John walked calmly through Port Heracles towards the Docking Bay that held the Invictus. Most of his anger had been purged when he met with Commander Grant, though he left feeling he needed a scalding shower. The man was a premium-grade creep. Even ignoring his sexual harrassment of Calara and his fake threats of a court-martial, John just got a plain bad feeling from the man. He found himself finding Jonah's theory the man had sold Calara out to the pirates in the sector purely out of spite to be perfectly believable after a 10-minute conversation.
To summarize the meeting, John had essentially threatened a full-scale inquiry into Grant and his personal conduct as well as his treatment of staff as Station Commander of Port Heracles. The man had gotten a cold sweat that let John know the man was definitely up to something illegal, probably not just his despicable actions against the young Latina John had saved and befriended. He'd gotten what he wanted with barely any fight once Grant realized John was still a Commander in all but name with his semi-retired status and a close personal friend of a Vice Admiral. And John fully intended to go through with reporting Grant and getting that inquiry anyway. To quote Machiavelli, "it's a double pleasure to deceive the deceiver."
As for Lieutenant Fernandez, Jonah and Alyssa had kept John apprised of the situation through Telepathy. So John wasn't surprised but very pleased when he saw 3 people waiting by the airlock to the Invictus.
"Second Lieutenant Calara Fernandez, reporting for duty sir!" the 18 year old naval officer saluted.
John returned the salute, then surprised the teen with a hug. "None of that, we're technically a civilian vessel. You don't have to follow doctrine, I'm your friend and not just your CO. So, I take it you accepted our offer of employment?"
"I had just decided to go through with it even if I had to retire, when Commander Grant emailed me out of the blue. I've been granted an indefinite leave of absence! I can stay with your crew as long as I want and still return to the Federation military afterwards. It's almost too good to be true! You have anything to do with that?" Calara asked, eyes bright with awe and admiration.
"Just some friendly persuasion from one Commander to another, no big deal," John shrugged. "We're happy to have you as our Tactical Officer, Calara, really. Now, why don't you follow me to your new quarters? Jonah, Alyssa, get us underway then join us, please."
"Yes, Commander," his two lovers agreed with grins before they all entered the Invictus, Calara grabbing a duffel bag filled with all her things.
John and Calara exited the elevator at Deck 2 while Jonah and Alyssa stayed to continue up to the Command Deck. John took Calara down the hall to the door just before the entrance to his own Commander's Quarters he shared with his two crewmates. "This is your room. Decorate it however you want, just please keep it clean. We have cleaning robots, but that's no reason to be messy."
"Are you kidding? This is all mine? This is 3x the size of my berth on the Griffon! And my own bathroom," Calara gaped, rushing in to explore the officer's quarters.
After Calara's excitement died down, John helped her get unpacked. By the time they were finished, Jonah and Alyssa had joined them. John sat down on the bed and patted the spot next to him. "Calara, can we talk for a second?"
"Sure, John. What's on your mind?" Calara asked. Now that he was open to the idea she could be attracted to him, John realized it was significant that Calara sat so close their thighs almost touched instead of a more polite distance. Maybe this wouldn't blow up in his face after all.
"Ok… for the record, your job as our Tactical Officer is secure whether you say yes or no. This isn't quid pro quo or anything like that," John rushed to assure her. "But I, well, really me, Jonah, and Alyssa as well, we were all wondering if you would maybe consider, that is if you're open to the idea…"
Jonah rolled his eyes as John continued to stumble over his words. "It's like this, gorgeous. John's a psychic alien. His species, whatever it is, is polyamorous and has cum that rewrites the DNA of anyone who drinks it, at least every Terran who drinks it. John's fucking me and Alyssa. Alyssa and I both want to expand the harem. You up for it?"
Calara tilted her head even as her coffee-colored cheeks flamed. "Um, this is a joke, right?"
"Ok, John is verbally constipated when it comes to sex and Jonah is blunt as a brick to the face. Let's try a woman's touch," Alyssa said with a fond eyeroll. "John and Jonah got together 2 months ago. Jonah went through a radical physical transformation, his very DNA changed according to the DNA scanner on the Fool's Gold. Part of the Change, as we've taken to call it, seems to be polyamory and bisexuality. When they found me stowed away on their ship, Jonah convinced John to offer me the chance to join their relationship. Now I'm through the Change, and I think there's nothing hotter than John sharing the love with every other man or woman who will have him, even if that reaches the dozens, hundreds, or even thousands. Once you understand the exact nature of the opportunity in front of you, we 3 would all really love it if you would give it a serious think before you say yes or no to joining John's harem. And as John said, if you say no you won't be fired or anything, we're not like that shitbag Grant."
