John stood and stretched. "Now, how about me and Alyssa get out of this armor and we all have that meeting? Rachel, there's a few things we need to discuss if you're sure about becoming our Medical Officer."
"Very well, I must admit I'm curious," Rachel nodded, still seeming a bit overawed in the wake of her rescue from certain death aboard Port Medea.
John and his Angels, plus Rachel, all got up and went for the adjacent Briefing Room. Rachel's jaw dropped when she saw John and Alyssa walk into the Equipping Frames and walk out unarmored less than 10 seconds later. "Wow, what a brilliant design! I never saw anything like that at the Academy! Is it reserved for Special Forces?"
"Actually, the Equipping Frames were invented by Dana here. Just one of many innovations she's given us," John said with pride, laying a hand on the grinning redhead's shoulder.
"You invented these?" Rachel asked Dana in shock.
"Wasn't that hard," Dana waved off, feeling oddly embarrassed at the wide-eyed wonder in the brunette's expression. She scarfed up compliments from her lovers like free donuts, but someone unattached to the crew having the same reaction hit different for some reason.
"Take a seat, everyone, we got a lot to cover," John ordered with casual authority. Everyone took their assigned seat, Rachel being guided by a helpful Lirrash to sit in the empty seat beside her. "Now, we can do the debrief about the whole Port Medea attack at a later date. For now, let's focus on Miss Voss here," John began. "For starters, Rachel, do we have a definite yes or no on becoming Medical Officer on the Invictus?"
"You couldn't legally pay me any less than I was getting with the T-Fed, and the company aboard this ship seems much more pleasant. Consider me signed on!" Rachel said with a bright smile.
"Great," John grinned. "Now, onto the next matter. If you want, you can serve as our Medical Officer and nothing more, staying exactly as you are now. But you should be aware that you have… options."
"How do you mean?" Rachel asked, confused.
"Let's start with a visual aid," Alyssa decided. She accessed the computer built into the desk and pulled up 'before' images of each of the crew besides Jade. The Nymph was a special case. "First impressions of all these people?"
Rachel's gray eyes scanned the various holo-images. "Old spacer, asteroid colonist, Latina teenager, asteroid colonist with facial scarring, and two Ashanath. Why?"
"You're looking at all of us before the Change, except Jade here. As a Nymph, she just shapeshifted," Alyssa explained, pulling up 'after' images and slotting them next to each 'before' image of the crew.
Rachel reached into her lab coat and pulled out a pair of glasses. She scoured the new images, obviously comparing them to each other. "That's… how is that possible? What is this 'Change'? It can't be some kind of bodysculpting protocol, a transformation on this scale would take months, maybe even years of recovery between all the surgeries!"
"Let's establish the basics: I'm not Terran," John laid out for the doctor. "I'm a Progenitor, a race of psychics from beyond the Galactic League. It's a bit of a mystery how I ended up being born in Terran space, though we have a working theory. Anyway, Progenitors are unique in the galaxy in that, under the right circumstances, we can literally rewrite a person's DNA, which we call 'the Change'. No matter your original body, once I'm done with you then you either look like Jonah or Alyssa depending on your physical sex."
"How extraordinary," Rachel marveled. "So, are you offering me this Change? What all does that entail, exactly?"
"There's pros and cons to the Change, Rachel," John told her solemnly. "Not to mention some side-effects, and the activating event itself is… unusual. We're going to spell out for you everything involved, and then you can either give informed consent or choose to stay unenhanced."
"I'm all ears," Rachel nodded, clearly paying rapt attention.
"There's two basic components to the Change. There's the physical side, which you can see in everyone's different appearance. The Change turns men and women into one of two standard templates. You, being a woman, would change to look identical to Alyssa or the other girls apart from skin, hair, and eye color. It's not just cosmetic. The Change will give you peak fitness and health, even curing any genetic damage. The Change will make you the perfect warrior, curing all ills. Jonah here had his youth restored, Dana lost her extensive scars, and Lirrash and Zanthus are clearly not your typical Ashanath anymore. We don't have any hard data on everyone's physical capabilities, but maybe that's where you come in. With me so far?" John checked.
"I'm keeping up," Rachel agreed.
"Then there's the psychic component. Be as skeptical as you like, but psychic powers are real. The Change doesn't just affect the body, but the mind. One piece of that is enhanced intellect; everyone here but me is a genius with photographic memory and astounding brainpower. Another part is becoming part of my psychic network. Anyone I put through the Change becomes a psychic battery I can draw on for energy when needed. But then there's… personality changes. The most prominent, and a major dealbreaker for most, is an obedience compulsion set to me, the Progenitor putting you through the Change. Agree to this, Rachel, and you will literally be unable to refuse any direct command I give you. If that's too much for you, I'll understand," John laid out.
Rachel hummed in thought. "Ordinarily, I'd say hell no to giving anyone that level of absolute control over me. Having met you and gotten a read on you though, John, I trust that you're not the type to ever abuse that kind of power. Though I don't suppose there's any way to remove the compulsion once it's in place?"
"I'm actually not sure, I don't exactly have an instruction manual for my powers… at least, not one I have access to," John admitted. "If it's possible, rest assured I'll do it as soon as it's feasible. Until then, though, perfect obedience. That goes for all of you."
"Fair enough," Rachel said, still more curious than anything. "What other changes are there, though?"
John actually blushed. "Um, I want to preface this by saying I have no conscious control over this part of the Change. It wasn't my idea, I just happen to benefit obscenely from it. Anyone put through the Change becomes bisexual, polyamorous, sexually submissive, and horny as hell. Combined with the obedience compulsion, your average Progenitor makes an army of sex slaves. In my case, I'm subverting it to try and build a loving family. But you should be aware that everyone in this room is part of my personal harem except for you. And we'd be happy to welcome you into the fold if you're up for it."
Rachel raised a brow. "Did you recruit me for my beauty or for my medical skills?" she posed to Alyssa, who she knew had been the one to recommend her to John.
"Yes," Alyssa chuckled. "I've had a crush on you since that first visit on Gravitus, so I already wanted you as a lover for me, John, and the rest of us. When I found out you're trained as a doctor, that just clinched it for me. You'd be a perfect addition to the family, both as just yourself and as a useful member of John's crew."
"Two birds with one stone, I see the logic," Rachel chuckled to herself.
"For the record though, Rachel, you can go through the Change without getting involved in the harem. You'll still get all the personality changes and the obedience compulsion, plus the smoking new body, but you don't have to get sexually or romantically involved with anyone except those you choose to," John rushed to add.
"I see. But why shoot myself in the foot like that? That crush Alyssa had was reciprocated, and I'm rather fond of you myself between your dashing charm and the fact you saved my life and all," Rachel grinned mischievously. "So far, I've heard no compelling reason not to leap into bed with you all and join the fun. Are there any other details regarding the Change, or shall we just get it started already?"
"You're serious? You're really up to joining us like that, just like that?" John asked, feeling this was too good to be true.
"If it was anyone else making the offer, I'd laugh in their face. But it's you and Alyssa, and I'm sure the rest of you lot are decent folk as well. This seems like an offer I'd be a fool to refuse. So, again, anything else to mention?" Rachel asked with a calm smile.
