"Holy shit!" Dana blurted out, her eyes like saucers as she stared at the shattered bed. "How hard were you fucking her in the ass?!"

John was sitting on the mattress in the middle of all the destruction and protested, "Not enough to break the bed!"

Irillith kissed him on the shoulder and gave him a dreamy smile. "Actually, it was all very sensual and loving."

"Everything was," Tashana murmured, looking up at John with a doe-eyed expression of absolute devotion. "I don't think I've ever felt so close to you, Baen'thelas."

He put his arm around her waist and stroked her hugely swollen tummy. "You're right, it was an incredible evening... but I think we're getting a little side-tracked." He turned to the redhead. "What the hell happened to the bed, Sparks?"

Dana squatted down and picked up one of the jagged pieces of sparkling white metal that were scattered across the floor.

She turned it in her hand, studying the fragment in fascination. "Now this looks strangely familiar..."

"It can't have turned into Crystal Alyssium... can it?" John asked, frowning dubiously.

Her eyes blazed with a gleaming golden light and she peered into the atomic structure of what had once been black Progenitor metal. "No, this is something else entirely... I've never seen anything like it."

Alyssa yawned as she strode into the bedroom. "Sorry, I got here as fast as I..." Her voice trailed off as she gaped at the scene of devastation. "How the hell did you wreck the bed?!"

John shrugged helplessly. "I honestly don't know."

"Why don't you give me a blow-by-blow of what happened," Dana requested, before smirking at Tashana's cum-filled belly. "You know what I mean."

"Well the twins were already here when I arrived with Helene..."

"We showered and dressed together in my bedroom rather than the shuttle," Irillith interjected. She blushed as she added, "We both wanted to be fully prepared for John, so we-"

"So you gave each other enemas and lubed yourselves up for an assfucking," Dana interrupted, making an impatient rolling motion with her hand. "Skip to the next bit... when you arrived here, did anything weird happen?"

The twins shared a glance then shook their heads.

"We were only waiting for a couple of minutes before John arrived," Tashana explained, a faraway look appearing in her eyes.

"And what an entrance it was..." Irillith said with a breathy sigh.

Alyssa's ears perked up and she flashed a smile at the besotted Maliri. "Did he look handsome?"

"Oh, he looked amazing!" Tashana gushed, biting her lip.

"And he was so masterful," Irillith agreed, her violet eyes alight with wonder. "I would've done anything he asked..."

"But John was loving rather than domineering," her sister added wistfully. "Everything he said made my heart flutter..."

"Mine too," Irillith agreed, resting her head on his shoulder. "You really do own me body and soul, Baen'thelas..."

"Okay, so we've established John is awesome," the redhead said with an amused smile. "But what actually happened after he strode masterfully into the room?"

John put his arms around both Maliri girls, then gave Dana an apologetic look. "They're a bit out of it at the moment. I invited Helene to join us in bed and she offered to share our emotions... you know how powerful that can be."

Helene gave him a shy smile as she nuzzled into him. "I could just feel the love pouring off the three of you."

"Yeah..." Dana murmured, glancing down at the chunk of metal in her hand with a look of shocked disbelief on her face. "Powerful stuff..."

Alyssa darted a sceptical glance at the redhead as she heard what her friend was thinking. "You can't be serious?"

Dana frowned as she wracked her brain for any other possibilities. "What else could've done it? I can't think of anything..."

Squatting down beside one of the metal fragments, Alyssa took a deep breath, then tentatively reach out to pick up the chunk and heft it in her hand. She'd been expecting a wave of deeply unsettling sensations, but when she touched the piece of Progenitor metal, there was no sign of residual echoes. If anything, the contact felt almost pleasant and she closed her eyes to savour the gentle sense of warmth stirring in her heart.

Alyssa suddenly dropped the metal in shock, the chunk landing with a noisy clang. "Holy fuck..."

John half-rose from the bed in alarm. "What is it?"

"You know I've been getting bad vibes from the Progenitor metal?" Alyssa replied, looking at the white-streaked bed-frame in astonishment. "I think Helene... cleansed it."

"I did?!" the aquatic girl gasped, looking stunned.

The blonde nodded. "Every time I've been in contact with black metal, I get this really horrible feeling... a bit like the psychic echoes of thralls being slaughtered on a Progenitor dreadnought." She ran her fingers over another white chunk of shattered bed frame. "I don't get any of those sensations from this stuff... it's actually pleasant to touch now."

Dana jerked a thumb to the side. "Could you guys get off the mattress a second? I want to check underneath."

John nodded and was about to move, but he paused when he saw the treacherous carpet of jagged metallic fragments strewn across the floor. He made a sweeping gesture and a wall of telekinetic force brushed aside all the pieces, clearing a space for them to vacate the bed. The twins accepted the hands he offered them, rising to their feet and following Helene off the mattress. Alyssa waved a hand at the rumpled bed and flipped it aside, revealing the floor below.

The redhead whistled as she studied the warped deck plates. "Wow, she really went to town on it..."

Directly beneath where John and the girls had been lying was a pristine white oval, with white streaks spreading out in all directions. The metal had buckled and deformed, bowing outwards and forming a large depression in the floor.

"Okay so this was obviously centred on Helene," John said, gesturing to the white oval. "But that doesn't make any sense; she can't do psychic shaping."

"No... this is something different," Dana muttered, tapping a finger on her chin. "When I looked into the metal, its atomic structure was all messed up... like waves of force had pummelled it. The black metal must be psychically reactive, but it got completely fucked up by all the positive vibes you and the twins were pumping out."

"But why did the bed shatter like that?" John asked in confusion. "Crystal Alyssium gets stronger when we reshape it."

"Like I said, this isn't the same thing," Dana replied, pocketing samples of the metal for later study. "I added Etherium crystals to the mix for my ultimate material, which makes it tougher every time you psychically reshape the crystalline lattice. As Helene just proved, Progenitor metal obviously responds to psychic manipulation, but it's probably not designed to be reshaped."

"So Progenitor metal is just forged once, then done?" he asked, looking at the battered floor.

"In a Soul Forge..." Alyssa said in a hushed voice, her eyes widening as she stared at the black deck plates.

"Yeah... that's right," Dana agreed, nodding as she mulled it over. "We know these Progenitors don't give much of a shit about their thralls, so I can't see them standing around shaping metal over and over again to give their women the best gear possible."

John frowned and shook his head. "I can't see an asshole like Larn'kelnar doing that even once. How much metal do they need to create a dreadnought? What about building the thrall fleets? According to Calara, they've got thousands of ships."

The redhead frowned as she nodded her agreement. "You're right... they'd need fucktons of the stuff."

Alyssa started to back away, staring at the floor in horror. She bumped into the wall and her hand brushed against the black metal, making her yelp as she yanked her fingers back, reacting as if she'd been burned.

Startled by her cry, John looked up and saw Alyssa's dreadful look of revulsion. "Alyssa! What's wrong?"

"I've got to get out..." she muttered, backing out of the room with wild eyes.

"Wait!" he called after her as she stumbled into the corridor beyond.

"I've got to get out of here!" she gasped, running for the elevator and hammering at the rune beside the door.

The elevator took a few seconds to respond, a few seconds too long for the horrified girl.

"Let me out!" she screamed, her eyes blazing with an incandescent white light.

"What the fuck?!" Dana cried out in alarm, shocked by her friend's panicked reaction.

John swept aside the jagged fragments between them and sprang after her. "Alyssa!"

The scarlet lighting flickered as glowing streams of psychic energy whistled around Alyssa's arms, howling in a terrifying vortex of eldritch power that gathered at her hands.

"LET ME OUT!" she thundered, her tortured cry reverberating down the corridor.

Alyssa's piercing scream was drowned out by a deep bass boom, as she unleashed the vast amounts of pent-up energy she'd gathered in the throbbing orb surrounding her clenched fists. The dazzling blast slammed into the wall, blistering the black metal, which bubbled and melted under her onslaught.

*Master, she's draining me!* Jade called out in warning.

Edraele's shocked voice echoed through his mind a moment later. *She's taking everything, John!*

He winced against the blinding glare and stared in astonishment as she scorched her way through the wall, the blast like a supernova that incinerated everything in its path. Her eldritch beam vaporised the superstructure, then hit the shuttle's armour plating, buckling the black surface until it exploded outwards. An instant later, the blistering column of energy winked out, leaving glowing motes hanging in the air. With a strangled cry, Alyssa crouched down and kicked off the deck, launching herself through the glowing-edged tunnel she'd just bored through the hull.

"Shit!" John cursed, looking up through the melted hole and seeing no sign of Alyssa.

He lurched into the waiting elevator and hit the rune to descend. As the serrated doors slid shut, he saw Dana, Helene, and the twins standing frozen in the bedroom, all four staring at him in shock. Waiting to descend to the lower decks seemed to take an eternity, even though it only took a matter of seconds, and John ground his teeth in frustration at not being able to follow Alyssa through the hull. When the door finally opened, he bolted through to the corridor outside, then out of the shuttle via the airlock.

Whirling around, he saw no sign of the distraught teenager. *Alyssa?! Where are you?*

She didn't reply, but he could feel her anguish over their bond. He spotted movement out of the corner of his eye; the reinforced doors leading to the Secondary Hangar sliding closed. Activating his psychic speed, he barrelled across the huge room and dived through the closing doors, making it with seconds to spare. That was when he saw her, slumped under the protective shadow of the Raptor's white wing.

Running to Alyssa's side, he dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms around her protectively. "You're safe now, honey... I'm here."

She sobbed against his chest, shaking like a leaf in his embrace. John held her close, stroking her hair and murmuring soothing words in her ear until she eventually calmed. When her trembling ceased and Alyssa seemed to have recovered, he leaned to the side so he could see her face. Her sickened expression hadn't changed, the look in her eyes still one of horrified revulsion.

"I had to get out of there..." she replied in a sepulchral whisper. "It's like a tomb... haunted by their last moments of suffering..."

"You saw more psychic echoes?" he asked, wondering why she reacted that strongly, having been in the bedroom before.

Alyssa shook her head. "The soul forge. I know what it is... what it does."

She told him... and his expression matched hers; a tortured mask of horror and disbelief. But only for a moment. Then the anger built, fuelled by his hatred, burning away everything but the primal need to obliterate these monsters from the galaxy.

***

"You're absolutely sure?" Calara asked, her voice quavering as she stared across the briefing room table at Alyssa.

The blonde nodded, her expression grim. "I know I'm right."

"My god..." the Latina muttered, shaking her head in denial.

"The first time I touched the black metal, I could feel how tainted it was," Alyssa said quietly, her voice no more than a haunted whisper. "The last agonising moments of thousands of dead thralls are seeped into every inch of it."

"Thousands sacrificed... per ship?" Calara asked, the look of horror in her eyes matching those of all the girls seated around the table.

The blonde nodded, her expression bleak. "The black metal responds to psychic energy and we all know how Progenitors get access to that. As John said earlier, an asshole like Larn'kelnar was never going to stand around and personally build fleets for his thralls."

John was standing by the window, staring out into space as he listened to their discussion. "Progenitors need a steady supply of new ships for their campaigns, but they'll be actively leading those wars. There's no chance that any of them will stay on their Throne Worlds just to keep a Soul Forge running."

"Shit... the clue's in the fucking name," Dana muttered, looking queasy. "I just can't even imagine someone doing something so fucked-up. Sacrificing millions of thralls just to make gear? Those Progenitors are a bunch of sick bastards!"

"What exactly are you sensing, Alyssa?" Tashana asked, looking at the blonde. "Is it psychic echoes from when the thralls were killed, or... their actual souls?"

Alyssa blanched at that, looking even more disturbed. "I... I don't know."

Helene looked at John in alarm. "There are tormented spirits inside that spaceship?!"

"We're not sure, Helene." Equally unsettled at the thought, he glanced at Alyssa. "Is there any chance there's a consciousness trapped there? Or thousands of them?"

She hesitated, then shook her head. "Whenever I touch the black metal I feel a horrible sense of dread... like something really awful happened. I've never been aware of any kind of... presence behind it though."

"So what happens to the shuttle now?" Sakura asked, her voice sombre. "Are we going to activate the autopilot and send it into the nearest sun?"

"I can't set foot in it again," Alyssa said adamantly, shaking her head. "Not now I know how it was built..."

John stood beside her chair and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Nobody's asking you to, honey." He glanced at the Asian girl. "Why do you ask, Sakura? Did you have something in mind?"

"It's a useful ship; is there any chance we can... exorcise it?" the Asian girl tentatively suggested.

Irillith raised an eyebrow. "Surely you're not proposing a repeat performance?"

"No... but Helene broke the bed by accident," Sakura said, turning to study the Aquatic girl. "What if she tried to deliberately affect the metal?"

"The psychic echoes might be gone, but the black metal was shattered in the process," John reminded her with a frown. "I'm not sure Helene can get rid of the psychic echoes without wrecking the shuttle."

"It's still worth testing," Sakura said, looking at the teal-hued girl speculatively. "That's a handy talent to have..."

John shook his head. "I'm trying to keep Helene out of combat, remember?"

"We don't need Helene to bust up thrall ships; Alyssa already blasted a big hole in the roof," Dana said, looking at her friend in admiration. "Maybe we just need to strap you to the front of the Invictus next time we go up against another Progenitor?"

"I know you're only joking, but I tapped a huge amount of power to melt through the hull," Alyssa admitted, darting an apologetic glance at Jade. "If I did that in a battle, we'd all be running on empty in no time."

The room went quiet, with everybody thinking about fighting hordes of sinister black ships all constructed the same horrifying way.

"Ah, shit..." Dana muttered with a grimace, her blue eyes flicking to Calara with concern. "Are we still going to go after Larn'kelnar's thrall fleets?"

"We haven't got any choice," the brunette said, suddenly looking ill at the prospect. "We can't turn down the chance to commandeer vessels with that kind of firepower, no matter how repulsive they might be."

Alyssa shivered with revulsion, a feeling shared by everyone around the table.

John let out a heavy sigh. "Alright, I think we've discussed everything we can at this point. We still don't know much about the metal, or exactly what happened to it, so we're just doing a lot of speculating."

"I grabbed some samples," Dana said, patting the pouches on her belt. "I'll take a look and see what I can find out. Don't hold your breath though... the black metal is still a big mystery and I'm not even sure of its exact composition."

"Anything you can find out would be useful," he said, giving her an encouraging smile.

"I'll go check them out now," the redhead agreed, rising from her seat.

The rest of the girls followed her lead, hugging John before exiting the Briefing Room. He asked Helene and the twins to wait, wanting to speak to them privately before they left.

"I'm so sorry I caused so much trouble!" Helene suddenly blurted out when they were alone, her face stricken.

"Hey, it wasn't your fault," John said soothingly, pulling her into a supportive embrace. "You were just trying to do something nice for us."

"But Alyssa got so upset..." she murmured, clinging to him for reassurance.

He joined the twins in stroking her back. "That's been brewing for months, honey. Ever since we boarded the Legacy, Alyssa's been getting bad vibes from the black metal."

The door slid open again and Alyssa re-entered the Briefing Room, gliding over to join the hug. "You're such a sweetheart, Helene. Thanks for worrying about me, but I'll be alright."

"I've never seen you lose control like that before," the aquatic girl said, looking at her wide-eyed.

"It was a horrible shock, finally finding out why Progenitor ships have freaked me out so much," the blonde admitted. "At least now we know and we can actually try to do something about it."

Helene nibbled nervously at her lip. "If the ship is haunted, I'd like to help you put those ghosts to rest."

"I appreciate the offer, but until we know exactly what we're dealing with, there's no point worrying yourself about it," John said, kissing her on the cheek. He looked into her eyes and continued, "Are you feeling better now?"

She nodded and gave him an embarrassed smile. "Yes, I'm okay..."

"Come here, gorgeous," Alyssa said, opening her arms for a proper hug.

When Helene went to the blonde, John turned his attention to the twins. "What happened between the three of us got overshadowed by the bed exploding... but I haven't forgotten."

"We felt it too," Irillith murmured, stepping into his arms.

Tashana nodded, joining her sister in his embrace. "Your attitude towards the Maliri... and to us, has changed. We could really sense the difference."

*You've finally embraced your heritage, John,* Edraele said quietly. *It was a huge step for you.*

"Claiming the Maliri was a privilege, not a burden," John said, kissing each of the sisters in turn. "The reality is that we have a special connection... and refusing to accept it was doing all of you a disservice. Our fates are tied together and the Maliri need me to lead them, just as I need their help to fight in this war. We stand no chance against the Progenitors without each other."

Tashana gave him an adoring smile. "You're going to be a magnificent leader, Baen'thelas."

"I'll do my best," he said, a hint of worry flashing across his features.

"What's wrong?" Irillith asked, noticing the flicker of emotion.

He held them close and quietly replied, "Have you heard the Terran expression about absolute power corrupting absolutely?"

The twins nodded, listening intently.

"Well, I'm accepting absolute control over the Maliri and that's a lot of temptation. If it was up to Edraele, she'd have me bedding an endless supply of very eager, very beautiful, and very fertile Maliri girls," he murmured, releasing Tashana so he could run his hand over her curved stomach. "You look stunning like this... and I can't deny how much I'd love to give in to temptation, but I don't want to ever feel like I'm taking advantage of the Maliri. Can you two help keep me grounded?"

Tashana trembled at his gentle caress and let out a soft moan. "If you're worried any of us would ever have second thoughts, you're very much mistaken..."

Irillith smiled indulgently at her sister, before focusing on John. "It might have been wiser to ask Shan when she didn't have a tummy full of your cum."

"True," he conceded, caressing Tashana's swollen belly. "But she reminded me just how beautiful the two of you are going to look when you're pregnant."

"I know how concerned you are about being there for all of your children... and it seemed strange at first, but now I think it's a wonderful idea," Irillith said with a poignant smile. "I wish we could've seen our father every day."

Tashana nodded, her eyes welling up. "I hadn't really thought about it like that before... but I can see why it's so important to you. We loved him so much, just as our children are going to love you."

"Thank you," he said, hugging them both fiercely. "I'm glad you understand."

There was an awkward silence in his mind, then Edraele asked, *John... I'm so sorry if I've been making you feel uncomfortable. Do you want me to stop trying to tempt you?*

*No, honey,* he replied with an affectionate smile. *You know how much the idea really turns me on... I just don't want to start abusing my position.*

She laughed at his confession, her delight quite evident. *Oh, that is a relief! I shall act accordingly, my Lord...*

He patted the twins on the back and said, "Why don't you two take the evening off? You didn't get a chance to relax and recover with the bed shattering."

Irillith stretched and glanced at Tashana, the two sisters conducting a telepathic conversation.

"What time are you coming to bed?" Irillith asked, trailing her fingers across his chest.

"I won't be too late. We'll be picking up Jack and Mateo in a couple of hours, then I'll get them settled in and have an early night. I need to get my body clock back to regular hours after the battle with the Kirrix upended everything."

Tashana glanced down at her swollen stomach. "Do I need to do any preparations so I can learn how to Spirit Walk?"

John shook his head, brushing the backs of his fingers across her curves. "Just rest... I'll take care of everything."

She bit her lip, then gave him a tender kiss. "I love trusting myself to you completely. It makes me feel so safe and protected."

Irillith darted a wry smile at her sister. "When you're supercharged like this, there's not much in the galaxy that could actually stop you."

"That's not really what I meant... but that feels good too," Tashana admitted, her violet eyes sparkling as she looked at John.

"You're a very powerful woman," he said, savouring her newfound confidence. "And you're only going to get stronger..."

"Don't stay up too late," she requested, giving him an adoring look. "I want to fall asleep in your arms tonight."

"I'll be there," he promised, kissing her goodbye.

Alyssa clasped Helene's hand, then beckoned the twins with the other. "Come on ladies, time for bed. I need a nice cuddle with you three."

Helene glanced at John with regret. "I know I asked to spend the rest of the day with you, but I am feeling quite tired. Would you mind if I went with Alyssa?"

"Of course not, honey. I'll assist Dana with any shaping she needs until we rendezvous with the fleet."

Alyssa froze and blurted out, "I already offered to do that for her. I think you should have a chat with Calara before we meet her family... let me go and help Sparks."

John shooed her out the door. "Nope. After the amount of energy you burned through this afternoon, you must be dead on your feet. Bed... now."

She paused, then lowered her eyes submissively. "Yes, John. Whatever you say."

He gave her a look filled with suspicion. "That should be music to my ears, but now I'm worried you're up to something."

"Just following your orders like a good obedient matriarch, my Lord," Alyssa said with a grin, her blue eyes alight with mischief.

John playfully swatted her on the rump as she flounced past, making Helene and the twins laugh as they followed her out of the room. Leylira and Marika were there on the Bridge, the two catgirls engrossed in holo-simulations, but they looked up curiously when they heard the laughter. John smiled at the Nymphs as he accompanied the girls to the grav-tube and they waved back before returning to their training.

*Are you sure you're feeling alright after what happened in the shuttle?* John asked the blonde as they descended in the red anti-gravity field.