Calara looked at Alyssa, then Jonah and John. "Are… you serious? Your crew is also a polycule or whatever you want to call it?"
"For whatever reason, and it's most likely a side-effect of the Change rewriting their DNA to fit whatever template is built into my semen, Jonah and Alyssa both want me to have more sexual and romantic partners. They're perfectly happy to fool around with each other as well, but I'm basically head of this crew, family, harem, whatever label you want to apply to it. You can decide, once you can give proper informed consent, whether to go through the Change and become my lover. If you're up to it, and you probably will be as a consequence of the Change, you can also form relationships with Jonah and Alyssa separate from ours. But it all starts with you and me," John explained.
Calara blew out a breath. "Well… that's a lot. I mean, I have nothing against polyamory and group relationships, just nothing I ever pictured for myself. I always figured myself for a one man kind of girl, get the big white wedding and have a marriage not too different from my parents'."
"Oh, John fully intends to marry us once he finds the right rings. It's formalities, I'm ready to get knocked up this second if he was willing and Jonah would rip out his beating heart if John asked. But you'll still get the big white wedding if this works out long-term. You just won't be the only one wearing John's ring," Alyssa supplied.
John blushed even as Calara gave a hiccup-like sound. Both recovering, Calara decided to approach this logically. "Okay, first things first. What exactly is this 'Change' you keep talking about?"
"Picture says a thousand words," Jonah shrugged. He activated the screen built into the wall and accessed the video logs they'd downloaded from the Fool's Gold before leaving Olympus and the freighter behind. A few quick gestures and stills of Jonah and Alyssa in their original bodies were up on the screen. "That was me and Alyssa before we got to drinking John's cum. I swear on my mother that this isn't computer-generated or edited, this is real cam footage from the Fool's Gold of what we used to look like."
Calara's jaw almost touched her boobs. "Holy shit," she breathed. "How is that even possible?"
"How isn't really important, though if we ever find a doctor we trust I'd love to get some real answers from a scientific perspective," Alyssa shrugged. "The fact of the matter is I went from that to this after about 21 doses of John's cum. As you know, he cums in buckets, just a reminder. Maybe it's pure biology, maybe it's John's unconscious use of psychic powers, maybe it's both. But as Jonah and I prove, the Change rewrites DNA and gives you a new body. I wholeheartedly endorse the new model, though I can't guarantee your Change and mine will be identical. We only have one male and one female example of its effects, after all."
"And that's another thing. Psychic powers?" Calara asked.
"I always assumed I was like any other Terran, apart from my cock, quad, and ears," John told his new Tactical Officer. "Then Jonah developed Telepathy as part of the Change, and I realized I had that ability too. I guess it's like your blood type, if you never knew about such a thing or got told by a doctor, you'd have no way of knowing that aspect of yourself. We also met a Bolon on Port Heracles. Bolons are psychic as a species, as it turns out, and Barya seems convinced from reading our auras or something that we can do a hell of a lot more than just trade thoughts."
"So you mean if I agree to the Change, I'll become psychic?" Calara asked in disbelief.
"No guarantees. Like Alyssa said, we don't have many examples to work with and extrapolate," John answered. "But the Change rewrites your genome, Calara, it's not just cosmetic. And I have no idea how to reverse it if that's even possible. This is something you can't back out of if you agree to go through with it. You'll change, inside and out. Having known them before and after the Change, I feel confident stating that Jonah and Alyssa have only become better, healthier, happier people. Some of the side effects like the personality changes bother me, but they both swear blind they wouldn't take it back if they could, though even that is suspect. But call it denial or willful ignorance, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and accept they like their new lives post-Change. And now you have to decide for yourself whether it's worth committing to a relationship with me knowing all the strings attached."
Calara took a deep breath. "Ok… break it down for me, spell it out letter for letter. If I agree to this, what am I getting and what am I giving up?"
"Your DNA gets rewritten, which might lead to some awkward questions if a doctor ever gets a hand of your genome," John answered readily. "You will definitely change shape, that's what happened with both Jonah and Alyssa, though whether you'll become a clone of Alyssa or become some other shape is unknown. You may or may not get Telepathy and/or some other psychic ability. Your IQ will go off the charts, both Jonah and Alyssa turned into geniuses and the only explanation is the Change. As Jonah proves, the Change seems to include the cure for aging. And I have no idea if I'll age like a regular Terran anymore. We can definitely all still die from injury, but I have a hunch I'll naturally have a longer life than a Terran. And so long as you all get regularly 'fed' by me, you'll stay young as part of the template seemingly built into the Change. You'll become bisexual and polyamorous, if you aren't already. That's all we're sure about. And then there's the ordinary peaks and valleys of any romance. I can only promise to take the very best care of your heart if you feel willing to risk giving it to me."
