper inside her.

John did exactly that, enjoying feeling her body yield to him as he sank up to the balls inside her. "Taking your hot little body always feels wonderful," he agreed. "But aren't we forgetting our grey eyed companion?"

"Don't worry. I reached out to Dana, and sent her off with Rachel to do her tests. She'll be back in time for breakfast," Alyssa replied impishly.

"So what's the plan exactly?" John asked her, as he gathered her wrists in his hands and pinned them to the bed above her head. "Am I going to fuck you hard until you can't come any more, and then have Rachel suck the spunk out of my balls?"

Alyssa shivered with excitement as he began to stroke powerfully inside her, and she wrapped her legs around him, so she could feel the driving motion of his hips better. "No, not this time. I'd like to feel your cum stretching my belly after the fright I got last night. Having you fill me up is the best feeling in the world."

"I'd be more than happy to oblige, but what about Rachel's change?" he asked her, as he began to thrust hard into her firm young body, making her moan with pleasure.

"Stuff my womb with your load, and then I promise I'll share with her," Alyssa said eagerly, between groans. "Unless you're bored of fucking me?" she added with a teasing smile.

"That's never going to happen," he told her as he pounded her harder, delighting in the clutching embrace of her snug pussy.

John rode the blonde teenager long and hard, coaxing her body to climax three times, before the door to Jade's room open with a swish. Dana and Rachel strolled inside, and then stopped and stared with wide eyes, as they watched Alyssa cry out while John's relentless shafting brought her to a fourth massive orgasm.

"Stop, please!" She begged him. "If you make me cum any more, I'm going to pass out!"

"Only because you asked so nicely," John replied, as he leaned down to lovingly kiss the panting blonde, and halted the rocking motion of his hips.

When they stopped kissing, Alyssa leaned to the side to look around John at the other two girls. "Join us," Alyssa said breathily, with an inviting smile.

Rachel and Dana grinned back at her, and climbed on to the bed, splitting up to sit on either side of the impaled blonde.

"Morning girls," John said as he smiled at them both affectionately. He sat back, whilst still buried inside Alyssa, and kissed the redhead, then the brunette in turn.

"You look so sexy," Rachel exclaimed breathily as she looked down at Alyssa's stunning body, covered as it was in a light sheen of perspiration. "You look like you've been oiled up for him."

"Mmm, we haven't played with oil for a while," Alyssa purred seductively, "I think the last time was when you took Calara's virgin ass wasn't it, John?"

He laughed and nodded, before glancing at the girls to either side of him. "I got a lovely kiss this morning, but Alyssa missed out! She had a bad dream last night, so I think you girls should help make her feel better," he told them playfully.

Dana giggled, and immediately swooped in to start passionately kissing her blonde friend. Rachel leaned down and began to suck on Alyssa's erect nipples, causing the other girl to gasp with delight. John began to move slowly again, seeing the three girls together instinctively making him want to join in.

"Oh, wow!" Rachel gasped as she looked down at Alyssa's toned stomach.

She could see the bulge in the blonde's belly, where the head of John's cock was stroking in and out of her. Rachel reached out tentatively, and gently rested her hand on the slowly moving shape, amazed at how deep he was.

"How does that even fit?" she marvelled, trying to imagine the biology of what she was seeing with her disbelieving eyes.

"He's deep in my womb," Alyssa replied quietly, with a sigh of great satisfaction.

"He shouldn't be able to get past your cervix," Rachel said in surprise. "Doesn't that hurt like hell?"

"Not even a little bit," Alyssa replied happily. "I guess I can't help but stretch to make room for his big cock."

"You're a very good girl," John praised her with a grin, as he thrust languidly into the girl lying supine beneath him.

"Talking of good girls, are you ready to swallow down more cum?" Alyssa asked Rachel encouragingly.

"Of course, I can't wait," the tawny haired brunette replied eagerly.

"I'd really like to feel him cumming inside me this morning. Would you be okay with me giving you breakfast instead?" Alyssa asked Rachel with a sultry smile.

"You mean...?" Rachel asked with surprise.

"Yes, she wants you to eat his cum from her pussy," Dana said enthusiastically.

"John mentioned that he expected I'd be getting rather more familiar with the rest of the girls," Rachel laughed, moving up the bed so that she was face to face with Alyssa. "Besides, I've wanted to go down on you ever since we first met in the boutique," she added impishly.

"Oh, wow! I felt the same way!" Alyssa replied breathlessly, as John continued to stroke slowly inside her beautiful body. "Can I go first... please?" she added eagerly.

Rachel leaned in and kissed the blonde tenderly, and looked into her bright blue eyes that were hooded with lust. "Only because you asked so nicely," the tawny haired girl said with a grin.

John watched excitedly as Rachel crawled around the bed, so that she was facing him. He leaned back a little, giving the brunette plenty of room, and she took his offered hand as she knelt carefully, positioning her pussy over Alyssa's full lips.

"Good morning," Rachel purred at him, gazing into his eyes, before she let out a gasp as Alyssa's eager tongue began to get to work.

"Oh God, that feels amazing," she groaned, as lurid lapping sounds began to fill the room.

Rachel leaned forward to kiss him, and they stayed like that for a while, gently exploring each other's lips, while they both enjoyed the blonde girl underneath them. Dana smiled at them happily, and then her mouth formed into a wicked grin as she watched the brunette riding her friend's face. She moved behind Rachel, who was rocking gently in place, and looked down at Alyssa from behind the brunette's gyrating ass. Dana sucked her index finger into her mouth, making sure it was nice and wet, and then reached out to brush her fingertip over Rachel's moist pussy. Being careful not to get in Alyssa's way, she eased her long finger into the brunette, hearing the smaller girl gasp with excitement at being penetrated.

"She's so tight," Dana told him eagerly. "She's really going to have to stretch to take your big cock."

Rachel stared at him wide eyed, as her breathing got more ragged. The combination of Alyssa's licking tongue, and Dana's insistent fingering were getting her heated up very fast. She panted with lust as she placed her arms around his neck, and kissed him fiercely, before suddenly letting out a surprised shriek as she looked behind her with shock.

"She's even tighter back here, John," Dana informed him helpfully with a mischievous grin, as she winked at the brunette. "You might need to feed her a while, before she'll be able to take you in the ass."

Under their combined assault, Rachel clung to John tightly as she arched her back and screamed as she climaxed. She shuddered through her release, while staring into his eyes and panting for breath.

Hearing the lovely young woman gasping and moaning as she orgasmed, was enough to tip him over the edge too, and he thrust deeply into Alyssa before roaring out his own climax. He'd been inside Alyssa for little over an hour, and his balls were desperate to unload. They flexed and convulsed as he pumped the moaning blonde full of his cum, and her womb inflated rapidly as he filled her to the brim.

They eventually wound down from their joint climax, and they both carefully dismounted Alyssa, who gazed up at them with a blissful, contented expression on her beautiful face.

"It feels like so long ago since the last time you came inside me," she sighed contentedly as she stroked her stretched belly. "I'd almost forgotten how amazing it feels," she added teasingly.

John lay down at her side, and smiled back at her. "I'm sorry you've been neglected," he apologised playfully, as he joined her in stroking her rounded stomach.

"Ready for breakfast?" Dana giggled to Rachel excitedly.

"I can't wait," the brunette grinned, and moved down between Alyssa's thighs as she spread them welcomingly.

"Oh, that feels so good," Alyssa sighed with delight, as Rachel got to work.

***

A little while later, they finally emerged from Jade's bedroom and returned to the Commander's Quarters. Calara and Jade were just waking up when John and the others walked into the room, and they grinned at Rachel as she carefully climbed onto the bed with a heavily rounded belly that was obviously full of cum.

"Morning girls," John greeted them happily, as he joined the others on the bed.

"You seem to be in a wonderful mood this morning," Jade noted, looking delighted.

"Well he fucked me senseless, then watched Rachel eat his cum from my pussy, so I should think so, too!" Alyssa exclaimed, causing all the girls to giggle.

When they all settled down, John looked over at Rachel. "Have you looked at any of your test results yet?" he asked her curiously.

"I've been doing too much sleeping," she said, as she grinned self-consciously. "I'll start analysing the results soon, though. Would you like me to tell you what I've found out as I discover it, or just compile all my results into a presentation after the two weeks are up?"

"It would probably be good to see a final presentation, then we can more clearly see what happens over the entire change," John said thoughtfully, "Unless you find out anything really important, that you think we need to know immediately."

"Whatever you say, Commodore," Rachel said with a smirk.

"Oh, don't you start all that too," John groaned. "Alyssa already takes great delight in mocking my rank."

"How about 'Boss' then, or 'Chief'?" the brunette asked playfully. "Maybe 'Lord', or 'Master', if we want to get a bit more racy?"

"Sorry, Jade called dibs on 'Master' already," John laughed, as he glanced at the Nymph.

"This one loves being your possession, Master," Jade gasped breathily, before smiling at him impishly.

Calara, Jade and Alyssa laughed in amusement at Jade's self-deprecating humour, but Rachel just looked a bit confused and smiled politely.

"I used to speak that way all the time," Jade explained for her gently, "But being with John gave me a sense of self-worth beyond just being some sexual plaything for a long series of unpleasant men."

"That sounds horrendous, what happened?" Rachel asked sympathetically.

"Now's not the time. It's too depressing a tale, and everyone's in a good mood," Jade said with a smile. "Remind me to tell you some other time, if you're interested."

Rachel nodded, while studying the Nymph with fascination, admiring the viridian curves on her beautiful dark green skin. "I'd love to find out a lot more about you," she said eagerly. "Maybe when I'm done with this current analysis, you'd agree to let me study you more closely?"

"Of course, I'd be happy to," Jade replied with a smile.

"So, what plans has everyone got for today?" John asked them all. "Are you all going to go shopping on Gravitus?"

There was a chorus of agreement from the girls, except from Dana, who shook her head.

"I want to get the Raptor repaired straight away, assuming the parts have arrived," she said eagerly.

"Well we might as well wait until you're finished with the ship," Alyssa said with a shrug. "Then Jade can fly us down to the planet, and save us any messing around with shuttles. Will it take you a long time to install the new engine?"

"I should be done in an hour, less if you guys help too," Dana said with a grin. "Replacing the Gatling lasers should only take about ten minutes each, but I'll have to fabricate new turret housings for them first. I can get the mass fabricators working on the parts for those while we fit the engine, so we shouldn't have to wait."

"Well, sounds like we have a plan then," John said, as he smiled at them. "I'll help you fit the engine if you like, I'm guessing my strength will speed up the process even more?"

"Yeah, that would be great actually," Dana nodded appreciatively. "That will make it much easier."

"You haven't told us what you're doing while we're going shopping," Calara protested, as she looked at John.

