John walked back to the Invictus, finding two teenagers waiting for him outside the airlock. Calara, a duffel bag at her feet, saluted. "Second Lieutenant Calara Fernandez reporting for duty, sir!"
John surprised her with a hug. "None of that now, we're technically a civilian vessel. You just have to follow my orders, you don't have to conform to protocol."
Calara's face lit up. "I've been granted an indefinite leave of absence! How did you convince Grant to do that?"
"Persuasion," John shrugged.
"Friendly?" Alyssa asked with a grin.
"Decidedly not," John said with a wry smile.
Calara grabbed her duffel bag and followed her new commanding officer and his XO into the Invictus. They took the elevator up to Deck 2 and showed Calara the nearest room to the Commander's Quarters. "This is your room. Decorate it however you want, but please keep it clean," Alyssa said like she was a flight attendant or something.
"All this is mine? This is 3 times the size of my berth on the Griffon! And my own bathroom," Calara gaped.
John sat down on the bed, and patted the spot next to him so Calara would join him. "Calara, remember how I said I was psychic?"
Calara nodded. "Yes, and you said you wouldn't say more than that over comms. But now we're together in person, are you going to tell me exactly what you are?"
"Yes, though it's a long story," John warned.
"I'm not going anywhere," Calara grinned.
"I suppose it starts with the Kyth'faren," John began. "They were the first interstellar civilization in the galaxy. They colonized the entire Milky Way, developing scientific miracles. When they finished all that, they turned inward, genetically engineering themselves to be psychic. It was a golden age. And then it all went wrong. Xar'aziuth, which translates as 'the Devourer', was born. He began to kill people, turning psychic vampire and stealing all their energy for his own stores. He did that to countless other Kyth'faren. By the time they realized what was going on, he and his forces had become too powerful. He wiped out the Kyth'faren, his entire species, until he was the only one left."
"Xar'aziuth, for some reason, moved to the Astral Plane. That's a whole other conversation, but it's basically a parallel dimension to this one. But he left a legacy: the Progenitors and the Thralls. Progenitors are an all-male species based off the Kyth'faren. They're the most powerful psychics in the galaxy, as well as being immortal, or at least unaging. Each of them rules a Thrall race, a species genetically engineered by Xar'aziuth to serve a Progenitor. When a Progenitor comes into his powers, he's approached by Xar'aziuth in his dreams and forced to make a Faustian deal. The Progenitors, for millions of years, have been born, enslaved by Xar'aziuth, claimed their empire, and waged war against all their brothers. With me so far?" John stopped to check with Calara.
"I think so. So the galaxy is made up of Thrall empires. But if that's true, what about the Galactic League?" Calara asked, her sharp mind grasping the concepts he was laying out.
"There's something special about this particular region of space. The Kirrix call it 'the Shroud'. It's like a psychic invisibility field. Any Progenitor who comes under the Shroud is immune to Xar'aziuth's psychic commands. 72 thousand years ago, a Progenitor named Mael'nerak came to this part of space. He waged war against the native Achonin in what's now the Unclaimed Wastes. And then he claimed the Maliri," John told his Tactical Officer.
"The Maliri are a Thrall race?" Calara asked in shock.
"Yes, they are. Like I said, Mael'nerak claimed them as his. Then he expanded his empire to cover all of what's now the Galactic League and beyond. He grew… bored over the millennia, and he took to creating species as a hobby. He made 5 that we know of: the Lenarrans, the Ashanath, the Trankarans, the Drakkar… and Terrans," John said, looking into Calara's eyes.
"You're saying Homo Sapiens was an alien's science experiment?" Calara questioned him with wide eyes.
"Yes, I am," John nodded. "Anyway, around 10 thousand years ago, another Progenitor arrived and waged war against Mael'nerak. His name is Rahn'hagon. Mael'nerak, to protect his pregnant lover, launched a suicide attack. He and Rahn'hagon faced each other in the Zeta Pegasus system, and Mael'nerak overloaded his Wormhole Generator. Mael'nerak died in the explosion, and Rahn'hagon was blown all the way to Kirrix space."
"The Niryean Rift!" Calara interrupted. "Mael'nerak caused that?"