Calara got a thoughtful frown. "I mean… I admit I have an enormous crush on you after you saved my life. But this sounds like a major, irreversible commitment. In all honesty, I'm not sure you're worth the risk at this point, no offense."
"None taken," John reassured her. "This isn't a timed offer. You can decide no and change your mind later at any point we're both still alive. You don't have to decide here and now, not in the slightest. And in traditional dating culture, third base generally doesn't happen right away anyway. You can be nothing but my Tactical Officer and make your decision once you know and trust me much better than you do now."
Alyssa pouted. "Aw, damn, I was looking forward to going down on her relatively soon."
"All good things to those who wait, sweetheart," Jonah said consolingly, patting the blonde's shoulder.
"Ignore them, they're shameless but harmless," John said with exasperation but no heat to a Calara with a flaming blush.
"Ok, so, keep the Change and joining your harem in my back pocket. Let's focus back on me joining your crew. What's our itinerary? Where are we headed?" Calara asked, focusing back on the present and not biology-altering oral sex with her apparently alien Commander.
"We're going to the asteroid colony Karron to get some dirt cheap Tyrenium. Also to rescue Alyssa's friend Sparks, who's held prisoner by one of the gangs. Alyssa's all for getting her to join the harem as well, but I'll settle for doing a good deed and maybe getting a decent Chief Engineer if she's half as capable as Alyssa makes her out to be," John told the Latina.
"She's already a genius, we'll have to invent a new word for what she'll be once the Change upgrades her brain," Alyssa said with confidence.
John shrugged. "We'll find out how she feels about it after we rescue her. Now, why don't we all get dressed into something more comfortable? Jonah, I'd like you to take Calara on a tour of the Invictus. Alyssa, I know you wanted to put more time in at the Firing Range, go ahead. I need to report Grant then I'll catch up with Jonah and Calara. Ready, break."
They all got up, all but Calara leaving the room. The young naval officer got out of her old uniform, placing it in the hamper for the cleaning robots to handle. She got into simple jeans and a t-shirt, one of the few casual outfits she had brought with her to Port Heracles to supplement her government-issued wardrobe. There was a knock on the door just as she slipped on some comfy shoes. She got up to open the door and saw Jonah waiting in a white tank top and loose shorts with sandals.
"Up for inspecting your new home?" He asked with a big smile.
"Lead the way," Calara agreed.
They got to the elevator and Jonah pressed the button for the bottom deck. As the doors closed, Jonah tilted his head in thought. "Wonder if I could get John to blow in between the Command Deck and Deck 9."
"I wouldn't know about that," Calara said, blushing scarlet.
"You play the blushing maiden quite well, but my father warned me about Latin women. But we can explore that part of you once you're good and ready," Jonah said confidently.
"You just assume I'm going to say yes to the Change and join this… alien's bisexual harem thing?" Calara asked, raising a brow.
"Yes," Jonah said directly. "And it's nothing to do with my opinion of you and everything to do with my opinion of John. If you don't fall in love with the amazing man he is and end up joining our group, then you are clearly insane and shouldn't join anyway."
"You talk about him like he's the greatest man in the galaxy," Calara said in disbelief at that kind of devotion to a lover.
"As far as I'm concerned, he is. He's good and kind and righteous and pure, and not because he hasn't been through bad times yet. He just weathered the storm and fire and came out stronger for it. He hears a problem or that someone is suffering, and his first thought is to help. I don't deserve him, not even close, but I'll certainly accept the incredible stroke of luck or fate or will of God or whatever you wanna call it that brought us together," Jonah said with an infinitely tender smile.
Calara was outright staring. "But, if he's really psychic and his… stuff rewrites DNA… how can you trust those thoughts, those feelings? How do you know your happiness isn't all in your head, put there by him or at least whatever's in his balls?"
"Good questions," Jonah acknowledged. "And it probably says something that I never asked them myself. But I'm the kind of guy who doesn't ask 'how' or 'why' too often and just lives in the moment. I'm happy with John. Full stop. If that happiness is artificial, if I would return to 'normal' if I got away from him for a while… then I don't care and I will never leave. Make of that what you will."
