Fixed from a previous version...thank anonymous...I have NO military knowledge and Google failed me!
"Joker, you've got to see it. It was a beautiful ship, but I've never seen anything like it," said Staff Lt. Lauren Shepard to her friend Jeff Moreau, who was known to most by his nickname. "Captain Anderson said it had a stealth drive core. I have no idea how that works, but..."
"It sounds completely badass is what," said Joker, looking jealous even in the grainy vidcomm feed. "It's like the worst kept secret in the Alliance. Everyone knows about it and every pilot wants a chance at her helm!"
"So I take it you'll be applying?" she said in a nonchalant manner.
"Hell yes! My legs may be crippled, but my brain isn't and that's an opportunity too good to pass up! I'm jealous as hell. How in the fuck did you actually get picked to be the Normandy's XO?"
"I don't really know...I was as blindsided as anyone. I thought I'd be stuck in Vancouver forever."
After killing nearly 50 surrendering batarians on Torfan, the Alliance had quietly tucked Lauren away at their research and development headquarters where she was testing and developing armor to help biotics and weapons to defend against them. But that was months ago, now Lauren was suddenly thrust into a position of leadership that she hadn't known before when Capt. David Anderson asked her to be the executive officer of the Normandy, which would be under his command.
"Nah, you're too valuable. Hell, I saw that back on the Emden. Major Kyle did too. Why do you think you got thrown into N-School? Because you know your shit. Just like I know mine...and mine is going to be the Normandy. I can feel that engine right now..." Joker closed his eyes and started to mimic running a ship's controls.
"Well, since you are going to obviously start fantasizing about giant stealth drive cores...I should go," Lauren laughed.
Joker opened his eyes and gave Lauren a quirky smile. "You laugh it up now, but I know you'll be seeing me in person before you know it...I'll take you around the galaxy in style. Mark my words."
"Ok Joker. See you around." Lauren clicked off the vidcomm. Joker was in Dubai getting some specialized training for new defensive maneuvers, but Lauren was just starting her day. It was nearly 0600 and time to catch her transport to work.
This had become her favorite part of the day. She would take her usual seat in the middle. The back was always too loud with engine noise and the front...no one likes the front, she thought. She'd sit with a hot cup of tea, sipping and waiting through three stops from her apartment when Kaidan would step on.
She smiled as she sat. Staff Lt. Kaidan Alenko was a good friend. The years they spent separated after BAaT seemed to melt away once they started working together again. It didn't seem like it had actually been 14 years since they left Brain Camp, but yet it had.
The transport stopped and Lauren saw the familiar dark-haired man climb in. He had a funny routine that she had started to notice after a few months of riding every day. Kaidan would take the two steps up into the transport, stop, and while looking up take a big sip of his ever-present coffee. Then he would smile at her, take the 10 steps it took to get to her seat (she always counted and the step count never changed), set his duffel in the overhead compartment with his left hand while his right still held his coffee and with a quick smooth motion slid into the seat beside her.
"Hey," he said. Lauren liked the comfort of his sleepy smile in the morning. He always looked like he probably rolled out of bed just a couple minutes before the transport arrived. Not messy, just something in his eyes. His voice was low and smoky, pleasant to listen to, so she often tried to get him to talk.
"Hey Kaidan, how's your mom?" Lauren had never actually met the woman, but she did know that he still lived with his parents, mostly out of proximity to work. Lauren didn't know how he did it. Her parents were still in Chicago and sometimes that felt too close.
Kaidan rolled his amber brown eyes. "Oh, she's fine. My dad got home last night for a bit of shore leave. Today is their anniversary. They've been married 35 years, so he's planning on taking her to Hawaii for the weekend."
"Is that bad?"
"No, but you have to know my mom...she's...very traditional."
"Ok?" Lauren looked at Kaidan quizzically.
"We got into a little bit of an argument last night. She was getting on my case about marriage..." He paused to take another long drink of coffee. "And giving her grandkids."
"Oohhh," Lauren laughed. "My mom couldn't care less, thank God."
"She just thinks that a 31-year-old man should be settling down and starting a family. I told her I just wasn't ready for that yet. It's hard to explain."
"Nah, you don't have to explain it to me. I may never get married and have kids and I'm fine with that. There's too much of the galaxy I want to see. That's why I'm so excited..."
"About the Normandy," said Kaidan, finishing her sentence. "Yeah, it is pretty great. As soon as I got involved in the project, it made me think about that a little too, but for now, I'm really ok staying here at R&D."
"Don't you ever want to get off of Earth? This place can be so boring sometimes."
"Yeah, I mean, I've thought about some fun places to take some shore leave and things, but..." He stopped again and chuckled to himself.
"What's so funny?"
Kaidan gave Lauren a sideways look. "Nothing, just an old memory."
"Well, Anderson said we're going to start taking applications and recommendations for the crew in a few months. You should think about it." Lauren elbowed Kaidan gently. "Everything is supposed to be ready for launch early next year."
Stretching his arms out in front of him, Kaidan yawned. "I don't know...maybe. We'll see. For now, I like working on its systems and getting all the kinks worked out. I don't know if that'll translate into a desire to stay on it. I don't really care for front-line duty."
Lauren looked at his now-frowning face. "I've been waiting for an adventure like this for ages. Just say you'll look into it?" Lauren made a big-eyed puppy dog look that caused Kaidan to laugh.
"All right...I'll look into it."
A/N: Ok...setting a little of the time before the trilogy. Please let me know what you like and what you don't! I appreciate all of your support through my first two Lauren stories...I hope I can make this as enjoyable for you as it is for me!