As we walk up to the ship, I get a better view of its rear. Like the front, it's curvy. It's long – suggesting there is lots of room for storing things. As we walk along its side, I see a small step ladder leading up to the cockpit.

Following Lyra's lead, we head up, inside. The cockpit area is fairly large and nicely furnished – containing plush chairs with an expensive feel to them, and walls with a bright décor to them. Control panels fill the areas below the windows, and towards the middle there is a small squared shaped table with some playing cards on it. Directly behind it is a grey door.

"Welcome to your new home for the next few days," Lyra declares, "It's lonely down here, but, I had a look inside, and this ship has everything you'll need. There seems to be a computer with some video games on it inside the spare room, so I'm sure that'll keep you entertained whilst Persephone is not fondling you."

"Thanks; I'm sure I'll be fine down here."

"Then we'll leave you to it. The bedroom and bathroom is through that grey door. Come on, Althea, your mummy is expecting you in her room."

Althea looks directly at me and then towards Lyra. She almost seems sad to have to leave. Something is clearly on her mind, but I can't think what.

"Tell her I want to sleep down here with Hercules. I'm sure she'll understand."

"Are you sure?" Lyra asks, "You know what your mummy is like when she's angry."

"Fine. I'll talk to her first."

This could be a good chance to learn more about the Angels. Maybe Althea can tell me some useful information about Persephone. But I best stay out of their discussion for now; I don't want it to seem like I'm taking Althea's side.

Lyra sighs, but remains silent, as Althea rolls up her sleeve to reveal a device that looks like a smart watch. She appears to key in some details and then brings her wrist up to her face. When she does so, I hear Persephone's voice again.

"What's the matter sweetie?" she asks.

"Can I stay down here with Hercules?"

There is a pause. As we wait for Persephone to voice her response, Althea begins to tap her foot impatiently. She looks at me, and then towards Lyra. After a few seconds, Persephone responds.

"I suppose there's no problem. You could show Hercules back up after you've slept."

Althea's face lights up. Her fists clench from the delight too. She then looks back down towards the smart watch.

"Then it's settled. Thanks mummy."

"Always happy to please my little girl. I guess I'll be spending the night alone..."

Why does Persephone sound so needy all of a sudden? I thought Angels were supposed to be these fiercely independent beings. I would have never expected her to speak in such a sad tone.

Before meeting Althea I didn't think an Angel had a capacity for love. But it's looking as if they share lots of common human emotions. I'd hate to find out what would happen if Althea died. The humans wouldn't hear the end of it.

"You could just let Hercules have a tiny bit of your bed like you do with me you know," Althea counters, "There's enough room for all three of us."

"But what if I crush you during my sleep?"

"You haven't crushed me yet. Besides, you know your awesome breasts make an excellent cushion."

"But Hercules hasn't really earned it yet..."

"You think he's going to defy you after seeing how easily you can dominate humans?"

"Althea's right," I interject, hoping Persephone can hear me, "I'd hate to upset a valuable ally."

"Ooh, so I'm valuable."

Althea winks at me. A smile creeps across her lips and I start to feel rather awkward. What is she planning?

"Don't you think allowing Hercules into your bed with you will get him to like you more?" Althea says.

"Maybe," is all Persephone replies.

"You don't want to be lonely for the rest of your life do you?"

I can't say that I like the thought of staying down here, in the depths of her flagship, for the night; so I best play along with this. I might regret it later, but right now the prospect of spending the night with the mass of woman seems a whole lot more appealing than being stuck down here, despite the inherent dangers.

I raise my hand and show my palm to Althea, motioning her to be quiet for a moment. I know just the thing to say. If I can reinforce her ego I might just get my way.

"Listen, Persephone, when you weakened me earlier, I really got a sense of just how grand you truly are. You're an amazing Angel and a master mother who has raised all three of her girls spectacularly."

Lyra looks at me with a mixture of confusion and amusement. She clearly isn't quite sure what to make of my words. However, I know exactly what I'm doing, and by the sounds I can hear down the line, I seem to be pressing all of the right buttons.

"Oh, Hercules...they love it," I hear Persephone breathe, "Alright, you can come up."

"Okay, we'll see you up there shortly mummy."

Althea waits silently for a few seconds. When it becomes clear that Persephone isn't going to reply, she closes the line. She grabs my wrist and pulls me out of the ship. Lyra quickly follows behind us.

"Wait, shouldn't we get a change of clothes for Hercules?" Lyra calls.

"We can think about that later," Althea shouts back.

We rush the rest of the way down the hallway and to the lift. I look behind us and see Lyra running out of breath. I'd love to know where Althea gets all this energy from. Surely eating humans can't be that good for you, can it?

"Come on Lyra," Althea groans, "You know my mummy doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"I'd love to know where you get all of this energy from Althea," Lyra pants as she joins us in the lift area, "You barely do any exercise."

