Paul Divine was relieved to be told by Tom Parkinson that he and Charles Bragg could take a couple of weeks off to recuperate some more. Paul was also happy with this turn of events, for he could now stay a little longer on Persephone and get to know Alice Tarraway a lot better. Charles Bragg decided to take his leave on the Defender and answer the distress call, the Defender could call on Persephone on its return journey and pick Paul Divine up if need be, hopefully by then Paul would have made up his mind as to his plans. While they were recuperating, Tom Parkinson asked them to sum up the situation in that quadrant of space, could they safely leave Tyler Burrows in command of a light space cruiser. What Paul had seen of Tyler Burrows the answer to the question was definitely yes, but Charles Bragg would be better able to answer that question when he returned to Persephone. Tom Parkinson felt that President Michaels might have jumped the gun in offering so much to a man that they knew little about.