"Hey, handsome." Alyssa kissed John's shoulder as she slipped her arms around his waist, cuddling him from behind.
Faye had dimmed the lights in the bedroom, which made the violet glow from the twins' eyes all the more apparent.
John turned away from the Maliri girls and glanced over his shoulder to smile at her. "Sorry, I was miles away there."
"I don't think you have anything to worry about," she said, looking down at the bonding sisters. "Tashana's so much stronger than she was..."
"Actually, for once it's not her I'm worried about," John replied, his attention on Irillith.
Alyssa felt his concern and clarified, "That's kind of what I mean. Tashana is not going to let anything bad happen to her sister; she really has forgiven her for what happened." The blonde hesitated for a second, then continued, "Or at least realised it was pointless to hold a grudge, not when Irillith's not the same girl she was before."
"I know her intentions are good, but that still must've been a hell of a shock for Irillith," John said, stroking the Maliri girl's arm. Irillith remained completely oblivious, deeply entranced in her violet-eyed connection with her twin. "She must've just got a horrendous snapshot of a decade of abuse..."
His blonde Matriarch uncoiled herself from around him and sat beside Tashana. Mimicking his soothing caress of the twin's arm, she said, "This is something different... They're not bonding in the way I've done with the girls. Remember I said their portraits merged and the two roses blurred?"
"The images in your mind? Yes, I remember," John said, wondering what was happening to the two girls.
"They've merged with your portrait, appearing as girls now, just like the others... But with them it's different, they're like... together now," she said, struggling to describe what she was seeing. "If I look at them, instead of each moving to be held by you like Calara, Sakura, and Jade do, the pair move together. It's like I can't separate them."
"Those portraits seem to be symbolic, so what do you think that means?" John asked, glancing across the supine blue girls at the troubled blonde.
Alyssa gave him a helpless shrug. "Me and Athena are both drawing a blank, but when the twins wake up, maybe they can let us know. She says 'hi', by the way."
John looked at her in surprise, then smiled and waved. "Hello, Athena." He paused to study Alyssa closely for a moment. "How's she doing? I mean... how are you doing?"
Alyssa smirked at him. "It doesn't really work like that. She's present in my mind, but I control all my senses. She's very happy and enjoys helping me."
"What with?" John asked, looking at her in fascination.
"Stuff..." Alyssa replied enigmatically. She looked down at the twins and slid a hand from Tashana's arm to caress her cum-filled stomach, before brushing it over Irillith where their bellies touched. "Are you excited about tomorrow?"
It took John a moment to realise what she was talking about, but the eager anticipation in her eyes as she stroked those swollen blue tummies soon made it clear. "To be honest, I haven't really had a chance to think about being with the Young Matriarchs. I've been too worried about Edraele and getting her healed up again."
Alyssa sat back and studied him for a moment, then held out her hand. "The girls will be here in a minute to keep an eye on the twins, they're all going to bed soon. Why don't we head over to the Officers' Lounge and have a nice quiet chat?"
"Sure," John readily agreed, climbing off the bed and throwing on some clothes.
John followed Alyssa into the corridor, exchanging smiles and greetings with the girls as they passed them on the way to the bedroom. The lithe blonde still had a pair of heels on, and with him barefoot, they were about the same height. It felt strange to be at eye-level with her as they walked side-by-side.
She gestured at the double doors to open them with a telekinetic push, then led him over to the sofas. Kicking off her shoes, Alyssa tucked her legs underneath her as she reclined on the seat. Patting the sofa next to her, she gave him an inviting smile.
"So... what do you want to talk about?" John asked cagily as he sat beside her.
She raised an eyebrow. "How about we start with you and the Young Matriarchs. They're all very excited at the prospect of getting a visit from Mr. Stork in nine months' time..."
John blinked then rubbed at his face. "Crap... I hadn't even thought about that. I was just thinking about being with them for the first time."
Alyssa watched him for a moment then unfolded herself, resting her feet on the coffee table and crossing those long, shapely legs. Patting her lap, she said, "Come and lie down here, you'll be more comfortable."
He did as she asked, resting his head on her warm thighs and relaxing as she started running her fingers through his hair. "That feels good..."
After giving him a few minutes to get settled, she asked gently, "So why all the doubts?"
"They're quite young for Maliri, it might be wiser for them to wait for a few years..." John prevaricated.
Alyssa shook her head, already prepared for that one. "Leena and Tsarra are both in their fifties and the other three are in their thirties... They're more than mature enough to think about having children and they're all very keen to start rebuilding their noble Houses. I'm younger than them, even taking into account how long-lived the Maliri are, and we're planning on getting me pregnant in less than six months..." The last was said with a tone that made it clear that topic was not up for discussion.