"Yes," John confirmed. "Anyway, Rahn'hagon crash-landed on the planet Arcadia. He was completely alone, all his crew had died in the attack. For the next 10 millennia, he lived like a hermit. He spent time exploring the Astral, and found a repository of knowledge left behind by the Kyth'faren, kind of like a psychic library. He learned things, things no Progenitor had ever known. And then, about 41 years ago, a Terran research vessel landed on Arcadia. One of its crew was a woman named Jessica Blake."
Calara's jaw dropped. "No…"
John continued. "Jessica found Rahn'hagon's ship. And she became part of his grand plan. He used mind control to seduce her, and got her pregnant. He arranged for her to be discovered by her crew, and they returned to Terran space. I was born on Olympus Shipyard in 2739. Rahn'hagon's intentions, so far as I know, are for me to grow up, claim the Maliri, use the Kyth'faren knowledge he'd encoded into my genome, and wage the Progenitor War. He wants me to kill every other Progenitor in the galaxy, until it's just us two. And then we'll live happily ever after or something, I don't know. Anyway, I'm a Progenitor, and that's how I saved you."
Calara shook her head. "Wow. That… that's a lot to process."
"I know," John nodded.
"So… what does this mean for me?" Calara asked.
"There's more you need to know first," John said. "A Progenitor's power is based on his psychic network. He has a way of forging a psychic connection with a woman, able to draw on her for psychic power like a battery. Every other Progenitor also uses it as mind control to enforce obedience, but I don't do that. Anyway, what this means for you is that you have a choice to make. You can be my Tactical Officer and nothing more, have nothing to do with me outside your duties on this ship. Or you can join my network, which comes with a lot of perks but quite a few strings as well."
"What kind of perks?" Calara asked.
"A picture says a thousand words," Alyssa said, speaking up from where she'd been standing the whole time. She activated the console on the wall and pulled up the data loaded from the Fool's Gold. She found some camera footage from a month ago and froze it. "That used to be me."
Calara looked from the skinny asteroid colonist in a t-shirt to the bronzed, athletic goddess standing in the room with her. "Bullshit. How is that possible?"
"Like I said, Progenitors are the most powerful psychics in the galaxy. When a woman joins my network, I can use my powers to rewrite her DNA. So far, it's just Alyssa in the network. She's my Matriarch, basically my second-in-command. Anyway, if you join, you'll get a body exactly like Alyssa's except for hair, skin, and eye color," John told the Latina. "5'9, 32D, fitness of a world-class athlete. Your brain will be enhanced, getting photographic memory and a genius IQ. I'll give you psychic powers so you can defend yourself and serve the crew. And, for the real kicker, you'll become immortal."
"Immortal? Like you?" Calara gaped.
"Not exactly. I'm unaging, my telomeres are supernaturally strong," John clarified. "But every time I use my powers on a woman, she's healed to a base 'template', so to speak. And part of that template is being in the prime of youth. You'd still age every single day, but as long as you maintain regular contact with me, you'll keep refreshing to an 18 year old in peak health. So, unless one of us is killed or dies in an accident, you'll never grow old or die."
"I can't imagine any reason why I'd turn all that down, but what are the 'strings' you were talking about?" Calara asked.
John sighed. "There's a reason a Progenitor only recruits women. My powers are… sexual in nature. For me to add you to my network, you have to drink my semen. And there's some personality changes inherent to the Change. Bisexuality, polyamory, submissiveness, eager to be bred, among other things. And you'll imprint on the first man you have sex with, loving them until his or your dying day. So if you agree to join my network, you're also agreeing to join my harem. At the moment, it's just you and Alyssa, but I see myself recruiting over a dozen women at some point, and that's not even counting the Maliri I'll have to claim."
Calara nodded, a thoughtful frown on her face. "I see. And again, this is my choice? I can stay normal and unattached, or I can sign up for eternity as your lover and soldier, right?"
"That's right," John nodded.
"Can I sleep on it?" Calara asked.
"Of course," John nodded. "Anyway, we should get underway. Feel free to unpack, and the Lounge at the end of the hall has a Kitchen you're free to use. I'll actually be cooking lunch soon, and you're free to join us."