Calara gulped. "Is… is the sex THAT good?"
Jonah burst into chuckles. "Sweetheart, it really is. But it's so much more than just the sex. I love John and he loves me back just as much, if not more so. If sex were out of the equation, I'd still spent the rest of my life by his side just to hear his laugh or feel his arms around me. I don't know if you've ever been in love, and I mean the REAL kind of love, the kind you die for. But that's what we have together. And he's offering that to you. You'd be shooting yourself in the foot if you end up refusing."
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened to Deck 9.
"Anyway, I'm supposed to be showing you around, not writing sonnets about our Commander. Follow me, Calara," Jonah said, stepping out the elevator.
Calara gulped, amazed at the depth of feeling, whether organic or synthesized, Jonah had for John. It was humbling, frightening… and oh so tempting. Shaking her head to focus, she followed Jonah.
The XO was perfectly professional as he guided the female Fernandez around the Invictus. They popped in to visit Alyssa, who took a 10-min break from shooting practice to chat before returning to her gun training. John found them as they were finishing up with Deck 5.
"Well, a report against Grant is made, now we just have to wait for the wheels to turn and his case to reach the top of the queue," John told Calara with a warm grin. "He'd be facing disciplinary action just for the fake court-martial, and I got a gut feeling he's done a lot worse than that since he got stationed at Heracles. He's going away for a good long time, Calara, you don't need to worry about him anymore."
"Thank you, John! That's such a weight off my mind!" Calara thanked profusely.
"Just doing the right thing," John shrugged dismissively.
"There's no 'just' about it, Johnny boy. But any compliment or ego stroking I attempt will go in one pointy ear and out the other, so never mind," Jonah said with an exasperated air. "Just finished showing Callie here all the systems for the big guns she'll be firing."
"Aw, my family calls me Callie," Calara said fondly. She turned back to John. "I can't wait to fire the Mass Drivers! I'm pretty sure they built the ship around them, they're so big!"
"Well, no time like the present. There's nothing really to see on Decks 4 and 3, and you can explore Deck 2 before and after dinner. Let's find you some dead asteroids for a firing test," John decided.
They took the elevator to the Bridge. John and Jonah both went to their assigned seats, and a few commands at Jonah's console had the Tactical station lighting up like a Christmas tree. "Take your post, Lieutenant," John ordered with a smile.
Calara settled into the chair outfitted with two joysticks and a variety of buttons and switches. "It's just like the simulator back at the Academy!" She marveled.
Alyssa came out the elevator a second later. "Let me find the nearest uninhabited asteroid belt, shouldn't be hard this far into the Outer Rim," she said, going to her Navigator station. Sure enough, within a minute she found a good candidate a short detour from their route and made the alterations.
The Invictus pulled into an uninhabitable system, no rock planets in the goldilocks zone and no large enough moons for the lone gas giant. There were 2 asteroid belts, though, already mined in the first rush of colonization over a century earlier, and now they were just worthless hunks of rock and minerals.
Jonah brought them into the outer belt, centering the Invictus to line up a rather large chunk of stone in Calara's aiming overlay.
"Remind me what the old gal can do, Calara," John ordered.
"In ascending order of lethality, we have the Gatling Laser defense grid, the Laser Cannons, the Beam Lasers, and the Mass Drivers," the Latina faithfully reported. "The Gatling Lasers are for strike craft and small debris, rapid recharge and high accuracy but low damage. Laser Cannons pack a bigger punch and consequently can't fire as often. Both categories have a full range of aim since they're turreted. The Beam Lasers are the most intense, but they take a full 30 seconds to recharge and they're forward-facing with only a 30° field of deviation from a straight line ahead. The Mass Drivers are ballistics, not lasers. They send hyperwarp explosive shells to punch into unshielded targets and then really fuck them up!" Calara listed off, getting more excited as she went.
"Well, show us why we hired you, Lieutenant," John said with faux severity.
Calara cracked her knuckles and grabbed the two joysticks. "Firing Drivers!" She announced, before pulling the triggers on both joysticks. At the command, 4 shells were accelerated along magnetic rails to superluminal speeds and shot out the barrels in the front of the Invictus. The big asteroid they were facing went up in a massive explosion, large fragments just breaking off from the main body from the force of the explosion.
"Switching to Beams!" Calara shouted, getting caught up. She pulled the triggers again, and 6 lines of fiery orange light extended from the Invictus' front to core straight through the asteroid. The damage proved too much for it, and the whole thing broke into smaller asteroids.