She turned to meet his look of concern. *I'm not going to lie; it was really horrible finding out like that and I have no intention of stepping foot on that ship again... but I'll be okay. Nothing snuggling up with Helene and the twins won't fix.*

*Don't stay up chatting,* he cautioned her. *You already strained yourself after all that rune-shaping this afternoon. You must have pushed yourself to the limit blasting through the hull so soon afterwards and you need to rest.*

*You're right, I'm exhausted,* she admitted, stifling a yawn. *Don't forget to speak to Calara, she's on the Combat Bridge.*

*Is she upset?* John asked, giving her a parting kiss.

Alyssa stepped out onto Deck Three with her three companions. *No... she's just got a few things on her mind. Calara's with Neysa at the moment and distracted by teaching gunnery skills, but you should talk to her before she sees her father.*

*Will do,* he agreed, waving the quartet goodbye as he descended out of sight.

He was tempted to head straight to the Combat Bridge to find out what was troubling Calara, but decided to trust in Alyssa's judgement and see the brunette later. John set an alarm on his watch for 8:30 pm, allowing himself half-an-hour to speak with Calara before their rendezvous with the Terran Federation fleet. Leaving the grav-tube on Deck Seven, he strode along the corridor to the Engineering Bay, where he found Dana stooped over her workbench.

"Hey, Sparks," he called out when he entered the room, not wanting to catch her by surprise.

The redhead looked up from her work and rewarded his gallantry with a warm smile. "Hey yourself."

"I thought Rachel would be here with you. Is she in Medical?" he asked, glancing around but seeing no sign of the tawny-haired doctor.

"She said she was synthesising cures for those diseases and all the stuff she needs is there," Dana explained. "Did you want to talk to her about something?"

"No, just making conversation," he replied as he crossed the workshop to join her. "I sent Alyssa off to bed to get some rest, so I'm here to help you with any shaping you need."

Dana looked shifty as she reached for her holo-viewer. "Err, it's okay. I don't mind waiting for Alyssa..."

He gave her a pointed look. "I know you two are up to something, but after the evening I've just had, I really don't care what it is. Tell me what you need and I'll make it."

She gave him a guilty smile. "Sorry. It's nothing bad, I promise."

John shrugged and patted her on the arm. "I know. You think I won't approve, so you were waiting to surprise me when it's finished, hoping I'll be so impressed I won't object."

Looking startled, she nodded. "Err... yeah."

"We better finish it then, so you can impress me," he said with a wry grin.

Dana giggled and kissed him on the cheek. "Okay!"

She picked up the holo-viewer and separated out the list of components, her nimble fingers flying over the interface, as she concealed the end result of the project. After nodding with satisfaction, she handed him the tablet.

"Here you go... I need one of everything on that list. If you want to be super-helpful, there's a second section; I need a dozen copies of all those parts too."

John glanced over the various shapes she'd requested, taking note of the precise measurements. "I'll get right on it," he murmured, walking over to the ore crates while studying the schematics. "How many times do you need this shaped?"

Dana leaned back against her workbench and watched him gathering materials. "As tough as you can make it without straining yourself."

"How about twenty-shaped?" he muttered, concentrating on the psychic manipulation. "Is that okay?"

"Perfect," she said quietly, studying him with a pensive frown.

John fell into the soothing repetition of shaping Crystal Alyssium over and over again, strengthening the crystal lattice every time he forced it into a new shape. After reaching the nineteenth iteration, he propped the holo-viewer on a nearby ore crate and started working his way down the list, creating the required parts. One of the curved pieces made him pause, especially when he reached the next item on the list. He floated the two matching parts together in the air and formed a perky metallic bust, the curves suggestive and pleasing to the eye without being outright pornographic.

"Sparks, I seem to recall us having a conversation about this..." he said, raising an eyebrow as he studied the synthetic cleavage.

"Yep. I said I'd have a chat with Little One and sort out the details for her new chassis. We did and she liked my design..." the redhead said with a playful ring to her voice.

"Of course she did," John said with a wry chuckle, shaking his head in resignation. "I take it the second set of parts makes the rest of the cleaning bots equally well endowed?"

Someone hugged him from behind, pressing an even larger pair of wonderfully soft breasts into his back. "You can't really blame them for wanting a set like that, they do look quite lovely."

"Oh, hey Rachel," he said in surprise, recognising her charming, well-spoken voice. He glanced over his shoulder to look at the brunette. "I didn't hear you come in."

"Hello, John," she said, standing on tiptoe to greet him with a tender kiss. "You were so engrossed in your work, I thought I'd sneak up on you... but you don't jump out of your skin like Sparks does."

"That's because it was a very pleasant surprise," he said, turning to face her and placing his hands on her hips. "I hear you've been working on creating samples of your cures."

She nodded, her sharp grey eyes studying him intently. "I'd nearly finished when Alyssa contacted me. She said that Dana was worried about you and asking for my professional assistance. Apparently, the way you saw through their cunning subterfuge 'freaked her out', so I'm here to assess why you're being more perceptive than usual."

"Hey!" Dana protested from across the workshop. "That's not what I said!"

John grinned and ignored her objection. "More perceptive than usual? I'm deeply offended, Sparks."

Dana pouted at her girlfriend. "Just wait... I'll get you back!"

Rachel nodded but kept her focus on John. "It must have been awful to see Alyssa react that badly in the shuttle; is that what's troubling you?" she asked, her voice gentle and sympathetic. "Or was it discovering the true nature of the black metal that you're finding unsettling?"

He looked at Rachel in surprise when she abruptly shifted the conversation topic, then turned to frown at Dana. The redhead had her back to him now and was intently focused on her workbench, finding the device there incredibly fascinating.

Grasping his hand, Rachel tugged him towards the door. "Let's go sit down in Medical and have a chat. There's a distressing lack of chairs in the Engineering Bay..."

"Don't you need a therapist's couch?" he asked, smiling as he followed her across the workshop.

"We could make do with one of the hospital beds?" she suggested, a twinkle in her eyes.

"Sounds good, Doctor," he agreed, playing along.

They left Engineering and walked the short distance to Medical, where Rachel opened the door and ushered him inside.

Instead of sitting in the chairs, she guided him to one of the beds and patted the pristine white sheet. "Okay, hop on."

He smiled, thinking she was just joking, but she shook her head and patted the bed more insistently.

Too weary to object, John lay down on the bed and gave the brunette a pained smile. "Please don't ask me to tell you about my mother..."

Rachel paused, her eyes flashing with a flicker of emotion. "Don't worry, I won't ask you about Jessica."

"What is it?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

The brunette leaned down and gave him a gentle kiss, her lips soft and warm as they pressed against his. John relaxed and cradled her in his arms, his hand lightly cupping her head as he returned the kiss. It was a wonderfully languid and unhurried moment, the kind of comfortable intimacy shared between two lovers with a very long history together.

John let out a contented sigh when she ended the kiss. "I like your approach to therapy, Doctor."

Rachel sat on the bed beside him and stroked his hair. "I enjoyed it too," she said fondly. "Very much."

"You were right earlier... about Alyssa and the black metal," John admitted, looking up at her. He could sense that his blonde matriarch had finally fallen asleep, so he felt free to be more candid than usual. "I've never seen Alyssa so disturbed before... whatever she can feel from the black metal must be truly horrific."

"I saw her react in a similar way to the psychic echoes on the Legacy," Rachel confided, her brow furrowing at the distressing memory. "She's normally so confident and composed... it was shocking to see her fall apart like that."

"Thank god we didn't keep the dreadnought," John muttered, shaking his head at the thought. "Imagine how she would've reacted if she'd been trapped inside that monstrosity."

Rachel gazed at him in silence for a long moment, indecision flickering in that penetrating grey stare. "Yes... it was fortunate you gave that ship to your father. He is accustomed to those vessels."

He nodded, his thoughts automatically turning to Rahn'hagon. Like pieces of a dreadful puzzle, the disturbing revelations about the black metal interlocked with John's knowledge of his father's past and the snippets of conversation they'd had together. Rahn'hagon was very familiar with Progenitor dreadnoughts, having constructed his own, along with a vast fleet of thrall ships for the Randarai Empire... sacrificing untold millions of thralls in the gruesome, agonising process. Recognising that simple fact was horrifying enough, but John's eyes grew wide as he recalled Rahn'hagon's expectation that he would follow in his father's footsteps.

"He wanted me to do that to the Maliri!" he blurted out in shocked disbelief.

Watching the emotions play out over his features, Rachel looked at John with sympathy as he made all the connections and his face twisted with revulsion. "I'm sorry, John."

"You already knew!" he exclaimed incredulously, then sagged on the bed. "Of course you did... you must have figured it out straight away."

Rachel nodded, her fingers lightly brushing through his hair. "You were too upset earlier to talk about it. I normally would have let you make the connection yourself, then discussed it with you at the appropriate time... but we have guests joining us shortly."

"This wasn't something in my father's distant past," John muttered, looking appalled. "He expected me to brutally murder millions of Maliri... and actually had the gall to be furious that I hadn't!"

The brunette didn't reply, she just caressed him and listened.

"I actually liked him!" John exclaimed, his lip curling with disgust. "I thought he'd changed... that maybe the years of solitude had made him regret what he'd done... but he's still the cruel monster he's always been!"

After a moment's hesitation, Rachel said quietly, "Actually... I think your instincts about your father were correct."

John looked up at her incredulously. "You can't be serious! The man's a murderous psychopath!"

"Your father is not a normal man, he's a Progenitor, who was forced to wage genocidal wars for millennia," she clarified, her grey eyes watching him intently. "Rahn'hagon has lived for over twenty-thousand years... and his perspective is very different from our own."

"How can you defend him after everything he's done?" John asked, his eyes blazing with anger. "I should have killed that sick bastard when I had the chance!"

"I'm not defending him, just telling you what you already know," she said, her expression neutral. "Rahn'hagon has changed since he broke free from Xar'aziuth's control... but his primary motivation is now to stop Xar'aziuth at any cost. When you're facing a god-like monstrosity that's overseen the deaths of trillions... perhaps the deaths of millions is a sacrifice he's prepared to make."

"Well I'm not!" John snarled, jerking upright in the bed. "What kind of sadistic freak feeds women who love him into some nightmare machine that sucks out their soul?! Progenitors are a fucking blight on the galaxy! I'm going to destroy every last one of those vicious bastards!"

Rachel looked directly into his eyes, her demeanour calm and unruffled in the face of his fury. "And are you still worried that you might turn out to be like other Progenitors?"

"No, of course I'm not!" he said indignantly. He paused and looked at her in surprise, then continued in a quiet murmur, "Don't be ridiculous..."

"I try not to be," she said with a gentle smile.

John wrapped her up in a fierce hug, squeezing her tight. "Thank you."

Rachel returned his embrace, revelling in the warm feelings it invoked.

"You're amazing," he whispered in her ear. "How do you turn something so horrific into an epiphany that makes me feel better about myself?"

She didn't reply right away, but when she did, there was a hint of trepidation to her voice. "Please don't ask me that..."

Pulling back, he looked at her with concern. "Why not? What's wrong?"

The brunette had trouble meeting his gaze. "Because I'm worried you'll think I'm manipulating you. I know you so well, I can usually predict how you're going to react to points I make. By making the association between your father and a Progenitor dreadnought, I knew you'd make the connection with the black metal. You naturally responded with horror and outrage, which I was able to deflect into the realisation that you could never be like the other Progenitors... addressing a long-standing worry of yours."

"Intelligence... the double-edged sword," he said with sympathy, remembering the phrase she'd used in a prior conversation. "Did you predict that I'd react to your confession with respect and admiration, or were you worried I'd be horrified?"

"Unfortunately, I'm not infallible," she replied, with a cautious smile. "But whatever the outcome, I wanted you to know that I'll always act with your best interests at heart. I'll never try to manipulate you into something you don't want to do... only try to look after your emotional wellbeing."

"You don't need to try to justify yourself, honey," he said, stroking her back. "I'd never expect anything less than the purest of motives from the Angel of Terra. I'm incredibly lucky to have such an intelligent and caring girl like you on my side."

Rachel sighed with relief and snuggled into his embrace, the tension gone from her shoulders. "I never thought I'd meet someone like you. I always thought I'd have to hide my intellect in case I intimidated the man I was with... but you're not like that at all. It's so wonderfully liberating being with you and you keep proving yourself time after time."

John kissed her cheek. "Intelligence... the potent aphrodisiac."

She laughed, her shoulders shaking with amusement. "Really?"

"Of course! You and Dana are prime breeding stock... I'm expecting incredibly gifted children from the pair of you," he said, his tone light-hearted, but his words sincere.

The brunette moaned as she pressed herself against him. "Oh, don't turn me on like that... we haven't got time."

"How about tonight?" he asked, brushing his thumb across her cheek. "With Dana, or on your own... the choice is yours, my lovely beautiful genius."

"Dana would never forgive me if I didn't include her..." she murmured, her grey eyes hooded with lust.

"I spent an entire day in bed with her just last week," he said with a grin. "I love that flame-haired vixen, but I think it'll do Dana some good to watch her girlfriend getting straightened out for a change."

"I don't need any more convincing," Rachel said with a gleeful smile of anticipation. "Tonight then..."

"I'll look forward to it."

John slid off the bed and walked hand-in-hand with the overjoyed brunette back to the Engineering Bay.

Dana looked up when they entered the Workshop, her curious gaze brightening when she saw their happy expressions. "You two had a good chat then?"

"Mmm... it was wonderful!" Rachel gushed, kissing John on the cheek.

"Hey, wait a minute..." the redhead said, her eyes narrowing with suspicion as she studied her girlfriend. "What are you so giddy about? I thought you were supposed to be focusing on perking him up?"

"She really did, Sparks," John replied, putting his arm around the brunette. "So I'm planning on rewarding her tonight to show how grateful I am."

"John gave me the choice of being alone with him... or have a threesome," Rachel purred, flashing a suggestive smile at her lover.

"Oh, fuck yeah!" Dana exclaimed, her face lighting up with glee.

"The thought of being with the two of you was such a turn on," Rachel murmured, running her fingers over John's chest. She turned to grin at the redhead. "But then I remembered you hogged him all to yourself for 24 hours!"

Dana gaped at her incredulously. "Hey!"

The brunette shrugged. "He already knows he owns your sexy ass, so tonight it's my turn. You can lick his quad as he dominates me if you like?"

"You're being mean," Dana pouted.

"Uh uh, no pouting," Rachel teased her. "Otherwise you can't eat me out afterwards..."

Dana's shoulders slumped in defeat and she plastered a beaming smile on her face. "I'm so happy for you!"

"That's the spirit, babes," Rachel said with a laugh, walking over to give her girlfriend a hug.

John took a detour to pick up the holo-viewer on his way to join them. "Sorry Sparks... Rachel needed some TLC."

"Nah, it's okay... I deserve it," Dana said with a rueful smile. "I should have included her when we had our day together, but I got greedy."

He put the tablet down on her workbench, then wrapped his arms around both girls. "Actually, I'm glad we got that time alone, just like I'm looking forward to being with Rachel. Threesomes with the two of you are amazing, but the dynamic is very different to being with either of you on your own."

"Yeah, I know," Dana admitted, her smile softening as she looked at John. "When the three of us are in bed, you like seeing how much me and Rach love each other... and being included in that. When it's just us two, you make me think about our future together, being your loving wife and having your kids... and I need both."

"I couldn't agree more," Rachel murmured, kissing her girlfriend affectionately on the cheek.

Dana gave John an impish grin, then returned the brunette's kiss, the two gorgeous girls quickly getting into the passionate liplock.

"Now who's being mean," John groaned, staring in fascination as they French-kissed and pressed their nubile bodies together.

When they parted from each other, Rachel smiled at her fiancé, her grey eyes sparkling. "John, I think Dana's learned an important lesson about sharing... and we did have that amazing biker date together on Arcadia. Is it alright if I change my mind on the threesome?"

"I'm sure I can accommodate you there," he replied with a chuckle.

"Awesome!" Dana gushed, her beaming grin quite genuine this time. "Thanks, babes!"

John released the pair and reached for the holo-viewer, then spotted the device his Chief Engineer had been working on. "Is there a problem with the Psi-detector, Sparks?"

Dana shook her head and flipped the panel shut on the scanner's side. "Nah, it's fine. I just made some tweaks to increase the sensitivity, like adding an eternity crystal to the scanning modulator."

"I assume this has something to do with the tests on the black metal?" he asked, holding his hand out towards the block of Crystal Alyssium he was using earlier and starting work on the second list of parts.

She nodded, picking up the stylised quasi-futuristic ray gun. "I studied those samples I picked up on the shuttle, but I haven't been able to find out anything new about the composition of the alloy. Helene really mangled the atomic structure when she did her emotion sharing bit, so I figured if psychic powers can fuck that metal up, it might be worth taking a look with the Psi-detector."

Rachel studied the three floating platforms that hovered above the workbench, a different colour sample of the metal on each one. The first was all black, the second streaked with white, and the last as pristine as driven snow.

The brunette hesitated for a moment, then picked up the onyx fragment and rotated it with her fingertips. "It's so strange... I feel nothing when I touch Progenitor metal, but it has such an adverse effect on Alyssa. Do you think it's because she's so gifted at telepathy?"

Dana considered that for a moment. "It's a good theory. The rest of us can't do it, except for chatting with Alyssa... but that's all to do with our bond."

"That's not entirely true," John corrected her. "The twins can hear each other's thoughts... and the Nymphs are all telepathic."

*Actually, my ability to read minds is confined solely to you, Master,* Jade interjected. *I've also never been sensitive to the psychic echoes that Alyssa sees so frequently.*

*Ah okay. Thanks for the clarification, honey.*

Rachel and Dana were both looking at John now, having noticed the distracted look in his eyes.

"Jade says her telepathy only works on me and she can't see psychic echoes," he explained, finding it strange having to repeat a conversation that Alyssa would normally share with the girls.

The tawny-haired girl put the metal back on the platform. "The twins have never shown any sign of distress in the metal's proximity either. Perhaps they simply lack the telepathic strength?"

Dana shrugged. "Well, we're not going to figure it out by guessing. Let's take a look with the Psi-detector!"

She pointed the device at the piece of black Progenitor metal and squinted at the viewer. "Nothing so far... let me crank up the sensitivity."

Tapping a new icon on the interface, she stared intently at the display, looking for any changes.

"Still nothing?" John asked the frustrated redhead. When Dana shook her head, he gave her a comforting pat on the shoulder. "Oh well, it was a nice idea."

"Holy shit!" Dana suddenly blurted out, taking an involuntary step back from the metal.

John and Rachel hurried to her side to take a look for themselves. Dana was still pointing the Psi-detector at the chunk of black metal, keeping it centred squarely in the holo-display. With the sensitivity of the device greatly enhanced, they could now see a disturbing shadowy aura around the jagged object, even the sight of it sending cold shivers running down their spines.

Rachel's eyes widened in fright as she stared at her fingertips. "I just touched that!"

"Hold still!" Dana said sharply, swinging the Psi-detector around and pointing it at the brunette's hand.

There was a blinding flash of grey light and a piercing crack pierced the air.

"Fuck!" the redhead cursed, dropping the Psi-detector as she rubbed at her eyes.

John had been looking at the display as well and suppressed an instinctive surge of panic as his vision disappeared in a grey blur. He drew on his energy reserves to heal his eyesight, shapes and colours rapidly coalescing before him as his retinas recovered. The bewildering kaleidoscope reverted to the reassuring view of the girls standing in front of him and he sighed with relief.

"Just a few more seconds," Rachel murmured, her hand on Dana's temple as she swathed the redhead in a healing aura.

Dana blinked a couple of times as her eyesight was restored, then crouched to pick up the Psi-detector. "I'm so sorry about that," she said, flushing with embarrassment.

"What the hell happened?" John asked, giving her back a reassuring rub.

"Apparently Rachel's so charged up with psychic power, she overloaded the detector," she replied, flipping open the access panel on the side of the ray gun. "Yeah... that blew out the Eternity Crystal."

She held out her hand and tipped over the Psi-detector, letting tiny crystal shards tinkle down onto her flattened palm. A faint but unpleasant ozone smell also filled the air.

"Ah, shit," Dana cursed, frowning in irritation. "Looks like the modulator got burned out too."

"Can you fix it?" John asked, still curious to see what else they could discover.

The redhead nodded. "Yeah, of course, but I'll need to run the Mass Fabricators and make all the parts I need to replace the scanning modulator. Give me half-an-hour?"

He shook his head. "No, not like that. Can you fix it?"

She caught the added emphasis this time, realising what he was asking her. "Um... I'm not sure."

"You managed to repair the Invictus," John reminded her, before gesturing towards the Psi-detector and giving her an encouraging smile. "Why not give it a try?"

Dana closed her eyes for a moment and when she reopened them, they were glowing with an inner golden light. She peered into the fried circuits, seeing the charred mess the burnout had left behind. Pushing out with her willpower, it felt like the Psi-detector had been shoved in a fire, its body scorched and blackened... except she was looking at sophisticated electronics instead of delicate flesh. She carefully rebuilt broken circuitry, reversing the damage done to each component until she had restored the device.

"I did it!" she exclaimed, looking at the Psi-detector in astonished glee.

"Nice work, honey," he said patting her on the shoulder. "Ready to try again?"

"One second... I just need to replace the focusing crystal!"

She opened up a shallow tray on her workbench and plucked out a tiny Eternity Crystal no larger than a marble. Clicking it into place, she powered up the display again, then grinned triumphantly when it flickered to life.

