For the short term, you could (carefully) use a pair of side cutters to cut the battery out, and clean up the mess surrounding it (I used metho on mine - probably not the most effective, but hey..).
Then later you can solder a new battery in when you feel like it.
IIRC it's just a standard 3.6V battery that you can get at most PC shops. I replaced mine with an off-board battery velcroed to the chassis.
- Paul
