Samantha Traynor was excited this morning. She was about to start a brand new project, one she had been given amazing levels of security clearance and resources for. She chuckled to herself as she checked herself in the mirror one last time, remembering how at the beginning, she had thought it was a joke.
She had just finished her shift at the R&D labs on Arcturus and was about to enter her private quarters when she noticed there were people waiting outside. A lot of people. A lot of ranking admirals, her brain finally processed the sight of the golden bars on the shoulders of the person in the middle. She snapped into a salute, not daring to move a muscle until it was returned and the order given to stand easy. She stayed silent and didn't dare move her eyes as the dark-skinned man in the admiral jacket stepped closer.
"Communication Specialist Samantha Traynor?" he asked, a hint of a London accent creeping in to his smooth baritone. Samantha unconsciously relaxed a little at the sound of something familiar to her own Oxford twang.
"Sir, I wasn't aware that there was an inspection today," she replied formally. This earned her an eye roll and a scoff from the Londoner.
"Please Specialist; I think we can leave the formality at the door. I'm not here for an inspection or a reprimand, I'm here to see you personally."
"Me, Sir?"
"Yes you. I've got a project lined up for a very talented person. I'm looking for someone recently graduated from Oxford, with post-grad work in quantum entanglement theory and application, has several published papers in the area, and is currently lodged right here," he said jovially, pointing at the door to her quarters to illustrate.
"That sounds like me Sir. But forgive me for asking bluntly: why?"
"Because I like to work with the best Traynor, and right now, that's you. So, can I interest you?"
"I-I'm not sure Admiral. Commander Cogs is kind of possessive about us."
"Don't worry about Hugo; he's just a big softie. And it's Anderson, by the way."
"Yes Sir, Admiral Anderson," she replied, a smile creeping to her lips after hearing Commander Cogs being called 'Hugo' and 'softie' by Anderson. "Assuming you can pull strings with the Commander, what exactly will I be doing?" Anderson smiled at the discovery of Samantha's sense of humour under the initial fear.
"Top level refitting of an experimental frigate to accommodate the latest in quantum entanglement and FTL communication technology. You'll have complete autonomy and access to anything the Alliance can requisition. I expect nothing less for my new command ship."
"And what ship would that be Sir,"
"The Normandy, of course."
Samantha's smile froze on her face. She had a horrible flashback of her experience on Horizon, ending with a flash of Commander Shepard's face before she was back in the present.
"Th-The Normandy, Sir? As in Commander Shepard's ship?"
"Former ship," Anderson replied quickly, his tone of voice lowering the temperature around them. He forced himself to smile again though. "So, are you interested Specialist?"
"I think you could probably persuade me Sir. Just let me get my toothbrush."
And that was that. Her transfer was processed at record-breaking pace, which wasn't hard considering the requesting admiral hovering over your shoulder generally encouraged efficiency. She'd been given new quarters in Vancouver, a generous salary, and as Anderson had said, complete autonomy and access to just about any resource she needed. Today was her first day on the actual ship itself though, and she felt her old nerves returning. As the shuttle landed near the spaceport dry-dock, she got her first glimpse at the ship of Commander Shepard.
She knew it wasn't the original, that was little more than scrap and a memorial statue somewhere in the arse-end of the Terminus. This one was the one Cerberus had built for her t take on the Collectors. When they had been targeting human colonies. Like Horizon. She felt her chest tighten and fought it back down, taking deep breaths and thinking about something, anything other than being trapped and helpless as she had watched Commander Shepard and her team fighting Collectors. She took strength in the memory of those warm eyes meeting hers, the muffled sound of her voice telling her it would be alright, before she was gone. Later the stasis faded and learned that the Commander was already gone, the Normandy having taken her away.
She suddenly found herself in a fantasy she had used several times when alone, of her and the famous Commander Shepard alone somewhere, nothing between them to stop roving hands. She stopped it before it got too far and she did something indecent or just downright weird in public, before moving to the gangway that connected the Normandy to the facility. She was met by a trio of others, two low-ranking privates in Alliance fatigues and a man in a wheelchair.
Hmm, I wonder if either of those privates would let me see theirs. And want to see mine of course, Sam thought to herself. She looked at the man being wheeled in front of them and wondered what he was doing. Perhaps another specialist installing something unrelated to her communications upgrades. He caught sight of her, and she was immediately treated to the same lecherous stare she often got in college before the guys found out she didn't play for their team.
