Chapter 1 - Anchors Aweigh
A Glimpse of Eternity

This story follows the relationship of Commander Shepard and Kaidan Alenko. There will be SPOILERS. The writing follows their journey from Mass Effect 1 through Mass Effect 3, including stories covering the time between ME1 to ME2 and ME2 to ME3.

A lot of this writing expands the story that Bioware created for Shepard and Alenko's romance, adding in their personal thoughts, feelings and even altering or supplementing interactions to give a more rounded out and whole story. A lot of time, effort and tears have gone into these stories. I love Kaidan Alenko and his romance with Commander Shepard. I hope I have done the character's justice.

Disclaimer: I own only the parts of the individual personality of Commander Kiara Shepard I have developed inspired by the Commander Shepard in the gameplay. I do not own, nor hold any rights, to any of the characters, dialogue, storylines or any part in or of the "Mass Effect" game series. I want to thank Drew Karpyshyn and his staff of amazing writers, animators and voice actors. These are for fan enjoyment only and no money had been made on these stories.

Commander Kiara Shepard looked out the windows on the bridge as space drifted past them. They were approaching a relay and she found herself bracing her feet for the surge she expect to come. She was used to feeling it when ships went through one of the relays.

It surprised her when she barely felt a thing as the ship made its jump through the Arcturus Prime Relay. The new state-of-the-art SSV Normandy was an impressive vessel. She envied Captain Anderson for his appointment to the Normandy and she was honored he had chosen her as his Executive Officer.

Good pilot too, she thought as the man behind the controls rolled off the travel stats. To her right, the turian Spectre, Nihlus, commented and then left to report it to the captain.

Jeff "Joker" Moreau was the best pilot in the Alliance and he made it his point to make sure everyone knew it too. Not that he was egotistical and pompous in a bad way, as some were known to be, but it was just a fact to him. He was the best. Period. She'd gotten to know him a bit on a previous posting and she was glad there was someone else on the ship she'd build a rapport with.

Her brow raised though when he made the comment he hated Nihlus. She was about to step forward to inquire when a male voice came up from the chair to Joker's right. "Nihlus gave you a compliment…so you hate him?" the crewman asked, turning his head to look at Joker.

Kiara couldn't place what it was about that voice that gave her pause. Her emerald gaze moved from the consoles in front of Joker to look at the man who's voice had caught her off guard.

From her angle, she could only catch the side of his face but that glimpse revealed dark hair and tanned skin. His hair was cut in a style that drew the gaze down to a strong square jaw, that held the faintest hint of stubble shadowing its lines. His lips, what she could see by their upturned smirk towards Joker, looked full and the side profile of his nose echoed the strong lines of his jaw. Dark, full eyebrows framed eyes she couldn't quite make out in the dimmed lighting of the bridge. By the angle, she could have sworn they were as dark as his hair.

He was a soldier, there was no doubt about that by the look of him, even sitting in the chair as he was. Her mind turned back to the dossiers on the crew of the Normandy and recalled there not being a second pilot. Thinking back through the files, she remembered one profile who's picture looked similar. Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko. He was head of the Normandy's marine detail and considered a powerful biotic in the Alliance. Jump Zero training, if she remember the file correctly.

With an ear to their conversation, her stance held in the formal military at-ease posture, she returned her glance to the console. She couldn't help but hide a smirk on her lips at the exchange.

"You remember to zip up your jumpsuit on the way out of the bathroom? That's good. I just jumped us halfway across the galaxy and hit a target the size of a pinhead. So that's incredible!" Joker retorted, unwavering from his character with his statement, "Besides, Spectres are trouble. I don't like having him on board. Call me paranoid." Shepard remembered Joker's inability to keep a filter on - and his penchant for conspiracy theories.

"You're paranoid. The Council helped fund this project. They have the right to send someone to keep an eye on their investment," Lieutenant Alenko shot back. She smirked silently. He was direct.

Good. The Alliance needed direct people who spoke their minds and both of these men didn't seem to have a problem with it. Especially Joker, "Yeah, that is the 'official story'. But only an idiot believes the 'official story'."

She couldn't disagree with his statement, however. Something about this whole mission hadn't been sitting well with her. "You always expect the worse, Joker, but I agree, they don't send Spectres on shakedown runs," she piped in.

Kaidan glanced over his shoulder to the Commander and froze. He'd heard of Commander Shepard, seen vids of her during interviews, but nothing could have prepared him for seeing her in person. She was stunning with her blue black hair bound tightly at the back of her head in a high bun. She held her form rigid like the marine she was, which didn't surprise him, given her impressive service record.

She was Alliance bred and raised, a spacer her whole life on military vessels. Alliance flowed in her veins and even standing there reviewing the consoles, she was remarkable. It was her startlingly green gaze that truly gave him pause, though. She continued scanning over the consoles in front of her with a calculating and severe eye yet still, they held a warmth to them. An element that just seemed to draw him in and not let him leave.

"So there is more going on here than the captain's letting on," Joker said, his fingers moving on the console. He glanced over to Kaidan who looked away from the Commander and brought his attention back to the displays in front of him. The Captain had asked him to keep an eye on some of the systems while they made their jump.

As if on cue, Captain Anderson's voice rang over the comm, "Joker! Status report."

"Just cleared the mass relay, Captain. Stealth systems engaged. Everything looks solid."

"Good. Find a comm buoy and link us into the network. I want mission reports relayed back to Alliance brass before we reach Eden Prime," Anderson replied, the tone of command clear.

"Aye, aye, Captain. Better brace yourself, sir. Nihlus is headed your way," Joker said. It amazed Shepard how his fingers never seeming to cease moving along the HUD display of the flight console.

"He's already here, Lieutenant," Anderson chided, a tone which she noted likely had Joker feeling like an ass. Hell, standing there, that tone made Kiara feel like an ass and she hadn't said anything. "Tell Commander Shepard to meet me in the comm room for a debriefing."

"You get that, Commander?" Joker asked over his shoulder after the comm link clicked off.

"Great," she said with a tone heavy in sarcasm, "You piss the captain off and now I'm going to pay for it." With a smirk, she shook her head and turned to head back towards the comm room.

"Pff. Don't blame me. The captain's always in a bad mood," Joker replied, looking over his shoulder to her.

As Kiara walked out off the bridge she heard Lieutenant Alenko pipe up, "Only when he's talking to you, Joker." It made her smile. Then the smile faded and her usual severe look took over her features as she made her way to the comm room.

After a brief detour to speak to Doctor Chakwas and Corporal Richard Jenkins, she proceeded into the meeting with the Captain. He'd been tense since they'd gotten under way and she wondered if she would finally learn what was going on.

A meeting with a Council Spectre and an annoyed Captain…she couldn't wait.