"Attention, all expedition party!" announced the voice of Captain Gambria in Melbourne's spacesuit. "We are under attack by a Jovian Frigate. Return to the Seeker at once and report to the bridge for further debriefing. I repeat, we are under attack. Jovian marines will be boarding the derelict in ten minutes. I wouldn't stay around there if I were you. Purge as much data as possible and get out of there."
Melbourne sighed and pocketed the syringe as he unstrapped himself from the command chair.
***
Meanwhile, Gambria was answering a video communication request with the captain of the frigate.
"Greetings, good people. I am Captain Rays Velgamo of the H.R.S. Strelo." said the Jovian officer. "His royal majesty Emperor Galeion I has sent me here to investigate this strange artifact. In his great wisdom, he has seen that it could harbor many dangerous dormant Cosmist threats. Now, as you appear to be a private civilian vessel, I must ask you to take your attention off of this ship and prepare to be escorted to Jovania. You will all be questioned and physiologically examined to ensure no violation of the Artilect Protocol has been committed after we are done investigating and disposing of this dangerous artifact."
"This is an outrage!" protested Victoria in anger. "We are employed by Arian Horizons who was sanctioned by Chancellor Varato himself to engage upon this archaeological expedition in the name of the Martian Republic! Luna is a Martian colony and you have no jurisdiction here!"
"By the interplanetary convention of Section 4 of the Artilect Protocol, we do have authority here when it is a matter pertaining to threats to the Artilect Protocol. We must ensure international cooperation with the Protocol of course, or by that law, we must go to war against the Republic. You understand, I trust. Know that any civilians caught within the derelict will not have the authority to return to your ship and will instead be escorted to our brig. Any resistance and they will be shot without mercy. Do not attempt to fire your engines and escape the scene or we will be forced to open fire upon you. It would be very unfortunate if an innocent corporate expedition such as this ended so tragically. Salutations, madame captain."
The video feed cut out and Victoria was left fuming and cursing her ill fortune.
***
[New Mission: Escape Imperial Interference
*You have been captured by a Jovian naval frigate. Find a way out of the situation or you will be escorted to Ganymede and imprisoned.
*Reward: 20 XP]
After Victoria's full debriefing about the developing situation, Melbourne took his spacesuit off. He split his mind between making his way to the bridge and watching the Jovian exploration team enter the derelict through the eyes of his secret drone.
A small short range shuttle deposited ten Imperial marines in red spacesuits into the same hole that the Seeker had made. They expertly pushed through corridors and combed the entire ship for all data files, destroying all data they could find. Eventually, they found the captain's chair.
Melbourne had installed a short range radio listener onto his drone and was able to find the frequency of their communication frequency after some tinkering by an automated algorithm, so he was able to listen to the squad communicate with each other starting at about the same time that they found the chair.
"What an odd bridge design." said one of the soldiers. "Ever seen anything like this?"
"I've heard rumors that Cosmists had a very different ship design way back when." said another squad mate. "I didn't take much stock in them, but I guess the rumors were true. Sergeant, do you see any computer terminals or potential data retrieval mechanisms?"
"We've found no information of value to the Empire so far." said another voice. "Unfortunately, I think these bastards have already purged them."
"Ah, so they are just doing their duty for the Artilect Protocol. I bet you they've got some data somewhere on that ship for the Chancellor. You know they won't play by the rules any more than we will. National security interests and all that."
"Of course, Corporal. That's why Captain Velgamo hasn't destroyed them yet. We are going to board them next and extract all data from their computers before we finish them. He has them believing they're just being detained, that all will be well as long as they're not guilty of any crimes."
"Ducks!" yelled another through hysterical, cruel laughter.
"Hey, you think those strange metal plates on the headrest of that chair do anything useful?" asked another.
"Let's see." said the voice of the sergeant. "Seaman, you just volunteered yourself to test it."
One of the soldiers with a single chevron on his suit sat down. After a minute of nothing happening, the soldier got up and shrugged.
"Nothing, sarge." said the seaman.
"Of course not." said the squad leader. "Most of these machines are centuries old and have been destroyed by nature and time. Let's move on."
Melbourne rushed back to the bridge as soon as he realized what was up. He quickly explained the situation to Victoria to impress upon her the urgency of doing something about these interlopers.
"I see." said Victoria. "It's just a little worse than I thought. I thought we were going to be escorted to Ganymede and given a trial. The fact that a brief physiology test will show me to be a cyborg already doomed the rest of the crew to legal execution. The Empire, of course, doesn't know I'm breaking the law and most likely wants to gather as much data to keep in their database of national secrets as well as Mars does. That means they won't want us reporting back. I already discovered they've put a Faraday field around our ship to keep us from calling for help. Did you discover anything that might help in the derelict?"
"The command chair responds to the Aclito." said Melbourne, thoughtfully. "It lets me control systems that aren't completely destroyed including a few turrets and an old laser cannon that doesn't work anymore. Not very helpful. Wait a minute." Melbourne thought about everything he saw in the menus then remembered. "The ship has a single nuclear missile and the targeting computer still functions! If I can access that chair, I can launch the missile into the frigate!"
"That's brilliant!" exclaimed Victoria. "That only leaves the problem of injecting you into the ship without you being caught. If we try to send you in with the security officers on jet packs, we won't go unnoticed. This isn't a military vessel and isn't equipped for war, but I do have a solution. I have a personal spacesuit from the Red Cybers in a hidden closet that is designed to avoid radar detection. It will depend upon your use of handlebars. You won't be able to use jetpacks. If I launch you out of the garbage chute, do you think you can infiltrate the derelict and get to the command chair without being detected?"
"Sounds like the only viable plan, Captain." said Melbourne. "I need to go relieve myself while you prepare the stealth suit."
Victoria nodded as Melbourne floated to the nearest restroom where he pulled out the syringe and stared at it pleadingly.
"Alright, your boon may be the difference between life or death." prayed Melbourne in a low voice. "Please, please don't fail me."
Upon that last second of trepidation, Melbourne plunged the needle into his arm and injected the cold liquid into his bloodstream. The cold sensation spread exponentially through his veins as he found himself paralyzed from the shock of the changes happening unbelievably quickly to his physiology. Finally, after two minutes, the shock receded and he came back to self control, feeling much better than he ever had before.
[Augmentation Received: Respirocytes
*End +5
*End: 19]