Alyssa looked down over her lovers and saw that she had their undivided attention. They listened to her eagerly, intrigued to learn more about the beautiful blonde girl they cared so much about.
"As you know, I grew up on Karron. It's a bleak inhospitable place, a massive asteroid that's been gradually hollowed out as the mines have dug deeper. Slums have built up in the old abandoned tunnels and there's thousands of people living there now."
Calara didn't know much about Alyssa's history at all, so she lay there enraptured by the tale. John nodded encouragingly for the beautiful blonde to continue.
"My mother died shortly after childbirth." she began. "My father was a miner and died in a mining accident when I was six years old." she said, continuing with her tragic tale.
"He was a good man, but we lived on the breadline even when he was working. After he was gone, I had nothing and no-one to turn too, so I was put in an orphanage." she said, her exquisite mouth twisting with distaste.
"In a terrible, dangerous place like Karron, there's no end of orphans and the orphanage was cramped and overcrowded. I stuck it out there for a couple of years, but the vicious bullying made it as bad a place to be as the streets, so I left."
"I tried begging and scavenging for a while, just barely managing to get enough food to stay alive. By the time I hit eleven and had started to physically mature, I learned I had to watch out for other kinds of predators." she continued grimly.
"When times got really bad, I..." she paused, struggling to go on for a moment. Calara got up and knelt at Alyssa's side, offering her a comforting arm around her shoulders. John laid his hand reassuringly on her leg, his heavy grip feeling warm, reassuring and supportive.
Alyssa continued haltingly, "...sometimes I did what I had to do to survive. Some men were nice, some weren't..." she shuddered involuntarily.
Calara and John were shocked. They had no idea their warm and bubbly young companion had experienced such a horrific start in life. John hadn't know his parents, but at least he had grandparents who had loved him dearly and had looked after him in his formative years. Calara's family were career military and she had had a strict but enjoyable upbringing, living with her loving parents and three older brothers.
"Anyway, I'm sure I would have ended up getting killed by some deranged miner, but that's when I met Sparks." For the first time in her tale, Alyssa's lovely face brightened.
"I was 14 years old when I first met her. Sparks was the same age as me and we ran into each other scavenging in a junk pile. Sparks is extraordinarily gifted at fixing and working with machines and she was looking for parts. I offered to help, having no idea what I was looking for and we soon became great friends." Alyssa smiled wistfully at the memories.
"Sparks was an orphan too, but her skills at fixing things made her useful to one of the gangs. She was kind of adopted by the Diablo's and she kept their gear in good shape in exchange for food. She used to share with me and in exchange I'd go collecting parts for her." she said fondly.
"I kept my head down and managed to survive, largely thanks to Sparks. I never had to... get extra money, ever again. Unfortunately one of the gangers took a shine to me... there was an incident and I had to escape. That's when I boarded your freighter John and now here I am."
John opened his arms for Alyssa, wanting to hold her in his arms and reassure her that nothing bad was ever going to happen to her again. The beautiful blonde smiled warmly at him, and moved in to cuddle up at his side, with Calara moving in to embrace her friend from behind. Alyssa could feel the brunette shuddering as she tried to suppress her tears at hearing her lovers terrible tale. Alyssa could sense overwhelming sadness tinged with heartfelt love and compassion coming from the young woman. The blonde reached back to stroke the Latina's leg comfortingly.
"Thank you for telling me your story Alyssa." John said gently. "I'm sorry you had such an appalling start in life."
The lovely blonde kissed him softly. "It wasn't your fault, you have nothing to apologise for. I appreciate your kind thoughts though." she said, smiling up at him lovingly.
"So what prompted you to tell us about it now?" He asked curiously.
"Well we're only a day from Karron now and I know we're going there mainly for more Tyrenium, but I wanted to ask you two if you would mind another passenger?" she asked tentatively.
"Another passenger, what do you mean?" John asked curiously.
"Sparks." Alyssa said succinctly. "I owe that girl my life and I think she'd make a great crewmember here. She's amazing with machines and I think she could be really useful."
"Besides... " she went on, her voice trembling with emotion. "I'd like to save her from Karron. She's too special to waste another day in that shithole."
John looked over Alyssa's shoulder and made eye contact with Calara, who nodded her agreement eagerly, a warm smile on her face.
"Who am I to argue with my XO?" John smiled at Alyssa playfully. "She is in charge of recruitment after all!"
Alyssa laughed gaily, relief washing over her as her musical laughter filled the room.
"Thank you John, it means a lot to me." she thanked him sincerely, her voice full of emotion.
"No problem." he smiled at her fondly. "Besides, look how well your last hire turned out!"
Calara grinned at them and they cuddled up together happily.
"Hey Calara." Alyssa asked. "Do you think we should be worried?"
"Worried, why?" Calara asked, suddenly concerned.