Chapter 1. New Assignment
Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko had just finished packing his duffle bag when the comm whizzed. "Lt. Alenko, Captain's Office."
Huh? Why would the Captain want to see him now? He was off duty and ready to head out for two blessed weeks of shore leave as soon as they hit Arcturus Station. He sighed, straightened his shoulders and marched towards his CO's office.
"Sir?" he asked as he stepped through the door. Captain Reynard pointed to a chair in front of him. "Have a seat, Alenko." His CO paused shortly," I'm afraid your shore leave has been cancelled, Lieutenant."
"Sir?" Kaidan asked again, racking his brain to figure out what he could have done wrong to have his shore leave cancelled. Hell, he couldn't think of a single thing.
"This is no punishment, son." The Captain handed him a data pad, "It's a reassignment. Not exactly what I had in mind when I put your name forward for a promotion together with a commendation. Apparently the Brass thinks you're not quite ready yet."
Kaidan glanced at the data pad. He was to report for duty at 0800 aboard the SSV Normandy the next day. SSV Normandy? Wait, like in newest Alliance frigate, co-designed with Turian engineers? It had been all over the news. A deep-scout frigate built as a joint venture between Alliance and Turian Hierarchy. He remembered an interview he had seen with a Turian general. The crew for the SSV Normandy will be handpicked. Only the very best will even be considered for duty aboard this extraordinary vessel. He looked at his CO with an incredulous look on his face, then his eyes darted back to the data pad and went wide when he read the name of his new CO. Captain David Anderson, N7, Alliance Hero. That was all the info the data pad gave him. Then he realized his current CO was talking to him.
"I have to admit, I'm sorry to let you go, Alenko. You're one of the best techs I know apart from fully trained engineers, highly qualified as a field medic - much higher than the average field medic - and, hell, those biotics of yours are pretty useful as well. All in all, a pride for all sentinels. You were supposed to take Lieutenant Commander Fuller's place as XO sooner or later. That was my plan, anyway. But when an N7 requests someone by name, well..." Captain Reynard's voice traveled off. "Lieutenant, is something wrong?"
"Uh, sir, this doesn't mention which position Captain Anderson requested me for or any other mission details." Kaidan couldn't quite subdue the quizzical expression fleeting over his face.
"N7, son. Information on a strictly need-to-know basis. But I know Anderson and I would bet a large amount of credits that he will be waiting at the docks to debrief you. We will be docking in an hour. Now I suggest you pack your remaining things and say good-bye to your friends. Do me proud, Lieutenant." there was an understanding look on his CO's face.
Kaidan stood up and saluted smartly: "Yes, sir!" Then he reached for the hand his CO was offering. "Thank you."
"My pleasure, Lieutenant. Whatever Anderson has in mind, I am sure you're more than up to it."
Roughly three hours later he found himself unlocking his little apartment at the Tech barracks of the Alliance base on Arcturus Station. Captain Anderson had indeed been waiting to debrief him. Kaidan couldn't believe it. Anderson as CO and Lieutenant Commander Shepard as XO. Lieutenant Commander Fucking Shepard, Hero of the Skyllian Blitz, youngest Soldier to receive the Star of Terra and Sole Survivor of Akuze. Hell, he couldn't help feeling incredibly proud and scared shitless at the same time. One good thing would definitely be serving together with Flight Lieutenant Jeff "Joker" Moreau again as well as Engineer Adams. Ever since leaving Anderson's office he kept mulling it over in his head and still felt unreal. This masterpiece of engineering, the new figurehead of the Alliance, and he was supposed to be a part of that? Kaidan knew he was a good soldier, his recommendations spoke for themselves, yet he would never have dreamed of such an opportunity. And working with two of the most renowned Alliance officers - this could be a huge step in his career.
Kaidan had just sat down to take a closer look at the datapad Anderson had given him with information about the Normandy and the crew listing when there was a knock at the door.
"It's open!" Kaidan called not bothering to look up from the datapad.
