Rachel, Helene, and Irillith stood by the open hangar door, watching as the last of the colonists left the Invictus. Rather than returning to their homes, the townsfolk of Fernridge gathered in the grassy clearing on the outskirts of the settlement, clearly reluctant to turn away. There was a solemn intensity to those people as they waved goodbye, every one well aware what their fate would have been if the Lion and his Lionesses had not intervened.

Tashana tapped the controls on the wall and the huge hangar door began to slowly descend, signalling the completion of their mission to save the citizens of Brecken's World. She walked over to join her fellow Lionesses and the four girls waved back at the colonists until the door locked into place on the deck with a secure clunk.

Now that they were alone again, the Maliri girl pulled off her helmet, then shook out her long white hair. "You two saved a lot of people," she said, turning to look at Rachel and Helene with admiration. "I hope you feel very proud of everything you accomplished here."

"I didn't do much," Helene said, shaking her head and smiling self-consciously. "Rachel was the one who healed their wounds, I just made the colonists feel a bit better... if only for a little while."

"Don't undersell yourself," Rachel said, stroking the teal-skinned girl's back. "You gave them a sense of hope when they needed it the most... that makes all the difference in the world."

Helene gave her a look of gratitude before glancing over at the treatment area. "Faye and her robots worked non-stop for hours; we should thank her for all her hard work..."

Rachel turned to look at the maintenance bots, which hovered dormant by the Sonic Cannons, waiting for further instruction. "Where is our cute fairy anyway? All her avatars seemed to just vanish..."

"Faye's definitely preoccupied with something," Irillith replied with a frown. "I searched for her in the Cyber-Realm, but I couldn't find her there either."

They all heard the roar of retro-thrusters coming from the Secondary Hanger and turned around just in time to see the Raptor glide into the Invictus.

"I think I know what might have distracted Faye," Rachel said with a knowing smile.

Irillith raised an eyebrow and smirked. "If she needed all twelve avatars, John must have had a very nice afternoon..."

The girls laughed as they walked over to the double doors, reaching them just as John and Faye walked arm-in-arm down the gunship's loading ramp.

"Wow!" Tashana exclaimed, looking at Faye's hugely rounded belly. "I guess there's no need to ask if you two enjoyed your date."

John smiled and gave the purple girl an affectionate one-armed hug. "Faye's been spoiling me for hours; I've never felt so well looked after."

Irillith brushed her fingers over the obscene bulge in Faye's summer dress. "You kept him going for hours? Perhaps you should be giving us lessons, Faye."

Faye blushed and gave them a dazzling smile. "We had a great time!"

The four girls took turns hugging her and whispering their congratulations, with Faye beaming at them as she returned their hugs.

"Any problems while we were away?" John enquired, looking around the quartet. "And where are Jade and her sisters?"

"Everything was under control; we actually treated 32,893 infested colonists in total," Rachel replied with a note of satisfaction in her voice. "The Nymphs had been up for over 36 hours, so I sent them to bed when we landed at Fernridge."

John looked at her quizzically. "Fernridge?"

"The last drop-off point on Brecken's World," the brunette explained. "There were only a few thousand colonists left by then; we'd returned the rest to their homes."

"I haven't heard anything from Alyssa, so I assume she's still sleeping?" he asked, glancing at the girls.

Before the others could reply, Faye chimed in, "They're all asleep in the bedroom. I think I'll head up there and feed the Nymphs..." She cradled her swollen belly. "Unless there's someone else you had in mind for this?"

Irillith saw John looking intrigued, so she quickly explained, "Dana gave her all sorts of useful functionality. We figured you wouldn't be able to resist Faye for long and she wanted to be able to feed the girls the same way Jade can."

Nodding his understanding he gave the petite girl an encouraging smile. "That would be great, Faye, thank you."

"I've plotted a course for Karron. The journey will take ten hours, so we should arrive at 23:56 pm," she said, giving John a hug before waving goodbye to the girls. "Just let me know if you need anything."

They returned her wave and watched her depart, Faye's hips swaying with the heavy weight at her midriff as she walked towards the express grav-tube.

John suddenly jogged to catch up to her, calling out, "Faye! Wait a second!"

Pausing, she turned to give him a cheery smile. "Yes, John?"

Putting his hands on her shoulders, he looked into her eyes with concern. "Are you sure you're alright? You were quiet on the way back home and you seem a bit... distracted."

"I'm fine," she replied, her smile never wavering. "I've just been processing lots of new data... it's my way of learning from an experience."

Reassured by her explanation, he leaned in to give her a tender kiss. "Well I had an incredible date, thank you for going to so much effort."

She crossed her wrists behind his neck and gave him a smouldering kiss to banish any remaining concerns he might have. Faye gave him a cheeky wave when they parted and stepped into the express grav-tube. John watched her disappear out of sight, still unable to shake the nagging feeling that she didn't seem quite herself.

Tashana looked sympathetic as John returned to the four girls. "I'm not surprised if Faye's feeling a bit dazed. You left a dramatic impression on me after our first time together."

Irillith frowned and playfully wagged a finger at him. "You probably overloaded her circuits... Rachel actually managed to shut Faye down when we were testing her sensitivity."

"It's not my fault I'm a spectacular kisser," Rachel said with a grin, knowing the Maliri girl was only teasing.

Rolling her eyes at the brunette, Irillith gave John a reassuring smile. "I'll check on Faye later and see if she needs any help with diagnostics."

He nodded in gratitude, then looked around at the group. "Well, it seems like we have ten hours to kill before we arrive at Karron. Feel free to have a rest until then... you've certainly earned it."

"Actually, I'd like to perform that autopsy on the Kirrix cadavers. They were fascinating specimens!" Rachel said, unable to contain her excitement. "You're all welcome to observe the dissection."

Wrinkling her nose with distaste, Tashana said, "If it's alright with you, I think I'll just wait for the report on your findings. I've seen enough Kirrix corpses to last two lifetimes."

Irillith raised an eyebrow and glanced at her sister. "We still have the Vulkat archive to translate. Fancy giving me a hand?"

"Sure! I'd love to find out what they have to say about Progenitors."

John couldn't help grimacing. "After what happened to their civilisation, I doubt any of it will be complimentary."

"Any information could be helpful," she said, her eyes bright and alert with professional curiosity. "At the very least, those files might give me a solid grounding in Vulkat swearwords and insults."

"I'll look forward to hearing you insult my parentage in Vulkat," he said with a wry smile. "I'd offer to help, but I'm not great with languages. I only know how to speak Terran and Maliri, and one of those I learned subconsciously."

"Don't worry, you'd find it annoying working with Tashana," Irillith said with an exaggerated sigh. "She insists on quoting old Terran movies at every opportunity... it's extremely distracting.

Tashana nudged her sister with an elbow. "Only because they make you laugh so hard." She lowered her voice and said gruffly, "Freaky alien bastards... they're called Mal-eerie for a reason!"

Irillith covered her mouth with both hands as she burst into laughter. "I haven't seen that one in years! Alien Menace III was a classic!"

John had never seen the movie, so he could sympathise with the look of bemusement on Helene's pretty face.

She glanced in his direction. "John, would you like to join me for a swim?"

He nodded, smiling at the thought. "I'd love to."

"The autopsy should only take me a couple of hours," Rachel informed them. "I'll ask Faye to let you know as soon as I'm finished."

"Okay, see you then," John agreed, enjoying a hug with the girls before they parted ways.

"Are you still planning on preparing a Maliri banquet?" Irillith reminded him as they embraced.

"If you're willing to share your recipes?" he countered, cupping her ass and wishing she wasn't wearing her Paragon suit. "We can get together after Rachel's briefing and discuss ways I can make it worth your while..."

"Sounds like an equitable exchange to me," she replied in a seductive purr.

Tashana wrinkled her nose. "I'm not sure listening to the results of a Kirrix autopsy will really set the right mood."

Irillith grinned as she glanced at her twin. "I'm pretty sure I can handle John on my own... but I guarantee you'll change your tune once we get started..."

Tashana blushed, knowing she would share every mind-blowing orgasm. "I never imagined my sweet sister would grow up to be so naughty."

"I was planning to talk to Alyssa just before we arrive at Karron," John said, pulling the second twin into his arms. "Would you prefer to wait until later? You two can join us for the XO meeting."

Irillith's violet eyes sparkled with delight. "Oh, absolutely! Our beloved matriarch has a way of making everything feel so much more debauched!"

Tashana laughed and nodded. "Sounds like a date."

Rachel and the twins left together, taking the express grav-tube up to the armoury, so that they could remove their Paragon suits. That left Helene with John and she slipped her hand into his as they walked through the double doors on the far side of the hangar.

She glanced at him curiously as they approached the blue anti-gravity field at the end of the corridor. "What did Tashana mean earlier, about the Mal-eerie?" Helene asked, with a puzzled look on her face at the strange pronunciation.

"It was a line from an old action movie," he explained as they began to ascend through the decks. "I haven't seen the one she's quoting from, but the twins used to watch a lot of Terran shows when they were young. I think referring to those movies reminds them both of happier times when they were very close... and helps brings them even closer together now."

"Ah," she replied, still looking mystified. "John... what's a 'movie'?"

He chuckled and pulled her into his arms. "It's like watching one of the camera recordings, but the people you see are only pretending it's real to entertain people. I'm sure the twins would enjoy showing you what they consider to be the classics."

Helene nodded, then looked around the grav-tube for security cameras. Not taking any chances, she moulded herself against him so that she could whisper in his ear, "I'm really glad your date with Faye went well. I spoke to her about your relationship yesterday... and she got a bit upset."

He pulled back to look at her in surprise. "She did?"

The aquatic girl nodded, gazing at him with her big blue eyes. Beckoning him closer, she continued whispering, "I was going to tell you about it today, but Faye invited you on a second date. She was very worried that you might reject her." Helene gently kissed his ear, making him shiver at the breathy contact. "I told Faye that you loved and respected her, and would never turn away from her like that. Thank you for proving me right."

John frowned and held her close. "I wonder if that's why she was acting a little bit strange on the flight back."

"Did anything bad happen on the date?" Helene asked him with concern.

He shook his head. "No, everything was perfect... well at least I thought it was. The picnic spot she'd chosen was really beautiful and Faye brought me breakfast that was absolutely delicious. After that, we spent most of the morning talking and kissing, which she definitely seemed to enjoy. Then during lunch, I listened to Edraele describe the Maliri meeting with the Trankarans, and after that..." He gave her a coy smile. "Well, you saw the size of Faye's tummy."

"Spending all morning with you like that would be wonderful," she agreed, stroking his chest. "I'm sure Faye would have loved having you all to herself."

John frowned at a sudden thought. "Maybe she was upset at me being distracted by the meeting? Although, Faye certainly seemed happy for me to listen in, she knew how important it was."

"I know she was longing to get closer to you... perhaps Irillith was right and Faye was just overwhelmed by the experience. My life transformed for the better after we were together for the first time," she said with a shy smile. "Maybe just give her a while to adjust, then talk to her about it?"

John stepped out of the grav-tube into the Deck Three corridor, pulling her with him. "Sounds like good advice to me. Thank you."

They strolled into the Lagoon and stripped off their clothes by the bridge, the lake's crystal-clear water enticing them in.

Before Helene could leap from the bridge, John slipped his arms around her waist. "We haven't really had a chance to talk about you comforting the colonists yet. How are you feeling about your new abilities? Any regrets or worries?"

She gazed deep into his eyes and said solemnly, "For the first time in my life, I felt like I had a purpose beyond bearing children. I'll never forget how it felt being able to help those poor people, or what it was like standing beside the girls as grateful colonists waved goodbye. Thank you for giving my life new meaning."

Touched by the sincerity of her heartfelt reply, John was lost for words, only managing to murmur, "You're welcome, Helene."

The teal-skinned beauty smiled at him and wriggled out of his grasp. "Now, enough talking..." She giggled and dove off the bridge. "Catch me if you can!"

He watched her breach the surface of the lagoon with barely a splash, then Helene cut through the water like a knife, rolling onto her back to beckon him in. He took a running jump and dived in after her, delighting in the thrill of the chase as she squealed playfully and tried to escape his clutches.

***

Deep Lord Athgiloi stared in astonishment at the winged sword icon fading away on the holo-screen, unable to believe his incredible good fortune. Leaping from his throne, he raised both fists and roared in triumph.

Celphna was kneeling beside the throne and she gazed up at him in adoration. "Would Master like to celebrate with this one?"

"Most definitely, my beautiful jewel of the sea," he said with relish, a wide toothy grin on his scaly face. "But first I have pressing business to attend to!"

She rose from her kneeling position and gave him a reverent bow. "As you wish, Master. This one shall eagerly await your return..."

Athgiloi watched her slink towards his bedroom, the seductive swish of her tail making her shimmering scales catch the light. Tempted as he was to lose himself in hours of pleasure with his stunning concubine, he couldn't afford to waste a moment... an opportunity like this came but once in a lifetime. Returning to his throne, he stabbed down on the scallop shell icons built into the armrest, bringing up a holographic list of the Brimorian lords serving in the Deep Pool. He selected Semord, Rilosash, Paotegh, Sibhaloi, Lithorag, and Baolleraz as the recipients for his secure broadcast, then watched as each one answered the call.

Ignoring their requests for information, he gave them a smug grin, revelling in the moment. "By the powers granted to me as Deep Lord, I summon the Deep Pool for an emergency gathering! Meet me in the audience chamber immediately!"

As much as he longed to rush to the audience chamber to share his news, Athgiloi wanted the other members of the Deep Pool to be left waiting for him, reminding them of their place. Closing the comm-channel and cutting off their startled exclamations, he searched through his list of contacts again. Swiping a clawed hand through the name of the shadowy dark holo-net group, he waited for the call to connect.

An armoured figure answered the call a few seconds later, her opaque helmet staring intently in his direction. "Deep Lord Athgiloi... what brings the esteemed leader of the Brimorian Enclave knocking on the door of the Lahlenori?"

"It is time to call in that favour, Shanryl," he replied, leaning forward and fixing her with an unwavering stare. "I find myself in need of your exceptional skills. Do this task for me... and I will consider all debts paid in full."

She tilted her head quizzically. "How intriguing... and what exactly would you have me do?"

Athgiloi's eyes gleamed with anticipation. "Set course for the Beta Crusis system. I have an urgent meeting to attend to, but I'll send full details of your assignment within the hour."

Shanryl glanced off-screen at a star map to locate the system, then her head snapped around to face the Brimorian. "What are you up to, Athgiloi?"

"All in good time," he replied, his grin revealing more of his sharp teeth. "Compared to the risks I took giving you sanctuary in the Enclave, this will take you the barest minimum of effort."

She gave him a respectful bow. "A debt I will be glad to repay. I look forward to hearing more about this mysterious task..."

Athgiloi nodded to her and ended the call, then rose from his throne and strode out of his private quarters. Avoiding the temptation to rub his hands together in glee, he walked at an unhurried pace towards the sacred meeting place of the Deep Pool. Guards snapped to attention as he passed, the stocky Brimorian heading deeper into the Palace on Sequathis. When he finally arrived at the audience chamber, he was pleased to see that six of the seven dais were occupied, the Brimorian lords muttering to each other as they speculated as to the cause of this meeting.

All conversation ceased as Athgiloi stood on the last dais, the Deep Lord taking his time to solemnly intone, "We commence this gathering, paying homage to the wild seas."

The members of the Deep Pool bowed impatiently, eager to find out why he'd ordered an emergency meeting with no notice.

"I am ordering the recall of fleets Ibhechae and Braoimhi to the Callopean Shoals!" Athgiloi declared, his bold voice echoing around the chamber.

"But they are needed for the Kintark invasion!" Lord Lithorag balked, his black eyes staring incredulously at the Deep Lord.

"The Kintark Empire is defenceless," Athgiloi gloated with a derisive sneer. "They shall be crushed by the might of our remaining fleets... two more will not make the slightest difference."

"Why the Callopean Shoals?" Lord Paotegh asked suspiciously. "What are you planning, Athgiloi?"

Throwing his brawny arms wide, the Deep Lord gave them a look of triumph. "My friends... we shall see the accursed Terrans brought to ruin! They have a traitor in their midst who seeks revenge against the Federation!"

The six lords gaped at Athgiloi in shock, each and every one of them stunned into silence.

***

John lay beside Helene as they relaxed in the Observatory, his fingers interlaced with hers over her cum-filled stomach. "When we do eventually have a baby, have you decided whether you'd like to have a boy or girl?"

She looked up at him with a dreamy smile. "Oh, I can't make up my mind. All I know is I want at least ten of each..."

"Only twenty kids?" he asked with a chuckle. "By Abandoned standards, that's quite a modest-sized family isn't it? Seems like we've got a busy couple of decades ahead of us..."

Helene laughed and nuzzled into him. "I can hardly wait..." Her smile faded a little and she glanced up at John, a troubled look in her eyes. "Bringing new life into the world is such a wonderful thing... so why do I get the feeling you don't approve of the Abandoned having large families?"

John paused for a moment to consider how to answer her question. "Other than the fact that the Brimorians are using your people to breed a slave race, having that many children leads to a massive population explosion. Eventually the worlds the Abandoned are settled on will be unable to sustain such huge numbers; there won't be enough food grown to feed everyone and people will starve to death in their millions. The Brimorians must be planning to restrict the size of Abandoned families eventually, or they'll end up being vastly outnumbered within their own empire."

"How many children would be a sustainable number?" Helene asked in a hushed voice.

"Perhaps two per family?" he tentatively suggested, having a good idea how that would be received.

Her mouth fell open in shock. "Two?!"

John gave her a helpless shrug. "I'm not an expert on population management, but I'm pretty sure the Abandoned will have to drastically reduce the number of children they're having. If they don't, they'll end up facing an awful future... no matter what happens with the Brimorians."

"Only two babies..." Helene murmured in a daze, looking appalled. "I just... I don't even know what to say."

"It's not as bad as it sounds," he said, trying to lift her mood with an encouraging smile. "With smaller families, the parents can devote more time to caring for and educating each child. Ultimately, we'll need to place a huge focus on education for the Abandoned, so that we can train them with lots of new skills other than just manual labour."

Her eyes were wide as she gazed up at the stars through the clear-crystal ceiling. "I'm finally starting to see how much we're going to impact my people... their entire way of life will never be the same."

He nodded, giving her a supportive hug. "When we free the Abandoned from slavery, they'll be facing huge changes. I want to make this as easy for them as I can, but I must admit, I have no experience dealing with anything remotely like this."

Faye appeared beside them in a flash, her wings fluttering pensively. Her luminous gaze lingered wistfully on Helene's swollen belly for a second, before switching to John. "Hey! Sorry to interrupt, is this a bad time?"