"I'll be placing the booking for our vacation on Oceanus," John grinned at them, "But I want it to be a surprise, so no peeking!" he added, throwing a stern glance at Alyssa.

"Alright, I promise I'll stay out of your head for a few hours," she said as she smiled at him affectionately. "But only two at the most!"

John laughed and nodded. "That should be fine, I'll try and resist thinking about it after that."

"Do you want one of us to stay with you afterwards, to keep you entertained?" Alyssa asked him playfully, and the other girls started to look torn about their decision to go on a shopping trip.

"No, it's okay, I think I can last a few hours," John said with a chuckle.

They got up and went for a shower, but Rachel paused when she passed the huge bath and looked at it longingly.

"Go ahead, have a long soak," Alyssa said in a friendly tone. "We won't need you for the repairs, and you already have an important job to do."

"I do?" Rachel asked her puzzled.

"Of course!" Alyssa said, reaching out to caress the brunette's cum packed belly. "Absorbing this lot, so you can join us properly," she added warmly.

Rachel laughed at that, and then leaned over to give the blonde girl an affectionate peck on the cheek. "Thanks for being so lovely," she said sincerely. "You've really gone out of your way to make me feel at home here."

"You're very welcome," Alyssa replied, and gently stroked the other girl's cheek. "John likes you a lot, and you're joining our group. That means I care about you a great deal already."

Rachel smiled happily at this, and then hugged the blonde enthusiastically. "This still feels like a dream," she said with a wide grin. "But one I never want to wake up from!"

"Oh, don't talk about dreams, please!" Alyssa groaned. "John and I just experienced a horrible shared nightmare last night, and I'm still a bit raw."

"What do you mean?" Dana asked, poking her head out of the shower.

"Wait till they've run the bath, and joined us in the shower, then I'll explain," he said to the redhead,

Alyssa waved her hand over the panel set in the wall, activating the holographic controls, which sprang into being with a soft orange glow. The panel had various settings for the bath, including depth of water, temperature and just how bubbly to make it. She pressed a few buttons, and water began to pour into the tub, gurgling happily as steam began to rise above the rapidly filling bath.

When Alyssa and Rachel joined them in the shower, the blonde positioned the new girl in the middle, and she was soon being lovingly massaged and stroked by her female companions.

"Oh my God, that feels amazing!" Rachel groaned, closing her eyes in bliss.

"Jade is a gifted masseuse, and the girls are her willing students," John chuckled, as he watched the young woman sigh rapturously.

He let Rachel luxuriate for a while as the other girls lavished attention on her, before the soft melody coming from the bath let them know that it was now full.

"I won't keep you from your bath, so I'll keep this brief. I never used to dream before, but I've recently been having some pretty scary ones over the last month or so," he explained carefully.

"I somehow shared the most recent nightmare, and you shouldn't undersell it. That was the most terrifying thing I've ever experienced," Alyssa said with a shudder.

"Yes, well, Alyssa and I had a chat about it, and we think these nightmares are somehow linked to her getting more powerful, and might be some kind of psychic attack," he explained, before turning to look at the blonde. "Although this is the first time you've been consciously aware of it, I think you might have been present in the other ones too."

"What makes you say that?" Calara asked him curiously.

"In almost all of my dreams, there's been a glowing white figure, or some kind of radiant white aura. Thinking about it now, that presence has felt distinctly feminine, especially the dreams I've had after I've been injured," he said wistfully, as he recalled the feelings accompanying those dreams.

"You've been having these kind of nightmares when you've been hurt as well?" Alyssa asked him with concern.

"Oh no, not like the one you experienced at all. Those ones have been amazing; warm, caring, loving... the contrast between them is colossal," he said emphatically.

"How badly were you hurt?" Rachel asked him curiously, as she studied his body carefully. "I don't see any scars on you."

"The worst was when he got punched through the chest with a spike," Jade said with a frown. "A Drakkar impaled him with a blade right through the torso below the ribs," she added, moving around behind him, to place her hands on the entry and exit point.

"Thankfully you were there to save the day," John said to the Nymph gratefully, as he looked at her over his shoulder, and she stood on tiptoe so that she could kiss him lovingly.

"There's no kind of marks on you of any kind," Rachel said in amazement, as she closely examined his chest below the ribs. "And a wound that severe would have been life threatening."

"Yeah, Jade definitely saved my life that day," John agreed, as the green skinned girl cuddled up behind him.

"No, I mean a wound that bad would have required immediate medical assistance. Does one of you have medical training?" she asked, as she looked around the assembled group, but was met by shakes of the head.

"I applied a trauma kit, if that counts?" Alyssa said helpfully.

Rachel smiled at her and gently shook her head. "That would have helped stop the bleeding, but he would have definitely required surgery," she explained, before studying John again. "I can't see a scratch on you, so how long did it take to completely heal?"

"Overnight?" he said with a shrug.

"Come on, you can't be serious!" Rachel balked. "I've never heard of regenerative abilities on that scale."

"Hmm, you probably didn't get a good look at that Kintark Royal Guard then," John said wryly, as he remembered the wounds in the reptile healing before his eyes.

"Really?" Rachel asked him intrigued. "I would love to have studied that in more detail."

"If we come across another one, I'll save you a souvenir," John joked.

"That would be brilliant, thanks!" The young doctor replied gratefully, and John laughed as he nodded.

"Actually, John isn't the only one who healed fast," Dana said with a smile. "I had a nasty head wound, and I've broken my arm before. Both of those got healed overnight too."

"Oh, and I got shot in the back with a heavy laser!" Alyssa added chirpily.

"Yeah, that looked like it could have been fatal to me, but you were good as new the next day," Calara smiled at the blonde with relief. "I had a broken nose, fractured ribs and a lacerated back. Those were all healed within a few days too."

"How is that possible?" Rachel said in wonder, before suddenly looking dejected. "And why would you bother recruiting a doctor if you can heal from critical wounds overnight? I can't see how I'm going to be able to help you guys much at all."

John opened his arms to the girl, and she stepped into his embrace, looking up at him as he wrapped her in a big hug. "Don't worry, I can think of lots of ways you can be useful," he said, smiling down at her fondly.

She rolled her eyes as she smiled up at him. "You've got four astoundingly beautiful young women at your beck and call already. I can't believe you'd want me here just for a bit of variety!"

The other girls smiled at her gratefully for the compliment, and stroked her back and arms, as she stood next to John.

"I'm sure I'll have lots of fun with you, but that's not what I meant," John replied with a smile. "We have a lot of questions that need answering about what exactly happened to the girls when they joined me, the rapid healing being one of them. Another example is the DNA reader on the Invictus. It stopped working for the girls after they'd been here a little while, so we think their DNA might have been changed."

"I knew these changes were dramatic, but that's on a whole different level!" Rachel exclaimed in surprise. "But I should be able to explain all that for you in a few weeks, so what about after that?"

"Well we don't know much about Jade, and her species is pretty much extinct, so she's essentially unique. When you can see what she can do, I think you'll be eager to help unlock some of her mysteries," John said, and he smiled when the Nymph hugged him tightly from behind.

"True, she already has me quite fascinated," Rachel said, as they exchanged warm smiles over John's shoulder.

"Then there's me. I'm a Progenitor, and we know nothing about what makes me tick," he grinned.

"But if there was anything strange about you or your physiology, aside from the obvious," she said, while looking up at his ears, and then down suggestively. "then wouldn't the doctors have highlighted it when you joined the Terran Federation military?"

"That's a really good point!" Dana blurted excitedly. "I'll access your old medical records, John. I'm sure they'd be an interesting read."

"If you could, that would be really helpful!" Rachel said, nodding eagerly. "If you've gone through any changes yourself recently, then we'll have a baseline report from... how many years ago?"

"Twenty two years," John said with a self-conscious smile.

"You wouldn't think it to look at him, but he's old enough to be our father," Alyssa smirked at him playfully.

"Don't start all that 'Daddy' stuff again," John groaned.

The girls giggled at him, and he laughed along with them.

"Okay, but we're still talking about a few weeks of research, and I don't think I'll be able to tell you much about the psychic stuff that's happening. Terran tools aren't equipped to cater for that kind of analysis. We don't have any people with psychic powers," she said apologetically.

"Yeah, but the Ashanath do!" Dana gasped excitedly.

"I don't really fancy a detour back to Ashana just yet," John said with a frown. "We've got some other interesting places to go first."

"We won't need to!" the redhead exclaimed eagerly. "As Alyssa trashed the Psi-shaper, I could take that apart, and start developing some psychic devices. At the very least, I'll be able to build Rachel something to detect psychic energy," she added confidently.

"Hey, that was an accident!" Alyssa protested. "But how can you be so sure about being able to build a detection device, anyway?"

"There's a psychic sensor on the base of the Psi-shaper. If I can't figure out how that works, then I should resign from my job as Chief Engineer," Dana replied cheerily.

"That all sounds really interesting, and I can't wait to get started on it, but what about the long term? What have you got planned for me then?" Rachel asked John hopefully.

"I've got a few things in mind for you actually. I think Dana was on to a good idea with analysing the aliens we encounter. If you can investigate any corpses we bring back, you might be able to tell us more about them, specifically things like weak spots for some of these more dangerous creatures we've faced, like the Drakkar, or that Kintark reptile," he explained cautiously.

"I can do that for you, no problem!" Rachel agreed eagerly.

"I want you trained up for combat as well," John said firmly, then looked around at the rest of the girls too. "We've taken it all too casually so far, with just Alyssa training intensively in firearms. While we're relaxing on Oceanus, I'd like you all to spend some time improving your marksmanship. If we get boarded by anyone in the future, I want all of you combat ready."

John felt Jade flinch behind him, and he quickly turned to look at her troubled face. "I don't mean you of course, honey," he told her soothingly, and watched her relax immediately. "You're more than lethal enough with your natural abilities." he added with a smile.

When he was certain that the Nymph was alright, and not going to react badly to the thought of firing weapons again, he turned back to face Rachel.

"Any objections to that?" he asked her considerately. "If you're a pacifist, let me know now!"

"No, none whatsoever," Rachel replied with a smile.

"Great! I'd like you to regularly accompany Alyssa and I on our combat missions. We might need you to help stabilise either of us if we get badly hurt, and there's always the chance you might have to help any wounded friendlies we might encounter. We seem to be rescuing more than our fair share of people," he said wryly.

"That sounds amazing," Rachel said, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "Although I must warn you, I've never fired a gun before," she added bashfully.

"I didn't have much experience either, but I soon improved," Calara told her encouragingly. "One of the benefits of our heightened reflexes, increased strength, and improvements to agility, is that we're ideally suited for combat."

"Based on what we saw on those stone pictographs, that doesn't surprise me at all," John said with a depressed sigh.

