THREE SQUARE MEALS CH. 7.2

"Good idea" John laughed and led her to a bathroom in the corner of the room. There was a decent sized shower in there and they had fun making sure Alyssa was nice and clean. They dried themselves off and then cleaned up the mess by his desk. Finally both they and the room were spotless.

Alyssa walked over to the window and stood completely nude, watching the view. John walked up behind and wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug. He rested his chin on her head and she felt loved and protected as they enjoyed the intimacy of their embrace.

"Feel like you've marked your territory now?" Alyssa asked him playfully.

John let out a belly laugh. "You're incredible, do you know that?" he asked her, as he turned her around to face him.

The lovely teen raised herself up on tiptoe and wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing him soundly. "Yes and I'm all yours!" She replied happily.

They separated so they could get dressed and then walked out onto the bridge hand in hand.

"What now?" Alyssa asked.

"How about we check out our bedroom?" John replied. "It's just on the deck below".

The young beauty nodded eagerly and they took the elevator down to the level beneath them. The elevator door opened out into a corridor that led to the officer's quarters.

"The Commander's quarters are the biggest, they're down at the end" said John, pointing down the corridor. "The XO's quarters are at the end on the right".

They walked down the corridor, passing a half dozen doorways. They checked a few of them and found them to all be identically furnished and comfortable. When they got to the end of the corridor, they were in for a surprise.

"That's odd" John said, as they reached the blank wall where the door to the XO's quarters should have been. Shrugging, he turned towards the Commander's room and touched the wall mounted panel next to it, causing the door to swish open quietly. They walked inside and flicked on the lights.

"Wow! this place is amazing!" Alyssa gasped, shocked.

The other officer's rooms had been large and comfortably furnished, but in a minimalistic military sort of a fashion. It was as though they were built to some faceless bureaucrats specification and duplicated thousands of times throughout the fleet.

This room however had obviously been refurbished very recently. It was opulently luxurious in its design, with a magnificent four poster bed dominating the huge room. There were two doors in the right hand wall and the couple took one each. John took the furthest one and found a large and roomy bathroom which featured a big shower and an enormous bath, all beautifully finished.

John heard an excited gasp from his young lover and she poked her head around the door. "John, you have got to see this!" she pleaded. He smiled, nodding and walked back to join her. Alyssa suddenly took notice of the bathroom. "Ohh that bath looks amazing!" she sighed happily before tearing herself away reluctantly.

The excited teenager led him through the adjacent doorway into what was effectively a massive walk-in wardrobe. There were clothes rails along each side with well placed mirrors in the middle that allowed someone to see themselves at all angles. At the end of the room were extensive, wall mounted weapon racks.

John narrowed his eyes, a growing suspicion forming in his mind. Whoever designed all this seemed to know them very well indeed. After looking around for a while, playing with the fixtures and fittings, they walked back into the master bedroom. They were momentarily surprised when the room lights dimmed and a holographic recording sprung into life in front of them. It was Vice Admiral Charles Harris.

"I hope you like the ship John" the distinguished figure smiled amiably. "I'm sure you don't mind, but I took a few liberties with the design of your room. I hope I didn't misjudge your relationship with your Executive Officer, but I suspect I haven't" he grinned mischievously.

"She's lovely John, you deserve someone who makes you happy. Consider this a tiny payback for the big debt I owe you." The older man saluted respectfully. "Thanks John and all the best for the future". The room lights returned to the previous levels and the hologram disappeared.

"Wow, what was that about?" Alyssa asked, her curiosity peaked.

"I saved his life in a bad situation a long time ago. I told him he should forget it" John said, as his hand waved it away.

"Well I'm glad he didn't, he has amazing taste!" Alyssa replied as she ran her hand over the wonderfully soft bed covers.

"I can't wait to be ravished on here later" she smiled at John coyly.

John darted forward scooping her up in his arms, before throwing her on to the middle of the bed. Her musical laughter echoed around the room as he leapt on the bed to join her. She looked up at him giggling happily as he laughed along with her. They kissed and then hugged each other tightly.

Abruptly Alyssa's laughter died and he looked down to see what was wrong.

"I'm worried John" She answered his unspoken question. "I didn't think it was possible to be this happy and now I have so much, I'm worried it might all go away".

The young girl suddenly looked small, scared and vulnerable and John had a flashback to the frightened waif that had stowed away on his ship all those weeks ago. He held her close to him.