"I'll stick with you two," Calara decided.
"Okay. Up to the Bridge," John said, standing up.
The three of them went up the elevator and settled into their seats on the Bridge. "This is just like the seat in the simulator back at the Academy!" Calara said as she settled into the Tactical station. The Latina watched as Alyssa guided them away from Port Heracles and sent the Invictus into hyperwarp on a course for Karron. "Why are you going to an asteroid at the edge of Terran space?" Calara asked.
"There's some cheap Tyrenium there for sale, and Alyssa left her friend Sparks there. We're going to rescue her," John replied.
Calara narrowed her eyes. "Are you going to recruit her as well?"
"Same as you, I'll only add her to my network with her informed consent," John answered. "She's free to be nothing more than my Chief Engineer."
"I understand," Calara nodded, her opinion of John going up at his repeated insistence on getting a girl's permission before altering her body, mind, and soul.
They went back down to Deck 2 and John went into the Kitchen to begin cooking for two. Alyssa guided Calara to sit on one of the sofas. "So, any questions on what life as John's Ward is like?" Alyssa asked.
"Ward?" Calara tilted her head.
"John hates the word 'Thrall'. He calls the women in his network his Wards. Just another way he's different from other Progenitors," Alyssa enlightened.
"About that… how do you know he's not just making all this shit up?" Calara asked.
Alyssa chuckled. "Let's just say it's not just his ears that make him different. He's definitely not Terran. In the absence of a better explanation, I'm willing to accept his story of being a Progenitor. Plus he put me through the Change, complete with psychic powers, and that's mighty convincing as far as I'm concerned."
"Oh, right," Calara said. "You really were that worm girl you showed me?"
Alyssa pulled out her ID from her skirt-suit's pocket and handed it to Calara. There it was, the name 'Alyssa Marant' next to a picture of Alyssa's old face. "I already owed him my life for letting me leave Karron. Then he went and made me holo-model beautiful and more powerful than any other woman in the Galactic League. I'll happily serve him until the end of time. He likes to think it's a partnership, but I'd willingly be his slave if he asked."
"How much of that is 'you' and how much the personality changes though?" Calara asked astutely.
"Don't know, don't care," Alyssa shrugged. "It doesn't matter why I feel the way I feel, only matters that I do feel this way. I love him, more than anything, and he loves me back. I'd do anything for him, and I know he'd die for me in a heartbeat. Imagine that kind of connection, and that's what he's offering you. No offense, but you'd be a real idiot not to take this opportunity."
Calara blushed. "How can you know for sure that he loves you, that he's not just putting on an act?"
"Part of being in his network is a psychic imprint. I feel what he feels for me. And it's beautiful, beyond words. I suppose there's a chance it could be fake, but his every action backs up the 'lie' that he's crazy about me, so I choose to believe it," Alyssa said plainly.
"And he can really make me psychic?" Calara checked, once she swallowed that information.
Alyssa reached out a hand, and a bottle of vodka and two glasses floated over to them from the bar. "If he could do it for me, he can do it for you."
Calara poured a healthy amount of liquor into her glass and gulped it all down, the sharp burn helping to center her mind after it was blown seeing a casual display of Telekinesis. "And the whole living forever thing?"
"Being John's woman doesn't make you invincible. A bullet to the head would still kill you. But so long as you keep swallowing his loads, he can restore your youth and keep you fresh as a daisy for all time," Alyssa said, doing her own shot of vodka.
"And what about my family? What happens if I join the network? Will I ever see them again?" Calara asked.
"Of course. You might have to answer a few awkward questions about your new body shape, but John would never forbid you from seeing your family. If anything, he'll propose to you and marry you and you'll get the wedding you always dreamed of. Your dad can walk you down the aisle and everything… so long as you don't mind every other girl in his network as a bridesmaid," Alyssa chuckled.
"What about the no aging thing, though?" Calara asked, though the idea of her in a white dress walking up to John in a tuxedo filled her stomach with butterflies.