"Laser Cannons!" Calara continued, beginning to break each piece of rock down to relative pebbles. "Point defense!" She practically panted as she reduced every single part of the original asteroid to gravel. Finally done, she swiveled in her chair to face John. "Target destroyed, Commander!" She reported brightly.
John blew out a long whistle. "I almost feel bad for our future enemies. You're a crack shot, Calara."
She blushed cutely. "You're too kind. It's much easier to hit a stationary target than a moving target. And we were staying in one spot as well. In ship-to-ship battles where we're both whizzing through space at speed, I'll be lucky to be half as good as that little display."
"Still, I'm quite impressed, Calara. You'll make an excellent Tactical Officer for our crew!" John said with genuine admiration.
Calara felt her heart skip a beat. Seeing John smiling at her… why was she against doing the Change again? It was hard to remember why she wasn't jumping headfirst into a relationship with this handsome, decent, extraordinary man who was offering her so much.
John, of course, somehow didn't notice. "Well, I think our work here is done. Jonah, Alyssa, get us back on course. I'll go get started on dinner, it's late enough and we should celebrate Calara joining with something special! Calara, what's your favorite food?"
"Uh… Spaghetti Carbonara," the dazed Latina finally managed.
"Pasta, got it. Give me an hour and a half!" John announced before jogging to the elevator and the doors closing behind him.
"Yeah, he's like that. As charming as he is clueless," Alyssa chuckled, patting Calara on the shoulder.
"Alyssa… why did you agree to go through the Change?" Calara asked, turning to the beautiful blonde.
"'Cause I had fuck all to lose and everything to gain," Alyssa said plainly. "I was the worm girl stowaway caught by two big, fit men. I was bracing myself for being spaced alive, possibly after being raped bloody. Instead, Jonah asks me to be the meat in his and John's sandwich and John's all hesitant and considerate to get my consent to have my DNA rewritten and bear his children someday. I had nothing but the clothes on my back, hadn't eaten in 2 days, and it honestly just seemed like a good idea. Turns out it was the best idea in the history of time."
Calara gulped. "You've changed, if you really were that girl Jonah showed. How do you know your insides haven't changed as much as your outsides?"
"Oh, I know full well I'm a completely different person now. I'm happier, smarter, have the love of two good men, confident enough to take on the universe, and I know I'll only continue to grow and mature so long as John works his magic on my personality. Both the alien cum part and the ordinary care and support part," Alyssa said with a sunny grin. "You're assuming that personality changes and having your mind overwritten is a bad thing, Calara. And in almost any other scenario, I'd agree with you. But for whatever worth my words hold for you, what John has done for me, to me, is a priceless gift I would never think to return. But I'll spend my life happily trying to repay him, even though he'd say I owed him nothing."
Calara gulped. "It all sounds so wonderful… but I keep feeling like you and Jonah are indoctrinated or something and trying to get me to join a cult, John's sex cult."
"It's not a cult, though John is certainly worthy of worship," Alyssa chuckled. "John's just an amazing man, regardless of his species. Though glory to whatever Higher Power actually is out there, he isn't Terran and his man juice gave me all this." Alyssa gestured at her bewildering beauty and statuesque body. "Take it or leave it, Calara, it's up to you. Whether or not we end up sister-wives, you're my friend. The reason I'm pushing so hard is because I want you to have the best, and that means John in my mind."
Jonah cleared his throat, inserting himself into the conversation. "I think that's enough proselytizing for the Cult of Blake for one day," he said with wry humor. "Who wants a drink?"
The three of them took the elevator down to the Lounge on Deck 2. Jonah poured himself a classic whiskey rocks. Calara, who had just started drinking that year and was still figuring out what she liked, went with her staple of a lime vodka spritzer. Alyssa, who'd simply been too poor to afford any liquor besides homemade rotgut, got a spritzer herself. They settled down on one of the couches.
"So… Jonah, how old are you really?" Calara asked. Part of her was agog that part of the Change was a restoration to the prime of youth, the man Jonah used to be appeared to have been older than her grandparents.
"Wasn't born in the 28th Century, let's leave it at that," Jonah chuckled. "And even in my hayday, I wasn't this sexy," he added, flexing a bicep to make it bulge like a coconut was under his skin.
"That must be incredible, to have all the wisdom of an elder and the body of someone in their prime," Calara said.
