Once they were safely on their way, John went to the passenger cabin. Alyssa had her arm wrapped around Calara's shoulders. "Hello. I'm John Blake, and this is Alyssa Marant. Who are you?" John asked gently.
"C-Calara Fernandez," the traumatized teenager replied.
"Let's get you cleaned up, Calara," John said soothingly. He opened the med-kits and began to apply first-aid to the injured young woman. She had a broken nose, lashes on her back from a neural whip, and a couple broken ribs by John's estimation. They fixed her up as best they could and then gave Calara some pain pills. She was out like a lamp as the drugs entered her system.
Alyssa stroked Calara's hair. "John? Couldn't you heal her?"
John sighed. "After what she just went through, offering a blowjob seems in pretty poor taste. Besides, how would she explain to her superiors how she survived a pirate attack with no injuries? We can't, honey."
"Damn," Alyssa sighed. "I know you're right, I just hate seeing her in pain knowing you could fix it all. Besides, she's already smoking hot, imagine her once she's a Ward!"
"I don't have to imagine, I've got many memories of her using her new body on both of us," John chuckled.
"Oh, right," Alyssa giggled.
John led Alyssa to their own cabin, where they put their weapons away and got undressed. In the shower, Alyssa leaned into John, her body trembling. "It's the adrenaline leaving your system," John comforted her, rubbing her back.
"How can there be men as good as you and men that think being raped to death is entertainment in the same universe?" Alyssa asked.
"I don't have an answer to that, Alyssa," John sighed.
They got clean and went to their bed, bodies weary from the short but intense combat. They took a long nap. Alyssa woke up, feeling hungry. Without thinking about it, she got under the covers and took John into her mouth. John woke up moaning, more than happy to feed Alyssa her dinner. He blew, filling Alyssa with cum until she looked 9 months pregnant.
Alyssa heard a noise from the door. She poked her head out the covers and looked. Calara had woken up and was peeking through the door. Alyssa met the Latina's eyes and gave a friendly smile. The poor girl panicked and fled, embarrassed to be caught spying on their private moment. "We had an audience," Alyssa informed John.
"Oh?" John raised a brow. "Well, that means she's up. I'll go check on her, she probably shouldn't see you for a couple hours," John chuckled, gesturing at her gravid middle. Alyssa giggled and nodded.
John went to the passenger cabin, where Calara was laying on her uninjured side. "Calara? Are you in any pain?" John asked.
"Yes," she nodded, unable to meet his eyes.
John helped her drink down a couple more pain pills and she was out of it once again. John went to get his own dinner and spent the rest of the day in his cabin with Alyssa.
The next day and a half consisted of Calara waking up, reluctantly taking food and water, and then passing out from pain pills again. John knew she had PTSD, but was powerless to help her until she joined him and he got access to her mind. They arrived at the Nerus system and went to Port Heracles. John submitted his After Action Report of the pirate attack and oversaw Calara being led away on an anti-grav stretcher. The Latina had given her number to Alyssa so they could keep in contact.
John got the Fool's Gold back on course to Alpha Centauri. Alyssa grinned. "I'm glad we're alone again, I couldn't do this while she was here!" And then she blew him right there in the cockpit.
The next day, John and Alyssa gathered at his console to call Calara. "Hi, Calara!" Alyssa grinned when the call was accepted.
"Hi, Alyssa, John," Calara said with a weak smile.
"They treating you okay?" John asked, hoping her physical injuries had been properly treated.
"They did what they could, now I just have to let time do the rest," Calara confirmed. "Anyway, I wasn't really all there for most of the trip here, so I just want to say this now. Thank you both, so much. You saved my life!"
"Happy to help!" Alyssa chirped.
"I'm a sucker for a damsel in distress," John said jokingly.
Calara chuckled, then winced as the movement aggravated her broken ribs. Then she frowned. "Um, John? I might have hallucinated this but… you were moving so fast you blurred when you were shooting the pirates. And there was this force field of blue hexagons behind us when we ran back to the Griffon."
John nodded. "You weren't hallucinating. I'm not Terran. My race is psychic. I'm afraid that's all I'm willing to say on an open comm line. If we ever meet again in person, I'll go into more detail."
Calara's eyes were bright with curiosity but she nodded. "Okay. So, what were you doing before you came to save me?"
