Chapter 70 - I am not a teacher, but an awakener.

John stirred from a dreamless but very restful sleep, then stretched carefully so that he wouldn’t disturb the blonde and brunette snuggled up against him. Alyssa and Calara murmured in their sleep, then wriggled in closer, feeling soft, warm, and quite delicious where they’d draped themselves over his body. He wrapped his arms around them, enjoying the feel of their supple skin and lean muscles as he stroked their backs.

The girl’s sleeping arrangement system had been thrown into chaos, by virtue of the fact that he’d ploughed them all vigorously yesterday, in a marathon orgy that Bacchus himself would have been proud of. He’d wanted to thoroughly distract Alyssa after seeing her get upset earlier, and she’d thrown herself into events with gusto, convincingly winning the sixty-nine competition with Irillith. In the end, they’d just sprawled into bed and fallen into a blissful slumber, everyone feeling deeply satiated after untold hours of debauchery.

He couldn’t see the ship’s chronometer very well, surrounded as he was by nubile girls, so he just lay back and whispered, “Faye? Are you there? What’s the time, honey?”

A few second later, a cherubic purple face appeared above him, her long hair cascading down towards his chest. He couldn’t help but notice she was quite naked, and she grinned when she noticed his wandering gaze.

“It’s just after nine!” she announced in a cheerful, but thankfully quiet voice. “You all fell asleep by twelve-thirty last night.”

“Oh, I thought it was later than that,” John remarked, a sly smile on his face as he remembered the previous evening’s events.

“You spent over eight hours ... playing ... together yesterday evening. I suppose that’s why you lost track of time!” she supplied helpfully, with a slightly wistful note to her voice.

He had plenty to do today and seriously considered getting up for a moment, but the thought of disturbing his lovely bed-mates changed his mind. Instead he smiled at them affectionately as he said while trying to keep quiet, “I’ll let the girls have a lie-in, they earned it.”

The digital construct’s purple eyes were watching him intently, but it was hard to read the synthetic emotion behind that gaze, luminous as it was.

Giving Faye his full attention again, he asked, “I assume there weren’t any problems during the night, Watch Commander?”

She shook her head vigorously, and replied, “The Dragon March seems quiet at the moment, I didn’t see any sign of Kintark incursions.”

Nodding thoughtfully, he whispered again, “I’d have been surprised if there were. The Kintark must have stripped the bulk of their border forces to mount the ambush in the Regulus system. We’ve still got another two days travel until we hit the Maliri border, right?”

“Two days, one hour, and twenty seven minutes!” Faye reported, as she checked their progress against the flight path plotted in the Nav computer.

“I could’ve told you that,” Alyssa said, as she leaned in and gave him a tender kiss on the cheek.

John turned to smile at her, and said cheerfully, “Hey beautiful! You look especially radiant this morning.”

She laughed as she replied, “You sound as chipper as Faye. Her upbeat personality must be rubbing off on you.”

Faye looked delighted to hear this, and moved back on the bed with a thousand megawatt smile plastered all over her face. Her wings quivered on her back, her translucent wings casting scintillating arrays of colour around the room.

Alyssa sat up and stretched, giving John a magnificent view of her gravity defying figure. She relaxed then, and smiled at him lovingly as she replied, “I suppose I’ve got the glow of a girl who got properly fucked last night. I can’t even count how many times you and the girls got me off.”

“I was going to let you lie in, sorry I woke you,” he said with an apologetic smile.

She shrugged, and replied, “I tend to wake up shortly after you do anyway. It must be all those busy thoughts buzzing around in your head that does it.”

“I’ll try and be more empty headed next time,” he said playfully.

Her laughter woke up more of the girls, and they sat up to stretch, knowing they’d have his undivided attention while they did so. Following their blonde Matriarch’s gentle telepathic guidance, they all spread out into a semicircle around the bed, as John sat up and rested against the headboard. The lights gently brightened under Faye’s careful manipulation, illuminating the stunning young women arrayed before him. He looked around at each of the eight gorgeous girls that were all watching him attentively, and saw similar looks of adoration on all of their beautiful faces. He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself at his marvellous good fortune.

“What is it?” Jade asked him curiously.

John smiled at her, and replied, “Just appreciating what an insanely lucky bastard I am.”