"We can use illusions or holographic disguises to appear to age. But assuming nothing goes wrong, you'll outlive them all. You'll outlive your nieces and nephews too, and their children after them, and so on," Alyssa told Calara straight.
"And what about my own children? How's that going to work out if I join?" Calara asked.
"John won't get anyone on his crew pregnant until the Progenitor War is over. He'll need all hands on deck to deal with the other Progenitors, and we can't risk the baby dying or being miscarried anyway. But after he wins, and he will if I have any say about it, we'll settle down and have as many kids as each of us wants. Given the whole harem is probably going to be pregnant at the same time, we'll want to space out the pregnances by a few years, or maybe even decades. But since we're living forever anyway, who cares how long it takes before we have as many kids as we want?" Alyssa pointed out.
"I just… never imagined I'd end up a harem girl," Calara said.
"Don't think of it as being a 'harem girl'. Think of it as being John's girl, and getting to spend the rest of your life with him. You'll just happen to share him with a bunch of sister-wives. And once you're through the Change, you'll be attracted and able to fall in love with women the same as men. We could end up lesbian life partners when John's not around," Alyssa said, hinting at their potential future according to John's memories.
"Didn't think of that," Calara admitted, blushing like a carnation at the thought of 'being' with Alyssa.
"Any more questions?" Alyssa asked.
"Is he at least good in bed?" Calara asked.
Alyssa chuckled deep in her chest. "Oh, honey, he's a living god of sex. I think my record number of orgasms before I passed out was 8, 3 on his tongue and 5 on his cock."
"My ears are burning. Talking about me Alyssa?" John asked, carrying two plates out of the Kitchen.
"All good things, all good things," Alyssa said.
"Why did you only make two plates?" Calara asked.
"Because only two of us need to eat conventional food. Me, and one of you two girls. The other can live off one of my loads. I failed to mention that Progenitors cum a half gallon at a time. Alyssa's lived off an all-cum diet almost exclusively since we got together," John answered with a straight face.
"Observe," Alyssa grinned and knelt before John, opening his pants.
"Holy fuck!" Calara gaped as she saw John's hard cock. "I've seen smaller wine bottles! And are those 4 balls?!"
"My precum is a muscle relaxant, and part of the Change is to make your body more elastic so I don't hurt you," John replied, even as Alyssa took him down to the root. She gave a masterful blowjob, and John came within 5 minutes. Alyssa pulled back, tucked John back into his pants, and stood. Even with a belly full of cum, she was perfectly balanced in her heels.
"I need to get my eyes checked," Calara said dazedly.
"Nope, my tummy really swelled up that much just from all that cum. This is part of why I love him so much. I grew up starving, and now I have a man who can always make sure I'm full to the brim," Alyssa said, giving John a loving kiss before taking her seat at the table.
"And now we eat," John said to Calara, pulling out her chair for her. She sat down and John took his own chair. "So, any questions for me?"
"How do you know all this? If you were raised in the Terran Federation, how did you figure out all that stuff about Mael'nerak and your father?" Calara asked, picking at the holes in his explanation.
"That's its own can of worms, actually," John sighed. "I'm from the future. Mentally, at least. I won the Progenitor War, but I lost too much doing it. I used all my power to travel back in time. To my own surprise, I ended up back at the very start, the day I met Alyssa. That was last month."
Calara frowned. "Prove it."
"How?" John fired back. "Anything I tell you about yourself, I could have gotten from reading your mind. And it's not like I paid attention to or remembered sporting events or stuff like that."
Calara considered the problem. "Do you know what happened to the pirates who attacked the Griffon?"
"They're based in an abandoned gas mining facility in the Chendar system. Their leader is Everitt Hitch, in the Heavy Cruiser Stalingrad. He's trading slaves to the Kirrix. As for the cyborg who whipped you, he commandeered the Griffon. If things work out the same as I remember, he'll attack the Freighter Calypso and we'll be close enough to save them in about 3 weeks," John replied.
Calara was blown away. "Wow. How did you figure that out?"
"You tracked them down, in my first life. We went to wipe them out. We succeeded, and rescued Hitch's bedwarmer, a Nymph named Jade," John said back.
"Well, if we end up saving the Calypso, I'll take that as proof," Calara decided.