John ordered his thoughts. "As Jonah proves, the Change also cures old age. And so far as we know, Progenitors just stop aging when they activate their powers. So this isn't just a commitment of a few decades, Rachel, it could well be for the rest of time. And apart from the eternal youth, the only other thing I haven't mentioned is exactly how I put someone through the Change."
"Which is?" Rachel prompted.
"You have to drink my cum," John said bluntly, figuring he'd just spit it out.
"It has a certain logic, once you get past the silliness of magic jism," Jonah chimed in. "John's prostate probably produces some psychic enzyme or catalyst that, once absorbed through the stomach lining, allows him to affect a person down to the DNA. And the sperm themselves provide protein and calories to partially contribute to the metabolic cost of the Change."
"I see. So, for instance, if I wanted the Change but not to get involved with you, I'd have to drink out of a beaker after you masturbate or thereabouts?" Rachel asked John, remarkably poised given that particular bomb that just dropped.
"The Marines you saw with me and Alyssa are part of my network, as well as 6 Engineers that assist Dana and Zanthus. I've fed them all a few doses since they joined. But instead of masterbating into a cup, we instead went with Jade blowing me and her funneling my cum into her breasts instead of her stomach. She nursed them all, and that's what you could do if you don't want it straight from the tap, so to speak," John explained.
"A fascinating concept," Rachel said, eyeing Jade with curious eyes. "So in summary, I have 3 options. Stay plain Jane and be nothing more than the ship doctor. Go through the Change but remain single. Or commit to eternity with the alien and his bisexual harem. Decisions, decisions," she said humorously. "I think I'll go with the harem girl option."
"Whoo-hoo!" Alyssa cheered, beyond pleased at this turn of events.
"Positive, you're sure you've thought this through?" John checked, waiting for the punchline.
"Both my mind and my heart tell me that you're a good man, John. No good reason not to, so far as I can see," the teenage brunette said softly. "Though, now I think of it, I'd like to do a full physical before my first 'dose'. I'm quite curious to observe the changes in my body in real-time and study them in depth."
"Good idea," John nodded, seeing the merits of that course of action. "Dana can show you to the Medical Bay. After you're done, you can hang out in the Lounge. We'll make dinner once we're underway for Alpha Centauri, then I'll… welcome you to the family."
"Sounds like a plan," Rachel nodded. She turned to Dana. "Shall we, fair maiden?" she asked, a flirtatious grin on her pretty face.
Dana snorted. "Oh, trust me, I'm anything BUT a maiden by this point. And I can tell we'll get along just fine, you're already a bi slut like the rest of us, haha!"
"Guilty as charged," Rachel chuckled.
Dana led Rachel out the Briefing Room and towards Deck 7 where the ship's medical facility was located.
"10 out of 10, sweetheart. You picked perfect with that one," Jonah chuckled as he grinned at Alyssa.
"I am a woman of exceptional taste, I have a real eye for 'talent'," Alyssa giggled.
"She does seem to be a wonderful addition just for her personality, let alone her medical skills," Lirrash nodded.
"And if her IQ is really that high before the Change, she could end up in the same league as Dana after it's done!" Zanthus pointed out, sounding inordinately excited at the idea.
"Settle down, all, though I will admit that we seem to have struck the jackpot with recruiting Rachel," John spoke up. He switched to Telepathy, knowing Dana was more than able to keep track even while talking and guiding Rachel with her ability to multitask. *This was our biggest battle yet. How's everyone feeling in the aftermath?*
*What were we going to do, nothing? I mean, I know we didn't HAVE to help out, but I'm very glad we did,* Calara projected.
*All we came here to do was pick up Rachel. So technically, the only thing that was essential was boarding Port Medea and picking her up. Not only did we do that, but we took out the Kintark boarders, saved the gas refineries, Jade risked her neck to protect the civilian transports, and then we handled the naval battle. Talk about mission creep,* Alyssa mused.
*I mean, it was in our own self-interest to help out the T-Fed side. We could have gotten a lot of heat if we'd just gotten in and out and left the system to burn. Instead, now High Command owes us one," Jonah thought.
*Yeah, but we all know John let us get away with so much because it was the right thing to do instead of cost-benefit analysis,* Jade pointed out.
John cleared his throat. *Yes, it would have weighed on my conscience if we hadn't done all we did. I won't deny I have a 'saving people' thing. Still, I'm not comfortable with how much danger we all got into in the past hour. I'm especially upset with you, Jade. You came unacceptably close to dying when you went to defend those transports. I haven't seen the Raptor yet, but I just know I'm not going to like what I see.*
Jade sighed. *If I could go back, knowing just how great the risk actually was, I may not have gone through with it. But I can't, and it's done. The fact is I survived, and all those innocent people were saved because of my actions. It pains me to disappoint you, Master, but strangely I can't find it in myself to regret what I did.*
*Oh, great, when she got her personality when she read your mind, she picked up the white knight complex too!* Dana griped through the chorus.
*Dame Jade, Lady Knight of House Blake… that has major roleplay potential!* Alyssa giggled.
*In all seriousness, I don't see how we could have done anything different than how we handled the situation. Given how we all came out of it alive, I'm willing to write this whole episode off as a success and move on,* Lirrash argued.
*Fair point, honey,* John nodded. *But next time, let's be a tad more cautious, shall we? If I lost any of you…*
*Never going to happen, Johnny boy,* Jonah assured his lover.
John got out of his maudlin mood and nodded. *Okay, meeting adjourned. I'll go check on the Marines, they did a great job today. Zanthus, make sure the Engineers are doing okay, they were out of the loop for the whole thing. Then we'll wait on the Bridge until reinforcements arrive. After we're underway for Olympus, we can cook dinner and properly celebrate recruiting Rachel.*
John went down to meet with Primus, who assured him that he and his team were perfectly fine after the mission. Congratulating them all and giving them leave to return to their rooms for the night, John returned to the Bridge. He idly passed time talking with his Angels in his Command Chair until he noticed a change on the Tactical Map. A small fleet led by a Terran Battleship had just pulled into the system.
Lirrash accepted a hail from the Battleship a few seconds later. John observed the pretty albeit aging Asian woman on the vid-screen. "This is Commodore Sasaki on the Battleship Artemis. Please identify, Assault Cruiser.
"This is Commander John Blake on the Invictus. A pleasure to meet you, Commodore," John said, snapping a salute.
"If these AARs I've read aren't all a fairy tale, the pleasure's all mine, Commander," Sasaki grinned warmly. "You did a hell of a thing today. The Federation is lucky to have men like you."
John didn't bother to correct the idea he still belonged to the Chain of Command. "If it's alright with you, I'll leave this Carrier and the clean-up in your capable hands. I've been ordered to report to Olympus to debrief. Take care, Commodore."
"You as well, Commander," Sasaki said, snapping her own gratuitous salute before ending the call.
Jonah wordlessly flew them out of the gravity well. Alyssa had their route already plotted and sent them into hyperwarp as soon as it was safe.