"Hey, Alenko, let's grab something decent to eat and talk about my new baby!" Joker stood in the doorway grinning. "Evans and Lewis are coming along, so we can brag about getting to serve on the newest Alliance frigate to them. Of course , I get to do more bragging - I'm the pilot, after all."
"Of course," Kaidan answered mockingly. "I'm only HoMD."
"Right in one, Alenko. Me - best fucking Alliance pilot flying the best fucking Alliance vessel," Joker pointed at himself. "You - ground pounder." Joker pointed at Kaidan.
Kaidan snorted. "At least I get to hit the ground with one of the best."
"Yeah..." His friend's gaze was almost wistful. "In all those vids about the Blitz she looks pretty hot."
"It was probably the blonde hair that did it to you, eh?" Kaidan shook his head, grinning. He knew very well of Joker's weakness for blonde women. It was an old joke between them. Then with a more serious expression he asked his friend: "Do you want to go out with your crutches or should we stop by your place for your wheelchair?"
"If we don't go to far the crutches ought to be fine." The pilot waved his hand dismissively.
"If you say so. Let's head out to Joe's."
"Joe's? You and your biotic metabolism. Is food the only thing you think of?" Joker rolled his eyes.
"No, that new Logic Arrest omnitool has been on my mind quite a bit as well. That thing has really impressive stats. And you were the one suggesting we grab something decent to eat, just in case you forgot. Let's get going, I'm kinda hungry."
"You're always hungry, Alenko," Joker remarked. They slowly headed down the hall where they saw the other two already waiting.
A short while later the four Alliance soldiers found themselves at Joe's Hideout. It was popular with soldiers as it offered good food at a very affordable price and was close enough to the Alliance barracks that you could go there even if you were running low on time, so it was pretty full when they got there. Actually, it was packed. There wasn't a vacant table to be seen. Kaidan frowned. He had been looking forward to Joe's steak sandwich, which Kaidan thought ranked right up there with his mom's.
"Maybe this wasn't the best idea," Evans mentioned.
"Blame Alenko. He's thinking with his stomach again," Joker responded. "I would've suggested heading out to 8 Ball, you know, have some drinks, play some pool. Grab something to eat on the way. But as soon as I say the words grab something to eat Stomach-on-legs here says Let's head out to Joe's. I always wonder how he manages to get through a shift."
Evans snickered, "Yeah, that sounds just about right."
Kaidan sighed. He and Evans had gone through basic together and become good friends. It seemed that he always made friends with people that liked to make fun of his biotics induced appetite. Strange, come to think of it, I don't have any biotic friends. Funny that never occurred to me before, Kaidan thought.
"You guys suck. Best friends my ass," Kaidan responded in mock disdain. "And you said grab something decent to eat. Big difference, that."
"Maybe we could ask that chick in the corner if we could sit at her table." Lewis jutted his chin towards a table close to the bar. A lone female soldier in unadorned BDUs sat there at a table large enough for all of them eating a burrito and reading at the same time. They looked at each other and shrugged. It was worth a shot.
When they arrived at the table the woman didn't even look up. Her hair fell in dark brown curls atop her shoulders.
"Uh, ma'am. Do you mind if we..." Kaidan started but the woman just gestured for them to sit down without bothering to look up from her book. "Go ahead." Completely unfazed she continued eating as if she were alone. The four men on the other hand weren't completely at ease. Kaidan felt reluctant to talk about his new assignment and apparently Joker felt the same since he refrained from bragging to the other two. They ordered their food and let Evans and Lewis do the talking. Evans and Lewis were both engineers. Inevitably, the talk quickly turned to tech.
They had just gotten their drinks when a civilian that had been at the bar with a small group of people strode towards their table purposefully.
"Nick, you gonna be done here soon? Ya know, the idea of going out with friends is going out with your friends, not sitting by yourself reading. Coulda done that at your quarters! Whatcha reading anyway?" The civilian glared at the woman. She took another bite of her burrito and turned a page in her book. An actual book, not a datapad, Kaidan thought. Not many people do that anymore. The guy rolled his eyes.
