Part 30

A moment after Mastaba finishes talking, another voice crackles from the radio.

Woman: "Somebody, please help me. I'm trapped at the dig site."

There's few enough people alive on this station, so I can be fairly certain it's Dr. Escher talking. Though Escher was far from a true believer in the Mondite cause, it doesn't mean that I particularly feel like lending her a hand.





Woman: "Mastaba shot me, the bastard! Please! Don't leave me here to die..."

On second thought, anyone who Mastaba would shoot is likely the type of person I'd like to meet. If nothing else, we seem to be the only ones who aren't content to die on this ball of rock.

Still, I can't afford to let my guard down.



I can see the battery that powers the ship in a small port on the nose section of the Icarus. It comes out easily. Oddly enough, it's the same type that's inside of me. Dane's battery and my own must be reverse engineered versions of this alien battery.



I might as well try it out. If it's the real deal instead of just Mastaba's imitation, it's probably far more powerful than the battery I'm using now.

Sure enough, even drained as it is, the artifact battery can hold five times as much energy as my original one. It could power something like the Icarus, so I guess it would have to be more powerful.



I've been taking a bit of a beating, so now isn't a bad time to heal myself. This new battery really is amazing. Even mostly drained, it hardly drains at all when I use my biological repair function.

Hmm, that makes me wonder...



No, not enough energy to start up the 'PFD System'. I'm really still not sure what this PFD System is, but if it takes more energy than this to charge, it must be incredibly powerful. I just hope it isn't some sort of last ditch self-destruct system or something.

Hopefully I can find another one of these alien batteries, or at least recharge this one.



Moving on and searching the hangar, I come upon something strange lying improbably on the ground. It's a small cube made of a very odd material. It looks like metal, but it feels strangely like flesh. It's covered with some kind of script that looks unfamiliar to me.

I'm certain there's no way human hands built this. I need to get to the excavation site, there must be some answers waiting there for me.





I make a quick stop to repair my environment suit in preparation for the journey outside. Having holes in my suit wouldn't be likely to increase my chances for survival in a hostile environment.



And now on to the lowest level, which should take me outside.



Looks like the power is out on this level, probably thanks to my powering down of the reactor. I should be careful, with the station running on low power mode, by the time I come back, the only breathable environment inside the station could be what's contained in my suit.