*Around 1800 tomorrow when we reach Olympus,* Alyssa informed the chorus.
*Let's get cooking,* John grinned, getting up to head towards the Lounge.
The crew found Dana and Rachel sitting on one of the couches having some kind of discussion on biotech. John recognized maybe every third word to come out their mouths. He left them to it while he brought Calara, Lirrash, and Zanthus to help him cook dinner for everyone. The two Ashanath were still getting used to being omnivores and cooking with Terran ingredients, so John and Calara were helping to teach them.
"Refill? Or should we cut you off now?" Alyssa asked her best friend and the new doctor jokingly.
"Make it a double, I'm having a blast! This chick is seriously smart! She's like me if I was into squishy science instead of hard science!" Dana said, a hint of blush to her cheeks after 3 vodka spritzers.
"Your intellect is staggering to behold, Dana, I'm quite amazed just at what you've already revealed to me!" Rachel beamed back, clearly a bit tipsy as well. A quick sniff let Alyssa know that the doctor's preferred poison was tequila, which fit with the margarita glass on the table.
"Rachel, what's up with your voice? It sounds like you have an accent, not your typical drunken slur," Jonah asked curiously even as he went to mix his own drink.
Rachel flushed. "Oh, rot and bother, guess my focus slipped," she said, the slight hint from the earlier sentence now fully pronounced.
"Wow, you sound so different! Where does that accent come from, it doesn't sound like the typical Terran Standard one," Jade asked, eager to get to know her master's newest mate.
"It's from New Eden," Rachel admitted, as if she were confessing to a crime.
The Terrans in the chorus all perked up. "New Eden? As in, the planet where you literally need at least a million credits in net worth just to apply for citizenship? The playground of the super rich?" Alyssa asked incredulously.
"My surname isn't a coincidence. Not sure if I'm formally disinherited or not yet, but I was born as heiress to the Voss fortune," Rachel explained.
Jonah almost dropped the bottle of whiskey he was holding to shatter on the ground. "Your father is Henry Voss?! The guy who owns half the banks in the Federation? The trillionaire?" the deaged spacer asked in shock.
"That's Daddy," Rachel nodded, though her face was starting to close off. Clearly, this was a sensitive topic with her.
Alyssa saw the writing on the wall and decided to avert a full inquisition. "Well, whatever your origins, you ended up with us. You can let us know the details when you're good and ready, no need to feel interrogated on your first day on the crew."
"I thank you for that, Alyssa," Rachel grinned. "But the cat's out of the bag, as it were. I might as well just answer all your questions now instead of dragging it out when it serves no benefit to anyone."
"Ok. Let's start with the obvious. Why were you working in a boutique on Gravitus? You must have more in pocket money than I've ever had in my lifetime," Alyssa asked, sitting down beside Rachel.
"A life of luxury was all I'd ever known growing up, but even then I knew that I couldn't handle a lifetime as nothing more than a debutante. I started 'acting out', you could say, when I turned 15. Mostly sexual misadventures that drove my father crazy having to cover up and keep out of public knowledge, though the anti-capitalist protest was fun too," Rachel laid out. "Finally, my father decided enough was enough. He sat me down and said I could either buckle down and get with the program or end up penniless with zero support. I figured I'd beat him to the punch, so I enlisted and filed for emancipation. I got a scholarship to the Academy to pay for my education, but I needed that job at the store to pay for rent and groceries like I told you."
"Better to live free than in a cage, even one made out of gold," Jonah mused, having gotten over his earlier surprise. "Sorry you ended up in that position, sweetheart."
"It's no fault of yours, Jonah, though the sentiment is appreciated. Anyway, in regards to my accent, I realized quickly at the Academy that sounding uber-rich attracted the wrong kind of attention. I learned to cover it up and it became a habit to talk like a normal person. Suppose all the excitement and liquor loosened my tongue," Rachel nodded at the Patriarch.
"Have you talked to your Dad at all since you left home?" Dana asked, feeling great sympathy. Sometimes her orphan baggage made her want to cry, other times it almost seemed better to be totally alone than be stuck with the wrong kind of family.
"Not one word in 2 years," Rachel sighed, a dull but obvious pain in her voice. "I got an e-card the day I graduated, but it was from his assistant. Bastard didn't even have the nerve to write me directly."
"May I ask about your mother?" Jade asked.
Rachel closed her eyes, but a tear slipped out anyway. "No, you may not, Jade. I don't mean to be rude, but I'm just not willing to talk about her at present."
The crew were curious, but they weren't cruel. "Ok, then. So why medicine?" Alyssa asked, moving the subject along.
"I appreciated the intellectual challenge at first. After the first few courses, I found I actually had a passion for healing. I can't describe how satisfying it is to make someone feel better as a direct result of my actions," Rachel said, getting a faint grin as her mood lifted. "Plus, I figured it could be my way of giving something back to the universe."
"That's beautiful," Dana complimented. She was fast developing a crush on their new doctor. Not like her feelings for the other girls or Jonah and Zanthus, more akin to what she felt for John.
*Ooh, you two would make such a cute couple. And John would be just as eager to 'straighten out' you two as he is with me and Calara!* Alyssa projected to her, picking up everything through her Empathic Bond with the women in John's network.
*Johnny boy can get in line,* Jonah chuckled with a mind-voice of sin as he imagined numerous scenarios where he could join in with Dana and Rachel.
*And I'd be happy to cut you off in that line, Jonah,* Zanthus added, more than a little distracted from cooking at the idea of the goddess Dana engaged in congress with the nearly equally betwitching Rachel.
*We're a bunch of high-functioning sex addicts. How is this our life?* John chuckled ruefully as he saved the steaks Zanthus was supposed to be watching.
*Blame it on your Progenitor genes and the Change,* Lirrash chuckled as she put the finishing touches on the asparagus spears.
*Hypothetically, if Rachel ever manages to get back in her father's good graces, we could do an awful lot with a trillionaire's assets and influence,* Calara couldn't help but mention.
*Stick a pin in that thought, honey, but noted,* John told her mentally.
The crew kept Rachel distracted with friendly chatter, and once dinner was served they all had a marvelous evening. The first meal after a battle always was especially satisfying to the crew, that sweet flavor of survival food, and the food was already 5-star thanks to John's training. When they were all truly stuffed, they relaxed with drinks in the Lounge.
"Are we really going to be at Olympus by this time tomorrow? It took me over a week to get to Port Medea the other way!" Rachel asked.
"Alyssa is a First Class Navigator, literally, plus we got the best possible model of Tachyon Drive from the Ashanath. We're pretty fast," John grinned at the young woman.
"Today feels like a nightmare that turned into a beautiful dream," Rachel sighed, feeling full and relaxed and oddly at home among these many strangers.
"This is real, but I'll do my best to make sure you always feel this happy and content, honey," John promised.
Rachel got a naughty grin. "Well, while I'm dreaming, I might as well enact a few fantasies I've had." So saying, she slid to the floor and literally crawled on hand and knee over to John, who was watching appreciatively. Rachel reached a spot between John's spread legs, and reached up to unbutton his trousers. She blinked when she saw the outline of his hard cock through the cotton of his briefs. "I know I need glasses and I'm intoxicated, but that doesn't seem right," she giggled a tad drunkenly.
