Chapter 4:
The Normandy
Patrick's head throbbed as he pushed himself off the metal table, vision hazy. His arms were shaky and he momentarily forgot where he was until a familiar voice exclaimed, "Dr. Chakwas! Dr. Chakwas! He's waking up!"
Ashley? Patrick turned to see a woman walk towards him, Ashley Williams moving slowly behind her.
"How are you feeling, Hamilton?" The woman asked, pushing a strand of gray hair out of sharp amber eyes. Her skin was wrinkled slightly, but despite her obvious age, she still looked very fit. Patrick instantly knew that she was Dr. Chakwas.
"A minor headache," Patrick answered, rubbing his temple with one hand. It was then that he noticed that he was wearing a blue shirt and pants: the Normandy's traditional uniform. The cloth clung to his chest and he wondered who dressed him in it. "Nothing serious. How long was I out?"
"Fifteen hours," Dr. Chakwas explained.
Damn. That's more than I sleep normally.
"That beacon exploded," Ashley explained gently, "I must have activated and you had to pull me out of the way. It's my fault."
"Don't blame yourself," Patrick whispered, still trying to massage his throbbing temples, "You had no idea what would happen."
Ashley nodded while Dr. Chakwas added, "I've detected minor changes to your attitude. Nothing serious, but I have noticed an increase in your rapid eye movement. Signs that point to intense dreaming."
"I saw…" Patrick's voice trailed off. What could he say? "I saw death, destruction. Nothing is very clear."
"I'll have to add this to my report," Dr. Chakwas said, "Then- oh Captain Anderson, Commander Shepard."
Patrick's head snapped up. Shepard walked in, Captain Anderson strolling right beside him. Anderson looked just like he did in the game: balding yet still tough enough to command an entire ship.
"How is he holding up, Doctor?" Anderson asked his voice rough.
"Should be fine," Dr. Chakwas answered.
"Good," Anderson said, "Hamilton, can I talk to you alone? With Commander Shepard?"
"Aye aye, sir," Ashley said, saluting Anderson, "I'll be in the mess if you need me."
Ashley walked out of the room, followed by Dr. Chakwas while Shepard crossed his arms and asked, "How are you, kid?"
"Fine," Patrick said with a nod, "So what did you two want to talk to me about?"
"You probably won't understand this," Anderson said, "But things aren't looking good for the Alliance. That turian, Nihlus, turned up dead and the beacon destroyed-"
Shepard raised his hand, "Don't blame him, Captain. That was Saren's fault, not his."
"I know that and I'll stand beside both of you when we talk to the Ambassador," Anderson said.
"We're going to the Citadel?" Patrick asked excitedly.
"Yes," Anderson said with a nod, "We need to inform the Ambassador and the Council about the beacon and Saren."
"One more thing," Shepard said, "We don't know what Saren wants, but it had something to do with that beacon. Hamilton, did you see anything right before the beacon self-destructed? Any clue that would show us what Saren is after?"
"Right before I passed out, I had a-" Patrick's voice trailed off, "A vision. I saw synthetics killing people."
"Geth?" Shepard asked.
"No…" Patrick paused and then slowly said, "I think they were Reapers."
"Reapers?" Shepard asked.
"When I studied the Protheans," Patrick lied. "I learned that the Protheans may have been wiped out by an advanced race of sentient machines. I think I saw the Reapers wiping out the Protheans."
Shepard and Anderson shared a glance.
"We can't go with that idea unless we have solid proof," Anderson said slowly.
Don't tell me in this version; Anderson isn't going to side with us!
"Fine," Patrick said, "Let's head to the Citadel."
Anderson nodded, "Commander, walk with me."
Patrick followed them and walked out of the med-bay, looking over at the mess where Ashley was sitting. She waved him over and Patrick sat down. Ashley tucked a lose strand of black hair behind her ear, "Glad to see you up, farmer."
"Me too," Patrick grinned, "I can honestly say, I did not expect my day to be like this."
