A/N: I thought I was all done with this edition of Normandy Lives but the little fiction gremlins got inside my head and convinced me otherwise.

6. The Driving Lesson

Doctor Liara T'soni sat strapped into the command seat of the M35 Mako next to Commander Alison Shepard with mixed feelings. Battling for supremacy were feelings of intense longing from being so physically close to Shepard and feelings of fear and inadequacy at the prospect of failing her. On top of all that, as though it weren't enough, feelings that her feet would come off the foot pedals at an inopportune time, causing the Mako, and everyone in it to crash, killing them all horribly. Even after Shepard had levered the driver's seat forward as far as it would go, the soles of Liara's feet barely touched the pedals. Most aggravating.

Liara learning to drive the six-wheeled Mako had been Garrus' idea. The turian felt it would be prudent for the entire crew of the Normandy to be competent in its operation, should an emergency arise and Shepard not be able to take command. The thought horrified Liara. To her, Shepard was the hook upon which she hung all her hopes and dreams. If the Commander fell...if Alison fell...Liara felt that her own life would not be worth living. Of course, Liara couldn't very well say that to the Commander. And it was painfully obvious to Liara that Lieutenant Alenko harboured decidedly non-professional feelings towards his CO as well. In another time and place, one might refer to the situation as a 'love triangle.' Or as Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau might say, 'an orgy just waiting to happen.' Liara felt an intense blush rise in her face at the thought of such things.

But Shepard, Goddess love her was never going to imperil their mission to find Saren, stop the Reapers and generally act as a force for good in a galaxy of sin, greed, corruption and gun-happy krogan mercenaries by allowing herself to give into any emotions towards her crew that she may or may not be feeling. But perhaps after the mission was over...if they were all still alive, that was.

Which, conveniently, brought her thoughts back to the reason she was strapped into the command chair with Shepard seated alongside her. In the cramped crew compartment of the Mako sat Chief Williams and Garrus. Williams hadn't been particularly ecstatic at the idea of the asari driving them into combat, if it ever came to that. Williams made no secret of the fact that the asari would be better off on board the ship while actual soldiers took care of the soldiering.

"OK," Shepard said as she finished securing the five-point harness around herself. "I know the command console looks all sorts of intimidating but don't let that throw you. This baby is designed so that army privates can drive it."

Shepard pointed at the steering control. It was large and, among the other buttons, switches and coloured flashy things, carried a pair of triggers that fell naturally under Liara's index fingers.

"That trigger on the right fires the 155mm cannon. The one on the left, the machine gun. This switch here," Shepard indicated a button that looked exactly the same as every other button, "switches fire control from the driving position to the gunner's position in back. That way you can have the gun operated independently of the driver."

Liara's fingers tightened over the triggers, eliciting a dry click. Luckily for the ship and her crew, the safeties for the Mako's weapons systems were still engaged. Shepard placed gloved hand on Liara's forearm, causing her to gasp slightly. "Whoa, whoa! Not inside the drop-bay, OK? I'm not sure what would kill us faster - the 155mm HE round or the explosive decompression."

"I'm sorry, Commander!" Liara said, genuinely horrified at what she had almost done. In the back, Williams rolled her eyes. This was why people should be made to have permits to operate one of these things.

"It's all right, Liara. I remember the first time I handled live rounds at the Academy. Damn near blew the instructor's head off."

"Really?" Williams asked. Shepard twisted around in her seat to look at her. "Yeah. There was blood all over the place. Messy."

"You're just saying that to make me feel better," Liara said accusingly.

"Is it working?" Shepard asked.

Liara smiled, "Yes."
"Good, great. OK the gearshift. Again, real simple. Shove it forward and it goes forward. Back, reverse. The whole gearbox is pretty much automatic. Bitch of a thing to maintain though, right Garrus?"
"Yes, Commander," Garrus said.

Next, Shepard drew Liara's attention to the hull status indicators.

"Kinetic barriers, like on a combat hardsuit. Take too many hits, the barriers go down then the hull gets breached and depending on the exterior environment, you can die pretty quickly."

Seeing Liara's look of fear rapidly mutating into hysteria, Shepard quickly said, "Don't worry, the M35's built tough. And it's pretty unlikely you'll ever have to drive it. I mean, if things have degenerated to the point that me and everybody else on the ground are incapacitated, well, you probably have other things to worry about."

"Yeah, like not getting your pretty head blown off," Ashley quipped from the rear compartment. "What? I'm just saying," she protested as Shepard glared at her.

Turning back to the front, Shepard said, "And, most important of all. If you're me, that is, the sound system. Very much not sanctioned by Alliance protocol but hell, who's gonna stop me?"

"Saren?" Garrus put in.

"Well, yeah, he can try," Shepard replied, voice quiet for a moment. She remembered finding the body of Nihlus, himself a Spectre, gunned down by Saren in cold blood. She shook herself and thumbed the play button on the stereo. Loud rock music began playing and Shepard allowed herself the luxury of closing her eyes and drifting away for a little while. The song ended and the Commander was aware of Liara looking closely at her. Shepard reached for comm. "Joker, open the drop bay door. We're going for a little Sunday drive."
"But it's Tuesday," Liara said, confused. Shepard waved this off as the drop-bay door opened, sending the M35 into empty space.