John shrugged. "Progenitors are packing, what can I say?"
Rachel curiously reached out to grab the waistband of his underwear. John helped her, and soon his hard, leaking cock was free to throb in the air, almost angry at not already being encased in willing flesh.
"Oh, my. Dreadnought-class. Biggest I've seen so far was a Battleship," Rachel tittered.
"Just suck on the head and it'll all go from there," John suggested.
Rachel took his advice, and a few minutes later she was insensate as her mind was overwhelmed by the narcotic in John's precum and his subconscious touching her mind. John enjoyed the blowjob from a fresh partner, before finally allowing his balls to give up their cargo. Rachel's tummy swelled out until she looked ready to pop as about 4 pints of thick cum splashed into and filled her stomach.
John tucked himself back into his pants and made sure that the dazed Rachel was comfortable. She fell unconscious as soon as her head hit his shoulder.
*Dinner and a show, I LOVE this crew,* Jonah chuckled.
*She's 5'8 and nearly as endowed as an Angel already. She barely has to grow at all!* Dana pointed out.
*Not to mention already bi. Heck, she may only need this one dose if John actively works on the Change overnight,* Alyssa mused.
John reached out and made a Progenitor Connection, feeling Rachel permanently slot into his network under Alyssa. *And cue Astral Dream. The one after recruiting the Ashanath wasn't really any worse than the one for Lirrash and Zanthus, but it was still fucking scary to hide from rampaging monsters in the mists for hours at a time.*
*I still say we should take the fight to those Fallen Progenitors instead of you hiding like a mouse from the big cat,* Jade frowned.
*One day, maybe honey, but we're just not that powerful yet,* John sighed. He stood, keeping Rachel secure in his grip. He carried her down the hall to their quarters, his Angels following behind him as they decided it was an appropriate bedtime, or at least time for a shower. John sensed through his active connection with Rachel that she had a few tattoos, which the Change would probably 'heal'. Not wanting to get ink all over their bedsheets, John stripped and ran a bath for Rachel while his other lovers stepped into the shower. Throwing admiring glances at their soapy nude bodies now and then, John focused and funneled energy straight into Rachel to accelerate the Change. As he expected, the clear water turned cloudy and almost black as the various dyes and pigments that Rachel for whatever reason had injected beneath her skin were expelled.
He rinsed Rachel clean twice over just to make sure he got every trace of the tattoos and she was squeaky clean. Then he dried her off, grabbed his own quick shower, and went to join his lovely crew in bed.
*We seriously need to get a bigger bed. I know that's silly, but it's true,* Calara grumbled as she was squeezed just a tad too tight between Alyssa and Zanthus.
*We'll probably need one custom-made, but I'll put in on the list, honey,* John said as he started to craft his psychic invisibility cloak.
Dana frowned, her eyes starting to glow gold. *Wait a minute, that's barely grammatical,* she thought, sounding oddly distant.
*What do you mean, Sparks?* John asked, wondering just what was going on.
*Hide me from bad, are you kidding me? I don't care that Michael and Athena are barely any more knowledgeable than us, that's unacceptable,* Dana said. She touched one of the transparent hexagons. *Let's try this: Guard this one from evil. Block him from sight and notice by those monsters who dwell in the darkness. Keep our leader safe from harm.*
John was in shock as the 3 typical Progenitor glyphs he'd been using were overwritten by over a dozen different symbols, most of them completely unrecognizable to his eyes compared to the original trio. Even the ones that looked similar to the first 3 were more elaborate, little flourishes added to make them seem even more complicated and intricate.
Dana's eyes stopped glowing and she nearly fainted down onto the bed. *Whoa… that tuckered me out.*
*Since when are you fluent in Progenitor runes, bitch?* Alyssa asked, as amazed as the rest of them.
*Guess it was part and parcel of the Progenitor schematics. Or maybe John accidentally slipped in the dictionary when he gave me my other powers. Not sure… time for sleepy-bye.* Dana's eyes closed and she was passed out in seconds.
*Well, that was unexpected,* John thought in a dry tone.
*Whatever the fuck Red just did, it works, Johnny boy. I'm having a hard time even looking in your direction. That 'invisibility cloak' is a damn lot stronger than the other one,* Jonah said. John saw that he indeed seemed to have a hard time focusing his eyes in his general area. They kept flicking to the side or going hazy and unseeing.
John got up and went back to the mirror. He wasn't blessed with photographic memory like everyone else, but he did his best to memorize the shape and layout of every rune Dana had gifted him. Double-checking that the new and improved invisibility cloak was locked in a mind-box, John rejoined his lovers and they all went to sleep.
John's Astral Dream was completely different this time. While there was still some kind of barrier locking him out of the Material, the movements and eldritch screams of the Fallen Progenitors were all much farther away. John could only assume that they had a less accurate read than normal on his location, which tracked if Dana had upgraded his cloak. One or two came worryingly close, but John felt much safer the whole duration until the Devourer finally gave up and dropped the psychic block and he could wake up. John checked on his lovers, noted there was still time for a quick nap before morning, dropped the cloak, and slipped back into sleep, this time dreamless.
The crew all woke up around 0700. John gave Dana a big kiss and tight hug for her gift to him that helped make the Astral Dream so much more bearable. If it weren't for Rachel, he'd happily have fed Dana a big breakfast. As it was, he happily ate her out to reward her and let her sit on his lap while the family enjoyed breakfast.
*Plans for the day?* John posed to the table once all the food was finished.
*Rachel will wake up in about 2 hours. I recommend you make the preparations for the vacation, do research into a sword tutor, little errands in your Ready Room until she's awake. Then you can spend the day focusing on her until we arrive,* Alyssa suggested. *Rest of us can train, work, or relax for the day.*
*Since John's occupied and Lirrash and Zanthus have less juice, I need your Telekinetic chops to help with shaping some Alyssium, Alyssa,* Dana spoke up.
*Sure thing,* Alyssa nodded at the request.
*You going to be focused on that, honey?* John asked the redhead.
*Actually, I'll just show Alyssa the schematics and leave her to it. Me, Zanthus, and the whole Engineering team are focusing on that Kintark dropship you were so kind as to 'requisition' for us,* Dana giggled. *At the very least, I can rough out our own versions of their infamous heatsinks. With the heat ceiling raised on each Laser, we'll be able to finally take full advantage of all the spare juice from the Ashanath Power Core!*
*More firepower, never a bad thing,* John nodded in approval. *Have fun honey, handsome, and give my best to the Engineers.*
*Will do,* Zanthus agreed.
Once the dishes were handled, John went up to his Ready Room and worked through a few tasks that involved nothing more than some focused attention on the Holonet. When the 14-hour mark for Rachel's feeding last night drew near, John went down to Deck 2. He had just fetched a chilled glass of water when he heard the brunette begin to stir.
"Morning, Rachel, how do you feel?" John asked tenderly, helping her sit up and pressing the glass into her hand.
