The S.S. Olympus -under refurbishment

Chapter XIX: The S.S. Inferis

 Cornelia stormed past Hades and slammed her shoulder into him, to ensure he was aware of her and how she felt but refused to turn and see his response. "It is nice to have some real success without someone getting hurt." She sent Hades a pointed glare to which he responded in kind. 

"Agreed," Artemis said continuing to ignore their childish dramatics,  as she checked Perseus' unconscious body for life. "He's fine," she turned to Apollo who cradled Medusa in his arms, as he picked her up and followed them toward the exit of the cave. "we have to take her to the S.S. Inferis." 

"No!" Fear struck his face like lightning, "Why?" He stroked medusa's sleeping countenance,  she is clearly not one of them," Apollo growled as his arms tightly encircling her. A snake hissed at him and he shied away from a bite, "Certainly, not horrid enough to be brought to that ship." 

Artemis' attempted to soothe him, "she is one of them, Apollo, her kind is more animal than humanoid. Please, do not forget the only thing keeping you safe is the device you are wearing. If you did not have that on you would be one of those petrified statues." She gestured to the forest of stone that lined the entrance to this cavern.

Something in this moment felt wrong, Cornelia knew the facts. She heard the computer speak, but the woman she spoke to was not an animal or a monster. She seemed to hold greater understanding and knowledge than any of them. Calling her anything but sentient did not feel right. The words burst from her mouth before she had a chance to give it a second thought, "I am with Apollo, she is not a creature that should be penned up in some sort of crazy alien zoo. Maybe she can help us?"

Artemis groaned as her eyes trained on Cornelia's. "Cornelia, many people much more educated than we are, deemed her species inviable for sentient status." Her hand tightened around her weapon, "I am more inclined to listen to them than sentiment, a bird can sing a beautiful song, that does not make it sentient."

"On what qualifiers!" Apollo snarled clutching Medusa's unconscious body closer to his chest. Sweat was trickling down his forehead and his breath was heavy. His laden footsteps were sunk deeper into the wild terrain. Medusa gently moaned and he froze terrified of waking her.

"She is dangerous Apollo. Beautiful things are dangerous and some can be monsters if you give them half a chance. You should know that by now. We are bringing her back, that is an order, from Zeus." Artemis' voice was firm but gentle her hand lightly resting on his shoulder.

Apollo tried to stutter a response, but upon meeting the consternation in Artemis' eyes he clenched his lips shut. Clearly seething he whispered something softly into Medusa's ear and stormed ahead of the group.

When they reached a location that allowed for teleportation, the tension ran high. Artemis and Hades looked at each other once and nodded. They simultaneously tapped their badges and the group vanished from view. Their only trace was deep footprints among the weeds and muck. None of them saw a face emerge from the cave just as they vanished.

They rematerialized right outside of the entrance of an enormous ship. The silvery hull was smooth without even the smallest sign of a seam. To Cornelia, it looked much more like a ship for the sea than one meant for air. She ran her hands enthralled over its sides. She turned to no one and whispered, "how did you get it to fly?" Looking up into the clear blue sky the wonder and mystery of space flight truly sinking in for the first time, "It is so much bigger than the Olympus."

Artemis shrugged and Apollo was still busy sulking. It was Hades who lit up at the opportunity to explain the dynamics of warp drive and rocketry. He launched into a long arduous explanation filled with a mix of mathematics and chemistry. Cornelia's eyes quickly glazed over with each sentence. After about two minutes of the enthusiastic explanation, Hades paused abruptly. He watched her closely and a look of empathy crossed his face. He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I am sorry, I did not mean to ramble."