"Okay, let me just turn the sensitivity way down and I'll take another look at your hand, Rach," Dana said, adjusting the settings.

The brunette waved her away. "No, that's not necessary. I just panicked earlier and wasn't thinking rationally; we all wore suits of black metal and never suffered any side-effects. Besides, how would you be able to search for a faint black aura if the Psi-Detector shatters when you point it at me?"

Dana nodded, giving John a rueful smile. "She's right; there's no way I'll be able to see anything."

"It was interesting to discover that I'm charged with so much psychic energy now," Rachel mused, looking thoughtful. "Could you lower the sensitivity so that it won't burn out again? I'd like to see something..."

After making the adjustments, Dana handed her the device. "That should do it."

Rachel nodded, then slowly swung the ray gun around so that it was pointing towards her girlfriend. They could all see the radiant golden glow that shone over the brunette's inquisitive face, reflected from the brilliant aura swathing the perky engineer.

"That's so awesome," Dana said with a grin of delight. "I'm solid gold, babes!"

"You certainly are," Rachel agreed with a fond smile. She raised an eyebrow and glanced at John.

"Go ahead... satisfy your curiosity," he said, looking away as he knew what was coming. "I had no aura last time we checked, but I've learned how to control my mental defences since then."

He closed his eyes and dropped his mental barrier, leaving his mind unshielded while Rachel scanned him. The shocked silence from the two girls spoke volumes.

He let out a melancholy sigh. "Let me guess... my aura's black as tar, right?"

"You're bright blue!" Dana blurted out, wrapping her arms around his waist and hugging him tight.

Rachel joined their embrace and gave him a celebratory kiss on the cheek. "See, I told you! You're nothing like the other Progenitors!"

"Really?" he asked in astonishment, his eyes snapping open. John grinned at the pair in delight. "What did it look like exactly?"

"Do you remember the Young Matriarchs blushing a lovely dark blue after you got them pregnant?" Rachel replied with an indulgent smile. "The colour of your aura was beautiful, just like that."

"Yeah, totally!" Dana replied, nodding eagerly. "Knocked-up Maliri blue!"

He looked at the pair sceptically, then laughed and shook his head. "You two almost had me going for a moment."

"Hold out your hand," Rachel insisted, her grey eyes sparkling with excitement.

John did as she asked, then watched as a dazzling deep blue lit up the Psi-detector's holo-screen. Even on the barest minimum setting, it was hard to look at the display because the intensity was so blindingly bright. Squinting against the glare... he blinked in amazement as he realised how apt Rachel's description had been. The colour reminded him of Tsarra Perfaren's enchanting complexion, her azure skin flushed with arousal after a euphoric climax... when he'd fathered his first child with the beautiful Maliri matriarch.

"Well, I'll be damned," he muttered, staring at the lustrous blue in awe.

"Quite clearly you haven't been," Rachel said with a grin, switching off the Psi-detector and dousing the brilliant radiance.

*How prophetic, my Lord,* Edraele gushed, no mistaking the joy in her voice. *I look forward to you showing me frequent reminders of that lovely colour as often as possible. I'm sure Kali will be more than delighted to help in just a few days' time...*

He swallowed at the thought of the sweet-natured Maliri beauty gazing up at him, a look of wonder in her big doe-eyes. *I can't wait, Edraele...*

"You look so relieved," Rachel said with sympathy, gently running her fingers through his hair. "Were you really so certain that you'd have some ominous and forbidding psychic aura?"

"What happened to 'plan for the worst, hope for the best'?" Dana asked with a disapproving frown.

John gave them a self-conscious shrug. "I guess my sense of blind optimism has taken a few knocks recently."

"Well I never doubted you for a moment," Dana declared, her sky-blue eyes twinkling. "You're like a super-good, good guy... I don't even know why you'd think you were a bad guy."

Rachel gave him a tender kiss on the cheek. "It was nice to confirm what I already knew."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, girls," he said, feeling a surge of affection for the pair.

Dana kissed him on the tip of the nose. "Now... do you want us to spend the next half-hour inflating your ego, or should we check out the rest of the metal fragments?"

"I think we'll save inflating things for tonight," he replied with a wry smile. "Let's take a look at the samples."

She nodded eagerly, then pointed the Psi-detector at the chunk of bleached-white Progenitor metal. The device was set on minimum sensitivity, so she had to increase the scanner's reactivity to psychic auras. It took a few seconds to make the adjustments, then they all saw a faint hint of blueish-green light swathing the broken fragment.

"It's teal, just like Helene's skin tone..." Rachel murmured, staring at the soothing pastel shade in fascination. "I wonder why it isn't blue like her eyes? The gold from Dana's aura matches the coronas around her pupils and my grey is an exact match to my own irises."

"Are you sure yours isn't grey because you're a shady lady?" the redhead teased her, playfully nudging Rachel with an elbow.

The brunette raised an eyebrow. "Is that right, John? Did you make my aura grey because you see me as a woman of loose morals?"

"Oh, you're definitely a bewitching seductress," he replied, sharing a smile with her. "But I'm pretty sure it's linked to eye colour."

"That doesn't explain Helene's teal though?" Rachel persisted, gesturing towards the glowing aura.

"Nah, it's obvious," Dana said with a dismissive shrug. "He already picked blue for himself... he wanted something unique for Helene."

John laughed and shook his head. "I don't think it works quite like that, Sparks."

"Actually, I strongly suspect that it does," Rachel said, focusing her speculative gaze on him. "Don't forget that Helene had no psychic talent whatsoever, until you gifted her with a third helix and packed her genetic code with empathic abilities. Would it have made sense to allocate blue to Helene, when Alyssa and Dana also have blue eyes?"

He looked startled for a moment, then nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, you're probably right." Pausing for a moment, he frowned as he continued, "But what about Alyssa's aura? Her psychic attacks and hex shields are pure-white rather than blue."

The brunette considered that for a moment, then smiled. "She does have a rather uncompromising outlook towards the adversaries we've faced and the utmost confidence in the righteousness of our cause. You'd have to have a staunch belief in your own virtue to take that kind of stance... at least without being a hypocrite and I'd never accuse Alyssa of that."

"Yeah, but she didn't pick the colour..." Dana reminded them, giving John a fond smile. "Maybe it's not Alyssa who sees herself that way?"

John coughed and looked embarrassed. "Perhaps we should check out the last sample..."

Dana nodded and pointed the Psi-detector at the final hunk of metal, the surface of which was still predominately black, but riven through with streaks of white. Viewing the object through the scanner's holographic display, they could clearly see the teal psychic lines cutting savage gouges through the murky black aura.

"Let me just zoom this in a bit," Dana muttered, bringing the detector closer and activating the magnification functionality on the floating display.

The image zoomed in dramatically, focused on the fault-lines that had shattered the bed frame. Rather than a neat separation between the two colours, it looked like the darkness was recoiling from Helene's psychic intrusion, visibly cringing away from her bright presence.

Dana gaped at the startling sight. "Holy shit! What the fuck's going on there?!"

Rachel stared intently at the conflicting auras, her mind whirring as she stood deep in thought.

John didn't answer either. His expression was troubled as he remembered the way Xar'aziuth had reacted with revulsion to the psychic energy he'd blasted into the deep Astral.

"What's up with the stony silence?" Dana asked her companions, lowering the Psi-detector and turning to look at them both. "Did you figure something out?"

"Helene was using her empathic ability to share my feelings with the twins," John quietly replied. "If Alyssa's right about how black Progenitor metal is created in a soul forge, the two psychic auras couldn't be more different from each other. I think that's why they're reacting like oil and water."

Rachel nodded her agreement, looking into John's eyes. "Helene's love and kindness is the complete antithesis of Xar'aziuth's hatred and cruelty. When you told us what happened on the Astral Plane, I did wonder if there might be positive and negative psychic energy; it would explain the nauseating effect the opposing types had on both you and Xar'aziuth."

Dana let out a low whistle as she looked at the metal in the Psi-detector again. "So why is Helene's love aura kicking the shit out of all that creepy darkness? Is it because the four of you were in the middle of a loved-up orgy and she basically overpowered it?"

John and Rachel shared a look, then both nodded in agreement.

"That's amazing!" Dana gushed, her eyes bright with excitement. "So the next time we need to breach a Progenitor dreadnought's hull, you and Helene can go over there and hump your way through the armour plating!"

John laughed and rolled his eyes. "Sparks..."

"I thought I'd lighten the mood," she replied with a cheeky grin. "Hey wait a minute... I was just joking, but would that actually be possible?"

John looked at her askance. "Seriously?"

"Well she totally wrecked the bed..." Dana replied, her gaze returning to the streaked metal. "So what do you reckon?"

"Well firstly, I wouldn't want to expose Helene to that kind of danger," John replied firmly. "But even if I did go along with it, how could we get intimate in space?"

"Dock with the Raptor and fuck her in the airlock?" Dana suggested. "You'd be less than a foot from the armour plating."

"Okay, I suppose that would be close enough..." he reluctantly conceded. "But how do we even know that the black metal in the bed frame is the same as the armour in a dreadnought's hull?"

"Now that's a good point," Dana said, tapping a finger on her chin. "The metal in thrall ships is nowhere near as tough as the plating on a Progenitor dreadnought, so it makes sense that the metal in that bed frame was lower quality." She grimaced and added, "Maybe there's variations in the... forging process."

"Have you got any metal samples from Larn'kelnar's ship?" John asked the redhead.

"Oh yeah, we do!" she exclaimed, nodding exuberantly. "Do you remember that sceptre thing that asshole was using? Tashana swiped it before we left!"

"Good thinking. Larn'kelnar's personal gear would definitely be built out of the best quality metal," he agreed, giving her an approving smile. "We need to take a look."

"I've got it stashed over here!" she said, hurrying across the Engineering Bay to the rows of storage crates.

Before John could say anything else, his watch chimed, alerting him that it was 8:30 pm and they'd soon be arriving at the Terran fleet.

"Sorry, Sparks," he said with a frown. "I need to meet with Calara before we rendezvous with the Terran fleet. Can you do a comparison and let me know what you find out?"

"Sure thing," Dana agreed, skidding to a halt. She bounded back to give him a parting hug. "Thanks for coming down here. It was great spending time with you... and we found out a shitload of new info!"

Rachel nodded, giving him a warm smile. "It certainly was an evening full of revelations."

He hugged them both enthusiastically. "You're both awesome. I'll see you later tonight... unless you're joining me to welcome Jack and Mateo aboard?"

The two girls exchanged a glance, then Dana replied, "Alyssa asked us to wake her up just before we arrive. She's going to have a chat with Calara and decide who should be there."

"I think they're concerned about unsettling Calara's father if the entire crew greets them," Rachel explained. "Jack's aware that his daughter is part of a harem... but meeting all thirteen of us at once would be quite overwhelming."

John shrugged amiably. "That makes sense. I get overwhelmed and I'm supposed to be in charge."

Dana and Rachel laughed, then blew kisses at him as he waved goodbye and left the Engineering Bay.

Not wanting to disturb Alyssa, who was still fast asleep, he spoke to his Nymph matriarch instead. *Jade, is Calara still on the Combat Bridge?*

*Yes, she's training Neysa at the moment.*

*Thanks, honey,* he replied, stepping into the blue side of the grav-tube.

After ascending to Deck Two, he strode purposefully down the corridor, then crossed his old bedroom to the express grav-tubes. Dropping like a stone in the rapid anti-gravity field, he walked out into the Armoury and down the ramp onto the Combat Bridge. The girl he was looking for was leaning over the Tactical Station, Calara's hands mimicking a rolling ship as she shared her gunnery expertise with the enraptured catgirl.

"That's right, you're getting it... but you need to get a feel of where your target is flying, then try to anticipate its turns and rolls. Soon it becomes second nature and instead of just blazing away as soon as your gun batteries have cooled down, you can time your shots with more precision and greatly increase their lethality. Striking an already damaged section of the hull can be devastating, especially if the shot penetrates armour to wreak havoc inside the superstructure."

"What if the Tachyon Lances are powerful enough to pierce their armour with a single shot?" Neysa asked, her furry ears twitching as she listened attentively.

"Then you blaze away as soon as the gun batteries have cooled down," Calara replied with a smile. "We'll probably be facing the Brimorians next, but I still want you to train as if you're preparing to fight Thrall ships. Carving through their armour plating is going to be hard work and we'll need to make every shot count."

"Thank you for the advice," the jaguar-spotted Nymph said earnestly. "Can you restart the gunnery simulation? I'd like to try again."

Calara nodded and tapped a couple of icons on the Tactical Interface. "There you go. Good luck!"

"How's the training going?" John asked, walking over to join them.

"She's doing brilliantly!" Calara gushed, beaming at her student. "I'm really proud of you, Neysa. You've been working hard and making excellent progress."

Neysa looked up at John and blushed. "This one has just been trying to follow your mate's instructions, Master. I must admit, I still don't understand how Calara can fire so many weapons so rapidly and still maintain such incredible accuracy."

"Me neither," he admitted, ruffling her pointed ears. "But if you've impressed Calara, then you must have been doing great. Learning these skills is very important, Neysa... and I really appreciate all the effort you're putting in."

The Nymph was delighted by his warm praise and she rubbed against his hand, the tips of her furry ears quivering with barely-suppressed excitement.

Turning to Calara, John slipped his hand around her waist. "Is this a good time to borrow you for a few minutes? I wanted to have a chat before we meet your family."

"Your timing's perfect. Neysa was just about to restart her training simulation," the Latina replied, patting her student on the shoulder. "Why don't we head up to my quarters?"

"Sounds good," John agreed, taking her hand.

As they walked away, he glanced over at the Pilot's Station, where Jade was watching her Nymph student weave a simulated Invictus through a dense asteroid belt. When she looked his way, Betrixa turned to give John a mischievous grin and wiggled her fingertips in his direction. Behind her, the Invictus veered out of control and crashed headlong into a massive chunk of rock, setting off warning alarms throughout the Bridge. The blonde catgirl winced and gave Jade an apologetic smile as she returned her attention to the holographic catastrophe.

Rolling her eyes affectionately at her Nymph sister, Jade hit a couple of icons and reset the piloting simulation. "So what did we learn there, Betrixa?"

"That I should ask you to grab the flight stick when this one needs to flirt with our handsome master?" she replied, her serious tone reflecting her sincerity.

"Close enough," Jade said, laughing lightly. "Now concentrate this time..."

*It sounds like Betrixa's training isn't going so well,* John noted, making fleeting eye-contact with his third matriarch.

*Actually, Betrixa has superb reflexes and excellent hand-eye coordination, so she's going to be a gifted pilot,* Jade replied, sounding proud of her sister. *However, she's also quite feisty... which makes her a somewhat challenging student. I'm confident that with another week or two of training, she'll be better than any pilot in the Terran Federation Navy.*

*It's great to hear she's doing so well. I'm sorry her personality makes her a bit difficult to train, I guess I'm responsible for that.*

*There's no need to apologise. Her unpredictability and playfulness makes her an exciting lover... and pleasing you sexually is a Nymph's most important role,* Jade purred, a seductive gleam in her feline eyes. *Even if the war with the Progenitors drags on for centuries, Betrixa will need to keep you entertained in the bedroom for millennia to come...*

*Centuries?* John asked, shocked at the thought. *Do you really think we'll be fighting that long?*

*I honestly don't know,* she admitted. *But my sisters and I will always be at your side.*

*That's good to hear,* he murmured, accompanying Calara up the ramp.

They took the express grav-tubes up to their old bedroom, then walked through it to reach Calara's quarters. She hit the button to open the door and glanced at John out of the corner of her eye.

"You seem very distracted all of a sudden," she noted, pausing before entering her quarters. "Is something bothering you?"

"Just something Jade said..." John replied, shaking off his pensive thoughts. "Don't worry about it."

Calara raised an eyebrow, then dragged him into the room and pushed him onto the bed. John laughed and sprawled back on the covers, his hands moving instinctively to the Latina's slender waist when she straddled him.

"Tell me!" she insisted, a playful glint in her dark brown eyes. "Otherwise I won't say a word about what's been on my mind recently; and yes, I know Alyssa sent you to speak with me about it... the two of you are so predictable!"

He smiled and pulled her down onto his chest. "I have to go first?"

"Otherwise my lips are sealed," she replied with a hint of a coy smile, leaning down to give him a chaste kiss.

"That would be tragic," he said sincerely, slipping his hand between them and gently caressing her stomach.

The smouldering look of desire in her eyes was easy to see, as was the determination not to back down.

"Jade was talking about the Progenitor War lasting for centuries," John explained, looking up at her for a reaction. "Part of me was still hanging on to Alyssa's timeline... and it was a nasty shock."

"Kill all the bad guys in the next few months, so she can have your baby while she's still a teenager?" Calara asked, giving him a knowing look. "That timeline?"

"Alright, I know it's totally irrational... but we've spent the last 6 months pulling off miraculous victories against all the odds. I just can't even imagine some drawn out battle of attrition that lasts for centuries... the thought of millions of Maliri casualties just fills me with dread."

"It won't take centuries to finish this," Calara declared, certainty in her eyes. "And we're definitely not facing a protracted war of attrition."

"You're feeling that confident we can win?" he asked, brushing her lustrous chestnut hair away from her face.

She hesitated and shook her head. "We're massively outnumbered, John. If we get dragged into a conventional war, defending the Maliri borders from coordinated attacks by multiple Progenitors, it's already over. My guess is that Xar'aziuth doesn't know exactly what he's facing or precisely where we are... if he did, we'd be up to our ears in Thrall fleets already."

"You're not inspiring me much here... but I can't believe for one moment that you've given up hope of winning," he said with certainty.

She shook her head again, this time with a wicked smile. "I didn't say that either. For all his faults, Rahn'hagon did have the right idea about this upcoming war. We won't be fighting by Progenitor rules... you can count on that."

He relaxed, placing well-founded trust in her tactical and strategic mastery. "I think they're in for a bunch of surprises."

"This is going to get brutal and bloody... but it's going to be over with quickly either way. We cut the heads off the Progenitor snakes with a series of tactical strikes... or get crushed under an onslaught of Thrall fleets the likes of which the galaxy has never seen," Calara said ominously, her expression a curious mix of anticipation and trepidation.

"I feel sorry for the poor girl responsible for waging that war," John said with sympathy, stroking her cheek as he looked up into her eyes. "Is that what's been worrying you recently?"

"Actually... no, not at all," she replied, tilting her head to one side as she considered her feelings. "I know it sounds utterly insane, but I'm actually looking forward to this campaign. You've been preparing me to fight this war since the day I joined you and all I can think about recently is procuring fleet assets, preparing our defences, and planning our offensives."

He looked at her in surprise, then felt an overpowering surge of guilt. "I'm so sorry I did that to you."

"Don't be," she said earnestly. "I'm not... I promise."

"You don't feel even the slightest bit of resentment at having the fate of the galaxy resting on your shoulders?" he asked, far from convinced. "You're only eighteen, Calara! I still can't believe I put you in this position."

"I actually feel flattered," she said with a wry smile. "You're a very capable tactician in your own right... but you've spent months carefully preparing me to lead our fleets. I know we'll be working closely together to come up with some devious stratagems and I wouldn't want it any other way. I just hope I don't let you down."

"I honestly don't know whether I should feel relieved or appalled," he admitted, looking up at her with chagrin.

"If you had a medical emergency, would you go to anyone other than Rachel?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. "This is no different; you're simply relying on my expertise in my specialist field."

John studied her for a long moment, then asked quietly, "So if the prospect of facing millions of bloodthirsty Thralls and dozens of tyrannical Progenitors doesn't faze you, what is troubling you?"

Her face fell and it was quite clear to see she was upset.

"What is it, honey?" he asked, holding her close. "You can tell me."

"It's just that... I keep having to make all these awful moral compromises," she admitted, struggling to meet his concerned gaze. "Like insisting we rush to claim Larn'kelnar's fleets instead of liberating the Abandoned from Brimorian slavery. The thought of using Thrall ships that were made by sacrificing millions of Larathyran woman makes me sick... but we need their firepower... we don't stand a chance without it."

"We're having to make some hard choi-"

Calara cut him off with a kiss, then continued quietly, "I know logically we haven't got any choice... I just don't want you or the girls to think that my heart's made of stone. I'm only telling you what will give us the best chance of victory... not what I actually wish we could do."

John gave her a tender kiss. "I'd never think that of you, honey... I promise. The girls all love you like a sister; they know you're just trying to give me the best advice you can."

She relaxed and it looked like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Really?"

"Definitely. I really appreciate that kind of feedback, especially when it's hard to hear. All of us were agreed that we should finish off the Kirrix, but you strongly disagreed... for very good reasons. In fact, whenever we're all in consensus I'd be tempted to have one of you disagree on principle, just to spark a debate and make us thoroughly examine our options. We're balancing on a knife-edge here and we can't afford to make any mistakes; I'm completely reliant on you and the rest of the girls as my advisors... and I have zero complaints so far."

"You've always really respected my opinion," Calara said, her gaze softening. "It was one of the things I appreciated most when I joined you on the Invictus. When I graduated from the Academy and was posted to Port Heracles, I had Commander Grant leering over me and making lewd comments, so no one took me seriously with that going on. Things improved when I transferred to the Corvette Griffon... but you know how badly that ended."