John looked up at her and frowned. "Alright, they might be old enough, but do they really know me well enough to make that decision? Having children is a huge, life-changing event, and I don't want them rushing into it because the Maliri genetic attraction is pushing them to do it."
Brushing his hair away from his face, Alyssa said, "You spent weeks getting to know them on Genthalas and letting them get to know you. I've seen how they are with you, and they're genuinely smitten; you saving them from a bloody civil war helped push raw physical attraction into being thoroughly besotted. Besides, most Maliri are conceived with little more than an awkward greeting, a couple of pumps and a squirt... By comparison, you're taking things at a glacial pace!"
He rolled his eyes at her crude imagery and couldn't help chuckling.
Alyssa gave him a knowing smile. "What's really bothering you?"
John looked into her eyes, then turned to tenderly kiss her toned belly. "It should be you first..."
Her gaze softened and she leaned down to kiss him. "It will be... but now isn't the right time for me."
He was surprised at how emphatically she said that. "You're normally pushing me to get you pregnant as soon as possible..."
"I still really want that more than anything, but I finally see why you've wanted to hold off," she said, looking at him wistfully. Turning to glance out the window at the stars, she continued in a quiet voice, "Somewhere out there is another Progenitor, who's completely focused on killing you... and let's be realistic... all of us as well. Considering how intense the fighting's become, me and the girls can't face these kinds of battles while pregnant, it's just not practical. Besides, the chance of me losing our baby is too horrible to even think about!"
John nodded, letting out a sigh. "That's the only thing stopping me now. I used to worry about you girls not being ready and being too young, but that's changed. If you're mature enough to save billions of lives on Terra, I think it's fair to say you're mature enough to decide when you want to have children." He hesitated for a second, then added, "I was worried about the Change and how much that was influencing your enthusiasm to get pregnant, but you've done a great job convincing me your feelings are genuine."
"That's good to hear," she said, looking pleased. "You just have to look at Sakura for proof. She joined much later, after you already knew about the personality tweaks you made at the start. I think it's fair to say she's just as enthusiastic about starting a family with you as the rest of us!"
He couldn't help smiling fondly at the thought of the raven-haired beauty looking up at him with doe-eyes. "Yeah, true enough..."
Alyssa could still feel the doubt and hesitation in his mind and prompted him gently, "Those are all sensible concerns, but I know there's something else. Why don't you tell me the real reason?"
John looked up at her and was quiet for a long moment. "If Rachel's right about this, and I'm sure she is, I'll be able to choose if they have a boy or a girl. I'm going to let the girls make that choice..."
The blonde nodded, expecting as much, but her eyes widened a second later. "What happens if they ask you for a son?"
He turned away for a moment, unable to meet her probing gaze. Alyssa gasped in shock when she heard his thoughts and when he faced her again, she could see the haunted look in his eyes.
"Oh John... I'm so sorry," she murmured, her voice filled with sympathy as a tear rolled down her cheek.
"I'm a Progenitor... It's what we do best," he said softly.
***
Captain Galen Skotari sat behind his desk in his Ready Room and fidgeted in his chair. In his numerous years in the military, he'd always been impressed at how ship captains always seemed to be in the middle of something vitally important. However, since becoming a Captain himself, he was convinced they were all in on some vast conspiracy to make the job seem busier than it actually was.
He'd gone through his XO's status report an hour ago, but he decided to check again in the vain hope that something new and interesting had been added since then. According to his Chief Engineer, their heavy cruiser the Antaeus, had no outstanding mechanical problems. The Medical Bay was empty, without any of the injuries from minor accidents that usually seemed to keep them busy. Finally, there were no disciplinary issues that he needed to look into, aside from the furtive surly looks he got from the crew when they thought he wasn't watching. He could hardly blame them for that though, not when he was responsible for provoking Commodore Maddox into lumbering them with a second week-long patrol.
All seemed to be going well and without anything left to do, he was growing increasingly bored. He considered getting another cup of coffee, but he'd had three already this evening which probably wasn't helping. Maybe it was time to switch to tea...
Rolling his eyes at the weighty decisions he was left pondering, he rose from his chair, exited his Ready Room and walked onto the Bridge. It was getting quite late, so there'd be a change of shift in the next twenty minutes. He nodded a greeting to Commander Alice Hoplander, who responded with a respectful inclination of her head, then walked up the steps to take his seat in the Command Chair.
"Good evening, Commander. Are the lizards behaving themselves?" he asked, glancing at the holographic Sector Map in the centre of the Bridge, which depicted the border between the Kintark Empire and Terran Federation with a glowing red line.