John and Alyssa talked to Calara for over an hour. It became a daily ritual on their trip to Alpha Centauri, the two of them bonding with and forming a friendship with Second Lieutenant Calara Fernandez. John could tell from the bags under her eyes she was suffering from nightmares. He offered what comfort he could, but there was only so much he could do from a distance.
When they weren't calling Calara and John wasn't doing maintenance chores, John taught Alyssa how to use her Telekinesis. The blonde was amazed at the power John had imbued in her, and made sure he knew she was extremely grateful. He made them engage in play duels, where one of them would try to break through the other's shields with telekinetic lances. It was gentle, but both knew this was training for the day they faced off against another Progenitor.
They arrived at Alpha Centauri, with Olympus Shipyard as their destination in sight. Alyssa marveled at all the ships in the system, almost all either approaching or leaving the six-pronged space station. "How is something that big even built?"
"Slowly," John answered. "It's centuries old, but gets updated every few decades. It's the heart of the Terran Federation navy."
"Is that a Dreadnought?" Alyssa asked, pointing at a 1500-meter-long spacecraft that pulled up alongside them.
"No, just a Battleship," John corrected.
"That's crazy," Alyssa shook her head. "And a Thrall Destroyer could probably blow it out of the sky, if they're as advanced as you say they are."
"The Galactic League is centuries if not millennia behind Progenitor-level technology," John nodded grimly. "Dana, I mean, Sparks managed to reverse-engineer even better versions though, so we were able to beat the other Progenitors."
"Always knew she was a genius," Alyssa chuckled. "Anyway, it'll be a couple hours at this speed before we're in hailing distance. Whatever shall we do?"
John led a grinning Alyssa back to their cabin.
After Alyssa's belly had gone down some, they returned to the cockpit. Just in time, the alarm for an incoming hail started to go off. "Incoming Freighter, please identify and state your purpose at Olympus," asked a polite Flight Command tech.
"John Blake to see Vice Admiral Harris," John stated clearly.
There was a momentary pause. "You are cleared for Docking Bay 47, Commander Blake. Vice Admiral Harris will meet with you shortly."
John followed the provided flightpath to the right docking bay, landing on a free pad. John and Alyssa went out the airlock and were met by a Terran Federation Lieutenant. "Please follow me to Vice Admiral Harris' office," he requested before turning to walk away. They followed him through Olympus to the receiving area of a large office. The Lieutenant went to a desk, apparently Charles' adjutant, and said into the intercom "John Blake and guest to see you, sir."
A 50-something man in Terran Federation uniform with a bushy mustache came out of the office. He grinned when he saw John. "John! Been too long! 10 years, isn't it?"
"Just about. Good to see you, Charles," John grinned, shaking the hand of his best male friend.
"And who's this?" Charles asked, turning to Alyssa.
"Alyssa Marant, my XO," John introduced.
"Nice to meet you, Vice Admiral Harris," Alyssa said with a smile. She was a bit intimidated by the man's rank, but John had nothing but good things to say about the man so she wasn't too worried.
"Just Charles is fine, dear," Charles smiled. "Come in, come in!" He led them into a spacious office, including a floor-to-ceiling window showing the incoming traffic to Olympus.
"Hell of a view," John noted.
"Isn't it just?" Charles chuckled as he sat at his desk. "So, John, I'm sure you didn't come here just to trade old war stories. What brings you to my door?"
John steepled his fingers. "Tyrenium, 10 tons of it."
Charles blinked before laughing. "Civilian life has been kind to you, I see! I'll take it all! What were you thinking for price?"
"250 million credits," John said with a straight face. Alyssa had to resist the urge to make a noise of disbelief. That was just a ridiculous amount of money.
"Done," Charles agreed easily. He accepted John's credit chit and transferred the amount. Then he contacted a maintenance team and ordered them to unload the Tyrenium from the Fool's Gold. "Congratulations, John, you can retire for real now!" Charles grinned as he handed back the credit chit.
John almost laughed, knowing the real work had just started. "Before I leave you, I heard the Invictus was going up for auction. I'd hate to see the old girl leave the family. How much would it cost to modify her for a minimal crew?"
Charles' eyes lit up. He pulled up a hologram of the Assault Cruiser and outlined a number of modifications they could make. "You still on the books?" At John's nod, Charles grinned. "Good, that'll save us a fortune leaving the guns as is. 150 million and she'll be ready in a week." John handed over his credit chit again.