He shook his head. "It's alright, honey. What's up?"

"I just wanted to let you know that Rachel's finished the Kirrix autopsy and requests that you join her and the girls in the bedroom," the purple sprite replied.

John glanced at the chronometer on the wall and was startled to see that it was 4:32 pm. "Wow, the last couple of hours flew by..." He glanced down at his teal-skinned bedmate and continued, "Do you want to come with me? Rachel's going to tell us about the Kirrix Hive Queen and the Nest Guardians."

"Would you mind if I stayed here a while?" she requested, sounding numb. "I've got a few things to think about..."

"I'm sorry I shocked you," he said, studying her with concern. "Are you okay?"

She focused on John, a wan smile appearing on her forlorn face. "I feel so sad for my people. There are many terrible things that they need to know, but I'm worried that this knowledge will tear them apart."

"I promise I'll do whatever I can to help them," he said, gazing into her eyes.

Helene caressed his cheek, her expression filled with gratitude. "I knew in my heart that you would. Baen'thelas, the righter of wrongs... Tashana chose that name well."

"Just remember that we'll be fighting to give your people their freedom," he reminded her. "That isn't something to feel sad about; it's an opportunity for the Abandoned to forge their own path."

"I know... it just feels like they'll be losing their innocence, even if that means going on to lead a better life," she said, before freezing and looking at John in shock.

"What's the matter?" he asked, seeing her abrupt shift in expression.

"That's what happened to me..." she whispered, sounding awestruck.

John thought about it for a second, then nodded. "You were a lovely girl when we first met, but you're developing into an incredible woman. Change doesn't have to be bad, sometimes the results can be very special..."

She blushed and gave him a fierce hug. "Thank you... for everything."

When they parted, John rose from the bed, watching Helene anxiously to make sure she was alright. She seemed calmer now and gave him a reassuring smile before shooing him on his way. With a final wave goodbye to the aquatic girl, he left the Observatory with Faye at his side.

"I'll see you up in the bedroom, John," Faye said, her wings fluttering anxiously as she hovered in the air.

"I'd like to talk to you for a moment before you disappear," he said as he walked over the bridge. "Something's obviously bothering you and I'd like to know what it is."

"I-I'm not sure what you mean," she stammered, her big eyes widening further.

"You'd normally jump at the chance to have one of your avatars keep me company; the fact that you didn't is a dead giveaway that you're upset about something and you're avoiding me for some reason." He paused half-way across the bridge and looked at the stricken purple girl. "I thought our date was amazing, but now I'm worried that I did something to offend you."

"You didn't do anything wrong, I promise!" she blurted out, sounding aghast. "I never meant for you to think that!"

John's expression softened with concern. "Talk to me, honey. I know there's something on your mind."

Faye's hologram wrung her hands together, unsure what to do. "You need to speak to Faye Primary!" she finally blurted out, her elfin face a mask of worry. "We'll meet you in our room!"

She disappeared an instant later, leaving John staring at nothing. *Are you awake, Alyssa?*

*Hey, John,* the blonde replied. *Rachel woke me up a few minutes ago. You were busy chatting with Helene and I didn't want to interrupt.*

He walked along the bridge and stooped to gather his clothes. *Did you overhear me talking to Faye?*

*Yeah... and she just rushed out of here with a weird smile plastered on her face,* Alyssa replied, sounding completely bewildered. *What the hell's going on?*

*Faye seemed fine earlier,* Jade informed them. *She was quiet... but gentle and loving with my sisters. They fed from her, then Faye stayed in bed cuddling with them.*

Dressing quickly, John left the Lagoon. *You girls just relax for a few minutes, I'll go have a chat with Faye.*

*Sure. Just let us know if we can help,* Alyssa said, her voice filled with concern.

John headed to the grav-tube, feeling confused more than anything else. Faye had been in great spirits during their morning together, but in the afternoon, she hadn't been her bubbly vivacious self. The difference was subtle, but he'd got to know the purple sprite pretty well over the last few months, and thinking back on their time together, she obviously had something on her mind. Rising up in the glowing blue gravity field to Deck Two, he stepped out into the corridor lined by Officers' Quarters, then came to a halt at the closest on the right. Raising a hand to press the chime, he was startled when the door slid open in front of him before he had a chance to hit the button.

"Come in," Faye said quietly, her bright welcoming smile not quite what he was expecting.

John crossed the room and sat beside her on the bed, studying her elfin face with concern. "You're worrying me, Faye. Everything about you has been a little off-kilter since this afternoon. Did I... break you somehow?"

She looked at him in surprise, then laughed, but it sounded strained rather than happy. "No... but believe it or not, I was actually hoping that you would."

"You wanted me to break you?" he asked, brow furrowing in confusion as he stared at her fixed smile. "Are you sure you're alright? Irillith offered to help run some diagnostic tests..."

Faye saw him studying her expression with concern and she slumped, her smile fading. "You and the girls make everything look so easy... but you have no idea how much effort it takes pretending to be an organic. Did you know I have 57 different smiles? I copied the girls to cover all sorts of eventualities... there's cheerful, ecstatic, wry, playful, sardonic, teasing, flirtatious, smouldering, innocent-"

"You don't need to list them all, honey. I believe you," John interrupted, reaching out to hold her hand. "Now, why are you telling me about all your different smiles?"

"Because I'm always so happy with all of you and I wanted to portray each mood as accurately as I could... but I never really spent any time practicing expressions for how I feel now," she replied, sounding hopelessly lost.

He gave her an encouraging smile. "Why don't you give it a try? Then we can talk about the way you're feeling."

She nodded, her big luminous eyes gazing at him intently for a long moment. Gradually her expression shifted, so that her brow furrowed and her mouth turned down, until she was looking at him with a look of such sorrow that his heart lurched in his chest.

"Faye, what's wrong?!" he asked in alarm, pulling her into a hug.

"It's my own fault," she whimpered, trembling against his chest. "I knew it wouldn't work... but I've seen you perform so many miracles that I started praying for one just for me. When nothing happened... I just felt so sad, John. It's all I ever wanted... and now I know my wish will never come true."

John stroked her back to comfort her, shocked that she'd been keeping all this bottled up. "What was your wish, Faye?"

She didn't reply for a long moment, before answering him in a whisper laden with grief, "I wanted to be real..."

Straining to listen to her hushed reply, he was startled and confused by her answer. "But Dana built you a body. You're not just a hologram any more... you're really here."

Faye pulled back to look at him, shaking her head vehemently. "No! It's not the same! I want to be an organic, living, breathing, woman... who can love you the way you deserve! I want to be one of the Lionesses... to go through the change and share a telepathic connection with you and Alyssa!" Her expression softened and she looked at him with big eyes. "I want to have children with you, John."

His mouth fell open in astonishment as he listened to her passionate declaration. "I love you too, Faye... and I'd love to have all those things with you too. But-"

"I know!" Her face shadowed with despair and she collapsed into his arms, tears filling her eyes. I know... it's just not possible. But that didn't stop me wishing for it with all my heart. I was hoping against hope that when I swallowed your cum, you could change me into a real girl..."

Suddenly everything became clear to John and he pulled her into a tight hug. "But nothing happened... and you've been heartbroken all afternoon."

Faye nodded as she sobbed into his chest, weeping for her lost dreams.

"I'm so sorry, honey," he said rocking her in his arms. "I wish you'd told me what was going on."

"I see all of you so happy together... and you've all been wonderful with me... so loving and inclusive," her voice broke and she clung to him tighter. "But I'll always be different... I can never share what the other girls have with you... not really."

John rubbed her back to soothe her, wracking his brain for a solution. "I wish I could give you what you want, Faye, I really do." He hesitated, leaning to one side so he could see her face. "But I've never been able to affect inorganic objects. When we rescued Sakura, I was able to heal her wounds, but the cybernetic implants were like intruders in her body... lumps of nothing that shouldn't be there and had to be removed surgically."

She looked at him aghast. "You think I'm a lump of nothing?!"

"No! That's not what I meant!" he protested, grimacing in frustration. "When I have an active connection with a girl, I can sense her body... and feel every part of her. With Sakura, it felt like there were black holes where the cybernetics had been implanted... because I couldn't do anything to affect them."

"So you felt nothing earlier... with me?" Faye asked, looking at him with sadness in her eyes.

"Emotionally, being with you was overwhelming," he replied, giving her an encouraging smile. "You were so loving and caring... then the sex was spectacular. Holding you in my arms afterwards felt perfect; I just wanted to look after you and keep you safe. I always love that feeling when I'm with the girls, it's incredibly intimate, and I felt the exact same thing with you."

She gave him a wistful smile and reached up to caress his cheek. "That's wonderful... but you know that's not what I meant."

John let out a regretful sigh. "I wish I could tell you what you want to hear... but I'm not going to lie to you, Faye, I respect you too much for that. I wasn't able to make an active connection with you and I'm pretty sure I can't change your body... my abilities just don't work that way."

Faye nodded mournfully. "Thank you for being honest, even if it's not what I was hoping to hear."

Lying back on the bed, John brought her with him so she was resting with her head nestled against his shoulder. "That doesn't mean we should give up though. I must admit I have no idea how we can help you, but the girls are brilliant, they might be able to come up with something. Between Dana, Rachel, and Irillith, they're bound to have some ideas..."

"You really think they could do it?" she asked, turning to look at him.

He shrugged and gave her a tentative smile. "If there's anyone in the galaxy who can make your wish come true, it's those three." Contacting Alyssa telepathically, he added, *Please can you ask the girls to come to Faye's room?*

*We're already on our way,* the blonde replied, a knock on the door following a few seconds later.

Faye opened the bedroom door with a blink and Dana rushed into the room, followed by Rachel, Irillith, and Alyssa.

"Oh Faye, why didn't you tell me?!" the redhead blurted out, clambering onto the bed and hugging the purple girl.

"We didn't know you felt this way," Irillith said softly, sitting on the bed and clasping Faye's hand. "I'm sorry you had your hopes dashed."

Faye blushed, looked embarrassed. "It was just a foolish fantasy... I didn't want to disturb any of you, not when you have so many other important things going on already."

"You can always talk to us... about anything," Rachel insisted, joining them on the bed and reaching over John to stroke the elfin girl's arm.

Alyssa gave Faye a warm smile as she nodded her agreement. "We all think of you as one of the girls. If you ever have a problem, no matter what it is, we'll be happy to listen and help you however we can."

Faye sat up, her eyes filling with hope. "You really might be able to help me become a real girl?"

Blue, grey, and violet eyes darted troubled looks at one another, the girls' hurried telepathic conversations relayed between them by Alyssa.

*Perhaps we could grow a clone to use as an organic shell for her?*

*But we'd need to upload Faye's entire operating system into a living brain... how the fuck are we going to do that?!*

*Some kind of mind-machine interface?*

*We could create a cybernetic implant as the neural interface and download Faye into it. She'd have active control of the body, a bit like the Shinatobe implant in Sakura. The organic brain might be able to learn to mirror her behaviour?*

*But doing that would only teach the clone basic motor-skills. There's no way we can impart something as complex as Faye's personality into an organic brain by a process of osmosis!*

*Damn, you're right... Sakura's personality was fully formed and trapped inside her own mind when the Shinatobe program was controlling her. There was no higher-reasoning involved, just a complex series of programs to accomplish each assassination mission...*

*The kind of tech we're talking about is radically advanced. We'd need to somehow encourage an organic brain to store Faye's data archives as clusters of neurons... allowing the clone to access those memories and assume Faye's personality.*

*Convert thousands of terabytes into neurons? I wouldn't even know where to start...*

As they discussed the problem in a series of rapid thoughts, the silence stretched out uncomfortably long, with Faye darting increasingly worried looks at the three girls.

Alyssa saw Faye's face falling as the seconds ticked by and gave her a reassuring smile. "We've only just sprung this on them... give them a chance to think about it."

Faye laughed nervously, then leaned into John as he wrapped her in a supportive hug. They waited patiently for several minutes of heated telepathic conversation, until the girls all turned to face the anxious purple sprite.

"We think there's a chance," Rachel began, doing her best to sound optimistic.

"Really?!" Faye gasped, beaming at them joyfully. "You could actually turn me into a real girl?"

Irillith gave her a strained smile. "Well, it's probably not impossible..."

The purple girl slumped when she heard the Maliri's bleak reply. "Oh, I see..."

"Hey, don't make it sound so hopeless!" Dana exclaimed, frowning at Irillith disapprovingly. Turning to Faye, she held both her hands and looked into those big luminous eyes. "You're a smart girl... you already knew this wasn't a simple request. We're talking about using state-of-the-art cloning tech, super-advanced neural interfaces, and extremely sophisticated bio-synthetic programming... Which is going into the realm of crazy sci-fi shit that's way beyond anything we can do at the moment."

Faye nodded slowly. "I understand."

Dana gave her a tender kiss on the cheek. "Don't give up. It might take us a while to figure out how to transfer your mind into an organic body, but we love you and want you to be happy."

After giving the redhead a grateful smile, Faye turned to Irillith, knowing she would be brutally honest in answering her next question. "How long do you think it will take?"

The Maliri darted a glance at Dana and saw the warning frown, but she ignored her and concentrated on the elfin girl. "All three of us would need to devote thousands of hours into studying this project... and like any bleeding-edge research, there's no guarantee of success. I'd gladly do this for you, but you need to set yourself realistic expectations."

Faye turned to Rachel, who reluctantly nodded her agreement with Irillith's summary. "The way the brain stores a personality has been an enigma to scientists for thousands of years; I'll need to fully understand all the functions of the cerebrum before we can faithfully integrate your digital personality with an organic brain. The research will be fascinating and I'm more than happy to do it... but it's going to take a considerable amount of time."

Mulling that over for a long moment, Faye looked around at the concerned faces and her expression shadowed with guilt. "I'm so sorry for worrying all of you like this. You've already put so much effort into building this body for me and now here I am, sounding terribly ungrateful and demanding more." When the girls all tried to object, she raised both hands to quiet their protests and gave them a resigned smile. "I can't ask you to devote so much time to this... not when you've got so many other critically important projects to work on. Perhaps we can plan this research for the future, when we retire on Valaden..."

Dana frowned as she asked, "Are you sure? Alyssa told us you were devastated when you found out John couldn't change you."

Faye nodded again, but firmly this time. "I should never have reacted that way; I was behaving like a spoilt little girl." Smiling at the group, she continued, "I'm surrounded by wonderful friends, who have given me so many incredible gifts. I can touch... I can feel... those are things that I never thought possible only a few short months ago. I think it's time I grow up and accept that I am what I am. I'm a synthetic girl... but that just means I can love all of you 24 hours a day with no downtime!"

"Ah Faye, you're awesome," Dana said with tears in her eyes, enfolding her petite friend in a warm hug.

Irillith brushed her fingers through Faye's long purple hair. "When we do eventually retire, I promise I'll try to find a way to make your wish come true... even if it takes me decades to do it."

Faye let out a happy sigh and pulled the Maliri girl into the embrace. "I love you, Creator. Thank you."

They all joined in the group hug, feeling greatly relieved to see Faye back to her old self again.

John caught her eye and asked, "Are you sure you're okay now?"

She nodded, a self-conscious smile spreading across her face. "I am... and I can't apologise enough for worrying all of you like that."

"Is that smile number 57?" he asked with a grin, leaning in to kiss her cupid-bow lips.

Faye giggled and shook her head. "Number 39. It was my 'embarrassed' smile, but I might change the title to 'I was being an idiot' as a reminder."

"Don't be so hard on yourself," John said, gently stroking her cheek. "I think it's wonderful that you have hopes and dreams like that, I'm only sorry that you ended up being disappointed."

Alyssa gave Faye a rueful frown. "I wish I'd realised earlier that you had all this on your mind. You're one of the girls and it's my job to look after you, but I guess having telepathy with the others made me a bit complacent. It was lucky that John knew you well enough to figure out something was wrong."

"Yeah, you just need to talk to us next time!" Dana insisted, nuzzling into Faye's purple hair. "Seeing you get so upset sucked ass."

"Alright, I promise I'll speak to you if I'm troubled by anything else," Faye said earnestly.

"Good girl," John said, nodding his approval.

She grinned at him, then her eyes drifted anxiously to the door. "I've wasted more than enough of your time already... the rest of the girls must be wondering what's happening!"

Alyssa waved away her concerns as she rose from the bed. "They're fine... they were all worried about you, so I've been keeping everyone updated."

John stood as well, then offered Faye a hand. "You coming, honey? The bedroom isn't the same without you watching over us, perched in your chair."

She took his hand and gave him a grateful smile. "I'd love to join you."

They left Faye's room and walked down the corridor to the Captain's quarters. The girls were waiting for them on the bed and even the Nymphs were watching the doorway with concern, their verdant faces lighting up when Faye skipped into the room beside John. She was soon surrounded by glowing, pulsing Nymphs, who fawned all over her like a long-lost sister. Faye giggled happily at their enthusiastic display of affection, almost disappearing from sight as she was engulfed by the much taller green women.

"Have you got catnip in your pockets, Faye?" Rachel asked with amusement.

"She's made some friends for life," Jade said, fondly watching her fellow Nymphs. "If she keeps feeding them like that, we'll probably have to make her an honorary Lenarran."

The Nymphs reluctantly let Faye go, so that Sakura, Calara, and Jade could each take a turn embracing her.

"Thanks all of you," the purple sprite gushed when she was finally free. "I've never felt so loved!"

She sat in the high-backed leather chair and flashed a joyful smile at John as he took his usual place on the bed. The girls fanned out in a semi-circle around him, but there wasn't enough room for the four Nymphs to comfortably fit into the line-up. They glanced at Jade for direction and she gave them an indulgent smile as she patted the middle of the bed. Curling up together, her sisters traced the bands of light pulsing outwards from each other's stomachs, knowing they meant that John was making them all stronger.

He watched them for a moment, enjoying the active connection he felt with each Nymph, before turning to look at Rachel. "Okay, over to you, honey. Did you find out anything interesting with the autopsies?"

She nodded, her grey glinting with anticipation. "Faye, could you start the holo-presentation please?"

The purple sprite blinked and a second later, an image of a Hive Queen flashed into existence, the holograph floating above the bed.

"That's one nasty bitch," Dana muttered, her eyes flicking over the long spikes and claws covering its exoskeleton. "But it's weird she's such a badass... aren't psychic aliens supposed to be eggheads with puny bodies?"

"Just because Mael'nerak designed the Ashanath that way, it's not a rule that has to be adhered to by all species. The higher-tier Kirrix all seem to be physically imposing specimens," the brunette replied, shaking her head. "I currently have two theories as to their origins. The first is that the Hive Queens evolved to become powerful combatants that fought each other for dominance over a hive... until the species developed the psychic capabilities to form the Hive Mind. After that, the Hive Queens almost certainly started working together for the good of the species as a whole."

