Three Square Meals Ch. 076

Nodding with satisfaction, she moved on to a progress report from Makaela, the Commander of Genthalas Station. Fabrication of the new technology that John had given to her technicians had begun in earnest, with initial focus on heatsinks, as they would be the quickest and easiest upgrades to implement. Materials were being gathered for both the Ashanath Power Core variant and their Tachyon Drive and Makaela seemed confident that the first Tachyon Drive would be completed by the end of the week. In an addendum, Makaela had suggested a news featurette on the life of an engineer aboard Genthalas Station, including interviews with the scores of expecting young mothers.

Knowing full well the dramatic impact that would have on the prestige of the role, Edraele smiled at her niece's ingenuity. She tapped out a quick response, first praising Makaela and then her Planetary Governors, for their initiative and hard work. Once the messages had been sent she rose from her chair and glided over to the sweeping window.

Gazing out over the spires of Genthalas, she saw her flagship carefully manoeuvring into position, retrothrusters flaring and lighting up its golden hull. The "Galaena Serine" slowly approached the drydock before arresting its velocity, the thousand-metre-long vessel now looking tiny against the enormity of the colossal shipyard. The battleship was amongst the first batch of her vessels to receive the heatsink upgrades and it joined five other capital ships in the recently-expanded facilities that Genthalas had available.

The door to her office slid open and Edraele glanced over her shoulder to see the leader of her bodyguard prowl into the room. "Good evening, Luna," she said, greeting the woman with a warm smile.

Luna returned her smile and padded over to stand behind her, slipping her arms around her Matriarch and giving her an affectionate hug. "It's late, Edraele," she replied, her rich voice sounding concerned. "The Young Matriarchs asked me to come and find you."

"They're sweet girls but they worry too much. I was just finishing for the night," Edraele replied, closing her eyes and enjoying the feel of the former assassin's strong arms around her.

Leaning in to place a light kiss on Edraele's slender neck, Luna murmured, "I was waiting for you too."

Turning in her arms, Edraele embraced the athletic woman, reaching up to stroke her cheek before giving her a tender kiss. Luna's yellow eyes gazed back at her as their lips met, pupils widening with arousal as their tongues played together.

"You're right, it's well past time for bed," Edraele whispered, before stealing another gentle kiss.

Luna nodded slowly and her lips twitched into a smile as she said, "It's very important we get closer to help John."

They shared an intimate smile as Edraele said, "Of course. I'm planning on helping you towards that goal at least twice tonight."

The assassin blushed but her expression was lustful as she pulled Edraele towards the door in her eagerness. The Matriarch's laughter echoed around the room as the two women headed towards her bedroom.

*Give them all a kiss from me,* Alyssa thought to her friend as she cuddled with John and Calara.

*Only a kiss?* Edraele replied before her mind was overwhelmed with waves of pleasure.

Smiling with satisfaction, Alyssa closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep, lulled into wonderful erotic dreams by Edraele's lusty telepathic cries.

***

The following morning started much like any other, with John balls-deep in a nubile girl's throat, as Tashana eagerly gulped down his load. Of course, there was one minor difference in that his climax was accompanied by that of both twins, with Tashana reacting to his taste and Irillith writhing in her empathic wake. When they had recovered, the Maliri girls waved everyone goodbye as they left to shower and dress, then finish off their presentation. John settled back in bed with Jade and Sakura cuddled up next to him and drifted off to sleep in his post-orgasmic haze. At least, until Alyssa woke him an hour later, letting him know that the twins were now ready to reveal what they'd discovered.

The feeling of anticipation in the air was palpable as John and the girls entered the holo-suite on Deck Three, with Faye popping into existence beside them. Irillith and Tashana were waiting patiently for them and they smiled in welcome as everyone arrived.

"So, what did you find out?" John asked, grinning at Irillith in anticipation.

Irillith gestured towards Tashana then smiled at her as she said, "This is my sister's research and her archaeological discovery. She should be the one to make the presentation, I'll just be her assistant."

Tashana smiled at her twin then turned to face her audience. "We pieced together the date stamps by referencing the previous recordings you found and this footage seems to have been taken over eleven-thousand years ago. It chronicles the last days of Mael'nerak's rule over the Maliri." She glanced at John and added in a quiet voice, "You should find it interesting; it's forced me to drastically re-evaluate some of my previous assumptions."