They all laughed at that, and to see them looking relaxed and happy made him feel like the King of the World. Invictus World at least.

“What’s the plan today?” Alyssa asked him, her blue eyes sparkling in the light. “Surely you don’t plan on keeping us all in bed again?”

“It’s very tempting,” he admitted, “but we’ve got a good ten day stretch until we reach Underworld, so we should make good use of it. I know there’re things we’ve all been putting off because we’ve been so busy, and I’m curious to hear what you’ve each got planned.”

“Shall I go first?” Alyssa asked him.

“Sure, what are you up to?” he asked her curiously.

The blonde glanced at Dana, and replied, “I thought I’d spend the time studying galactic finances, so that I can start building up the Orphan Fund.”

“That’s going to be amazing,” the redhead said with a happy sigh. “Have you got anything in mind yet for what to do with all that money?”

“A few ideas. I won’t commit to anything until I’ve educated myself on economics as much as I can,” Alyssa explained. She turned back to John then, as she added, “I’ll also start plans for remodelling the Officers’ Lounge. Eating meals in the Galley just isn’t the same.”

John nodded, but he was watching Sakura, and saw a guilty look flash across her face when Alyssa mentioned the repercussions from Shinatobe’s bomb. “Over here, please Sakura!” he demanded imperiously.

She looked up at him in surprise, then reddened as she realised what she’d done. She crawled across the bed towards him, and when he patted his thighs, she blushed furiously then leant across them obediently.

The girls were watching John and Sakura in fascination, with only Alyssa fully understanding what was happening. John caressed the perfectly round globes of Sakura’s ass, massaging the supple golden-brown skin with one hand, while the other stroked her back. He suddenly drew his hand back, and spanked her cheek with a playful slap, causing his audience to jump in surprise.

“Let me know if I’m too rough,” John told her, as he brought his hand down on the other cheek with a slightly harder smack. Sakura gasped at the contact, but she bit her lip with excitement.

“What did she do?” Jade asked him in a hushed voice, staring at them with wide eyes.

John brought his hand down on the tanned rump, making her firm buttocks shake with the impact. “Tell them please, Sakura,” John replied, as he wound up another firm chastisement for her cheeks.

“I was naughty!” Sakura gasped as his hand spanked her yet again.

“They knew that. What did you do that was naughty?” he asked, as he stroked the reddening skin, before leaving another glowing handprint on her other buttock.

Sakura let out a low moan and her thighs squirmed together, before she blurted out, “John told me to stop feeling guilty for everything Shinatobe did!” After another resounding smack, she squeaked, “I felt bad about the bomb in the Lounge!”

The girls blinked in surprise, then fell about laughing.

When the giggling had receded, John helped Sakura up, and said gently, “It wasn’t your fault. I don’t want to see you blaming yourself for things you had no control over, alright?”

She leaned in and kissed him fiercely, wrapping her arms around him as she did so. John lifted her across his lap, then sank her down on his throbbing cock, drawing a disbelieving groan from the beautiful Asian girl as she stretched to take him.

“I won’t do it any more, I promise,” she murmured as she clung to him.

He stroked her back, and said, “Good girl. Now you get yourself off, and then I’ll give you a big breakfast to heal up your bottom.”

Sakura let out an excited moan as she began to glide up and down his throbbing length.

John looked at Dana, and asked nonchalantly, “How about you, Sparks? What are you up to next?”

Dana grinned at him with excitement as she watched Sakura riding him at a slow sensual pace. She suddenly realised he’d asked her a question, and she smirked at Irillith as she replied, “I’ll be taking a look at the weapon schematics Irillith ‘requisitioned’ to see how I can improve them. I’ve also got something fun I’d like to work on if I get the chance.”

“Sounds good,” John agreed, cradling Sakura in his arms. “I actually had two other things I wanted to raise with you. Firstly we could use another Bridge station for our Security Chief here.”

Sakura groaned with pleasure, too distracted to contribute to the discussion at the moment.

“Yeah, I can sort something out for her,” Dana said with amusement. “What else?”

John frowned as he replied, “Those Kintark Royal Guard were really fast. I actually missed with my first burst until I got a better lead on one of them. I was wondering if you’d be able to build in some kind of motion tracking for the targeting reticle in our armour’s helmet HUD?”