"Grant got what he deserved... but I'm sorry you had to go through all that."

She smiled and gave him a loving kiss. "You don't know how refreshing it was, having you really listen to me and value what I had to say. I'm sure you can imagine what it was like for me growing up, competing with three older brothers to make myself heard."

"They're all very confident," he said with a sympathetic smile. "That must have been hard."

Calara suddenly sat bolt upright. "Oh damn, I forgot the time! We'll be meeting my dad in just a few minutes and I haven't even decided what I'm going to wear!"

She slid off him and flung open the doors to her wardrobe, then started biting her nail as she studied her outfits.

John could see how stressed she was and walked over to join her, wrapping her up in his arms. "Hey, take it easy, honey. It's just Jack and Mateo... they won't mind what you wear."

The Latina shook her head, her long dark mane brushing his cheek. "No, this is important! The last time I saw my dad, we ended up arguing about you sleeping with all the girls, and I yelled at him about excluding me from sparring. Whatever I wear will change how he treats me... so it has to be perfect!"

He kissed her cheek, then released her. "Okay, what're your options? I'll help you choose."

She flashed him a grateful smile, then her hand darted across to several suit holders. "They'll both be in uniform, so I could match and go with T-Fed greys, or wear my Lioness whites... what do you think?"

"Won't that make him act more formally with you?" John asked, running his fingers over the gold captain epaulets on her white jacket. "Especially if you meet him wearing this... it'll be a reminder that his daughter is a Stellar-Cluster recipient who twice saved Terra from destruction."

"Damn... you're right," she said nervously. "I'm already worried he might see me differently after I showed him my psychic powers."

John nodded his agreement. "So casual it is then. Anything in mind?"

Calara blew out her breath and waved a hand in helpless frustration at the long rail full of skirts, blouses, and dresses. "I've got all this to choose from... but I'm hopeless at picking outfits that match. Maybe I should just wear my uniform after all?"

"What did you usually wear at home?" he asked, turning to look at the pensive brunette.

"What, on Jericho?" she asked in surprise. When John nodded, she reached into the wardrobe and pulled out a pair of combat trousers and a t-shirt. "Basically that..."

"Perfect," he said with a smile.

She paused, touched by the sentiment behind his advice. "Go back to being daddy's little girl?" she asked, her eyes welling up. "Won't that be weird for you? Seeing me so desperate for his approval?"

"He's your father," John said, gently brushing away a tear from her cheek. "I get it..."

Calara hugged him, resting her head against his chest. "I love you so much, John."

He held her close. "I feel the same way about you, honey." He glanced at his watch and frowned. "8:53... we'll be dropping out of hyper-warp soon; you better get changed."

The bedroom door slid open and Alyssa strode inside, her expression filled with affection for her two lovers.

"I couldn't help overhearing," she said, walking over to join them and placing a garment bag on the bed. "I think that was a lovely suggestion, handsome... but tonight won't be the right time for that conversation. Jack will be worrying about Maria and will need to unwind first. Why don't you wear your old style of clothing tomorrow, gorgeous? That's when you'll have a proper opportunity to talk with your father and then you can discuss everything that got dredged up the last time you met."

Calara glanced up at John, seeking his approval.

He chuckled and patted her on the back. "I wouldn't dare to disagree with our resident fashionista. Besides, Alyssa's right. Jack knows we were at war with another Progenitor; I think it's only fair to update him on recent events."

"Thanks... both of you," the Latina said quietly, embracing John and Alyssa.

They shared a smile, then Alyssa glanced at John's rumpled outfit. "Don't worry, I picked out something for you too..."

John laughed and rolled his eyes, then left Alyssa to help Calara get ready. He returned to his old bedroom and spotted the clothes draped over Faye's leather chair in the corner. This was the first time he'd been near the high-backed seat since it had been rescued and he ran his hand over the leather, feeling the natural grain beneath his fingertips.

The leather chair had just been a comfortable piece of furniture until Faye made it her own, the purple sprite sitting there every evening to watch over the crew while they slept. It struck him as a perfect metaphor for Faye; the chair starting life as just a functional object, before being imbued with much greater significance and meaning after being cared for by the people around it.

*We've dropped out of hyper-warp on the outskirts of Sigma Octantis,* Jade warned him. *We'll be docking with the Damocles in three minutes.*

*Thanks, honey,* he replied, shaking off his maudlin thoughts.

John quickly stripped off his clothes and dressed in the slacks and shirt that Alyssa had chosen. He smiled as he slipped on the shoes, appreciating the thought she had put into the selection of clothes. While the trousers were dark blue and the shirt white, the cut reminded him of Terran Federation military dress uniform. He'd look very similar to Jack and Mateo if they removed their formal jackets.

*Well spotted, handsome,* Alyssa said, with a hint of satisfaction.

*I'm on my way,* he told her, fastening up the last of his shirt buttons and striding out of the bedroom.

The girls were leaving Calara's quarters at the same time and he looked at the brunette in surprise. He wasn't sure how Alyssa had managed such a miraculous transformation in seven minutes, but Calara looked casually elegant in a mid-length skirt and blouse. There was no disguising the fact that the Latina was a stunningly attractive woman, but the clothes presented her beauty in an understated way.

"You look lovely," he said, lightly kissing Calara in greeting. "Alyssa got it just right."

She blushed and looked down at her outfit. "Really?"

"When he sees you, Jack's first thought will be pride at having such a beautiful daughter," he replied with a smile. "But you don't look intimidating, you just look naturally gorgeous."

"That's what I was aiming for and she made it easy," Alyssa said, winking at her girlfriend. She slipped her hand into John's. "Come on, we don't want to be late."

John offered his other hand to Calara, then they walked along the corridor to the grav-tube.

"Do you feel better after a rest?" he asked the blonde beside him.

"Oh, so much better, thank you!" she gushed, beaming brightly at him as they stepped into the red anti-gravity field.

"You were only out for two hours," he noted with a wry smile. "If you oversell it, I'm really going to start worrying about you."

Alyssa's melodic laughter echoed around the grav-tube. "Alright, you got me. I admit, I was trying to reassure you that I'm okay... but I am fine, honestly." She made eye-contact with him and continued, "I just don't want to go anywhere near that black metal."

"That's perfectly understandable," he said, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. "Oh, you missed quite a bit of excitement while you were asleep. We found out a lot of new information."

"I know; the girls have been filling me in," she replied with a twinkle in her eyes. "Knocked-up Maliri blue... how fascinating."

"What was that?" Calara asked, darting an inquisitive glance at the blonde.

"The colour of John's aura," Alyssa explained. "The closest Rachel could describe it was the blush in the Young Matriarchs' cheeks when John knocked them up."

The brunette smiled and bumped John with a hip. "You've moved on from Terran girls now?"

"It's not that... I just haven't got any pregnant yet," he replied, making Calara blush.

Alyssa studied her girlfriend's rosy cheeks, then shook her head. "You see that? I'm glad you went with the blue. Imagine if your aura had been knocked-up Terran pink? I think I'd have to find myself another Progenitor to serve."

"Pink hex shields, pink eldritch fire... you don't reckon I could pull that off?" John asked, pretending to frown indignantly.

"She's right, that would be embarrassing," Calara said, before bursting out laughing. "Can you imagine how Larn'kelnar would have reacted to that?"

John and Alyssa couldn't help laughing as they pictured it.

"Ah, thanks for the laugh, girls," John said as they reached Deck Nine. "I needed that."

They grinned at him and the trio walked out into the corridor towards the airlock.

*John, we're being hailed by the battleship Porphyrion,* Jade informed him. *Admiral Zelig wants to speak with you.*

*It's not a good time, Jade,* he quickly replied. *Can you tell him that I'll call back in about ten minutes?*

*Will do, Master!*

They reached the airlock and John glanced back down the corridor. "Is it just us? Jack and Mateo have met Dana, Rachel, and Jade before... I'm surprised they're not here at least."

"We'll all get together in the Officers' Lounge for a drink in a few minutes," Calara explained. "I thought it might be easier to settle my family in first, then we can do the introductions later."

"Fine by me," John agreed amiably.

He glanced through the airlock porthole and saw grey titanium hull outside, letting him know that they'd docked with the Damocles. Putting his hand on the DNA reader, he watched as it scanned his genetic code, the outer airlock door spiralling open a moment later. The Terran Federation cruiser opened its own airlock in response, revealing Calara's father and eldest brother, both men wearing their naval uniforms.

"Permission to come aboard, Admiral Blake?" Jack asked, snapping a sharp salute.

John saw the new rank insignia on his jacket and smiled as he returned the salute. "On one condition, Commodore Fernandez; you're a guest in my home, so let's forget about rank while you're aboard the Invictus."

"Alright, I think we can do that," Jack said with a smile. He turned his attention to his daughter. "Callie, it's wonderful to see you again!"

She stepped forward and gave him a big hug. "I love you dad... I really missed you."

"Hey... we only saw each other a week ago," he said, surprised by her emotional reaction.

"I know," she said, giving him a shy smile. "Oh, congratulations on your promotion! I was thrilled for you when I heard the news!"

Jack looked embarrassed. "Thank you. The Fleet Admiral is convinced it was long overdue."

John heard the flicker of doubt in his father-in-law's voice, but decided to speak to him about it later. Turning his attention to Mateo, he smiled when he saw the new rank insignia adorning the man's jacket. "Congratulations to you too, Commander Fernandez."

Mateo saluted him and said formally, "Thank you, Admiral Blake."

"The same applies to you, Mateo. It's just John while you're aboard my ship, alright?"

"As long as you don't mind, that's fine by me," Mateo said, giving him a cautious smile.

"Hi big brother," Calara gushed, giving him an affectionate hug.

"Hey Callie."

She pulled back and looked at him askance. "What's up with you? I thought you'd be over the moon about your promotion."

He sighed and picked up his kit bag. "I am and I was offered an amazing new posting in the Terra defence fleet... but it was hard saying goodbye to Emily. She got really upset."

Alyssa glanced at John and raised an eyebrow.

John coughed to get Mateo's attention. "Commander Fernandez, please can you inform Lieutenant Campbell that I'm temporarily reassigning her to the Invictus for the next 24 hours. I'm sure the Terra defence fleet can use a good medical officer; I'll speak to the Fleet Admiral and see if we can arrange a permanent transfer."

Mateo gaped at him in shock, unable to believe his ears.

Calara laughed and poked him in the chest. "You heard the Admiral... step lively, Commander!"

He grinned and handed his kit bag to his sister. "Just give me five minutes! I'll help her pack!"

"That was kind, John, thank you," Jack said, clapping him on the shoulder as he watched his son sprint for the elevator.

"What good is being an Admiral if you can't throw your rank around to help your friends," he said, smiling back. He glanced at Calara and added, "Can I leave you in your daughter's very capable hands? Admiral Zelig asked to speak to me, so I might as well get that over with while we're waiting for Mateo and Emily."

"Of course," Jack agreed.

"Hey, Jack," Alyssa said with a warm smile. She caught him by surprise with a very friendly hug. "I'm so glad we were around to take you back to Jericho; it'll be wonderful having you stay with us."

He looked flustered and took off his peaked hat. "Err thank you, Alyssa. It's lovely to see you too."

The blonde flashed a triumphant grin at her girlfriend when she saw his reaction, making Calara roll her eyes. "Dad, I'll introduce you to the rest of the crew once we've got you settled in your quarters. Have you eaten? I can make you some supper if you're hungry."

"I'm fine thanks, Callie. The Damocles' senior officers held a farewell dinner for me just a few hours ago..."

John left Jack to catch up with his daughter and headed for the grav-tube, where he floated up to the Command Deck. Jade had moved here from the Combat Bridge and was now instructing Leylira as she had Betrixa. He didn't want to disturb the Nymphs while they were training, but Jade and her sisters all turned to greet him with friendly waves.

"Hey ladies," John said, acknowledging them with a smile. "Just ignore me, I'll call Admiral Zelig from my Ready Room."

"Ignore you?" Jade asked, raising an eyebrow and grinning. "Surely you know us better than that, John."

"I love seeing you, Master," Marika agreed, her gentle brown eyes filled with warmth.

Leylira nodded but remained silent, her predatory gaze watching his every move. John couldn't help feeling like the tigress was ready to pounce at any moment and when she saw him studying her warily, she smiled in triumph. Instead of going straight to his Ready Room, he decided to take the right ramp to pass the Tactical and Pilot's Stations, giving a quick kiss to each of the three Nymphs in turn. The detour earned him happy sigh from Marika, a throaty purr from Leylira, and an affectionate smile from Jade.

John noticed that both catgirls' striped markings were hidden by new outfits. "I don't think I've seen this dress before," he observed, run his hand over the material covering Leylira's back. "Can you show me?"

The tigress rose gracefully from her seat, then turned so that he could get a good look at the body suit. The material clung to her lovely curves, completely covering her upper body except for ovals cut in the shoulders that left them exposed. The outfit cinched at her trim waist with a belt, then ended mid-thigh, leaving a few inches of striped flesh before reaching her black knee-high boots. It was obvious the dress had been tailored with a catgirl in mind, as Leylira's tail fit through a neat hole in the back, the sinuous appendage flicking slowly back and forth.

"What do you think?" Leylira asked, looking at him for a reaction.

"You look fantastic," he replied with a smile. "Nothing beats seeing you in the nude, but when modesty calls for it, this is the next best thing."

The tigress rewarded him with a kiss, her amber eyes sparkling as she retook her seat. "Good answer, Master."

Heading over to his Ready Room, John opened the door and strode inside. *Jade, how's Leylira doing with her training? Is she a good student?*

*She's very attentive and eager to learn, so she's progressing rapidly. I'm confident that it'll only be a matter of days before she'll be competent enough to be left in charge of the Invictus for non-combat manoeuvres.*

*That's amazing, well done,* John said as he took a seat behind his desk. *It sounds like it won't be long before she can pilot the Invictus in battle.*

*Leylira is very aggressive behind a flight stick and I think she'll make a great combat pilot... providing I can teach her to avoid being quite so reckless. The only problem I foresee in the future, is that she's as eager to accompany you on ground missions as me and Alyssa,* Jade said, sounding amused.

John chuckled as he activated the comms interface. *I appreciate her enthusiasm, but she better get used to the pilot's chair. One wild Nymph running amok is trouble enough.*

*I think the way you handle five wild Nymphs is very impressive, Master,* Jade said with a flirtatious lilt to her voice. *We certainly have no complaints.*

*I'm glad I'm keeping you satisfied,* he replied, searching for the battleship Porphyrion among the list of Terran Federation warships in the vicinity.

The call went through and the star-struck communications officer stammered a greeting before transferring him to Admiral Zelig. The winged sword icon of the Terran Federation disappeared, to be replaced by the bearded face of the senior officer.

"It's good to see you again, Nathan," John said with a friendly smile.

"Likewise, John," Zelig replied, nodding to him respectfully. He hesitated for a moment, then continued, "My Tactical Officer spotted you heading inbound on our long-range sensors, but she reported a glitch with our sensor array. The problem seemed to resolve itself and my Engineering team is performing a diagnostic... but the rest of the fleet encountered the same issue. I just thought I'd check if you have some form of signal disruption device installed on the Invictus?"

John shook his head. "No, but we have upgraded our hyper-warp speed recently and your sensors will struggle to track anything that fast. The flickering and data glitches stopped because we slowed down when we got close to the fleet."

The admiral looked stunned. "But that's not possible! I saw it myself... you'd have to be travelling 12 times our maximum hyper-warp velocity!"

"Yet we always seem to be in a rush to get anywhere on time," John said with a wry smile. "So, how's the relief effort going with the Tasmaris Prime colonists?"

Zelig did an admirable job of recovering from his shock. "It's going well. We've nearly finished treating all the colonists that were infested with Kirrix eggs and we've managed to drastically reduce the numbers of suicides. I allocated all the fleets' counsellors to assess and support the bereaved parents, and we've had the worst cases on suicide watch. What happened to those families is tragic; I've spoken to them personally to offer my condolences."

"That can't have been a pleasant conversation," John said, remembering how angry the Brecken's World colonists had been.

"High Command deliberately abandoned the Kirrix border. Those people are furious at Buckingham's betrayal and have every right to be," Zelig replied, his expression grim. "I was told in no uncertain terms what they think of the Admiralty for leaving them exposed. They needed to vent their anger at somebody and if it helps distract them from their grief, I was happy to be their scapegoat."

John gave him a respectful nod. "You're a good man, Nathan. Not many senior officers would willingly endure that level of abuse."

It was plain to see that the admiral had been moved by their plight, and now that he let his guard down, it looked like he'd aged ten years. "I just kept thinking about my own children; I can't even imagine the pain those parents must be feeling."

Pausing to consider the cost of a delay, John weighed it against the anguish the colonists were suffering and the decision was made for him. "I'll send some of my Lionesses to help. Please could you arrange for all the grieving parents and all the wounded to be gathered in one location to speed things up; I need to depart as quickly as possible."

*I'll get the girls ready, handsome,* Alyssa responded a moment later.

Zelig looked at him in surprise. "John, I appreciate the desire to help, but those people have been severely traumatised. I've spoken to the medical staff and they said it'll take months of intensive counselling for those people to recover from their grief... maybe even years."

"One of the Lionesses is very sympathetic and will make a big difference," John explained, meeting the older man's startled gaze. "She helped the colonists on the worlds we liberated."

"Alyssa..." the admiral replied, sudden understanding appearing in his eyes.

"Actually, it's someone else you haven't met," John clarified. "Her name's Helene and I think you'll be surprised how effective she can be."

"After we restored the local comms beacon, I spoke to the governors of Brecken's World and Valia Gate," Zelig said, looking thoughtful. "They said you saved them and that the Lionesses were a big help, but were tight-lipped about exactly what happened. I warned them about the risk of suicides, but they said there hadn't been any."

"That's excellent news," John said, smiling inwardly at the governors' loyalty to his Lionesses. "We also managed to rescue the colonists from Menganus IV and sent them back home in a captured hive ship. The nearest comms beacon in that sector has been destroyed though, along with the colony transmitter, so they won't be able to contact you until both are repaired."

The older officer listened with interest. "If you can assist with the Tasmaris Prime colonists, then we'll depart as soon as the last of the egg infestations are treated. We urgently need to restore communications with Menganus IV and re-establish a border presence."

"Sounds like a good plan," John agreed.

Zelig paused and looked at him with concern. "Devereux warned High Command that you weren't planning to return to Terran Federation territory for a month, but then she called yesterday to inform me of your imminent arrival. I assume you're aware of the Brimorian attack on the Callopean Shoals?"

"I am," John replied, his eyes turning cold and hard. "And the attack on Olympus."

Raising an eyebrow, Zelig asked, "Are you planning on dealing with both?"

Knowing how the admiral felt about vigilantism, John was reluctant to elaborate. "Yes."

"I assume you have some unspeakable fate planned for them?"

"Don't waste your pity on the Brimorians or the traitors... neither deserve it," John said defensively, feeling like he was being judged. "You couldn't begin to imagine the horrific atrocities the Enclave have committed over the last century. As for the Terran traitors... they slaughtered thousands of marines in cold blood and tried to murder my friends. Damn right those bastards are going to pay!"

"Shouldn't justice be impartial?" Zelig asked quietly.

John felt his temper flare, then took a deep breath to calm himself. "If this was just about me seeking revenge, then I'd agree; the right thing to do would be to hand them over to the judicial system for punishment." He leaned forward and continued, "But this isn't about revenge, it's about protecting the people I care about."

The older officer stayed silent for a long moment. "By making a bloody example of anyone who dares to cross you?"

"This has nothing to do with my ego," John replied, shaking his head.

"Are you sure?" Zelig persisted. "What about slaughtering all those assassins that attacked you and televising the Invictus levelling their secret base? Or recording Admiral Weber clawing his own eyes out?"

"They were too gutless to come after me personally, so they tried to hurt me by going after my friends. Mikaboshi abducted Calara and was going to mutilate her into a cyborg. Weber kidnapped and tortured Jehanna Elani, then planned to conduct grotesque experiments on Jade's sisters. I'm sick of these pathetic cowards attacking the people closest to me... and it's long past time to put an end to it by showing everyone the consequences."

"I'm sorry, John... I didn't know the background to those incidents," Zelig admitted, looking contrite.

"You and I aren't that different, Nathan," John said, his tone conciliatory. "When the ones we love are threatened, we take steps to protect them... that's all I'm doing here."

The older officer nodded and looked away, his face a mask of conflicting emotions.

"The Lionesses will be ready soon; let us know where the colonists will be," John requested, reaching out to end the awkward call. "I don't think we'll be heading back this way any time soon, Admiral Zelig. Goodbye and good luck."

Zelig gave him a look filled with regret. "The same to you, Admiral Blake. I am sorry if it sounded like I was condemning your actions; you've done a tremendous amount of good protecting millions of colonists on the Outer Rim."

"They needed my help, so I intervened to keep them safe," John replied, making eye contact with him. "It's almost the exact same thing... just on a vast scale."

"I just don't want you to have to live with the guilt that's plagued me for over 20 years," Zelig said earnestly.

John let out a weary sigh. "I understand that... but I can't always be there to protect all my friends and family. I don't know of any other way to deter further attacks... do you?"

