The doctor's eyes narrow. Althea is unwavering however. Even though he has sat back down, she keeps her gun pointed at him.

"Alright, fine, I'll tell you! Just put down that damn gun!" he growls, his fear replaced with anger, "Wayne and I work for the mining conglomerate!"

"United Mining?" I ask.

"Who else would it be? They've been bullying colonists and explorers for decades! They even have a secret deal with a certain arms manufacturer. That's how the Angels have all the technology that they do."

So the rumours are true! But why would a mining company want to create weapons of war? There must be a massive return on their investment. But what?

Althea finally stops pointing her gun at the doctor, and the tension immediately begins to drop. I smile, thankful that the doctor has finally revealed the information I was looking for. He is not so forgiving, however – his frown determined not to move.

"Thank you Dr. Dickinson," I say with a nod, "Things are starting to make sense now."

"What do you mean?"

"I suspect United Mining created the Angels because they wanted to protect something. There's a planet none of the Angels, except the Goddess, are allowed to go near. Perhaps they use robots to mine that planet and don't want any interfierence."

"Wayne told me about this too," the doctor says, his hands returning to his chin, "I know he hasn't told me everything he knows though. I know he's withholding some information from me. But what I do know is the Angels were created to appear alien, but at the same time be sufficiently human."

"Interesting. Now, how about that blood testing machine?"

"On one condition."

Althea raises her pistol and points it directly at him again. The doctor stares at her with wide eyes. His expression changes from neutral to one of horror.

"There's no need for that right now," I say, pushing her gun back down to her lap, "Let's listen to his proposal."

Althea groans but doesn't resist. She sneers at the doctor, and he sneers back. I, on the other hand, manage to force a smile, wanting the tension to drop to manageable levels again.

"I want to know what's going on with the Angels right now. Why isn't Wayne dead yet? I'll even give you some food too – as a gesture of goodwill."

"I'm not entirely sure why he's not yet dead. Your guess is as good as mine. You'd think that Wayne knowing how to kill Eris would worry Persephone, who by the way also hates her, because she could end up dying too, but she doesn't seem to worry about that."

"I see. Wayne suspected some of the Angels disliked Eris, as he listened in on their chatter, and he thought he could use that his advantage and correct his mistake. What do you think will happen once the Angels will finally have to admit they are of human design?"

Interesting question. Nyx and Persephone seem so sure that they are better than all humans, so what would happen? Would they consider it blasphemy? Would Nyx be so blinded by rage that she loses sight of her original goal?

"I actually hadn't thought about that. And I think best that I avoid thinking about that long as I can. There's no telling what they might do."

"Fair enough..."

Before the doctor can finish his sentence, he is interrupted by his personal computer. It starts making an obnoxious ringing sound. The doctor's eyes quickly turn to focus on the screen, and he looks at it with amazement.

"What's the problem?" I ask.

He ignores me and remains fixated on the screen. When he brings his hand up to touch it, the ringing stops. A distinctive female voice then bellows around the room.

"Where are Althea and Hercules?" I hear Persephone yell.

"T-they're right h-here...with me," Dr. Dickinson says, his voice now filled with fear.

"Mummy, is that you?" Althea questions.

"Althea!" Persephone says, clearly elated, "Thank goodness you're safe! What about Hercules? Is he safe?"

"I'm right here Persephone," I say, hoping to get her attention.

I lean over the doctor's desk to get a good look at the monitor. I see the image of Persephone's chest, clad in a plain white bra, perhaps made of leather. What else did I expect to see?

"Excellent. Do you have the things I asked for?"

"We were just discussing that with Dr. Dickinson now."

"I want you out of there this instance! Tell the doctor I won't hesitate to send more humans to attack his hospital."

"Uh, I...I was just sending them on their way P-Persephone," the doctor stammers.

"Good. If I find even the tiniest scratch on either Althea or Sidney, there will be trouble."