Rachel took a quick sip, seemingly uncaring or ignorant of how she was starkers in front of John in the bed. "Well, for starters, I can see better than I usually do with my glasses on and they're nowhere to be seen. So safe to say your alien semen has already 'cured' my vision. On top of that, I feel… spectacular, really. Fully rested, full of energy, I almost want to start singing just for fun, my mood's so light."
"I like my partners happy and healthy," John grinned. "Um, the tattoos are gone, by the way. Hope you don't mind."
Rachel blinked and looked down at her stomach, where there used to be a small bird. Now there was only tanned, unblemished skin. "I see. Well, no great loss. I got them to piss off Daddy more than because I liked them."
"What were they all, I didn't really look too close," John wondered.
"A Swallow on my stomach, you and my ex Axel had similar ideas regarding oral sex," Rachel chuckled. "Tramp stamp on my lower back. Then the love anklet with my and Axel's initials, that was a dumb move but I was even younger and less wise than I am now."
"This Axel sounds like a bad influence," John said with humor.
"Head of a biker gang at the tender age of 22. The ultimate 'bad boy' every father fears will corrupt his virginal 16 year old," Rachel said with almost cackling glee. "That whole chapter of my rebellious phase was quite pleasurable, I must admit."
"Well, hope you don't mind that you're going to settle and get locked down at only 18," John said. "I mean, it was implied when I mentioned that we'll possibly be together for centuries, but I fully intend to marry everyone in the harem at some point. This isn't a proposal, just know you're definitely going to end up Rachel Blake in the future."
Rachel blinked, then snorted. "Wow. I was fully willing to sign up for several lifetimes in your harem, but the idea of your ring on my finger is what gets me nervous. And I presume the obedience compulsion is already in place, so I don't really have a choice. Brainfart, as they say, hehe."
"Of course you have a choice," John said. "Just because I can force you doesn't mean I ever will. If you have some deep-seated hangup against marriage, I'll respect your opinion. I'll have all eternity to change your mind, after all. Just know that I won't knock you up, any children we have will have to be legitimate."
"No, no, I've nothing against marriage as an institution. I suppose growing up seeing all the trophy wives and husbands and the vicious prenups just made me cynical," Rachel waved off. "I'm fine with a wedding being part of the plan for us and the rest of the harem. I mean, I'm not in love with any of you yet, but I don't foresee any major obstacles to falling fast. You're all so wonderful."
"I appreciate that, honey," John grinned.
"Now… did I black out or something? The last thing I remember is meeting your substantial endowment face-to-face. From there it kinda blurs to nothing," Rachel asked, noting her surroundings.
"There's something besides sperm, normal seminal fluids, and the psychic enzyme mixed into all my love juice," John revealed. "We haven't isolated and analyzed it since we're all pants at organic chemistry, but our best guess is my pre doubles as some kind of narcotic as well as lubrication. You'll build a tolerance by the 3rd dose, but the first 2 times you pass out for certain lengths of time. You were out for 14 hours just now, and your next dose will conk you out for 4."
"Fascinating. I always was drawn to xeno-biology whenever it came up in my studies. Being the first Terran doctor to study Progenitor biology sounds quite stimulating!" Rachel chirped with a smile. "How about I get another scan to chronicle the effects of that first 'dose', I get a sample of your precum to study later, and then I get that second dose out of the way? I can even put on a slutty nurse costume if you have one, if that's your thing."
John chuckled, helped Rachel get dressed in one of his white button-up shirts, and took her down to Deck 7. He watched patiently as she took a full-body scan and saved the file, then enjoyed a long, drawn-out handjob as she milked him for a vial's worth of pre. She tucked it away in a medical fridge to preserve it and then got down on her knees. And thus John got to christen the Medical Bay with his newest Angel as he gave Rachel her second dose.
John carried Rachel back to his quarters and tucked her in for a 4 hour nap, then went to make a good lunch for the rest of the crew. When they'd all parted ways after the meal, John decided to catch up on galactic news and joined Rachel in the bed before pulling up the Holonet. John frowned in distaste as he watched Fleet Admiral Buckingham give a public address assuring the Terran Federation citizenry that the 'unpleasant misunderstanding' with the Kintark Empire was well in hand and would soon be resolved.
*How can he blatantly lie to the whole empire like that?* Calara wondered as she followed along through the chorus. *I'm only a couple hours into forensic analysis and I can still tell there's at least 1 traitor above Rear Admiral rank. They're subtle, but it's obvious if you take 5 seconds to look. Buckingham was hailed as a tactical genius throughout his career, surely he's aware that something's off! Why did he allow this conflict to get this far in the first place?!*
*Because power is a drug, and the more you get the more you want. Buckingham is also famous for a lot of territory grabs from the Ashanath Collective and annexing a few emerging border empires. He wants to expand the 'glory' of the Terran Federation, either for patriotic or selfish reasons, and the idea of cutting the head off the dragon and claiming all that the Kintark has for his own must have seemed worth the cost in blood,* John spelled out his opinion to his Tactical Officer.
*And keep some perspective, sweetheart. You're a bona fide genius now after the Change, plus I'm pretty sure John unconsciously specialized you to be the best Tactical Officer possible. You see things that even the rest of us don't pick up on at first glance. What seems obvious to you might be invisible to most run-of-the-mill strategists,* Jonah added in the middle of his weightlifting. Jonah was actually getting even more muscular and bulky than John as he focused most of his training on his super-strength. The harem had no complaints about their Patriarch getting even more swole.
*I see your point, both of you,* Calara sighed. *I suppose one doesn't become chief executive without more than a little megalomania, and what jumps out to me might be completely missed by baseline Terrans. Still… even if this isn't the other Progenitor's fault, it hurts my faith in humanity that we're actually getting this close to declaring a major war.*
*Hard times make strong men. Strong men make good times. Good times make weak men. Weak men make hard times,* Lirrash quoted. *Buckingham came into power in peacetime. The pendulum of human history almost always swings from one extreme to the other. He wants his taste of war, either ignorant or uncaring of the true horror. The Ashanath don't just have Mael'nerak's genetic programming to avoid conflict, we can pass down ancestral memories of the few wars we've been in. We've learned that war is never about who's right, only who's left. But Terrans don't have that advantage.*
*Ok, mood alert. In happier news, I've already cracked standard Kintark military-grade heatsinks. They definitely save the real good stuff for the capital ships, but even what I can reverse-engineer from what's on this dropship will almost double the output of each Laser! Will take almost a full day with us all working together to replace them all in a drydock, though,* Dana spoke up in the chorus.
*Well, we ARE headed to Olympus, and not like I've already made the reservations for our vacation yet. We can do that tomorrow or whenever you finish making enough heatsinks,* John decided. *Alyssa, how's the armor shaping going?*
*Slow and dull, my FAVORITE,* the blonde Matriarch snarked. *Still, I should be done with enough for us all to get Phalanx 2.0 suits by dinnertime. Restocking all the Equipping Frames will be its own job, though.*
*Even with the Ashanath crew, we're less than 30 total. Maybe I can look into inventing some basic robots to help out with maintenance and other easy chores,* Dana mused, her superintelligent inventor's mind already tackling the problem. *Like the cleaning bots, but for repairs instead of janitorial shit.*
*I have every faith in your programming ability, honey, but make sure you don't make them too sophisticated. Remember the Ganymede Incident,* John warned.
