Lee had considered several possibilities about how the company would react once they discovered what he'd done. None of them bore any resemblance to reality - the geosync platform wasn't at all what he remembered. When the science teams had arrived there had been life here, a semblance of normalcy. This was a military operation now; for all that Lee could see, Future Worlds Corp had ever even set foot on this station.

Not until this morning anyway. Day after day Lee had been subjected to questioning by military personnel, horrible insinuations and even worse accusations. Within hours of his harrowing escape from the surface, Hab-3 had been destroyed in another explosion. Kenta and the others, gone.

Unsurprisingly, he'd been treated with a great deal of suspicion but despite everything, Lee had maintained his innocence. The investigation hadn't found anything that implicate Lee aside from his odd escape strategy. And now Bart Fullerton, VP, Terraforming Operations sat across the interrogation table waiting for an answer. The choice was simple; join the Service or spend the next few decades on a penal colony. The company considered Lee's hijacking of the SRC outright piracy. It was recovered but damaged and without the thermogel protection, none of the samples had survived.

"Officially you're offworld on temporary assignment now," prompted Bart. "Sign and your contract becomes null and void when the crisis is over. Otherwise you're fired, effective immediately. Either way, you're doing time: that stunt you pulled was absolutely reckless. Hell, it was straight up madness. You're a dangerous liability Lee, even if you're not a damned terrorist. Why Myles wants you on his ship is anybody's guess but at least he'll have eyes on you."

"Last chance."

With a sigh, Lee leaned over and awkwardly picked up the pen. A few short strokes later he became an Ensign in the Navy. Better than being a convicted pirate.

"Very well. You'll be transferring to the Commonwealth Ship Hammer tomorrow, under Captain Myles' command. Lieutenant Simpson on Deck C will get you provisioned. Try not to get anyone killed."

Bart left without another look as Lee's restraints were removed, absent-mindedly pressing the cufflinks of his suit jacket as he left the detention facilities.