"Don't worry honey, this is your life now. It will take a little while to get used to all these changes, but you will. You're allowed to be happy" he said to her reassuringly.

Alyssa looked up at him, her eyes welling with tears "I love you John" she said earnestly.

"I love you too Alyssa" John replied warmly.

They kissed sensuously and lost track of time. Eventually the kissing escalated and they made love tenderly, gently caressing each other with soft touches, as though exploring each other's bodies for the first time. It was a very different coupling to their normal frenzied encounters, but one that bonded them even closer together. They slept for a long time afterwards, their sleep blissfully peaceful and uninterrupted.

The next morning they awoke in each other's arms, John's stomach grumbling angrily. Alyssa looked at him in mock alarm "You poor man, we need to get some breakfast inside you stat! You need to keep your strength up!"

John nodded, agreeing with her sentiments and the two had a quick shower together before getting dressed.

"So where do we eat around here?" She asked.

"Wherever I decide to feed you" John laughed, stroking her toned stomach suggestively.

Alyssa laughed with him "No silly, where do we feed you?" she clarified.

"If I'm not mistaken there should be an officers mess at the other end of that corridor" he said, pointing towards the hall outside their room.

"Well lead on then Commander!" Alyssa joked with him, holding out her hand for him to take.

They walked down the corridor, hands clasped together until they reached a larger set of doors at the other end. John pushed the button on the door and they swished open quietly. The doorway opened out into a large room, filled at their end with comfy sofas and chairs. Long windows flanked the room on each side, with a bar placed strategically on the right hand side of the lounge. Towards the back of the room on the left was a long dining table and the entrance to a kitchen was carefully concealed on the back wall.

The couple worked together to cook up a tasty looking breakfast and John tucked in with gusto, ravenous after his exertions the previous day. Alyssa on the other hand only picked daintily at her plate, trying a bit of each thing they had cooked but only eating a small portion. She watched him eating heartily with a happy smile on her face.

"Not hungry honey?" he asked, his voice filled with concern, as he finished wolfing down his own breakfast.

"I was leaving room for desert" Alyssa explained, before she pushed her chair back and slid under the table out of view. He felt her skilful hands unbuckling his belt and he smiled at her cheeky face as she looked up at him from under the table, grinning mischievously. He helped her shimmy his trousers down then spread his legs wide to make room for her as he slumped back in his chair.

"What a way to start the day" John sighed happily to himself as a few minutes later he fed the beautiful girl her own hearty breakfast. He helped her up again afterwards and she stretched contentedly, her swollen belly packed full of his sperm.

"Ahh that meal was wonderful" she sighed happily, stroking her full tummy. "My compliments to the chef!" she giggled cutely.

Now that they were both satiated, they set about their chores for today. They hauled up all the gear from the Fool's Gold, storing most of it in their walk-in wardrobe. John let Alyssa have one side of the room for her many different outfits. His much more limited selection of clothing took up the first half on the other side. The last section they used to store their combat armour. After that was stowed securely, John began stocking the weapon racks with his small arsenal of equipment.

He stood looking at his collection of armour and weapons, stroking his chin thoughtfully.

"What are you thinking?" Alyssa asked when she saw him looking over the gear.

"Now that I have money to spend, it might be worth getting some upgrades. Rarer, custom gear, that kind of thing" He clarified.

Alyssa nodded, happy to go along with whatever he decided was necessary for their personal security.

"That reminds me" John went on, "there should be an armoury and shooting range near where the barracks used to be. I think they only removed the barracks to make room for the cargo bay. We should go have a look and see what we can find".

"Sounds like a good plan" Alyssa agreed. "I definitely need some more weapons practice!"

"You were great your first time in combat. With a bit more training, you will be an expert marksman in no time!" John said encouragingly.

Alyssa mulled it over and realised this was actually a great opportunity. She could learn to better protect herself and her man and she was suddenly eager to get started.

"I'm done here if you'd like to go have a look now?" Alyssa asked, excited at the planned excursion.

"Sure, let's go!" John replied, eager to look around himself.

They left their room and strolled to the elevator. John hit the button for the level above the cargo bay, which should house the armoury and firing range if his memory served him right. The elevator hummed happily to itself as it dropped to the desired level.

The door opened into a branching network of corridors. They had a look at the other rooms on this level, using John's memory as a guide. The first room they went into was a large, high tech medical bay, with dozens of empty beds.