The admiral hesitated then shook his head, looking lost in thought.

"Have a safe journey to the border, Nathan," John said, ending the call.

He leaned back in his chair, then turned to look out the window at the huge Terran Federation fleet that was gathered around Tasmaris Prime. As he watched the grey titanium vessels launch shuttles down to the planet below, he couldn't help wondering if the justifications he'd used to defend himself really did scale up. He believed passionately that killing someone to save an innocent was the right thing to do... but could you really apply the same argument at a civilisation level?

John stared out into space, mulling over how far he should go to stop the Brimorians from killing the Abandoned.

***

The imposing gilded doors slid open, admitting Queen Edraele Valaden and her retinue into the vast hangar. Dominating this area of Genthalas shipyard was the Ettrian Keyrie, the colossal flagship of House Perfaren, which would soon be departing for Kintark territory. Parked adjacent to it were over a dozen golden shuttles, each waiting to transport the gathering of senior officers to their capital ships. Those Maliri women were speaking to their matriarchs in the shadow of the sleek battleship, the leader of each House standing out in her distinctive matriarchal robes.

Luna's yellow-eyed gaze swept over the crowd, picking out Tsarra Perfaren, Valani Naestina, and Nyrelle Aeberos amidst the naval officers. *Where are Leena and Kali?*

*Their House fleets are engaged elsewhere and won't be taking part in this campaign,* Edraele explained as she glided towards the trio of Young Matriarchs. *Leena would have come to show solidarity, but I asked her to keep Kali company.*

The assassin darted a look of concern her way. *Is Kali alright?*

Edraele hesitated before answering. *I was distracted during her last meeting with Sarinia, so I didn't know that they planned to meet again. Kali went to meet her in the arboretum earlier this evening, but as Sarinia is confined to quarters, obviously she didn't show up. Shortly afterwards, Kali stopped sharing her thoughts with me; I had intended to give her some privacy, but I started feeling some sadness across our empathic bond.*

*Do you think she found out what happened to Gaenna Baelora and the rest of the older matriarchs?* Luna asked, raising an eyebrow.

*I don't think so, otherwise she would have felt far stronger emotions. Leena spoke with Kali and confirmed what I've been feeling; that she isn't distraught, but there is something bothering her. I plan to speak with Kali about it as soon as we're finished here.*

The Maliri gathered by the battleship noticed Edraele's arrival and bowed to her respectfully as she approached.

"Good evening, ladies," Edraele said with a warm smile. "I hope all is well?"

"Very well, thank you." Tsarra Perfaren replied, before gesturing to the older naval officer standing at her side. "I don't think you've met Aadya before. She's my House Fleet Commander... and a loyal friend."

Like all the military personnel in attendance, Aadya had short white hair, having been inducted into Edraele's network of wards shortly after the rebellion was peacefully averted. She was an older woman and clearly a veteran officer, possessing a quiet but confident presence.

"It's a pleasure to meet you at last," Edraele said, inclining her head politely. "I know Tsarra highly values your wisdom and experience."

Tsarra placed a hand on the Fleet Admirals shoulder. "I owe her a great deal. Aadya convinced me to stop trying to fight John and talk to him instead... I dread to think what might have happened otherwise."

Aadya looked embarrassed at the effusive praise. "You give me far too much credit, Matriarch; I seem to recall you were the first to discern the purpose of the holo-simulation." She turned and bowed respectfully to Edraele. "It's an honour to meet you in person, my Queen. I've enjoyed hearing your lovely voice and had pictured how you must look, but your beauty far exceeds my feeble imagination."

"I think I need to have stern words with Lilyana and Amlaril; my Fleet Commanders never say such nice things to me," Edraele said with a disarming smile.

The assembled officers laughed, put at ease by her relaxed demeanour.

Edraele turned to look at Nyrelle and Valani. "May I ask who is leading your fleets, Matriarchs?"

Valani gave the Maliri officer beside her a wry smile. "This is Amalaeth. Our relationship had a somewhat rocky start, but she's an excellent Fleet Commander and I have every confidence in her abilities."

Nyrelle grinned at her own Fleet Commander. "A rocky start? When I became matriarch, Kalmaera thought I was a foolish little girl, who was going to lead House Aeberos to disaster!"

"I would never be so disrespectful, Matriarch!" Kalmaera protested, looking abashed.

"I'm only teasing you," Nyrelle said, patting the officer on the arm. "I just hope you don't still feel that way?"

Kalmaera shook her head and replied earnestly, "You've done nothing but impress me since you became leader of our House. You helped forge an incredibly powerful alliance, the likes of which I never dreamed possible, and managed to vastly upgrade the strength of our entire fleet. You've achieved more in two months than your mother accomplished in the last 50 years!"

Touched by her Fleet Commander's fervent praise, Nyrelle blushed a dark indigo. "I'm just trying to do my best for our House and the Maliri Protectorate... but I appreciate what you said. Thank you, Kalmaera."

Edraele was pleased to see the close relationships that had developed between the Young Matriarchs and their highest-ranking military officers. It was quite clear that the Fleet Commanders all held them in very high regard. *Well done, ladies... you've really won their respect.*

The Young Matriarchs beamed in delight, always ecstatic when they earned praise from the Maliri Queen.

Addressing the group of officers, Edraele continued, "We have no history of inter-House cooperation in a military campaign of this magnitude; have you established which Fleet Commander will have seniority?"

Kalmaera and Amalaeth both glanced at Aadya, who replied, "Perfaren is the highest ranked House, so it's been suggested that I lead our expeditionary force."

"Actually, you also have more combat experience than either of us," Amalaeth corrected her. "My recommendation was based on merit rather than House ranking."

"Mine too," Kalmaera agreed. "You're the logical choice to lead our battle group."

"I'm glad to hear you reached an amicable consensus," Edraele said, nodding her approval. "You'll also be working closely with John's fleet commander, who will provide strategic guidance and tactical support in the upcoming battles. It's imperative that you maintain a chain of Comms Beacons when you enter Kintark territory, so that you can continue to receive updates from Calara."

Aadya's ears pricked up at that announcement. "Is that the Calara who masterminded the tactical responses in the holo-simulation during the civil war?"

"The very same," Edraele confirmed, noting the eager look of anticipation in the officer's eyes. "Her primary objective will be to ensure that you don't lose any personnel in the conflict with the Brimorians, so listen closely to her advice, she's an extremely gifted tactician."

The Fleet Commanders shifted uncomfortably, darting glances at one another.

"That's an admirable goal, but it's extremely unlikely it can be achieved in a conflict of this scale," Aadya said with regret. "We will do our best to minimise casualties, but I believe we're facing at least six Brimorian fleets?"

"Which is why you must be cautious not to overexpose your forces. I fully intend to stop the Brimorians from conquering the Kintark, but I have no wish to see Maliri crew sacrificed because Emperor Baledranax was a reckless fool and left his empire exposed. What's left of the Kintark forces will be fighting with you under the command of High Prelate Zorlin, so coordinate your attacks with him."

The three Fleet Commanders nodded their understanding.

"As soon as the Brimorian threat is neutralised, I want you to hurry back to Genthalas," Edraele continued, looking at each of them in turn. "We're planning a massive fleet operation and need all of you here for when it begins. I wish you good fortune on this campaign, ladies... it's an excellent opportunity for you to prove that the Maliri can fight at each other's side, united under one banner."

Tsarra slipped her arms around her fellow matriarchs' waists and hugged them affectionately. "Valani and Nyrelle are my closest friends and there'll never again be another war waged between our Houses. Put those old House rivalries far behind you and think of yourselves as close allies, working together for the future of our people."

"Well said," Valani said turning to give her a warm smile. "I feel exactly the same way about you."

Nyrelle gave Tsarra a chaste kiss on the cheek, then grinned at the stunned officers. "You're all smart women... I'm sure you all sense the difference between this alliance and the temporary truces of the past. The Maliri are united now, all fighting alongside each other for Baen'thelas."

Kalmaera, and Amalaeth were accustomed to being on friendly terms, as House Aeberos and House Naestina had been allies even before the Young Matriarchs replaced their mothers. However, it was still a shock to see their leaders openly embrace the Perfaren Matriarch, whose House had been a bitter rival for over two centuries.

Edraele smiled at the Young Matriarchs fondly, before facing the shocked fleet commanders. "John will have returned to Genthalas by the time you've concluded this campaign, so do your best, and I'm quite certain he'll want to reward each of you personally."

Astonishment turned to excitement and all the assembled Maliri officers looked thrilled at the prospect.

"I will eagerly await your triumphant return," Edraele said, concluding her parting words. "Good bye and good luck, ladies."

The entire group of military personnel bowed to her, then the Young Matriarchs split up to convey their final instructions to their fleet commanders.

*Well that was entertaining,* Luna said, falling into step beside Edraele as the Maliri Queen turned to leave. *I don't think they could believe their eyes when Nyrelle kissed Tsarra.*

*Imagine how they'll react when they find out that their matriarchs are all lovers and pregnant with John's babies,* Edraele remarked, her purple eyes sparkling.

Luna suppressed a chuckle then darted a curious glance at Edraele. *When they find out? So you do intend to tell them?*

*Actually I doubt it'll be much of a shock by that point. When John returns, I need to get much closer to all the fleet commanders and build up the trust between us. If I can bond with them, we'll have instantaneous telepathic communication with all our fleets, no matter where they are in the galaxy. Once they make that connection with me, they'll be aware of just how close all of us are.*

*I'll never forget what it was like, bonding with you,* Luna said softly, swinging her hands as she walked, so that she could innocuously brush the backs of her fingers against Edraele's.

The Maliri Queen flashed a furtive smile at her, then they left through the hangar doors.

***

*We're ready to go, John,* Alyssa informed him, her telepathic contact scattering his thoughts.

*I'll come down and see you off,* he replied, rising from his chair.

*Don't worry, we'll be back in a couple of hours. Why don't you go straight to the Officers' Lounge? Jack, Mateo, and Emily are with Calara and heading up there now.*

*Alright, I'm on my way,* John said, leaving his Ready Room. When he walked onto the Bridge, he was surprised to find it deserted. *Are the Nymphs with you?*

*They all volunteered to assist and I didn't have the heart to turn them down. It'll actually be helpful to have them along, they're really good at distracting crowds and keeping the queues moving. Jade's coming with us as well, so she'll keep an eye on her sisters, while I watch over Helene and Rachel.*

The Nymph Matriarch spoke up too. *Is that alright with you, Master? We can stay aboard if you prefer.*

John walked up the ramp and entered the grav-tube. *No, it's okay; I'm pleased you all offered to help. I'll introduce our guests to Sakura and the twins first, then they can meet the rest of you later.*

*I hope it goes well. See you soon!* Jade said cheerfully.

*Take care both of you,* he said, stepping out of the gravity field on Deck Two.

*Don't we always?* Alyssa asked, a playful lilt to her voice.

*No, you really don't,* he replied with wry amusement. *So try not to get into trouble this time.*

His matriarchs shared their laughter with him, a lovely sound that brought a smile to his face as he entered the Officers' Lounge. Sakura was waiting alone by the bar and gave him a nervous wave as he entered the room.

John walked over to join her and leaned in to kiss her cheek. "Just relax, honey, you've got nothing to worry about. Jack's going to think you're lovely."

She blushed in embarrassment and gave him a grateful smile.

"How about a drink to calm you down?" he suggested, walking over to the drinks cabinet. "Any cocktails you like?"

"Umm... can you make a Strawberry Daiquiri?" she asked tentatively.

"Coming right up," John replied with a grin, reaching for a bottle of rum and a tray of ice.

Sakura watched him in fascination as he tipped the ingredients into a blender, adding a pack of the frozen fruit that gave the cocktail its name. The grating whir reverberated around the room, drowning out Calara's greeting as she arrived with her guests.

John deactivated it to end the raucous grinding, then beckoned the new arrivals over. "Hey everyone. What would you like to drink?"

"I'll have whatever Sakura's having!" Calara said enthusiastically, eyeing the bright red concoction in the jug.

"I'd like one as well please, John," the blonde accompanying her said, greeting him with a smile. She hesitated a moment later, suddenly looking unsure of herself. "Is it alright if I call you by your first name? Mateo said it was okay..."

"Of course," he said, pouring her drink into a glass. "I'm very glad you could join us, Emily."

"I was ordered to by an Admiral... I could hardly refuse!" she gushed, giving him a look filled with gratitude. "Thank you so much, by the way. I couldn't believe it when Mateo told me you were transferring me so we could stay together."

"You're quite welcome," he said, returning her smile. "You can thank Mateo for that. It looked like he was having second thoughts about the promotion and transfer if it meant being separated from you."

She turned to stare at her boyfriend in astonishment. "Really?!"

"I love you, Em," he replied diplomatically, opening his arms to her. As she rushed to hug him, Mateo mouthed "Thank you!" to John over her shoulder.

"What would my future brother-in-law like to drink?" John asked, as he poured out Strawberry Daiquiries for Calara and Sakura.

"Just a beer would be great, thanks," Mateo replied gratefully.

"I've got lager, bitter, and Trankaran ale." When Mateo's eye lit up at the latter, John handed him a bottle. "Here you go."

"Cheers!" he said, raising the bottle and taking a big gulp.

"What can I get you, Jack?" John asked, gesturing to the spirits in the well-stocked bar. "I'm afraid I don't have any of that amazing Jericho beer..."

"That's alright, I could use a stiffer drink," Calara's father said, smiling when he spotted the distinctive-shaped bottle of McGregor whiskey.

John put two tumblers on the bar, added some ice, then poured out the rich amber liquid. "There you go."

"Very nice," Jack said appreciatively after taking a sip.

Leaving the bar to join them, John nodded towards the nervous raven-haired beauty standing beside him. "I don't think you've met Sakura before. She joined us a couple of months after our visit to Jericho."

"We haven't met, but your reputation precedes you, Sakura," Jack said, looking at the Asian girl in admiration. "I saw your interview on TFNN; what you accomplished in the Battle of Terra was truly remarkable."

"Thank you so much for rescuing Unity City," Emily said, reaching out to touch Sakura's hand in a simple gesture of gratitude. "My uncle and aunt live there, and you saved their lives."

Mateo nodded, suitably awed. "I watched that combat footage a dozen times and I still can't believe you stormed an entire fleet of Praetorian battleships single-handed... and wiped them all out! That was the bravest thing I've ever seen."

Sakura blushed and said shyly, "When I saw that the Kintark were bombarding innocent civilians, I didn't really stop to evaluate the risks involved, I just acted." She smiled self-consciously at the Latina who was standing beside her father and continued, "But Calara far eclipsed me in that battle."

The brunette waved away the attempt to redirect everyone's praise. "You're far too modest. I had no spare fleet resources to engage the Praetorians, so if you hadn't intercepted them, they would've been free to level the capital. After they were finished with Terra, they would have rejoined the armada and hit the Federation battle lines; you made a huge difference eliminating that fleet and saved hundreds-of-thousands of people."

"Hey! Sorry I'm late!" Dana blurted out, interrupting them when she rushed through the doors.

Sakura sighed with relief now that the attention had shifted away from her and firmly onto the exuberant redhead.

Jack leaned over to whisper, "My son was right; you were incredibly brave. I know your parents would have been very proud of your actions that day... I certainly was."

"Thank you," she murmured, welling up at his kind words.

Dana gave their guests an embarrassed wave as she joined them. "I was all ready to come and say hi, but Alyssa said to wait a few minutes because you were settling into your rooms, then I got distracted with a project I was working on and I forgot the time. I'm such a bonehead... sorry!"

Jack waited until she paused for breath and said, "It's good to see you again, Dana. Don't worry, you didn't miss anything; we were just getting drinks."

"Phew!" Dana exclaimed with an exaggerated sigh. "It's great to see you guys too."

"Try this, Sparks," Calara suggested, offering her glass. "I think you'll like it."

After taking a tentative sip, her blue eyes sparkled as she quickly handed it back. "I want one!"

John laughed and poured another cocktail for her, handing the excited teenager the tall-stemmed glass. It was at that moment the twins entered the Officers Lounge, looking gorgeous in their long, elegant dresses. They glided gracefully across the room to join the gathering of friends and family, bright smiles on their exquisite blue faces. Mateo did a double-take when he saw them and even Jack was unable to hide his astonishment at the arrival of these breathtakingly beautiful women. Emily just stared at them, her mouth falling open in awe.

Clearing his throat to get their guests attention, John said, "I'd like to introduce all of you to Irillith and Tashana. As you can see, they're identical twins, but Irillith has her hair up so that you can tell them apart. Ladies, this is Mateo, his girlfriend Emily, and Jack."

"Mateo's my eldest brother," Calara explained, giving him a sideways hug. She then smiled at Jack. "And as I'm sure you already know, this is my father."

"We've heard so much about both of you," Irillith said with a formal bow. "It's an honour to finally meet you in person."

Tashana gave the Fernandez men a warm smile. "Callie really is a credit to your family... and to the entire Terran species for that matter. We're very fond of her."

"Stop, you're making me blush..." Calara protested, waving their compliments away with a laugh.

Mateo tried not to stare at the two exotic beauties, despite being fascinated by their blue skin and snowy-white hair. "I don't think I've seen or heard of your species before. May I ask what planet you're from?"

The twins glanced at John, unsure if they should reveal the truth.

"Jack, Mateo, Emily..." he said, getting their attention. "I'm going to need your solemn promise that you'll keep what we tell you a secret."

While Mateo and Emily readily promised to never say a word, Jack's eyes flashed opened wide as he realised he already knew what was about to be revealed. Calara had told him of John's close alliance with the Maliri and he'd seen the evidence for himself, watching the footage of Lilyana's golden-hulled warships racing to rescue Terra. He'd also never forget the award ceremony when his daughter had received the Stellar Cluster... and he could clearly remember that two of the Lionesses were hidden in full body armour.

"They're Maliri..." he breathed, turning to stare in wonder at the two azure women.

Mateo chuckled and rolled his eyes at Emily. "I never knew my father was a comedian."

John smiled at the sisters and said, "May I present Irillith and Tashana Valaden, daughters of Queen Edraele Valaden... the newly crowned leader of the Maliri Protectorate."

Calara's elder brother gaped at him incredulously and Emily let out a startled squeak, dropping her glass in her shock. It shattered on the floor, spraying sticky red cocktail over her legs, the bar, and her boyfriend.

"Oh god!" she gasped, looking mortified. "I'm so sorry!"

"Ah, don't worry about it," Dana said with a grin. "The cleaning bots will have that mess sorted out in a jiffy."

Sakura gave Emily a sympathetic smile and held out her hand. "Come on, I'll take you back to your quarters so you can change clothes."

Mateo frowned at his spattered trousers. "I think I better join you..."

John gestured to the sofas. "Why don't the rest of you take a seat. Shan, Rill, can I get you a drink?"

They shared a smile then replied together. "A White Russian please."

He quickly made up the vodka, coffee liquor, and cream cocktail, before walking over to join Calara, Dana, Jack, and the twins. The Maliri sisters smiled at him gratefully as he handed over their drinks, then John was faced with the tricky decision of where to sit. The four sofas were arranged in a square, with Calara sitting primly to the right of her father, Dana lounging on the left, and the twins seated opposite Jack. He briefly considered sitting between the twins, which would make face-to-face conversation with his guest easier, but to avoid any awkward questions, he decided to play it safe and sit next to Calara.

Jack was watching him the entire time and noticed the flicker of hesitation as John chose his seat. He already knew about the nature of their relationship and the fact that John hadn't immediately moved to sit next to his fiancée spoke volumes. Jack frowned at that thought, then glanced at the hands of the three other women and bristled when he saw engagement rings adorning their fingers too.

Calara saw her father's rigid posture and his frown of disapproval, and she let out a frustrated sigh. "Why are you acting like this, dad? This can't be a surprise... I already told you we're all sleeping together."

Dana choked on her drink, narrowly avoiding spraying it all over the coffee table. The twins both blushed, their angular eyes opening wide at this unexpected turn in the conversation.

Jack's frown deepened at his daughter's reproachful tone. "Yes, but you declined to mention that they're also engaged to John. You're making a mockery of the sanctity of marriage!"

"Oh, don't you dare lecture me about that!" Calara challenged him indignantly. "I've watched your wedding video; I heard you and mom saying your vows and promising to be faithful to each other. I don't remember any clauses about the two of you having threesomes with Aunt Viv!"

"Callie!" he exclaimed, darting a shamefaced glance at John and the girls.

Calara rolled her eyes. "Dana and the twins don't care, and John found out months ago. You know what Mom's like... she thought it very amusing that I was dating a blonde, pointing out that I was just like my father."

"I need to have a word with your mother..." Jack grumbled, flushing with embarrassment.

Slipping off the sofa, Calara knelt on the floor beside her father and clasped his hand in both of hers. "We all love each other, dad... very much. I tried to explain to you just how intense it is, but we're all connected to John far more intimately than any normal relationship. I already showed you how that changed me, so that now I can see the future." She glanced over her shoulder at the girls. "Please can you give my father a demonstration of what you can do?"

Tashana raised her hand and an alluring flame sprite sprang into existence, cavorting merrily around her palm. Sparking electricity arced over Irillith's fingertips, the sizzling bolts leaping across her slender blue digits. Dana held both hands out in front of her, then a golden-limned singularity rippled into existence between them, creating an insistent gravitational pull until she shut it down.