"Don't feel bad," Alyssa told him immediately. "Those guys might have been dicks, but you've twisted your natural abilities, and turned them into something good. Just think about all the people we've saved already, like the Kirrix prisoners, or all the military personnel at Iota-Leonis. Then there's all the rest who will live, because we stopped the pirates and the Drakkar from attacking anyone else."

John looked at her with hope in his eyes, and she smiled at him lovingly. "Then there's all these girls. You saved all their lives, and I'm sure they're all eternally grateful to you. I know I am!"

The other girls murmured their heartfelt agreement, and John looked around at them gratefully.

"Thanks ladies, that was nice to hear," he said appreciatively, as they all moved in for a group hug.

"Now we're all caught up, we better get on with the day," John said as they separated, before he looked at Rachel with a smile. "Does that answer your question about your role on the ship?"

"Yes, thank you. I feel much happier now," she replied honestly.

"I've thought of something else that's going to make you invaluable," Alyssa said with a sultry purr. "A vital role for a doctor on this ship."

Rachel raised an eyebrow, looking intrigued, and asked her, "Really? What have you got in mind?"

Alyssa moved behind the young woman, and wrapped her gently in her arms, before stroking Rachel's heavily swollen belly with both hands.

"Obstetrics," the blonde said softly, as she kissed the brunette tenderly on the shoulder.

The shower room echoed with breathy sighs from the girls, and John looked around him, seeing wistful, doe-eyed expressions on all of the young women as they stared up at him. He smiled back at them, then opened his arms invitingly.

"Okay, one more group hug, then we better get moving," he said with a grin.

After they got out of the shower, Rachel stepped gingerly into the bathtub, and groaned with delight as she sank below the bubbly surface. The other girls laughed, and waved goodbye to her playfully, as they joined John in getting dressed quickly, so that they were ready to assist with the repairs. The corridor outside the Commander's Quarters filled with excited teenage chatter, and John strolled alongside the girls as they made their way to the grav-tube.

"I'll go set up the mass fabricators," Dana said eagerly. "Can you bring the replacement parts into the hangar bay for the Raptor, please?"

"Right away, Chief Engineer," John grinned, and they all stepped into the grav-tube.

When they left the airlock, they saw that there was a large crate standing ready not far from the hull of the Invictus, along with two long secured containers. John eyed the crate speculatively, and momentarily considered attempting to pick it up, to carry it into the ship's hangar.

*Easy there, Hercules, we're probably surrounded by cameras,* Alyssa's cautious voice reached out to him.

*I know, but it would be a lot easier,* he replied with amusement.

Calara strode over to one of the nearby loading cranes, while Alyssa walked over to collect one of the anti-grav flatbeds that were left parked in the Docking Bay. They drove both over to the bulky crate, and after taking a few minutes to get used to the controls, Calara swung the crane arm over the large cube. Jade leapt lithely up onto the crate, clambering up the side before standing ready at the top. When Calara brought the hoist down into position, the Nymph grabbed it with an outstretched hand, and then secured it to the attachment on top of the box. Once Jade had jumped clear, the Latina carefully manoeuvred the wavering crate into position, helped by John's sneaky guidance, and they dropped it onto the back of the anti-grav flatbed.

"The crate weighs just over a ton," Calara called out to them, recalling the reading on the crane, as she walked over to join them.

John picked up a long weapon container containing the Gatling laser, and pretended to struggle with the weight as he placed it on the back of the flatbed.

"Over two thousand pounds," Alyssa said speculatively, as she glanced at John. "That Raptor engine's very heavy, isn't it, handsome?"

"It certainly is," John replied with an eager grin, and he loaded the other Gatling laser with a fake groan.

Alyssa started up the engine again on the flatbed, and the anti-gravity cyclics fired up with a deep whir. The vehicle rose gently off the ground, and she began to steer it towards the Invictus. John pulled the remote from his pocket, and pressed the button that would open the huge hull door into the hangar bay. The slowly rising door gradually revealed the Raptor, which gleamed a brilliant white, sparkling brightly as the armour plating reflected the overhead lighting.

"Oh, wow!" Jade said breathlessly, as she stopped and stared in awe at the gunship.

"You like?" Alyssa asked her with a grin.

The Nymph looked delighted. "I love it!" she gasped, as she bounded up the ramp into the Invictus to take a closer look.

John chuckled in amusement as he watched Jade cavorting around the Raptor, and she beamed a huge grin at him when she had completed her circuit.

"Still wish it was black and evil looking?" Alyssa asked him with a smile.

"It was worth the colour swap just to see Jade's reaction," John replied happily.

Alyssa brought the flatbed into the hangar, and parked it to the rear of the gunship. They were just lowering the hangar bay doors again, when Dana bounced into the hangar.

"You loaded that quickly!" she said in surprise as she rejoined them. "Did you use your super strength?"

"No, I behaved myself," John replied. "We just used a crane to load it. The crate weighs over a ton," he added, with a gleam in his eyes.

"Now this I've got to see!" Dana nodded eagerly, before she looked up at the gunship with a frown. "We better strip out the old engine first though. Give me a few minutes, and I'll have it uncoupled."

They waited patiently while Dana moved a maintenance gantry over the back end of the gunship. Once it was in position, she dropped lightly off the walkway and onto the top of the Raptor.

"Need a hand?" John called up to her helpfully.

"Nah, I'm good. These military ships are designed for rapid refits, so I just need to shut down a few systems, reroute the fuel supply, and then uncouple all the locking clamps," she replied.

John and the girls smiled at each other when Dana began to whistle a tune while she worked, the jaunty melody drifting down to them where they stood waiting below. It only took a few minutes before she stopped her whistling, and called down to let them know she was ready.

"Do you want me to hook up a hoist, just in case?" she asked cautiously, as she poked her head out over the side of the Raptor.

"Yeah, that would be sensible, just to aid with the positioning," John replied confidently.

Dana nodded and a minute later she had moved one of the loading hoists into position, and attached the magnetic clamp to the devastated engine. She activated the hoist, and it slowly lifted the wrecked piece of equipment clear of the gunship.

"Okay, lower it slightly, I've got it," John called out to her as he positioned himself to take the weight.

The redhead lowered the engine, while Alyssa watched John like a hawk, in case the strain should become too much for him. With a grunt, John took the weight, and then he grinned at his crowd of onlookers as he carefully walked with the engine to the side of the ship, before gently placing it on the hangar bay floor. The girls clapped and cheered, so John took a little bow as he walked over to rejoin them.

"And I thought seeing you lift nine hundred pounds in the gym was impressive," Calara said in a low, breathy voice, as she ran her hands over his biceps.

"I can't believe I'm mated to someone so powerful," Jade said reverently, as she stared at him in wonder.

John laughed and flexed his arms for them, causing both girls to swoon with delight. Dana had left the controls to the hoist, and she skipped over to join them.

"That was awesome!" she said with a huge grin. "With the missing bits, that still must have weighed seventeen hundred pounds."

"You didn't seem to be struggling, but do you feel comfortable trying anything heavier?" Alyssa asked him warily.

"Actually it's the bulky nature of these things which makes them a bit awkward to lift," John explained thoughtfully. "I didn't feel like I was going to hurt myself or anything."

"He's going for the ton!" Dana clapped excitedly, and he nodded at her with a big grin on his face.

"Once we get the new engine out of the crate, I'll lift it up so you can attach it to the hoist. Then we can just push the replacement into place," John said speculatively, as he looked up at the gaping hole at the back of the gunship where the starboard engine used to be.

"Sounds like a good plan to me," Dana grinned, and she darted back to the hoist controls.

While the exuberant redhead re-positioned the hoist, Jade clambered up on top of the crate, and detached the locks that held the sidewalls in place. After she had climbed down, they disconnected the sidewalls, revealing the engine inside.

Alyssa had her arms crossed, hugging herself anxiously as she called out to him, "Stop if you get into any trouble!"

"Sure, I'll be careful," he told her reassuringly, as he strode over to the bulky engine.

He closed his eyes to focus himself, while taking a couple of calming breaths, and concentrated on achieving a Zen-state. He let out his breath, then crouched by the side of the hulking piece of equipment, grabbing it securely in two places as he readied himself to lift it. He grunted as he lifted, and he stood smoothly with the engine carefully balanced above him. The girls watched spellbound, completely silent, as he lifted the engine in both arms until it clicked into place on the magnetic clamps on the hoist. John turned to face them with a huge grin on his face, and the girls went wild.

"Holy shit! You lifted a ton!" Dana gasped, doing a little dance with joy.

"I think I'll give the trip to Gravitus a miss. I want to spend the rest of the day in bed!" Calara panted lustily.

"We're so lucky he's got the stamina for both of us," Jade said, as she moaned with arousal.

"That was extremely impressive," Alyssa murmured, as he strolled over to them. "It didn't feel like you were in any distress, did that seem okay?"

"Honestly, I feel fine," he agreed with a nod, before he turned to look at Jade and Calara. "And as much as I'd like to take advantage of how horny you both are, we'll have more than enough time to discuss this in bed when we're on Oceanus. I think you two should get your shopping done while we're at a good spot for it."

Calara and Jade nodded disappointedly, so he came over to lift their downcast faces with a gentle hand under each chin. "I'll make it up to you both, I promise," he told them affectionately.

The girls smiled back at him and nodded, and they turned their attention back to finishing off the repairs. John helped position the engine in place with the aid of the hoist, and then he left Dana to work on reconnecting and powering up the replacement engine, while he and the other girls collected the parts that had been created by the mass fabricators. Under Dana's expert guidance, replacing the Gatling laser turrets only took ten minutes, and the Raptor was soon as good as new.

They headed back up to their rooms to get ready for the shopping trip, and when Rachel heard the excited chatter, she walked out of John's room where she'd been waiting.

"How was the bath?" John asked, as he gave her a hug.

"Oh, that was amazing, I feel so relaxed!" the brunette replied with a smile.

Dana and Jade disappeared into their own quarters, and Calara walked past them to enter her room. "He just lifted a ton!" she said, her dark brown eyes sparkling excitedly.

Rachel nodded and smiled, before what she had just heard sank in, and she turned towards John with amazement. "She's not joking, is she?" she asked John in shock.

"His new personal best," Alyssa noted with a grin, as she walked past them into their room.

"It's like I'm on a ship full of superheroes," Rachel said in disbelief.

"You're quite exceptional too, so you'll fit right in," John told her with a smile, as he brushed her light brown hair from her face.

Rachel smiled back at him doubtfully, but she sighed happily when he leaned in to give her a kiss. They continued for a while, with him holding the young woman in his arms, as she responded to his touch. She was getting quite excited by the time the other girls were ready, and had rejoined them in the corridor.

