I poked Nuan's shoulder.
"Hmmh... Is it morning already?" she moaned.
"Yes, it is morning." I said. She slowly opened her eyes and looked around the shuttle.
"So funny." she said and turned away. "Leave me alone."
"Nuan, help has arrived." I said, pointing to the shuttle's window. She looked outside.
"Holy hell!" she screamed. "What is this!?"
Just a few kilometers away was Lodos II, slowly approaching us to take the shuttle into her small hangar bay.
"Shuttle Talossa Prime, kill your angular momentum and stay in position. We will handle the rest."
That was Mei's voice.
"Understood, Admiral." answered our shuttle's co-pilot, as the commanding pilot put the shuttle into a suitable position for Lodos' capture.
In just under five minutes, we were in Lodos' hangar bay, with it's doors closed and interior pressurized with breathable air. Shuttle's passenger hatch opened, and we stepped aboard Lodos. Mei was waiting for us just outside the hangar, and she came running by.
"Welcome aboard, Mr. President!"
She and a uniformed man on her side saluted me. I saluted back.
"And welcome aboard as well, governor of Talossa Colony, Mr. Jalmari."
"Not anymor-" Frans tried to interrupt her greetings, but failed.
Mei looked at someone else and stuttered.
"A-also welcome, Ms. Qing, m-minister of foreign affairs. Welcome aboard."
"Okay, you can stop giving everyone their titles." I said.
"May I ask why I am honored by such a big diplomatic visit?" Mei asked.
"Because we were literally about to die, and you came to save us, Admiral." I said.
"With respect, I should have been the last person you should've called for rescue." said Mei. She came closer to whisper in my ear. "You knew what sort of mission I was on. If you didn't have a good reason, you wouldn't call me back. Care to explain yourself?"
"Yeah, shut up, Admiral." I said.
"Oh." she said. "Maybe you did this in order to get these two aboard my ship!"
"Rude." said Nuan.
"Stop coming up with stupid theories!" I said to Mei. "We were literally about do die."
"You are always about to die in one way or other!" Mei shouted. "What special occasion brought you to MY ship?"
"Well..." said Frans. "It is a bit hard to explain..."
"It usually is." Mei said. "What did I miss?"
"Long story short, we all were about to be assassinated." I said, pointing at Nuan and Frans.
"And we two as well." the shuttle pilots tried to show themselves.
"Why am I not surprised?" said Mei, and sighed. "Who tried to kill you this time, and why?"
"The Republic guards." I said.
"And some Talossans." added Frans.
"W-what!?" Mei was shocked. "Impossible."
"Apparently not." said Nuan.
"Anyway... We need to contact Naval Command at Olympus Mons." I said.
"Of course." said Mei. "This way please, Admiral."
We all left the hangar bay. Nuan, Frans and I went to the bridge with Mei; the shuttle pilots went to the mostly empty crew quarters accompanied by some crew member.
XS Lodos II's bridge was much more simplified compared to the old LC/M Lodos. It was smaller, but the layout was more comfortable, and the lighting was undoubtedly better. The consoles and panels were pretty minimalistic, and they were easier to read and use, yet the tools at one's hand were more powerful than ever. I could bet, given just a handbook guide and nothing more on all the systems, I could handle this ship alone.
Then the most important new feature caught my eye - the full color palette displays that replaced the antique monochrome and 8-color screens of the old Lodos. Near the commander's chair, there was even a hologram display!
Then another realization hit me hard. The commander's chair itself!
"Wow, admirals get to sit down in the bridge nowadays?" I asked Mei.
"No, only I get to sit down..." she smiled. "...sir."
"Too bad." I said, sitting down on her chair. Mei came behind me.
"I would like you to disable your Vineura, Mr. President." she said. "Everyone else may disable as well, they won't work aboard this very special ship."
"If I still had one..." said Nuan.
"Oh, come on Nuan, are you still thinking about that?" I said. "Okay, I did it Mei... I mean, Admiral."
She carefully placed a helmet on my head. In front of me was an interface - the helmet had a transparent electronic display.
"It is like a Vineura, but military class, and very specialized for this ship's service." Mei said. "Now, where would you like to connect?"
"Oh my..." I said. "Wish I had one of these during my service!"
"I too wish I had this earlier." said Mei.
I tried using the controls to connect to the Naval Command in Olympus Mons. I could send signals down to Mars, but I wasn't getting anything back. Mei talked looking at the communications console in the bridge.
"Weird." she said. "I am sure they are hearing us, but why are they not responding?"
"Things must be really messed up on the ground." I said, giving up trying to connect to Naval Command.
"Yes, what now, military-heads?" Nuan asked.
"Will you stop doing that every time?" I said. "We are trying our best."
She didn't reply.
"Okay..." I sighed. "The Naval Command doesn't respond, the Navy or Republic guards aren't protecting us, the latter actively trying to kill us..." I said. "Talossa had a coup, and wants to leave the Republic probably."
"And we are waiting here with our hands tied behind our backs." said Mei.
"Exactly." I said. "Anyone has ideas?"
"I hate to say that..." Nuan said. "However, this might be the one time when we need to ask for help from the Federation."
"Screw the Federation." said Mei.
"Nuan might be right." I said, regretfully.
"Why don't we try to talk to this... Professor Yamamari?" Frans suggested.
"The leader of the Talossan coup?" I asked. "Okay, might as well do that, and try to see how these events are linked."
"Guys, guys... Think logically. How about we don't recognize him?" said Nuan. "Talking to him would be a very serious political mistake!"
"What else can we do, Nuan?" I asked.
"Just blast him out of the existence!" Nuan said. "That would serve as a good example for later."
"With what?" I asked. "No branch of the Martian Armed Forces hears us!"
"This ship would be more than enough to blow the whole city of Talossa up." said Nuan.
"Except this ship is unarmed." I told her.
She paused and thought for a few minutes, but came up with no other ideas.
"Fine." she said. "Do whatever you like."
"Connecting to Talossan governor's office..." said Mei. About half a minute later, I heard a sound from the helmet.
"Naval Forces? Admiral Mei!?"
This unfamiliar voice probably belonged to Professor Yamamari.
"This is the President of the Republic of Mars." I said. "Professor, I am sure you can understand why I want to talk to you."
"Oh, I see." his reply was almost instant. "Looks like I missed. Oops..."