Is there a way to force non-combat ships to stop "Evading hostile fleet"?

One of my Situation Log missions involves investigating crystalline debris. My fleet is not yet strong enough to reliably kill one without losses, but if I swarm them with my entire fleet (of 5 ships) I can crush a single entity and only lose a single ship. I'm not in a position to do this a second time (never mind three more), so I figured I'd send in a science ship to scan this single bit of debris.

Unfortunately, despite the other three entities making no moves towards my ships (unless I get close enough to engage) my science ship only complies with my orders for about a second before I get the message "Evading hostile fleet" and it heads for the nearest friendly star system. The one bit of debris I have will timeout before I can mount any kind of serious offensive against the other three to clear them out.

I've tried having my military ships escort it in the hopes that their presence would override the cowardly nature of my science ship, but to no avail. Is there any way to force my science ship to make that scan despite the presence of the hostile fleet, or will I have to abandon this debris?