She nodded towards Irillith and the lights in the room began to dim as the video file began to play.

The image coalesced into that of an elegant throne room, designed very much in the Maliri style, with the picture centred on a tall man seated on the throne. They all immediately recognised Mael'nerak with his pointed ears and distinctive aquiline nose, but he was clean-shaven now and wearing a smart jacket and trousers, rather than the long robes he'd worn before. There was one dramatic difference however: the ancient Progenitor looked relaxed and happy as he gazed across the room.

"You're looking very handsome today, my Lord," a woman's playful voice purred as a beautiful young Maliri woman appeared in the shot and glided over to join him.

Mael'nerak rose to his feet and gave her a broad smile. "And you're looking absolutely radiant, Valada! How are you, my love?"

"What the fuck?!" Dana blurted out, waving at Irillith to pause the video as she stared at the Progenitor and his Matriarch. Shaking her head in amazement, she grinned at the Maliri twins. "Your great grandma must have been a hell of a lay! Mael'nerak's totally fallen for her!"

"Valada hasn't aged a day," Alyssa murmured in a hushed voice, staring at the Maliri girl in the video. Turning to look at Irillith, she asked, "The last time we saw her in the Nexus files was from forty-thousand years ago, wasn't it?"

Irillith nodded, and smiling at Rachel she said, "Ample proof for your immortality theory. It looks like we really are going to live forever."

The girls all looked at John in awe and he smiled at them as he said, "That's a relief. What's the point of being immortal if I can't spend an eternity with my favourite people?"

They all smiled at that, with Calara and Jade giving him a hug. He wrapped his arms around both girls, and said, "Okay, let's see what else they have to say."

Irillith restarted the video and Valada moved to embrace Mael'nerak, giving him a kiss as she exclaimed, "I have some amazing news! Our stellar cartographers have identified a perfect planet for the relocation."

Mael'nerak smiled at her and said, "I can always manipulate a planet and tailor it to the ecosystem they require."

Giving him a glorious smile, Valada said, "There's no need! It's a lush savannah with plenty of fauna, it'll be ideal!" She nuzzled into him as she continued, "Thank you for freeing them, it's the right thing to do."

"Whatever makes you happy, my dear," Mael'nerak replied indulgently, stroking her flowing white hair before leaning in to give her a kiss.

John felt Jade freeze and when he looked down into her big emerald eyes, she faltered, "They're talking about me... us, I mean... the Nymphs."

Irillith nodded sombrely and she pressed a couple of buttons on the remote, skipping forward to the next video. The image formed into the throne room again but now it was filled with row-after-row of cat-like humanoids. They had dark-green fur with viridian stripes, but each with their own unique patterns. Mael'nerak was standing before them with Valada at his side and he smiled at the Nymphs as he said, "You have earned your freedom, my faithful servants. You have been selected to lead packs of your sisters and I will be releasing you on a planet you may call your own... Lenarra."

Jade echoed the name of her planet as Mael'nerak spoke it, then shifted shape into her smaller, more feline form. She pointed towards the rear of the throne room with a trembling finger and whispered, "There I am. That's me at the back."

Irillith paused the video and they all crowded forward to see the eleven-millennia-old image of Jade. Sure enough, their fur patterns were identical but John instantly recognised Jade by her beautiful bright green eyes.

"Faye spent hours trawling through all the data," Irillith said, walking up to stroke Jade's arm. "I'm afraid that's the only time you're seen or mentioned."

"They freed us on a paradise world of beautiful open plains," Jade murmured in a small voice, ancient memories finally coming back to her. She appeared lost in thought as she continued, "I had over a hundred in my tribe and we had a vast territory to roam, following and hunting the herds of shentole."

John smiled at her, and asked, "Do you remember anything else?"

"We reverted to instinct over countless years of living a simple nomadic existence and we were... happy," the nymph said, tears filling her eyes and rolling down her furred cheeks. She let out a melancholy sigh as she added, "When the Terrans came, we didn't know how to react to males - we'd forgotten so much. We followed our instincts and were... lost."

John hugged the petite girl, sad to see her upset like this. "I'm sorry Jade. It looks like Mael'nerak meant well but something obviously happened to him."