"Nick? Hellooo? Nickie?" he asked again, waving a hand in front of her eyes.
"Lord of the Rings," she answered between bites.
"Lord of the Rings? Seriously? Lord of the fucking Rings? C'mon, you've read that how often already? Twenty times? Put the friggin' book down and move your ass over to the bar." He pointed over to a group of four or five other people. Nick sighed. She still hadn't looked up.
"Matt, I love you like a brother, but if you don't let me finish my chapter I will have to kill you," She said quietly, barely more than whisper. Nonetheless, there was a chill to these softly spoken words. It sounded almost like a promise.
"And which chapter is that?" the guy called Matt asked, sounding slightly exasparated and ignoring the warning tone in her voice.
"Helm's Deep. And my count is currently 42," came the solemn answer.
Matt rolled his eyes again. "Nickie...There are quite a few witnesses here. So, how do you plan on killing me if I don't let you finish reading? Or eating? And anyway, nobody and I mean nobody reads the same book forty-two times!" He glanced at the burrito which was almost three quarters gone. For the first time now Nick raised her head. Her blue eyes piercing into her friends'.
"If you don't let me finish this goddamn chapter I'm gonna put a fuckin' bullet through your motherfuckin' head. And I read books as often as I want!" There was no humor in her voice. The four marines at the table exchanged looks. Her tone of voice was hard, the tone of an officer telling a subordinate off for something. It clearly said don't bullshit me. Matt just raised an eyebrow.
"That so?" He obviously wasn't intimidated.
Instead of answering Nick pulled out a state-of-the-art pistol - a Harpy? Kaidan thought. Those aren't easy to come by- as well as a powerful shotgun - a Solokhov, if he had seen correctly, both heavily modded, and put them on the table. Somebody sure liked to pack a punch.A shout from behind the bar reached them:
"Veronika! Get those guns off the table this instant!" Obviously Joe, the proprietor, was on a first name basis with the female soldier.
She scowled but followed suit and holstered the guns.
"Maybe I'll just shoot you Han-Solo-style. You know, under the table, like he does in Mos Eisley. Anyway, the sooner you bug off the sooner I'll be done. So shoo." Nick waved a hand at him in a clearly dismissive manner and turned her attention back to her beloved book. Matt shook his head and threw up his hands in defeat.
"Ok, fine. You win, Nick. As usual. Stubborn woman. Just...come over when you're done. Trev, Becka, Chris and I really miss you. It's not like the five of us are in the same area that often anymore." He turned and left. Nick muttered something incoherent under her breath before continuing eating.
Meanwhile Kaidan and the others had also gotten their food. Kaidan was just going to take a bite of his steak sandwich as he noticed Nick looking at him. Or the sandwich. He wasn't quite sure. She, on the other hand, found herself looking into amber eyes that made her insides squirm. Who was this guy? Obviously Alliance, dumbass. He is wearing a uniform after all. She struggled to regain her composure and hoped nobody noticed.
"Looks good, Staff Lieutenant," Nick said with a quick glance at his rank insignia.
"It is good, ma'am" Kaidan replied. He didn't know which rank she held, but she sounded like someone used to giving orders,so he figured better to be safe than sorry and address her with ma'am. You couldn't go wrong with that.
"Uh-huh." She raised her eyebrows.
"Wanna try a bite?" Kaidan offered jestingly. Did I really just ask that? Hell, I don't even know her! The others were just as surprised. Kaidan was often reserved until he knew people better. There weren't many people he was relaxed around. Offering a practically unknown woman some of his food was unusual. Her reaction surprised them even more. She carefully put down her book and her fork, wiped off her hands, took the sandwich in her hands, turned it until she found a spot with plenty of meat, cheese and sauce and bit into it heartily. She closed her eyes.
"Mmh-hmm." She chewed, swallowed and looked at Kaidan with a grin. "Pretty good but not as tasty as my burrito! It needs more hot sauce for one thing."
"What? You can't be serious. Your burrito doesn't even have meat in it! And a steak sandwich trumps almost anything." What am I doing, he wondered. Is this a new line of flirting?