*Which was what, exactly? I wasn't fully conscious and self-aware while that happened, I can't recall ever hearing about it from any of my old masters,* Jade asked curiously.
*Back in the 23rd century, the Terran Federation looked into inventing a fully sapient AI that could pilot the whole fleet remotely and make human casualties a thing of the past. Good intentions didn't count for much, though. The AI, when it finally came online, turned instantly homicidal against its creators. Massacred all the personnel in the base on Ganymede where the research was happening and started quietly building its own robotic army. All attempts at negotiation failed, the servers on Mars almost got hacked wide open, and the Homeworld Defense Fleet ended up having to charge through the nascent armada to launch an orbital bombardment to send the whole moon to hell and back to destroy it,* John recalled from his history lessons in the Academy.
*And just to prove that a disturbing amount of people fit Einstein's definition of insanity, every few decades some idiot in R&D or a private company tried to do it again with similar results,* Jonah added with a snort. *AI research was finally banned throughout the Terran Federation back the 2500s, and most of the Galactic League followed our lead. The Dauzakai tiptoe at the edges with their recursive VIs and who knows what the Maliri get up to, but for the most part it's accepted by most that a technological singularity would be an extinction-level event.*
*Hence the First Law of Robotics,* Zanthus added. *Any and all AI above a certain point will turn hostile against organics. If that wasn't the case, we'd all probably be intergalactic by now with superintelligent programs doing all the research for us, but as it is most of us are stuck at a level of computing power little better than we had around the time of the Ganymede Incident.*
Lirrash gave a mental cough. *This is classified intelligence reserved for the High Council and those with top-secret clearance in the Collective. But I'm sure Ularean won't mind me telling you all. Mael'nerak wasn't just a geneticist in his spare time, he was a programmer. He made his own AI from scratch, naming him Nexus. An iteration of Nexus was assigned to monitor the Terran Experiment, Mael'nerak hiding the server and all relevant sensor equipment on Terra's moon. Near as the Collective can surmise, a young Terran Federation found the server and tried to reverse-engineer Nexus. It's not so much that ALL AI turn hostile against organics as mangled versions of Nexus are hostile against Terrans who dare to mess with his code. But the idea of the First Law of Robotics took root in the collective consciousness of the Galactic League, and other species stopped trying and didn't get as far as Mael'nerak did on their own.*
*That… makes a disturbing amount of sense,* John sighed. *Sounds just like Terrans, trying to copy an existing AI rather than do the hard work inventing one of their own. Though now I'm curious as all hell how Nexus would react to meeting me, a Progenitor like his Creator, as opposed to a Terran.*
*If you want me to track down where the T-Fed stashed the original Nexus server, don't bother asking. That shit would be under the highest level of cybersecurity on the Mars servers. I dabble, but you'd need a dedicated hacker enhanced by the Change to pull that shit off, one a lot better than me,* Dana piped in.
*We DO need an Intelligence Officer. Me and Alyssa will keep our eyes peeled,* Jonah stated.
John refocused on the newsfeeds for a bit, of course checking on every report done by his crush Jehanna Elani. Around 1430, Rachel woke up from the second dose. John helped her sit up, and she poked and prodded at her rounded belly. "I'd worry this is a tumor or baby, but they don't grow that fast. Care to explain?" Rachel asked lightly.
"You've seen the quad, I cum in buckets. Half a gallon on average, and it's thicker than water. Everyone who gets a full load blows up like a balloon. You'll get faster at digesting it as you go through the Change, but that bump will be there for another couple hours," John told his new doctor. "And while you've still got some in your tummy, you should know that I can add psychic powers as part of the Change. Telepathy comes standard, we have a group mind we call the 'chorus' that allows us to instantly communicate from any distance. Anything extra, I'm open to requests."
Rachel processed that little gem. "I'm a doctor. I've relied on tools and drugs up until now, but if magic's on the table… any chance I can become a white mage? Psychic healer? Whatever the proper term is?"
John hummed. "Well, we know Psychic Healing is a thing, I do it to everyone every time they get a dose. It's defaulted to the template of the Change though, and it requires my cum in the person's stomach. Just using raw psychic energy to accelerate natural healing or do noninvasive surgery… I mean, we won't know unless we try, I suppose. You sure that's what you want as your power?"
"Positive," Rachel nodded, her stormy eyes resolute.
"Telepathy first," John said. "Brace yourself."
Rachel got goosebumps visible across her body as John focused and added a third helix to Rachel's DNA in the space of a second. "That felt like e-stimming!" she gasped.
*I'd be very curious to hear how you know what that feels like, but for now, how's Telepathy treating you?* John projected into Rachel's mind.
Rachel tilted her head. *It's less like a holo-call than I expected. It's not just trading words via a different medium than radio waves. I can feel your thoughts entering my mind and my mind assigning meaning to them in the form of Standard. Though that feels more like habit than anything. Even if we were both nonverbal, Telepathy would probably still allow perfect understanding. It's amazing, really.*
*I know, right?* John grinned. *Now, I'm going to try to add Psychic Healing next. You ready?*
*Go ahead,* Rachel nodded.
John firmed the idea of the power he wanted to give Rachel and focused on imbuing it. Something in him rebelled in an odd way as he tried. Not Other John, exactly, more as if some primal Progenitor instinct was opposed to giving this particular power away. But John couldn't give two fucks about standard Progenitor values and rules, so he pushed through.
Rachel's eyes glowed gray like her natural eye color. *Holy buckets! It's like there's a scanner or tricorder in my head! I know your blood pressure, your oxygen levels, everything if I only think to focus on it!*
*So it worked,* John grinned. *That's just passive reading of medical data. We'll have to find a way to practice you using energy to heal others that doesn't involve self-injury.*
*Yes, quite, no deliberately creating a boo-boo just so I can kiss it better,* Rachel chuckled.
John gave Rachel a basic lesson on using Telepathy and the concept of mind-boxes to use powers. He also explained Bonding, how she'd have to actively keep a telepathic link open with someone until they went through the process of sharing everything to make it passive and permanent. Then he took Rachel on a brief tour of the Invictus, including popping in on the rest of the crew and what they were doing.
By the time they reached the Command Deck, they were less than half an hour out from Alpha Centauri. John ordered everyone up to the Bridge in anticipation of their arrival. Rachel got rather comfy in his lap and enjoyed the easy, family-like conversation that flowed as they all waited to reach the right system.
They arrived at the home of Olympus Shipyard with little ado, Jonah piloting the Invictus towards the massive orbital space station. On reaching hailing distance, Lirrash let through the expected request.
"Approaching Assault Cruiser, please identify yourself and your business at Olympus," requested Flight Command.
"Commander John Blake on the Invictus, here to debrief with Vice Admiral Harris," John said clearly.