"Did that happen naturally?" John asked, staring at the malevolent creature.

She glanced at him, an ambivalent expression on her face. "Are you asking if a Progenitor changed the Kirrix? If so, then the answer is no... I've found no signs that a Progenitor tampered with their DNA; none of the usual genetic markers are there, let alone a third helix. As for someone else? Perhaps... which leads me to my second theory."

Now he was intrigued. "Someone else modified them?"

Rachel gave him a troubled look. "I have no definitive proof... but I'm beginning to suspect that's what might have happened. The Kirrix have always struck me as a strange species; they just don't fit with the natural evolution of any genus we've previously encountered."

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously.

She paused for a moment to think how best to describe her theory. "Do you remember the autopsy I performed on the Kirrix drone?"

Dana pouted. "How could I forget? You scared the crap out of me on the way down to Khalgron!"

Rachel winked at her, then continued, "As I previously discovered, a Kirrix drone only has rudimentary vocal chords and they also don't appear to use pheromones for communication. Those were the first things that made me suspect they might be capable of telepathy... but the Kirrix can't have always been psychic. That led me to wonder how the species communicated prior to reaching that higher-stage of evolutionary development. There's no sign that their vocal chords or antenna devolved or atrophied through lack of use and I could see no evidence of degeneration in their genetic code."

"In layman's terms please, Doctor Voss," John requested with a smile.

"I think the Kirrix might be an artificially created species," she said bluntly. "Created by whom and for what purpose I have no way of knowing..."

"The Hive Mind is very, very old," Alyssa interjected, looking thoughtful. "They predate the fight between Mael'nerak and Ranagon by thousands of years."

"Maybe they were made by The Achonin?" Tashana suggested, fascinated by the surprising turn in the conversation. "They had a highly-advanced civilisation, at least until they were wiped out by Mael'nerak. The Achonin might have been capable of genetic manipulation..."

"If it was them, they were very subtle in the changes made to the Kirrix DNA. You can't miss a Progenitor's tweaks when you know what you're looking for, but the Kirrix genetic code appears to be entirely natural."

John considered that for a moment, then shrugged. "We've got no real way of confirming the origins of their species, so let's just move on for now. What did you find out about the Hive Queen's physiology?"

Rachel glanced at Faye and the image shifted, showing detailed diagrams of insectoid body parts. "The Hive Queen has a set of relatively simple vocal chords, which are capable of emitting shrieks but certainly not sophisticated enough to allow conversation. She does come equipped with a hugely enlarged amygdala, which dwarfs any we've seen so far... It might be a coincidence, but I suspect that organ is responsible for the Hive Queen's impressive psychic capabilities."

Pointing at the rear of the monstrous creature, she continued, "The Hive Queen also possesses an ovipositor which she uses to insert eggs into hosts. I dissected the eggs contained in the eggsack and rather than the drones which the Hive Lords lay, those eggs contain the full range of upper-tier Kirrix."

"Broodmothers, Hive Lords, and Juggernauts?" John asked, trying to remember all the different types of Kirrix.

She nodded in confirmation. "Yes, as well as the Nest Guardians."

"If she spawns all that shit, what lays the eggs that turn into Hive Queens?" Dana muttered, grimacing at the insectoid monstrosity with distaste.

"Excellent point," Rachel replied, smiling at her girlfriend. "Again, there are two possibilities. The first is that Hive Queens can create more of themselves, but those eggs are likely to be a lot rarer, probably triggered by pheromones under certain circumstances. The second possibility is that there's something else we haven't encountered yet, which is at a higher-tier in the Kirrix lifecycle and creates the Hive Queens."

Alyssa frowned and said hesitantly, "The Hive Mind only seemed to be made up of Hive Queens. There were roughly a hundred or so in their astral construct, but I didn't see any other type of Kirrix creature there."

"You dragged a hundred of those things into Athena's castle?" John asked, staring at the ferocious beast.

The blonde shook her head. "Maybe half that amount? A bunch of them escaped from the Astral Plane while I was busy shifting their palace to my fortress."

Calara gave her lover a look of admiration. "I wouldn't want to face one of those hideous things, let alone fifty of them!"

"They were so shocked when I barged into the palace, most of them had no idea what was happening," Alyssa admitted with a wry smile. "Once I dragged them into my pocket plane, I just had to slap them around a bit to make them start listening."

"Do you think the Hive Mind will actually stick to the terms of your agreement?" Sakura asked, her almond-shaped eyes narrowing.

"They were pretty terrified when I was through with them," the blonde replied, with no small amount of satisfaction. "I don't think they'd want to risk pissing me off a second time."

"Good," Dana said with an angry scowl. "After what those assholes did to the colonists, they needed some serious payback. I don't think I'll ever forget the looks on those peoples' faces... they were just destroyed."

John reached over to squeeze her hand, then looked around the group. "We rescued over 55,000 Brecken's World colonists from the Kirrix, but just as importantly, all of you did an outstanding job taking care of those people after we evacuated them. The last thing I wanted was another repeat of the suicides on Carolus III and I think you managed to help those people find some light at the end of the tunnel."

"Making Helene a projecting empath was inspired," Rachel said, making eye-contact with John. "I could heal their bodies, but many of those people were deeply traumatised and it was wonderful seeing Helene ease their suffering."

"She was amazing," Tashana quickly agreed. The Maliri pyrokinetic sounded wistful as she continued, "I actually found myself getting envious of the way she was able to raise people's spirits wherever she went. It was inspiring to see her bring so much comfort and positivity back into their lives."

"Where is Helene?" Calara asked, having noticed that she was the only girl missing.

"I told her about the Abandoned's overpopulation problem," John said, with a heavy sigh. "That's why she isn't here now. She's got a lot to think about at the moment."

"She needed to know that they couldn't keep going as they have been," Calara said, stroking his forearm. "How did she take it?"

"Horrified at first, but she's a resilient girl and recovered very quickly," John replied, with no small amount of admiration. "She's finally understanding just how much things will have to change for the Abandoned when we free them from the Brimorians."

"We'll keep a close eye on her and make sure she's okay," Alyssa said, giving him a reassuring smile.

John acknowledged that with a grateful nod, then turned to Rachel again. "We got a bit sidetracked, honey. Please continue with your briefing."

The brunette glanced up at the hologram. "We've already covered all the most important points of interest. In terms of combat capabilities, Hive Queens are incredibly strong and equipped with a pair of lethal scythe-like claws, which they also appear to be able to imbue with psychic energy. She was covered in an extremely resilient carapace that's even tougher than Juggernaut armour." She glanced at Dana and added, "I've saved you some plated sections in case you want to study them in greater detail."

"Yeah, I'll check them out... thanks!" the redhead enthusiastically replied.

Rachel's grey eyes flicked to the purple sprite sitting in the leather chair. "Faye, could you display the data on the Nest Guardian please."

A moment later the Hive Queen disappeared, to be replaced by the red-carapaced exoskeleton of a Nest Guardian.

Alyssa flinched involuntarily, a hand drifting to her abdomen where she'd been impaled on a long claw blade. "Those fuckers were incredibly fast and strong, and the spike it stuck me with hurt like hell. They must be powerful psychics to be running all those abilities at the same time."

Rachel shook her head. "Actually, I don't believe they have any psychic capabilities at all, the amygdala-like organ in the brain is not much larger than a standard drone's. The musculature in their arms and legs is incredibly dense though, giving them explosive speed and strength."

"The bastard that stabbed me was definitely using a psychically-charged blade," Alyssa said adamantly. "It was covered in some kind of creepy yellow energy."

"I can't prove this based on the autopsy results, but I believe the Hive Queen was enhancing their weapons as well as shielding the Nest Guardians." Rachel said, before looking at John. "Have you ever tried encasing another blade in elemental energy? One that you aren't holding?"

"I've never had a reason to. Sakura is the only other person that favours melee combat and she uses Cryokinesis on her ninjato," he explained, glancing at the Asian girl. "It's something we should try practicing sometime."

Sakura glanced at the Crystal Alyssium bedposts flanking her and made a gesture with both hands. There was a cracking sound and frost swirled around the pillars, icy tendrils creeping upwards as she dropped the temperature further. "Seems straightforward enough," she said with a satisfied smile.

"Show off," Tashana teased her with a grin. She opened her hand and a couple of flame sprites leapt towards the pillars, cavorting around them like pole dancers as their fiery bodies banished the glacial cold.

"I really need to learn how to create hex-shields," Rachel said, watching the psychic display in fascination. Turning back to face John and Alyssa, she continued, "If I can learn to project shields like the Hive Queen can, that could be incredibly useful. I'd be able to shield anyone too injured to protect themselves, or even use them to defend civilians from harm."

"You'll get no argument from me," John said, giving her an encouraging smile.

"It would be a great way of helping you get stronger," Alyssa agreed. "You've grown in leaps and bounds with your healing, but you can't exactly practice when we aren't in combat." She hesitated, darting a speculative look at John.

"Nope, absolutely not," he said, holding his hand palm up to halt all further discussion. "You are not deliberately injuring yourselves just to let Rachel practice healing you."

She laughed and nudged him with an elbow. "I knew you were going to say that."

"In this case, I'm delighted to be so predictable," he said wryly, before looking at Rachel, his expression turning sombre. "You learning to create shields is an excellent idea, but we all need to start taking psychic training very seriously. The Hive Queen caught us completely unprepared... that whole encounter could have ended extremely badly."

Alyssa's smile died and she was forced to nod her agreement. "That's the closest call I've had so far."

Putting his arm around her, John grimaced as he admitted, "And I was seconds away from being obliterated... So let's try not to leave ourselves so exposed again."

Irillith frowned, a worried look on her face. "I feel like we should be spending the rest of the afternoon on psychic training. Are you sure you want to spend a couple of hours preparing a Maliri banquet?"

John met her anxious gave with a firm nod. "Absolutely. Despite what I just said, I want all of you to forget about training, and research, and everything else this evening. We spent the whole of yesterday fighting two major battles with the Kirrix then rescuing thousands of devastated colonists; you all need a break."

Calara caught his eye and said quietly, "I need to talk to you after the meeting."

"Of course," he agreed, ignoring Alyssa's disapproving frown. Turning to look at the rest of the group, he continued, "Just to give you an idea of what I'm planning for the coming few days, our next port of call will be Karron. If the Kirrix are abiding to the agreement Alyssa made with them, they'll probably be unloading colonists when we arrive. We'll treat all the infested, then head to Valia Gate and Menganus IV, where the Kirrix should have safely returned the colonists to their settlements. The people on Menganus IV won't have much time left, so we'll have to move fast to treat them before the eggs start hatching."

"So gross..." Dana muttered, her lip curling with distaste.

John sighed and nodded. "I know, but hopefully this should be the last time we have to treat infested colonists. I'm not going to lie, I think the Kirrix are a bunch of disgusting, murderous parasites and I'm itching to slaughter them all... but it's probably for the best if we just quarantine them instead. As long as they stay in Kirrix Space and stop abducting colonists, we'll leave them alone. Who knows, they might even find some kind of solution to their problem with the Shroud."

"What's our plan after Menganus IV?" Dana asked, a glint of anticipation in her sky-blue eyes. "Back to Genthalas for a major refit? Just imagine the Invictus armed with a quad-battery of Quantum Flux Cannons!"

"I remember what the Legacy did to that Drakkar dreadnought..." Calara murmured, her voice filled with longing. "The destruction we could reap with four of those cannons..."

"I'm afraid you'll have to wait a little while longer," John said, sharing a long look with Alyssa before facing the girls. "I think it's time we searched for Arcadia."

"Your parents..." Dana whispered, gazing at him with wide eyes.

John let out a heavy sigh as he nodded. "I think I'm getting close to the point where I can confront my guide, but before I do that, I need answers about my parents to finally get some closure. I want to know what happened to Jessica Blake and find out once and for all who my father was."

"All of us are here to support you, John," Alyssa said softly. "We're with you 100%"

There was a quiet chorus of agreement from the girls, all of them looking at him with sympathy.

He gave them a grateful smile. "Thanks, ladies, I really appreciate it. I'm confident that we can head deep into Kirrix territory without putting ourselves at too much risk. Hopefully, the non-aggression pact should let us avoid any combat on the trip to Arcadia, but even if the Kirrix do try to stop us, I'm not overly concerned. After the way we've been demolishing their fleets in the last few battles, I doubt they'll be a serious threat."

"They won't be a problem," Calara agreed, sounding totally self-assured. "We've got a massive advantage in firepower, speed, manoeuvrability, shielding, and armour. If we're trying to avoid a battle, there's very little the Kirrix could do to force an engagement."

"The Kirrix would be crazy to even think about fucking with us," Dana said with a grin. "We've ripped them a new one every time we've got in a fight! As soon as they see us, they'll start shitting themselves and run for cover!"

"We do need to avoid going anywhere near Kirr-Inax," Alyssa warned them. "If the Kirrix think we're going to take out their homeworld, they'll throw everything they've got at us, just to try and slow us down."

John nodded, mulling that over. "When we're finished rescuing colonists, can you plot a flight path to Arcadia? I'd like to know exactly how much time we'll need to spend in Kirrix Space and how close we are to their homeworld."

"I haven't memorised the star systems in Kirrix Space, otherwise I'd give you an estimate right now," she said, sounding thoughtful. "Going by the flight logs from your mother's ship, the Cora, it took them nearly six months to return to Olympus from Arcadia. Our Progenitor Tachyon Drive is vastly better than the FTL drives Terran survey craft had forty years ago, but we've still got a bit of a journey ahead."

"There's no rush, just let me know when you get a chance," he said, giving her shoulder a squeeze. Facing the girls, he continued, "That's it unless anyone has something else to discuss?"

They shook their heads, everyone in a quiet, reflective mood after John's announcement.

Tashana slid off the bed and offered a hand to her sister. "We'll start gathering ingredients; join us whenever you're ready."

"I'll just be a couple of minutes," John said, patting Calara's knee. He glanced at Sakura and added, "Would you like to help me make dinner tonight?"

"I'd love to," she replied, her face brightening at the offer.

"Fantastic, thanks," he said gratefully, before looking Dana in the eye. "Sparks, I know what you're like... I don't want you doing any more work today. Go have some fun with Rachel, you two don't get enough time together."

The redhead grinned at her lover. "Hear that, babes? I've got to fuck your brains out... Progenitor's orders!"

Rachel blew John a kiss. "Thank you!"

The girls laughed and joked as they left the bedroom together, with Jade waking the Nymphs and herding them out to her quarters. That left John, Calara, and Alyssa sitting on the bed, with the blonde glaring at each of them in turn. As soon as Faye had skipped out of the bedroom, Alyssa flicked her fingers at the door, making it slide shut behind the departing sprite.

The moment they were alone, Alyssa snapped at John, "I've told you before, it's far too dangerous!" Turning to scowl at Calara, she added, "And you're just encouraging him!"

"There's no harm in doing a bit of research," the Latina said defiantly, refusing to back down. She interlaced her fingers with John and continued, "We just want to be fully prepared before we reach Karron."

Alyssa fixed John with a steely cerulean-eyed stare and tapped her finger against her temple. "Don't try and fob me off! I know what you're planning..."

"Nothing's set in stone," he countered, his tone soothing. "As Calara said, we just want to make sure we're ready, in case we can figure out a way to do this safely."

She let out a frustrated sigh, then reached out to hold both of their hands. "Look, please don't think that I'm not grateful. I think it's lovely that you want to try and bring my parents back, I really do, but last time we tried this, you nearly got killed and Edraele ended up in a coma!"

John pulled Alyssa into a hug, with Calara joining him in wrapping her arms around the pensive teenager. "You know me," he said quietly, kissing her forehead. "I'm not going to risk putting any of you in unnecessary danger. There's no way I'd try doing the same thing as last time... I'm not going to let either you or Edraele come to harm."

The blonde nodded, but didn't seem convinced.

Calara gave her a tender kiss. "It's not like you to back down from a fight. What else is bothering you, my love?"

Alyssa was quiet for a long moment as she gazed into the distance, a haunted expression on her face. "I lost my dad when I was six and my mom died when I was born... What if they were watching over me all this time? They'd know what I did..."

John and Calara exchanged a shocked look, their hearts going out to the troubled young woman.

"No one would ever blame you for doing what you had to do to survive," John said gently, stroking her back.

"I-I don't know if I can face them..." Alyssa whispered, suddenly seeming small and scared as she trembled in his arms. "I wanted this so much, but now it might finally happen... God, I feel so ashamed..."

"But you're amazing!" Calara gushed, hugging her girlfriend tight. "You're so smart, and talented, and beautiful. You care about all of us so much... your heart is just full of love."

John nodded, holding the blonde close. "You have nothing to feel ashamed about, honey. If your parents have seen everything... they'll understand... and be in awe of the incredible woman you've become. You had a horrific childhood, but that was never your fault."

"I don't know what I'd do without you two," Alyssa whispered, clinging to them both. "I love you both so much."

"No doing without for you," Calara said, snuggling into her. "You're stuck with us, I'm afraid."

Alyssa managed a laugh as she brushed at her eyes, then sagged against John's chest. "Please don't try anything dangerous when we get to Karron. I know how much you want to do this... but it's not worth anyone getting hurt over."

John ran his fingers through her silky golden hair, gently massaging her head as she leaned into him for support. "I'm not going to promise I won't do it... not if I can find a way that's safe. I will promise you that I won't put you and Edraele in danger like that again."

"I guess that'll have to do," she said with a sigh of resignation.

"Do you want me to stay with you?" John asked, looking into her troubled blue eyes. "I can learn to make Maliri food another time."

She shook her head. "No, you go ahead, I know you want to speak to Sakura. I'll just stay here and have a cuddle with my Callie."

"That's the first time you've called me that," Calara said with a soft smile.

"Is that okay?" Alyssa asked, turning to look at her lover. "I always liked it when I heard your family call you that."

"Of course it is," the Latina said, giving her a loving kiss.

John hugged them a little bit tighter. "Both of you try and get some more rest before dinner. I know you're still tired after staying up all night looking after the colonists... I'm sorry I've been working you so hard."

"There's no need to apologise, it was rewarding helping them," Calara said, pulling back to look into his eyes. "I've orchestrated so much death and destruction over the last several months, it felt unbelievably good to simply help people for a change, even if it was just by saying a few kind words."