Alyssa kept her silence as John and Charles shared a drink of whiskey. When they left Charles' office, they began to retrace their steps to the Fool's Gold. *So instead of building a Progenitor Dreadnought, we're going to upgrade the ever-living fuck out of an old Terran Cruiser?*
*What can I say? I'm attached to the old gal,* John shrugged. *Besides, we need a battle-ready ship now, and it'll be months before we can build a Soulforge anyway. The Invictus will have to do.*
They returned to their Freighter and left Olympus for Gravitus, the terraformed volcanic planet that Olympus orbited. The trip took so long that Alyssa managed to digest a whole load by the time they landed at the spaceport. They took a hover-limo to the most exclusive shopping district on the planet and walked into a particular boutique. A pretty brunette walked up to them with a genuine smile. "Hello, I'm Rachel. How may I help you today?"
Alyssa grinned, knowing this woman was a future sister-wife if John had his way. "Well, Rachel, we recently became millionaires. I need a bunch of outfits to look my most beautiful and the gentleman requires a wardrobe befitting his new financial status. Think you can help us?"
Rachel took Alyssa aside while half a dozen shopgirls descended on John like vultures on a carcass. Alyssa enjoyed an intimate few hours of Rachel smoothing out the lines on the figure-hugging garments Alyssa favored. She kept an eye on John, being fussed over by the gold-digging bitches, and got a bit worked up imagining him power-fucking each of them into a coma.
They paid the eye-watering price at checkout, Alyssa succeeding at flirting Rachel's number out of her. John and Alyssa took their bags out to the hover-limo. "So you look like you had fun," John said lightly.
"I was about to say the same," Alyssa teased right back. "How was it being fawned over by 6 different women?"
"It's a lot more enjoyable when they genuinely love you, not just want what's in your wallet," John shrugged.
They took the hover-limo to the Magnus, the poshest hotel on the planet. John got them the penthouse suite, and they rode the elevator up to the living room. Alyssa put her bags away and then went to admire the view. The Magnus was near one of the non-terraformed sections of Gravitus, the natural lava and magma bubbling and flowing and casting a warm glow on her skin. John came up behind her and wrapped her in a hug.
"It's beautiful," Alyssa commented.
"Not as beautiful as you," John said, giving his honest opinion.
"You old charmer, you," Alyssa chuckled, though she knew he was completely genuine. Alyssa twisted in his hold to look up at him. "John… I love you," she said with feeling.
John's face lit up and he pulled her into a kiss. "I love you too, Alyssa," he breathed out after a very passionate liplock.
"I'm only sorry it took this long to feel it back," Alyssa told him.
"You don't have the memories that I do of our time together," John waved off. "It takes time to develop feelings for someone. I'm beyond happy that you reciprocate my love for you at all."
"I've known for weeks that you're head-over-heels in love with me, it made it easier to trust and fall for you in turn," Alyssa revealed to him. "Now, how should we celebrate?" she asked with a lusty grin.
John gave her another kiss. "You put on your little black dress, we go out to dinner, and then there's a hole I haven't claimed yet."
Alyssa got dressed in record time.
John and Alyssa spent the next 7 days making liberal use of room service and each other's bodies. When they weren't having sex like methed-up rabbits, they were either talking to Calara or Rachel or practicing their powers. On the last day, John was having a bit of a lie-in in bed, checking on the Holonet for news updates, while Alyssa chatted with Calara.
*John, we need you,* Alyssa sent to him.
John put on clothes to be decent and went to the living room where Alyssa was talking to Calara on one of the hotel-provided holo-readers. "What's the problem?" he asked.
"I'm getting court-martialed!" Calara said in a panic.
"Calara, that makes no sense. And even if it's true, you did nothing wrong. Relax," John instructed, knowing it was a lost cause.
"Oh, what am I going to do? This will destroy my family," Calara fretted.
John put some steel in his spine. "Calara. We're coming to Port Heracles. We'll straighten this whole thing out. You just focus on recovering, okay?"
Calara gave a wan smile and ended the call.
John and Alyssa checked out and returned to the Fool's Gold. It took them a couple hours to reach Olympus, and when they got to hailing distance they were contacted by Flight Command. "Incoming Freighter, please identify and state your purpose at Olympus."