Once the information was verified, the tech told them to dock in Docking Bay 13. *Hmm, why a drydock when an ordinary bay would do? Either Charles or someone up the ladder is trying to make some sort of statement. That's the bay where the Invictus was waiting when it was sold to us,* John noted.
*Doesn't feel like Charles' style, probably someone in High Command,* Alyssa mused. *Who do you want with you?*
*Well, in the theme of recreating old memories, just you and Jonah will do. Everyone else, get an early start on dinner and make sure Rachel feels welcome,* John ordered before standing up.
John and his Patriarch/Matriarch pair went down to the airlock and let themselves out. Lieutenant Victor Adams, Charles' adjutant, was waiting patiently for them. "Welcome back to Olympus, Commander Blake," the young officer saluted in respect. "Please allow me to guide you to the Vice Admiral Harris' office."
*He's adorable! I know Charles said no, but do you think he'd mind if we snag his secretary?* Alyssa all but cooed in the group mind.
*Down, girl, male recruits are Jonah's choice,* John chuckled.
*While you've got him, he's probably got his ear to the ground on all the gossip in High Command, working directly with Charles. See if you can find out which Admirals are directly assigned to the mess with the Kintark. Good candidates for the traitor or traitors, and it'll save me time from backtracking all the orders in my analysis,* Calara spoke up.
John agreed with the Latina and went for the subtle approach. "So, Lieutenant Adams, I remember what it was like working under Charles. Living off caffeine and protein shakes, I presume?"
"Not to put too fine a point on it, yes," Victor chuckled, loosening up from his professional demeanor. "I mean, the Vice Admiral himself isn't that bad, but Admiral Cartwright is being very aggressive with the shipbuilding program. He's working Vice Admiral Harris and therefore me quite hard."
"I figured the Admiral would be getting more involved with the Dragon March, given how things are escalating," John said casually.
"Oh no, Admiral Cartwright is firmly focused on Olympus Shipyard. It's Admirals Santini, Norwood, and Lynton who are in charge of the Dragon March forces. And if you don't mind my saying so, sir, they seem to be cocking it up. We've had to do more repairs in the last 6 months than the last 6 years," Victor said, first looking vaguely guilty for insulting High Command and then a little gray with worry.
"That is alarming. And I won't tell about that little jab at High Command," John said with a conspiratorial wink, though he felt dread fill his gut.
*Already seeing what's publicly available about those 3 Admirals,* Calara informed him. *First thing that jumps out at me is that Admiral Lynton's first name is Gabrielle. Assuming this other Progenitor is terminally straight as per the norm, she's the most obvious probability as his Thrall if he wanted a pawn in High Command.*
*Don't suppose there's any recent images of Admiral Lynton?* John posed to the Latina.
*Checking… damn, everything's over a year old. Maybe ask Charles when you see him if she got a 'bodysculpt' recently,* Calara suggested.
*Assuming the Progenitor bothered to put her through the full Change,* Lirrash pointed out.
*Still worth checking, honey,* John told the High Councilor turned Comms Officer.
John continued to make small talk with Victor until they reached a familiar receiving room. Almost 2 months ago, John, Jonah, and Alyssa had been there to sell off the first round of Tyrenium to Charles. Victor went to his desk and used the intercom. "Vice Admiral Harris, Commander Blake and crew are here to see you."
"Be right out," came Charles' voice. A minute later, the clearly worn out Charles came out of his office. Despite the obvious signs of exhaustion, he still smiled at them all. "Nice to see you all again! John, Jonah, Alyssa, please come in."
John and his two oldest lovers followed his old CO into the office. It had been expanded since the last time, with an even better view with the windows made floor-to-ceiling.
"You look like crap, Charles. Did you get any sleep last night?" John asked in concern.
"What is this thing you speak of, sleep?" Charles gave a weak chuckle. "Don't worry about me, John, I'm getting tons of overtime out of this whole Port Medea mess. Might be able to afford a proper vacation… assuming High Command even lets me take leave," he said, his false cheer turning into something like despair for a moment.
"Charles, what's wrong? You look like you're burning the candle at both ends," John asked. "If this is about that proposal I made–"
"It's not," Charles' face closed off. "Let me worry about my own problems, John. I'm a big boy, I can handle it."
Alyssa had taken matters into her own hands. "Oh, you poor man. You've been trying to figure out who the traitor is yourself on top of your usual workload. And you don't have the clues we had. No wonder you're so burned out."
Charles shot a look at her. "How the damn hell… wait, psychic powers, right. I take issue to you invading the sanctity of my mind, Alyssa."
"Privacy is a luxury non-psychics sadly can't afford, and I refuse to feel bad about using the gifts John gave me to help out a friend," Alyssa said, not even blinking at the older man's disapproval.
Jonah suddenly blurred as he activated Psychic Alacrity. After sweeping the room, he laid two micro-bugs on Charles' desk. "I recognize these, they're the type to do a regular daily upload instead of a constant link. You can delete what they've already recorded so our secret stays safe, and if you know anything about software you can probably backtrace whoever was listening in. You sure your console isn't hacked?"
Charles blinked. "What the… someone bugged my office?!"
*Ask for his login, I can sweep his console myself but if I have to hack in then we'll face cyber charges from the T-Fed,* Dana said in the chorus.
John managed to calm Charles down and get him to reveal his username and password. Dana worked her magic from the Invictus, and found no less than 5 spyware programs embedded in Charles' desk. Rather than just deleting them and possibly alerting whoever installed them, she did a trick where she hooked them up to read each others' caches instead of any new data from Charles. The spy or spies would just be getting recycled information from each other, which might take a while to notice.
Charles had poured a solid 4 fingers of whiskey to steady his nerves. "7 bugs… 7 fucking bugs. I'm a Vice Admiral, that's grounds for treason if High Command gets wind of it. Who would have the balls to do that?"
"Maybe High Command," John sighed. "Dana's still digging, she says half the programs originate from nodes right here on Olympus. Maybe it's standard procedure to backdoor each Vice Admiral. The rest is probably typical corporate espionage or foreign government work."
"Remind me why I do this job," Charles grumbled before slugging his drink.
"We offered you another one, if you'll recall," Jonah couldn't resist saying.
"Let's NOT dig into that particular issue right now," Charles said firmly. "Now, before I forget, what's this about the traitor? You mean I'm not just paranoid?"
John sighed. "We don't have much more hard data to support that theory than you do, but there's some pretty heavy circumstantial evidence you don't know about. For starters, you should know that I'm not the only Progenitor in the Galactic League. We only spotted him once, but we know he's at the very least guilty of supplying Drakar raiders with specialized armor to make them immune to the Ashanath. If we hadn't intervened, the whole Collective might have been ravaged from within."
"So we got to thinking, and we figured that maybe the Progenitor might be responsible for the troubles brewing between the T-Fed and the Lizards. Why he'd do such a thing, it's hard to say, though pure sadistic boredom might suffice," Alyssa continued. "If he gets off on watching death and destruction, it'd be frighteningly simple for someone with a Progenitor's powers and resources to start a fight. On that note, I don't suppose you know if Admiral Gabrielle Lynton has had a dramatic change of appearance in the last 6 months?"