She nodded while looking thoughtful, and replied, “That’s a great idea! Yeah, I’ll see what I can come up with.”

“Fantastic, thanks!” he said with an appreciative smile. Next he looked at the brunette to her side, and asked, “What about you, Rachel? Are you up to anything interesting?”

“A couple of things, actually,” she replied, her eyes transfixed on Sakura as the Asian girl increased her pace, getting more excited as she ground against him. “I’ll start with looking into some of the nastier plagues and contagions that have afflicted the Terran Federation. That will give me a chance to transmit any cures I develop to the Medical Authorities before we get out of comms range. After that, I’ll do some analysis on Kindralax’s blood. I’d be fascinated to see what I can find out about Kintark genetic modification.”

John smiled at her, and replied, “I’ll look forward to the presentation.” Turning to look at the purple girl who was next around the circle, he asked, “Go ahead, Faye. What have you got planned?”

The purple sprite sat up straight when he spoke to her, then replied enthusiastically, “I’ve been looking at both our digital and physical security! I’ve got ideas for both I’d like to review with Irillith and Sakura.” She paused a moment, as the raven-haired girl writhing on John’s lap arched her back, and climaxed with a cry of ecstasy. Faye grinned, and said, “I’ll speak to them when they can spare a moment!”

“Perfect. We need the ship locked up tight,” John agreed, stroking Sakura’s back as she leaned against him, panting for breath.

“We can talk after breakfast,” Irillith agreed, turning to look at Faye, and giving her an encouraging smile.

“Anything else you had in mind, Irillith?” John asked the Maliri girl, while he was speaking to her.

With a wink at the AI, she replied, “It seems great minds think alike. I’ve come up with some ideas of my own to improve our digital network’s security. We’ll have a good chat about it, then get started.”

“I’m sure between the two of you, you’ll come up with something amazing,” he enthused, smiling at both the blue and purple girls. He looked at Jade next, and said, “One second, honey.”

John helped Sakura off his rigid cock, and he spread his legs to make room for her. She gave him a coy smile as she knelt in front of him, then leaned forward and engulfed his length, swallowing as she did so to let the muscles in her throat pull him in deeper.

The Nymph was watching proceedings with great interest as she scrutinised Sakura’s technique, and once the Asian girl had established a smooth rhythm, Jade said, “I’ll help Dana wherever I can. From what we’ve discussed today, I’ll probably start work on the Security Chief’s station first.” Jade glanced at Alyssa, and changing her mind, she said, “Actually, we still need to replace the damaged Paragon armour suit that the dragon melted.”

“Well remembered. We could do with a few new suits now that Sakura’s joined the team,” John said, thinking out loud, while running his hands through the Asian girl’s silky black hair. “We’ll need another female equipping frame up in the Briefing Room, and perhaps a few more in the Engineering lab.”

“I’ll start shaping up the armour plating,” Alyssa offered with a smile.

Turning to look at the Latina by his side, John asked, “What are you up to next, gorgeous?”

“I was wondering if you could ask Edraele to provide us any information she can on Hades and Underworld?” Calara replied, her mind whirring. “Some preparation work before we arrive could come in very useful.”

Edraele heard his thoughts, and said, I’ll gather all the information I have available, and transmit it to you once you reach Maliri Space.

“She’ll get you what you need,” John replied to Calara, confident in the extremely capable Maliri matriarch. He smiled as Edraele acknowledged his vote of confidence with a tender telepathic kiss, then asked the Latina, “Anything else you’re looking into?”

Calara reached out to stroke his shoulder, and said, “I’m going to start looking into what happened to your mother.”

He blinked at her in surprise for a moment, then gave her a grateful, if rather guilty smile, as he said, “I’d forgotten I asked you to look into that.”

“I hadn’t,” she told him earnestly. Leaning in to give him a tender kiss, she added, “I’m sorry I haven’t been able to devote much time to it yet, but I’ll give it my undivided attention now.”

“Nexus, Mikaboshi, the traitors, it’s been mayhem,” John agreed, frowning as he recalled recent events. He smiled at her then, as he added, “Thank you for remembering though, I appreciate it.”

Alyssa leaned in close as well, and said, “I promised I’d help you find the answers you needed. I know the girls all feel the same way.”