Ashley laughed, "I don't think either of us did. So what do you think we are going to do?"
"I'm going to see what the Ambassador and the Council say," Patrick said, "Hopefully I can stay on the Normandy with the Commander at least I know him and the lieutenant."
"And me," Ashley smiled, "Captain Anderson asked me if I wanted to stay on the Normandy."
Patrick nodded, "You are a very valuable edition to the crew. You saved my neck more than once on Eden Prime."
Ashley nodded, "Eden Prime. We lost a lot of good men."
"We did," Patrick whispered.
"I lost a home," Ashley sighed.
Will I even return to mine? Patrick thought to himself, feeling sick to his stomach about the last conversation he had with William. Did his family even realize he was gone?
"Hey Williams, Hamilton," Patrick glanced over as Kaidan took a seat next to them. "Kid, you took quite a hit out there. You okay?"
Patrick shrugged, "Could have been worse. I'm still walking."
"You're still alive," Ashley added.
"Do you think you will be assigned to the Normandy?" Kaidan asked, "You proved to everyone that you could be a valuable asset to the team. The Chief and I will back you up to Anderson and I'm sure Shepard won't say no."
"I guess we should just see what happens on the Citadel," Patrick said with a shrug, remembering everything that was to come.
Garrus.
Wrex.
Tali.
"Speaking of the Citadel, we should be getting close," Ashley observed.
"Have either of you been to the Citadel?" Kaidan asked.
"No," Ashley said and Patrick shook his head, "What about you LT?"
"Once, but I only visited the embassies to talk to the Ambassador about a mission I had been a part of," Kaidan said, "I didn't go to the Wards or anywhere else."
"That's more than me," Ashley laughed.
"Approaching the Citadel," Everyone looked up as a voice spoke over the intercom. "ET about twenty minutes."
Joker. Patrick thought to himself, but he must have looked confused for Kaidan explained.
"That's Joker, the pilot of the Normandy. He's one of the best."
"Want to go up and see Joker bring us in?" Ashley asked.
"Why not," Patrick grinned and the three of them stood up, heading up a flight of stairs towards the cockpit. Patrick could feel Kaidan's eyes on him as he led the way and he knew the lieutenant was surprised that he knew where he was going. Patrick hoped that he would just think it was common sense.
"Shepard," Kaidan said with a nod as the three of them stood by their commander.
"Alenko," Shepard nodded in return, "Come to see Joker pull us in?"
"Good timing," Joker said from the pilot's seat, "I'm about to bring us in."
All four of them crowded by the nearby windows and Patrick couldn't help, but grin at the site. The Citadel shined in the bright purple light and a giant ship hovered by the entrance.
"Look at that ship!" Ashley exclaimed, showing Patrick that she had noticed it as well. Not that it was hard to see. "It's cannon could destroy any ship in the Alliance."
"The Ascension," Kaidan explained, "The flagship of the Citadel council."
"It's not that great," Joker said with a shrug.
"Why so touchy Joker?" Ashley asked, grinning beside Patrick.
"I'm just saying size isn't all that matters," Joker said quickly. "Okay I'm pulling us in. Shepard, you should pick your ground team now. The rest of us can wait on the Normandy."
"I think that the Commander should actually bring everyone from Eden Prime," Everyone turned as Anderson walked towards them. "The Ambassador and the Council will want everyone who was there when the beacon was destroyed to testify."
"Not to mention that Saren is a traitor," Ashley added quietly.
Anderson nodded, "They should know that one of their top agents has gone rogue. Hamilton, you should also tell them about your vision. It probably was caused by the beacon."
"What are we going to tell them, Captain?" Patrick asked and after he said that he thought he sounded a lot like Shepard. "That I had a bad dream? They'll think I'm nuts."
"We can't hide this from them," Anderson said.
"Okay, we've landed," Joker said, "I'll see the five of you later."
Patrick followed Anderson and Shepard out of the airlock, seeing the Citadel for the very first time.