"You know I use mummy's pool a lot."

"Can I ask you something Althea?" I say as Althea waves a small black device in front of the lifts.

"Sure, what is it?"

This probably isn't a good time to spring such a question on her, but I can't have the question about the miners linger in my head. Plus, I'd rather ask her first. And I'm not sure if it's something I should ask Persephone directly anyway.

"It's about the miners. Do you know why your mummy doesn't go after more mining ships?"

"Eris and Nyx tell my mummy lots of stupid things. I think it was Eris who said not to go near the mining ships. But sometimes, mummy just can't help herself."

"Yeah..."

I trail off. Both of them remain silent whilst we ascend. Once we reach the upper level, we make a quick dash for the next set of lifts. When we reach them, Lyra heads off, leaving us to ascend without her.

Upon re-entering Persephone's bedroom, we are greeted by a cross legged Persephone. As soon as we exit the lift lobby, her hands swoop down to whisk us from the floor – before I have a chance to see what she's wearing. As she moves us quickly through the air, I begin to feel queasy.

She places us on her bed first and then walks over to the other side. It's only now, as she saunters across her bedroom, that I get a good look at her sleeping attire – a black bra and panties. Without much care, she plops herself onto her bed and stretches out in the distance before us. She lays on her side – her taut, yet reasonably plump, stomach facing us. Like before, a light bending material envelops her head.

"That's your side, and this is my side," she declares, pointing towards us in the process.

Things are moving too quickly. I've known Persephone less than twenty-four hours and I'm already sleeping with her. Funny how I didn't voice this earlier. I hate it when my penis overrides all rational thoughts.

"Thank you for letting me sleep with you Persephone," I say with a smile.

"You should thank Althea for convincing me," she replies, now retracting her arm, "Not that I needed much convincing. As soon as I saw you, I knew I just had to have you in my collection."

I turn to Althea, who is blushing profusely. To our side, Persephone lets out a small giggle. Ignoring her, I continue to focus on Althea.

"Thank you Althea. Both of you have been very nice hosts so far."

"It was nothing," Althea says with a smile.

"Well, we have lots to do tomorrow," Persephone says, "And I expect both of you to be up early."

Before I can voice the fact that we have no blanket, Persephone reaches out to grab the bed cover – located at her feet. She drops it on top of us, rather nonchalantly, and we're covered in darkness. Not expecting such a huge mass to come down on me, I fall to the mattress.

"Mummy..." Althea whines.

"Sorry," I hear Persephone call.

Above us, Persephone moves the blanket slightly, and we're back into the light. I crawl towards the huge cushion on our side of the bed. Althea follows close behind. Hopefully I can get a good rest next to it. Already this is seeming more comfortable than the beds on the human flagship. Then again, to me, the mattress is as thick as several average sized fighters laid end to end.

"There," she says, covering our small bodies with her cupped hand, "Sleep well."

"We will," Althea says.

"And no funny stuff. I'm watching you both."

That sounds rather hypocritical coming from Persephone. She's already been really intimate with me, and we barely know each other. It's weird thinking of an Angel as a motherly figure. It's not something I ever expected.

Behind us, the covers come down, covering most of our bodies. Fortunately, Persephone is more careful this time. When her hand retracts, we make ourselves comfortable.

In the distance, I see her hands fondling her breasts again, suggesting she is becoming excited again. I guess she must really appreciate my company. I smile, thankful that she considers me a friend, and drift off to sleep.

The next day (night and day is non-existent in space, but whatever), I'm awoken by an immense mass pressing down on me. I want to turn over and see what it is, but I feel so incredibly weak. The most I can seem to manage is to move my head to the side. When I do, I see a massive pair of lips close in on my body. They lightly caress my body. Above them, a thick blue veil literally hugs her face.

"Hercules, Hercules," I hear Persephone's soft voice coo, "It's time to wake up...oh there you are! Finally, you're awake."

Has she been putting me inside her cleavage again? Is that why I feel so weak? She could have just poked me and then I'd be awake in no time at all. Why does she have to go through all of this shenanigans?

"We have lots to do today," she continues, "Althea is already having her breakfast."

"Persephone, I...I feel so weak," I say, just barely managing to force the words out of my mouth.

"I know. Just relax. Your breakfast is being brought up."

What could be for breakfast I wonder? I doubt they have everything required for a nutritionally balanced diet out here. Hopefully all future meals will be on the same level as the bean salad. I don't want to have to resort to eating humans too.

"What's for breakfast?" I ask.

"Remember that cruise ship I told you about before?"

"Cruise ship? You mean the place where you got the clothes you told me about?"

"Precisely. There was lots of what you call 'breakfast cereal' on it. Lyra claims you need to eat it with milk, but I don't have any. So you'll have to eat it without. Speaking of..."

