The young girl suddenly looked small, scared and vulnerable and John had a shback 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 escted 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 rm “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” Johnughed, stroking her toned stomach suggestively.


    Alyssaughed with him “No silly, where do we feed you?” she rified.


    “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 sped together until they reached arger set of doors at the other end. John pushed the button on the door and they swished open quietly. The doorway opened out into arge room, filled at their end withfy sofas and chairs. Long windows nked the room on each side, with a bar ced 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 te, 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 exined, 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 minutester 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. “Mypliments 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. Thest section they used to store theirbat 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 rified.


    Alyssa nodded, happy to go along with whatever he decided was necessary for their personal security.This material belongs to N?velDrama.Org.


    “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 n” Alyssa agreed. “I definitely need some more weapons practice!”


    “You were great your first time inbat. 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 nned 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 branchingwork 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 arge, high tech medical bay, with dozens of empty beds.


    “An assault cruiser is basically a well armed and armoured troop carrier. You need arge 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 hadst 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 dozennes, 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.