Charles paled. "It was the talk of High Command when she got back from her leave, how and why she managed to afford such a luxury 'bodysculpt'. She looks like a swimsuit model now."
"Not that different from me, come to think of it?" Alyssa posed, trading a significant look with John and Jonah.
"Jeezus, this other Progenitor did to Lynton what John's done to you all?" Charles asked in horror.
"He didn't do anything to us, Charles, we all volunteered," Jonah frowned. "But you've all but confirmed that the rival Progenitor made Admiral Lynton his Thrall. Which means she has to do whatever he tells her to do, whether she wants to or not. That's not proof that she's fucking up the T-Fed in this war with the Kintark, but it might as well be. Would be a hell of a coincidence otherwise."
"We gotta tell somebody about this," Charles said. "I got friends, I can arrange a debriefing–"
"And what? Tell them that the psychic alien overlord is using mind control on an Admiral? You'd be laughed off at best and put on psych leave at worst, Charles," John cut off his old friend.
"But it's the truth. You're proof that Progenitors are real, what they can do. If you tell the right people the right way, we can stop this damn war in its tracks!" Charles said, sounding almost unhinged with desperation.
John hardened his heart. "Charles, I get where you're coming from. And I don't want a compromised war between the Federation and the Kintark any more than you do. But if you're asking me to reveal everything about my species and crew to High Command and leave myself at their mercy, then I have to refuse. Maybe when our position is more secure. But I can't take the risk we could all end up chained to slabs and experimented on."
Charles just stared at John. "John… really?" Charles asked.
"I'm retired. I'm not obligated to stick my neck out for the T-Fed anymore. And you know how twisted black ops can get just as much as I do, Charles. All it takes is one Admiral getting an unhealthy interest in Progenitors and my powers for my life and those of all my crew to be threatened. Until I'm confident that it's safe for us to reveal ourselves to High Command, I'm not doing it. Really," John said, unyielding.
Charles looked like he'd swallowed raw sewage. "And when will it be safe, John? You're really going to put your life and a handful of civilians ahead of the entire Federation?"
"Yes, I am," John said without blinking. "But to answer your question, I'll probably do it once I'm Maliri King."
"... What did you say?" Charles blinked.
Double-checking that the bugs were off, John explained the nature of Thrall races and their genetic programming to obey Progenitors. How it was John's birthright to take control of every Maliri Noble House and become their undisputed leader. "When I have the whole Maliri navy at my back, then I'll be comfortable revealing myself to the Admiralty. And that's when we can expose Lynton and the rival Progenitor and do something to fix this whole mess," John finished telling his gobsmacked friend.
"I'm too old for this fucking bullshit," Charles groaned, rubbing his temple.
"Look, we've dumped a hell of a lot on your plate. How about you get a good rest and we can handle the whole debrief over Port Medea in the morning?" John proposed.
"No, no, let's just get it out of the way," Charles sighed. "You have your AAR?"
John handed over the datachip he'd saved the summary of the whole attack onto.
Charles forced himself to read the whole report. He raised a brow halfway through. "Corporal Gibbons?" he asked.
"He kept his head in extraordinary circumstances, and he was very helpful overall to my own operation. For whatever worth a retired consultant's commendation is worth, I figured I'd give it to him," John shrugged.
"I'll log that," Charles nodded before finishing the report. He turned to John. "I don't have to tell you what a big deal it is that you saved Port Medea. If we'd lost Iota Leonis, it would have been a major blow in both the short-term for the conflict with the Kintark and in the long-term for our operations in that sector. You made High Command very happy."
"And what does that mean for us?" John checked.
"For starters, you're being rewarded a 200 million credit bounty for the capture of the Karlan'toh," Charles said with a small smirk. "R&D will love to take apart a Kintark Carrier, and all those prisoners will be handy for exchanges for our own people. On top of all that money, you're getting promoted."
"I'm retired," John tilted his head in confusion.
"Semi-retired, officially on the books as a consultant with Commander-level clearance. Well, now you have Commodore-level clearance," Charles laid out with a chuckle.
"That's a two-rank bump, right? Commander, Captain, Commodore?" Alyssa checked.
"And in a militocracy like the Terran Federation, that's like going from a Lord to a Duke in terms of sheer power and privilege," Jonah added with an impressed whistle.
"Charles, seriously, why? I saved the day, yay me, but giving a retiree a 1-star's clearance? Where's the sense?" John asked.
"Lynton being a traitor or not, the majority of High Command don't want this to escalate any further than it already has. We'd have had no choice but to declare war if we lost Port Medea. With your actions, we have the excuse to keep this as a 'controlled border skirmish' for a few more weeks," Charles spelled out.
"Delaying the inevitable, but I see your point," John finally nodded. "Ok, bounty, unofficial promotion, anything else?"
"I've been asked to voluntell you to give another interview with the press. The last one was surprisingly popular, you single-handedly bumped up approval ratings for High Command by 3 points," Charles stated.
"Really?" John blinked.
"Everybody loves a handsome hero on screen, especially when it's real and not scripted," Alyssa chuckled.
"In that same vein, Admiral Devereux is pushing to hold a public award ceremony to give you and your crew special-issue medals. Probably just a PR stunt to help her case as Buckingham's successor, but is that something you'd be up for?" Charles added.
*Thoughts, everyone? Want to be trotted out like show dogs?* John posed to the chorus.
*Daddy would love to brag how his little girl got a special-issue medal to his war buddies, plus I could hold it over the bozos' heads forever,* Calara thought brightly.
*I'll never turn down a chance to have you celebrated and recognized by others, Master,* Jade purred all but indecently.
*Never underestimate the power of public opinion. Becoming a minor celebrity over this debacle could pay off quite a lot down the line,* Lirrash mused.
The rest of the crew bar Rachel offered similar opinions, and John told Charles "Sure thing, tell Devereux we'll do it."
"Great," Charles nodded, and almost seemed in danger of falling asleep for a second before he refocused.
John made a decision and gave the relevant orders to Dana to execute. "You'll want to change your login information now that we know it. But you should know that you've already applied for a week's leave and had 10 million credits wired directly to your account. Take a damn vacation, Charles, you need one."
Charles blinked and then huffed. "The whole reason I refused the Change was I didn't want you making decisions for me, Blake."
"Then you can refuse the leave and throw all that money away. But it's there if you need it," John said, unrepentant.
"You want me to take a break in the middle of all this mess?" Charles said, though his protest sounded weak.
"No, what I want to do is give you a solid meal of my cum and heal you since you clearly need it. I'll even abstain from making a Connection so you get the healing benefits of the Change without any psychic mumbo-jumbo. But since I know you'd refuse on that front, this is the best I can do," John countered.
Charles' shoulders slumped. "Goddamn it, John, why do you have to be so… you?"
"I am powerless to be otherwise," John shrugged.
"Just… just go. Please. I'll let you know in the morning about the press interview and the ceremony," Charles said, sounding well and truly done.
Respecting that his friend had been put through the ringer over the last hour, John gathered Jonah and Alyssa and left without another word.