Before the doctor can respond, Persephone closes the line. He lets out a big sigh, clearly distraught. He then places both of his hands onto his forehead. Sensing his unease, I try to reassure him.

"If you give us that extra food, I will put in a good word for you," I say, hoping my words will put him at ease.

"It'll be no use," he counters, his voice a fusion of anger and sadness, "I was hoping I could kidnap you and use you as a bargaining chip, but seeing all that bloodshed became too much for me. I should have just accepted we couldn't best an Angel. They're too good."

"Too right," Althea says in a grumpy tone.

"When you get to know her, Persephone is actually a lovely woman. I'll think of something. Perhaps those people were actually defying orders?"

"I will offer what I can," the doctor continues, "The situation has been desperate ever since the increased pirate raids in the area. And the constant fear of the Angels doesn't help either."

"I'm sorry to hear that. Persephone and I will put an end to this nonsense war. You'll see!"

"I hope so. If you just bear with me for a second, I'll get what you asked for. Besides the blood analysis machine, what kind of medical supplies are on your list?"

"Just some basic medical supplies, you know, in case we run into trouble. I assume the blood machine doesn't need to be connected to another computer to work properly?"

"That is correct. I will get you some basic supplies."

The doctor turns his attention back to his personal computer and begins to busily type away at the keyboard. As he does so, I shift my gaze back to Althea. She still seems rather grumpy.

She really looks up to Persephone, so I wonder how much of an effect the revelations have had on her? This assignment has been really illuminating for me too. Hopefully it won't take her long to return to her usual cheerful state.

"Althea, what's on your mind?" I ask.

"Nothing, I'm fine," she replies, turning her head away from me.

If Maxine has taught me anything, it's that the words "I'm fine" mean that a woman isn't fine. Now probably isn't a good time to press her though. I'll wait until we're on our way back to Persephone's flagship to probe her. I hope she'll return to her cheery self, because I'd hate it if Persephone made any rash decisions.

Silence ensues. For a couple of minutes, only the steady, quiet, hum of the doctor's personal computer can be heard. When the doctor's attention returns to us, he gets up out of his seat.

"The equipment you requested will be waiting for you downstairs," he declares, "I've requested everything be taken to your hanger. I'll come down with you and make sure there's no more trouble. Tabitha will meet us in the foyer, and she will help you to lead your supplies."

"Thank you," I say as I get up.

Althea follows me. And we let the doctor lead us back down to the hanger level. The journey though the lift is quiet.

I want to say something, to ease the tension, but I'm afraid I'll say something stupid and make the situation more painful than it already is. Fortunately, the lift doesn't take long to reach our destination. The doctor is the first to step out, and we are presented with Tabitha.

She glowers at us. Althea matches her stern expression and clutches her pistol tightly against her stomach. I try to avoid eye contact with Tabitha and instead focus on the doctor, whilst we all follow Tabitha in silence.

We follow her back round to the hanger our ship is stored in and, once there, I see several people cleaning up the blood and bodies from the area. The bodies from inside the hanger have been moved to the foyer and placed in a pile beside the door to it. Fortunately, none of the cleaners pay us any attention, and any awkward exchanges are avoided.

Just inside the hallway leading up to the hanger is the equipment we came here for. There is a cart – with two trays, one above the other – with a variety of medical supplies on it, nothing too advanced, and beside it is the computer we came here for. The blood analysis machine, an entirely white device, is as tall as the cart, and is dominated by a large monitor.

When we reach the hall, Tabitha stops besides the pile of bodies. The doctor, however, continues towards the medical equipment, and Althea and I follow him. He places one hand on top of the blood analysis machine and turns to look at us.

"I'm not sure what kind of plugs there are on Persephone's flagship, if any," the doctor says, "So I'm including a battery and some solar panels for the machine."

"And the food you promised us?" I ask.

"The food is just on its way," I hear Tabitha say, obviously still annoyed.