Jade shimmered in a dark-green haze then reverted back to her normal Nymph-shape. Looking forlorn, she hugged him back and replied, "I was supposed to lead my tribe and look after them, but I let them down. They're all gone now... because of me."

"You can't blame yourself for what happened," John replied, lifting her downcast chin so that she'd look at him. "There's no way you could have predicted what the Terrans would do. You'd been left alone for thousands of years before they arrived, so it's no wonder you and the rest of the Nymphs were unprepared for hordes of Terrans descending on your world."

The girls gathered around them, hugging and stroking Jade while John wrapped her in his arms. She eventually gave them a grateful smile before looking at him with adoring eyes and saying quietly, "I'm just so glad you found me."

He smiled at her and reaching down to brush her toned belly with his fingers, he said, "Me too. Between us, we'll bring back the Nymphs again."

She leaned into him and let out a contented sigh, a tender smile lifting her verdant lips. Turning to look at Irillith and Tashana, she said, "I'm sorry I got upset. You can continue now."

"It's okay," Irillith replied, giving her a sympathetic smile. Tashana nodded and with a smile matching her sister's, she added, "We understand."

Seeing that Jade had recovered, Irillith pressed a button on the remote, queuing up the next scene.

"This next sequence is dated nearly nine-hundred years later," Tashana murmured, her voice subdued.

The background changed and they were now viewing some kind of control room, with a sweeping galactic map spread out before them and scores of Maliri working at stations. Most of the map was coloured a soft blue, with scores of worlds highlighted in a white halo, each planet evenly spaced-out amongst the highlighted territory.

"Pause it a moment!" Alyssa called out, eyes narrowing as she examined the map. Pointing at the highlighted star systems she said, "I recognise some of these worlds; they're all Gaia-classification planets!"

John squinted as he tried to get his bearings but without the present-day Empire overlays he was hopelessly lost. He glanced at her and requested, "Can you point a few out, so I can get some idea of the territory Mael'nerak controlled?"

Nodding, Alyssa gestured to one on the lower section of the three dimensional map. "That's New Eden, Rachel's homeworld." Her hand drifted higher. "There's Valaden." Sweeping way over to the far side of Mael'nerak's territory, she continued, "That one's Arcadia, where your mother found the black Progenitor ship." She frowned then and finished by saying thoughtfully, "There's something wrong with the map though. There's not even a star system where one of those planets is supposed to be, and there aren't any Gaia-classification worlds in Trankaran Space."

Tashana looked grim as she said, "You'll see why in a moment." Glancing at her sister, she nodded for her to continue, and Irillith restarted the video.

"We've lost all contact with Listara, Matriarch," one of the Maliri in the control room said, turning to look at Valada, who sat beside Mael'nerak on an elevated throne. The Thrall looked deathly afraid as she continued, "The fleet and the planet have been destroyed!"

"No, it can't be true!" Valada gasped, as one of the highlighted worlds in what would now be Trankaran Space winked out. Whirling in her seat, she reached over to clasp Mael'nerak's arm, and blurted out, "There were millions of our people there! It can't be gone!"

Mael'nerak sat rigidly in his throne, his face ashen and his eyes staring straight ahead as he muttered, "One of them has come for me. It was only a matter of time..."

"What manner of beast would do such a thing?!" Valada asked him in horror.

He turned to look at her and his expression was filled with a look of dread. "One of my brothers... another Progenitor seeks to challenge my dominion."

John and the girls glanced at each other, wide-eyed with shock. There were no questions, so Irillith skipped to the next video image. It showed the same control room again with the blue map now mottled with a patchwork of red. Many of the white-gemmed Gaia worlds in Trankaran Space had now dimmed, the planets having met the same fate as Listara.

"This was recorded six months later..." Tashana intoned softly, her violet eyes transfixed on the compelling images.

Mael'nerak looked haggard as he paced back and forth, glancing up at the map from time-to-time, his face twisted with anxiety. His nervous steps froze when Valada rushed into the room, the expression on her face clearly showing her urgency.

"As you ordered, the cloning facility has been repaired and reactivated!" she said in a rush, her purple eyes wide with alarm.

"Excellent, thank you, Valada," Mael'nerak replied, giving her a brief but grateful smile, before whirling around and striding towards the exit.

The Maliri girl reached out to take his arm, halting him in his tracks, and she looked frightened as she said, "I've seen your designs, Mael! You're creating monsters! Abominations!"