"Wasn't all that wise, to be honest," Jonah shrugged. "This isn't low self-esteem, I really was just an old unemployed spacer bad with money, most of it spent on whoring. I was waiting for the day to come that I finally got in the wrong bar fight or caught something I couldn't afford the meds for or just didn't wake up. Instead, I got John. But we've talked your ears off about him enough today."
Calara took a forifying sip of vodka. "Um… I didn't get a good look that time you caught me snooping, I was too embarrassed. What exactly would I be signing up to take, apart from enough semen to round me out like I saw on Alyssa?"
Alyssa, rather than getting a saucy expression, looked serious. "He's bigger than any Terran, by a significant margin. Honestly, I should have muscle tears from how often and how hard I ask for it. Something about the Change makes you more elastic down there, I'm positive. Otherwise I'd have suffocated from blowing him or had my intestines perforated and my anal ring torn when he took my ass. And my cervix opens up to take him into my womb when we do vaginal. The sex is awesome, Callie, but it ain't normal."
"And he has 4 balls the size of softballs to produce all that jism," Jonah tacked on.
Calara was turning a similar color as a beetroot. "Ah… good to know."
Alyssa decided to change the subject off John's anatomy. "So, why'd you go to the Academy? What made a younger you want to serve the Terran Federation on the front lines?"
"Oh, everyone in my family has been in the Navy! It's a Fernandez family tradition!" Calara said, eagerly starting to explain her family and their military careers.
She was still going strong an hour later when John brought out a big bowl of pasta. "Honey, can you set the table, please? Handsome, go get the garlic bread and some wine, if it's not too much trouble. Calara, I hope you enjoy, I haven't made Carbonara in a minute."
Alyssa and Jonah leapt to obey, even though they'd been polite requests and not orders. Calara didn't fail to notice that, but she was starting to wrap her head around the idea that the two crewmates of the Commander really were just that devoted to him. And it was clearly reciprocal, John just didn't seem capable of abusing the power his lovers so willingly gave him. He was simply not that kind of man.
They all got sat at the table, Calara taking the seat directly next to Jonah, with John at the head of the table and Alyssa to his left. John grabbed his wine glass and held it up. "A toast. To our brilliant new Tactical Officer!"
"To Callie!" Alyssa chimed with a stunning smile.
Calara blushed but clinked her glass with everyone else's and took a sip of wine. She went to take a bite of the pasta and audibly moaned. "Ay, Dios mio! That's delicious!"
"Was raised in a restaurant, I got high standards and a lot of practice," John chuckled. "I hope you enjoy it, Calara."
Calara eagerly fell on the single most tasty Carbonara she'd had in her life. The next few minutes were all the sounds of forks and knives clinking as the crew of the Invictus ate.
Calara noticed odd facial expressions and changes among the other 3, and the shoe dropped that they'd mentioned Telepathy earlier. "You're all sharing thoughts right now, aren't you?" she asked astutely.
"Oh, sorry, we didn't even notice it wasn't out loud. It wasn't meant to exclude you, Calara," John rushed to reassure.
"Well, it's a hell of a lot faster. It happens at the speed of thought, not taking time to say the words and the other person processes the noise as meaningful. It's the highest form of communication, I think," Alyssa tacked on.
"What have you been thinking about?" Calara asked as she sipped her wine.
"Just reviewing the day. We keep coming back to Barya the Bolon thinking we have more powers and spitballing what they could be," Jonah revealed.
Calara frowned. "Well, healing or at least some kind of body modification, obviously. Just look at what happened to you and Alyssa."
John blinked. "Huh, for some reason that didn't occur. But how do I practice to see if I can cure regular injury, not just give someone a new body?"
Alyssa shrugged and, casual as asking for a napkin, laid her hand flat on the table and stabbed her fork into the back of it.
"ALYSSA! What the fuck?!" John gaped, aghast.
"Oh, please, pain is relative, this is nothing," Alyssa rolled her eyes, withdrawing the fork. 3 readily bleeding punctures were leaking red from her hand.
"Never, EVER hurt yourself ever again!" John roared, more mad at Alyssa than he'd ever been.
Alyssa seemed to shrink. "Yes, sir," she said timidly.
John reigned in his anger. "Honey, I'm sorry for shouting, just never pull a stunt like that again."
"Well, that was a bit over the top, but she's definitely got an injury now," Jonah pointed out, though he had a hand to his heart like he was recovering from the unexpected act himself.
John narrowed his eyes and focused with laser-like intensity on Alyssa's hand. After a solid 20 seconds, he growled in frustration. "I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I have no idea how to do this consciously, if I even can! Alyssa, let's go down to the Med Bay to patch you up."