"We won't be gone that long," Alyssa told Rachel sympathetically when she glided out beside them. "You two can pick this up where you left off then."

The tawny haired girl laughed and nodded, before flashing a yearning look at John, as he released her from his arms.

"Have a great time, girls, and stay safe," he said as he turned to look at the assembled young women.

They promised him they'd be careful, and then the five girls walked back to the grav-tube, before descending in the warm red glow. They waved goodbye to him cheerfully as he watched them leave, and then he stood alone in the corridor. For a moment he was undecided where to make his calls from, before finally striding up the corridor towards the grav-tube.

He stepped out of the soft blue glow onto the bridge, and then took a left turn so that he could go to the Commander's Ready Room. He looked at the name plate next to the door as he pushed the button, and waited for the doors to swish open. For a brief moment he considered changing the name plate, but when he considered the ribbing he would get from Alyssa about his rank whenever she saw it, he laughed, and decided to leave it as it was.

He strode into his own room, and walked behind the big desk, before sitting in the big, comfortable chair. He spun the chair, so that he could look out the floor-to-ceiling window that wrapped around the hull side of the room, and watched out for the Raptor departing. He didn't have to wait long, until he could see the gleaming white gunship rise smoothly from the Invictus' hangar bay, under Jade's skilful control.

Instead of flying out of the Olympus Docking Bay, she turned the Raptor to face towards him, and it edged closer until only a dozen metres away, before tilting downwards so that he could clearly see into the cockpit. The girls waved to him excitedly, and he laughed while returning their greeting, before the gunship swung away, and roared out into space.

*There's no way Jade knew I was here, unless you were still peeking,* he told off Alyssa light heartedly.

*Okay, I'll stop snooping.. for two hours,* she promised.

*Have fun, and look after the girls,* he requested.

*I'll keep them safe, don't worry. I love you...* she said warmly.

*I love you, too,* he replied, with a smile.

*Two hours... Commodore,* she added cheekily, letting him know she had overheard his musings over the nameplate on the door.

He turned back to the desk, and just enjoyed the novelty of some peace and quiet for once. He'd spent the best part of ten years alone on his old freighter, the Fool's Gold, but he probably hadn't spent more than a few hours by himself, over the last couple of months.

He pressed a number of buttons on the console built into the desk, and a holographic interface sprang into life in front of him. He was about to check the comm log to see if anyone had contacted him from the media about the interview, but he paused as he was about to press the button to activate that interface. On a whim, he accessed the archive that had been transferred over from the Fool's Gold. He quickly flipped through the grouped folders until he found the one he was looking for, and he tentatively pressed his finger down on the icon.

The folder marked 'Jessica Blake' expanded outwards, showing him the research that he'd pored over for all those years. He hadn't looked at it once in the last few months, and he felt a moment's guilt; that with this incredible life he was leading now, he had all but abandoned his search. He flicked through a few of the files; old ship logs, navigation routes of his mother's ship, the deep space exploration vessel 'Cora', and testimony from her crewmates about what had happened on their last voyage.

With a start, he remembered that with his new Commodore rank, he might now be able to access potentially important files that had once been beyond his reach as a Commander. He also had a crew of gifted young geniuses at his disposal, who would be able to crack this mystery open in ways that were beyond him acting alone. He clicked on a sub-folder, one that he had opened many times before, and his mother's military personnel file expanded in front of him. It contained the last photograph taken of his mother, just after she had been assigned to the Cora, and the date-stamp revealed that she would have been twenty five when the picture was taken.

"What happened to you, Jessica Blake?" he asked the picture softly.

Unfortunately the pretty brunette chose to remain silent, smiling back at him as she always had, and he looked at her with a heavy heart. At least with these recent revelations about the Progenitors, his decades old worries about her simply having abandoned him on a whim had been vanquished. It had never fit with the loving descriptions of their daughter that his grandparents had shared with him, and if she had been tangled up with a Progenitor, he could see how her situation would have been... complicated.

He glanced at the ship's chronometer, and with a start, he realised he'd been immersed in his notes about his mother for over an hour. Assuming Alyssa would be able to stay out of his head for the two hours she'd promised, that only gave him about forty five minutes left to sort out the trip to Oceanus. Thinking about the beautiful blonde had perked him up immediately, and he smiled apologetically at the picture of his mother, before closing out her folder.

Switching over to the comm interface, he saw that he had a couple of missed calls from Jehanna Elani, the attractive dusky hued reporter from Terran Federation Network News, that he'd given the last interview to. He left the interface open, then searched through his personal files to find the digital brochure from Oceanus that he had requested. When he clicked on the icon to open it, it unfolded into a holographic display, that showed an attractive brunette walking hand in hand with a handsome young man along a picture perfect beach.

A sultry female voice said, "Oceanus, where dreams become reality..." This was the company's catchphrase, and he rolled his eyes as he clicked on the button that would make the call to the Oceanus Sales Representative. It only took around ten seconds to make the connection, and then a holographic image of a strikingly beautiful blonde rose above his desk. With the money this company was charging, he could well imagine they must have an extremely discriminating hiring policy, choosing only the most attractive of customer facing staff.

"Hello, Sir," the blonde greeted him in her lovely, clear spoken voice. "Thank you for contacting the Oceanus Company. My name is Felicity, how may I assist you today?"

"Good morning, Felicity," John replied. "My name's John Blake. I spoke to your colleague, Annabelle? About booking a two week vacation at Oceanus."

"Thank you for following up with us, Sir," Felicity beamed at him, showing rows of pristine white teeth that sparkled in the light. "Let me just take a look at your reservation," she added, as she glanced to the side to study his booking.

"Thanks," John nodded at her, as he rose and poured out a glass of chilled water from the nearby wall dispenser, before returning to his desk.

"Everything is in place. You just need to confirm your choice of resort, transfer the remaining balance, and we will complete preparations for your arrival. Are you able to let me know when you and your party will be arriving, Mr Blake?"

"We should be with you in two days," he replied confidently.

"Wonderful," Felicity said with a lovely smile. "Please would you make your final resort selection, Sir?"

A separate hologram opened out, which showed a dozen different designs for the resort, and they rotated lazily in front of him, with a panel detailing their features. John chuckled when he spotted one particular design.

"Oh, definitely that one," he said with a grin, as he made his selection.

"Very good, Sir," Felicity smiled at him indulgently. "And if you would be so kind as to authorise the transfer of the remaining balance?"

The eye watering figure for the two week vacation appeared on the console. John chuckled and pressed a button that would begin the immediate transfer of 345,500 credits from his account. Felicity nodded when the transfer had shown to be complete on her own console, and then beamed a big smile at him.

"I hope you have a truly amazing time on your vacation with us, Sir," she told him pleasantly.

"Oh, I plan to," John grinned. "Thanks for your help, Felicity,"

"It was my pleasure," she replied with a smile, and with a nod, he closed the connection.

John brought up the comm interface again, and made a call to Charles Harris. After only a few seconds, the older man's face appeared as a holographic image above his desk.

"Good morning, John," Charles greeted him warmly.

"Same to you, Charles," John replied with a smile. "I was wondering if you had any news on the scheduling for the award ceremony?"

"Would eight tonight be alright with you?" Charles asked him cautiously. "We can push it back to tomorrow if that's too soon?"

"Eight? That would be perfect, thanks!" John replied with a grin. "How formal is this going to be, exactly?"

"Formal. Full dress uniform please, John," the Vice Admiral requested politely.

"Sure. I don't think the girls have seen me in my uniform yet," John said with a wink, reinforcing his image of debauched retiree, which actually wasn't too far from the truth.

"Alright, we'll see you later then. I'll send my assistant to come and collect you," Charles said with a chuckle, and ended the call.

John let out a sigh, dropping the act now that the call was over. The thought that Charles might be a traitor was too horrible to contemplate, but when he thought back on their meeting yesterday, he knew the man was definitely hiding something. If it came down to it, he just wasn't sure he'd be able to pull the trigger himself.

He glanced over at the comm interface again, his eyes resting on the name of the reporter who had tried to contact him a couple of times that morning. He swiped his hand over that entry, clicking on it, so that the call was made. In a few seconds, the image of the pretty young woman filled the holo-viewer.

"Jehanna Elani, TFNN," she said politely as she answered the call.

"Hi, this is John Blake. I believe you wanted to arrange another interview?" he asked her in a friendly tone.

When she realised who was calling her, her dark eyes went wide with excitement. "Thanks for calling me back! I'd love to give you another interview, that last one was so well received! When can you spare some time?"

"I'm free this afternoon, but the girls and I have an award ceremony to go to this evening. I'll be free tomorrow though," John said accommodatingly.

"The girls?" Jehanna asked him curiously.

"My crew," John clarified for her. "We're being awarded a medal for our intervention at Iota-Leonis."

The dark skinned girl looked even more enthusiastic when she heard this. "We've had sketchy reports about the battle, but I hadn't heard about this award ceremony. Do you think I could attend, and bring a film crew?"

"It's fine by me, but I'd run it by Vice Admiral Charles Harris first," John advised her with a smile.

"We can make a real feature of it," the young reporter said, buzzing with excitement. "Okay, I'll set everything up! Thanks so much, Commander Blake."

"You're very welcome, and you can call me John, remember?" he chuckled.

"Thanks, John, I'll be in touch!" Jehanna said with a grin.

He waved goodbye and ended the call. That just left him one last thing to set up, and he scrolled through his list of contacts until he found the name. He had spent some time searching earlier, looking for Swordmasters, and apparently this person was a legend in his field. A Kendo champion who had retired to further hone his technique, and had then become a recluse. Although John had left a couple of polite messages asking to speak to the man, he was disappointed to see that he had still not yet had any replies.

He took a big breath and tried once more, clicking the man's name, and hoping for the best. He had to wait for a few seconds for the call to connect, and then he waited patiently while it rang and rang, staring out across the room as his mind drifted. Eventually after nearly ten minutes, the call went through, and a stern faced, middle-aged man appeared as a hologram above his desk.

"What?" he asked bluntly.

"Mr Yamamoto!" John said with a start, as he was jolted out of his reverie. "Thank you for taking my call. I'm sorry for hounding you like this, but I'm desperately in need of sword training, and I heard you're the best. I'll be willing to pay you whatever fee you ask."

"No," the man said curtly, and reached over to end the call.

"Wait, please! There must be something I can offer you to change your mind? Improving my technique is becoming a matter of life and death, not just for me, but my crew as well," John said urgently.

The man looked up and narrowed his eyes, his interest piqued. "You are fighting for real? Not as a sport?" he asked curiously.

"Yes, that's right," John replied honestly.

"Fighting with a blade is about killing. Have you killed with a blade before?" the man asked with a gleam in his eye.

"Yes," John said quietly, with a nod.