There were quiet murmurs of agreement, as they all moved closer, stroking his arms or legs in a gesture of solidarity. Soon the sympathetic caresses turned into kisses, and he pulled Calara and Alyssa in closer as they took turns kissing him.

“You’ve done so much for me, it’ll be wonderful to be able to help you in return,” Calara said between kisses.

He smiled as he gazed into her eyes, and said in a mastery of understatement, “You girls tend to help me out quite a bit.”

“Speaking of which,” Alyssa purred as she nibbled on one of his earlobes. “Are you going to let Sakura help empty your quad?”

John nodded as he looked down at Sakura, making eye contact with her as he said, “I’m getting close. Are you ready?”

She nodded as best she could, then sped up her efforts, while sucking powerfully to coax his balls into give her their copious load. His quad didn’t need much encouragement, and he groaned as he held her in place, his cock jerking in her throat. It took some time for him to pump four pints of cum into her stomach, and Calara and Alyssa kissed him passionately as he climaxed.

When he was finally spent, and his quad emptied once again, Sakura sat up with a look of satisfaction on her face. She cradled her hugely swollen belly with both hands, then sighed with delight as the other girls drew closer, and started caressing her too.

John was seeing stars for a moment, but when his racing heart finally settled down to a normal beat, he exclaimed, “That was amazing, thank you!”

She giggled and said, “Oh, it was definitely my pleasure.” She tilted her head to one side as she continued, “You didn’t say what you were planning on doing. Although, admittedly I was a bit distracted for a while there.”

He stared into her almond shaped eyes, and said, “I want you combat-ready by the end of our journey, so I’ll be primarily focused on your training.” He glanced at Dana then, and added, “We’re going to be duelling, so we’ll need some kind of protective gear. Can you make some training suits?”

“That’ll be easy,” the redhead agreed. “I’ll just use a paragon suit as a template, then Jade and I can build them. We should get them done in a day or so.”

“You can use the Invictium alloy to plate them,” Alyssa suggested to him. “We’re not using it for our main gear any longer, and it’ll be more than tough enough for what you need. You can make any weapons you want yourself.”

“Sounds like a plan,” John agreed with a smile. “Alright, shower and breakfast, then we can get started.”

Despite how luxuriously spacious the shower in the ensuite bathroom was, John guessed that Charles hadn’t designed it to accommodate eight occupants at once. However, the fact that it was a little cramped certainly wasn’t a problem, it just meant there was plenty of accidental and not-so-accidental soapy contact. They dried off quickly afterwards, then everyone split up to get dressed for the day.

Alyssa lent Sakura a red jumpsuit made from a stretchable material, which comfortably expanded to fit over her rounded tummy. It certainly wasn’t anywhere near as alluring an outfit as one of John’s formal shirts, but it was definitely more practical, especially with combat training in mind. As soon as they were dressed, everybody reconvened in the Galley where they had a quick breakfast, with no one particularly keen to linger in the drab, but functional dining area. With hugs and kisses goodbye, everyone went on their separate ways, each of them eager to begin whatever tasks they’d discussed earlier that morning.

John led Sakura to the grav-tube, where they floated down to Deck Seven. As they were walking along the corridor to the firing range, he asked, “How comfortable are you with firearms, Sakura?”

“Prior to Shinatobe, I’d never fired one before,” she replied a little apprehensively.

“And afterwards?” he asked, pushing the button to open the door into the range, and waving her through.

The lights flickered on as she walked inside the room, and Sakura paused as she closed her eyes, then started to trawl through her memories detailing hundreds of grisly murders. She grimaced as she started searching through the scenes of carnage, checking to see if the assassin had used any guns.

John saw her troubled expression, then placed a hand on her shoulder, and said in a quiet voice, “Forget I asked. We’ll assume you’re a novice, and if you pick things up quickly, we can move on to the advanced training.”

Sakura nodded, and said soberly, “From what I’ve seen so far, Shinatobe didn’t really use guns. The tranquiliser pistol she used against you was the rare exception, and that was only for extractions. Typically it was brutal murders using her swords, but sometimes she used poison, and occasionally explosives.”