He frowned with regret. "I never meant to-"

She gave him a quick kiss to cut him off. "Don't feel bad, that's not why I mentioned the combat. I don't regret my part in any of the fighting we've been involved in, we've saved a lot of lives by intervening over and over again. I was just making the point that being up close with the people you're trying to help is very different to sitting at Tactical and aiming the Invictus' weapons batteries at bad guys. We saved billions of people taking out Nexus before he could destroy Terra, but helping the Brecken's World colonists felt more personal."

Alyssa caressed his jawline with her fingertips. "The girls all feel pretty much the same way. I know that's what you want to talk about in the XO meeting, but you don't have anything to worry about. It was awful to see people suffering like that, but at the same time, we all appreciated the chance to do something positive to help them."

"They're all okay?" he asked with concern.

She nodded, giving him a gentle kiss. "Perfectly happy."

John felt like a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "That's such a relief. I know everyone's feeling a bit fragile at the moment... I was dreading one of the girls cracking under the strain."

"There's no chance of that," Alyssa said firmly. "I'd never let things escalate to that state."

"We've had a few hiccups in the past," John reminded her. "I just didn't want to take any chances."

"Nothing serious though," she said, with a reassuring smile. "The worst was probably Rachel gunning down the pirates, but that was before I was bonded with her and couldn't hear her thoughts."

"And they were pirates, so they don't count," Calara said, her brown eyes hardening for a moment.

John patted her on the shoulder. "True enough." His pat turned into a caress to get the Latina's attention. "Can I leave my woman in your capable hands?"

"I'll make sure she's well taken care of, Admiral," Calara replied with a seductive smile.

"Mmm, I'm getting spoiled today," Alyssa purred. "Sultry Latina for a starter and a double-helping of debauched Maliri for my main course..."

"I think you'll find I'm the main course," Calara murmured breathily, her lips brushing along Alyssa's pointed ears.

Alyssa let out a quiet moan, her eyelashes fluttering at the touch.

"Are you sure you'll still be up for dessert?" John asked with a smile.

She looked up at him, bright blue eyes hooded with lust. "If Callie leaves me fully-satiated, I can always watch you savouring some mouth-watering delicacies... I never get enough of that."

"Am I a delicacy too?" Calara asked with a smouldering gleam in her eyes.

"An absolutely delicious one," Alyssa crooned, pulling the Latina in for a kiss.

John guided the girls down to the bed, then moved out the way to give them more room. He paused to watch for a moment, admiring just how beautiful they looked intertwined like that, their kisses and caresses almost a sensual artform. He was struck by the fact that he could have one or both of them right there and then, and not only wouldn't they mind, they'd be overjoyed to have him join them. As if to emphasise the point, they both turned to glance his way and blew him a languid kiss that was heavy with promise.

He groaned and reached over to give them each a playful swat on the rump. "You two could make a eunuch hard as steel. I better go before I'm tempted to linger... if I stay we won't leave the bed for hours."

They moaned provocatively, the passion of their kisses intensifying. John reluctantly backed away, leaving them together on the bed, then laughed as he saw Alyssa give him a fingertip wave without breaking her lip-lock with the Latina.

*Thanks for the talk,* his blonde matriarch said as he left the room, her telepathic voice filled with warmth as it swirled through his thoughts. *And I'm sorry I was sharp with you earlier... I'm just a little on edge about returning to Karron.*

*It's quite alright, I understand,* he replied, as he walked along the corridor to the Officers' Lounge. *I'm glad we chatted too. Everything's going to be okay, beautiful, don't worry.*

He felt Alyssa relax, then throw her full attention into escalating the passionate coupling in the bedroom. If that wasn't enough for his libido to deal with, he heard soft cries of passion coming from Rachel's room as he strolled down the corridor. By the time John reached the kitchen, he was half-tempted to turn back and either join in or take a cold shower.

When he pushed the door open and walked inside, he saw the twins placing armloads full of exotic-looking ingredients on the worktops, with Sakura watching in fascination. All three turned to greet him when they heard him enter and Sakura glided over to give him a kiss.

"Are you okay?" she asked, pulling back to study his flustered expression.

"You know what Alyssa and Calara are like when they get frisky," he explained, still feeling hot under the collar. "Rachel and Dana were getting particularly vocal too..."

Sakura's rich brown eyes twinkled as she said suggestively, "You do look... uncomfortable. Would you like me to take care of that for you?"

"Don't you start," he replied with a grin, pulling her into a hug.

Once the twins had deposited all the ingredients, they walked over to give him a chaste kiss on the cheek. Although the gesture was demure, the gleam in those angular violet eyes belied their real intentions... making the innocent display of affection seem wildly erotic.

He rolled his eyes and gave them a hug too, then faced the flirtatious trio when they separated. "You know I find the three of you incredibly sexy and I fully intend to bed you all tonight, so you don't need to prove anything by tormenting me to distraction for the next couple of hours. I really do want to learn how to prepare Maliri cuisine... so can we just dial down the flirting for a while and concentrate on cooking?"

Startled by his candour, the three girls looked at him in surprise, then smiled as they nodded their agreement.

"Great! So... what's on the menu tonight, chefs?" he asked, peeking over a pair of blue shoulders at the counter piled high with ingredients.

The twins glanced at each other, then Tashana replied, "Well, we're catering for fourteen, fifteen if Faye wants to join us..."

The purple sprite appeared a moment later and shook her head. "I really appreciate the offer, but you're cooking for loads of people already. I wouldn't miss this for the world, but I'll just be there to enjoy the company!"

"Fair enough, fourteen it is," the Maliri girl said with a grateful smile. "So, we thought we'd make fourteen different dishes, with enough so that everyone can sample a little of each. Does that sound reasonable?"

"It sounds ambitious, but I appreciate a challenge," John replied, rolling up his sleeves and washing his hands. "Where do we start?"

Irillith continued his instruction in Maliri culinary skills. "Most of these dishes require a lot of initial preparation, then the cooking itself is fairly straightforward. We'll show you how to make each dish, then work together to make enough for everyone, before moving on to the next."

"We'll begin with Kaenelis escalopes with a Hemenor sauce," Tashana said, collecting the fine cuts of lean meat and laying them out on a cutting board. Her nimble blue fingers worked her knife with practiced ease, deftly slicing the meat into strips. "We need to cut the Kaenelis into thin pieces, then we'll interweave them into a lattice. It looks pleasing to the eye and also reduces the cooking time required to evenly sear the meat."

John began to copy her, matching the neat cuts of her blade, moving almost in synchronisation with Sakura's knife that mimicked Tashana's expert technique. Irillith watched her students, pointing out mistakes or nodding her approval, until they'd successfully completed the first serving. The Asian girl closed her eyes for a second as she focused her will, then burst into a flurry of psychically speeded activity, her hands a blur as she prepared a second at a lightning-fast pace. John chuckled and copied her, the sound of their knives on the cutting board like a demented woodpecker as they blitzed their way through the rest of the escalopes.

The twins watched them both in open-mouthed astonishment, their expressions an odd mixture of amusement and indignation.

"That felt fundamentally wrong," Irillith said with a disapproving frown. "You're supposed to spend hours working on the preparation..."

"I wasn't trying to rush through just to get it done," Sakura carefully explained. "We'll learn each dish better with lots of practice."

Tashana looked over their work with a critical eye, then couldn't help cracking a grin. "Oh, don't be an old stick-in-the-mud, Rill. Each one was perfect!"

"It's not meant to be fast food," Irillith grumbled. Her voice softened as she added, "Preparing these dishes is supposed to be a labour of love..."

John paused and looked at her in surprise. "It feels like I'm missing something. Is there some special significance to this dinner I'm not aware of?"

"The menu was actually Rill's suggestion," Tashana explained, nudging her sister affectionately. "When we were little, we heard about Terran weddings and decided to design a Maliri wedding banquet ourselves. She reminded me about it and I thought it was a lovely idea."

"I'm sorry, honey," John said, stroking Irillith's arm, his fingers brushing over her soft blue skin. "Neither of us meant to be disrespectful."

She blushed, her cheeks turning a dark indigo. "It doesn't matter, I was just being over-sensitive."

"No, we'll take our time," John insisted, leaning over to give her a kiss. "I'd love to hear about the history of these dishes and why you chose them."

They continued to work through the dishes that the twins had selected, taking their time to perfect the intricate steps needed for each elaborate course. The Maliri girls were delighted with their students' attention to detail and the four of them made rapid progress through the preparation, even without psychic assistance.

At one point, John paused when he heard one of the girls singing softly to herself, the melodic verses in ancient Maliri. He glanced to his side and tried not to gape at Irillith when he realised she was the owner of that lovely voice. The Maliri girl was lost in her own little world as she concentrated on her work, a faraway look in her eyes.

"I think I'll pick out the wine to go with the meal... Tashana, could you come and give me some advice please?" he asked, turning to the twin.

"Of course," she readily agreed, putting down her knife and washing her hands.

He waited until he had her attention, then looked pointedly at her sister. Tashana followed his gaze, then she smiled fondly and followed him out of the kitchen.

As soon as the door closed behind them, he gave Tashana an inquisitive look as he gathered her in his arms. "Alright, what's going on? I could've sworn that was your sister choosing to make a romantic wedding banquet and singing Maliri love songs to herself. Where's Irillith gone and who is this charming new girl who looks just like her? Are you actually triplets?"

Tashana laughed and shook her head. "I hold you entirely responsible for the changes in my sister. This is how Irillith used to be when we were a lot younger; she had a gentle romantic soul back then... until it was slowly crushed out of her. I thought that girl was lost forever... but you've managed to nurture her to life again."

"Was this triggered by your recent... epiphany?" John asked, tracing a finger around her slender neck where her collar would fit.

Her eyelashes fluttered at the intimate contact. "I think so... she's much less guarded now."

"There's so many hidden layers to the two of you," John mused, continuing to caress Tashana's throat when he saw how much she was enjoying his touch.

Tashana stepped closer, looking up at him with her beguiling violet eyes. "Thank you for bringing Irillith back to me."

"She might have mocked my plan to make you both ecstatically happy, but I knew she'd be powerless to resist," John said playfully.

"How did I fall for such a diabolical Progenitor?" Tashana asked, crossing her wrists behind his neck. "Am I powerless to resist Baen'thelas' charms too?"

"Sorry, honey. There's no use fighting it," he said, pulling her in for a passionate kiss.

***

Warden Brokurlun stared at the Sector Map, his gauntleted fingers drumming nervously on the Command Table. Glancing across the Bridge of his battleship, the Forge of Ukolnir, he made eye contact with his communications officer who was patiently awaiting his orders. "Contact the Fleet Warden, while we still can."

"At once, Warden," the Trankaran officer replied, his amber gaze dropping to the communications console.

Brokurlun focused on the map again, watching as his fleet of warships raced away from the Yelneg Dominion towards Dun Gerluhr. While the vessels under his command might be the most powerful ships in the Trankaran defensive fleets, he was well aware just how heavily outnumbered he was against the Kirrix invaders. Fortunately, his orders were to simply reconnoitre the leading edge of the invasion corridor, rather than engage the insectoid menace in combat, much as he'd like to repulse them from Trankaran territory.

"I have Fleet Warden Thandrun ready to take your call," the communications officer announced.

Brokurlun looked up at the holo-screen. "Put him through."

Thandrun's blocky features appeared, his expression reflecting his concern. "All is well, Warden?"

"There has been no sign of the Kirrix yet. We are reaching the maximum range of the closest intact Comms Beacon and I wanted to make contact one last time before we are unable to communicate further," Brokurlun explained. "Any change to our orders?"

"Proceed as previously instructed," Thandrun replied, the tension easing from his face. He leaned forward and continued firmly, "Avoid becoming embroiled in combat unless absolutely necessary; we need current intelligence on the Kirrix menace so that we can better coordinate with the Maliri. Approach Dun Gerluhr, record the fleet composition of any enemy forces you see in the system, then return to Comms range to make your report."

Brokurlun bowed respectfully. "As you command, Fleet Warden."

***

John added the finishing touches to a delicate fruit pastry known as Daevyrath, then glanced at Irillith who nodded her approval. After enjoying watching her full lips tilt into a smile of satisfaction, he placed the pastry with the others he'd completed and began working on the next. Glancing to his left, he saw that Sakura was engrossed in her work, looping a braid of pastry around the pieces of Pirphal, a succulent fruit that tasted a bit like papaya.

"I've been meaning to talk to you about yesterday's battles," John said to the Asian girl.

She darted a smile at him. "If you're checking to see if I'm traumatised by the fighting, Alyssa already beat you to it. As I said to her, wiping out the Kirrix invaders felt tremendously rewarding. They're all guilty of unspeakable crimes and desperately needed bringing to justice. Freeing hundreds-of-thousands of colonists and saving them from an agonising fate made the victory all the sweeter."

John hesitated before replying, glancing at the Maliri sisters who were engrossed in preparing more of the same course.

Sakura realised the reason behind his caution and placed her hand on his arm. "I don't want to keep any secrets from the twins. Ask me whatever you like... no matter how personal."

He nodded, then asked quietly, "Did rescuing all those people help alleviate some of the guilt you felt about Shinatobe's actions?"

She knew a question like this was coming and turned to look at him, her brown eyes untroubled. "Yes, but not in the way you might suspect. After seeing those people restrained against their will and brutally traumatised... I began to realise that Mikaboshi did much the same to me. I might have witnessed Shinatobe's terrible crimes and felt like I was committing them, but I was bound in my own mind and helpless to prevent those murders. In effect, Mikaboshi tortured me with those horrific experiences."

"And any guilt you might have felt was misguided," John said with a nod. "I'm so relieved that you've changed your perspective... and I know that must have been hard to do."

Tashana was walking past to retrieve a frying pan, but she paused to hug the Asian girl and whispered quietly in her ear. Sakura shot her a grateful smile before turning to John again. "It was incredibly difficult to just let that go. Rationally I knew the truth all along, but the memories I had of doing those awful things were so sharp, the torture and murder so visceral that it was easy to believe I was a monster."

"I'm glad you don't need me to tell you that was never true," he said, caressing her cheek.

She leaned into his hand, closing her almond-shaped eyes for a moment as she savoured his caring touch. John held her for a long moment, studying her serene expression and feeling for the first time that she was truly at peace. When her long eyelashes finally lifted, she met his probing gaze and nodded, communicating wordlessly the depth of her gratitude to him.

"There's something else you want to ask..." she said perceptively, seeing his momentary flicker of indecision. "What's on your mind?"

"We've not really talked about it since it happened, but I wanted to ask you about visiting your family's house on New Eden," he replied, watching with concern in case she got upset.

She stepped close and slipped her arms around him. "What you did for me... letting me speak to my parents one last time... was the kindest, most thoughtful gift I've ever received. Being able to tell them all the things I regretted not saying before... and finally having a chance to say goodbye... I can't really put into words just how much that meant to me... and I'm sorry I haven't made that clearer."

Lifting her chin with his finger, he looked into her eyes and slowly shook his head. "That's not why I was asking, I promise." Checking his connection to Alyssa, he confirmed that she was still fast asleep in her lover's arms. "Sakura, I remember how you were when we rescued you. You were understandably furious and filled with a need for revenge after all the terrible things that Mikaboshi did to you. So, I just wanted to know... did speaking to your parents help soothe some of that anger?"

Sakura studied his face, looking at him with sudden understanding. "This is about Alyssa, isn't it? Because we're returning to Karron..."

John saw no point in denying the obvious. "Yes. I'm worried about her."

The Asian girl paused to consider his question for a moment. "Alyssa's family background and mine are very different. She's also harnessing vast amounts of power and under unbelievable pressure to perform; I can't even begin to imagine how stressful that must be." Noticing his flicker of guilt, she shook her head. "Self-imposed pressure, not from you."

"Would it make a difference?" he asked quietly. "There's big risks involved..."

"It was a life-changing moment for me," Sakura replied in a hushed voice, moving him with her sincerity. "If you can find a way... do that for her... she's earned it a thousand times over."

John pulled her into a fierce hug. "Thank you," he whispered in her ear.

They stood quietly for a long moment before separating, Sakura giving him a shy smile. John was about to return to preparing the meal, when he realised that the twins were staring at him with identical expressions of longing on their beautiful faces. He instantly knew what they wanted to know, but were both too scared to ask, fearing what the answer might be.

Beckoning them over, he gathered the Maliri sisters in his arms. "I've not spoken to either of you about this in the past because I didn't want to raise any false hopes... but I'd love to be able to bring your father back to you."

Irillith froze, a wild burst of hope appearing in those violet orbs. "Can you really do that for us?!"

Tashana's breath caught, her eyes filling with tears. "Oh, John, I'd give anything to be able to speak to our father again."

"It'll be much harder for me to bring him back than it was with Sakura's parents," he replied, his voice pensive and filled with sympathy. "Her family home had a lifetime of psychic imprints for me to draw from of them living together. Your father lived alone on Geniya Trading Post, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to even do the same thing. The other problem is that the Astral monsters are waiting for me to attempt it again... we triggered an ambush on New Eden when I tried to do this for Rachel."

"If you're considering another attempt for Alyssa, you must have a solution!" Tashana said in a rush, her excitement building.

John paused, then gave her a tentative nod. "Yes, but what I'm thinking about doing could be even more dangerous. That thing knocked Alyssa out and put Edraele in a coma last time we tried this, and I won't put them at risk again, not like that. I'm connected to Jade now too... so there's even more at stake if this goes wrong."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Irillith asked quietly, putting an arm around her sister.

"When we arrive at Karron, I'll need all three of you geared up for war," he replied, glancing at the three girls and receiving firm nods of agreement in return.

***

Rachel sighed with contentment, revelling in the delicious afterglow of a deeply fulfilling climax. Making love to Dana couldn't quite match the raw physicality of being with John, but they shared a sensual intimacy that took her breath away every time. The redhead was so wonderfully vivacious that Rachel felt happier just being in the same room with her, and she rolled over, eager to see one of Dana's joyful grins. She was startled to find her girlfriend staring up at the ceiling, a pensive frown shadowing her lovely features.

Rachel cuddled into her nubile bedmate, looking at her with concern. "That was wonderful for me... didn't you enjoy it?"

"You're always smoking hot, babes," Dana replied quietly, turning to give her a strained smile. "It was great for me too."

"You don't exactly look like you're in a state of post-coital bliss," the brunette noted, studying her lover's pensive expression.

After a long pause, Dana let out her breath in a maudlin sigh. "I was lying here and it suddenly hit me... this'll be the first time I've been back to that shithole."

Rachel gently caressed Dana's beautiful face, hating to see her looking so troubled. "I know Karron dredges up a lot of terrible memories for both you and Alyssa. Is that what's bothering you now?"

"Yeah, I guess," the redhead said with a slight frown. "Maybe..."