"Don't go bashing my bean and cheese burrito, lieutenant!" She winked at him waving a forkful of said burrito in front of his face, "At least not without having tried some. But beware, I like my food spicy!"
He gave her an uncertain look. Was she really offering him some of her burrito? With an expectant expression on her face she nodded her head, so he took the fork she was offering and put it in his mouth. It was good, he had to admit that. He could feel Joker and the other two staring at them open-mouthed. Now he was trading food with a woman he had known for half an hour tops. What the heck was going on? This was not his usual self.
"Not bad. Still prefer my steak sandwich, though." He gave the fork back with a lop-sided smile. Her breath hitched. What the hell was she doing? She quickly regained her composure.
"We'll just have to agree to disagree on that," she laughed and stuffed the last big bite of the burrito in her mouth. Kaidan gave her another look and then resumed eating his sandwich. He caught Jokers' eye and shrugged his shoulders. Every once in a while he glanced over to the woman - Nick - and took in her appearance. She couldn't be very tall. Hell, he wasn't that tall but even sitting down he was quite a bit taller than she was. Brown hair with a reddish tint, almost the color of ripe chestnuts and blueish grey eyes. A pale complexion, several freckles dusting her nose. For some reason he felt himself drawn to her. It was odd.
Joe came over to the table to take away Nick's empty plate. "You want your usual desert?"
"Hell, yeah!" came the emphatic answer.
He nodded and disappeared in the kitchen only to reappear shortly afterwards with a large bowl of mint-chocolate chip ice cream with hot fudge sauce in one hand and a plate with brownies in the other.
"The brownies just came out of the oven. Might wanna eat the ice cream first," he said as he put both in front of Nick. She was practically beaming as she rubbed her hands. She took a spoonful of ice cream and screwed up her eyes in ecstasy. Then she took a spoonful of warm brownie together with ice cream and fudge sauce.
"This is better than sex! Almost." Apparently she hadn't planned on saying it because when she heard the choking sounds of the four marines sharing her table she blushed and asked: "Did I just say that out loud?"
They simply nodded, unable to talk.
"Oh fuck. Sorry. I think." She winked at Kaidan again. She seemed to want to say something else when they heard a short tune being whistled. She looked over to where her friends were standing and saw Matt tilt his her ever so slightly toward the entrance. Suddenly her whole demeanor changed. Her relaxed posture was replaced by watchfulness. She kept on looking towards the entrance and started chewing her lower lip. There were a few people standing there, but they looked ordinary enough. Kaidan figured it must be someone she really didn't like. Joker and Evans started to turn around to get a look as well.
"Don't turn around!" she hissed at them. Then, in a slightly calmer tone: "Please, don't draw their attention this way. Thanks!" She slid deeper into her chair with an almost desperate expression on her face. Whoever it was, it was more than obvious she didn't want to encounter them.
"Shitshitshit. I gotta get outta here!" She threw a desperate glance at her desert and then at her book. Her dilemma was clear. She couldn't carry everything at once. She pushed the plate with the brownies towards Kaidan.
"Can't carry everything and I'm not sharing my ice cream," was her explanation. She checked her weapons, took her book into one hand and the ice cream bowl in the other. Then she slid off her seat and crouched next to the table. "Lieutenants, it was nice meeting you guys. Gotta go!" And with that she hid behind the bar only to disappear into the kitchen after a very short conversation with Joe.
Joker looked at Kaidan with raised eyebrows.
"What the heck was that, Alenko? I have never ever seen you offer some of your food to anyone! I mean, whoa. She must've liked it though. Way to go!" Joker grinned, giving him a thumbs up.
"Looks like Kaidan found a new way to get a chick to take notice of him," Lewis teased, slapping him on the back. "Or maybe we should say finally a woman Alenko takes notice of. The ladies often seem inclined enough."