"Don't you think I know that?! I've got no choice!" Mael'nerak snapped, his temper boiling over. He waved his hand at the map and snarled, "We've lost scores of worlds! Billions of lives! I need something to tip the balance in my favour!"

"There must be some other way," she faltered, shaking in fear.

Wrapping his arms around her, he let out a sigh before he replied, "I wish there was, my love. Without the Drakkar to keep him at bay, we're doomed." Glancing at the map, his voice trembled. "They've sent their strongest and I've grown weak... I should have foreseen this, prepared for such an eventuality... I've been a fool!"

"Can't we talk to him, sue for peace?" Valada pleaded, her eyes searching Mael'nerak's face for some sign of hope.

Slowly shaking his head, Mael'nerak replied, "Either he dies or I do. There can be no peace." With that, he whirled around, striding purposefully from the room.

Valada watched him leave, cutting a lonely, solitary figure, despite the bustling activity in the control room.

As Irillith moved on to the next clip, Tashana said to her breathless audience, "This is the last one. It was taken two years later."

The control room showed the same holographic map but all the Gaia-classification worlds in Trankaran Space had now been destroyed. Not only that but a broad sweep had also been eliminated around what was now the Terran Federation frontier with Kirrix Space. Everything from Trankara to Arcadia and pushing past Karron, was now coloured red on the map. The control room was empty of Maliri except for Valada, who stared in trepidation at the map, hugging herself for comfort.

Mael'nerak swept into the room and announced in his clear, authoritative voice, "The fleet has been readied, Valada. It is time."

She whirled around and ran to Mael'nerak, putting her arms around him, while he stood impassive before her. "Don't go! There must be some other way!" she begged, tears streaming down her face. "You said you loved me last night! If you care anything for me, please don't leave me!"

His stony expression flickered with anguish to see her so upset but he quickly recovered before she noticed, his face stern once more. "You're too emotional. You aren't fit to serve me as my Matriarch any longer," he said, his voice chilling.

He made a gesture and Valada looked at him in horror, clutching at her chest as she collapsed on the floor. "No!" she gasped, her expression one of utter disbelief and shock.

"I'll just find another Matriarch to serve me," he said, whirling around and striding for the door. "It makes no difference, you slaves are all the same. I'll have forgotten you were ever with me by tomorrow and I'd strongly advise you to do likewise."

Valada sobbed as he left her lying abandoned on the floor, utterly heartbroken.

She didn't see the tortured expression on Mael'nerak's face or the tears streaming down his cheeks as he strode from the room.

With that, the video ended and Irillith slowly brought up the lights.

"Jesus," Dana said in a hushed voice, gulping around the thick lump in her throat.

Tashana sighed as she said, "It appears I terribly misjudged Mael'nerak."

Sakura wiped the tears from her eyes, and turning to look at John, she asked, "Why did he break his bond with Valada? He clearly loved her!"

"I can only guess he was trying to keep her safe," John replied, just as shaken by everything he'd seen as they were.

Calara looked grim as she said, "He must have been planning some kind of decisive all-or-nothing strike against this other Progenitor. It must have worked, because no more Gaia-class worlds were destroyed."

"It looks that way," John said, nodding his agreement with her analysis.

"I wonder what happened to Valada," Rachel said wistfully. "I hope she was okay."

Irillith paused for a moment, then replied, "She must have recovered, because Tashana saw her in the projection from the hacking deck."

Tashana looked conflicted as she said, "Valada was different in the projections I saw. Bitter, angry, nothing like the lovestruck girl we watched in the video."

Alyssa stepped over to John and hugged him tightly as she murmured, "I'm not surprised. I know what Valada went through when he cut their bond. That poor girl."

John stroked her back comfortingly. "I wonder if she ever realised why Mael'nerak did what he did?"

Tashana glanced at Dana and asked, "Are you sure there's no way we can recover the data on the 'hacking deck'? It would be fascinating to see those images again, now that I finally know the truth about Mael'nerak."

Shaking her head, the redhead replied, "I'm really sorry, but no, that data's gone. A large part of it was integrated into the booting sequences that Faye deleted when she expanded her storage capacity. When I looked through the files after we'd moved her, there was nothing much left, so I just wiped it completely to use as a backup for her central core."