Alice took a sigh of relief as the subtle vertigo of the Liberator's engines kicked in. She had done it. She had gotten this ship out of the Citadel and on its way. It would be at least two hours before they arrived at the Charon Relay and arrived in the Utopia system and another half hour before they reached Eden Prime. She had some time to relax. It was strange that the Council was sending her to Eden Prime. Yes it had been the first colony to be hit during the Eden Prime War but Shepard had saved the colony and eventually stopped Saren. Yes it was conquered and occupied by Cerberus during the Reaper War but again Shepard had saved it. Thirty years had passed and the colony was not only completely rebuilt but bigger and more prosperous than ever. The food it produced had been vital to Earth's recovery and it now stood as a symbol of endurance and fortitude as well as the unspoiled paradise it had always been. What on Earth could be going on there?
Alice figured she would find out soon enough. The message she had gotten told her to contact Councilor Hackett once she had reached Eden Prime orbit. That would probably be her briefing and her mother would probably be involved. In the meantime she needed to relax. She radioed Arryn.
"Arryn? I'm going down to the mess hall. You and SKOUT have the bridge. Let me know when we reach Eden Prime okay? I might be asleep in my cabin on deck 1 so you might have to send someone up."
Alice headed over to the elevator and pressed the button for deck 3, the crew deck. It was warmer and brighter than the CIC. It felt good. Probably because it was the crew deck and was where everyone but her called home. The enlisted men had two gender segregated bunkrooms on either side of the deck where they all lived and slept together. Crowded and there was little privacy but at least you weren't alone. The officers and her team were set up in a hallway of quarters where the elevator let out. A little different from the Normandy as on that ship the elevator let you out in front of a wall and a crew memorial. Alice walked down the hall with her hand behind her back, looking at the names on the doors and seeing who had and hadn't found their rooms yet. The crewmen who had found their quarters, from the looks of it only Arryn, had their doors closed and a red "locked" symbol in the middle. Everyone else had a green "unlocked" symbol on their doors. They would probably make their own access code once they got settled. Alice could override any of the locks of course, being the captain, but she didn't want to disturb the privacy of their crew members. She decided to simply walk back to the elevator and around it, putting her into the mess hall. She went around the elevator's right side and there was a currently blank memorial wall to her left. She tried not to think about the first name that would be on that wall.
The mess hall was mostly the same as on the Normandy. Tables and chairs in an open area in between the XO's quarters, the medbay and the hallway that led to the main battery. Stasis tubes lined the hallway in case of life support loss. An open kitchen, glass protected meal prep line and serving rail were in the back left hand corner of the mess hall, by the XO's office. Alice wondered about that office and who would occupy it. On the Normandy it was Liara's space and she practically lived in there. There were huge monitors that made an entire map of the galaxy and at least four active terminals at any time. And there was Glyph, the hillarious V.I assistant and drone that helped organize Liara's information and brighten her day. She would have to check that out later. In the meantime she was hungry.
Several crew members were already at some of the tables talking, eating and drinking. That didn't surprise Alice. What did surprise her was a graceful and beautiful asari working the kitchen. She looked much older than Artemis or Liara and gave off an aura of patience, wisdom and experience. As if she had seen everything in the galaxy and was coming back for more. She was also extremely ample and Alice had more than a little envy. Her own breasts felt lie mosquito bites in comparison. Alice was about to approach this asari and ask for her name when one of the crew members eating lunch did it for her.
"Great. Asari gumbo again." One man said.
"C'mon Aethyta, we have this crap every day. Why can't we have something different for once? Maybe something humans like to eat?" Another grumbed.
"Oh I'm sorry princess." The asari said sarcastically and rolling her eyes. "Filet mignon and lobster tail coming right up. Just let me get my china out."
"Damn smart ass..." The crewmen said, eating his gumbo anyway. "First we eat this alien plops for a week, now we're taking orders from a 12 year old girl..."
"Uh...Hadley? The captain's right behind you..."
"Oh crap!" Hadley said, practically throwing his spoon across the room and jumping to attention as Alice cleared her throat.
"C-C-Captain Shepard! Ma'am! I-I don't know what you heard but I..."
"You speak when spoken to crewmen!" Alice barked, brandishing a finger at the young man. She wasn't really mad at him but she needed to blow off some steam and technically he was being an arsefish so she decided to have a little fun with him. Rank did have its privileges. "Just who the hell do you think you are?"
"Ma'am! Hadley! Rick C! Servicemen! CIC administrative assistance! Shift Bravo, 1600 to 2400 shipboard time Ma'am!"