"Hold up, let's finish out the experiment. Every example of you 'healing' us needed your cum to be in our bellies. Let's try again when I'm topped up!" Alyssa argued logically.
Before John could really protest, Alyssa slipped under the table. There was the sound of a zipper sliding and then John's expression got a little distracted.
Calara's face could have cooked an egg. "Wow, she really is shameless, like you said," she commented to John.
"Her mouth's full, but she says 'You'd be walking in on this and worse all the time even if you don't join the harem, get used to it,'" Jonah supplied while John just sat there and focused on blowing as soon as possible to try and help Alyssa heal.
John reached his peak relatively fast, and a full minute later Alyssa zipped him back up and came out from under the table. Her rounded abdomen seemed to give her no trouble in standing up and then sitting back in her chair. She grabbed her cloth napkin and wiped away the blood from both sides of her hand, but fresh scarlet ran down her tan skin right after. "Ok, now try for real, John. I believe in you," Alyssa said with utmost confidence.
John gulped. "I don't even know how to do this," he protested.
"You're overthinking it. However it works, you can manage it on a subconscious level. Think less, not more. Just want it to happen, then MAKE it happen," Jonah encouraged.
John closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. When he opened them, they were calm and distant, like he was seeing the whole room at once. He turned back to Alyssa and focused on her bleeding wound. "Heal," he ordered, his words simple and unyielding.
Before their eyes, the blood stopped. By the time Alyssa finished wiping the blood away with the napkin again, the 3 holes in her flesh had vanished without so much as a scar.
"Holy shit," Calara breathed, amazed at the apparent miracle.
"Never doubted you, John," Alyssa beamed at her Commander.
"Guess if we ever get shot we should rush to blow you," Jonah chuckled.
John had a very odd expression. "I… did I really just do that?" He asked in disbelief.
"You got another explanation?" Jonah probed gently.
"Wow… so my dad wasn't just inhuman, he was magic. And I inherited at least a little of that," John said, almost seeming in shock at this revelation.
"So, did you feel anything while it was happening?" Calara asked.
John frowned. "I distinctly felt a dip in my energy. I think I used however much energy Alyssa would have spent on healing that the old-fashioned way in just a couple seconds. And there was something else, just for a moment… give me a sec." He closed his eyes in meditation again.
They snapped open almost a minute later. "Oh, wow!" He gasped.
"What?" Jonah asked, wondering what insight or realization John had had.
"I'm… I'm connected to you and Alyssa. My connection with her is shining like a star right now, must be because she has a load in her. But you and I have one too. There's me, in this little box, and then you and Alyssa each have your own box right under me," John breathed in wonder.
"Hmm… well, makes as much sense as any of this does," Jonah shrugged. "You must have been able to funnel healing energy to Alyssa through the connection with her belly full. Your cum ain't just a bunch of little swimmers, there must be some kinda psychic catalyst or enzyme or something mixed in."
Calara frowned. "Is it one-way, though, or can Alyssa and Jonah borrow energy from John if they want?"
"All fine questions, but we've had enough experimenting tonight and dinner's getting cold," John said decisively. "We can explore all this tomorrow or at a later date."
They all settled back down and returned to eating.
After the plates were all but licked clean, except for Alyssa's portion for obvious reasons, they cleaned up and then settled with drinks on the couches, admiring the view through the window.
"While Alyssa's… willingness to help was a bit extreme, I think that was a major success. We know for sure you can heal injury, not just put us through the Change. Or maybe we should think of it as part of the template of the Change is perfect health and you can restore us to default," Jonah said after a sip of whisky.
"Yes, but I was serious, Alyssa. Never self-harm ever again," John said. "It hurts to see you hurt, honey."
"One time thing, I swear," she promised readily.
Calara was turning an idea over in her head. "I just wonder what else this… Connection, capital 'C', does. Just my own subjective observation, but Jonah and Alyssa seem very… obedient to your wishes, John."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Alyssa asked with a frown. "He's the boss, of course I do what he tells me."
"I'm not saying it's nefarious, it's probably unconscious or subconscious on John's part, like the Change. But he tells you to do anything, you two do it immediately and without complaint. That's not normal, just saying," Calara argued, taking a gulp of liquid courage.
John had an uncomfortable expression. "You mean I've been mind controlling Jonah and Alyssa this whole time?"
"Not full mind control, I don't think they're your puppets or anything," Calara rushed to clarify. "But it seems, at least to me, that they just can't say no to you. Test it if you don't believe me."