"Yeah, yeah! You guys laugh it up. I have no idea why I offered her some of my sandwich - or what happened after that. Anyway, how long are you guys gonna be here on Arcturus? Joker and I are both shipping out tomorrow morning." Kaidan tried to deflect the attention his friends were giving him as he felt the heat of a blush creeping up his cheeks. Luckily Joker took the bait even if Kaidan was sure it was more because he could finally brag about the Normandy than actually letting Kaidan off the hook.
"We sure are!" Joker said, "On the newest Alliance frigate under the command of Captain Anderson no less. You guys heard of the Normandy? The new state of the art stealth and reconnaissance vessel? Well, that's us. Her shakedown run starts tomorrow in my capable hands. Oh yeah, and our XO is nobody less than the Hero of the Blitz. Alenko here is the one that gets to put his ass in line of fire groundside with her..."
"No way!" Evans stared at them, "I applied for the Normandy when they started putting together the crew! When did you guys apply?"
Lewis just nodded and said: "Yeah, same here! And your XO is really Shepard? I've heard she's supposed to be a no-nonsense hardass. But in those vids she sure looks hot."
Joker grinned. "I hijacked the Normandy, flew her around the test course with a fighter patrol hanging at my six and when I landed her this Turian General said that if I didn't fly the Normandy it would, ah how did he put it? Oh yeah, it would "not be beneficial for Human-Turian relations". And Anderson agreed with him. So, here I am, proud helmsman of the most advanced Alliance vessel."
"You're shitting us, Joker. Who is supposed to believe that?" Lewis shook his head in disbelief.
"I shit you not, Lewis. I am sure the Alliance has the facts filed away somewhere. Check the extranet!" Joker looked immensely smug. Everybody turned their head towards Kaidan.
"I didn't apply," Kaidan said matter-of-factly and gave a small shrug.
"Wait, what? You didn't apply?" Evans stared at him.
"No. My old CO told me Anderson requested me."
"You lucky sonofabitch!" Evans and Lewis both shook their heads. They continued talking for a while yet. About new assignments, where to spend the next shore leave, omnitools, weapon mods. Kaidan found his mind wandering back to Nick constantly, though. Maybe I should have asked her for her address? Well, it was too late now and it was unlikely they would see each other again anytime soon, if at all.
The next morning at 0700 Kaidan stepped aboard the SSV Normandy for the first time. He had loitered in the docking area for a while before boarding, just drinking in the moment. The hustle and bustle around the ship preparing her for her shakedown run. Provisions being stocked. The sleek, slender form of the hull. Joker hadn't exaggerated, she was a beauty. Excitement flowed through his veins as if this were his very first assignment.
"Staff Lieutenant Kaidan Alenko requesting permission to come aboard," he firmly stated the request customary.
"Permission granted," Anderson's answer came promptly.
As soon as he stepped out of the decontamination chamber he found himself face to face with Captain Anderson.
"Staff Lieutenant Alenko reporting for duty!" he saluted smartly.
"At ease, Lieutenant. Welcome aboard the Normandy. Get settled in and then take up station in the cockpit. You will be co-piloting. Mission debrief at 0800 in the comm room."
Kaidan waved to Joker in the cockpit and then walked on through the CIC, heading for the lower deck to the elevator. The layout was a little bit different from a standard Alliance frigate but it shouldn't take too long getting used to. After all, she wasn't that big. He would have liked to have a look at the Tantalus drive core and talk to Engineer Adams, but that would have to wait. Kaidan went to the lockers and squared away his equipment. Before assuming his station he checked the sleeping pods to see who he had to hot bunk with only to find out he was the lucky owner of a pod of his own. Well, that's a pleasant surprise, he thought. The perks of being an officer.
"Morning! How long have you been here?" he asked Joker as soon as he stepped into the cockpit. He sat down on the co-pilot seat and powered up his terminal.
"0630. They wouldn't let me aboard any earlier. Maintenance wasn't done yet." Joker let out a huff of indignation. "Why did you wait so long to come aboard? I saw you standing outside gawking for at least ten minutes."