The man sat back, and looked away for a long moment, staring into the distance as he pondered his decision. Finally, his hawk-like eyes fixed upon John once more.

"I will train you. Prepare your equipment," he said cryptically, and ended the call.

John sat back, feeling an odd mixture of relief and confusion, after the call with the strange man. He stared out the window for a while, thinking back over the conversation, when the console beeped softly, drawing his attention. He saw that he had received an incoming message from an Eito Yamamoto. There was no text on the message, other than a list of simulation devices and communications boosting equipment. With a shrug, John did a quick search, found a number of retailers that stocked the listed equipment, and began to place his orders, with the delivery address destination set for Oceanus.

John had just finished placing the last of the orders, when Alyssa's voice suddenly appeared in his mind. *Hey handsome, did you miss me?* she asked him playfully.

*Yes, but it's been a constructive couple of hours,* John replied. *How's the shopping trip going?*

*We've been having loads of fun, but we've spent an awful lot of your money,* Alyssa replied playfully, and he could hear the mischievous tone in her voice.

*Yeah, likewise,* John said in amusement. *You girls earned that bonus just as much as me, though, so it's really your own cash to spend,* he added generously.

*Ah, but can your property really own things?* she asked him teasingly.

John didn't reply, and was lost in thought, Alyssa's question taking his thoughts on quite a different tangent. He searched quickly, finding what he was looking for, and a touch of a holographic button put him through to the relevant firm.

"Brooks and Lartner, Attorney services," the middle aged woman said as she answered his call, and appeared as a hologram above his desk.

*John, you don't have to do that...* Alyssa's voice murmured to him, and he could tell she was overcome with emotion.

"Hello there. My name's John Blake, and I'd like to draw up a will," he stated politely.

***

It was a couple of hours later when John noticed the gleaming white Raptor glide past the window of his ready room. He grinned happily, eager to see the girls again, and leapt to his feet to go down to meet them. Alyssa had stayed quiet after their last contact when he had spoken to the lawyers. He could still feel her presence at the other end of their bond, so she wasn't in any physical peril, but he figured that she probably needed some time to adjust to her change in circumstances. After all, if anything happened to him, she would become a very wealthy woman.

He strode happily over to the grav-tube, and stepped into the red glow, descending down to Deck Nine, where the Raptor would now be landing. He hit the button that would open the Hangar Bay door, and strode into the huge room, just as the front loading ramp began to lower. It sank to the ground with the smooth motion of well oiled hydraulics, and the girls walked down the ramp quietly, with multiple bags in each hand.

Shocked at the girl's subdued mood, he then watched in amazement as Alyssa brushed past him, not saying a word, as she strode into the corridor behind him. The other four girls walked up to him silently as he turned back to face them, with a utterly confused expression on his face.

"What's up with Alyssa, and why are you girls looking so forlorn?" he asked them with concern. "I thought you were having a good time?"

"Yeah, we were," Dana said with a heavy sigh. "Then Alyssa suddenly got all upset, started crying, and wouldn't tell us what was wrong."

"I'm sorry girls, I think this was my fault," John said ruefully.

"What do you mean?" Calara asked him curiously.

"Alyssa and I were talking via the telepathic link, and something she said made me think that I ought to plan for the future. I called up a Lawyer and set up a will, so that if anything happens to me, my assets would be split between you girls, and any potential children," he said with a smile.

His announcement was met with horrified looks by all of the girls, which really wasn't the reaction he was expecting.

"You can't die!" Dana blurted, her face crumpling and on the verge of tears.

"No, that can't happen," Calara said firmly, refusing to even countenance the thought, as she shook her head stubbornly.

Jade looked mortified, and unable to speak, and even Rachel began to look worried and distressed.

"Hey, calm down!" John said in alarm, doing the exact opposite of his own advice. "There's nothing wrong with me, I'm not dying or anything!"

The girls still looked upset, so with a frustrated sigh, John turned back to the corridor.

"Follow me," he ordered them brusquely.

*Meet me in our room,* he commanded Alyssa, in a tone that would countenance no disobedience.

They rose up in the blue glow of the anti-grav tube, and then walked along in silence into the Commander's Quarters, where Alyssa was sitting sullenly in the chair by the bed.

"Alright, all of you sit over there, we need to sort this shit out right now," he told them in an irritated tone of voice, as he pointed to the bed.

The girls all followed his orders, and sat quietly on the bed, staring up at him bleakly.

"This is obviously some weird, Progenitor behaviour altering bullshit or something, but it ends right now," John told them sternly.

When he saw he had their complete attention, his voice grew kinder. "The only reason I drew up a will is if something should happen to me in the future," he explained gently. "I love you girls so much, and I'd hate to think of you having money worries if something should happen to me."

At the thought of this again, the girls started to look upset once more, and he gritted his teeth with frustration.

"I'm not saying that's going to be any time soon, it could be decades in the future, but I'm older than you, so it makes sense to prepare for it," he said reasonably.

"No, I can't even think of it," Alyssa blurted out, and ran towards him, with tears rolling down her cheeks. "Promise me you won't die!" she sobbed dejectedly.

The other girls followed her lead, and John stared at them wide eyed as they surrounded him, pleading with him not to leave them. They were growing more upset by the moment, and dealing with five weeping women was more than he was prepared to manage.

"OK, I promise!" he blurted out abruptly.

"Really, you mean it?" Alyssa said to him hopefully.

John narrowed his eyes, and concentrated hard. The Ashanath had told him he had created this mind-fortress in his head, and if that was the case, he wanted her out. Now.

"Yes, I really mean it. I promise I will never leave you," he told them firmly, while inside he balked at the craziness of the situation.

The effect was immediate and dramatic, with all five girls instantly calmer and more relaxed, relieved smiles appearing on their beautiful faces once more. He hated having to blatantly lie to them like that, but under the circumstances, he instinctively knew they couldn't be reasoned with. He heaved a heavy sigh, and flopped down on the bed, while the girls began to chatter amongst themselves happily.

He watched them grinning and smiling at one another as they giggled and chatted, the traumatic events that had just occurred seemingly wiped from their memories. It was bizarre. The room was the busiest it had ever been, but for the first time aboard the Invictus, he actually felt alone.

"I'm just going to the Officers' Lounge for a bit. Come and join me in an hour for an early dinner," he said, as he climbed off the bed.

The girls nodded eagerly, and waved to him happily as he strode out of the room, then made his way down the corridor to the Officers' Lounge. He pressed the button on the double doors, and when they swished open, he walked over to the bar, leaned over the counter, and grabbed a bottle of whisky and a glass. He poured himself a sensible sized drink, and was suddenly about to tip in a whole lot more, when he sighed and put down the bottle.

He took a sip, and as he felt the burning liquid go down his throat, he pondered this recent revelation. "Why would the Progenitors make their women react that way at the thought of them dying?" he asked himself, frowning with confusion.

Not having any answers, his thoughts drifted to what would happen to the girls if he should actually die. Based on the irrational overreaction he'd just witnessed, their grief would be totally overwhelming, and all-consuming. He sighed sadly, thinking that this was exactly the sort of thing he relied on Alyssa to perk him up from, but she seemed to find dealing with this more traumatic than any of them. It was a troubling thought, but he realised there was absolutely nothing he could do about it for the moment, so he resolved to put it behind him for now.

He finished the rest of his drink, and then carefully placed the glass in the cleaning device behind the bar. It whirred for a moment as the glass was scrubbed and sanitised, then it was transferred automatically to stand with the other tumblers. He turned to head into the kitchen, and he consciously dropped the barriers he'd erected in his mind, allowing Alyssa's breezy presence to skip through his thoughts once more.

***

The girls began to drift into the kitchen a short while later, confessing that they'd rather spend time with him, than look at any more clothes. The last to arrive was Rachel, who was just wearing one of his white shirts, and a flirtatious look on her face. John couldn't help but be amused at the lusty grin she flashed him, and the other girls took over the cooking as the brunette led him out into the lounge, and over to one of the comfortable chairs. She gave him a wanton look, then pushed him back into the chair, and sank to her knees in front of him.

He lost himself in the glorious sensations of her hot, wet mouth, as she sucked on him eagerly, and he realised he needed the release more than ever. He cupped her head in his hands protectively, and stared into her flashing grey eyes as she gazed up at him longingly. With a groan of deep satisfaction he began to cum, and she sucked him with long, hungry motions as his spunk began to fill up her empty stomach. It didn't take long for her to drain him completely dry, and soon the contents of his four balls were now neatly packed into her belly.

John offered her a hand, and she gladly accepted, rising a little awkwardly with the heavy weight of his load filling out her waistline. He pulled her to him, and she sat sideways across his lap with her back supported by his left arm. His white shirt was now pulled taut across her swollen midriff, so he carefully undid the buttons, and peeled back the soft cotton to reveal the smooth skin beneath.

"How are you doing? Still finding this weird?" he asked her kindly, as he began to gently stroke her rounded belly with his hand.

"No, I love it," Rachel murmured ecstatically, as she relished his touch.

"Do you think that's because you've grown to enjoy it, or because you've been changed by me to like it?" he asked her probingly.

"I don't honestly know, and even after all my tests are complete, I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell you anything that specific. I just know that carrying your cum feels amazing, and I don't care why I feel this way, I'm just happy that I do," she told him with a little shiver of pleasure.

Mollified by her explanation, he kept stroking her tummy as she was obviously enjoying it, and he thought about the award ceremony later that evening.

"What do you want to do tonight? Would you like to come to the award ceremony too?" he asked her with a smile.

"I'd rather stay out of the limelight if it's alright with you, but I'd love to see you and the girls receiving your medals for your heroism. Especially as I was one of the people you saved," she replied gratefully.

"It would be lovely to have you there. You can stay back and watch from a distance then, if that's what you'd prefer?" he asked her considerately.

"I'll have absorbed all your cum by this evening, so I'll be nice and slim for the event. There isn't any room for a big tummy in the dress Alyssa picked out for me," the tawny haired girl said with a grin.

"How are you getting on with the girls? I hope they're being nice to you," he asked her in a playfully stern voice.

"They're wonderful!" Rachel replied, her face lighting up with joy. "We all get along so well, it's amazing."

"I'm glad to hear you're settling in without any trouble," he told her with a smile.

"Girls can be such bitches to each other sometimes, you wouldn't believe it; those shop assistants at the boutique were a nightmare!" she said rolling her eyes. "I honestly expected at least a little cattiness or awkwardness until your girls got to know me, but they've all been so kind and friendly from the start."

"Feeling like part of the family already?" he said with a grin.

Rachel nodded her head enthusiastically, with a broad smile on her face. Her obvious delight banished any lingering traces of his previous dark introspections.

"Thanks for this, I really needed it," John told her sincerely.

"The chat, or the blowjob?" she said with a cute giggle.

