Deep Space Epoch

She spent an hour thinly slicing exquisite four-dimensional meat before slowly cooking it in fat, ensuring the blue flame filled it up with as much energy as possible. On the side she also prepared some rice and vegetables before pouring a thick spicy sauce over it all.

Nodding in appreciation at her handiwork, Lanise hurried off with the dish with a blush on her face.

"I have breakfast for the President," Lanise said shyly to the guard standing outside the door of Ivan's quarters.

The security guard was only there for formality as nobody on the ship would even consider attacking Ivan, but he still took his job seriously. He looked over the dish before nodding his head and stepping aside with a grin.

Lanise stood rooted to the spot as she did her best to muster up her courage. She grasped onto her waist-length platted air nervously before to enter Ivan's quarters.

Valeria, who always slept within Ivan's room, immediately woke up upon sensing the presence of another person. She opened her amber eyes and stared emotionlessly as Lanise from the corner of the room where she was sitting against the wall with her knees to her chin.

Lanise gave an awkward smile before moving over to the Ivan's bed, who also woke up as she sat on the side of the bed beside him.

"G-good morning, President. I prepared breakfast for you," Lanise leant over and spoke with her face burning red, her clothing coming loose as she did and revealing her cleavage directly before Ivan, of which she conveniently seemed to not notice.

There was no way such a blatant body expression slipped by Ivan's notice. He was already wide awake as soon as he opened his eyes, and wasn't shy about peering into the ravine between her considerable-sized breasts.

"Thank you, Lanise."

Ivan had complete self-control and accepted the bowl from Lanise, who didn't move as if to watch him eat. He took his eyes off her exposed breasts and eyed the bowl, picking up a small portion with a fork and placing it into his mouth.

Although he hadn't been picky with his food since waking up from stasis, he used to only eat the finest of dishes so could be considered somewhat of a connoisseur.

"Lanise, did you taste this first?" Ivan asked placidly, looking back up at the blushing chef who looked like she was about to throw herself at him any moment.

"N-no, President."

"Try it," Ivan picked up another portion of food and stuck it into the other party's mouth, forcing her to eat it.

Ivan grabbed Lanise's jaw and held her back as he forced her to swallow the food.

"I-it could be better, President. I will imme… immediately make something better," Lanise spoke as she started pressing against Ivan's hand, finally losing her restraint and started trying to push herself on Ivan.

While the Vulpes Celestials were superior in speed and agility, Ivan superseded them greatly when it came to raw strength. He held Lanise back before shaking his head.

"There is nothing wrong with the dish, it is just a poor choice. It is too heavy to be eaten first thing in the morning. This will do for now."

Lanise panted lightly as she nodded while trying to press onto Ivan harder and harder to no avail. Ivan slyly let her get very close to him before stating, "You still have duties to do Lanise, you still need to help cooking for the other Celestials, our glorious race."

"Y-yes, President!" Lanise stuttered as she immediately jumped up and rushed out of the room without sparing a glance toward Valeria who was almost at the point of glaring toward her.

Once Lanise left, Valeria looked at Ivan continue his meal and asked, "Is that okay, President?"

Ivan sent a brief meaningfully glanced toward Valeria before returning to his meal.

"It's fine, Valeria, it shows that I can without a doubt trust her. She may be extreme, but as long as she's applying her energy to the right cause, it's fine. You don't need to worry, I will manage her."

Valeria silently nodded in response before Ivan added, "Come sit down, Valeria, I truly can't finish this meal all on my own."

Valeria followed Ivan's order and sat on the side of the bed next to him. She allowed him to feed her in silence before calmly leaning over and resting her head against Ivan's chest.

Ivan placed the empty bowl beside them and used one hand to play with her ear, the one which drooped over due to the large hole punched through it when she was branded a kivsharr, an outsider.

"Are you still weary?"

"No."

*****

"President, there is a waiting incoming video call from the representatives on Planet Kav'sall," The communications officer alerted Ivan as soon as he entered the bridge.

"How long has it been waiting?"

"27 minutes, Sir."

"This should be interesting, connect it."

"Understood, President."

A large holographic screen opened up in front of the bridge and two gentlemen dressed in embroidered suits were sitting in the store that Ivan opened in Kav'sall.

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Ivan, or should I say President Ivan?" One of the gentlemen asked with a friendly smile.

"Either is fine, what can I do for you two gentlemen?" Ivan responded equally courteous, his true thoughts hidden from the opposite party behind his poker face.

"You can refer to me as Mr. Black, this here is Mr. Bronson, we are but two of many finance ministers under the employ of Northern Star Mining Corporation. We manage the corporation's portfolio of purchases and sales, ensuring everything calculates correctly at the end of the day."

"Very well, Mr. Black, Mr. Bronson, what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"First all, we would like to represent Northern Star Mining Co. in thanking you for your assistance during that invasion. Without your efforts, our company would have made catastrophic losses on this planet. The dark net has only reported attacks from these creatures on the other side of the Delta Quadrant, it was unexpected they would appear here."

"Think nothing of it, they were targeting my interests as well."

"Regardless, we naturally wish to show our gratefulness, which brings us to the second matter. This device known as a SubNet Tablet, we are interested in making a mass purchase of the devices. We are prepared to show you full favour by purchasing them all at store price."

"It appears I don't have to lay down any elaborate plans when the road runner came to me," Ivan chuckled at his own inside joke while the two gentlemen on the other side of the video looked at one another quizzically. "Exactly how many are you considering purchasing? You must be aware that we currently have a limited supply of the products."

"We are looking to make an initial purchase of 70,000 devices. The capability they provide for particular transactions are of great interest to us. But we must have some assurance of the security of these devices, one of your supposed key selling points."

"Rest assured, Mr. Black, they run on an exclusive network separate from the galactic web. Only these devices can access this network, and both network and device have absolute security. Your privacy using this device is my greatest pride, only those who you wish to know who you are will be aware of your identity."

Mr. Black and Mr. Bronson looked at one another before curtly nodding.

"Surely you wouldn't mind if we had a test run before complying with this purchase?"

Ivan still had a poker face as he nodded. "Of course, have my two representatives supply you with one each, free of charge as a sign of goodwill. I will write up a preliminary purchase contract containing all the contractual terms of the sale. It will naturally be sent to you via the SubNet when you confirm your desire to follow through with the purchase."

Mr. Black took the lead as he stood up an bowed his head respectfully, "We will immediately send them to our system infrastructure security department for a full evaluation."