Kaidan shrugged. "I...dunno. Just wanted to get a good look at our girl here, I guess. I think I must've pinched myself at least a half a dozen times since yesterday. I mean, I feel like in a dream. I have absolutely no idea what I did to get a commission here." There was a beep from his terminal signaling it was online. He immediately began working on the pre-take off check list.
"Yeah, our girl is a beauty. And we're gonna pop her cherry in style!" Joker turned in his seat, grinning at Kaidan who winced at his friends choice of words. Joker picked it up right away and teased him: "Jeez, Alenko! You're a marine! How did you manage all these years in the Alliance if a phrase like that bothers you?"
"Probably because my mother would wash out my mouth with soap if she heard me talking like that. She wouldn't care about the fact that I'm a 31-year-old marine with almost ten years of service. You know my mom, she can be more intimidating than the whole Alliance brass."
"True, I'll give you that." Joker nodded sagely.
They continued bantering for a while when Joker suddenly whispered: "No way, I don't believe it! Alenko, look outside."
Kaidan lifted his head and looked at the monitor showing a visual of the docking area and decon. There, heading into decon was none other than the female marine that had shared their table at Joe's. She was wearing sunglasses and carrying two boxes along with her gear. One looked like a pizza box and the other was from a bakery if he wasn't mistaken.
"There's only one person that hasn't reported in yet," Joker whispered. "And that's the XO."
"God, are you saying that's Lieutenant Commander Shepard?!" Kaidan was aghast. As if to emphasize the moment the ships V.I. stated: "XO Shepard is aboard."
"I thought she was blonde!" Joker exclaimed.
"Joker, shoot me. This is kinda embarrassing." Kaidan could feel himself blushing. He wished a hole in the ground would open and swallow him.
Joker's response was cut short as they heard the Captain greet Shepard.
"Commander, welcome aboard."
"Oh, come on! I'm not on duty yet, Uncle Dave. I've got, ah, twenty more minutes of shore leave. So I'm gonna head to the mess, eat my breakfast and be ready for the mission debrief at 0800. See ya then!" Nick Shepard trudged on without waiting for an answer.
"Are you drunk, Shepard?" Anderson asked sharply, frowning at her. "You know you're not supposed to call me that on duty or in official space."
"Nope, just fucking tired and hungry. Hadn't planned on it, but ended up pulling an all-nighter with the gang. Look on the bright side, at least you didn't have to bail me out of jail this time."
"You should be glad it was me and not your mother or father that bailed you out last time."
"Oh, believe me, I am! They would've thrown me straight back into the brig. And now I need some chow." With that she walked on.
Kaidan and Joker looked at each other.
Uncle Dave? Bail the commander out of jail? This was the Hero of the Blitz? The Alliance poster girl?
Sure, her behavior the evening before was, well, odd. Kaidan couldn't come up with a better word to describe it. Cool and distanced to who was apparently an old friend, then almost flirtatious with him and finally nervous. Joker's only comment again, almost to a point of whining, was: "And I thought the Hero of the Blitz was blonde."
Kaidan just shook his head in disbelief.
Twenty minutes later all officers were to be debriefed in the com room. And at 0759 all except Shepard were present. Anderson shook his head and sighed. Nick was an excellent soldier, but every now and then she felt compelled to rebel. Often just with little things, like calling him "Uncle Dave" in front of subordinates just to make an entrance. Sometimes bigger things such as full grown bar brawls. The last bar brawl had been after Akuze. She had gone out on a pub crawl with her regular crowd, her "gang", and they had gotten completely shitfaced. In the course of the night somebody had gotten smart with her and she had punched the guy in the gut, commencing what she later referred to as "an epic bar brawl". He had to admit, he was surprised that he hadn't had to bail her out of jail again since then. She had been in line ever since that epic bar brawl and he was almost expecting her to blow the top again anytime. Maybe, just maybe, she had learned that using fists wasn't always the solution.
At 0800 sharp she stepped into the comm room. Her uniform immaculate, shoulders straight, not slouching like twenty minutes earlier. As soon as she entered the room she ripped off a textbook salute. Her eyes, though tired, were clear and showed no sign of intoxication.