"He sounds just like the last one," Alyssa whispered.
John held back his laughter and said "John Blake to take command of the Invictus."
"Proceed to Docking Bay 13, Commander Blake," came the reply.
They approached the right docking bay, passing numerous ships coming in for repairs. "What caused that?" Alyssa asked, pointing at a ship with numerous craters over its superstructure.
"That's plasma damage, the Kintark favor plasma weaponry," John told his lover.
"Is there anything we can do about Lynton or Norwood?" Alyssa asked, knowing the former was Larn'kelnar's Thrall and the latter had been seduced to work with the Kintark Empire.
"We need Irillith to get the proof, and by then it'll be too late to stop the invasion. Besides, we need the excuse to go to Xen-Nuchek and save those poor people, plus to deal with Kindralax and meet Tamolith. That's one chain of events I'm going to have to leave mostly unchanged," John sighed.
They landed at Docking Bay 13, putting all their belongings on an anti-grav sled and going out the airlock a final time. They walked out and looked up at the Invictus. It was 500 meters long and 9 decks high, a classic example of Terran Federation shipbuilding. Her name was written in 20-meter-high letters on the side.
*She's the wrong color,* John frowned.
*Well, she won't be white until we get Alyssium, and that's not happening until Ashana,* Alyssa reminded him.
Charles walked up to them, carrying a holo-reader. "She's something, isn't she?"
"You can say that again," Alyssa nodded, trying to imagine flying something so large.
Charles offered John the holo-reader. "Here's all the information on all the new systems. You two can take her out whenever." Charles eyed the Fool's Gold. "Any plans on what to do with that old Freighter?"
John got a nostalgic grin. "Update her to modern specs on my dime, then give her to Jonah Bennings. Add a note: 'thanks for the tip about the worm girls.' He'll know what it means."
Charles looked bemused, but didn't question it as John gave Jonah's contact information. Then he walked away, no doubt having lots of work waiting for him.
Alyssa took the holo-reader and gave John a moment of privacy. John gave the Fool's Gold a salute. "Thanks for looking after me, you piece of crap," he said to himself before turning his back on his old home and walking towards his new one.
He and Alyssa entered the Invictus' airlock and took the elevator to the Command Deck. Alyssa was speed-reading the holo-reader, getting all the relevant information. She went up to her XO chair and activated the ship. John went up to the Command Chair and leaned back into its embrace. "Ah, that's the stuff," John sighed.
"Orders, Commander?" Alyssa asked, a wicked gleam in her eyes.
"Take us to Port Heracles, XO," John commanded.
Alyssa hailed Flight Command and got clearance to leave the docking bay. She took them out at port speed and flew to the edge of the gravity well. She plotted their course and then activated the Tachyon Drive, sending them into hyperwarp. "4 days! This ship is over twice as fast as the Fool's Gold!" Alyssa marveled.
"When we get an Ashanath Tachyon Drive, we'll be 3 times faster. A Progenitor Tachyon Drive is twice as fast as that. And once you figure out how to make a hyperwake bow wave, we'll double our speed yet again," John told her.
"Well, we're not there yet," Alyssa chuckled. "Anyway, what're we going to do for the rest of the day?"
"I believe it's about time for someone's lunch," John said leadingly, a tent forming in the front of his pants.
After Alyssa blew John in his Command Chair, they took the elevator down to Deck 2. John led Alyssa and the anti-grav sled with all their stuff to the Commander's Quarters. As John expected, they'd been heavily renovated. The bed was a double-king, they had a walk-in closet with its own weapons locker, and a large bathroom with a spacious shower and a jacuzzi tub. A holographic message of Charles explained that it was a little gift from him to John and Alyssa. He wished them luck in their relationship and their future endeavors before the hologram vanished.
They got packed away and John led Alyssa to the Officers' Lounge where he got a quick sandwich for his own lunch. Once he was full, he took her on a tour of the ship. The Command Deck had the Bridge, John's Ready Room, and the Briefing Room. Deck 2 was all officers' quarters and the Lounge. Deck 3 was conference rooms and storage space. Deck 4 had the former Marines' quarters and the ship Galley. Deck 5 had the weapons systems as well as the Power Core and Tachyon Drive. Deck 6 was life support and where the Invictus' servers were located. Deck 7 had the Gym, the Firing Range, the Medical Bay, the Pharmacy, and the Armory. John informed Alyssa that the Armory would be converted into Sparks' Engineering Bay. Deck 8 didn't exist, forming the ceiling of Deck 9 with the Docking Bay and the Cargo Bay. By the time they'd finished, Alyssa's tummy was trim once more.