She doesn't look at us, and remains fixated on one of the dead bodies. It's understandable that she'd be bitter. We killed her colleagues, friends even.

I killed innocent people today. What has become of me? These people didn't want to be bullied by Persephone. Who would?

I'm so conflicted. But I can't let moral questions cloud my thoughts now. I need to focus on the matter at hand.

"Sorry, I was just lost in thought," I say, trying to hide my unease, "Shall we load it onto the ship?

"I think I can do it," Althea says all of a sudden excited, "My mummy makes me do lots of exercise. I often do chin-ups on her finger."

Without warning, she places both of her hands onto the top of the blood analysis machine and starts to push it. It looks heavy, even for me, but she appears to be managing just fine. As she pushes it into the hanger, I don't hear a single strained breath from her, suggesting she is managing just fine.

Perhaps I underestimated how heavy the machine is? Or perhaps I underestimated Althea? All this time I was thinking she was just another cute girl.

"Well, we had better get the other equipment onto the ship," I say, turning back towards the doctor.

"Looks like the food has arrived," he informs me, "You move the cart onto your ship and I'll see to the food."

I do as he suggests, and proceed to take the cart onto our ship. When I make it to the back, and up the ramp, I see Althea is already quite far inside the largely empty cargohold. The cargohold is bigger than I expected – perhaps five meters tall and at least ten meters long. I knew it was big, but did Persephone really need to afford us something this big? We're not miners after all.

Upon noticing me, Althea gives me a wave. I wave back, and we exchange glances, but neither of us say anything. Having positioned the machine in a corner of the cargohold, she presses the button to open up the airlock.

Before I have a chance to respond, I realize the doctor has come up behind me with the food he promised us. I turn around to look at him, and he turns his head to look at me. The food is all placed neatly on the top of a trolley, and there appears to be some hot items amongst the various packets and packages.

"The canteen had some hot food, which they were kind enough to share," he says, "But promise me this: Persephone won't harm our outpost anymore."

"Look, I will see what I can do. Sadly, I can't promise anything. But, between you and me, I think that she may have a romantic interest in me – so I'm sure I can convince her to leave you well alone. I don't want my name tarnished anymore than it already has been."

I hope I'm right. I've been wrong about women before. Though it was at school I guess; I'm much more experienced now, so I think I can make Persephone agree with me – even though we have both been injured.

"Thank you Hercules. In return, I will also try to stop negative news reports about this attack getting out. However, I fear that may be impossible. Persephone informed me that you were an ace navy pilot – one of the best in fact – so some people around here will have obviously recognised you."

"It's fine. When I sided with Persephone, I knew I was taking a huge gamble. Let's hope things turn out better in the end and Wayne is right."

"I think Althea is keen to leave, so we best be off."

"Very well. If you ever do manage to kill Eris, I would like you to apologise to Wayne on my behalf. Part of me feels bad for doubting him."

"Will do."

I offer my hand to the doctor. He extends his own, and embraces mine for a firm handshake. Hard to believe we were fighting this man not long ago.

I want to feel sorry for him, but he did just attempt to kill us. Then again, I might have done the exact same thing in his situation – and tried to kidnap myself. Or at least I think that's what his plan was. Anyway, I need to get back to Althea.

"Maybe I'll see you again sometime," I say as I walk towards the button to close the cargohold.

"Have a safe trip," the doctor replies as he exits the cargohold, "I'll lock the doors to the foyer and you can be on your way. When the light above the doors is green, the big hanger doors will open and you'll be good to reverse and head out."

I close the doors and head straight for Althea. I hope she's not still mad at me. I suppose I was a little rough with her. Persephone will kill me if she finds out I made Althea upset!

Maybe not literally kill me, but, no doubt, she will be very angry. I hope I can keep my promise to the doctor. I've not known Persephone to be an angry person, but still...

