Chapter 3
The Normandy was en route when Joker heard Alenko shout out to Shepard, and then an explosion sounded through the comm channel, followed by complete silence.
"Shit! What the hell was that?" He bellowed.
"Sir, we've lost all transmissions from Eden Prime. It seems there was a massive EMP detonation from the pick-up zone." His navigator quickly responded.
"Crap. Good thing we weren't in range. Any signs of additional EMPs charging?"
"No sir, everything is cold. No electricity for a seven mile radius at all."
"Keep an eye out. We're going in for extraction."
"Aye aye, sir."
Joker had visuals of the platform, where the last signal had indicated the team was located, after a few seconds of burning through atmosphere as fast as the Normandy could handle. Guess she's gonna get tested on this supposed shake down run after all.
He shrugged and allowed a small smirk to spread on his face at the good thing about a possible incident involving the ground team was that he got to haul ass to their position. If only the brass would let him fly like that more often – it really kept everyone sharp and on their toes, but nooo; 'regulation maneuvres only, Flight Lieutenant Moreau!' Pah!
When he got there, he spotted the three marines and a smoking stump of a beacon. Not good. One was lying down with Alenko, the only male, kneeling above her, while the third – he guessed this was Williams – was holding her earpiece and trying to regain communication with the Normandy.
"Dr. Chakwas, we have a man down. Stand by for medical support," he relayed to the med bay.
"Roger Joker, do we have an ID?"
"I believe it's the commander, doc." He hoped she would pull through; She had a lot of potential, that one. Not only was she a badass marine, but she was kinda nice too. - For a superior officer, anyway.
"Roger. Chakwas out." She sounded a bit distracted and very busy, so Joker assumed she had started preparations for the worst case scenarios.
When Joker touched down like a feather and immediately opened the hatch, Alenko and Williams – he had been right on the who's who – carried the unconscious commander aboard and ran straight for the med bay.
Gotcha. Time to hit orbit until further notice. In no time, he had lain in the coordinates and trajectory for the Normandy's VI and then put it on autopilot. He stayed in his seat until they were satelliting Eden Prime and then went to get dinner and wait for debriefing.
All in a day's work.
Fifteen hours later, the crew had been debriefed on the mission, and the night shift had come and gone. Joker was resetting his chair and bookmarks to his own preferences, again, and had a fresh can of coffee in his hand. Or, at least what passed for coffee aboard an alliance ship. It was piss poor and bitter, but strong enough to wake the dead. Best swallowed quickly to avoid the taste, though only if your trachea was coated in Teflon and your stomach was made of rawhide. Ahh, coffee!
"Joker!"
"Shit!" He jumped and nearly spilled his precious black aqua vitae down his lap. I REALLY need mirrors up here!
"Oh, hey Commander," he said, relieved at seeing her up and about. "Looking good!" Compared to being comatose the last time I saw you. Not that I'm hitting on you or anything. "Er… I mean…" Stop! Before you choke on your own toes, Moraeu!
Shepard broke out a breathtaking smile as she stopped her run by his chair. "Thanks Joker. Looking refreshed yourself and… Is that coffee I smell?" She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply, which insidently caused her excellently uniformed, ample bosom to lift and draw attention to itself, right at Joker's face level.
Holy *…*, didn't know coffee could do that... "Yep, never leave home without it!" He grinned as he took in the sights, only lifting his eyes to a gentlemanly level a fraction of a second before she opened hers. Close call. Down, boy!
"Can I taste? I'll get another for you, it's just that my head's killing me after the last mission and I'd kill for a cup right here and now." She asked with gorgeous doe eyes.
Anything you ask me like that. - But… My coffee! "Sure thing, commander. Knock yourself out, shaky caffeine hands are not practical for me anyway." –WHAT? Nooo! You damn horny bastard!
Shepard carefully placed her lush lips and took a good swig of his coffee canteen. Then she moaned deeply with her head back as she swallowed the black liquid and warmed her hands on the container. Yeah, that's not gonna help me look you in the eye, commander. Damn that body looks good.
"Oh, heavenly… By the way, the captain wants you to dock at the citadel." She handed him back his coffee, "thanks for the drink lieutenant. Want a refill?"
He gulped, "I'm good… Ma'am." Turning stiffly to his console and plotting the course, he missed the quizzical look the commander gave him.
He cleared his throat and decided on small talk to make the unwanted image of her moaning while exposing her neck to him go away. Or at least get saved for later.
"Good timing, commander. I was just about to bring us into the citadel. See that tax payer money at work." He tried to concentrate on his task of getting them through the relay safely. It had never been this hard before, and the rushing sound of his own pulse in his ears didn't make it easier.
After clearing the jump Alenko and Williams joined them on the bridge and the tension in Joker's shoulders eased a bit as he and Williams started bantering about the Ascension, the citadel flagship. It really was an incredible aircraft; The mass of it alone was equivalent to a small moon and it was strategically placed at the end of the citadel's planet-length arms. One would be insane to take on this guard dog with bad intentions and expect to survive. Not as agile and fierce as the Normandy, though, and for this reason Joker preferred his current vessel to the huge monstrosity. He'd take a Cheetah over an elephant any day. Much more fun to fly!
Soft dock was a breeze after that and captain Anderson commed the three marines and told them to suit up, they were going to go talk to the counsel, if at all possible. "- so put a shine to your boots, soldiers." He'd told them.
That's why I decided to stay the 'transportation manager' right up here, Joker thought to himself. They'd just make me iron my shirt, take a bath, or worse – shave. Never gonna happen, I tell ya!
The ground team left the ship and Pressly was left in charge. Joker settled in to do some thruster calibrations while they were docked, and opened up his extranet bookmarks folder for entertainment while the systems rebooted.
"That's it! Second flight lieutenant Morrison, report to the bridge immediately!" How the hell did she delete them while I was up here?
I decided to give you a little bit now and a little bit later instead of waiting a long time to post more, and thereby lose readers. Tell me if you enjoyed it, tell me if you didn't (but tell me why), and tell me if I messed something up.
Next up: Shepard's POV…
Love ya!
