John slept for a few hours, until a slight movement next to his body woke him up. He quickly shook off his initial drowsiness, and looked down to see that Rachel was stirring from her long sleep. Alyssa had woken up as well, and she climbed out of bed, then glided silently over to the water dispenser that was built into the wall.
"Hey, sleeping beauty, how are you feeling?" John asked the tousled haired brunette who was lying in his arms.
"Thirsty..." Rachel replied groggily as she began to awaken.
Alyssa appeared a moment later with a big glass of chilled water, and the brunette sat up, gratefully accepting the glass, and drinking it down as though parched. After handing back the glass to Alyssa, who took it with a smile, Rachel lay down again to stare up at John.
"We've taken care of thirsty, so how do you feel now?" he asked her playfully.
Rachel smiled up at his caring face, and she put on an exaggerated expression of being thoughtful. "Well, in all honesty, I feel like I've just woken up after a one night stand. A little disorientated to be in an unusual bedroom, self conscious at you seeing me naked when I don't know you all that well, excited to be experiencing something new, and yet deliciously relaxed after such a wonderful orgasm last night," she replied, glancing affectionately at the redhead on her right hand side.
Dana had now woken up too, and she smiled back at the brunette warmly. "I hope you plan on staying for much longer than one night!" the redhead said cheerfully.
Rachel laughed and noticed that Alyssa was sitting up behind Dana, watching them chatting together. She couldn't help her eyes drifting down to admire the pert breasts that sat proudly on the blonde girl's chest.
"I hope you slept well," Alyssa said gently, noting Rachel's appreciative glance, and arching her back slightly to improve her view. "We kept an eye on you while you were resting, and you seemed very peaceful."
"Who's 'we'?" Rachel asked perceptively.
"Mostly Jade and Dana," John explained. "The rest of us needed to make some repairs to our equipment after the battles with the Kintark."
"Hey, nice to see you awake," Jade grinned at her exuberantly.
"Hey to you too," Rachel said, starting to feel more self-conscious at being nude in front of so many people, and feeling a rising urge to hide under the covers.
"It's alright, just relax," John said soothingly. "Everyone just wants to see you settle in okay."
"You have a very comforting voice. You would have made a good doctor," Rachel said, looking impressed as she watched his face. She noticed that Calara was awake now too, and watching them chatting with interest.
"I guess you're all curious to see the new girl," Rachel announced pre-emptively, as she sat up boldly, untangling herself from her covers.
The other girls got out of the covers too, and they fanned out into a semi-circle sitting around John, with Rachel at his side. The tawny haired girl looked to her right at Dana, and then took her time admiring each of the nude girls sitting around the bed. Impressed by her confidence, the girls posed for her with welcoming smiles on their faces as she checked them out.
"You're all so beautiful," Rachel sighed wistfully as she worked her way around to Calara, who grinned at her happily.
"So are you," John told her honestly, and the girls chorused their agreement.
"Actually, you're in far better shape than most of us were when we joined the team," Alyssa said self-deprecatingly. "I'm guessing the transformation to look like we do will probably be much faster for you, than it was for us. Well, Jade being the obvious exception of course."
"I cheated," Jade laughed, shimmering briefly as she changed into a copy of Alyssa, and then again as she reverted to her Nymph shape.
"You've developed in many other wonderful ways since then, though," John told her proudly. "And I'm not just talking about the Tiger!"
The Nymph gazed at him adoringly, and when he smiled at her and winked, her face lit up with a beaming smile.
"Tiger?" Rachel asked curiously.
"It's one of Jade's more exotic talents. She'll show you when we have a little more time," he explained carefully.
"Are we in a rush?" Rachel asked him, sounding puzzled.
"Well not exactly, but we'll be arriving at the Olympus shipyard in..." he glanced over at the ship's chronometer, and saw that it was eleven fifteen in the evening. "... About forty five minutes, and I've got an important meeting to attend. I'll need Alyssa and Calara with me too."
The blonde and the brunette nodded immediately, while Jade and Dana looked at him expectantly.
"Shall we stay with the ship?" Dana asked him curiously.
"Yes. Partly to look after Rachel, but also because I'm worried about everyone's safety at the shipyard," he confirmed.
"We should be totally safe at Olympus, shouldn't we?" Rachel asked him with a bemused expression on her face.
"Calara, now would be a good time to explain your findings," he said to the Latina.
The gorgeous brunette calmly went over the results of her analysis. She explained that she couldn't confirm it for them yet, at least until she had access to more data, but her initial conclusion was that there were one or more traitors high up within Terran Federation's Chain of Command. The girls were deathly silent at this announcement.
"I'm still struggling to believe it," Rachel said quietly, interrupting the silence. "Why would someone want to betray their own species like that?"
"We've seen it before," John replied sombrely, "Terran pirates selling slaves to the Kirrix."
"That's appalling!" Rachel gasped, with a look of revulsion on her pretty face. "Didn't they know what the Kirrix do to people?"
"Oh, they knew alright, but they just didn't care as long as they got paid," John said grimly, shaking his head.
"They started to care when we stepped in and wiped them out," Calara said fiercely.
"Good!" Rachel agreed vehemently. "People that sick don't deserve any mercy."