"I'll get in on this just to reassure you there's nothing going on," Jonah said with a huff. "John, tell me to do something I would never do in a million years, not even if you paid me or traded sex."
John thought about it for a second and then braced himself. "Say something you know will hurt me," he ordered.
"Your mom dumped you like trash because that's what you are," Jonah said instantly, only for his face to twist in horror. "Oh, John, you know I don't mean that! I don't know what happened, it just came out!"
John gulped, his face pale. "Point to you, Calara, you were spot on," he said faintly.
Alyssa threw herself into hugging John. "Fuck the whole obedience compulsion or whatever it is! I LOVE you, John. That's not mind control, that's not psychic mumbo jumbo, I love you from the bottom of my heart!"
"Tell me the truth. Do you really love me or have you been trapped in your heads this whole time?" John asked his two lovers, almost desperate to hear it wasn't all a lie.
"I love you, John," Jonah and Alyssa said within a heartbeat of each other.
John looked so uncertain for a second, then his face settled. "Well, can't have it both ways. If you really are forced to obey because of the Connection, then that's the truth about how you feel. I love you both, and I'm so sorry I didn't know to warn you about this beforehand."
"Wouldn't have changed a thing, Johnny boy," Jonah swore.
"What he said," Alyssa said, snuggling into John like she wanted to crawl inside him.
John focused on Calara. "Well… guess we just found a pretty big con of the Change. Unless I find some way to alter the Connection, then loss of free will is part of the package."
Calara frowned in thought. "It's not like they're unthinking drones and you're the queen, or king rather. They seem perfectly independent and autonomous, they just have to follow your commands when you give them. And what Commander wouldn't want that power over his crew?"
"Me," John said immediately.
"Which says a lot of good things about you. And if any man had to have the power to enforce total obedience, there are much worse candidates than you, John," Calara reassured her new employer.
John blew out a breath. "Ok. I hear you. Still, if this is a deal breaker, I completely understand. Trusting me with your body, mind, and apparently even your soul is a major commitment and leap of faith."
"I'm still making up my mind. But knowing you'd never abuse that power if I ever hand it over makes it much less frightening, just so you know," Calara said with a small grin. "In fact, I just have a couple questions and I think that'll settle it for me," Calara found herself saying. Her mind was still iffy, but her heart and gut were pushing hard.
"Fire away," John prompted.
"What would we tell my family?" Calara asked.
"In regards to the Change, you can pass it off as a growth spurt or tell them straight that your alien boyfriend rewrote your DNA," John answered readily. "And as for the… harem, we can pretend it's just you and me for a while. But I won't keep Jonah and Alyssa and any future member as dirty secrets forever. Eventually, when they're ready, you'll have to let them know. Especially if we're all going to get married someday, which I honestly hope is the path we're on."
"Marriage schmarriage, it's just a holo-file you sign. But if you really care about it, I'll get the tux ready," Jonah said with an affectionate eyeroll.
"I think I'd like to design my own dress," Alyssa mused, thinking of a big white wedding which was clearly important to John. She was more on Jonah's side, but she'd concede for John's sake.
"What else did you want to ask, Calara?" John asked, refocusing on the Latina.
Calara liked her lips. "Can I have a kiss? Just to test our physical chemistry?"
Alyssa and Jonah both moved to let John stand, and John got up. He strode over to Calara and gently lifted her chin with a finger, using his thumb to brush her cheek. "You sure?" He asked, just to be certain.
"Sure as I've ever been about anything," Calara promised.
John grinned, then leaned down to give her a lingering peck on the lips, no tongue. He pulled back after a few seconds. "How was that?" he checked.
Calara licked her lips again, getting John's taste on her tongue. "Fireworks. I thought that was just a lie we tell little girls but… wow."
"Anything else?" John prompted, wanting to attend to her every want or need.
Calara looked up at John and made her choice when she saw that tender look in his eye. "How soon until you 'reload' from feeding Alyssa?"
Alyssa squealed in delight and triumph. Jonah pumped a fist. John frowned, though. "Even knowing all the strings attached?" he asked.
"Yes, John. They're held by the best man I've ever met. No offense, Jonah," Calara tacked on.
"None taken, sweetheart," Jonah chuckled.
John finally got his own smile. "Give me an hour and a few glasses of water, and I'll be ready to welcome you to our family."
"Well, what are you waiting for?" Calara asked with light sarcasm.
John chuckled and went to finish his whisky before refilling the tumbler from the sink.