“Alyssa, Rachel and Calara had no real firearms experience, so they all started as complete beginners. You’ve seen how bright they are though, and they all learned very quickly,” he explained, smiling as he remembered how Alyssa had soon surpassed his own marksmanship skills.

“What about the other girls?” she asked, looking at him with interest.

He thought about it for a moment, remembering the early days with each of them, and replied, “Dana was a gunsmith back on Karron, so she was very comfortable with shooting pistols, and picked up assault rifles without any difficulty. Irillith had plenty of experience already, having already been trained by the Maliri. Jade ... well she’s a special case.”

Her curiosity piqued, Sakura asked, “Special in what way?”

John walked over to the weapon racks, and replied, “She can’t use guns.”

Sakura frowned, and replied, “She certainly doesn’t seem like a pacifist to me, and that tiger form she has is absolutely terrifying! Shinatobe was very lucky Jade didn’t tear her in half.”

He retrieved a pistol from the weapon rack and checked to make sure it was unloaded, before picking up a bundle of ten-millimetre magazines, and walking over towards the range. As he did so, he agreed, “You’re right, she’s quite lethal with her shapeshifting forms, and has no problem fighting in the gunship.” He looked thoughtful as he added, “Nymphs are artificial lifeforms created by the Progenitors, and they built some kind of mental conditioning into Jade. If she even thinks about using a weapon, it seems to cause her physical pain.”

“How strange,” Sakura murmured. “I wonder why the Progenitors added that limitation? Maybe they were worried about a slave revolt?”

“But why let her fight in shapeshifted forms, or in spaceships? The Maliri were slaves too, but they don’t have those kind of limitations,” he replied with a puzzled frown. Shrugging helplessly, he placed the magazines on the shooting bench, and continued, “Anyway, whatever the reason, she’s not keen on wearing armour either, so I try and keep her out of harm’s way.”

Sakura nodded, and couldn’t help but think back to Shinatobe’s fight with the Jade tiger. She replied quietly, “That’s very wise.”

John studied her with a hint of a smile forming on his lips, and he asked, “Surely you’re not after another spanking already?”

She laughed at that, and her eyes sparkled as she said, “Not right now.”

John let her little indiscretion pass, and beckoning her over to join him, he said with a reassuring smile, “We’ll have you trained up with assault rifles in no time, but we’ll start with pistols first to let you get familiar with firing on a range. Mastering squad tactics might take a little longer, as you’ll need to build up some experience.”

“That sounds like a sensible approach to me,” she replied agreeably, as she walked over to join him. Glancing down at her swollen belly, she raised an eyebrow and added, “This might prove a bit of a problem though, especially when we start training with swords.”

John smiled, and reached out a hand to stroke her rounded stomach. “We’ll just have to work around that, but I’ll need to keep you topped up so you can finish going through the Change. I was thinking that when you’re full like this, it’s probably a good idea for you to spend a couple of hours practicing in the firing range. The vast majority of our combat shooting tends to be while we’re standing or kneeling, so I’d like you to focus on those firing positions. Once your tummy goes down, we’ll get geared up and do some sparring. How does that sound?”

“Three sessions a day?” she asked eagerly.

He chuckled, and replied, “If you think you can handle six hours shooting, and six hours sparring a day, I’ll be happy to train you.”

Sakura looked him in the eye, and he could see her unshakeable resolve as she gave him a firm nod.

“Good girl,” he said approvingly. “Let’s get started with the rules for safe gun handling first.”

They spent the next hour going through the safe use of firearms, followed by the rules for range safety, and finally stripping and assembling the pistol. Sakura listened to him carefully, a serious, intense expression on her face as she hung on his every word. When he was confident that she understood and had memorised his instructions, and could assemble the weapon effortlessly, they stood at one of the lanes. He hit a button on the wall-mounted console, and with a whir of servos, a target dummy sprang up downrange.

“Alright, just gently squeeze the trigger,” he told her as she aimed the pistol at the target.

The pistol felt comfortable in her hands, a certain familiar weight to it that she knew she’d experienced before. As she looked down the sights, her mind suddenly drifted, and she found herself reliving one of Shinatobe’s old memories again.