"Now what?" Alyssa asked.
"I figure we can both put some time in the Firing Range," John decided. "You have a much better learning curve than me but you need to put in the time to become a master markswoman. And it's important to keep in practice even when you're an old hand like me."
They grabbed John's 2 XR73 Rifles from their room and spent the time until dinner practicing their accuracy and precision. John saw Alyssa visibly improve over the course of their training, getting better and better at getting the head or heart at further distances. They practiced mainly with 3-round bursts, but John included a couple sessions of full automatic fire. That done, John went to cook dinner for himself in the Lounge and fed Alyssa while he ate.
They got drinks and sat on a couch in the Lounge, watching space pass by out the window. "John? Are you going to recruit more girls this time around?" Alyssa asked.
John blinked. "I was perfectly happy with the harem I ended up with, but I wouldn't say no to more. But may I ask why you're interested?"
"I just know you get stronger with each girl, and I want you strong as possible so you can protect yourself and the rest of us from other Progenitors and every other danger in the galaxy," Alyssa said, taking a sip of her vodka spritzer.
"Well, my lovely XO is in charge of recruitment. If you spot or think of another girl besides the ones we were already going to get to go for, you let me know," John shrugged.
Alyssa beamed. "Excellent! I was thinking of a member of the Ashanath High Council actually. At least one of them has to be female, right? It would be a way of strengthening the alliance, we'd have constant contact with them thanks to the Ashanath's sub-plane, and I'm really curious to see what the Change would do to one of the Grays."
John blinked. "That's an idea," he allowed.
Alyssa frowned. "So what's up with you and your Guide? How does that work, since you came back in time?"
"It's… confusing," John sighed. "I still have the memory of all my powers, and I seem to be able to access the whole Kyth'faren runic alphabet. But I can't remember the Progenitor schematics and almost every mind-compartment I have is occupied with maintaining his prison. Until I get the power to take him out, I'm basically fighting with one arm tied behind my back."
"When do you think you'll be strong enough?" Alyssa asked.
"When I know, I'll know," John said confidently. "Hopefully before the confrontation with Larn'kelnar. That's not a fight I want to go into with a handicap."
"Tell me about it," Alyssa shook her head, thinking of the psychic tyrant. And according to John, he'd actually been one of the weaker Progenitors they ended up fighting. "Here's a question: what about Faye? You realize she was a happy accident, right?"
"A series of happy accidents and lucky breaks, actually," John nodded, sipping his whiskey. "When we activate Irillith's hacking deck, there's no guarantee the AI will even be female. But I still think we should get an AI companion, either way. They're just way too useful. Just hope they don't steal the Invictus like Faye almost did."
Alyssa finished her drink and cuddled into his side. "Life with you is never going to be boring, John."
"Be it ever so humble," he chuckled, wrapping an arm around her.
The next 3 days passed with mostly training. When John and Alyssa weren't in the Firing Range, they were in the Gym working on their psychic powers. In John's case, he also began to go through kata with a telekinetic construct of Kyth'vindathys, his runeblade. He needed to get his body used to wielding a sword again. John continued to feed Alyssa at each meal time, and usually had it in him to round out the night with sex. Alyssa's aim reached the 99th percentile for humans in just a couple days of hard practice, and her Telekinesis was formidable. John couldn't be prouder.
The 4th day, Alyssa got a conventional breakfast and the two of them dressed in formalwear. They went up to the Bridge and saw that they were within an hour of Nerus and Port Heracles. John sent Calara a quick email to expect them later that morning, so she wasn't surprised. John and Alyssa passed the time by talking, and then they arrived in the system. Alyssa took them on a textbook approach to the space station. Flight Command sounded a bit surprised they were a civilian vessel, but such things weren't unheard of. They landed in their docking bay and went out the airlock and into Port Heracles proper.
