[OOM]

“You’re leaving,” It sounded like an accusation. Atton turned to raise an eyebrow at Lyman, glaring up at him. “Again.”

Atton resisted the urge to swear, hopping down off the top of his shuttle to grin at Lyman.
“Yep. Not for long, though. I’ll be back before you know it.”

“And then you’ll leave again, and again,” Lyman grumbled. “Get into more and more danger. Should I even have given you that invitation? At this rate, you’re going to be dead before the wedding.”

“Your faith in me is astounding,” Atton replied, dryly. “I’ll be fine. Don’t worry - You’ll feel like an idiot when I come back alright.”

Lyman snorted, shaking his head as he stalked away.
“We’ll see.”

[OOM]

Doctor Venar had been waiting with the datapad for some time, now.

He had a mental image of the Minister walking in, and him standing and confronting him with everything he’d remembered, neatly ordered in a datapad. The Minister would stammer, take a step back, desperately try to make excuses. He’d admit that he’d been drugging Venar. And then, and then Venar would pull the blaster out, and the Minister would scream, terrified.

Venar would shoot him. Straight in the head, instant death. And finally his daughters would be at peace, and then he, too, could be at peace. There were two charges left in the blaster.

The mutants could have Frago IX.

“Doctor Venar,” The voice was warm, pleasant and completely unexpected. From the nearby doorway, a dark-robed man, blond, with glasses covering blue eyes approached. “It’s been some time.”

“Minister.” Venar’s throat was dry. He knew he should have had a glass of water first. “Minister, I have discovered some quite disturbing things - ...”

“Have I introduced you,” The Minister went on, smiling. “To Mister Wulfric? Miss Miriam you’ve already met, of course. And,” His lips twitched, slightly. “Miss Honey, of course.”

Mister Wulfric, it seemed, was the man on the Minister’s left side. Tall, dark hair sticking up in tufts, yellow eyes trained on Venar, an apple in one hand.

“Minister. Your - your plan has failed. I remember - ...”

“Of course you do, Doctor. You remember,” The Minister’s voice became suddenly sibilant, hypnotising. Vaguely, Venar noted Mister Wulfric growl, softly, and take a bite out of his apple. “You remember how those terrible, terrible monsters sabotaged your experiment. You remember how kind I was to you. How I was the only one who took you seriously.”

“Yes,” Venar frowned, uncertain. “Yes, I’m sorry. It’s just, this datapad.”

“Made by your enemies, Venar. Don’t worry yourself over this,” The Minister beamed, adjusting his glasses. “You have important work, after all. Tell me, Doctor. How goes Operation Viridian?”