"Shepard, what happens if the plasma jets do not ignite and slow our rate of descent?" Liara asked over the music.

"I won't sugarcoat it, Liara. We'll crash and die. Probably instantly. Best not to think too much about it."

"Sugarcoat? I am afraid that I don't understand what you mean."
"It just means making the truth easier to accept," Shepard explained.

"Oh," Liara didn't sound entirely convinced.

In the rear, Garrus' eyes were closed and Ashley was silently praying. She always prayed during a drop. Statistically, you were far more likely to buy the farm during a botched drop than you were in combat. And worse, you couldn't even shoot back at anyone. Right on cue, though, the plasma jets ignited, shuddering the vehicle's superstructure and slowing their descent.

The Mako hit the ground of the unnamed planetoid in the Hades Gamma Cluster. The rocky little world was airless and all steep hills, impact craters and sheer drops. Thoroughly unpleasant. And exactly the kind of place a learner driver could have all kinds of fun at the controls of a multi-ton, six-wheeled widowmaker.

"OK Liara, we're down. Go nuts," Shepard said, taking her hands off the controls. The Mako simply sat idling. Liara began to breathe heavily and a sheen of sweat appeared on her brow. ÓK Liara, you can do this. After all, it is a vehicle designed to be driven by 'army privates' and judging by Commander Shepard's tone of voice, army privates aren't the most intelligent beings in the galaxy. Just remember what she told you and you'll be fine. She won't let any harm come to you.

"Any time you're ready, Doctor," Ashley grumbled from the rear seat. Her buttocks were beginning to go numb. Suddenly, the engine spooled up with a high pitched yelp and the Mako lurched forward then stopped just as abruptly. Williams was thrown against her restraints and swore viciously.

"Sorry," Liara said in a small voice.

I'll give her sorry! Ash thought to herself and winced as the Mako lurched forward again. Her head snapped forward then the back of it struck the metal bulkhead behind her. Lucky she was wearing her helmet. Garrus seemed to be taking the whole thing in stride, damn unflappable turian motherf...

Up front, Shepard was debating whether to take over the controls from Liara. She didn't want to hurt her feelings but still...if this were a combat drop, they'd all have been killed a hundred times over by now. Instead Shepard folded her hands in her lap and waited for Liara to get herself together in her own time.

In the driver's seat, Liara balled her hands into fists and uttered an extremely un-asari curse. Then a few more. She breathed deeply of the metallic-tasting recycled air then exhaled.

"Alright," she told herself, "Let's rock." It was a phrase Shepard used frequently in combat, usually right before she broke cover and unloaded her shotgun into the nearest threat, or used her biotics to throw a group of enemies over the horizon.

Liara gently pushed the gear lever forward and eased down on the accelerator. The six-wheeled vehicle rolled smoothly forward, the suspension absorbing the myriad bumps and vibrations. After a few seconds, Liara stamped her foot to the floor and the Mako surged forward.

Outside, thick clouds of dust were kicked up by the Mako's wide-profile tyres, obscuring Liara's vision. Particles of gritty material made minute sounds as they pinged off the hull. Liara glanced at the sensor display but the screen was blank. The vehicle jolted heavily as it ran over a particularly large boulder, jouncing its occupants in their seats and causing Ash to utter another string of profanity-laced invective. "Oh I'm so sorry!" Liara cried as the Mako hit another obstacle, this one big enough to cant the six-wheeled vehicle over onto its side so that, briefly, it was cruising along at 120 kilometres per hour...on three wheels.

In the rear compartment, Ash had gone silent, afraid that if she opened her mouth, her stomach would attempt to turn itself inside out by way of her esophagus. Garrus merely looked calm. That bastard. Finally, after what seemed like an age, the Mako righted itself, slamming down onto the rocky, lifeless terrain with a thud that rattled the crew like a handful of peas being shaken up in a tin can.

Up front, Shepard shook her head in amazement. She'd been trying for years to get an M35 to drive on only three wheels and Liara had managed it her first time...albeit by accident. Still, it was a very impressive piece of driving. Liara, breathing deeply in an attempt to slow her heart rate, eased her foot off the pedal and brought the M35 to a gentle stop.

Shepard twisted around in her seat to check on others. Garrus was seated quietly, assault rifle held at the ready should it be needed.

Ashley had lost her battle to keep the insides of her stomach inside and was busy heaving up the last of her lunch...and breakfast into her helmet.

Shepard bit down hard on her lower lip. It wouldn't help Ash at all for her CO to be seen laughing at her for essentially getting car sick.

Liara looked over at Shepard and said in a quiet voice, "I think I've had enough driving lessons for one day."

A/N: Thanks for the kind reviews so far. I will be adding more updates in the future, including some stuff that's more action-adventurey. Ever wondered how things might have turned out if Nihlus had backup when he encountered Saren on Eden Prime? Yeah, I went there.