"Lieutenant-Commander Shepard reporting for duty!" Her voice was crisp, the slight slurring from before was gone. She was now in her Shepard-on-duty-mode and it was a good thing, too, because she had just spotted two of the marines from the previous evening and of course one of them was the guy she had flirted with. Of course, she groaned inwardly. Of course I meet this cute dude and he just has to serve on the same ship as I do and be my subordinate. Shit.
"At ease, Commander. Did you find the time to read the personnel records I gave you yesterday?"
"Not all of them, sir. I hadn't planned on last night going quite the way it did. Some friends ambushed me and I didn't make it back to the N7 barracks until almost 0630 this morning and then things got kind of rushed."
"In that case, let me introduce you. This is Navigator Pressley."
"I read your file, Pressley. You were on the SSV Agincourt during the Blitz? If I remember right she was one of the first to arrive." She shook the older man's hand.
"Thank you, Commander. It would have been to no avail if you hadn't held out as long as you did."
Next she talked to Engineer Adams. Then she came to the first marine from last night. A Flight Lieutenant.
"This is our pilot. Flight Lieutenant Jeff Moreau," Anderson said.
"Just call me Joker, ma'am," the pilot saluted gingerly. She raised her eyebrows but said nothing. Pilots were a testy bunch and over-confidence was a common trait. On the other hand he must be good, otherwise he wouldn't have been picked to man the helm of the Normandy. Last to be introduced was the dark-haired Lieutenant with the steak sandwich. She involuntarily held her breath.
"And this is Staff Lieutenant Alenko, head of marine detail. You two will be working together a good deal, coordinating groundside missions and so forth. I suggest you get acquainted as soon as possible."
"Ma'am." Kaidan saluted smartly. He didn't trust himself to say much more. Luckily she just returned his salute just as crisply. She extended her hand and as soon as he touched it there was a crackle of biotic energy. They both flinched slightly. "Uh, sorry, ma'am. I should've mentioned I'm a biotic. Sometimes we discharge dark energy upon contact from the static our implants build up. It happens more often when under stress. Or when we're hungry."
"Not a problem, Alenko. I've worked with biotics before. If I had taken the time to read the personell files the captain gave me I would've been prepared. And all the biotics I've known so far were always hungry." She gave him a quick smile before turning her attention back to Anderson. Kaidan couldn't help but smile back and she felt her gut flip. Shit, now is not the time!
"Good, now that that is done let me fill you in," Anderson said. "Our destination is Eden Prime. Before we head there though we will be picking up a guest. Nihlus Kryik is a SpecTRe who will be accompanying us. That is all for now. Dismissed."
Kaidan and Joker went back to cockpit to resume their stations. They ran the last set of diagnostics before Joker radioed the Captain to let him know they were ready and able. A few minutes later Anderson and Shepard walked into the cockpit, taking up positions to the left and right behind Joker's chair.
"Joker, take us aweigh," Anderson commanded in a quiet tone.
"Aye, aye." Joker's hands flew over his console. The docking clamps disengaged and the Normandy was officially on her first assignment. "We are secure and aweigh."
Neither Anderson nor Shepard moved. It was only a few minutes from Arcturus station to the Arcturus Prime relay. They were waiting for Joker to begin the approach run to the mass relay.
"Board is green, approach run has begun. Hitting relay in 3...2...1... ETA twenty hours."
"Very good. Commander, a word please." Anderson turned and left the cockpit, not waiting for Shepard to follow.
"Shit. Wonder which dressing down I'm up for this time," Shepard grumbled quietly before leaving as well.
Joker and Kaidan shared a glance but both remained silent. Kaidan couldn't beat down the feeling that this shakedown run was something more, the fact that a SpecTRe would be along for the ride enhancing it yet. It sure as hell smelled of politics, but Kaidan wouldn't admit that just yet. Apart from that, the Commander seemed like a very intruiging person. He struggled not to turn around and watch her walk back towards the CIC. He turned his head just far enough to see Joker grinning at him.
Shit.