"Fine with me," John shrugged, focusing on his food.
Calara started eating her own meal, and was amazed at its quality. "You're a great cook," she complimented.
"My grandma taught me. My family ran a restaurant my entire childhood. My grandparents sold it after I joined the Navy," John sighed.
"What happened to your mother?" Calara asked, concerned.
"She had me at Olympus, sabotaged the Cora to explode with all the crew aboard to get rid of the witnesses, and then stole a Corvette and returned to Arcadia. She's living like a hunter-gatherer there with my father," John replied, his tone carefully blank.
"She abandoned you?" Calara asked, aghast.
"She was just following Rahn'hagon's orders. Like I said, the Progenitor Connection usually involves mind control. She'd slit her own throat if he told her to," John shrugged.
Calara nodded, trying to think of a safer topic. "Can you tell me how this conflict with the Kintark is going to turn out?"
John sighed. "That's complicated. First, you should know that there's another Progenitor in the Galactic League besides me and my father. His name is Larn'kelnar. He got here a few months ago. As his idea of a game, he's trying to break the Galactic League. He snuck Drakkar raiders with advanced armor into Ashanath space, he enthralled a Trankaran and had her start a civil war, and he enthralled Admiral Gabrielle Lynton. She seduced Admiral Leonard Norwood into working with the Kintark, and she ordered Vice Admiral Von Brandt to restart AI research."
"My God… that's all horrible!" Calara gaped.
"I know," John sighed. "Anyway, the way the conflict with the Kintark worked out in my first life, is that there will be an attack on Port Medea in about a month. The Invictus will repel it, since we were there to recruit our doctor Rachel Voss. After that, the Terran Federation officially declares war and Norwood leads an invasion force. He leads a mutiny, and his battlegroup breaks off from the fleet. I get there in time to warn the Fleet Admiral, and the fleet retreats. Lynton stages an ambush at the Regulus system. The Battle of Regulus was, to date, the largest space battle in history. The T-Fed won, largely thanks to our timely intervention. After that things get quiet, until the Kintark throw almost every ship in their navy into their own invasion. They destroy Port Medea and make for Terra. We arrive in time to help the Terran Federation win at Terra, I killed Emperor Baledranax myself. Consort Tamolith, Baledranax's sister-in-law, kills Empress Vilandrith and Baledranax's male children. Tamolith brokers a peace agreement with the Fleet Admiral."
Calara's jaw almost touched her plate. "Wow… that's incredible. But how come it's the Invictus that ends up saving the day so often?"
"I have no idea, I just seem to keep getting mixed up in life-threatening situations," John shook his head. "As to how, we upgrade the Invictus with alien technology. First stuff from the Galactic League, and later Progenitor technology. And in ground assaults, we have advanced weaponry and psychic powers to help us. Make no mistake, Calara, in joining this crew you signed up for a lot of danger. If you'd rather not be part of the crew at all and resign, I'll understand."
Calara thought about it as she ate, taking another sip of vodka. "If not me, who? Who will be your Tactical Officer, fire all the guns in these huge, historic battles?"
"I suppose we'll have to find and train a replacement," John said blandly. "Don't think I told you this to try and sway you, Calara. I'd never try to coerce you into joining my network or even just staying on the crew."
Calara nodded, finishing her last bite. "So, we've got about 12 days until we arrive at Karron. What are we going to do?"
"I was figuring today could be a day of rest, given it's your first day on the crew. Tomorrow, Alyssa and I will get back to training. We spend mornings in the Firing Range and afternoons in the Gym working on our psychic powers. Evenings are generally for fun," John revealed.
"I'm a decent shot, though I haven't fired a gun since the Academy," Calara admitted.
"Worry about that tomorrow. For the afternoon, what would you like to do?" John asked.
"Can I have a tour of the ship?" Calara asked.
"Sure thing!" Alyssa said, standing up. "Just let me and John change into something more comfortable."
They went to their quarters, Calara marveling at the luxury, and John and Alyssa got changed into casual clothes. Then they led Calara on a deck-by-deck walk of the Invictus from the bottom up. Calara was interested in the pool in the Gym, and the weapons systems on Deck 5. They ended in John's Ready Room. "Now what?" John asked.