Port Heracles was the major trading hub in the Outer Rim. That meant the aliens who fueled that trade. Alyssa's head was on a swivel as she tried to get a good look at all the exotic species, from a fungoid Yelneg to a silicone-based Ornalith. John nudged her with his hip. *Don't be caught staring. Some of these species are really ornery.*
They passed near a Bolon, a giant sphere of color-changing bacteria. It paused, and both John and Alyssa felt a knock on their mind-shields. *Yes?* John asked.
*Greetings, Bright One and Dark One. May this one help you in any way today?* came a voice like a chorus speaking in unison.
*No thanks, enjoy your purchasing,* Alyssa wished the fellow psychic.
*Thank you, Bright One, have a pleasant day!* With that, the orb began to squelch along, trailed by robot porters.
*That one was so polite, hard to believe that there's one out there that raped Tashana,* Alyssa noted to John privately.
*There's good and bad eggs in every species,* John mused. *From what we learned, the Bolon didn't get sexual pleasure from the rape so much as enjoy all the fear and pain it caused Tashana. Psychic sadism, as it were.*
*Scary,* Alyssa shuddered.
They reached the medical facilities for Port Heracles. John and Alyssa went up to the front desk. "Hello, we're here to see Calara Fernandez," John said.
"Ah yes, she's in room 343. I'll just need to see some ID," the receptionist said.
John and Alyssa handed over their IDs, the blonde hoping the woman didn't look too closely at hers, given it was of her old body. They were admitted and followed the clearly marked signs to Calara's room number. They came in and saw the Second Lieutenant get up from her bed to hug them. "It's so good to see you!" she gushed, clutching Alyssa close.
"Nothing could keep us away," the blonde said fondly.
Calara hugged John, and he had to remind himself he couldn't kiss her yet. "How are you doing?" he asked with concern. Her black eyes and nose looked better, but the bags under those chocolate orbs hinted at troubled sleep.
Calara shrugged. "I'm doing alright."
"What's this about a court-martial?" John asked.
Calara's face crumbled. "He said he was charging me with dereliction of duty! That I was to blame for everything that happened to the Griffon!"
"Who's 'he'?" Alyssa asked, guiding Calara back to the hospital bed.
Calara shuddered in revulsion. "Station Commander Rupert Grant."
John made a show of logging into the bedside console and looking up judicial proceedings at Port Heracles. "He's lying. There's nothing with your name on it listed here."
Calara's face twisted in confusion. "But… why would he lie?"
"This Grant guy got something against you?" Alyssa asked.
Calara huddled in on herself. "He… he kept coming onto me. I was assigned as his assistant when I first got here and he wouldn't take no for an answer. I told him I wasn't interested but he wouldn't listen! I transferred to the Griffon as soon as I heard there was an opening."
John's mouth thinned. "I think it's time I had a little 'talk' with Commander Grant. Alyssa, stay here. I believe you had a job offer for Calara." With that, John got up and walked out of the room. If you'd been paying attention, you'd see his eyes were glowing slightly.
Calara watched John go with worry. "Is he going to be okay? Grant is the most powerful man in Port Heracles!"
"On paper," Alyssa chuckled, knowing John would crush Grant like a bug if things actually devolved into trouble. "Anyway, John can take care of himself. Now, Calara, have you ever wanted to be Tactical Officer on an Assault Cruiser?"
John went to the administrative wing and followed the signs to the Station Commander's office. He walked into the reception area and up to the adjutant's desk. "Can I help you?" the oily man asked, eyeing John's civilian outfit with barely disguised disdain.
"Commander John Blake to see Commander Rupert Grant," John bit out.
The adjutant spoke into the intercom. "John Blake to see you, sir."
"Send him in," came the reply.
John walked into the open office door to see Rupert Grant, a corpulent man in Terran Federation uniform. "Ah, the irrepressible John Blake. I've read of your exploits in Lieutenant Fernandez's report, but I'm surprised to see you're not 8 feet tall and breathing fire," the man said with biting sarcasm.
John's eyes flared with power, making Grant gape.
"Listen, you pathetic excuse of a man. Calara is under MY protection. You're going to transfer her to my ship, the Invictus. Then you're going to forget she even exists. Have I made myself clear?"
"What are you?" Grant asked, shivering beneath John's glowing gaze.
"More than you," John said coldly. "Do it."
Grant typed and swiped at his console. "Done! She's yours!"
"Pray we never meet again," John ground out before turning to leave.