“I sometimes forget just how smart all of you are.” John said fondly, caressing the brte’s cheek as she sat there in stunned silence.


    “We… I care about you honey.” he exined. “Nothing is more important to me than making sure you’re ok”.


    “Oh John… ” Cra sighed, sinking into his weing arms. “You’re just too perfect. What did I ever do to deserve being part of your life?”.


    “You’re pretty much perfect yourself!” John smiled, stroking her soft thick hair as sheid her head on his shoulder.


    “Beautiful, caring, intelligent, perceptive, the best tactical officer I’ve ever seen!” he said enthusiastically.


    Cra’s body suddenly stiffened and she sat up in hisp, looking at him askance.


    “I’m not though.” She said insistently.


    “Sure you are, you’re absolutely amazing!” John said earnestly.


    “No, I’m actually not” the Latina said, her eyes narrowing as she looked at him.


    John looked at her in confusion, not sure what she was saying.


    “When I left the Academy I was doing really well, definitely top 10% of my year, but nothing truly exceptional.” she said in self deprecation.


    “You’ve just gotten better with experience.” John suggested dismissively.


    “Until you pointed it out, I hadn’t even noticed.” Her eyes went wide with wonder, as her mind closely examined the events over thest few weeks.


    “John, I practically never miss!” She said, urging him to understand.


    “No-one shoots like that… not ever!” she said, stunned at this revtion.


    “I’ve reviewed countless hours of naval battles during my time at the Academy and I’m telling you, my hit record blows any human in our archives out of the water!” she said in amazement.


    “The tactical analysis, breaking down the pirates attack routes, finding the base…” she said.


    “Yeah that was incredible!” John said, shaking his head in appreciation.


    “The Terran Federation has entire teams who do that kind of analysis and I put it together by myself in just a few days!” she eximed.


    “Then there’s this conversation!” she said, her arms spread wide. “How am I having this epiphany? I’ve never been this perceptive or smart!” she insisted.


    “Ok so what are you saying?” John asked confused, “You’ve suddenly got much better at everything?”


    “Yes, exactly!” Cra grinned at him. “We’ve all been so distracted by the physical changes that these,” she said, moving her hips back so she could gently cup his quad with her hand. “have had on us. We’ve been missing that there have been amazing mental changes too!”


    John’s eyes widened to match Cra’s own, shocked at how clear it was to him now.


    “It’s not just you.” he said. “Did you hear Sparks say how she hacked the security subsystems on the Stalingrad?”


    “Yeah I know!” Cra eximed. “At the time I was busy and just shrugged it off, but there’s no way she should have been able to do that. We’re talking about military grade encryption!”


    “She’s naturally gifted with machinery, but yeah, I think she’s been ‘enhanced’ just like you have” John agreed.


    They sat for a moment just trying to process the news.


    “Don’t mention it to the other girls yet.” John asked her gently. “Once we’ve dropped off the civilians, let’s get together as a group and talk about it then.”


    Cra nodded her agreement and he smiled at her affectionately.


    “Thank you John.” The gorgeous brte said sincerely.


    “I can’t really im credit, it was my four friends that did most of the work!” John grinned.


    Craughed. “No I don’t mean that, but thanks to them too. What I meant was: Thank you for this conversation and for making sure I was ok.”


    John opened his arms and Cra hugged him tightly as he stroked her back, holding her close to his chest. They both breathed a contented sigh at the same time and thenughed at being so in sync.


    “Come on, let’s go and make some lunch.” John said, sitting up and helping Cra off hisp. They walked hand in hand to the kitchen.


    Sparks meanwhile had taken the elevator down to deck four. She had taken a tour around the entire ship with John, but they had skipped this level. The fourth deck contained the crew quarters and the ship’s mess, but with the Invictus having such a small crew, there was no need to even have any of the subsystems on this level powered up.


    Sparksughed to herself when she realised she hadn’t actually set foot in her own quarters, since John and Alyssa had shown her around that first time. She had spent almost her entire time on themand deck, or in the Officer’s lounge and she had slept every night in themander’s quarters cuddled up with her lovers.


    The elevator chimed softly and the door swished open, rousing Sparks from her reverie.


    “Time to check on the houseguests.” she thought to herself.N?velDrama.Org owns all ? content.


    She strode purposefully down the corridor until she came to the first of the upied rooms. They currently had 15 people staying with them, a ragtag bunch of traders and ore haulers that had been captured by the pirates to be used as hostages.


    A bulky man in a tired looking, many pocketed, set of overalls was lying on the bed with his hands folded behind his head, staring at the ceiling.


    “Hey! Everything ok?” Sparks asked in a friendly voice.


    The man looked down from the ceiling and when he saw her, he sprang up from the bed looking embarrassed. “Err, sure… I’m fine, thanks miss.” he stuttered.


    “What’s your name?” the redhead asked the blushing man curiously.


    “Geoff McIntyre, Engineer 2nd ss on the Dolphin.” he muttered quietly.


    “Oh! My names Sparks, I’m the Chief Engineer on the Invictus!” She said, excited to meet another gearhead.


    “You’re the Chief Engineer?” Geoff asked dubiously.


    “Yes, is that a problem?” Sparks said, feeling a little defensive all of a sudden.


    “Err no, you just look like…” he stumbled, blushing.


    “Go on…” she said, her eyes narrowing dangerously.


    “Like a model!” Geoff blurted out. “I’ve never seen anyone so beautiful!” he mped his mouth closed, surprised at his own outburst.


    “Ohhh! Thanks Geoff!” Sparks said smiling warmly, disarmed by his simple honesty. Horrifically scarred for most of her life, she was quite unused topliments.


    “I really am the Chief Engineer, honestly.” she said to him.


    “And your name’s Sparks?” Geoff asked curiously, rxing a little.


    “You don’t like my name now?” Sparks asked him,ughing.


    “No, no, it’s just a funny name for someone who looks the way you do!” Geoff replied, blushing again and smiling.


    “Sorry, I didn’t mean to cause any offence!” he said in a rush, desperate not to offend this gorgeous young woman.


    “None taken.” The redhead replied and smiled at him warmly.


    They chatted for a little while, talking shop about power couplings and energy rys. When it was apparent to Geoff that Sparks really did know what she was talking about, he rxed around her and they had a detailed technical discussion that she would have liked to continue but she eventually ran out of time. She said goodbye and went to check on the rest of their guests, having thoroughly enjoyed chatting with the man.


    The rest of the people in the crew quarters were simrly cagey around her, but not having much time left before she went up for lunch with John, she just said hello and left them in peace. She had powered up the dining area in the ship’s mess, which was thoroughly stocked and invited them to use the ce to make their own lunch.


    Sparks left the deck and travelled up in the elevator to meet with her friends for lunch. She was surprised at how her new beauty seemed to make all those people, both men and women, ufortable. She had always been envious of the beautiful models she had seen on the Holo, but maybe being stunningly attractive came with its own set ofplications. Still, it had been an interesting visit and the conversation with Geoff had given her some things to think about.