"An assault cruiser is basically a well armed and armoured troop carrier. You need a large medical bay just in case a mission goes badly" John said soberly.

Alyssa nodded, realising he spoke from experience. They left the sterile medical bay behind, not wanting to linger there longer than they had to. They skipped over the ships Pharmacy, only checking to see that it was fully stocked.

Next John led them to the armoury. This room had the capacity to store gear for 300 marines, but it was no longer sensible to carry that much equipment with the barracks gone. When John had last been in here, the walls had been stacked floor to ceiling with a huge assortment of body armour and weaponry. Now the weapon and armour racks were standing forlorn and empty. The marine munitions team had not bothered to remove the ammunition however, so they found thousands of boxes full of most varieties of caseless ammo.

Finally they entered the firing range. There were half a dozen lanes, with plenty of room to test fire weapons from standing, kneeling or prone. John led Alyssa to the back wall of the firing range and pressed his thumb against the lock on the weapons locker there. The door rolled back to reveal a dozen standard issue assault rifles, several SMGs and around 20 pistols of a variety of calibres. There was enough ammo stored here for weeks of sustained practice.

"Excellent" John said, rubbing his hands together happily. "Ready to get started?" he asked Alyssa.

"Definitely!" Alyssa agreed, excitedly.

John went through safety drills again, going through the lessons he had given her two weeks before. Alyssa began to quote the lessons back at him half way through, repeating his training verbatim with a grin on her face. John listened to her amazed.

"Your memory is incredible! Ok then Miss smarty pants, time for the advanced lessons!" he said, throwing down the gauntlet.

Alyssa was an attentive student, hanging on his every word. They sat together and he went through everything he could think of, from standard and then advanced infantry tactics, to the use of hand signals to allow for silent communication. Several hours flew by as the young woman absorbed as much as she could from his many years of combat experience.

John eventually grew hungry again, so they took a break for lunch, heading back to the officer's mess. John enjoyed a tasty sandwich which he held with one hand, while the other stroked the beautiful blondes head as she bobbed away eagerly between his spread legs. They both felt pleasantly full as they headed back to the firing range.

He decided that Alyssa had studied enough theory for one day and he wanted to build up her practical shooting experience. He handed her one of the standard Assault rifles, explaining the normal operation of the weapon. He began with her firing off single rounds first, getting her used to the kick of the weapon and so that he could adjust the weapon scope accordingly. She proved to be a decent shot, holding her breath and steadying herself before firing and was grouping her hits together nicely.

They fired off a few three round bursts so that Alyssa could get familiar with the extra recoil and improve her accuracy. Finally he had her unload a full clip at a target, letting her experience the barrel climb as she blew through the magazine.

"You did brilliantly today honey" John said to her as they cleaned the rifle before putting it away. "Feel free to come down here and practice whenever you want, you don't need me to supervise you any more".

"Thanks for spending today training me" Alyssa said earnestly. "You're a good teacher" she said, smiling up at him appreciatively.

"You're welcome" he replied, as he tipped an imaginary hat congenially. He offered his hand, and they walked back to the officer's quarters for the night.

The couple awoke early the next morning and were raring to go. After having breakfast together they discussed their plans.

"I think I'll explore the rest of the ship" John said, eager to see what secrets the other decks held.

"If it's ok with you, I'll continue practicing at the fire range" Alyssa proposed, impatient to continue her weapons training.

"That's fine by me honey" John agreed readily. He leaned over to stroke her already full belly "Meet back here for lunch?"

"Mmmm" Alyssa replied, licking her lips lewdly. "I'll look forward to it!"

John spent the next couple of days wandering the ship, visiting every location onboard. There were dozens of rooms dedicated to housing machinery and computers that ran vital ship functions: Life support, environmental systems, sensors, fuel control, the list seemed endless. The engine room, the drive room and the ships magazine were slightly more interesting, but as everything had been automated, there wasn't that much to interact with.

He went to visit the gym and found it had been modified significantly since the days he had served on the ship. Obviously no longer needing to cater to 300 fitness obsessed marines, the huge weights area had been greatly reduced. Dozens of treadmills and other fitness machines had also been stripped out, which meant that the gym was now about a tenth of its original size. In exchange, the freed up space now held a large pool and a Jacuzzi. John enjoyed swimming and was looking forward to showing the new pool area to Alyssa. "Let's just hope the artificial gravity never fails!" He laughed to himself.