Jack had been prepared to see something remarkable, but the casual display of psychic mastery still left him reeling. "I-I don't know what to say..."

Calara gently squeezed his hand. "You wanted openness and honesty between us... well here it is: We're all lovers and we're all engaged to John. When the Progenitor War is finally over, we plan to retire in Maliri Space together and start a big family."

Amongst all the shocks Jack had experienced that evening, finding out that his daughter was planning to permanently move hundreds of light years away was the worst of all.

"But we'll never see you!" he protested, his face falling in anguish. "Your mother will be heartbroken if she can't see her grandchildren!"

"Ah, don't worry about that," Dana said, giving him a reassuring smile. "I'll have cracked the Wormhole Generator long before then. Calara will be popping back to visit you all the time."

"Wormhole Generator?" he asked, looking bewildered.

"Yeah, I swiped the schematics off Larn'kelnar's dreadnought after we killed that asshole," she blithely explained, before wincing at swearing in front of Calara's father. "Err... I mean, after we killed the Progenitor who was stirring up all the sh-... all the trouble."

"The Progenitor is dead?!" Jack exclaimed, gaping at his daughter, then at John, before going back to Calara again. "I thought you were anticipating a protracted war against him?"

"I was," she quietly replied. "Larn'kelnar underestimated us and ambushed the Invictus to capture John... it was a fatal mistake."

"But you just mentioned a Progenitor War; isn't that over with now if the Progenitor is dead?"

"There's dozens more of them," John replied, looking at his stunned father-in-law with sympathy. "I was planning to update you on recent events... but not like this."

"Sorry, dad," Calara said, giving him an apologetic smile. "I just get defensive when it comes to John and the girls. I didn't mean to club you over the head with everything."

Jack slumped back in his chair and let out his breath. "Well you've started now, so you might as well give me a proper briefing."

"Let's wait until Mateo and Emily have gone to bed... then we'll tell you everything you want to know," John promised, making eye contact with Calara's father. "It makes sense to hold on until Alyssa and the rest of the girls are back anyway."

Nodding his agreement, Jack glanced down at his hand, which was still being held by Calara. It reminded him of holding her when she was a young girl, his daughter gazing up at him and looking for reassurance. Studying Calara now, she still had that same familiar need in her expressive brown eyes.

Swallowing around the lump in his throat, he gently caressed her cheek. "I'm sorry I upset you, Callie. I love you... and I just want to protect my precious little girl."

She gave him a beautiful smile in return. "I love you too, dad."

A moment later the doors opened and Sakura led her two guests back into the Officers' Lounge, Mateo and Emily wearing fresh sets of clothing. They stepped aside to make way for the cleaning robots, who had already cleaned up the spilt cocktail, their efforts having gone unnoticed in the heated exchanges.

"Disaster averted," Mateo said jovially, as he returned to the bar to get a fresh drink for himself and Emily. "So... did we miss anything?"

***

Alyssa smiled as she heard her girlfriend's laughter over their telepathic bond, a very welcome relief after the rather tense confrontation between father and daughter.

*That could have been awkward,* Jade noted, making eye contact with her fellow matriarch across the meeting hall. *It was lucky Maria was so open with us about her marriage. Apparently Jack looked stunned when Calara revealed that she knew all about his penchant for blondes.*

*Luck had nothing to do with it,* Alyssa said, a look of admiration on her face. *Maria's normally very discreet, so I always wondered why she revealed something so personal about her marriage. After she realised that Calara was in a relationship with me and John, she wanted to pre-emptively prevent any serious arguments about it. If Jack reacted badly to finding out the truth about us, Calara could just point out that she wasn't doing anything different to her parents.*

*Maria's very clever,* the Nymph agreed, as she continued to direct a queue of wounded personnel to the healing area. *It's no wonder that John likes her so much.*

*He does like the smart ones...* Alyssa said with a wry smile, glancing across the meeting hall towards the bustling throng of people and seeking out Rachel. *How's the healing going, gorgeous?*

The Angel of Terra was swathed in a misty shroud, the ephemeral aura blanketing scores of wounded as she glided through their midst. Alyssa could hear the shocked gasps all the way across the room, as the brunette healed a multitude of severe injuries simultaneously.

*I'm making good progress,* Rachel replied, pausing by a wounded marine to rejuvenate an ugly neutron blast that had badly disfigured his features. *I should be finished within the hour.*

*It looks like you have an audience,* Alyssa noted, studying the group of senior officers who were watching the process in astonishment. She recognised Admiral Zelig in the group and smiled at the look of awe on his face. *You seem to be making quite the impression.*

*The Admiral spoke to me a few minutes ago; he was looking for you,* the brunette replied, nodding with satisfaction as she finished regenerating the soldier's ravaged features. *I didn't mention it earlier, because I assumed you overheard our conversation.*

*I did... I'm just making him wait a bit because he gave John a hard time,* Alyssa explained, darting a mischievous grin at her friend.

Rachel tried not to laugh and managed to keep a straight face. *I think he regrets it. You should probably talk to him.*

*Yeah, well watching you and Helene work will be a helpful reminder that we aren't just bloodthirsty vigilantes,* Alyssa said, turning to watch the aquatic girl.

Helene was surrounded by a seated crowd of crying colonists, the bereaved couples embracing each other as they listened to the mermaid's heartbreaking tale of loss. While she spoke, waves of soothing psychic energy swept over the crowd, gently easing their anguish with her empathic ability. One of the single women had been gazing at the Abandoned girl through tear-filled eyes and she got up to give the aquatic beauty a hug, the outpouring of shared grief becoming too much for her to bear alone.

Pausing her address to the crowd, Helene wrapped her teal-hued arms around the weeping brunette in a sincere gesture of sympathy. Unmindful of their audience, the teal Lioness whispered comforting words in the young woman's ear, while fortifying the bereaved parent to help her cope with her loss. In less than thirty seconds, the grieving colonist's wretched sobs had stilled, and she pulled back to look at Helene in wonder.

"I must confess... when I first heard that the Lionesses were gracing us with their presence, I was sceptical that you could help us," a genteel man murmured beside Alyssa. "But she's so eloquent; I've never been so moved by listening to someone speak before."

"Helene's got a big heart and she really cares about people," Alyssa replied, turning to face the stranger. She studied the handsome middle-aged man, taking note of his well-tailored suit. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name, Governor...?"

"Hansen... Bryce Hansen," he replied, holding out his hand.

Alyssa shook it and was surprised at how soft his skin was. "It's nice to meet you, Bryce."

He lifted her hand to his lips with a flourish. "The pleasure's mine, Lioness. It's not often we're blessed to have such an exceptionally beautiful young lady visit us here at Tasmaris Prime. Might I be so bold as to ask your name?"

"I suspect you already know who I am," Alyssa replied with a wry smile, having heard the Governor ask Betrixa who was in charge only five minutes earlier.

"Ah, guilty as charged... Alyssa," he said, flashing her a charming grin. "I just didn't want to be presumptuous and start bandying your name about without a proper introduction."

Raising an eyebrow, Alyssa said, "Forgive me for saying this, Bryce, but you're not really what I expected for an Outer Rim Governor."

"You were expecting someone a little more rough around the edges?"

"Let's just say that you don't really strike me as a rugged frontiersman," she replied, giving him an astute look. "I think it's fair to say that you weren't born here?"

"That would be a fair assumption to make," he agreed, his blue eyes glinting with amusement. "I actually emigrated to Tasmaris Prime decades ago. I had a very lucrative career as a professional paramour on Terra, until an unfortunate misunderstanding precipitated my rapid departure."

"Ah... a jealous husband caught you en flagrante with his wife?" she asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Sadly, the lady in question lied about her marital status before she engaged my services. I'd established lucrative arrangements with a score of wealthy widows and divorcees to avoid exactly that kind of problem," the governor said with regret. He looked away as he remembered the distant past. "I bought a one-way ticket for the far-reaches of the Outer Rim and ended up on Tasmaris Prime... where I joined the colony administration as a clerk and discovered I had a talent for cutting through Federation bureaucracy. When the old governor was killed in the reactor explosion, I threw my hat into the ring."

"Gigolo to Governor... quite the impressive journey," Alyssa said without judgement.

"I don't normally share the details of my murky history with strangers, but I seem to be in a particularly forthcoming mood this evening," Bryce said, looking surprised at himself.

Alyssa glanced at her teal-hued companion who was accepting hugs from more of the grateful crowd. "Listening to Helene can have that effect on people."

The governor studied the statuesque blonde in fascination. "You don't seem remotely shocked by my story, Alyssa."

She turned her piercing cerulean gaze towards him. "Governor... Lioness... heady heights from where we both started out, Bryce."

Unlike Alyssa's unfazed response, Bryce looked stunned... and horrified. "But you're so young!" he protested in a hushed whisper.

"I'm eighteen," Alyssa murmured, breaking eye contact and looking away. "It's been four years."

He swallowed thickly, his eyes filled with compassion. "I feel compelled to give you a platonic hug. Would that be objectionable?"

She reached out to touch his arm in gratitude. "Not objectionable... but I am engaged, so I'll politely decline. Thank you for the offer though, it means a lot."

Bryce nodded his understanding, then they stood quietly together, watching Helene warmly greeting the next group of grieving parents.

Alyssa glanced at the governor out of the corner of her eye. "I assume you came looking for me for a reason. Is there something I can help you with?"

He darted a furtive glance towards the group of Terran Federation officers, making sure that they weren't close enough to overhear the conversation. "I've heard plenty of rumours about the Lion and his Lionesses liberating the rest of the colonies from the Kirrix... and that you've inflicted horrific losses on their fleets. Is that true? Are the Kirrix no longer a threat?"

"As long as there's any of them left alive, they'll still be a threat," Alyssa replied, her expression turning bleak. "But we have broken the back of their forces... and what's left are tearing each other apart in a civil war. It'll be decades before the Kirrix can rebuild all the ships they lost and even think about mounting another invasion."

"If we were attacked... would the Lion intervene to protect us?" Bryce asked, awaiting her response with a strange intensity.

Alyssa studied him for a long moment, carefully considering her answer.

"That's a strange thing to ask, considering you have a huge T-Fed border fleet in orbit," she noted quietly, before darting a pointed glance at the Terran Federation officers. "Are you really worried about an attack from the Kirrix... or someone else?"

He pulled back, a sudden flicker of fear sweeping over his face. "The Kirrix... obviously."

She raised an eyebrow, knowing the real reason he was asking. "Obviously... because why would a loyal colony like Tasmaris Prime be worried about a reprisal from High Command?"

Bryce leaned forward again, a pleading note to his voice as he begged, "Listen, just forget I said anyth-"

"Yes, we would protect you," Alyssa interrupted him.

He looked at her in surprise, then sighed with relief as the tension eased from his body. It only took a moment for a new light of inspiration to flicker to life in his eyes. "Thank you."

***

Edraele nodded to the House Loraleth guards, who bowed respectfully as she entered Kali's personal quarters, with Luna following close behind. Walking through the lounge without pause, the Maliri Queen swept along the corridor towards the bedroom. When the door opened before her, she found Leena and Kali lying naked on the bed, the House Loraleth matriarch gently stroking her friend's toned stomach.

"Hello, ladies," Edraele greeted them with a warm smile. "You two look very cosy... I hope I'm not interrupting?"

Leena stretched languidly and let out a contented sigh. "Kali's been making such a fuss over me. It's been quite delightful."

"Would you object to more company?" Edraele asked, sitting down beside them.

Kali smiled and beckoned her over. "Of course not!" She glanced at the assassin, "You're welcome to join us too, Luna!"

The yellow-eyed bodyguard demurred with a polite smile. "There's not enough room around Leena's tummy for three. I'm happy to watch... and imagine myself in her condition."

Kali giggled and smiled affectionately at Leena. "What do you think I've been doing for the last couple of hours?"

Slipping off her dress, Edraele joined her friends on the bed, her purple eyes drawn to Leena's trim abdomen. She leaned down to lay her head on the young woman's belly, then placed a reverent kiss on the enticing plane of flawless azure skin.

"You're so fortunate, Leena," Edraele crooned, nimble fingers tracing a circle around her navel. "It must be wonderful, knowing that you have John's baby growing inside you..."

Kali joined her queen in kissing Leena's exposed midriff. "Just imagine John's face when your tummy start to swell... He's going to be thrilled!"

The House Ghilwen matriarch moaned as she ran her hands through their hair, relishing their gentle kisses and caresses.

Edraele gazed into Kali's indigo eyes from a few inches away. "You must be so excited, knowing that soon you'll be pregnant with your first child."

"I can hardly wait!" Kali gushed, a look of almost rapturous joy on her face.

Stroking her cheek, Edraele murmured, "I wish you'd share your thoughts with me... I'd love to know what you're thinking."

Blinking in surprise, Kali blurted out, "Oh no! I forgot that I shut you out. I'm so sorry, Edraele!"

"Shh... that's quite alright," she said, her voice calm and soothing. "I didn't want to pry, but I am curious why you blocked me?"

Kali blushed with embarrassment. "I went to meet with Sarinia again," she confessed, struggling to meet Edraele's concerned gaze. "After the last time we met, I thought we'd really started to become friends... but she didn't show up. I just didn't want to burden you with all my worrying."

The young Maliri girl looked pensive as she continued, "I waited for hours... but there was no sign of Sarinia. I've started making enquiries to find out if she's alright, but no one has seen her today. I do know that she definitely hasn't left Genthalas, but I'm worried that her mother might have done something horrible, like torture Sarinia again with a neural whip!"

"Calm yourself, Kali," Edraele said, gently stroking her arm. "I wish you'd asked for my help, rather than fretting about Sarinia all evening. I know for a fact that your friend is safe and well, unharmed by Gaenna Baelora."

"Oh that's wonderful news! I was so worried about her!" Kali gushed, looking hugely relieved. "Where is she at the moment? I'd really like to speak to Sarinia again before her mother tries to send her back to their homeworld."

"Sarinia is confined to her quarters at present... and will remain there until John returns to Genthalas," Edraele quietly replied. "She will not be returning to Baelora for the foreseeable future."

"Thank you for telling me, Edraele." Kali sat bolt upright, a look of determination in her eyes. "I'm not afraid of Gaenna Baelora! I'll go and speak to Sarinia this evening to check she's alright."

Edraele raised herself up from her nubile pillow, then slowly shook her head. "Kali... I'm going to have to ask you to stay away from Sarinia for the next few days."

"All I want to do is talk to her... there's no harm in that," Kali said plaintively. "I certainly won't be in any danger with my bodyguards nearby."

"I'll explain everything when John comes home. Until then, I want you to promise me that you won't attempt to see or even speak with Sarinia Baelora."

"But why?" Kali protested, confusion written across her beautiful face.

Edraele let out a heavy sigh. "Kali... you're a very bright and resourceful woman. You have the connections and the ingenuity to find out the answer for yourself, but I'm asking you as your friend and someone who loves you, to keep your distance from Sarinia for just a few days. Will you do that for me... please?"

Shaken by her mentor's sombre tone, Kali nodded. "I promise... I won't try to contact Sarinia."

Clasping her hand, Edraele smiled. "You're such a good girl. Thank you."

*What's the reason for this, Edraele?* Leena asked, sitting up and looking at her matriarch with concern. *I've never seen you act this way before.*

*There's been an... incident... involving the older matriarchs,* Edraele announced to Leena, Valani, Nyrelle, and Tsarra. *I'd like the four of you to focus on running your own Houses for the time being and make no attempt to initiate contact with the other matriarchs. As I just said to Kali, I promise that I'll explain everything when John returns. None of you are in any danger and there is no threat to any of your fleets... I'm simply taking precautions to protect Kali from finding out some unfortunate news.*

*I'll do as you ask,* Leena replied, her expression alight with curiosity. *Even though I'm dying to know what this big secret is.*

The other three Young Matriarchs echoed her promise, agreeing to Edraele's request.

*Thank you, my darlings,* Edraele said gratefully to her youthful wards. Including all of her inner circle in the telepathic conversation, she continued, *Now, as we have no other pressing business to attend to, might I suggest we all turn in for the night? All this talk of John's imminent return has me in the mood to celebrate. I think we should savour our last few evenings together, before our attention is focused... elsewhere.*

Leena, Kali, and Luna all blushed an alluring indigo, knowing exactly who they'd be obsessing over in just three days time.

Edraele caressed Leena's flushed cheek, a wistful smile teasing her lips. *Rachel was right, my Lord... 'knocked-up Maliri blue' really is quite the enchanting colour.*

***

John was listening with interest as Mateo talked about his transfer to the Terra Defence Fleet, so Edraele's interruption caught him by surprise. *What was that, Edraele?*

*Oh, just Leena blushing at the thought of you returning to us; she's positively glowing with her pregnancy,* the Maliri Queen explained, an unmistakeable undercurrent of arousal to her sultry voice. *I can't wait to see all the Young Matriarchs proudly showing off their baby-bumps... I know Kali is eager to join their ranks.*

*Ah... this isn't really the best time for that kind of discussion,* he said, darting a guilty look at Jack. Fortunately, his future father-in-law was focused on the conversation between his children.

*Understood, my Lord,* she replied, before there was a lengthy pause. *John, I'm with Kali at the moment. She's started asking questions about Sarinia's disappearance.*

*Damn... that was quick,* he muttered with a worried frown.

*They'd previously arranged a meeting for today, so Kali became concerned when there was no sign of Sarinia. I reassured Kali that her friend is fine and requested that she avoid all further contact until you return home. She was curious why, but reluctantly agreed to do as I ask.*

*We'll get back to you as quickly as possible,* John said, grimacing at the latest delay. *Are you able to keep her distracted until then?*

*I shall do my best. I've just organised an orgy with your harem of beautiful Maliri maidens; if we give Kali enough orgasms, hopefully she'll be too exhausted to let her curiosity stir up any trouble. I'll try not to moan too loudly, my Lord...*

John bit his lip to stop himself groaning at that thrilling image of debauchery. *You're a naughty girl, Edraele.*

He shifted uncomfortably, but managed to discreetly adjust his trousers without being noticed, much to the playful matriarch's amusement.

"Do you know which ship you're being transferred to?" Calara asked her brother, before taking a sip of her drink.

"It's the Odin's Thunderbolt!" Mateo enthused, barely able to contain his pride. "I never imagined I'd be the Senior Navigator on a dreadnought."

"I thought all the dreadnoughts got shot to bits in the Battle of Terra?" Dana asked, darting a quizzical glance at Calara.

The Latina shook her head, her expression turning grim. "The Odin was Weber's command ship and he spent most of his time skulking near the rear of the battle lines. The Shiva was destroyed, and the Thor took significant damage, but the Odin escaped largely unscathed."

"It's undergoing a refit for the next couple of weeks," Mateo explained animatedly. "New engines, power cores, FTL drives... it'll be one of the most powerful ships in the Federation Navy when they're finished!"

"Who's your new C.O.?" John asked, finishing his drink.

"I'll be reporting to Commodore Torres, but the Odin's been designated as Admiral Aerie Malone's new Command Ship."

"She's a good officer," Calara said with a nod of approval. "Malone's battle group took a real pounding against the Kintark, but she managed to hold the line long enough for me to send the Maliri to assist them."

"I still can't believe my little sister was ordering admirals around," Mateo said, shaking his head.

Irillith's full lips curled up into a wicked smile. "We've still got all the Invictus' battle recordings. You can listen to Calara give the Admiralty a stern dressing-down if you like?"

"Oh, I've got to watch that!" Mateo exclaimed, grinning at his sister.

"Irillith..." Calara complained, looking mortified.

Jack reached over to give his daughter a reassuring pat on the knee. "I'd be interested in seeing you in action too."

Calara blushed, then reluctantly nodded her agreement. "Oh alright, but I don't think I can listen to it... I'll be too embarrassed."

John rose to his feet and offered her a hand. "In that case, you can help me make a fresh round of drinks."

She smiled at him gratefully as she intertwined her fingers with his. "I'm definitely going to need another one..."

They walked over to the bar and Calara groaned when she heard Irillith announce that she'd found the footage taken from the Combat Bridge during the Battle of Terra. Soon Calara's authoritative voice rang out across the Officers' Lounge, their guests spellbound by the captivating video being played on a holo-screen.

"You're on blending duty," John said, handing her a pack of frozen strawberries.

"At least the blender will drown that out," she said, giving him a self-conscious smile.

He leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "They're proud of you, honey... nearly as much as I am."

That earned him a loving kiss, before Calara took great delight in starting up the noisy blender. She grinned at the flurry of protests it triggered from the group at the sofas, but relented after a few seconds and switched it off.

*How's everything going, beautiful?* John asked Alyssa. *Are the girls nearly done?*

*We shouldn't be too much longer,* she quickly replied. *I know we're in a hurry, but I'm glad we came down here... it's been an interesting trip.*

*I take it you've been making a good impression on the Tasmaris Prime colonists?* he asked, knowing that was a foregone conclusion.