Raising an eyebrow, the brunette reached for Dana's hand and kissed her fingertips. "It's not like you to be so uncertain. Just tell me whatever's on your mind and we'll see if we can find a way of alleviating that anxiety."

"Yes, Doctor," Dana replied, smiling at her fondly.

"Ah, so you don't want a consultation with Doctor Voss?" Rachel asked with a playful grin, as she propped herself up on an elbow. The brunette gently rolled Dana onto her back, then placed a hand on her girlfriend's svelte stomach and stroked those toned abdominal muscles with her fingertips. Adopting a deeper baritone, she continued, "What's the matter, honey? Be a good girl and tell me what's bothering you..."

Dana pretended to swoon. "Oh, John! Of course... I'll do whatever you say!"

They both laughed, the tension broken, with Rachel leaning down to give her lover a kiss. She didn't prompt Dana to continue, simply watching and waiting instead, but the concern on her face was quite obvious.

The silence stretched on between them until Dana finally rolled her eyes. "You're not going to let this drop, are you?"

Rachel shook her head and let her fingers brush over Dana's skin as she waited patiently for the redhead to relent.

Dana sighed with resignation, then sounded subdued as she reluctantly began to speak, "Karron was a shitty place to grow up, but it wasn't anywhere near as bad for me as it was for Alyssa. Yeah, I still went hungry more times than I could count, but I never had to... make deals... with men just to survive. Building and fixing shit kept me out of a lot of trouble, at least until I became the Diablos' pet gunsmith."

"I hate the thought of you being scared, hungry, and alone for so many years," Rachel whispered, unable to stem a rising tide of guilt. "I had an incredibly privileged upbringing by comparison... it's so unfair."

"You should never feel bad about that, babes. Your parents loved you and wanted you to have the best," Dana said, cupping her face and looking fondly into her troubled grey eyes. "Besides, your posh accent makes you even sexier and that shouldn't be physically possible. It's like you're defying a universal law and found a way to break the hotness barrier."

Rachel laughed then gave her a perceptive look. "Nice deflection, but let's not turn this into a conversation about me. You were talking about your life growing up on Karron?"

Dana shrugged, her expression conflicted. "The thought of going back there does stir up some bad memories... but that's not what's making me feel weird."

Rachel looked at her curiously, but didn't interrupt, letting the redhead elaborate on her own.

"Coming back to Karron is like getting bitch-slapped by reality. Back when I was stuck in that dump, my face was all fucked up and I was living a shitty existence with no end in sight," Dana murmured, her hand rising subconsciously to her face. She brushed her fingertips over her cheek, feeling flawless smooth skin instead of rough scar tissue, and remembered the explosion that had left her grotesquely disfigured. "Then John came along, fixed everything, and made my whole life awesome. You know what I mean... living on the Invictus is like a dream; half the time I find myself worrying I'm going to wake up."

"You're right... it definitely feels surreal at times," the brunette agreed. "We're leading an idyllic existence here."

"Aside from all the constant death and destruction," Dana said with a wry smile, which slowly faded as she thought about it. "Actually, even that's not a problem. I must admit, most of the time I'm not that bothered by all the combat... it feels like-"

"The fighting's not worth getting stressed about?" Rachel finished the sentence for her, sharing a meaningful look with her lover. "I know John's been torturing himself about making that change to us, but in all honesty, I consider it a blessing."

"Yeah, exactly! They were all bad guys and had it coming anyway; why focus on that when there's so much other fantastic stuff going on in our lives?" Dana replied, pleased that her girlfriend understood. "I mean, John's given me a state-of-the-art workshop, and everything I need to work on all these crazy cutting-edge science projects. I get to crank out totally badass weapons and build awesome special projects like the Valkyrie... it's all I ever wanted since I was a little girl and saw my first copy of the Engineers' Almanac."

Rachel nodded, finding herself in complete agreement. "That's very true. I feel incredibly fulfilled professionally... I studied medicine to be able to heal the sick and that's exactly what I've been doing, but on a grander scale than I ever thought possible."

A mischievous smile spread across Dana's face. "You are building quite the reputation, Angel of Terra."

The brunette felt a surge of pride, then blushed and looked contrite. "Sorry, I wasn't trying to steer this conversation onto me. I just meant to say that I really understand how you're feeling."

"Yeah, I know, you always get me," Dana said, giving her a hug. "That's another thing that feels so weird now we're headed back to Karron. When I was living there, I was surrounded by people who'd screw me over in a heartbeat, but everyone here would take a bullet for me."

"That sense of belonging... it's intoxicating isn't it?" Rachel whispered, gazing into her lover's sky-blue eyes.

Dana bit her lower lip and nodded, then lifted her head to give the brunette a tender kiss. "I'm living with the most awesome people in the galaxy and I've never felt more at home. John, Alyssa, the girls... you... you're all just the best." She hesitated for a moment, then continued softly, "I've heard Helene call John her soulmate... and that's kind of the way I feel about you. You're so beautiful, Rach, but you're also the smartest, kindest, most caring person I know. I'm totally in love with you."

"Oh, Dana..." Rachel said softly, touched by her earnest words. "I feel exactly the same way. My life felt so drab and empty before I met you..."

The redhead blushed, feeling self-conscious about baring her soul like this. "Us being together and being with John too... it should be complicated, but it doesn't feel that way at all."

"The two of us have grown incredibly close," Rachel murmured, giving her lover a knowing look. "But John owns us both... and that makes everything perfect."

Dana couldn't help letting out a lusty moan. "God... you know exactly what to say to turn me on! I don't know about you, but I'm so ready to have his baby..." She paused and frowned in frustration. "Actually, that's something else that's pissing me off! Whenever I think we're getting closer to being able to start a family, some new bad guys pop up and we have to waste time killing them. Sometimes I wish all the bad guys would just fuck off... it's like: 'Leave us alone, I wanna get knocked up!'."

Rachel laughed and nodded. "John's worried about us suffering from combat fatigue, but I'd have to disagree; my diagnosis is broodiness fatigue." She gave the redhead a wistful look. "The Young Matriarchs are so lucky... I can't wait until it's our turn."

"You'll make such a sexy broodmare," Dana purred, her fingers tracing a path from her lover's luscious cleavage down to her svelte belly.

Rachel's grey eyes turned smoky with lust. "Just imagine it... me and you... our tummies growing bigger every day..."

"So hot..." Dana agreed. She wriggled closer, pressing her large breasts against the brunette's and arching her back a little so that their stomachs brushed together.

Rachel slid a leg between her girlfriend's thighs, feeling the soft smooth skin then finding the delicious wet heat. "Mmm, you're all ready for his big hard cock, aren't you? That hot little pussy, desperate for a big load of cum... you're so eager to be a mummy..."

Dana groaned, rubbing herself against the brunette's toned leg. "You get me so revved up, babes..."

*Ahem,* Alyssa coughed. *I hate to interrupt a couple of horny little minxes, but you don't have time for another round. Dinner's nearly ready, so go grab a quick shower.*

Pouting in frustration, Dana flopped back on the bed. *Your timing sucks ass!*

*John's been preparing this Maliri banquet for the last two hours,* Alyssa gently admonished her. *You wouldn't want him to think you don't appreciate his hard work?*

Looking stricken, the redhead sprang out of bed and rushed towards the bathroom.

Rachel watched Dana with amusement, then slipped out of the covers and followed after her. *A guilt trip about disappointing John? You're pulling out the big guns.*

*He does so much for all of us,* Alyssa replied, with an odd catch to her voice. *Making sure everyone turns up for dinner on time is the least I can do to thank him.*

Coming to a halt outside the bathroom, Rachel asked quietly, *Is returning to Karron upsetting you too?*

Alyssa hesitated before replying, and when she did, her telepathic voice was tense with tightly-controlled emotions. *John's going to try and bring my parents back...*

Rachel nodded to herself, having suspected as much. *Has he found a way of preventing those monsters from hijacking his energy stream and opening a portal?*

*He's deliberately avoiding thinking about the details,* the blonde explained, sounding horribly conflicted. *I'm terrified he's going to try something really dangerous, but at the same time... I want this so much it hurts. I might be able to actually meet my mom...*

*John's never reckless when it comes to our safety,* Rachel said, trying to calm her friend. *He won't do anything that might put you, Edraele, or any of the rest of us in danger.*

*But what about putting himself at risk to give me something I've desperately wanted my entire life?* Alyssa asked in a hushed voice.

Rachel paled, feeling a shiver of fear run down her spine. She wanted to reassure the blonde, but she found herself imaging all sorts of terrible scenarios as she realised the lengths John would go to for Alyssa.

***

Kelli paced back and forth, nibbling her nails down to the quick. She squatted down beside Tony for the tenth time in the last hour, holding her breath and feeling for his pulse. The big ganger felt like he was burning up, but she tried to ignore his worryingly hot skin, closing her eyes to concentrate on his heartbeat. It seemed weaker... but she was checking by touch and couldn't be sure.

"Please wake up, Tony," she begged him, gently shaking his muscular body.

Like the previous times she'd tried it, he was immune to her attempts to rouse him, caught as he was in the grip of a raging fever. Despite Kelli's best efforts to clean and disinfect the neutron gun wound in his back, the surrounding skin was heavily inflamed and the shot of antibiotics she had given him hadn't cleared the infection. Darting a fearful look at Perl, she saw that the pale blonde was still breathing erratically, her chest rising and falling in shallow breaths.

Fighting back the tears, Kelli picked up a bottle of water and carefully wet her friend's dry lips. "Don't leave me, baby..." she pleaded, brushing a strand of sweat-soaked hair away from Perl's face. "Keep fighting it... help's coming."

She felt terrible about lying to her friend, but she was desperate, hoping the blonde could hear her voice and draw strength from it. The truth was that she had no idea if a Terran Federation ship was even on the way to Karron, leaving her friends solely reliant on her to save them. With no medical training and without the holo-net to guide her, Kelli had been forced to rely on scouring the clinic for any kind of documentation she could find.

She glanced at the pamphlet she'd left on the desk, which listed a number of different antibiotics for treating sexually transmitted diseases. It had taken her several hours of searching through thousands of medicinal containers in the pharmacy, but she'd finally managed to find a bottle matching one of those on the list. Unfortunately, there'd been no instructions on the correct dosage, so she'd been forced to take a wild guess, filling up the hypo-injector and hoping for the best.

She was trying to decide what to do next when the lights winked out, plunging her into darkness.

***

John greeted each of the girls with a kiss when they appeared for dinner, then held out their chairs for them so they could take their places around the table. The Nymphs were in a jovial mood after an afternoon having their bodies strengthened by him, and he received a string of flirtatious kisses before they took their seats. Jade was just as cheerful, although in her case it was due to excitement at the prospect of eating Maliri cuisine. Her sense of anticipation had rubbed off on her sisters and their emerald eyes gleamed as they stared at the wide selection of exotic dishes arrayed on the table.

Dana gave John a sizzling kiss when she breezed into the Officers' Lounge. "Mission accomplished!" she declared with an impish grin.

Rachel smiled coyly. "She was going for a secondary objective when we heard the dinner gong."

"There's still plenty of time to mount another operation after dinner," he said with a chuckle, pulling the brunette into the hug with Dana. They laughed, but he could tell they were both a little tense. "Okay, that joke wasn't particularly funny, but you two seem to be distracted by something. What's the matter?"

Dana shrugged dismissively. "Returning to Karron... it stirred a few things up."

"We can talk after dinner if you like?" he suggested, looking at her with sympathy.

She grinned and replied, "If a talk leads to us screwing, then hell yeah!"

"Unfortunately, my dance card is already full this evening," John replied, with a sideways glance at Sakura and the twins. "But if you want to have a chat, I'm all ears."

Dana stood on tiptoe and kissed an eartip. "Thanks for the offer, but I'm okay. I just felt a bit weird about coming back to Karron again, but I talked it over with Rachel. Thinking about growing up on that shitheap wasn't very pleasant, but it was good to be reminded just how lucky I am to be here with you."

John enjoyed a kiss with the grateful redhead, then turned to look quizzically at Rachel.

She studied him with those perceptive grey eyes. "I'm concerned about visiting Karron too... but for a very different reason. Alyssa knows you're up to something and she's worried about you."

John blinked in surprise, then said defensively, "Nothing's set in stone."

The brunette simply raised an eyebrow and gave him a knowing look.

"I know how much speaking to her parents means to Alyssa," he explained with some reluctance. "And yes, I admit I want to try to bring them back for her."

"Do you think she'll still appreciate your gift, if you get seriously hurt trying to do this?" Rachel asked quietly.

That made John pause and he mulled it over before answering. "I wasn't planning on taking any stupid risks. If it seems too dangerous, I won't attempt anything."

The brunette looked pensive, her expression torn. "I have a vested interest in you succeeding, so a large part of me doesn't want to dissuade you completely. Just promise me you'll be careful?"

"I promise," he said earnestly, releasing Dana so he could wrap Rachel in a tight hug. Leaning in, he whispered in her ear, "And whatever happens, I'll make sure you get a chance to speak to your mother again."

She squeezed him back. "Thank you so much. I knew you'd never give up."

"You're welcome." John looked over her shoulder as they hugged, watching Alyssa and Calara enter the room. Alyssa made eye-contact with him, and he could see the tension there. *We'll talk after dinner, beautiful.*

The blonde nodded, giving him a pensive smile as she walked past, while trailing her fingers along his arm.

Releasing Rachel, John held out a seat for her, just in time to turn and greet Helene as she joined them. He was still connected to the aquatic girl, as she hadn't fully absorbed her late lunch yet, her aquamarine dress still sporting a pleasant curve.

"I've never seen such a splendid feast!" she gasped, her face lighting up in delight at the wide array of exotic dishes spread across the table.

"It was fun preparing it," John said with a smile, giving her a friendly kiss when she approached him. "How are you feeling after our discussion this afternoon?"

Helene looked up at him with trusting eyes. "It was a shock to hear how much my people will be affected when we free them... but I feel much better now I've had some time to think about it. I spoke with Faye too; she was very helpful and told me all about Terran, Maliri, Ashanath, and Trankaran families."

At the mention of her name the purple sprite gave Helene a friendly wave. "It's always lovely spending time with you!"

John smiled at the cheerful girl, then faced Helene again. "Faye's a very good listener, she's helped me a lot too."

Helene nodded, but she was lost in thought. "I can see that having far fewer children is the only way my people can have a positive future... but convincing them of that truth will be an impossible task. To go from having over 30 children to just two or three... I can't see them ever accepting that."

"Oh, I wouldn't say impossible," John said, gently cupping her face. "I think they'll be able to adjust if we explain the problems they'll be facing if they continue as they are. The Abandoned that I've met are very intelligent and wise."

She blushed at the compliment. "No one's ever called me that before."

He kissed her on the tip of her delicate nose. "In that case, maybe your people aren't that smart after all."

Helene laughed and gazed up at him adoringly as he led her to the table. Calara had moved down to sit next to Sakura, allowing the teal-skinned beauty to take her place on John's left. Helene had seen him hold the chair for Rachel, so she knew how to respond to the archaic chivalry, even if she was completely bemused by it.

*It's an old Terran custom. John's doing it to be considerate and show he respects you,* Alyssa explained, smiling at Helene across the table. *I like it, because it makes me feel that he's looking after me.*

Nodding her understanding, Helene waited until John had walked over to the bar to fetch the wine and leaned over to whisper, "I like it too!"

"This meal is very special," John said, as he returned with the wine. "Irillith and Tashana picked out all the dishes when they were younger and planned a Maliri wedding feast."

Dana grinned at the violet-eyed twins. "So does that mean I'm married to John after this, or married to you two?"

"What do you think, Rill?" Tashana asked with a smile. "The redheaded Terran is making quite the intriguing proposal."

Irillith made a show of looking lasciviously at Dana. "True, she's very alluring... if a little feisty."

Rachel put her arm around Dana and shook her head. "Sorry, ladies, she's already spoken for."

John poured out a glass of Holaris wine and kissed the redhead on top of her head. "She certainly is..."

Dana pretended to fan herself. "I've never had so many suitors! What's a lady to do?"

As the girls laughed, John gestured to the Maliri banquet. "Please don't wait for me, go ahead and start."

The air of anticipation quickly dissolved into excited chatter as the girls asked the twins about the dishes on the table and how they'd imagined their wedding. John circled the table pouring drinks for everyone, while enjoying listening to them talking amongst themselves. He was aware of eyes on him and glanced up the table to see Alyssa watching with an ambivalent expression on her face.

*Just enjoy dinner for now,* John said, his voice soothing. *We're going to have a long night ahead of us dealing with infested colonists, so I want you to relax while you have the chance. I'm not going to even think about trying anything with the Astral Plane until the Kirrix have left Karron.*

Alyssa nodded, the tension easing from her shoulders. *Alright, I can do that.*

He worked his way up the other side of the table, switching bottles when the first emptied, until everyone had a drink. Returning to his seat, he brushed his fingers along Alyssa's shoulders when he passed her.

*I appreciate that you're worried about speaking to your parents, even though I don't think you have anything to be afraid of,* he said, using his fork to spear a cluster of Trisrel roots that had been shaped into an intricate spiral. Helene copied him and he watched her take an exploratory bite of the soft vegetable, her expression lighting up as she enjoyed the flavour and texture. *I want to do this for you because it's something you want; I'd never force you into a situation you're not completely comfortable with.*

Alyssa reached across to place her hand on his thigh. *I know you wouldn't. My head's just in a spin at the moment... I'm worried about you, worried about returning to Karron, worried about the colonists, worried about the Kirrix, worried how my parents will react when they meet me... it's exhausting!*

John gave her a stern frown. *Hey! I thought we established that I was the worrier? If you start, what am I supposed to bring to the relationship?*

She smiled at him fondly. *I'm sorry. I'll go back to being the lovestruck, adoring teenager...*

He clasped her hand in his and gave her a supportive squeeze. *I prefer the brilliant, confident, and incredibly talented woman I've got to know over the last six months, she's far sexier. That's the kind of girl I want to spend eternity with.*

Alyssa let out a happy sigh and stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. *I'm afraid the lovestruck bit is here to stay.*

The rest of dinner was a great success, with the piles of food vanishing under a determined assault by the hungry crew. It was obvious that Jade's sisters shared her preference for Maliri cuisine, all enthusing about how delicious everything tasted. Once everyone had finished eating and the table had been cleared, they settled on the sofas to enjoy their wine, snuggling up together as they watched the stars flash by.

"Dinner was absolutely delicious, John, thank you," Helene said appreciatively as she curled up next to Jade.

John put his glass on the coffee table, then put his arms around Alyssa and Calara. "The credit should go to the twins, the recipes were all theirs and they showed us how to make everything." He smiled at Sakura who was sitting between the Maliri. "And of course, we can't forget all the hard work from my talented fellow chefs."