"Hey there good looking. So, want to try and ditch my chaperones here and go for lunch later?" he asked with a grin. Sam couldn't help but laughing, remembering her college years. At least he was upfront about it, and was refreshingly funny as well. She decided she could play back with this one, maybe make herself a new friend as well.
"Sorry there love, but I'm more likely to have lunch with said chaperones than you," she said with a smile. To his credit, his smile didn't even flicker.
"Oh really now? So, which one would be your pick, Sarah or Bethany?" he said, pointing to each of the privates to identify them. "Or maybe both? If it's both, can I watch, or at least take pictures?"
Sam watched very carefully as Sarah frowned a little, at the first suggestion, and then deepen at the mention of pictures. Bethany however, smiled a little and gave Sam a quick once-over at the suggestion of lunch, before joining Sarah in her scowl at the seated man. Looks like we have a winner, Sam thought to herself.
"Where are my manners? Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor," she said, extending her hand.
"Privates Campbell and Westmoreland," replied Sarah, finishing her glare at the man, whose wheelchair she gave a kick. "And this regular comedian here is Jeff Moreau."
"Call me Joker," he said, taking her hand and shaking it. "No hard feelings about the pictures thing?"
"None here, though you might want to adjust your pants there Joker." The three of them suddenly looked down at Joker's crotch and saw exactly nothing, at which point they all burst out laughing at being played like that.
"Something tells me we'll get along just fine Traynor," Joker said, wiping the tear from his eye and wheeling himself towards the airlock.
After the standard decon procedures, Sam was slightly startled by the most incredible voice she had ever heard in her life.
"Logged, Flight Lieutenant Moreau is aboard."
"Was that the VI?" asked Sam, after swallowing heavily.
"Yeah, that's EDI, the onboard VI," Bethany explained. "Only responds to Joker's commands, so we need to keep bringing him here, even though he should be in lockdown. Asshole manages to get an extranet connection here, spends most of his time searching for porn, while we have to babysit him."
"Does he find any good stuff?" Sam blurted out, before her eyes go wide. Bethany smirks, before taking Sam by the hand and leading her down the main deck.
"Sarah, watch our little friend while I give Sam the tour, eh?"
"Yeah, whatever," Sarah replied, uninterested.
Once they were out of Joker's earshot, Bethany started to giggle.
"Rule number one around Joker, never encourage him. Rule number two; never ask about his porn collection. Rule number three, don't hit him too hard, he's got brittle bones."
"Oh, right."
"And to answer your question, no, he doesn't. Mostly girl-on-girl or girl-on-asari, though recently he's been on something of a quarian kick. And before you ask, no, even the stuff we would watch isn't very good. Doesn't focus on the right... bits." Sam tried to fight the blush as her suspicion was closer to confirmed about the alluring Private Westmoreland.
"I see. So, can you point me to the communications systems, I'd like to see what I have to work with."
"Right, just down here. They opened up a whole lot of space at the rear of the deck, lots of wires and things I really don't understand. Just ask EDI if you need any help, she's pretty knowledgeable about the ship. And if you need help with anything else, just come and find me," She said with a smile and a wink, before turning around and heading back to the helm. Sam took a few seconds to watch Bethany's retreating form appreciatively before she caught herself and shook her head to focus.
She spend the rest of the day getting caught up with the current ship specifications, asking EDI a question and being almost hypnotised by the sound of the VI voice. It was low and smooth, almost like silk. In a moment of weakness she may have allowed herself a little fantasy of herself and that voice, coming from a mouth that looked remarkably like Bethany's, rolling around in aforementioned satin sheets.
"Shall I remember this for future reference Specialist Traynor?" Sam's eyes went wide as she realised she must have said that last part out loud.
She blushed madly but said nothing, resolving to complete the days' work in silence and not, definitely not, thinking about EDI's voice or Bethany's cute smile and fantastic behind and great-looking tits and...
Great, first day on the job and I'm already lusting after not one, but two completely different entities. Way to go Samantha.
A/N: This one goes out to a good friend of mine here on FF - one HugoCogs. I even put you in mate, you can't get better than that!