*They all think that Rachel and Helene are amazing... but that's not what I was referring to,* she replied cryptically. *I'll tell you all about it later.*

*Okay... hurry back.*

***

Alyssa watched Helene counselling the final group of bereaved colonists and knew she'd be ready to depart in a matter of minutes. Rachel had already healed the bulk of the wounded and was expending the last of her energy reserves on regenerating missing limbs, elevating the looks of awe she was receiving to ones of stunned adulation. Deciding that she'd made Admiral Zelig wait long enough, Alyssa turned on her heel and strode through the milling crowds to reach the cluster of Terran Federation officers.

"I believe you're looking for me, Nathan?" she asked the older admiral.

He tore his fascinated gaze away from Rachel, then gave the blonde a grateful smile. "If you can spare a few moments, I would like to speak with you. I wasn't sure if I'd still get the chance before you returned to the Invictus."

"Sorry about the wait... I thought you should see Helene and Rachel in action before we had a chat," Alyssa replied, giving him a coy smile.

Zelig looked at her in surprise, then chuckled as he shook his head. "I must admit, I'm not used to being kept waiting... but my rank doesn't mean much to you does it?"

"Not so much, no," Alyssa blithely admitted, before nodding towards the exit. "Let's go to the Raptor... we'll have some privacy there and we can talk freely."

*Jade, can you watch Helene and Rachel please,* she asked the Nymph.

*I'll keep Helene company. My sisters will make sure no harm comes to Rachel,* the green skinned girl replied, waving at Alyssa as she passed by.

Zelig fell into step beside the statuesque blonde, darting the occasional curious glance at Alyssa as they left the meeting hall. The building was located in the primary starport, chosen specifically to make it easy for the fleet to bring grieving colonists and wounded personnel for treatment by the Lionesses. There was only a short walk to the Raptor, which they'd left parked on a landing pad close to the entrance. Alyssa used the remote in her jacket to lower the gunship's forward loading ramp, then guided the admiral inside, closing the hydraulic doorway behind them.

He followed her into the grav-tube, then wobbled unsteadily as they floated up in the blue anti-gravity field. "How remarkable!"

"Beats waiting for a lift," Alyssa said, leading him into the cockpit and gesturing to the chairs. "Take a seat, Nathan."

Sitting opposite her, Admiral Zelig studied the beautiful teenager. "You're not very happy with me at the moment, are you?"

"No, not really," she replied, frowning as she crossed her arms over her chest. "After our little chat a fortnight ago, I thought you might start to see things differently."

He deflated and gave her a rueful look. "I do appreciate how kind and understanding you were about everything that happened in my past. I must admit, you alleviated a lot of my guilt over what I did to my wife's ex-husband... but I can't just abandon my principles because it makes me feel better about myself."

"Well, you've seen what Rachel and Helene have been doing for the last couple of weeks. Do you still think we're all a bunch of bloodthirsty vigilantes?" Alyssa asked, a challenging edge to her voice.

Zelig gave her a pained look. "I never meant to make any of you feel like I was denigrating your accomplishments. The Lion and his Lionesses have saved millions of lives; there's no questioning your heroism or compassion."

Alyssa raised an eyebrow. "But you still gave John a hard time about vigilante justice. He's got much more important stuff to deal with than guilt-trips about assholes like Weber."

"But what you did to that man was beyond the pale!" Zelig objected, grimacing as he remembered those tortured screams of anguish.

"I gave Weber the karmic justice he deserved," she replied, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "And I'm going to do a lot worse to the fuckers that tried to kill my girlfriend's mom..."

He shook his head, worry in his eyes. "It's a slippery slope, Alyssa. Eventually, you'll become like the tyrants you've been fighting against."

"I disagree," she replied, meeting his gaze with a level one of her own. "It's not like we're going around slaughtering innocent people. Everyone I've killed has deserved it: vicious rapists, brutal murderers, vile sadistic bastards that get off on torturing people... the galaxy is a much better place without them in it."

"Once you've crossed that line, it'll get easier to do so again and again... with ever weaker justifications," Zelig warned her, his expression troubled. "The kind of power you have must be intoxicating and the temptation to eliminate anyone who proves to be an obstacle will only get stronger."

"Oh, I've been very good at resisting temptation so far," Alyssa replied, giving him a wry smile. "Admiral Caldwell can be a colossal pain in the ass, but he's still breathing."

Zelig leaned forward and asked earnestly, "Yes, but for how much longer?"

She sighed and shook her head. "Caldwell's concerned that John is a threat to humanity and attempting to take control of the Terran Federation. The man's misguided... not evil. Unless Edwin turns into a bad guy, I won't touch him."

"This is what concerns me though. You seem to see the universe in black and white terms... but life is more nuanced than that. There are mitigating circumstances that need to be carefully considered by an impartial court before justice can be dispensed."

Alyssa looked at him strangely for a moment, then burst into laughter.

"We're talking about life and death here, Alyssa... this isn't a laughing matter," he said, giving her a disapproving frown.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," she replied, trying not to giggle. "You don't seriously believe the justice system is impartial?!"

"Well... in an ideal world, it should be."

"But I'm talking about the cold hard reality of justice in the Terran Federation. Law enforcement can be bought, threatened, or blackmailed... and that happens ALL the time on the Outer Rim. Even in the Core Worlds, if you've got enough money to buy the best lawyers, they'll end up having a huge influence on a jury. The kind of impartial justice you're talking about is an impossible pipe dream."

"So because you don't trust the system and you're powerful enough to take the law into your own hands, that gives you the right to be judge, jury, and executioner?" he asked, his question laden with sarcasm.

"Yes, exactly," she replied without any hesitation. "Might makes right. It's the fundamental principle that the Terran Federation was founded on."

"What? No it isn't!" he protested.

Now it was Alyssa's turn to lean forward, her expression earnest. "The Terran Federation penal code was drawn up hundreds of years ago... and who do you think influenced how it was written, Nathan? Was it CEOs and Admirals, or beggars and whores that decided which punishments should fit the crimes?"

He faltered, a hint of doubt in his eyes.

"Before I met John, I lived on Karron alongside the absolute dregs of society. I had to survive with no power and no money... and life was hell. I was robbed, beaten, abused... and none of the bastards responsible were ever brought to justice for what they did." She allowed herself a cold smile. "Well... not by Terran courts anyway. I guess I can take some comfort in knowing those fuckers were brutally raped by Kirrix hivelords before they died."

She held up a hand to forestall his words of sympathy.

"For years, I saw real evil on a daily basis," Alyssa said quietly, her even tone all the more unsettling. "Some people are good, some people are bad... and then there's a few that are very, very bad. Once you accept that, like I have, then you can fuck up the real world-class shits without a flicker of remorse. I'm a telepath and I could see into Carl Weber's mind... I knew every vile thing he'd ordered done to thousands of innocent creatures that were tortured and killed. You'll never be able to convince me that alien-hating psychopath didn't deserve every second of agony he suffered."

The admiral slowly sat back in his chair, lost in thought. "Perhaps I was too quick to judge you. You've given this a lot more thought than I gave you credit for."

Alyssa got up, crossed the cabin and sat next to him. "I wish the Terran Federation was the way you see it, Nathan, but it's not. The further away from Terra you get, the less justice there is... that's an undeniable fact. The Admiralty has let down the people on the Outer Rim for centuries and abandoning them to a Kirrix invasion is just the latest travesty in a long history of neglect. There's a huge difference between how much the Terran Federation means to the Core Worlds and how it's viewed out here."

He nodded soberly, then gave her a quizzical glance. "How did we get onto the history of the Outer Rim when we were discussing taking the law into your own hands?"

She shrugged nonchalantly. "I thought you might find it interesting to hear my perspective, as someone who had a horrific childhood living out here on Karron. You asked earlier if your rank meant anything to me. It does. I associate the Admiralty with incompetence, corruption, dereliction of duty, and self-serving narcissism."

Looking appalled, Zelig protested, "But I'm not like that!"

"It was the impression I had before I left Karron and people like Lynton, Norwood, Buckingham, and Weber have only confirmed all the terrible rumours. I'm not saying you're like them... but that's the impression colonists out here have of High Command. Do you think being abandoned to the Kirrix has done anything to convince them otherwise?"

He tilted his head back to rest against the wall. "The state of unrest on the Outer Rim is far bleaker than I ever imagined, isn't it? How close are these worlds to breaking point?"

Alyssa rose from her chair and gave him a grim look. "John will not stand by and allow another Galon Prime massacre. Fleet Admiral Devereux would never order an orbital bombardment of civilians, but if you do ever find yourself put in that position, please remember that we'll consider you and your fleet to be bad guys."

"I understand... but I'd never give that order either," Zelig replied, hurt that she even felt the need to warn him.

"I know. I just thought it might be wise to let you know where we stand," she said cryptically.

Zelig gazed up at her, a troubled look in his eyes. "I just realised something; you only agreed to speak with me because you wanted to discuss unrest on the Outer Rim. My opinion about everything else means absolutely nothing to you... doesn't it?"

She gave him an apologetic smile. "Sorry, Nathan, there was never any chance you'd change my mind. I know I'm right, because I'm able to see the darkness people try to hide from everyone else. If I kill some bad guy... he had it coming."

There was a flicker of apprehension on the admiral's face as if he was seeing her for the first time. Zelig seemed like he was about to say something, then abruptly decided to stay silent.

"What is it?" Alyssa asked curiously.

There was a long, awkward pause before he replied, "I know how powerful John is... but he doesn't scare me like you do. I just hope I never do something that really offends you."

"Be a good boy and you've got nothing to worry about," she joked with a playful smile.

Her answer didn't make him feel much better.

Alyssa stepped over to the cockpit door. "Well, it was good to see you again, but the girls are here and I'm afraid we're in a rush."

He rose stiffly from the chair, recognising her dismissal for what it was. Alyssa accompanied him from the cockpit into the grav-tube, then out to the forward loading area.

As the ramp started to descend, Zelig faced the statuesque blonde. "Please be careful, Alyssa."

"You too, Nathan."

He nodded and turned to stride down the ramp, where Helene, Rachel, and the five Nymphs were waiting patiently. They waved at him, then walked up to join the blonde, with Betrixa rushing past Alyssa to be the first one up to the cockpit.

"I want to fly the Raptor!" she gushed, her sapphire eyes sparkling with excitement. "Can you show me how, Jade?"

Jade bounded after her and smiled at Alyssa. "Is that alright with you?"

"Sure, that's fine," the blonde replied.

The rest of the Nymphs were just as eager to watch and hurried to join them, leaving Helene and Rachel with Alyssa.

"The admiral looked upset," Helene noted, glanced back across the landing pad at his retreating form. "Is he okay?"

"Nathan's a good man... he's just got a lot on his mind at the moment," Alyssa explained, hugging the Abandoned girl. "Now, how do you feel? Are you tired after using your abilities on so many people?"

Helene shook her head, a bright smile on her face. "It's getting easier every time!" She stifled a yawn, then blushed. "Maybe I am a bit tired..."

"I'm not surprised," Rachel said, embracing Helene from behind. "You comforted thousands today."

Alyssa gently stroked Helene's temple. "I was proud of you today. You pushed yourself hard and I can feel you getting stronger."

Helene let out a contented sigh. "I don't know about that... I just feel happy. Group hugs like this are wonderful."

The blonde and brunette were more than willing to maintain the affectionate embrace and they shared a smile over Helene's teal-hued shoulder.

*So how hard a time did you give Admiral Zelig?* Rachel asked, looking amused.

*I told him off for hassling John, but I wasn't too mean about it,* Alyssa replied, trying to look innocent. She hesitated and looked her friend in the eyes. *He said that I scared him. Do I ever scare you, Rachel?*

Rachel's gaze softened and she pressed herself against Helene, leaning forward to give Alyssa a tender kiss. *You're scarily good with that lovely tongue. Does that count?*

Alyssa deepened the kiss, moaning into the brunette's mouth. *I think that's okay...*

Helene twisted in their embrace to watch the kissing teenagers, a warm smile lighting up her face. "That looks like fun."

*It's your turn next, sexy girl,* Alyssa declared, rubbing her chest against Helene's deliciously pert bosom. *We need to keep you wide-awake so you can say hello to our guests...*

***

"You just swatted those capital ships like flies..." Emily murmured, her eyes like saucers.

Mateo reluctantly tore his gaze from the holo-screen to gape at his sister. "That Kirrix fleet was huge but you wiped them out single-handed!"

"It's a team effort... I just fire the guns," Calara said with a self-conscious smile, before leaning over to press a button that ended the combat footage from their last battle. "I think we've seen quite enough of that for one night."

Jack had stayed quiet for the past hour, watching his daughter in each battle with rapt fascination. "I watched the public footage from the Battle of Terra dozens of times, but it really didn't do you justice. That was the most incredible thing I've ever seen."

"Thanks, dad," Calara said with a proud smile.

*We're just docking, handsome,* Alyssa informed John, her melodious voice echoing through his mind.

*See you soon, beautiful,* he replied, before glancing at the ship's chronometer which read 23:06. "Alyssa should be back shortly. I'll introduce you to the rest of the girls, then it might be sensible to call it a night. We can continue catching up tomorrow."

"When will we arrive at Jericho?" Jack asked, his smile fading into a pensive frown.

*I'll stay on the Bridge tomorrow afternoon and help us make up some lost time,* Alyssa interjected. *We'll still get there for 9 pm.*

"We should arrive around 21:00," John replied, putting his arm around Calara.

"I can't wait to see mom..." she said, leaning into the hug.

"Tomorrow?" Jack asked, looking stunned.

Mateo looked at John incredulously. "You can't be serious! 22 hours to get from the Outer Rim to the Core Worlds?! That journey took us two weeks in the Damocles!"

"Yeah, but we've upgraded the shit out of the Invictus!" Dana said with a broad grin, which faltered when she realised she'd sworn in front of Calara's father again.

He caught her worried glance and laughed. "I've served in the navy for over thirty years; it's been a long time since I've been shocked by bad language." His laughter died and he shook his head in amazement. "But I can't even imagine a ship going that fast."

Mateo looked bewildered. "How can you react to hazards in your flight path? You'd barely have time to change course."

"Dana has massively upgraded our Sensor Array," Calara explained. "I can you show you tomorrow if you're really interested."

"I'd love to see that," her brother said appreciatively.

Just then the doors slid open and the missing crewwomen entered the Officers' Lounge.

Calara had already risen from her chair and she beamed at the girls across the room. "Come and meet everyone," she said, beckoning over the new arrivals.

Everyone got up from the sofas and Calara walked over to greet Alyssa with a hug. She turned and couldn't help smiling at the looks of astonishment on their guests' faces when they saw Helene and the four catgirls. Her happy grin wavered when she saw her father's obvious disapproval of the quartet of alluring feline Nymphs.

John stepped forward to do the introductions. "Jack, Mateo, you've already met Jade before on Jericho. Jade, this is Emily, Mateo's girlfriend. Emily... Jade is a Lenarran, or a Nymph as they're more commonly known."

Walking over to their guests, Jade had no qualms about giving each of them a friendly hug. "Hello!"

Turning to the catgirls, who were looking at John expectantly, he said, "This is Leylira, Betrixa, Neysa, and Marika. They're also Nymphs and are Jade's sisters."

Mateo was staring at the sexy catgirls with his mouth open, until he blushed and snapped it shut with a click. "It's very nice to meet all of you."

Emily's eyes were flicking from their furry ears to their sinuous tails, her eyes alight with fascination. She clearly wanted to ask a whole barrage of questions, but settled for saying hello and giving them a shy wave.

John smiled at the four Nymphs as he said, "They used to look very similar to Jade when we first rescued them, but it was hard to tell five green girls apart from each other."

"This shape is much more fun!" Betrixa exclaimed, her face lighting up with a dazzling smile. "Isn't it, Master?"

He winced at her slip and glanced at their three guests... who were now all staring at him, with looks ranging from curiosity to indignation.

*Ah crap,* Alyssa muttered, seeing Jack's stony-faced reaction.

*I'm so sorry, John,* Jade apologised. *I forgot to warn them about that.*

*Well the catgirl's out of the bag now,* John said with a sigh of frustration. *Let me handle this...*

Before John could say anything to break the awkward silence, Emily gasped, "It's the Angel of Terra!"

Rachel affected a look of piety for a moment, before breaking out into a warm smile. "I normally go by Rachel. It's nice to meet you, Emily."

"Doctor Voss... you're amazing!" Emily gushed, reaching out to reverently touch her hand before catching herself at the last moment. "I saw the video of you healing terrible wounds just by being near the injured! How do you do that?!"

"I can heal wounds by using psychic energy to stimulate regeneration in damaged tissue," the brunette explained. "I used to be a conventional medic until I became a Lioness... the psychic healing was a gift from John."

"Oh, I wish I could do that," Emily said, with a wistful sigh. "The amount of people I could help..."

"It can come in handy," Rachel said, in a mastery of understatement. She turned her smile towards Calara's family members. "It's lovely to see you again, Mateo, and I'm so glad I'm finally able to meet you, Jack."

John waited for them to return her greeting, then stood beside the final girl in need of introduction. "Last but by no means least is Helene. She's from a species of people called the Abandoned and joined us only three weeks ago."

Helene walked over to the guests and gave each of them a warm hug. "I'm so glad to meet you. Calara is such a lovely person; she's been so kind to me since I escaped from Brimor."

Mateo looked at her in confusion. "From Brimor?! But... you're not a Brimorian!"

"The Brimorians keep the Abandoned as slaves," John said, his expression grim. "Only Fleet Admiral Devereux knows Helene's full background, so this is another secret I'd ask you not to share."

"I won't tell anyone," Emily said earnestly. "It's nice to meet you, Helene."

"I'm really glad you escaped," Mateo said returning her smile. "Your secret is safe with me."

"I'd never betray your confidence," Jack said gruffly, his expression conflicted.

Mateo caught his father's odd tone and looked at him quizzically. Jack noticed his son staring at him, but gritted his teeth and refused to elaborate on what had upset him.

Alyssa walked over to Mateo and Emily. "It's getting quite late and you two must be tired; would you like me to show you to your rooms? I need to head up to the Bridge and lay in a course for the Invictus, so it won't be any bother."

The couple shared a glance, both sensing something was amiss.

"Sounds good. I can't wait to go to bed, right, Em?" Mateo said, faking a yawn.

Emily blushed, knowing how that statement could be taken. "Umm... yes."

Calara's elder brother winced with embarrassment. "Just to sleep!" he hastily corrected himself, then groaned when he realised how guilty he sounded.

"Alright, let's go," Alyssa said, trying not to laugh as she led them towards the exit. She glanced back over her shoulder as she departed. *Show Jack what we were before. He needs to see.*

The room was quiet as the trio left, with a sense of anticipation building for what would happen next when the door closed behind them. As soon as the double-doors slid shut, Jack opened his mouth to vent his anger and disapproval, but Calara held a hand up to forestall his protests.

"Wait just a moment, dad," she interrupted, cutting him off. "I want to show you something first, then you can berate me and John for caring about all these wonderful girls."

He scowled in irritation. "Calara, you know that isn't-"

"That's enough!" she said sharply. "You've already embarrassed me enough by being so judgemental towards the people I love. Aren't you even going to allow me a chance to explain our situation?"

Jack looked at her in astonishment, having never been spoken to by his daughter that way before.

Calara whirled around and marched over to the holo-interface built into the coffee table. She stabbed her finger down on a series of icons, which queued up the images for a very familiar presentation.

"Why don't you take a seat, Jack," John said quietly, gesturing to the sofa with the best view of the holo-screen. "This will take a few minutes..."

The girls fanned out to sit on the flanking sofas. Eleven sets of female eyes watched Calara's father with sympathy... and one looked at him with anger and disappointment.

Calara displayed the first set of pictures, which had both been taken aboard the Fool's Gold. The first showed her bruised and battered face, and the second was of the vicious whip marks on her back, the deep lacerations a bloody mess.

"That was me, just after John and Alyssa rescued me from the Corvette Griffon," she said, waving her hand at the images. "If they'd arrived five minutes later, I'd have been raped to death by a Largath."

Jack stared in horror at the pictures of his beloved daughter, having only previously read the clinical reports of her injuries. "Oh my God!" he gasped in a choked voice.

Her brown eyes softened and she walked over to sit beside him. "I was forced to watch my shipmates being tortured to death... I had nightmares about it for weeks afterwards," she said quietly. "I was broken physically and mentally after everything those pirates did to me. If not for John and Alyssa, I would've had a nervous breakdown from PTSD."

"Callie... I didn't know," Jack said, looking distraught.

She gave him a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Just watch the rest, dad... please."

The next images showed a petite waif with a short crop of spiky ginger hair, her ghostly pale face hideously disfigured by an angry red burn scar.

Dana rose from her seat and gave Jack a self-conscious smile. "Yeah... that's me, little orphan Sparks from Karron. I got that scar from an exploding generator when I was a kid, then spent the last several years forced to work as a gunsmith for a street gang."

Jack stared in disbelief at the slip of a girl in the picture compared to the statuesque beauty that stood before him now. "That's... just not possible!" he balked, his mind refusing to correlate the two girls. "There's no way you could change that much!"

"It took John two weeks to Change her," Calara explained quietly. "Two wonderful weeks of intimacy, for him to heal Dana's body and mind, turning that tragic little girl into the beautiful, perfect woman she is today."

"I would've died if your daughter hadn't helped John and Alyssa rescue me," Dana said, walking around to give Calara a gentle kiss on the cheek. "Everyone on Karron was slaughtered by the Kirrix. I'd have been raped by a hivelord, then ripped apart by hatching grubs if it wasn't for Calara. I love her... she's totally awesome."