"Both," he replied with a hearty laugh.

"It was my pleasure," she told him happily, and he leaned down to give her a kiss.

"Let's go and see how the girls are getting on with dinner," he said, helping her stand. He turned her around so that she was facing him, and he leaned forward to plant a tender kiss on her swollen stomach, before buttoning up the white shirt she had borrowed once more.

Rachel watched him entranced, and then smiled when he finished with the last button. He rose to join her, and they walked hand in hand into the kitchen, where the girls were making final preparations for their dinner.

Alyssa beamed a sparkling smile at them when they came in, her eyes darting down to Rachel's cum stuffed belly. "That's a good look for you," she said approvingly to the brunette.

Rachel snorted with laughter as she looked down, noting her shoeless feet, her rounded stomach, and her current location. "Barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen?" she asked with amusement.

"Very sexy," Alyssa said with a wink, and blew her a kiss.

"You're incorrigible," John said, as he laughed at the blonde.

"Oh, you love it," she told him happily, as she sailed over and planted a happy kiss on his lips.

"I love you," he told her sincerely.

"Everything ok?" she asked him curiously, tilting her head to the side. "Either you stopped thinking about anything for a while, or I was blocked from hearing your thoughts."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just experimenting with something," he replied offhandedly.

"Oh, I see. Just warn me next time, I've got way too used to having your inner voice in my mind, and I missed you terribly!" she pouted dramatically.

"Alright, I'll give you fair warning next time," he agreed, and she gave him a big hug in thanks.

"Dinner's ready," Calara announced, and they all helped carry out the lasagne that they had made, accompanied by garlic bread, and a big plate of Panzanella salad skewers.

John stood by the chair at the head of the table, waiting for the girls to sit down first, but the girls paused momentarily, unsure what to do about the seating arrangements.

"Sit in your usual places," Rachel giggled, "I'll find a spot, don't worry!"

The other girls laughed, and they fanned out instinctively, with Alyssa, then Dana on his right, and Calara, then Jade on the left. Dana patted the chair next to her, and Rachel grinned at the redhead as she took the third chair on the right from John.

"Well, looks like that's settled then," John joked, and finally sat down too.

Dinner was a lazy, unhurried affair, with lots of light hearted chit-chat filling the room. No-one mentioned the awkward events that afternoon, so John just let it go, quickly changing thoughts to avoid upsetting Alyssa. The girls were excited about the award ceremony later that evening, and they were delighted to hear that Rachel was going to be coming along with them.

"I think it's great that we're all going," John said tentatively. "But I just had a thought. We can't leave the Invictus unguarded, it's far too valuable to take that risk."

"Don't worry about that," Dana piped up. "I've thought of something that will make sure no-one will try and break in. I'll need a couple of hours to work on it, but we've got plenty of time before we have to leave."

"Sound interesting, I can't wait to see what it is," John said, intrigued.

They finished off the meal, and Dana quickly departed to go and work on her latest project. Jade wanted to go for a swim, and John suggested that Alyssa get Rachel started in the firing range, so the three young women departed together. That just left Calara and John, and he held out his hand for her which she eagerly accepted.

"What have you got in mind for me?" she asked him curiously, as they walked out of the Officers' Lounge and over to the grav-tube.

"I'd like you to take a look at something. It's just a little side project, and for the time being, I'd like you to keep focused on trying to find out more about the traitors," he told her casually.

John led her on to the bridge, and through to his ready room, before activating the console. The beautiful Latina looked on with interest as he searched for his folder on his mother. When she saw the name on the folder, she leaned forward, and watched with fascination as he expanded out the files. Finally he opened Jessica Blake's personnel record so that she could see his mother for the first time.

"She's very pretty," Calara said softly, as she glided around the desk to take a closer look.

"You're exceptionally gifted at puzzling out these kind of mysteries," John told her appreciatively. "I was hoping you might take a look at these files, and see if you can find anything I might have missed."

"Oh, John, I'd be honoured to help," she told him earnestly, before turning away from the image of Jessica Blake to look at him. "Thank you for showing me this," she added gratefully.

"You're welcome," he told her with a smile, and he reached out to rub his hand on her thigh affectionately.

"Shall I start right now?" she asked him tentatively.

"It's okay, just whenever you get some spare time. She's been missing for forty years, so a few days or weeks here or there isn't going to make any difference. It's just for my own piece of mind, really," he admitted honestly.

"This all started with her, didn't it?" Calara said, turning to look at the smiling brunette once more. "I guess if she hadn't had you, then there wouldn't have been anyone to save me from the pirates."

John rubbed his jaw, looking thoughtful as he nodded. "That's one way of looking at it," he agreed.

"I'll do my best to find out what happened to her," she promised him wholeheartedly.

"I know you will," he said, smiling at her fondly.

"We've got a few hours to kill, so I'd like to take a quick look now, actually," she said cautiously, awaiting his reaction.

"Be my guest," he said, waving a hand towards the console.

Calara smiled coyly at him, and then sat in his lap, wriggling a little to get comfortable. He stroked the toned muscles in her back through the blouse she was wearing, and she sighed happily, before leaning forward to start digging through the files.

"You've found a lot of data," she said sounding impressed, as she swiped through the interview logs, the Incident Advisory Board findings, and the mission logs for the Cora.

"Yeah, it took a few decades to amass all that, but with the crew all dead, I ran out of leads," he said regretfully. "Oh, that reminds me. With my new rank, we might be able to access more secure information. The same applies with the order logs in the Dragon March."

"The Captain of the Cora must have been crazy," Calara marvelled.

"What makes you say that?" he asked her curiously.

She was looking at the recorded flightpath of Jessica Blake's ship, and the route that it had taken on its fateful last mission. "They went deep into Kirrix space!" she exclaimed, "That area is crawling with bugs."

"This was forty years ago remember, in 2739," John reminded her gently. "The Kirrix massively expanded out a few years after that, until they were beaten back from Terran systems in the purge of 2743."

"Is that why you never followed the route yourself?" she asked him curiously, turning in his lap to look at him.

"Yeah, it was much too dangerous," he nodded in agreement.

"Too dangerous for a mighty Progenitor and his devoted crew, in a heavily upgraded Assault Cruiser?" she asked him with a raised eyebrow.

John started for a moment, and then grinned at her. "Damn, I'm lucky to have you!"

She grinned back at him, delighted to have made him so happy. "When should we head out that way?" she asked him eagerly.

"Not right now," John said firmly. "We'll finish off the ship upgrades, and then we can evaluate how dangerous it's going to be. We'd be heading deep into Kirrix space, which is very risky. That will give you plenty of time to search through the data and see what else you can find."

"Whatever you say, Commodore," she said with a smile.

"Thanks for your assistance, Lieutenant," he replied with a wide smile.

She turned to straddle him, and then leaned down to kiss him tenderly. He lost track of time, staring into her deep brown eyes that gazed back at him lovingly, as her soft lips brushed gently against his own.

*Sorry to interrupt,* Alyssa said quietly, her lovely voice echoing through his mind. *It's seven-thirty, so you two need to get ready for tonight. We'll meet you in the Officers' Lounge when you're ready.*

"We're being summoned," Calara said, as she smiled down at him.

"Yes, I got the same message," John chuckled.

Calara moved to rise up, but he put his hands on her waist, holding her in place for a moment. She looked at him curiously, and he smiled up at her.

"Thanks for looking at the files today, it was... therapeutic, sharing them with someone," he told her sincerely.

"I'm just pleased I can help," she replied emphatically. "You've done so much for me, I can't ever begin to repay you."

"You do that, just by being here," he told her affectionately.

"You're very sweet," Calara replied, and he could see she was moved by his words. "You should show the picture of your mother to the other girls. I'm sure they'd all love to see her, too," she added kindly.

He rose to join her, and they walked out across the bridge hand in hand, to go and get ready for the award ceremony.

***

John picked up the grey peaked hat, and turned it slowly in his hands until he was looking at the front, with its bright gold Terran Federation insignia on the peak. The insignia was of an upraised sword flanked by wings, with the tip of the sword pointing towards a star. He hadn't put on his Terran Federation full-dress uniform in over eleven years, and it felt very strange to be wearing it once again, although he was relieved that it still fit. He placed the hat squarely on his head, and looked at himself in the mirror.

The uniform was a mid-grey, consisting of a long jacket that came down to just above the knee, accompanied by matching grey trousers. The jacket was belted at the waist with a thick black leather belt, that matched his brightly polished black boots. There were golden bands on his epaulets and around the cuffs, as well as the golden eagle insignia that he wore on his chest, that all signified his rank as Commander. His jacket buttoned down the right side of his chest with gold coloured buttons, leaving plenty of space to fit his campaign ribbons and medals, and he turned to retrieve his medal case so he could put them on.

He picked up the three metallic representations of a supernova, with their single pointed flare, and he thought back on each of the battles he'd earned them in, as he pinned each Novaburst medal to his chest. The last medal was also made of gold, and depicted a sword superimposed over a group of three stars. He had won the Stellar Cluster near the end of his years in service, and it had been awarded to him for the bloody battle where he had saved Charles Harris' life. He pinned it on his chest above his campaign ribbons, then straightened his hat once more, before striding out of the walk-in wardrobe to go and find the girls.

Calara was waiting for him in the corridor, and she gazed at him appreciatively when he walked out of his room. "You look very handsome in that uniform," she said with an approving nod.

"You look particularly fine in uniform yourself," he said with a smile.

She was wearing the female version of his own Terran Federation Officer uniform, all in grey, with a peaked cap, and black boots. She wore her Novaburst medal proudly, underneath the golden hawk insignia that signified her rank as First Lieutenant.

"I'd 'outgrown' the last one, so when we went to Gravitus, I had to get a considerably... larger uniform, as a replacement," she said with a smirk, looking down at her chest. "I got some funny looks from the Quartermaster, I can tell you!"

"It gives you more room for your medals," he said with a grin, and she laughed merrily.

She glanced at his own chest and when she saw the sword-on-stars medal, she stared at it in awe. "I didn't know you'd won a Stellar Cluster!" she said in amazement.

"I got it after the final time I fought alongside Charles. The Terran Federation applauded me for what happened when we lifted the siege at Galon Prime, but in all honesty, that battle swayed my decision to leave the military," he said sombrely.

"You'll have to tell me about it sometime," she said curiously.

"It was a bleak affair, and something that grim should stay in the past," he told her gently, before glancing at his watch. "We'd better hurry up though, or we're going to make everyone late."

Calara smiled at him, and took his gloved hand in her own, and they walked down the corridor to the Officers' Lounge. John pressed the button, and the double doors swished open to reveal the rest of the crew who were waiting for them patiently. Calara gasped when she saw them, and John had to do a double-take as well.