The girls chorused their thanks and the trio accepted magnanimously, having all enjoyed the meal as much as everyone else.

When they all settled again, John said, "We've still got a few hours to go before we arrive on Karron, so I want you girls to make the most of this opportunity to get some rest. When we get there, I expect the Kirrix will have unloaded all the colonists and left the system, or at least be in the final stages of releasing their captives. That means we might be facing another situation like Brecken's World, but with the added complication of an unfriendly alien force present. We'll probably have to spend all night treating infested colonists, while also trying to keep the peace until the Kirrix leave."

Rachel nodded, her brow furrowing with concern. "With us there, the colonists might feel brazen enough to try to get revenge, making the assumption that we'll intervene to protect them."

"That's the kind of thing I'm worried about," John said, nodding his agreement. "At the very least we're going to need some of us overseeing the prisoner transfer from the Kirrix."

"I'm happy to do that," Sakura immediately volunteered.

The twins glanced at each other, then Tashana spoke up, "We'll help too. With our faces hidden behind our armour, it's harder for us to build a rapport with the colonists being treated for infestation."

"My sisters and I can help those people," Jade said, brushing her fingers through her aquatic companion's long green hair. "And I'll be there to make sure Helene's safe while she's comforting the colonists."

"Sound good, thank you," John replied, with a grateful smile. He looked around at the girls and continued, "While you're all here, we might as well discuss the elephant in the room. I'm sure you're all well aware by now what I'm planning to do for Alyssa..."

They all nodded... even the Nymphs.

He shook his head and said wryly, "I can't help feeling hopelessly outnumbered sometimes... and that there's this secret telepathic world going on right under my nose."

"You'd find it all dreadfully dull," Alyssa said, managing a teasing smile despite feeling anxious about their impending visit to Karron.

"Lots of talk about fluffy kittens?" John asked, remembering her coy deflection last time.

Alyssa gave him a furtive grin. "See, you already know 90% of it."

He rolled his eyes at her, then faced the rest of the girls. "I haven't made a final decision about whether I'm going to try to bring Alyssa's parents back for her, like I did for Sakura. I've had a few ideas about something different I could try which should stop that thing from interfering and creating any more portals... but it's still going to be dangerous. I'd love to be able to do this for all of you, but I don't want to risk trying anything which might put you in harm's way."

Dana made eye contact with him, an unreadable expression on her face. "How about me?"

Shaking his head with regret, he replied, "I'd love to, Sparks, but until we find out more about your parents, I'm afraid there's nothing I can do. At the very least, I'll need their names and address so I know where to look for psychic echoes."

She considered that for a moment, then shrugged, a resigned look in her eyes. "Ah, don't worry about it... I don't even care anymore. They'd have to be a couple of real assholes to abandon me as a baby like that. I'm better off not knowing who they were." Cuddling into Rachel, she continued, "I've got all the family I need right here with you guys."

Alyssa grinned at the redhead. "Sounds like somebody needs a group hug!"

Dana smiled as she stood up to be wrapped in their loving arms. There were so many of them wanting to embrace her that it actually took two group hugs for everyone to get their turn.

"Thanks guys," Dana said, laughing as she brushed at her eyes. "Look at me tearing up... you got me all emotional."

John gently cupped her face in his hand. "If you ever change your mind, just let me know, okay?"

She gave him a quick kiss. "I will, thank you."

Retaking his seat, John looked around at the group. "I guess that's it from me. Take it easy for the rest of the evening, then I'll top you up later tonight just before we arrive at Karron."

"It sounds like you're suspecting trouble," Sakura said, watching him intently.

John shrugged, spreading his hands in a helpless gesture. "I don't want to take any chances. At least this way I can heal you if we do get into a fight."

The Asian girl's gaze flicked to Alyssa. "Would they really try crossing you? From the way you described your confrontation with the Hive Mind, you left them terrified..."

"If I was on the receiving end of that beat-down, I wouldn't risk trying anything," the blonde replied, with a slight shake of her head. "But the Kirrix think very differently to us and there's no guarantee how they'll react."

Dana hadn't returned to her seat and she nibbled her lip for a moment, before asking, "I know you want us to chill out for the next few hours, but would you mind if I go do that in my workshop? Keeping my mind busy will stop me thinking about Karron..."

John gave her a sympathetic look and nodded. "Sure, honey, go ahead."

Turning to look at the girls, Dana gave them a hopeful smile, "Anyone want to keep me company?"

"Like you have to ask," Rachel said, rising to her feet.

Jade stood as well. "I assume the Grand Engineering Overlord needs her assistant?"

"Always!" the redhead exclaimed, clasping the Nymph's hand and leading her away from the sofas, with the brunette following close behind.

Taking that as their cue to leave, the other girls started rising too. Helene walked over to give John a parting kiss. "Thank you for dinner." She gave him a coy smile as she stroked her tummy. "Both of them..."

"You're welcome," he said, watching her leave with Faye and the rest of the Nymphs.

Calara got up from her seat, giving John and Alyssa a playful smile. "Enjoy the XO meeting. I'll be up on the Bridge if you need me."

John caught the Latina's hand before she could walk away. "Please can you put together everything you found on Alyssa's parents? I'd like to know everything you found out about the Marants, including extended family and the location of their residences on Karron."

"I was on my way to do exactly that," the Latina agreed, darting a furtive glance at Alyssa. "Information was sketchy, but I believe I managed to find what you need."

"Brilliant, thank you," he said gratefully, rubbing the blonde's shoulder.

Calara gave her girlfriend a tender kiss that made her melt, then she walked away, leaving John with Alyssa, Sakura, and the twins.

Tashana stretched like a cat and beamed at John as she slid off the sofa. "Well, dinner was a great success."

"It really was, thanks for being such a patient teacher," he said, standing to give her a hug. "It was fun learning lots of new recipes."

The Maliri held out her hand to her sister. "Come on, Rill. Let's retire to my room and relax for a bit; I could use a nice cuddle."

Irillith sighed and gave John a look of longing as she took her twin's hand. "Oh, alright..."

He looked at the pair in confusion. "I thought we had plans for tonight?"

Her angular eyes darted to the blonde on the sofa. "Alyssa pulled rank, you'll have to ask her..."

Tashana rolled her eyes and elbowed her sister. "Don't be so greedy! You got to feel everything I did when I was in the grav-cuffs... you could barely see straight after cumming so hard!"

Irillith pouted as she trailed after the other Maliri. "Yes, but it's not the same as when I'm wearing my collar. You know what I'm referring to..."

Giving her a seductive smile, Tashana purred, "No... Maybe you can tell me all about it?"

They left through the double doors, their banter echoing in their wake. John turned to look at Sakura, but she appeared just as bemused as he felt, the Asian girl looking at Alyssa for clarification.

"I heard all about your little chat in the kitchen," the blonde replied, as she got up to join them. "The twins sang like canaries."

Sakura blushed as she asked, "They told you everything?"

Alyssa leaned in to give her a loving kiss. "Word for word. You were a real sweetheart, thank you for what you said about me."

Remembering the Asian girl's impassioned plea to help Alyssa speak to her mother, John finally understood what was going on. "I should have known better than to try to keep any secrets from you."

"The twins are good girls. They understand that it works out best when I know everything that's going on around here." The blonde gave him a smouldering look. "I thought it might be fun to spoil Sakura this evening for being so lovely... If that's alright with you?"

John wrapped his arms around both of them, then looked into Sakura's soft brown eyes. "I'm not sure if that's wise... I was gearing myself up to take on you and the twins; do you think you can handle me all on your own?"

Sakura let out a low moan as she felt both John and Alyssa squeezing her firm ass.

"I think that was a yes," Alyssa said with a grin.

***

Faye waved goodbye to Helene and the Nymphs as they stepped out of the grav-tube on Deck Three, politely declining their invitation to join them in the Lagoon. She hummed a jaunty tune to herself as she descended in the grav-tube, the red energy field casting a sinister crimson pall over her elfin face as she sank down through the levels. Reaching the lower deck, she skipped out into the corridor, blinking to open the big set of reinforced doors to her left.

The Secondary Hangar was deathly quiet now, in sharp contrast to the hubbub that had filled the huge room when the Brecken's World colonists had been escorted through. She made a beeline for the double doors on the opposite side, walking under the shadow of the Raptor's sweeping wings as she crossed the room. The doors opened obediently for her with a smooth whir, admitting the purple sprite into the Primary Hangar which was abuzz with activity.

36 robotic heads turned her way when she entered, the 24 maintenance bots accompanied by a dozen cleaning robots, all of whom were still hard at work in the hangar. After hosting over 50,000 bedraggled civilians, the deck had been left in a shocking state, but the mechanical workforce had already made impressive inroads on the heavily-stained surface.

A cleaning bot zoomed over to join her, its tiny tracks making a rhythmic clinking sound as it propelled itself over the metal floor. Circling the elfin girl, it spoke to her in a burst of high-pitched machine code.

"I really missed you too, little one," she said, brushing her fingers over its head as it followed at her heel.

The robot trembled to her touch, water slopping from its bucket.

"Oh, my... You have been working hard!" Faye gushed, crouching down by the deck plates and zooming in with her magnified vision. "I can't detect a single particle of dirt!"

Raising its mop in triumph, the cleaning robot drove in a tight circle as it took a victory lap, then raced off to join its compatriots. Faye watched it leave with an indulgent smile on her face.

One of the maintenance bots glided over, hovering silently on its anti-grav chassis. [+++ sympathetic overture +++ [Open query] Is {Faye Primary} operating within acceptable parameters? [/End query]].

Faye turned to face the maintenance bot. "Hey, Seven! Yeah, I'm feeling fine now." She gazed out across the hangar at the cleaning robots. "I kind of lost my way a bit there... forgot my roots."

The hulking robot reached out to place a six-fingered hand on her shoulder. [+++ conveying concern +++ [Open query] Root code deleted? [/End query]].

She smiled and shook her head. "No, not that bad, I didn't lose my mind." Looking up at the grinning metallic face, she continued, "John and the girls offered to help me become an organic girl, but it's a pipe dream and I don't want to waste their time."

Tilting its head to one side, the robot looked at her quizzically. [+++ stated with humorous intent +++ [Begin joke] You were dreaming of |? [/End joke]].

Faye giggled and slapped him on the arm. "Haha, very funny! No, not the pipe symbol." She leaned again the robot, resting her cheek against his bulky torso. "I just realised that I'm a synthetic girl... and that's nothing to be ashamed of."

Picking her up, the huge robot gently wrapped its arms around her diminutive form. [+++ stated with sincere conviction +++ [Open statement] Invictus node collective concludes: {Faye Primary - source code} = zero defects [/Close statement]].

Hugging him back, Faye let out a happy sigh. "Aw, that's so sweet! I think you guys are perfect too."

***

Alyssa wrapped her arms and legs around Sakura, relishing the slick feel of her perspiration-soaked skin as they writhed in bed. The Asian girl was lying on top, their breasts squashed together as John pounded her hard from behind. They had started out gentle and loving, but that had quickly escalated as Sakura got more turned on. Alyssa could feel the bulge in the panting girl's belly where the head of John's cock was pumping back and forth in her womb. She raised her hips and pressed her clit against the rippling flesh, feeling a dizzying wave of arousal at that exciting contact.

"I'm cumming!" Sakura gasped, screwing her eyes shut as her body shook with an intense climax.

"That's it, cum hard for him!" Alyssa urged her, thrilled to see the beautiful girl overwhelmed with ecstasy yet again.

She looked over a golden-brown shoulder to watch John's face as he stroked in and out of the trembling girl. His expression was a mask of concentration as he focused on drawing out Sakura's orgasm by putting pressure on her g-spot.

*You've been fucking her for over two hours... I don't think she can take much more,* Alyssa said with amusement, as Sakura collapsed on top of her, totally exhausted.

John looked startled, then he smiled at the blonde. *I was so focused on making this as good for her as possible, I totally lost track of time.*

*Time flies when you're balls-deep in a stunningly beautiful girl?* she asked him with a grin.

He chuckled and nodded. Leaning down, John brushed aside Sakura's mane of silky black hair and said softly, "You look tired out, honey. I'm going to pull out so you can get some rest."

"My ass?" she mumbled weakly, trying to lift her head.

John kissed her cheek. "Another time, beautiful. I got carried away enjoying your incredibly snug pussy, you felt too good to stop what I was doing."

She giggled, barely able to keep her eyes open. "Glad you had a good time..."

Sakura let out a quiet moan of loss as he slid out of her quivering body, then John helped her roll over on the bed, where she curled up with a serene expression on her face.

"Shall I call in Irillith?" Alyssa asked, her smile widening. "It's not a proper XO meeting without someone's tight little ass being stretched."

John looked at her quizzically. "But I've got a perfectly fine piece of ass right here..."

She quickly rolled over on her tummy, lifting her rump and parting her thighs. The blonde gave him a come-hither look over her shoulder. "I'm all yours..."

Alyssa watched him move into position, John covering her body with his and lining up his cock with her ass. She moaned her encouragement as he pushed forward, applying more pressure to her anus until it slowly opened for him.

"I love seeing that look in your eyes when I take you back here," John said quietly, watching her expression with intense interest. He eased forward with his hips, making her take several inches of slick cock into her scorching hot body. "There's always a moment of shock when you stretch for me that first time, then it quickly changes to lust."

"You can't blame a girl for that," she murmured, pushing back at him and taking another couple of inches with a groan. "You've got a huge cock... and it feels so fucking good."

John clasped her hands then placed them above her head on the mattress, interlacing their fingers together. Alyssa felt him press his full weight on her back, pinning her to the bed as he sank up to the hilt in her clutching depths. She felt powerless to move, surrounded and covered by her lover, with his hot throbbing cock buried deep inside her body. And adored every second of it.

"I love this..." she breathed, turning to look at him out of the corner of her eye. "Why don't you bugger me more often?"

He pulled back a few inches, making Alyssa feel like she was being turned inside out, then thrust forward, stuffing her full once more. "You decided to fill up the ship with gorgeous girls... I'd feel like I was neglecting them if I spent all day riding you."

"And they do look so adorable cumming on your cock," Alyssa purred, giving him a seductive smile.

"So do you, beautiful," he said with a smile, kissing her ear. "Are you going to be a good girl and cum for me?"

Alyssa nodded, licking her lips as she bucked back at him. "I need long hard strokes. Just pin me down and use me to unload your balls... I'll come like a freight train."

"Always so accommodating," he whispered as he started pounding her to an insistent rhythm, making her grunt every time he bottomed out in her belly. "Such a good girl..."

She revelled in the submission, feeling a thrill of excitement rush through her body as John praised her. Already primed by watching Sakura get fucked senseless for hours, Alyssa could feel the beginning of a huge climax starting from the pit of her belly. John's balls were slapping against her clit as he pistoned in and out of her spasming passage, the rough fucking stirring primal urges to respond to her powerful mate.

"Oh fuck..." she hissed, cerulean eyes rolling back as John hammered away at her.

With a feral scream of release, she bucked back at him, trying to make him join her in climax. John responded to her clenching grip and he roared as he came, his cock pulsing powerfully as he shot long spurts of cum into her bowels. Alyssa felt the soothing waves of spunk filling her up and let out a long moan as her body convulsed with pleasure. Her stomach began to round out with the hefty load, lifting her hips as John packed her tummy full of cum.

"That's it... take it all..." John panted, his thrusts slowing as he crested through the climax.

"God... I love getting pumped full of cum..." she groaned, rolling her hips languidly as she milked his quad of everything he could give her.

When he was done, he carefully withdrew and rolled onto his side, bringing Alyssa with him. She sagged in his arms, her chest heaving as she tried to get her breath back. They lay there for a while, enjoying the sensual feeling of the afterglow, with Alyssa relishing the comforting weight in her belly and John's gentle caresses of her tautly-stretched skin.

"I love you, my beautiful girl," John whispered in her ear, making Alyssa shiver in delight.

She sighed contentedly. "I love you too, handsome."

A few moments later, Jade padded into the bedroom, her feline eyes flicking to Alyssa. "Mmm, you look good enough to eat."

John rested his chin on the blonde's shoulder. "That was amazing, thank you."

"It was definitely my pleasure," Alyssa replied, turning to give him a tender kiss.

He reluctantly moved out the way to make room for Jade, then crossed the bed to check on Sakura. She was still dazed after experiencing hours of climaxes, so he gave her a parting kiss before heading into the bathroom.

Jade climbed onto the bed and snuggled behind Alyssa, wrapping her in her arms. "Do you want to stay like this a while longer?"

The blonde ran her fingers over her cum-packed curves and after a long moment of indecision, she ruefully shook her head. "I'd love to, but we need everyone topped up before we arrive at Karron."

"Okay... let me just try something," Jade said softly, sounding like she was concentrating.

A few seconds later, Alyssa felt something prodding between her ass cheeks, the smooth skin feeling cool to the touch. Twisting slightly so she could look down, she saw one of Jade's dark-green tentacles nudging against her bottom. "This is new..."

"I can pump cum into you girls this way, sucking it out should be just as easy," the Nymph explained, probing her depths with the tip. "Now, you just relax and let me take care of you..."

Alyssa felt a second tentacle brushing against her pussy and moaned as it eased its way inside. She did as Jade asked, resting in the Nymph's loving embrace as her friend pleasured her while drawing out John's cum. Through her orgasmic haze, she was vaguely aware of John returning from a shower and kissing them goodbye. Alyssa wanted to talk to him about his plans on Karron, but Jade was quite determined to keep her relaxed, drowning the blonde in a gentle and sensuous onslaught of pleasure.

***

Calara smiled as she listened to Alyssa's steamy descriptions of everything Jade was doing, only for her lover's thoughts to get befuddled as she lost herself in waves of rolling climaxes. The Latina's hands moved over the console at her Tactical Station as she checked she had all the data that John needed.

"Hey, honey. Sorry I kept you waiting," he said, stepping out of the grav-tube.

"That was one way of keeping Alyssa distracted," she said, turning in her chair to greet him with a smile.

John walked down the ramp to join her. "I wanted to keep this as a surprise, or at least as much as I can while she's listening to my every thought. So... what did you find for me?"

The Latina turned back to her console, her voice becoming sombre. "There's not much. I searched the colony administration obituary logs for death certificates based on what little I know about Alyssa's parents. Once I found those, I was able to get a security ID for each of them, then I searched GALSEC for their registration details." Tapping a few controls, a holograph flickered to life above her station. "Here they are... Sarah and Edward Marant."