Persephone turns her head to the side and then slides off of the bed. It's only now, with her leaving me to examine the lift lobby, that I finally start to regain some strength. I turn my body onto its stomach and look towards the floor by the lift. It seems that she has placed me on top of the cushion.

Below, I see Lyra exit the lift lobby with a couple of Persephone's servants. They're probably closer to slaves than paid labour, but I'm happy to go along with Persephone's sugar-coating. After all, I'd hate to upset that huge mass of woman, as she could easily end me in an instant.

"Thank you Lyra," I hear Persephone say, "I'm certain Hercules will love this!"

Lyra appears to mutter something and then turns back towards the lift, with the two servants. Her voice is too inaudible from this distance that I can't tell what it is she's saying, but Persephone appears satisfied. When they leave, Persephone grabs something from the floor and turns back towards me.

"This is for you," she says, daintily placing a trolley with two bowls of dry muesli and some water in front of me.

I sit up straight and take a moment to examine the breakfast. It looks good. But I don't get a spoon?

"Thank you Persephone. Where is Althea?"

"She's getting ready for today. Which reminds me, I still need to tell you some of the details about your mission."

Persephone slides onto the bed in front of me, placing her hands underneath her chin. She tilts her head and looks down at me, or rather appears to do so – as I can't see her eyes underneath her veil. I slide down the cushion to the trolley and wait for her to continue. As I take a bowl of muesli, Persephone starts to talk again.

"Wayne said that he will only tell us how to defeat Eris if we got a few items for him," Persephone continues, "As I said to you before. The main thing he wants is a machine to do blood tests, which is why we're going to the medical outpost he told us about. He said this will allow him to analyse our DNA."

"That makes sense," I say as I take a handful of muesli, "If he can do some tests on you then he can prove your origins."

"No matter what the outcome, I'll still be better than any human in every way. Remember that. While you have your breakfast I'll put in the coordinates."

With that, Persephone slides off of her bed. She then stretches, her arms held perfectly straight above her prime body, allowing me a good view of her, still clad in just the black bra and panties from before. Not sure if it was intentional, but I appreciate the view of her taut stomach and her two mighty twin girls either way.

I sit in silence as Persephone leaves for one of the adjoining rooms. The muesli is pretty good. I think it might be one of those expensive Martian brands, but I couldn't say for sure. I'd expect nothing less of cruise ship food of course. The passengers must have had more money than sense; after all, they all got caught by Persephone.

After a while, Persephone returns. Her black bra and panties have been replaced with a plain pink corset, the upper rim frilly, and her veil has been replaced with a layer of the light bending material I encountered yesterday. She approaches me and her hands reaches down to scoop me up from her bed.

Fortunately I've finished eating. But it would have been nice of her to ask if she could pick me up regardless. I'm held between her hands, with only my head poking out, and transported across the room to the lift lobby.

She places me onto the floor, and takes a couple of steps back to sit crossed legged in front of the lift. I gaze up at her magnificent body, my mouth agape. I want to believe I'm in heaven, but, unfortunately, Persephone is still technically my enemy.

"I've decided," she declares, her forefinger reaching down to gingerly rub my cheek, "That Althea is going to escort you onto the medical outpost when we arrive. She's so strong and athletic, and I don't think I can trust anyone else. True, I can't lose her, and she is the best thing that ever happened to me, but I can't lose Lyra either. And Althea seems to really like you."

"What about you?" I ask, perplexed, "Do you really like me too?"

Persephone retracts her forefinger and the room falls silent. What could she be thinking? The silence is awkward, at least to me, but I'm sure Persephone is choosing her next words carefully.

"I don't know," she finally utters, "You're just a simple human, like Lyra actually."

"I guess you're right."

But if I'm just a simple human, what does that make Althea? Does she not think Althea is human? If I were Lyra I'd want to get blood tests on Althea as well.

"You are cute though. Don't feel bad. I did really enjoy the time I've spent with you so far."

"Thanks, Persephone."

"You had better not die out there. If you get killed, I will make sure there is nothing left of the medical outpost. So, if you don't want any precious humans to die you had better stay alive, got it?"

"I got it Persephone."

Persephone's forefinger approaches me again. Like before, it rubs my face, and I can't help but feel that I'm being treated like a well loved pet – a small furry animal perhaps. But do I appreciate the tenderness, and the attention she's giving me.

"Good boy. It's been ages since I last rescued such an obedient human."

"And it's been ages since I last saw such a magnificent set of girls."

Wait? What am I saying? I shouldn't be flirting with Persephone! I want to get back to Mars. Why am I allowing my penis to control my entire body?

"D'awh, Hercules, thank you. They'd love to play with you again, but later. Right now I need to find you a change of clothes, and a new spacesuit, and Althea is going to show you around the mining ship too. It shouldn't be too longer before we arrive so we need to make sure we're fully prepared."