After walking through the airlock, though the small hall with the doors to the bedroom and bathroom of the ship, I see Althea happily humming away in her seat – beside mine. That's a relief – I thought she might still have been mad. As I go to sit beside her, she turns to her head to look at me.

"I'm sorry about earlier," she says, shifting her gaze to the floor, "The magnet thingys didn't work."

"That's alright, at least we made it out alive," I reassure her, "You were really good with that Laser Pistol!"

Her face lights up. Now that I think about it, I wonder how many compliments Persephone gives to her own daughter. After all, she considers herself vastly superior to all humans.

"Thank you Hercules! You were pretty good too."

"Thank you Althea. Would you mind contacting your mummy to let her know that we're leaving? The doctor said that the green light in front of us signals that we can leave."

"I will contact mummy right now."

As Althea fiddles with her section of the control panel, I start the engines. I imagine getting out of here is going to be a bit tricky. First I have to apply the reverse thrust, and I then have to quickly switch to the bottom thrusters. Why can't all stations be easy to dock at?

Behind us, the sensors indicate, the hanger doors have just finished opening. That's my cue. I initiate the reverse thrust and we exit the hanger with no trouble at all.

Just as we're leaving, Persephone's chest appears on the monitor between us – she is wearing the same revealing attire as earlier. Damn it Persephone, I really need to concentrate right about now.

"Hi again mummy," Althea says in a cheery voice, "We're just leaving right now. The doctor had to fix Hercules's arm, but we're fine now."

"I don't remember his arm being damaged," Persephone says, there clearly some concern in her voice.

"Well there were some stupid people around but Hercules managed to convince the doctor to do what we wanted."

"Oh...I see. But did you manage to get everything I asked for?"

"We did, and a little extra," I say quickly, before Althea can further convince Persephone to blast the station to smithereens,"But I really need to concentrate on undocking right now."

"Excellent! I knew I could trust you two. I'll reward you both...appropriately."

Before either of us can reply, Persephone disappears from the screen. I wonder what she could mean? Am I going to be spending the rest of the day in her cleavage?

Never mind that, I really need to focus. Come on, Sidney, focus! Just a little more. You're almost out of the station.

We ascend past several sets of hangers, and soon we're out. When we exit the belly of the station, the sight ahead of us is amazing. I finally get a good look at Persephone's flagship.

Perhaps predictably, it's painted entirely in pink. The design is sleek; curvy, just like her. It's a long cigar-like shape with an extruding area towards the end which, presumably, is the part where Persephone directs from – her personal cabin I would guess.

After turning the autopilot on, I turn to Althea again. Now would be a good time to inform her of my final words with the doctor. If Persephone is going to spare the medical outpost then I need Althea on my side.

"Do you think your mummy will try and destroy the medical outpost?" I ask her.

"I hope so. The people on it are nasty," she replies, "They insulted mummy."

That's not a good sign. What can I say that will placate her? I wouldn't want to use her lustful feelings against her – that would be awful of me – so I'm going to have to win her over with my words alone. Think Sidney! Maybe I should just tell her.

"The doctor gave us the extra food in exchange as an apology," I say, "And in exchange for leaving him alone from now on."

"We could have died in there Hercules! And they said mean things about mummy!"

"I know. And he probably deserves to die for abusing us like that. But..."

"But nothing! People who insult mummy have to die. It's the rules."

As I think about my reply, one of the buttons on my control panel starts flashing, indicating that Persephone wants to talk to us again. Ahead of us, I see her flagship turning to face the medical outpost. Could it be? Reluctantly, I accept her request, and she appears on the screen between us again.

"Can you move the ship out of the way? I want to give the doctor what he deserves for putting you two in danger."

"B-but, Persephone..."

"I need to send these dirty humans a message they will never forget. Even though you're not a parent yourself, Hercules, I'm sure you understand. I love Althea dearly, and I can't have her life be threatened!"

Oh fuck! What can I do that will calm the situation? There are innocent people inside that hospital!