The beautiful blonde moved back to the side panel, pressing a button that dropped the walls and then another that brought the targets up to them for their inspection.

“Ta daa!" She exclaimed, mimicking a fanfare. John went to examine the three targets and found each one hit centre mass by the three rounds from each burst.

"You shot around the walls?!" Sparks said in awe.

“It's simple really, you just have to calculate the velocity of the round and how much drift the wind will cause" Alyssa smiled and shrugged as if it was nothing.

John was amazed by his youthful protégé. First Navigation and now Marksmanship, it seemed she could turn her hand to anything and become a master at the profession in next to no time.

“This is amazing honey" John said, more than a Little shocked. "Saying I'm proud of you doesn't seem adequate” He opened his arms and wrapped his young lover in a warm hug.

“You're an incredible woman Alyssa" he said earnestly.

The beautiful blonde beamed up at him, blissfully happy. She pulled his head down for a kiss and then when they embraced again, she whispered in his ear. "I heard your conversation with Sparks. Thank you John, you were wonderful with her".

They broke apart from the hug so that Sparks wouldn't feel awkward. *You're more than welcome honey* John thought to her. *She's a lovely girl, I'm starting to really like her. Thank you for suggesting she join the crew.*

Alyssa grinned at him happily.

“I'm taking Sparks on a tour of the Invictus. I thought you might like to come along too, help show her about?" John asked.

Alyssa nodded excitedly "Wait till you see the rest of the ship!" she said to the petite redhead, giving her a big hug. She then put away her gear and they headed out of the firing range to show Sparks her new home.

John led the girls down the corridor to the room adjacent to the Firing Range. He pressed the button opening the door and ushered them into the Armoury.

This vast room was originally used to store weapons and armour for the cruiser's compliment of three hundred marines. With no need to store that much gear any more, row after row of empty weapon racks and armour lockers filled the room, looking forlorn and abandoned. Sparks Looked around, wondering why he would bring her to such an enormous empty room.

“We have no use for an Armoury this size, so I'd like to convert it for you to use as your workshop," John suggested, watching to see the redheads reaction.

Sparks looked bewildered for a moment.

“This room is absolutely huge!” she said, stunned. "I can have all this area of the ship for myself?"

“You can start small if you Like and then expand the workshop whenever you need more space," John suggested.

“When we get to the Olympus shipyard, we can go shopping. Just pick whatever equipment you need, and I'll have it fitted in here for you."

Sparks eyes shone with excitement, and she wrapped him in a big hug.

“This is the best present ever!" she exclaimed.

John and Alyssa laughed, pleased that the teenager was so happy.