Shinatobe watched from the terrace overlooking the patio, as the beautiful young trophy wife wrapped her arms around her lover’s neck and kissed him passionately. The couple were taking advantage of the balmy evening on Merianas IV, and were about to take a naked dip in the lothario’s hot-tub. The assassin’s target was slightly tipsy, and she accidentally spilled some of her chilled champagne down her lover’s back, causing him to gasp in shock and pull away from her. He shivered with the cold while the woman giggled mischievously, and when he laughed and made to chase after her, she squealed and darted away.

Using the smartlinked targeting scope built into her bionic eye, Shinatobe took careful aim at the young woman. Taking into account wind velocity, the range to her target, the drop from the balcony, and the foot-speed of the giggling girl, the assassin squeezed the trigger. There was a barely discernible hiss as the tranquiliser pistol fired, and the dart soared out and hit the blonde in the neck. She stumbled woozily, then dropped to the floor, her champagne flute rolling out of her limp fingers.

“Jocelyn! What’s wrong?!” the man cried out as he knelt down by the unconscious woman’s side.

Vaulting over the terrace balcony, Shinatobe dropped lightly to the floor, barely making a sound as she landed. Deactivating her Nanoweave suit, she flickered into view as the light-bending field dissipated, then prowled towards her crouching victim. Drawing her sword with a long protracted motion, she deliberately made the blade create a long chilling note as she pulled it from its scabbard.

The man looked up, and his eyes widened in fear when he saw her approaching. It only took one glance at her sinister black sword, for him to realise that the terrifying ninja had a much darker fate in store for him. He stumbled away from the girl with a startled cry, falling backwards onto the patio in his desperation to escape. Scrambling to his feet, he turned and fled, abandoning his lover to the black-clad assassin stalking after him.

Shinatobe stepped over the prone girl, ignoring her for the moment as she glided after the terrified man. She could have ended it there and then, but the Tetra-cola executive had been quite specific in his instructions for this contract. The cuckolded husband was determined to exact a terrible vengeance on his wife’s lover, and he’d made two requests: the finale was to be protracted, and it was to be excruciatingly painful.

She swept through the patio doors into the house, activating the thermal imaging in her bionic eyes. Moving purposefully, Shinatobe followed the panicked footprints that she could see highlighted in orange, against the cold, tiled floor.

“Not bad for your first shot,” someone said, the comforting baritone drawing Sakura from her reverie.

“Try and aim for centre mass,” John suggested helpfully. He patted the middle of his chest, and smiled at her as he added, “Right here.”

Blinking a couple of times as she adjusted to the disorientating change in surroundings, Sakura gazed down the firing range at the target dummy. She could clearly see where the ten-millimetre round had hit the polycarbonate figure, evidenced by the blackened gunshot wound where her shot had struck, just a few millimetres away from the carotid artery in the neck. At least, that’s where the vein would have been, if the dummy had a blood supply to carry a paralyzing poison around its body.

She blinked at John owlishly, then nodded as she replied, “Okay, I’ll aim for the chest next time.”

Narrowing his eyes perceptively, John asked, “You just had another memory flashback, didn’t you?”

Sakura nodded, but was hesitant as she replied, “The first one in the kitchen was about fighting with swords ... This one was about firing a tranquiliser pistol.”

He looked at her with concern, and asked, “Do you want to stop and take a break?”

“No, I’m fine, honestly!” she protested in a hurry, giving him a bright smile in an attempt to convince him she was unshaken after reliving the disturbing memory.

With a flash of insight, he glanced down the range again, noting the blackened mark on the target dummy’s neck. Looking into Sakura’s unsettled brown eyes, he said, “That neck shot was the best place to land a tranquiliser dart, wasn’t it?”

She nodded, and replied quietly, “Yes, I believe so.”

He squeezed her shoulder with his hand, and said warily, “I’d like you to talk to Rachel, and ask her to give you a check-up. If there’s something serious behind these flashbacks, then I want to know what it is so I can fix it.”

Her eyes twinkled now as she asked him, “Still fixing your wounded little bird?”

John stroked her back, and replied, “Just trying to make sure you’re safe and well. You’re part of our family now, so you’ll have to get used to me being over-protective.”

“It’s alright, I like it,” she said, blushing slightly.

Sakura turned back towards the firing range, and did her best to steady her racing heart as she aimed the pistol at the target again. Gently squeezing the trigger, the pistol kicked in her hand, and the bullet hit the dummy just above the sternum.