"Well tell me something Hadley," Alice said, crossing her arms and enjoying her new position. The entire mess hall was silent. The top of her head only reached his chin but he was terrified of her. "What makes you think it's a good idea to undermine my authority on my ship? You think you've got a better idea on how to stop Cerberus?!"
"N-no ma'am! Of course not!"
"No." Alice said with a sneer. "I know what this is. You don't think I can do this. You think I'm a little mamma's girl, don't you? Don't you...?"
Hadley was shaking. He didn't know what to say but Aethyta was chuckling so hard she couldn't contain herself. She was the only one laughing and all the crew stared at her.
"What could possibly be funny about this Aethyta?"
"Are you pyjaks really that thick!?" The millennia old asari matriarch said between laughs. "She's messing with you!"
"...What?" Hadley asked with confusion. He turned to Alice to confirm this and she too started to chuckle, escalating to full out laughing a few seconds later. The rest of the crew realized that this really was just a joke and everyone had a good laugh for the next few seconds. Hadley chucked awkwardly, both very confused and relieved beyond belief. "You should have seen your face!" Alice shouted over the laughter, beeming at him.
"So I'm...I'm not in trouble ma'am?"
"No! Of course not! You might want to watch what you say about your captain but you're just fine Hadley." He was still shaken and Alice felt bad for the boy. He couldn't have been more than eighteen. Fresh from Earth probably, he was so cute. So she reached up to his shoulders and gave him a big hug. "Awww! It's allright."
Hadley hugged Alice back. Awkwardly at first, then cradling her smaller, shorter body for a moment as he realized he wasn't about to be shot. "You got me good ma'am. I'm sorry about my comment. It won't happen again."
"It's okay Hadley. Just be mindful of who's around you in the future and you'll be just fine. Besides, I do look like a 12 year old girl so it's nothing I haven't heard before." She broke the hug and resumed a professional stance. "Now, I'm gonna get something to eat. Would it be allright if I sat with you and your friend here? Get to know my CIC staff a little?"
"Of course ma'am. Pull up a chair. I'm serviceman Matthews, heat management officer for Bravo shift. Hadley and I enlisted together and this is our first assignment so we're pretty excited. Actually ma'am, both our dads used to serve on the Normandy under Commander Shepard. They even survived being abducted by the Collectors thanks to the Commander! Well, the admiral now. I...guess you know her pretty well."
"You could say that." Alice said smiling. Two sons of two crew members on the Normandy that served with her mother? What were the odds? This was definitely a second generation ship. "It's a pleasure to meet you Matthews. My mom, uh, the admiral, told me about your dad and how he held off a Praetorian for Joker to sneak by when the Normandy was boarded. Let's hope our own adventures aren't so desperate. I'll be right back okay?"
She then headed over to the serving area and realized who this asari cook was. This Aethyta was the same Matriarch Aethyta that used to serve drinks in the Eternity bar on Illium! And at Apollo's Coffee on the Citadel during the Reaper War! She was a friend of her mom's and Liara's father! Simply being in the presence of an asari matriarch was an honor but having one serve on her ship? Aethyta was one of many family friends Alice grew up around and it was great to see her again but why was she here? Asari matriarchs could do anything they wanted, way beyond stirring gumbo on board an Alliance frigate.
"Aethyta? Matriarch Aethyta?"
"At your service Captain Shepard." She said, holding her arms out for the hug Alice was going to tackle her with. Alice gave a small squeal of joy and Aethyta pulled her into a protective, motherly embrace. The crew tried to ignore them. "It's good to see ya' again kiddo. Congrats on your promotion."
Alice broke the hug but smiled up at the loving but balsy asari. "Thanks Aethyta. It's so good to see you again. But why are you here? When I saw your name on the crew manifest I thought it was just a coincidence."
"I'm the Liberator's morale officer. Most days I'm just the cook nobody appreciates but I do other things like plan events, keep up with non-critical electrical systems, talk to crew members who need to get something off their chest. Whatever makes people happy. No sex though, that's against regs."
"No I got all that, but why are YOU here? You're an asari matriarch. I know you like this sort of work but why are you on my ship specifically? Did my mom send you to keep an eye on me?"
"Well, yes Alice, that is one reason I'm here." Alice gave an embarrassed frown and Aethyta tsked. "C'mon now, don't give me that look. Your mom has all the reason in the galaxy to send someone to watch out for you. This is your first real command on a state of the art warship on a mission that's as far from a shakedown run as you can get. Even if she weren't your mom she'd do it anyway. A ship like this needs somebody to keep an eye on the crew and I've seen a thousand years of plops. I was picked for this mission under N8 and sworn into the Alliance as a Major. Hence the blues."