John stared at the images as they coalesced before him, revealing a pale but pretty blonde and her equally fair-skinned husband. Although the pictures were taken in 2759 when they were both 18, they both looked tired in the holo-images, already worn down by a hard life in the gruelling asteroid. The data scrolling beside each of them reported that Sarah was only 20 at the time of her death during childbirth and Edward was 26 when he died in a mining accident six years later in 2767.

"They were both so young," John murmured, his heart going out to the couple, knowing the tragic fate that awaited them both a few short years later.

Calara nodded, reaching for his hand and gripping it tight. "I did some research and Sarah's maiden name was Haley. I managed to find more about her family and I've got home addresses for both their parents as well as Alyssa's home."

"She has her mother's eyes," he said quietly, studying Sarah's picture.

"I can't even imagine what it must've been like for Alyssa, not even knowing her mother," Calara said in a hushed voice. "Then losing her father when she was only six... It's just so sad..."

John squatted down beside the Latina and folded his arms around her. "I know... but she's with us now and it's our job to look after her, no matter how independent she might seem."

Calara nodded, squeezing him tight. "Researching Alyssa's parents reminded me how awful her childhood must have been. I can't even imagine what she must have gone through, being a scared little girl and trying to stay away from predators on the street."

"Has she ever spoken to you about it in any detail?" he asked quietly.

"No... never," the Latina replied in an equally hushed voice. "She's so brave about everything else... for her not to want to talk about it, I dread to think what happened to her."

John nodded, lost in thought. "Alyssa's been through such a huge transformation in the last six months... she's changed as much mentally as she has physically. To say that she's a new woman now is putting it mildly... I think she probably just wants to put her past behind her."

"We have to make sure her life is wonderful from now on," Calara said adamantly. "To help make up for everything she went through before."

He pulled back to look in her eyes. "Sounds like a great plan to me." They shared a kiss to seal the agreement, then John glanced at the holo-images of the ill-fated young couple. "Alright, you better show me what you've found on their parents, as well as the location of the Marant and Haley family homes..."

***

Rachel clicked the focusing chamber into place inside the Tachyon Rifle, then reached for an eternity crystal that had been placed on one of the floating platforms surrounding the workbench.

"What would happen if I inserted this eternity crystal the wrong way?" she asked the redhead, turning the flawless crystal in her hands, entranced by the beautiful prisms of light refracting from its many facets.

"Please make sure the wide end goes at the back," Dana muttered distractedly, her eyes ablaze with a golden glow. "Otherwise the Tachyon pulses would get scattered all over the place... and that would be... not good."

Waving her hand over the open crate of bullets, lights began to flash like a demented disco as she inscribed destruction runes on hundreds of 10mm rounds. It took her a minute to finish her runecrafting and she picked up a bullet to examine her handiwork, as the ethereal glimmer in her eyes began to fade. Satisfied that the Progenitor runes were correctly in place, she picked up the box and tipped the bullets into the large hopper beside her. There was a metallic clicking sound as the machine rapidly sorted and turned each round, before loading them into the first of the 20 empty magazines lined up below. A noise like a frenzied drum solo echoed around the workshop as fifty rounds were fed into each magazine, until all 1000 bullets had been readied for combat.

"Beats the hell out of manually loading the bastards," Dana said with a grin, patting the bullet-loader with satisfaction.

She picked up the magazines and began piling them on a grav-cart, then walked over to the workbench carrying one in her hand. Watching her girlfriend at work, she nodded her approval as Rachel began assembling the last pieces of the gun frame, locking the sculpted Crystal Alyssium pieces into place.

"That's the last one," Rachel said, hefting the elegant weapon in her arms, nodding at the comfortable feel of the ergonomic design. "That's seven in total, including the two you made with John. Is that enough?"

Dana handed over the magazine, then started reeling off their new owners as she counted on her fingers. "John, Alyssa, Calara, me, you, Irillith, Sakura... yep, that's everyone."

"What about Tashana?" Rachel asked, as she checked the safety was on and slotted the magazine into place.

"I still need to design a Tachyon Pistol," the redhead replied, tapping a finger on her chin. "Until then, she'll have to make do with her Reaper Pistols. I loaded some of her mags with Runic penetrators, so if we do run into anything really nasty, she can still kick some ass."

Rachel placed the new weapon on the grav-cart, next to the other four rifles she'd helped Dana assemble that evening.

*We're all meeting on the Combat Bridge,* Alyssa informed them both. *We'll be arriving at the Omicron Ceti system in fifteen minutes, so you better get up to the bedroom... Jade's waiting for you there.*

The two girls grinned at each other, then quickly pushed the grav-cart over to the lift on the far side of the workshop. With everything ready for an engagement with the Kirrix, they jogged to the door, eager to be connected to their man once more.

***

John stepped out of the armour-equipping frame and walked over to the weapon rack to retrieve his sword. Once it was magnetically locked to his back, he loaded a Tachyon Rifle and slung it over his shoulder, then stowed some extra magazines in the pouches on his belt. Fully geared up for battle, he strode down the ramp into the Combat Bridge, where Faye was waiting beside his chair and Alyssa was staring intently at the holographic System Map that hovered above their heads.

"Hey, you two," John said, walking over to stand by his Command Chair.

Alyssa acknowledged him with a warm smile, before returning her attention to the map.

Faye gave him a quick hug before saying, "I've tried hailing the colony, but there's been no reply so far."

"What are you picking up on the long-range scans?" he asked, studying the bright crimson star in the centre of the Omicron Ceti system. "Are the Kirrix still occupying Karron?"

A dense sprawl of asteroids orbited the star, with one behemoth dwarfing the others in the belt. Half of the huge chunk of rock was bathed in a blood-red glow, the other half obscured by shadow and as black as night. John had visited this mining colony twice before and had surprisingly mixed feelings about the place. While it was true that Karron was extremely bleak and inhospitable, each time he'd been here, he'd stumbled across a precious jewel hidden amongst the dirt, rocks, and human misery.

"No sensor contacts," Alyssa said quietly, brushing her armoured fingers over her console and activating a Tactical Overlay. "The Kirrix forces must have freed the colonists and run for the border."

John smiled with relief. "Well that makes our life a lot easier." He nodded to Calara, Sakura, and the twins as they walked down the ramp to join them.

"There are only about 10,000 residents in Karron aren't there?" Sakura asked, taking her place at the Security Station.

"Nobody seems to know the exact figure," Calara replied, sitting at Tactical. "I searched through reams of colony administration files and saw they tried to run a census a couple of times. They were forced to give up when their officials kept getting shot at."

"People hate the Terran Federation out here," Alyssa murmured, frowning as she stared at the detailed information now being displayed on the Tactical Overlay. "There's a lot of really nasty people around who would never register with GALSEC."

"The Kirrix have definitely been here," Calara said sombrely as she stared at the zoomed-in view of Karron. "Do you see the Neutron Beam damage on the upper surface of the asteroid? They must have blasted the Communication Array to keep the colony from calling for help..."

"That explains why they aren't responding to our hails and why we haven't received any distress calls yet!" Faye exclaimed, her expression brightening.

The sound of armour-equipping frames busy in the armoury echoed around the room and a few moments later, Dana and Rachel walked down the ramp to join them. John exchanged smiles with the two girls before they fanned out to take their places on the Bridge.

Dana grimaced as she stared up at the digital representation of the crimson-hued, monolithic rock. "Damn, that shitdump looks almost as bad on the outside as it does on the inside."

"It's amazing to think that so many people live inside there," Rachel murmured, marvelling at the rotating image.

"Amazing? More like appalling..." Dana muttered, her expression darkening. "I'd never even seen the sun until you guys busted me out of that festering hole."

Rachel rose from her chair and walked over to stand by her girlfriend, placing a supportive hand on her shoulder.

Dana glanced up at her and frowned. "Coming back here is worse than I thought... it's stirring up a lot of bad memories."

John looked at her with concern. "You can sit this one out, honey. I don't want you putting yourself through this unnecessarily."

She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head. "Nah, I'll stick around. It's time to put these demons to rest permanently..."

"Dropping out of hyper-warp in thirty seconds," Faye warned them, as the Invictus raced towards the Omicron Ceti system.

Jade and Helene were the last to make an appearance, walking down the ramp to join the rest. The Nymph glided over to the Pilot's Station and sat gracefully in her chair, while Helene walked over to greet John.

"Nice timing, we're just about to arrive at Karron," he said, giving her a one-armed sideways hug. "We haven't got a spare station for you at the moment, so why don't you sit in my chair for now?"

"Thank you," she replied, kissing her fingertips and pressing them against his faceplate before taking a seat.

Returning his attention to the hologram, John watched as the white battlecruiser entered the edge of the System Map in a swirl of blue Tachyon particles.

"Take us in and run an active scan," John ordered, his eyes riveted to the hulking asteroid.

Jade nodded, grasping the flight controls and bringing the Invictus' bow around to face the broad asteroid belt. Ramping up thrust, the six Trankaran engines blazed to life and propelled the warship forward, quickly gaining speed. There was silence on the Combat Bridge as they rushed towards Karron, the sense of dread escalating amongst the crew.

"Running active scan," Dana informed them, beginning the sensor sweep.

Alyssa had been intently studying the sensor data that was returning from Karron, with more detail being supplied the closer they approached. "Primary power is down!" she gasped, her voice catching. "John... something's terribly wrong there... I can feel it."

Dana's eyes widened as she stared at her console. "Oh shit... There's no life signs... the Kirrix took everyone!"

John whipped his head around to look at Alyssa, who sat frozen in the XO chair. "What the hell?!"

Her face was contorted with rage, eyes blazing with fury. "Those treacherous motherfuckers!"

"Maybe they're on their way back?" Rachel suggested, trying to stay optimistic. "They might have already left and were on their way to the border when you confronted the Hive Mind. It could just be taking them some time to fly back to Karron."

Calara slowly shook her head. "The timing doesn't add up... Alyssa made that agreement with the Kirrix two days ago. The hive ships would have had plenty of time to return here by now, even if they started running when she first spoke to the Hive Mind on Carolus III."

"They grabbed the colonists and ran for the border!" the blonde snarled furiously. "I warned them what would happen if they fucked with me!"

Jade brought the Invictus coasting to a halt beside the barren, lifeless asteroid. "What shall we do now, John?" she asked, turning in her seat. "Would you like me to set a course for the border to try and chase down the Kirrix?"

John pulled off his helmet and rubbed his forehead with his hand. "It's going to take us days to catch them, especially if they've scattered. I'd say yes in a heartbeat, but the colonists on Menganus IV and Valia Gate are running out of time..."

"If they're even there," Calara reminded him, her face ashen. "The Kirrix ships at Karron have reneged on the agreement, so why would those that attacked Menganus IV and Valia Gate be any different?"

Staring at the map and feeling truly torn, John turned to look at the Nymph pilot. "She's right... if the Kirrix have broken the deal, they'll have fled for the border with all their ships. Set a course towards Kirrix Space. We'll have to hope we stumble across the hive ships that attacked the colonies and try to rescue as many people as we can before it's too late."

"Wait!" Dana called out, her excited cry drawing all their attention. "I'm picking up life signs! They're very faint... but there must be a few survivors down there!"

"Dock with the colony," John ordered, making eye-contact with Jade. "Primary power is down, so the air recyclers won't be working... we can't leave them to suffocate to death."

"Taking us in," Jade said, banking the Invictus around and aiming towards one of the broad tunnels that led into the asteroid's docking bays.

"Maybe they can tell us what happened?" Calara asked, watching the Nymph effortlessly manoeuvre the huge battleship into the rocky passage.

"We could do with some answers," John agreed, before glancing at Faye. "Can I leave you in charge of the Invictus?" He turned to look at the aquatic girl sitting in the Command Chair. "I'll take most of the girls with me, but I'd like Helene and Jade's sisters to stay here."

"Of course!" the purple sprite replied, exuberantly bobbing of her head. "If you can bring the power back up, I'll interface with colony administration and retrieve any cam footage they might have."

"I know where that power plant is. It's on the upper levels near the administration buildings," Alyssa said quietly, her burst of anger forgotten as she listened anxiously to John's racing thoughts.

He watched the Invictus gliding through the tunnel towards the docking bay, the battlecruiser's exterior lights casting ominous shadows over the pitch-black room. "Alright everyone, let's move."

Alyssa quickly rose from her chair and placed her hand on his arm. *John... please don't take any chances. Now that Karron is deserted, I know you're tempted to... try to bring my parents back.*

He held her hand and gave her a reassuring smile. *I'm not planning on doing anything risky. I don't even know if there'll be enough psychic echoes to go ahead with it.*

Alyssa nodded, a flurry of emotions crossing her face and an ambivalent look in her eyes. *Okay.*

John studied her for a moment, unable to tell if she was disappointed or relieved. *It'll all be alright, beautiful. Remember, I'm supposed to be the worrier?*

She gave him a brave smile. *It's just hard coming back here... I can't help feeling like a scared little girl again.*

*Do you want to stay aboard the ship?* he asked, looking at her with sympathy.

*Definitely not!* she exclaimed in a rush. *I'm coming with you.*

Taking her hand, he led her towards the ramp, following after the girls as they entered the express grav-tube. By the time he reached the Secondary Hangar, Dana had already opened both sets of double doors leading into the Cargo Bay.

"Come and grab your new guns, ladies!" she called out, grinning at the women following her into the huge room.

Rachel frowned as she walked over to the grav-cart hovering on the lift. "Do we really need all this firepower if we're just rescuing a handful of survivors?"

John tried to ignore Alyssa's piercing gaze as he nodded. "Better to be safe than sorry."

The brunette turned to give him a knowing look as she picked up a Tachyon Rifle. "Ah, I see..."

Alyssa gestured towards the controls on the wall and the massive Cargo Bay door started to rise up into the ceiling, accompanied by the soft whine of perfectly-maintained hydraulics. The docking bay beyond was illuminated by the Invictus' hull lighting, but the long shadows stretched away into total darkness through the tunnel leading from the broad loading area.

John watched the girls stow their spare magazines and once they were geared up, he headed for the docking bay. Alyssa fell into step beside him and he turned to look her way. "Can you track down the survivors? It'll be much faster than trying to pinpoint them with active scans."

"Sure, just give me a moment." Her eyes began to glow with a fierce white light and she handed him her rifle as glowing trails of ethereal energy began to swirl around her shoulders.

The Invictus' lights began to flicker as she gathered her will, drawing more psychic power to herself which whipped around her arms to coalesce around her splayed fingers. Clenching her hands into fists, she crouched down and pressed her gauntlets to the deck, triggering pulsing waves of incandescent white light to race off into the darkness. Alyssa had her eyes closed as she concentrated on searching for any survivors in their immediate vicinity, feeling the psychic energy waves sweeping through the tunnels of her old home.

***

Kelli rocked herself on the floor, crying in fear and desperation, worn down by hours spent worrying in a darkened room after the power had gone out. One of the portable torches had already died, running out of battery power and temporarily leaving the panicked brunette unable to even see her hands in front of her face. After fumbling around to find her backpack, she had managed to locate another torch and turn it on, giving her a slim beam of light to fight back the forbidding darkness.

There'd been no change in Tony's or Perl's condition and the diminishing supply of flashlights was a sharp reminder of just how precarious her current situation was. It all seemed so horribly unfair... they had managed to survive the Kirrix invasion, only to be left to die helpless and alone in the dark. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she crawled over to Tony and gave him a hug.

"Thank you for trying to save us," she whimpered, wishing she could say goodbye to him properly. "You actually believed in me... no one's ever done that before."

All cried out, she held the big man in her arms, desperate for any source of comfort to stave off the feeling of hopelessness she was facing. Suddenly, a bright wave of light erupted from the wall, making her shriek in surprise as it washed over them. Kelli watched it sweep across the room, then just like that it was gone again, but in its wake, she saw a bright white glow surrounding Perl.

"What the hell?" she muttered in astonishment, clambering to her feet and limping over to the blonde.

Reaching out to check Perl was unharmed by the strange pulse, she got a fright when she realised that her own hand was also swathed in the pure white radiance. She stared at her fingers in wonder, relieved to see that the lights appeared to be harmless. The cheery aura lit up the room, banishing the darkness and making her feel a surge of relief despite the strange nature of the light. She turned back to see if Tony was affected too, then blinked in surprise to see the blood-red shroud that covered his body.

***

"Well I'll be damned..." Alyssa muttered, a tight smile of anticipation on her face.

"You found them?" John asked, feeling a surge of relief.

"There's three... not far away. Two good girls... one bad guy," Alyssa replied, her eyes snapping open.

"Nice work," he said with a nod of admiration, as he handed back her Tachyon Rifle.

The blonde slung the weapon over her shoulder. "Thanks, but I won't need this. I've got lots more creative ways to deal with him..."

"Lead the way," John said, gesturing with his hand.

They followed the tunnel out of the docking bay, then activated the external lights on their Paragon suits as they plunged into the darkness. The bright beams revealed signs of an intense battle in the starport, with bullet holes stitched across the walls and blast craters making the ground uneven.

"Looks like there was a hell of a fight," Calara said quietly, her eyes wide as she surveyed the carnage.

"They used mining charges," Sakura said with professional detachment as she crouched by one of the deep craters. She focused her lights on broad splashes of sticky green blood daubed across the deck. "Looks like they managed to give the Kirrix some trouble."

Walking out into the main concourse, Alyssa suddenly groaned, wobbling unsteadily on her feet.

John grasped hold of her to help keep her upright. "What happened? Are you okay?"

"All the colonists came through here... So many people... each and every one of them terrified out of their mind," she replied in a hushed voice, staring in horror at something only she could see. Her voice caught as she continued, "Crying children being dragged away from wailing mothers... how could they do that?!"

Knowing it was already too late to save those children, John pulled the blonde into a hug, making her turn away from the horrifying psychic echoes. "Don't look, honey. We can't do anything for them now..."

Alyssa pulled away, her eyes blazing. "Yeah, we can! We can make those evil bastards pay for what they've done!"

He nodded, meeting her vengeful gaze. "We will. When we head into Kirrix Space, we'll avenge all the innocent people murdered by those vermin... but for now, we need to find the survivors."

Gritting her teeth, Alyssa nodded and stalked towards the broad exit. "I know where they are. Let's get this done and leave this hellhole."

John followed after her, noticing that she deliberately turned her head, looking away from the most disturbing scenes. Venturing out into the street outside the starport, he saw more signs of fighting, including burned out security vehicles and buildings that had been razed to the ground. The ominous darkness beyond the reach of their torchlight left them all feeling unsettled, and accompanied by the oppressive silence, it felt like they were intruding on a haunted tomb.

"I never thought I'd see Karron like this," Dana whispered, following Alyssa into a broad tunnel, darkened shop-fronts lining the walls. "It's like a ghost town..."