Alyssa, Dana, and Jade were all wearing immaculate white uniforms. They were similar in style to the Terran Federation uniforms, but whoever had designed these had a particular appreciation of the female form. The close fitting jackets hugged their curves closely, coming down to just below the cheek of their ass. They wore skintight trousers underneath, that disappeared into black, high heeled boots, that came up to just below the knee. Finally, the jackets and trousers were edged in gold, with a gold belt cinching in the uniform at the waist. There was no hat to their uniform, so their long thick hair hung free, framing their beautiful faces.

The girls sashayed over to join them, and twirled gracefully for him on the way, so that he could get a good look at them from all angles.

"Wow!" John exclaimed with wide eyes, "You girls look amazing! How did you find uniforms like that?"

"We got them custom tailored for us," Dana said excitedly. "There's another one for Calara as well, if she wants it, and for Rachel when she grows into it."

"We got some extras too, just in case," Jade said with a sly grin.

"Well whoever you got to design them really knew their stuff, you look fantastic!" John said with a broad grin.

"Thanks, handsome," Alyssa said with a grateful smile.

"You designed these?" John asked her incredulously.

"All my own work," the talented blonde replied. "I've designed one for you too, but I didn't think you'd want to wear it this evening."

"If it hugs my ass like yours do, that was probably a good call," John laughed.

The girls giggled, and Alyssa flashed him an enigmatic smile, before she said, "I think it sets the right tone."

John looked around for Rachel, not seeing her standing with the uniformed girls, and when Alyssa saw him looking for the brunette, she called out to her. "You can make your entrance now, Rachel," she said in a loud, clear voice.

The tawny haired young woman had been sitting out of sight, around on the other side of the bar, waiting for her cue. When Alyssa called her name, she glided gracefully into view. She was wearing a gloriously elegant light-grey dress that pooled at her feet, and as she walked, it revealed a split that flashed tantalising glimpses of her long legs. She did a careful twirl on the way, and he could see that the dress was backless, revealing acres of her smooth young skin.

"You look breathtaking!" he said, eyeing her appreciatively as she joined them.

"I'm glad you approve, Alyssa said you'd like it," she said with a self-conscious smile.

"You designed this too?" he asked the blonde in surprise.

"I know how much you like a girl in formal wear," Alyssa said indulgently. "The material has a high degree of elasticity, so it will stretch comfortably if you decide to have Rachel wear it when you give her a late supper."

Rachel looked at him coyly as she stepped close on her high heels, and he ran his hand over her slim stomach, feeling the silky smooth material under his touch. "She's full of good ideas, isn't she?" the brunette purred.

John nodded silently, rendered speechless, and the girls laughed at his mute appreciation of Alyssa's handiwork. They finally urged him out of the lounge, and they travelled down in the grav-tube, to exit the ship via the airlock.

Astonishingly, they were still five minutes early, and Charles' assistant had not yet arrived at the docking bay. The airlock door closed behind them, and Dana looked up at John with a cheeky grin.

"Are you ready to see the project I've been working on now?" she asked him eagerly.

"Sorry, honey, I've been a bit distracted," John apologised profusely. "Sure, I'd love to see."

"Okay! I'll need your help, Rachel, if you wouldn't mind assisting?" the redhead asked hopefully.

"I'd be glad to," the brunette replied immediately.

"Great! Alright, could you place your hand on the DNA reader, please," Dana requested politely.

"I haven't entered her DNA yet," Alyssa warned the redhead. "I didn't think there was much point until the change was complete."

"Yeah, that's what I was hoping for," Dana replied with a theatrical wink, before gesturing for Rachel to proceed.

Rachel glided over to the DNA reader, and placed her hand on the device. A green light flashed across the panel as it scanned her DNA, before the panel flashed red.

"Access Denied," A low sultry female voice replied.

"What was that?" John asked in surprise.

"Try again please," Dana said, ignoring him for a moment.

Rachel dutifully placed her hand on the panel again, and it flashed red once more.

"Access Denied," the female voice said again.

John was about to repeat his question, when Dana cupped a hand to her ear, and looked up, as though waiting to hear something else.

"Any attempt to force your way inside me..." the voice said in a throaty purr. "Will be met with... Lethal force," it added, with what sounded like a shiver of delight.

Several panels on the ship's hull slid back revealing Gatling Lasers, that immediately began to spin up, whirring ominously.

John shot an alarmed glance at the redhead, while blurting out, "Dana! What have you done?"

Dana chortled with glee at his expression, before she finally managed to get herself under control. "You guys have no faith in me at all," she smirked.

"What do you mean?" Alyssa asked her with a frown.

"It's not an AI," Dana replied, rolling her eyes at their panicked reaction. "I just created a simulated voice using an amalgam of our speech, and lowered the timbre a bit. We all sound a bit too perky to be all that intimidating."

"What about the Gatling Lasers?" John asked, looking up at the powerful anti-personnel weapons, as they slid back into the hull and out of sight once more.

"That's mostly just for show, but if someone does try and break in, the auto targeting will activate and... stop them," Dana said with a nonchalant shrug.

Before John could respond further, Lieutenant Adams strode quickly into the Docking Bay, and then jogged over to greet them. When he saw the assembled crew of the Invictus, his eyes grew so wide, they were in distinct danger of falling out of his head.

"Good to see you again, Lieutenant Adams," John said with amusement.

"You too, Commander! Err I mean Commodore, Sir," the flustered Lieutenant replied.

"I thought that was supposed to be an unofficial promotion?" John asked him curiously.

The young officer grew red-faced with embarrassment. "It is, Sir. I remember reading the order for your promotion, I just forgot you're still officially a civilian," he explained shamefacedly.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sure that kind of thing happens all the time," John said in a blasé fashion. "I won't tell anyone if you don't," he added with a conspiratorial wink.

Adams laughed, and then smiled with relief. "You're very kind, Sir. Now if you'd like to follow me, I'll lead you to the hall for the award ceremony."

"Lead away, Sir," John said playfully, and the girls smiled encouragingly at the Lieutenant, who flushed, and turned away to lead them out of the hangar, stumbling a step as he went.

*Are you trying to get more information out of him?* Alyssa asked John curiously.

*No, but we might as well make an effort to be friendly. If we need to quiz him in the future, it won't hurt if he likes us,* John explained.

*Do you want me to try... reading his thoughts,* Alyssa asked tentatively. *I didn't think you'd want me to try on Charles, what with him being an old friend, so I didn't mention it. Though, I do quite like Lieutenant Adams, it's fun making him get all flustered,* she added with a telepathic giggle.

*Let's leave the experimenting for bad guys,* John said firmly. *I wouldn't want you to risk melting his brain or anything.*

*You think I could do that?* Alyssa asked him excitedly.

*Let's not find out,* John said with a smile.

They walked along behind the young Lieutenant, with the girls uncharacteristically quiet. Only Rachel had much familiarity with these kind of formal events, and she wasn't going to be the focus of attention. The Olympus Shipyard was bustling with activity, and they passed dozens of military personnel as they went about their business. The girls left a wake of devastation at their passing, as young marines, naval crews, and base personnel stopped and gawped in open mouthed amazement.

*Maybe you should have reined in your uniform designs a little,* John said teasingly. *They're the right side of decent, but combined with how hot the girls are, they'll end up causing a riot.*

*No, they're perfect,* Alyssa said smugly. *Besides, it does the girls good to get this kind of attention. I can feel all of them growing more confident.*

John glanced behind him, and he could see Dana, Calara, Jade and Rachel walking taller, with sparkling smiles on their beautiful faces. Of course, this compounded the effect it was having on the shipyard personnel. He was somewhat relieved when they arrived at a big set of double doors, and Lieutenant Adams led them into a reception area.

Charles Harris was waiting there, along with the dark skinned reporter that John had spoken to twice before, but never met personally. She smiled at him happily when he strode into the room, but when she saw his entourage, she waved her cameraman over frantically, pulling the man away from the canapés.

"John, It's good to see you," Charles said, as he walked over to greet them. He glanced over the assembled girls, recognising them all, until he stopped at Rachel with a raised eyebrow.

"Likewise, Charles. This is Doctor Rachel Voss, the newest addition to my team," John said by way of introduction. "Rachel, this is Vice Admiral Charles Harris. He's an old comrade-in-arms, and also sold me the Invictus."

"It's a pleasure to meet you Vice Admiral," the young woman said confidently.

"The pleasure's all mine, Doctor Voss," Charles said with a smile and a polite bow, before turning back to face John. "What did I warn you about Fleet morale?" he added playfully.

"Okay, okay, I'll start looking further afield if we do any more recruiting," John laughed good naturedly.

The young reporter walked up to greet them, and she thrust out her hand to John when she arrived. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, John!" she said eagerly. "Jehanna Elani, TFNN."

*Oh my, she's very exotic isn't she?* Alyssa purred in his mind. *What do you think about adding an 'embedded reporter' to the crew?* she added lasciviously.

John did his best to keep a straight face as he shook the young woman's hand. "I recognise you from our earlier conversations, Jehanna. It's lovely to meet you in person." he said pleasantly.

The reporter turned to look at the girls arrayed around him, and she practically bounced with excitement. "Your crew are so photogenic, John! I know it's a huge thing to ask, but would you mind if we took a few shots of you all together?"

*The girls are fine with it,* Alyssa told him a moment later, the communication via telepathy allowing the blonde to hold conversations with Calara, Dana and Jade almost instantaneously.

*Thanks, honey,* John said as he glanced over at Rachel, who shook her head slightly.

"How about we just take a shot of all the girls who are being awarded a medal today?" John suggested amiably.

Jehanna nodded immediately, eager for any photo opportunity with the stunningly attractive young women involved. Rachel faded into the background, and walked over to speak with Charles, while John and the other girls moved over to a well-lit area to take some pictures to be used for holo-images.

The cameraman grinned happily as he focused the lens on the crew, and between him and Jehanna, they had John and the girls pose for the camera in a variety of positions. After they had finished, they brought the camera over to John, so he could give final approval of any shots they could use. Jehanna was overjoyed when he signed off one with him standing with his hands behind his back, looking off into the distance, with the girls draped around him, smouldering into the camera.

"This is going to be ratings gold," Jehanna swooned, giddy with excitement. "Would you like to do your interview now, or later, John?"

"After the ceremony will be fine," he said with a smile.

The reporter and her cameraman huddled together, and eagerly went through the images they had gathered again, while John and the girls went over to see Charles.

"So what's the plan for the awards ceremony?" John asked.

"Doctor Voss will keep me company, while you and your crew will walk down the red carpet to the stage. Admiral Devereux is the senior officer present at the shipyard at the moment, so she will be presenting the medals," Charles explained in a loud clear voice, so that everyone could hear. "When you all receive your medals, turn and wave at the crowd and cameras, then exit back down the carpet and out to here."