Aethyta was wearing Alliance fatigues like the rest of the crew around her, and Alice would change into hers soon. "Well it's nice to know mom's keeping an eye on me, and really I couldn't think of a better morale officer than you. Thanks Aethyta, I'm glad to have you with me. That uniform really looks good on you."
"Thanks hon, I'm happy to be here. It'll be fun kickin' Cerberus in the quad again. Now can I get you somethin'? Ya look hungry."
"Sure. What do you have?"
"Well, I just served the last of the gumbo but if you want I can make you a Reuben. Ever had one? Tried it a couple decades ago on Earth. You humans can do some pretty amazing things with meat, cheese and bread I've gotta say. You want one?"
"Absolutely! That sounds great Aethyta!" Alice said. A Reuben and some potato salad would hit the spot right now.
"Allright then. It'll be a few minutes and I'll get you some potato salad and an Elkoss Cola Zero to go with it. Why don't you go upstairs to your cabin and change into something less uncomfortable. You could stand to let your hair down a little."
"Will do. Thanks Aethyta." Alice said. She walked back to the elevator and headed up to her cabin. It was an exact copy of her mom's on the Normandy and all her clothes, uniforms and civilian, were hung, folded and stocked in the drawers and cabinets for her for her. Again, rank had its privileges. She changed into a pair of informal fatigues and knee high boots over the pants and headed down, more relaxed and comfortable now that she was out of her dress blues. As she got back to the crew deck she heard Aethyta holler to someone around the corner. In the XO's office. Apparently it had been retrofitted into a full galley.
"Hey! Crap-for-brains! Where the hell is the Captain's sandwich!? She's already back!"
"Almost ready Aethyta!" A nervous and dreadfully familiar voice said. "I dropped the spatula and it fell between the stoves! Don't worry though, I found a new one!"
"Oh no. It can't be..."
But it was.
"Alice! It's great to see you again! Oh, sorry! Captain Shepard! I bet that'll take some getting used to!" The man talking to her and bringing her her lunch was none other than Conrad Verner. Admiral Shepard's self-proclaimed biggest fan and someone who had found the most creative ways to get himself in trouble that Alice had ever seen. Conrad was yet another friend of Alice's mom but never really someone either was glad to see. Conrad was a brilliant physicist and had shown his heretofore unknown genius during the Reaper War while working on the Crucible but the man completely lacked common sense. The problem is he was really a good person who tried hard to serve humanity. He was just kind of stupid. Alice and her mom liked him and even cared about him but in a sort of "dumb puppy" kind of way. He constantly did stupid things but you just couldn't stay mad at him. Instead you looked for a way to gracefully get out of any one on one conversation you had with him. Like that weird uncle everybody was nice too but no one really wanted to talk with.
"Uh...Conrad. Hi I...didn't know you were onboard."
"That's right! Serviceman Conrad Verner at your service! Plumbing, environmental maintenance, water and sewage systems, I maintain it all. I even help Aethyta here in the kitchen. After I wash my hands of course."
"Don't worry hon. He knows what he's doing. Surprisingly."
"Well, here's your lunch! Hot and ready just for you Captain Shepard! Ooh your mom's so proud of you! But I'm sure you want to eat. I'll leave you to it!"
Mercifully, Conrad really did stop talking and headed back into the galley. Aethyta gave Alice a "don't worry about him, I've got this." look and Alice knew to trust her. No one read or commanded respect from people better than Aethyta did and if she was in charge of Conrad, he couldn't possibly hurt himself or anyone else on this mission. Now able to finally relax and enjoy her meal, Alice sat down and bit into her sandwich. It was the best thing she had tested in the last week and she devoured it. Aethyta had another ready for her along with another helping of potato salad and another glass of cola. Alice had slaked the worst of her hunger on the first plate of food and was ready to enjoy the second. Human biotics had much higher energy requirements than other humans, over fifty percent more. Sustained biotic power required a lot of calories and were often draining. Alice always carried snacks and candy with her in case she ever got low blood sugar, similar to diabetics when that was a problem several hundred years ago. She also ate as much as a male twice her weight and a foot taller than her and like all biotics was always given a large canteen of energy drink after every deployment to restore her blood sugar. She also loved to eat despite her small size. Eating was one of her favorite things to do and the combination of good, ample food, old caretakers and new crewmen who looked up to her but also welcomed her as an equal let her really enjoy herself ever since she got on board. The Liberator's mess hall was a happy place and Alice would get some much needed rest before their mission truly began.