Jack stared at the gorgeous redhead, knowing in his heart that everything she was telling him was the absolute truth.

Before he could say anything, it was Jade's turn, the Nymph rising from her chair to tell him about her past. He listened in mute horror as she detailed the catalogue of abuse she'd suffered during three centuries as a sex slave to pirate warlords. Jade mirrored Dana in walking around to give Calara a gentle kiss on the cheek, and explaining how the Latina had saved her from being destroyed.

Jade then told him about her sisters and their capture by Admiral Weber. How the crew had rushed to rescue the Nymphs from being subjected to cruel experiments... and put an end to their sexual slavery.

"All Nymphs have to refer to their owners as 'Master'," Jade explained, looking into Jack's eyes. "We have no choice... it's built into our very DNA. Except John managed to break the bonds that forced me to be a slave and he's been trying to do the same for my sisters. I stay with him now because I love him, not because I'm forced to stay... it's a choice he wants all of us to be able to make."

"To call him Master feels so natural," Neysa said, her tone serious. "I have to concentrate before I can say... John... but it is becoming easier."

"Nymphs don't go through the Change like the rest of the girls did," Jade explained, affectionately stroking Calara's arm. "When we've been with John long enough, we can do things like this..."

She stepped away from the sofas and unceremoniously let her dress fall to the floor. Jack blinked in surprise at her casual display of nudity, before Jade shimmered in a green haze and reappeared as a 900lb tiger.

"Holy fuck!" Jack balked, lurching backwards instinctively in fear.

"It's just Jade, dad," Calara said, walking over to stroke the massive tiger's head. "She'd never hurt you."

Jade nuzzled into her hand and a throaty purr reverberated around the Officers' Lounge.

Glancing across the sofas, Calara said, "Irillith can you find a few videos of Jade in action?"

"Of course," the Maliri said, quickly searching through the archives to find the relevant footage.

As Jack cautiously retook his seat, he watched the new holo-screen that appeared, his curiosity most definitely piqued.

"A T-Rex!" he blurted out in shock a second later, as he saw the Jurassic monster savaging a squad of cyborg ninjas. "You can turn into a Tyrannosaurus Rex?!"

Jade's huge feline head bobbed up and down, her emerald eyes sparkling as they caught the light.

"Show Jack the dragon!" Leylira exclaimed, a feral grin on her face.

Irillith rolled her eyes. "You're stealing my thunder..."

"I thought you could make as much lightning as you wanted?" the tigress asked in confusion. "Surely you have unlimited thunder?"

The Maliri sighed and hit another icon, activating video footage of a colossal green dragon shielding four small female figures from a destroyer's gauss cannon barrage.

Jack leaned forward, stunned by what he was seeing. "But that-... I just-..." he stammered, before turning to stare at Jade in disbelief.

She shimmered in a green haze, reverting to her regular form. "Yes, I can shapeshift into a 50 ton dragon," she said, slipping on her dress. "Given enough love and attention, my sisters will be able to as well."

He turned to look at John, who was leaning against the bar, nursing a fresh glass of whiskey as he watched the presentation. "How is that possible?"

"Why don't you watch the rest of the presentation, then you can ask me any questions you like," John suggested, looking at the bewildered man with sympathy. "I think the twins are next..."

Irillith's dark tale of betrayal by her mother left Jack looking appalled, his expression shifting to horrified revulsion when he saw Tashana's savagely mutilated features. He stared at the enchanting Maliri girl as she glided around the coffee table to sit beside him.

"Your daughter helped avert a Maliri civil war," the azure beauty said, focusing her violet-eyed gaze on Jack. "Millions of lives would have been lost if not for her. In preventing that catastrophe, she was able to help save me from the horrible nightmare my life had become. You've seen how lethal she can be towards our foes, but she's also one of the kindest and most loving people I've ever met. John healed my mind and body, but Calara helped restore my spirit. I love your daughter deeply and I'm so very sorry that our feelings for her have damaged your relationship."

Jack swallowed around the lump in his throat. "I didn't understand what you'd all been through... I just thought-... I'm sorry."

"There's still more to go, dad," Calara said softly.

"I don't think I can watch anymore," he said, his voice cracking. "How did any of you survive all this?"

Calara stroked his arm. "Sakura's next. I think you need to see what condition she was in when we found her."

He reluctantly nodded, bracing himself for the next horrifying images, then let out a strangled gasp when he saw the hideous surgical scars that criss-crossed Sakura's sickly body. When the Asian girl rose from her chair to speak, Jack stood too, and wrapped her up in a big hug. Sakura whispered in his ear and they could all see his shoulders shuddering as his heart broke for her all over again.

To lose her virginity to rapists, then be imprisoned within her own mind as Shinatobe murdered hundreds at Mikaboshi's request... the details of Sakura's past were utterly horrifying. Jack squeezed her tight when she told him how her parents had died of old age before she was freed, robbing them of a chance to say a final goodbye.

When they separated, Jack let out a ragged sigh, before turning to look at his own daughter with profound regret. "I'm sorry, Callie. Will you forgive me?"

She got up and hugged him, tears in her eyes. "I love you, dad. But I love John and all the girls too... and it was tearing me apart to keep this secret. I never wanted to disappoint you; that's why I never told you the truth until now."

"I was never disappointed in you," he said, rubbing her back. "I was just trying to protect you, but I had no idea how much these girls had all suffered... and how much they love you for saving them."

"I love them too," she said, letting out a huge sigh of relief. "I'm so glad you understand."

John and the girls watched them quietly, unwilling to disrupt the poignant moment between father and daughter. Alyssa returned before the two separated, sharing a fond smile with John as she walked over to join him at the bar.

When Jack and Calara finally pulled apart, John said to the girls, "It's getting quite late, ladies. Why don't you head off to bed?"

They rose obediently, smiling and waving goodbye as they departed, leaving behind John, Alyssa, Calara, and her father.

"I was going to bring you up to speed on the Progenitor War tonight," John said to Jack as he returned to the sofa, bringing his guest a fresh drink. "But I think you've had more than enough to deal with for one evening."

Jack chuckled and nodded, before taking a hefty gulp of the whiskey. "That was harrowing... seeing what those poor girls had been through." His eyes fell on Alyssa, a question appearing there for a second, before being suppressed.

"It's only natural to be curious about something so unbelievable," she said, reaching out to touch his hand. "I was the first girl to join John... and we had no idea what was involved in the Change until I'd been through it."

Calara leaned forward to activate the final image in the presentation... of Alyssa on the Fool's Gold. The emaciated waif stood before them, her cerulean eyes the only feature shared with the stunningly beautiful woman she was now.

"Alyssa became my Matriarch," John said, putting his arm around the blonde. "Every Progenitor has one. She has a telepathic connection with me, as well as every girl connected to us."

"I browbeat John into recruiting Calara," Alyssa admitted, smiling lovingly at the brunette. "The two of us became friends after the rescue and I could tell she was struggling to cope with the nightmares. I wanted John to heal her, just like he'd healed me... but neither of us anticipated what an incredible tactician and gunner Calara would eventually become."

"The Change brings out your best qualities," Calara explained, looking into her father's eyes and silently pleading for him to understand. "Physically I'm taller, stronger, fitter, and more agile than I ever was before. That was how I was able to beat Mateo and Eduardo in those sparring matches."

"It was also down to skill, Callie," he said, gently squeezing her hand. "And you managed to defeat me too."

"Only because I caught you by surprise," she admitted with a bashful smile.

He considered that for a moment, then asked tentatively, "Perhaps we could have a rematch sometime? No holding back this time?"

"Oh I'd love that, dad... thank you!" she gushed, her eyes sparkling at the prospect.

Jack gave her an affectionate look, then sat back in his chair, his gaze flicking to the door. "I can see how much you all care about each other... but isn't there constant fighting and jealousy between all those girls? I just can't see how this will work out in the long term."

"We can't get jealous of each other," Calara explained. "It's a side-effect we noticed early on."

Turning to look at John, her father raised an eyebrow dubiously. "No jealousy... at all?"

John swilled his whiskey in the tumbler, while considering how to frame his reply. "The Change doesn't just enhance the girls physically, they've all been enhanced mentally too. Calara was already an exceptionally bright woman... but she's reached her full potential now."

She blushed at the praise, then said quietly, "Dad, you saw me assume tactical command of the Federation forces in the Battle of Terra. I was micromanaging multiple fleet engagements simultaneously... there's no way any normal person could have managed that."

"We all work together, to protect and care for each other," Alyssa explained, patting Calara's thigh. "If we could still be jealous, I'd be constantly breaking up catfights... and not just between the Nymphs."

Jack allowed himself a wry smile, then his expression turned serious as he looked at John. "I still feel like I'm missing something important. How did you enhance Calara... and all the rest of these women?"

John downed the rest of his drink, then toyed with the empty glass. "Calara told you that I was a Progenitor, didn't she?"

"Yes," Jack replied, nodding in confirmation.

"Progenitors are a species of galactic tyrants, that have waged constant warfare with each other for hundreds-of-thousands of years. They each enslave a thrall race... like the Maliri... then recruit vast armies of women to fight against each other. Trillions have died in their never-ending wars."

"Only women fight?" Jack asked in a hushed voice. "Why?"

"Because their species were genetically engineered to have twenty females to every male. They're bred to fight for a Progenitor and physically they're all almost identical; the perfect interchangeable soldier," John replied, his voice tinged with sadness.

Alyssa and Calara rose from their chair and stood side-by-side. It was obvious that their statuesque bodies shared exactly the same proportions.

"A Progenitor called Mael'nerak created Terrans as an experiment in genetic mutation... but we're not a thrall species, so Terran women are all shapes and sizes," Alyssa explained, meeting Jack's stunned gaze. "But being with John transforms any Terran woman to give her a thrall's incredible body."

"So you've been turned into a perfect soldier?" Jack asked Calara, looking deeply unsettled now.

"Yes," she replied honestly.

"I didn't do it intentionally, Jack... I promise," John said meeting the older man's accusatory stare. "I knew nothing about Progenitors, or my abilities, until very recently."

Calara sat close to her father and said in an earnest voice, "I know it sounds bad... but that's just because we've explained it in cold harsh terms. Progenitors are monsters and don't care about the millions of women they enslave. John is nothing like that! He loves us and we love him... emotions that are alien and repellent to Progenitors."

"You saw the pictures of how we each looked before the Change," Alyssa said quietly. "John wanted to heal all the torment we'd suffered and changed us out of concern and compassion. We became incredibly powerful as a side-effect."

"And that's how the Lionesses were created. You already know what we've managed to accomplish fighting side-by-side," Calara said with a proud smile directed at John. She locked eyes with her father and continued, "If this hadn't happened to me, Mateo would have been worked to death in a Kintark sulphur mine, Eduardo would have been killed in the Battle of Terra, and you never would have survived Regulus."

Jack took a heavy drink from his glass, his expression conflicted as he studied John. "I don't know if I should feel outraged at what you've done to Calara... or be incredibly grateful."

"I've tortured myself with guilt over the changes I accidentally made to the girls," John admitted, his expression reflecting his conflicted feelings. "But they recently pointed out to me that if they hadn't joined me, they all would have died. If I hadn't enhanced Alyssa, I wouldn't have been able to rescue your daughter. If Calara had been killed by pirates, then Dana would have died too... and so on."

"It basically comes down to accepting me as the woman I am now, or effectively wishing that I was dead," Calara said bluntly. "The fact that John changed all of us girls is the only reason I'm still alive today."

Alyssa nodded and hugged the brunette. "And if we lost Calara, the entire Terran Federation would have been decimated... billions would now be enslaved by the Kintark, or raped by the Kirrix."

Jack ran his fingers through his hair and let out his breath in a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, that's kind of how I feel," John said with a wry smile.

Nodding his agreement, Jack turned to look intently at Calara, his face a pensive mask.

"What is it, dad?" Calara asked. "What are you worried about?"

"It's just... I can't help wondering if you're still my little girl?" he asked in a choked voice.

"I am, daddy... I promise!" she blurted out, falling into his arms with tears streaming down her cheeks.

John looked away, unable to watch the emotional moment. He knew he was solely responsible for the anguish Jack was feeling, but Calara was right; if she hadn't joined the crew, she would've been killed... they all would.

Alyssa knelt down on the floor next to their sofa and slowly rubbed their backs. "She's still your Callie, Jack. You never even suspected any of this before we told you, because Calara's the same lovely girl she always was. She might be even brighter and more confident than before, but she still loves her family and desperately wants her father to be proud of her."

He nodded and hugged Calara tighter. "Seeing you receive the Stellar Cluster... it was the highlight of my life. I felt like my heart was going to burst, I was so proud that you were my daughter."

Calara cried with relief, her tears soaking his shirt. "I've been worrying for months that you'd reject me if you found out the truth... I was so scared."

"I love you, sweetheart... I'd never turn my back on you," he whispered in her ear.

Smiling at the pair, Alyssa got up and walked over to sit by John. *You were on the right lines earlier,* she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. *If it wasn't for you, neither of them would still be alive today. I think you did a good thing saving that lovely family.*

*Thanks, honey,* John said gratefully, slipping his arm around her and holding Alyssa tight.

After a long moment spent in their quiet embrace, Jack and Calara gently eased apart, and he brushed the tears from her cheek.

"Are you still worried now?" he asked, looking into her eyes.

She smiled shyly. "No... not anymore. Thanks, dad."

"You're welcome," he said, rubbing her arm.

"I'm sorry we put you through the emotional wringer today," John apologised with a frown. "I've been trying to come up with ways to explain this to you without it being upsetting... but you know what they say about the best-laid plans."

"John! I don't think Jack wants to hear about his daughter getting laid," Alyssa said, leaning over to kiss the flustered brunette.

Jack looked shocked for a moment, then he couldn't help laughing. "Let's end that discussion right there... please!"

Calara blushed and shook her head at her girlfriend. "You're so bad... I can't believe you said that!"

"Just lightening the mood," Alyssa replied, turning to grin at Jack. "I think your father understands how much we love you."

"I do," he conceded, giving John and the two girls a look of apology. "I am sorry for reacting badly."

"You were just being protective of your daughter," John said with a smile. "There's no need to apologise for that."

"Yes, but after everything you've done for my family..." Jack faltered, suddenly thinking just how much he would have lost if not for John and the girls.

John shook his head. "I don't blame you for reacting that way, any father would. Considering all the galaxy-spanning events we're having to deal with, it's always a welcome relief to spend time with your family... just for a much-needed dose of reality."

Smiling with relief, Jack relaxed, the tension finally going out of his shoulders. "So what are you dealing with at the moment? I know you suggested leaving further discussion until tomorrow, but I'm too keyed-up to sleep."

"Sure, we can bring you up to speed," John agreed with a nod. He glanced at the two girls. "What should we start with first?"

Alyssa turned to face him. "I think we need to discuss the imminent rebellion in the Outer Rim."

"Was that the interesting part of the trip to Tasmaris Prime?" John asked with a weary sigh.

"I spoke to the governor, a guy called Bryce Hansen. I liked him... but he was fishing for information about the Kirrix and wanted to know if he could rely on us to protect them from future invasions."

Calara frowned. "Why would he ask that when there's a Terran fleet in orbit?"

"Exactly! That's what I said," Alyssa replied, nodding to the brunette. "I quizzed him... and he's worried about T-Fed reprisals."

"Because they're thinking about splitting from the Federation..." John muttered in exasperation. "Surely they can see that they'll be better off staying where they are?"

"They're fucking pissed, John!" Alyssa said vehemently. "Thousands of them just had their kids chopped to bits... and most of the survivors got raped by hive lords. Would you want to trust High Command to have your back after they let that happen to you? If it was me, I'd tell the Admiralty to go fuck themselves!"

"It's not as simple as that though," Calara said, with a worried frown. "If a small cluster of colonies secedes from the Federation, they won't have the military resources to defend themselves against future Kirrix aggression."

John nodded. "They'll be an all-you-can-eat buffet for the Kirrix."

"I... kind of promised Bryce that we'd protect them from the bugs... and anyone else that fucked with them," Alyssa confessed, shooting a guilty glance at John.

He chuckled in disbelief and shook his head. "Why am I not surprised? You didn't think it might be a good idea to discuss this with me first?"

"I know you, John." Alyssa cupped his face in her hand and gently stroked his cheek. "Would you stand by and allow another Galen Prime massacre?"

A shadow of pain crossed his face, but Alyssa stopped him from looking away in shame.

"No," he finally replied, his expression grim. "If they want out... we'll back them up."

"Thank you," she said softly, before leaning in to give him a tender kiss.

Calara grimaced at the idea of a rebellion. "Have you warned Lynette about this yet?"

"Yeah, we definitely need to keep her informed," John agreed. "She might still be able to avert this before it goes too far."

Alyssa looked at John and said quietly, "I thought it might be wise to discuss this with Lynette in person. I don't think the Outer Rim is going to declare their independence immediately... but I can feel it brewing. Every governor I've spoken to is incensed at the way they've been treated. Abandoning them to the Kirrix was like throwing a flare into a cave full of blasting charges."

"Agreed... but this is one mess we can't clean up," John said, glancing at Calara. "We've got far more important things to deal with."

The Latina nodded, her opinion in lockstep with his. "An Outer Rim rebellion has to take a backseat at the moment."

"How can you be so blasé about this?" Jack blurted out, looking at his daughter in disbelief. "We're talking about colonies breaking away from Federation control! An insurrection would be a disaster!"

She frowned and shook her head. "I'd love to mediate and peacefully resolve their grievances, but we've got higher priorities."

"We're preparing for the Progenitor War, Jack," John reminded him. "If we don't... everyone will die. The Terran Federation is powerless to stop a thrall fleet."

"So are the Maliri, unless we can get our hands on those ships," Calara muttered, the worry plain to see on her face.

"What ships? And why would the Maliri need them?" Jack asked in confusion. "Their battleships are already incredibly powerful."

John gave him a look of apology. "Sorry, we should have given you some background first. Do you remember Calara saying that we were preparing to fight the Progenitor that instigated the Kintark conflict?"

"Yes, and I gather that he tried to kidnap you, but you managed to kill him instead," Jack said quietly.

"We fought him in a protracted battle and eventually managed to wear him down," John explained, his eyes cold and hard. "Larn'kelnar was more powerful than any of us individually, but we were stronger as a group... and had more psychic energy. Progenitors get their power from all the girls in their network of thralls and Larn'kelnar wiped out his network fighting us."

"He burned the life out of millions of thralls trying to kill us," Alyssa said, stroking John's back when she felt his deep-seated sense of remorse. "When there were none left, he was finally weak enough for John to incinerate that bastard."

Jack looked horrified, his expression warring between disbelief and revulsion.

Calara nodded, empathising with his reaction. "When Larn'kelnar slaughtered all his thralls, he also wiped out all the Larathyran women manning his fleets. That means there's a thousand highly-advanced thrall warships sitting out in deep space without any crews. Our absolute highest priority, to the exclusion of everything else -apart from taking you home to mom- is capturing those fleets and manning them with Maliri women loyal to John."

"Loyal to you?" Jack murmured, still reeling from everything else he'd just been told.

"I've claimed the Maliri," John replied, his voice sombre. "I lead them now, but they're not my enslaved thralls. I'm doing whatever I can to protect them and get their fleets ready to fight the Progenitor War."

"There's dozens of Progenitors, dad. We're outnumbered at least 40 to 1," Calara said, a bleak look in her eyes. "Each of them has more ships than the entire Terran Federation, and their battleships are nearly as strong as the Invictus. If we can't reactivate Mael'nerak's hyper-warp gate, capture Larn'kelnar's ghost fleets, then find a way to upgrade them and the Invictus... we're doomed."

"Stop!" Jack protested, holding his hand up, a wild look in his eyes. "Please... just stop! I can't take any more... just give me a second!"

Alyssa sat next to him and gave him a sympathetic sideways hug. "Total mindfuck, right?"

He nodded, holding his head in his hands. "How the hell can you be so calm about all this? There's dozens of Progenitors, they've got massive fleets of Invictus-level warships, we're all teetering on the brink of total annihilation... and you're our only chance of stopping them?!"

"I've been preparing for this war my whole life," Calara said resolutely. "All those years I spent obsessing over strategy and tactics... all the time you spent teaching me everything you knew about fleet combat; this is where it all comes together. I'm going to lead John's forces against the Progenitors in a war that will make the Battle of Terra look like a pirate skirmish."

Jack stared at her, experiencing a moment of epiphany. "And John enhanced you to be the perfect Fleet Admiral."

"I'm serving the greater good of the galaxy, dad," she said, holding her head up high. "There's no one else that can do this... and I'm not going to let our family down. You've given me the strength and resolve I need to see me through the war."

He marvelled at Calara's confidence, her calm composure filling him with a renewed sense of hope. "I didn't think I could be more proud of you than that day at the award ceremony. I was wrong."

They hugged fiercely, drawing comfort and strength from that embrace.

Alyssa's eyelashes fluttered and she wavered slightly on the sofa.

*What was that? Are you alright?* John asked, reaching out to steady the blonde.

*Goddamn that was a rush!* she gasped, her eyes glowing with a brilliant incandescent light.