Calara sat down on one of the couches. "Can we just talk?"
"Of course," John agreed, taking a seat on another couch, Alyssa sitting next to him. "What about?"
"What do the Maliri look like? If you claim them in the future, you must see behind their armor," Calara asked.
"The women are all genetically designed to have the Thrall build, so they're all shaped exactly like Alyssa. They have sky-blue skin, angular eyes, and ears like mine. Their hair is naturally black, but if they become my Ward it becomes white. Otherwise, they're basically Terrans. Mael'nerak based the Terran genome off the base Thrall template, after all," John told Calara. "Oh, and like all Thrall species, they have a skewed birth ratio. 20 girls for every boy. Xar'aziuth designed them that way so a Progenitor would have as many Thralls as possible."
"So why the armor?" Calara asked.
"Valada, Mael'nerak's Matriarch, was the last Queen of the Maliri. She decreed that the Maliri should hide their appearance so that other Progenitors wouldn't recognize them for what they were and try to enslave them," John answered.
"What's their society like?" Calara asked. She'd loved movies about the Maliri growing up, she'd always wanted to know more about the mysterious empire.
"The Maliri Regency is split up into 19 Noble Houses, each ruled by a Matriarch. Each Noble House is ranked according to the number of planets they rule, their fleet assets, and to some extent the security of the Matriarch's bloodline and how many children she has. The current leader is House Valaden, ruled by the descendents of Valada. Edraele Valaden is the current Matriarch of House Valaden. She and her twin daughters became my Wards in my first life," John explained. "And to be blunt, their society is appalling. The Matriarchs are all obsessed with climbing up the ranks or tearing down their enemies. They're abusive as a culture. I saw a Maliri woman getting 50 lashes with a neural whip for being caught stealing data from a government official. It wasn't punishment for theft, it was from her instructor for being clumsy enough to get caught. The males have all retreated to the border stations for their own safety. As a consequence, only the wealthy can afford to visit and actually get pregnant, most Maliri die without even the chance of motherhood."
Calara was agog. "My God… that's sick."
"I know. That's one of the reasons I have to claim them, to put an end to their predations," John nodded. "Plus I'll need their fleets and assets to protect the rest of the Galactic League from the Progenitors. And, let's be honest, the more Wards I have the more power I have to fight rival Progenitors."
Calara thought about everything John had told her that day. "John? What were we to each other, before you came back?"
"A grieving widower," John replied flatly. "We got married, and then you were killed during the Progenitor War."
Calara absorbed that. "That's part of why you came back, isn't it? To prevent my death."
"Yours and so many others," John confirmed.
"Did we elope?" Calara checked.
"I got Jack and Maria's blessing and proposed on one knee. You said yes. We planned a big wedding; you and the other girls agreed that you'd be my 'official' wife and get the big, public ceremony. You were stunning in your dress," John remembered fondly.
"Where was the wedding?" Calara asked, very interested.
"Oceanus at sunset," John grinned. "The honeymoon was 2 months long."
"Wow," Calara breathed. "And you'd really just let me go, let me leave the Invictus and never come back?"
"I won't keep you prisoner or force the Change on you and take advantage of the personality changes. It has to be your choice whether you sign up for all that being my woman entails," John said firmly.
Calara grinned. "That right there, that's why I'll do it. Because you're the kind of man to care about that sort of thing."
"You're onboard?" Alyssa asked excitedly.
In answer, Calara got on her knees in front of John. "May I join your network?" she asked.
John grinned brighter than a sun. "Yes, Calara." John pulled out his cock. Calara took the head into her mouth, the taste of him and his precum suffusing her tongue.
The next thing she knew, she was on a bed and very thirsty. And the most beautiful feeling in the world was radiating from a spot in her chest. She felt John help her sit up and then press a glass into her hand. "Drink, honey," he said with concern.
Calara downed the glass of water and looked into John's eyes. "You love me," she said in wonder.
"And I always will," he said solemnly, his mouth curving up in a smile.
Calara threw herself into kissing the Progenitor she'd sworn her life to.