"Admiral Devereux? Who's that?" John asked curiously.

"She's in command of the Homeworld Defence Fleet," Charles said briefly.

"Ah, I see. Okay, everyone know what we have to do?" John said, looking at each of the girls, and they nodded back at him, their eyes sparkling with excitement.

Charles checked his watch, then touched a finger to his ear, and spoke quietly. He listened for a moment, and nodded as he received confirmation that the ceremony was about to begin. He waved John and the girls towards the big double doors on the other side of the reception area, and the Naval guards standing on either side swung the doors open.

John took a big breath and then walked forward, with the four girls following in his wake. He glanced over at Rachel once before they entered the Hall, and she waved back at him as Charles led her behind them, before heading off to the side. John strode inside the Hall, and then almost missed a step, as he took in the vast room before him.

Like their ships, the Terran Federation liked their ceremonies grand and imposing. The room was huge, with nearly a thousand people standing to either side of the long walkway up to the stage. Even the stage was impressive, being made out of solid marble, and running along the length of the grand hall. There was a podium on the top with several figures in full-dress uniform, and the wings, star, and sword insignia of the Terran Federation was embossed on a huge disc, set against the back wall.

John steeled himself, and then walked forward at a steady pace that would be easy for the girls to keep up with. He could almost feel the thousands of eyes watching them avidly, and he spotted several cameras dotted around the room that were tracking them as well. The red carpet ran right up to the marble steps that led up onto the stage, so he walked carefully up those steps, and then strode over to the side of the podium. He turned to face the huge crowd, before standing at attention, and the girls followed his lead, lined up in their descending rank order to his side.

Admiral Devereux was a plain looking middle aged woman, with her brown hair tied up in a bun underneath her peaked hat. She walked towards the marble lectern, and once attention in the hall had switched to her, she began to speak.

"We are assembled here today, to honour a hero of the Terran Federation. A short while ago, Commander John Blake and his valiant crew intervened in the Iota-Leonis system, and defiantly fought off a brutal attack by a rogue Kintark Warband.

After saving the fuel refineries from attack, the crew of the Invictus defended the evacuation of over six hundred wounded marines and naval personnel, helped fight off a hostile boarding action on the starport, then rode to the rescue of the Cruiser Hermes and her escorts. Not content with those astounding acts of bravery, they then proceeded to capture a Kintark heavy carrier, and devastate its escorting cruiser.

Thousands of Terran Federation personnel owe their lives to your courageous intervention on that day, and it is my great privilege to promote you from Commander to Commodore," Admiral Devereux said, then turned towards John and saluted.

John managed to mask his surprise at the public promotion, and turned to salute her in turn. He saw the flash of a gold insignia in her hand, so he walked up the steps to face the older woman.

"Congratulations, Commodore Blake. The Terran Federation sorely needs men of your calibre," she said earnestly, her kindly eyes twinkling at him as she spoke.

"It's an honour to serve, Admiral," John replied sincerely.

She handed him his new rank insignia, and he saluted her again before returning to join the girls. Admiral Devereux turned to face the crowd once more.

"We wish to acknowledge the heroic work of Commodore Blake's crew as well, so it is my great pleasure to award them each this medal," she said, holding one up for the cameras to zoom in on, so that it could be displayed on the large holo view-screens on the walls.

The medal was made of gold, and depicted a lion roaring defiantly at a dragon. "As you defended the Leonis system, we award you the Lion Defender medal," she said with a smile.

She turned to face the Invictus' crew, and then walked down the line, clicking the medal into place on the chests of John and the girls. The holo-cameras zoomed in on the crew, and Admiral Devereux faced the crowd for a final time.

"We thank you, Lions of the Terran Federation," she said with a broad smile, and the thousands of people assembled in the hall rose to their feet, and began to cheer and applaud.

John looked at the girls with a smile, then grinned at the crowd, and waved his acknowledgement. The girls waved cutely as well, sparkling beaming smiles, and the volume in the grand hall intensified. He spotted Charles at the back of the hall beckoning to him, and so he turned to face the girls, and gestured for them to walk ahead.

*And, that's our cue to leave,* John said to Alyssa, and the girls sashayed gracefully down the marble steps, before gliding back along the red carpet, with John following behind them.

They walked out of the hall, with the echoing cheers following behind them. The guards swung the doors closed, and the cacophonous applause quieted to a dull roar.

"Oh my God! That was such a rush," Dana squeaked in excitement.

"My family's going to see that," Calara said, her eyes wide with shock, having had no idea of the scale of the award ceremony.

"That was thrilling," Jade gasped gleefully. "All those people assembled to honour you, John!"

"How about you, did you enjoy that, Commodore?" Alyssa asked him with a wide grin.

"I can't deny that was a lot more fun than I expected," John said as he returned her grin, then he turned to face Charles as he walked over to join them. "I thought the promotion was supposed to be unofficial though?"

"Sorry about that, Admiral Devereux must have decided to throw in a little last minute surprise," Charles said through gritted teeth.

"Maybe she thought that it would be even better PR? If so, she was right! Everyone loves to see a hero receiving his laurels," Jehanna Elani said with delight, as she strode up to them, followed closely by her trusty cameraman.

"We got some amazing shots of you guys!" the cameraman said excitedly.

"Are you ready to give the interview now, Commodore?" Jehanna asked John eagerly. It seemed that his recent promotion had made her forget about his polite invitation for her to use his first name.

"Sure, let's find a quiet spot," John said, and the Terran Federation Network News team led him away.

***

It was nearly ten at night by the time John and girls made their way back to the Invictus. They were relieved to see that there were no obvious signs of tampering to the ship, and the airlock opened smoothly when John placed his hand on the DNA reader. There was an air of happy contentment surrounding the crew as they rode up in the soft blue glow of the grav-tube, and as they passed each of the girls quarters, they peeled off to get changed, until it was just John and Alyssa left.

They walked into their wardrobe, and removed their uniforms, putting them away neatly.

"Remind me to show you your new uniform sometime," Alyssa said to him with a smile, and he nodded back in reply.

"You're actually excited to see it, aren't you?" she exclaimed happily as she read his thoughts.

"You did a phenomenal job on your own outfits. I can't deny I'm curious to see what you made for me too," he admitted with a grin.

"Not tonight. Let's wait until Rachel fills out her new uniform properly, and we can all assemble for a group photo," Alyssa said, her eyes sparkling at the thought.

"I'm willing to do whatever my exclusive clothes designer wants," John said indulgently.

"Well talking of Rachel filling out clothes, you've got one last duty to perform before bedtime, Commodore," Alyssa teased him, and led him out by his hand.

Calara, Dana and Jade were already nude and assembled on the bed, while Rachel waited for them in her long grey dress, leaning against one of the posts of the four poster beds. John began to get hard as soon as he saw her shapely figure, especially when she shot him a hungry look, and subconsciously licked her lips. He moved over to the end of the bed and sat down, then smiled as the brunette sauntered over to him, her smooth thigh appearing briefly through the slit in her dress as she walked, before it quickly disappeared from view.

John spread his legs, and moved her so that she was standing directly in front of him. He began to run a strong hand over her slim stomach, and looked up to stare into her eyes. She leaned into him, so that her svelte tummy was pressing into his hand, and she let out a quiet little moan of excitement.

"I hope you're not upset about not being involved in the ceremony," he asked her, as he rubbed his hand in slow, teasing circles.

"Not at all, I didn't do anything to deserve it, and it's for the best anyway," she said as she gazed down at him.

"Enough talking now," Alyssa said heatedly, as she moved up behind him. "I want to see you enjoy your present, especially after all that time I spent wrapping her."

Rachel smiled at the blonde, and sank to her knees obediently. She wasted no time, and leaned forward so that she could begin deep throating his cock. After a number of silent commands, Calara, Dana and Jade crawled across the bed, and then dismounted lithely, before kneeling around Rachel. They began to stroke her lovingly as she serviced him, while looking up at him with expressions of heavy arousal on their beautiful faces.

"That's a spectacular view," Alyssa said with a deliriously happy sigh as she looked over his shoulder. "I see why you love having us kneel for you."

"There's someone missing," John said tersely, as he held Rachel's head in his hands and guided her gently up and down his throbbing length.

"Of course, I'm sorry," Alyssa said apologetically, and she slipped around to his side, before gracefully joining the others fanned around the tawny haired brunette.

John gazed down at the five sets of bright eyes that sparkled as they stared up at him. The girls looked so submissive arrayed like that, and his one fleeting regret before he arched his back, and began to pump his load into Rachel's eagerly sucking mouth, was that he didn't have enough cocks to have them all blow him at once.

*That's not strictly true...* Alyssa purred at him, and he groaned ecstatically when he realised what she meant, debauched images of Jade going through his head.

Rachel did a spectacular job of emptying his balls, and once he was drained completely dry, he offered her a hand so that she could stand up. Her belly looked obscene in the figure hugging grey dress, arcing out in a enormous curve where he had filled up her stomach to the brim. He reached out with both hands to steady her, and then leaned in to plant a warm, possessive kiss on her rounded tummy. Rachel stared at him with hooded eyes that were filled with desire. He helped peel her out of the dress, and step out of her heels, and she climbed onto the bed holding a bed post for support.

When the other girls rose to join them on the bed, he sat up at the end so that he could look around at all of them.

"Ladies, I don't know what your thoughts are, but I think we're running on a serious female orgasm deficit. I'd like you to pair off, and do something to address that. Unfortunately there's five of you, so unlucky number five will be stuck with me to help her out," he said wryly.

Calara and Alyssa paired off immediately, while Dana and Rachel crawled over to each other eagerly. Jade joined him with a huge smile on her lovely face, and John opened his arms to embrace her.

"Sorry, looks like you pulled the short straw," he said with a smile.

"Are you kidding? I outbid all the rest and won!" Jade said as she laughed with delight. "Although, I have to do the dishes for all of next week," she added regretfully.

"Don't worry, I'll help out," John whispered quietly in her ear, then pushed her on her back in the middle of the bed, and moved to lie down between her dark green thighs that she spread for him wantonly.

Soft cries of female ecstasy began to fill the room, and John smiled happily as he got to work.

***

The brooding figure grinned with excitement as he experienced the thrill of the hunt once more. One of his contacts at the Olympus Shipyard had reported seeing John Blake at some kind of award ceremony, and he had his pawns in place to spring the trap.

He gloated as he sank back on his gothic throne. This had been the longest he'd ever taken to fulfil a contract, but he could almost taste victory, and the imminent demise of his quarry. He reached over to the console and pressed a button to activate the comm interface.

"You might have been a most elusive target, Mr Blake, but all fall to me in the end," he said with grim satisfaction.