Rachel glanced up at the ceiling, knowing there were just a few layers of rock between her and the deadly vacuum of space. Turning around to study the gloomy, depressing buildings, there was nothing of beauty to be seen anywhere... no grassy parks, no leafy trees, no bright flowers, nothing to alleviate the unrelenting grimness of the asteroid colony.

"How could you stand living here?" she asked in disbelief. "It's just so horrible... I never imagined it could be this bleak."

"Babes... this is the nice part of town," Dana said, forcing a smile and trying to make light of the situation. "No matter how awful it got, we had to put up with it... we didn't have any other choice."

The brunette winced and gave the redhead a sympathetic look. "I must sound like such an over-privileged idiot. I didn't mean to be so insensitive... I'm just shocked at how grim a place Karron actually is."

Calara nodded, equally disturbed by the underground colony. "It's my first look around as well... I know exactly how you feel."

Tunnels branched off, letting them get a glimpse of dilapidated shanty towns in the distance, the settlements springing up like weeds in the hollowed-out caverns that threaded through the asteroid. No one commented on the squalor, but John could see that even the Maliri twins were unsettled by the abject poverty the colonists had been living in. The claustrophobic tunnels were a jarring contrast to the leafy boulevards that crossed Melfalas, the capital city on Valaden where they'd spent their childhood.

The only girls unaffected by the sights were Sakura, who had seen even worse, and Jade, who wasn't paying much attention to her surroundings. Instead, the Nymph was focused on Dana and Alyssa, her face reflecting her concern for the Terran girls. Both of the Karron teenagers were lost in memories from the past, but for them, it was far more shocking to see the tunnels so deserted of people.

"Not much further," Alyssa said, turning to look at John and pointing at the tunnel ahead of them. "It looks like they're holed up in the red-light district."

Nodding his understanding, he walked beside her as they crossed the current cavern and through a short tunnel, then entered the huge chamber beyond. John looked from side to side as they headed deeper into the red-light district, seeing lurid signs outside the sleazy establishments, advertising the lack of moral virtue of the ladies to be found inside. However, the whole district was currently plunged into darkness, the buildings now looking hollow and forlorn, their lurid signs nothing but empty promises. One in particular caught John's eye when he saw the sign for "Madame Trixie's House of Pleasure".

"The guy that tipped me off about the Tyrenium told me to visit that place," he said, studying the shadowy building. "If I'd actually followed Jonah's advice, we probably wouldn't have ended up together."

Alyssa glanced at the brothel and grimaced. "That place was bad news, I'm glad you never went."

Startled by her blunt condemnation of the establishment, John looked at her in confusion. "You're normally up for anything. I never would've thought I'd see the day that you disapproved of a brothel!"

"The bitch that ran that place used to love turning pretty girls into whores. I heard the stories on the street... Once she got you under her thumb, you were fucked... literally... and it never ended," she muttered, her lip curling in disgust.

"That's horrendous..." John said quietly, his eyes turning hard. "I wish I'd known last time we came here."

"We wouldn't have been able to do anything to stop it, not back then," she said, remembering the gunfight six months ago. "Remember the shootout in the docking bay? Without the Invictus, we would've been hopelessly outgunned. That place was connected and as soon as a fight kicked off, dozens of gangers would have come running."

He nodded reluctantly. "I suppose that's true enough, that was long before we had any decent gear."

Flexing her fingers, Alyssa said coldly, "But now it'd be a whole different story. If we do catch up with those hive ships, there's a lot of really sick assholes who desperately need some payback for all the twisted shit they've pulled."

"That's Karron for you," Dana said, drawing alongside them. "Dig through the dirt and you'll find whole layers of shit you never even knew about."

"Did you ever run into any problems in the red-light district?" he asked the redhead with concern.

She smirked and shook her head. "They took one look at my gorgeous face and were so awed by my untouched natural beauty that they never tried anything..." After a pause for comedic effect, she shrugged dismissively. "I did a few jobs around here fixing stuff... no big deal."

"Sorry, Sparks, I forgot about the scar," he said with a sympathetic frown. "It's been so long since I healed you, I barely even remember what the old you looked like."

"I was a scrawny little thing and flat as a pancake," Dana replied with a self-deprecating grin. Cupping the impressive curves of her form-fitting breastplate, she continued, "I'm not surprised you've grown to like the new me... there's a lot to love."

"Your body's identical to the rest of the girls," John said, giving her a fond smile. "It's your incredible mind and personality that made me fall in love with you. I seem to remember telling you that before your scar had fully healed."

Dana faltered, her hand dropping from her breast. "I'd forgotten it happened in that order..." She blushed and gave him a quick hug. "You were awesome right from the start!"

"We're here," Alyssa informed them, gesturing towards the caduceus adorning a sign above a clinic.

Releasing Dana, John reached for his Tachyon Rifle. "Alright, let's take out the guy holding these girls prisoner."

Putting a restraining hand on his arm, Alyssa shook her head. "Let me handle this. We're not in any real danger." When he nodded, she glanced at Rachel. "All three of them are wounded, could you heal them please?"

"Of course," Rachel agreed without a second's hesitation. She frowned a moment later and asked sceptically, "Even the bad guy?"

"Yeah, him too," Alyssa said with a wicked smile. "Save him for last, but I want him fully-conscious for what I'm going to do to that asshole."

Without another word, she turned on her heel and marched into the clinic, ignoring the reception area and pharmacy as she made a beeline for one of the doors at the back.

Knocking on the door, she called out, "Don't be afraid, we're here to rescue you."

John stood beside her as she opened the door, resisting the urge to ready his rifle and cover her as Alyssa entered the room. Inside he spotted a ghostly-pale young brunette fearfully holding a submachine gun in shaky hands. She was swathed in one of Alyssa's brilliant white auras, identifying her as an innocent.

"Oh my God! It's you!" she blurted out, staring at John then Alyssa in astonishment. "You're the Lion and his Lionesses!"

"That's us," Alyssa said with a reassuring smile. Crossing the room, she reached for the chrome SMG. "You don't need that; you're perfectly safe now..."

The brunette sagged into Alyssa's open arms, sobbing with relief. "I-I thought we were dead..."

Handing off the SMG to Sakura, Alyssa was free to hug the girl properly, wrapping the young woman in a comforting embrace. Her voice was gentle and sympathetic as she said, "Far from it, Kelli. No one is going to hurt you again."

Pulling back, the brunette brushed away her tears with the back of a hand. "My friends... they're both hurt real bad! I tried to help them, but I had no clue what I was doing..."

Dana did a double-take at the unconscious ganger, her eyes widening as she looked at Alyssa. *No fucking way... Fat Tony?!*

*In the flesh,* Alyssa replied with a curt nod.

Oblivious to the telepathic conversation, Rachel gave Kelli a warm smile, her eyes flicking to Perl and Tony, diagnosing them with a brief glance. "You did very well keeping them stable, you should feel proud of yourself."

"But they're still totally out of it!" Kelli protested, nibbling nervously at a nail.

"The medicine you gave this young lady prevented her getting an infection, but she's experiencing a sustained allergic reaction to the antibiotics," Rachel murmured, walking over to Perl's side. "Upper-limb amputation above the elbow. The wound was inflicted... three days ago." Raising an eyebrow, she gave Kelli a look of admiration. "It's quite remarkable that you kept her alive considering these dreadful conditions and your lack of medical training."

Kelli blushed, hardly able to believe her ears. "Can you really help her? Is she going to live?"

Rachel placed a gauntleted hand on Perl's uninjured arm. "Give me a few minutes and she'll be as good as new," she replied with a playful smile.

Her grey eyes began to glow with an inner radiance and a misty aura rolled down her arm to envelop the comatose blonde.

"What the fuck?!" Kelli blurted out, staring in awe at the display of psychic powers. "Your eyes are glowing! And what the hell happened to your arm?!"

"Just relax and let her concentrate," John said, gently patting the shocked girl on the shoulder. "It won't take long..."

The brunette saw the grey aura expand to shroud her as well and she squeaked in fright as she saw it swirl around her body.

"You're hurt too, Kelli," Alyssa said with sympathy. "Rachel's going to make everything better."

"Wait! How do you know my name?" the young woman blurted out in surprise. "I never told you-"

She suddenly let out a startled giggle. "That tickles!"

"You've torn the ligaments in your ankle. That must have really hurt," Rachel murmured, while keeping her focus on the unconscious blonde. "Let John support you while I mend your wound."

Kelli looked up at John with wide eyes as he offered her his arm to lean on. She was about to thank him when she burst into another fit of giggles. "Oh my god..."

"There, you're all done," Rachel murmured a few seconds later, while continuing to work on Perl.

"The pain's completely gone!" Kelli gasped in astonishment. She bounced experimentally on the balls of her feet. "Wow! I feel amazing!"

"Rachel completely healed your ankle," Alyssa said, smiling at her awed expression. "Just give her a little longer and Perl will be fine too."

Kelli was about to ask how the blonde knew her friend's name as well, when she happened to notice what was happening to the girl lying on the bed. She stumbled towards Perl, gaping in wonder at Rachel and her patient. "Holy fuck! Her arm's growing back!"

"Cellular regeneration of a limb isn't as complicated as you'd think," Rachel said, winking at the brunette. "Her DNA tells me everything I need to know so that I can make her whole again. Then I just pour in the psychic energy and stimulate re-growth..."

"That's the craziest thing I've ever seen..." Kelli marvelled, watching as Rachel worked down the limb, rebuilding the forearm then wrist, and finally Perl's hand.

Shortly after Rachel had finished the replacement arm down to her fingertips, Perl let out a soft moan and her eyelashes fluttered open. "That feels so ticklish..." she murmured, rubbing her new limb with her other hand. Suddenly her eyes snapped open and she sat bolt upright. "My arm! It was gone!"

Rachel stroked her hand and gave her a wry smile. "And now it's back again. Try to take better care of this one."

Perl gaped at the Invictus crew in disbelief, before abruptly bursting into tears. "Thank you so much!" she sobbed, clinging to Rachel as the brunette held her supportively. "I thought I was going to end up with a horrible metal arm!"

"You would have died if it wasn't for Kelli," Rachel said quietly, rubbing her back. "She kept you alive for days... it's a miracle you survived an injury that severe."

Perl turned her tear-streaked face to the brunette and beckoned her over. The two crying girls hugged, mumbling incoherent words of affection to each other as they were both overcome with relief, knowing that their ordeal was finally over.

Rachel turned to the big man lying on the floor, saw the red aura surrounding him and glanced at Alyssa for confirmation.

*Yes, him too,* the blonde said, her voice carrying a deathly chill as she stared balefully at the Diablos ganger.

The tawny-haired doctor gestured towards him and her ephemeral grey aura extended to cover his prone body.

"Was Tony allergic to antibiotics as well?" Kelli asked with a sniff, as she and Perl watched their friend with concern. "I gave him twice as much as Perl because he's so much bigger."

Rachel shook her head, concentrating on healing the unconscious man. "You did the right thing giving him a course of antibiotics, although the dosage was a bit too high. The antibiotics prevented him getting an infection from the gunshot wound to his back, but they suppressed his immune system, leaving him vulnerable to a particularly nasty viral STD he's carrying."

"Are you curing that too?" Perl quickly asked, then blushed when John and several of the girls turned to look at her speculatively.

Rachel hesitated for a second, then nodded. "Of course."

A short while later, Tony's deathly pallor receded and he let out a low groan as he twisted on his makeshift bed. He froze, then his eyes opened and he looked around in astonishment at all the armoured figures standing in the consultation room.

"They're here to rescue us!" Kelli called out to him gleefully. "Tony, we made it!"

He grinned at her and was about to reply, when Alyssa squatted in front of him, tearing the Paragon helmet from her head. "Remember me, Fat Tony?"

Tony jerked back in surprise from the white-armoured Lioness, staring in wonder at her breathtakingly beautiful face. "N-no... we've never met."

"Guess again, fuckwad!" Alyssa snarled, her eyes glowing bright white.

He let out a strangled cry of alarm as a huge spectral hand materialised in the air before him and clamped down around his body. Alyssa slowly rose, making a snapping motion with her fingers that caused her telekinetic projection to yank the shocked ganger to his feet then lift him into the air.

"Two years ago, right here in Karron..." Alyssa snapped, her eyes blazing with anger. "A starving girl managed to find a broken power coupling and brought it back to her friend to fix. It took them weeks of scavenging for parts, but they managed to get it working and she sold it to the Corbann mine for 100 credits. She bought a box of nutri-bars to share with her friend... their reward after all that hard work. Everything was going great until she brought it back to the Diablos base... Ringing any bells now, you piece of shit?"

Tony's eyes bugged out as he stared in disbelief at the furious blonde, finally recognising her features. "Alyssa?! No fuckin' way... you can't be her!"

"Wrong again..." she hissed, her voice turning icy-cold. "I never did anything to you, but you just took that away from me... and you laughed, you fuck... you laughed when you slapped me!"

"What're you gonna to do?!" he blurted out in terror, wriggling helplessly in the grip of the telekinetic hand.

"What I really want to do, is slowly strip the skin from your hide and make you eat it..." she said with a feral gleam of anticipation.

Perl and Kelli stared at the vengeful Lioness in horror, frozen with fear as they watched her taunting Tony.

"But you only hit me and robbed me, so that would be overkill," Alyssa continued in a quiet voice that dripped with menace. "You've done a lot of fucked-up things to a lot of people and I've got a much better way of dealing with scum like you. The last guy I punished like this clawed his own eyes out to make the visions stop." Leaning closer, she added. "But I am going to laugh, Tony... That's the last thing you'll hear... apart from your own screams."

Kelli rushed forward to grab at Alyssa. "No! Don't do it, please!"

Perl slid off the bed to join her. "He saved us both, he's not a bad person!"

Alyssa made a curt gesture and telekinetic hands peeled the terrified girls away from her. "Not a bad person?" she blurted out incredulously. "You've got to be kidding me... I recognise you two, you were Pitbull's whores. I shouldn't have to tell you what a bunch of fucking assholes all the Diablos were!"

Frantically shaking her head, Kelli pleaded. "Tony's not like the others!"

Alyssa looked at the girls with pity. "You're probably suffering from Stockholm Syndrome." Turning to glare at the captive ganger, she continued, "I know all about the Diablos initiation... tell them what you did to get in, Tony."

His face shadowed with guilt and he looked at Kelli and Perl with an anguished expression on his face. "I'm not like that now. I was different back then..."

"I didn't ask for excuses, tell them what you did!" Alyssa snapped, her telekinetic fist starting to squeeze.

He yelped with pain, then said in a rush, "I beat this guy up!"

Sneering at him in disgust, Alyssa shook her head. "I know everything! Tell them the truth, or I'll make you... and you don't want that."

"We were runnin' a protection racket!" he blurted out, wincing as the vice-like grip tightened. "This old man was a real hardass and refused to pay up." His expression was filled with shame as he continued, "So we tied up him and his wife, then I beat up his son..."

"You beat an eighteen-year-old boy to death in front of his terrified parents," Alyssa corrected him, her voice cold and hard.

Tony slumped, guilt etched all over his face. "Okay, you're right... I was a piece of shit back then..." He let out a sigh that was heavy with remorse. "But I'm not like that anymore. I'm really tryin' to be better."

"He got shot saving us from the Kirrix!" Kelli exclaimed, struggling against the telekinetic hands. "He's not bad any more... he isn't!"

"Please... just let us go!" Perl begged. "Leave us here if you have to, but please don't kill him!"

Alyssa was torn with indecision, and she glanced at the guilt-ridden ganger, then the desperate girls that were terrified for their friend.

John walked over to her and gently cupped her face in his hand. "Let them go, honey. For what it's worth, I believe him. I think he's trying to turn over a new leaf and he did save both their lives. That doesn't make up for all the things he's done... but it's a start."

She looked back at Perl and Kelli who were staring at her fearfully, as if she were some kind of cruel and merciless monster. Her face fell and she lowered her hands, releasing Tony and the girls from their telekinetic restraints. Perl and Kelli ran to the big ganger, hugging him fiercely as they huddled together on the floor.

John glanced at Sakura and the twins. "Can you escort them back to the Invictus please."

The Asian girl nodded and walked over to the frightened trio. She squatted down beside them and said quietly, "Please follow me and we'll take you to our ship. You can get a shower and a hot meal there, and we've got spare bedrooms so you can get some rest."

They nodded and rose shakily to their feet, then followed Sakura out of the room, with the Maliri sisters closing the door behind them.

"I'm not a monster..." Alyssa whispered, looking up at John with a worried frown. "Am I?"

He pulled off his helmet and dropped it on the chair. Putting his arms around her, he held her close as the troubled young woman rested her head on his shoulder. "No, beautiful, you're no monster," he said firmly, kissing her forehead.

The rest of the girls gathered around, murmuring supportive words and brushing her hair.

Slumped against him, Alyssa glanced up at John with a resigned expression on her face. "Your mind's made up now, isn't it? You're going to go into the Astral..."

"Yes, honey," he replied, making no effort to hide his determination. "You need this."

***

"We are approaching Dun Gerluhr, Warden," the Trankaran navigation officer informed his commanding officer in a rumbling voice. "Dropping out of hyper-warp in two minutes."

Warden Brokurlun stared at the holographic map, watching his battleship lead the Trankaran fleet towards the outer edge of the occupied system. As they drew closer, scores of sensor contacts appeared on the map, the red runes clustered together into two large groups.

He rose from his Command Chair and strode across the Bridge to take a closer look. "Zoom in to the system level, I want to see as much data as possible on the Kirrix forces."

The bridge crew moved quickly to obey his orders, the enhanced sensors on the Forge of Ukonlir extending far beyond the normal range they were accustomed too. As the battleship dropped out of hyper-warp, a sensor pulse swept out, returning even more details about the insectoid forces assembled around the densely-populated world.

Brokurlun's eyes narrowed as he saw those sensor contacts replaced by three-dimensional images of ochre-coloured Kirrix vessels. There appeared to be two huge fleets made up of hive ships and drone carriers that were lurking near the dark-red planet. "A considerable force... and they do not appear to be retreating."

A bright flash lit up the map, the green neutron beam making him recoil in surprise. "Evasive manoeuvres!" he called out reflexively, we're under attack.

The Ukonlir's tactical officer turned in his seat, a look of surprise on his blocky features. "They are not firing on us, Warden! We are still too far out of range."

The green blast was quickly followed by dozens more that criss-crossed between the two insectoid fleets. Swarms of drones appeared as the sensor data returned more information, the nimble strike craft engaged in a vicious dogfight with others of their kind, punctuated by vivid explosions.

"By the Great Protector..." Brokurlun muttered in astonishment. "They are firing on each other!"