Sparkling eyes. We're heading to Eden Prime

Yes, she used to be afraid for John, because... because she loved him. She has been in love since I felt the feeling of her first love, choosing John as the closest person to her. And she was very glad and proud that John had singled her out, Dayna, among the other girls-pupils in that small orphanage. He singled it out and made it my main one. Let's just... platonically, but he made her the main one.

She basked in his feelings, in his emotions — he gave her the best of what was available to him at that time of growing up. She felt safe and happy. And she tried to make John happy. Yes, she knew that not all people cross the line of platonic relationships when the feeling of first love begins to fade, giving way to space, giving way to a big real main love.

Maybe if they had both grown up in ordinary families, they would have gone their separate ways calmly and freely, but an orphanage is a special environment, its pupils are not much different from children who grew up even in single-parent families. And they are even more different from those children who grew up in families where there were both mom and dad.

It's good that she had a job in the orphanage that she devoted herself almost entirely to — big-time professional sports. She had devoted her whole life to sports and knew that John had also made his choice — he wanted to become a special forces officer and in the last few years of his stay in the orphanage began to seriously prepare for the realization of his choice. Just as she began to prepare for entering the field of big-time sports.

After leaving the orphanage, they both already had clear guidelines for their adult lives. She had a schedule of training camps, field trips, training sessions, and competitions, and he had a training plan for the elite special forces units that were part of the Alliance of Systems MSF.

The day of April eleventh, two thousand one hundred and seventy-two, Dayna remembered for the rest of her life. This day was both John's birthday and the day he joined the Armed Forces of the Alliance of Systems. Yes, the two of them managed to celebrate Shepard's next birthday, sat in a cafe, then sat on the banks of the River Dee in Chester. Something drew Dana to this town, and Shepard, who knew about it, did not protest. And in the evening she accompanied him to the army. She cried, of course, but she couldn't help it. She was worried, nervous. John too... He was nervous, but he controlled myself.

It was important to Dayna that he controlled his emotions. He always helped her, even with his mere presence, and when he acted for her and for her sake... she felt extremely happy. She often felt so happy, and even then, as she saw off a military passenger transport taking off, taking recruits to a training unit, she knew that she was happy. She happy with a special happiness: John has achieved his goal — he has embarked on the path for which he had been preparing for several years before. He was preparing consciously.

It's only been five years — and there was an incident on Akusa. At the hospital, John was awarded his first medal. As the only surviving Special Forces soldier. There was a lot about this incident that was incomprehensible to those uninitiated in the details, but for Dayna it was only important that John survived and returned.

Yes, he was brought in by medical transport in a serious condition. But he survived, he stayed alive, and he came back! She stroked the enamel and metal of his medal attached to his hospital pajamas with her fingers, and he smiled and said that now he had Olympic-level medals. Almost the same as hers.

She was laughing. She laughed because she saw, because she believed that not only had he survived and returned, he had preserved everything she loved so much. He remained the same, the same for her, although, of course, he changed, became more stern, became less verbose. She took all these changes for granted, because John is a man, he is engaged in a man's business, he is a warrior, he is an officer. And she's right next to him.

She's with him. Now they are both independent adults. He respects her right to decide about the children-she knows this for sure. She wanted children from him, she wanted to, but John... never rushed her, did not insist, did not push. And she was grateful to him for that. The year two thousand one hundred and eighty-three has arrived. Six years have passed since Akusa. John recovered, was in the reserve of the Alliance MSF Command for a long time, rushed around the training grounds and to various ground, fortunately, military units. He served, worked, acted, improved. He didn't like to be idle. And she was calm and happy, even if only occasionally, but he flew to her and they spent sometimes a few hours, and sometimes a few days together and side by side.

The command and colleagues knew that Dayna was practically the first candidate for John Shepard's bride, but John himself never put pressure on Dana and never rushed her to make a final decision. Surprisingly, she remained free and at ease with him. She could communicate calmly and freely with other young people, and he... he wasn't jealous because he trusted her.

He left on the Arcturus and she saw him off. She watched the shuttle take off, and then returned to his apartment and stayed there for several more days. Until the flight to Tokyo, for the next sports training camp. She didn't want to leave John's apartment earlier. She didn't want to and... couldn't. She was afraid, she was worried that this, all the contents of this bachelor apartment, might remain the only tangible thing that would happen after John... left. It will go over the Edge.

Something very black was hovering over him. She felt it, but she hid it from John, understanding and knowing that he felt it too. He's just like that.

She knew John wouldn't be staying on the Arcturus for long. That means he will be assigned to the ship, and then... then there will be a difficult and dangerous flight. Very dangerous.

This blackness... was somehow special. So heavy that Dana herself, no matter how hard she tried, could not find in her memory and essence any analogues to this oppressive feeling generated by this blackness hovering over John. Even after Akusa, after Dayna sensed the deadly danger hanging over Shepard there, on this very inhospitable planet, she was not so afraid, was not afraid and was not worried. Something was wrong with John's latest "business trip." Something was wrong.

Chapter 2. John Shepard, Captain of the Alliance of Systems MSF. Arcturus Station

The flight from Earth to the deliverer didn't take long. Shepard, among the other passengers of the shuttle, went to the main cabin, took the seat assigned to him by the boarding order, strapped himself in and began to calmly wait for the arrival of the cruise ship at the station.

Such flights had not been a novelty for him for a long time, he considered them to be working, so he did not pay much attention to the circumstances associated with them. Yes, of course, he thought about a lot of things during the flight, including Dayne, but even more preoccupied was the feeling of wrongness that had appeared, apparently related to the upcoming work at the Arcturus station.

Yes, according to current practice, an officer of his status and rank could first be offered to work at the station in the structures of the Alliance of Systems MSF and only then decide on an appointment to the ship. Shepard, as he felt, was completely ready for both options, but now it was the second option that bothered him — something told him about the upcoming difficulties with the ship and its crew.

* * *

Exactly at the time set by the order, the deliverer docked to a large space station. The chirping of a wrist band caught omny tool the captain's attention and brought up a clarification on the small screen: "report to the station personnel Department of the MSF." Shepard picked up his bag and briefcase more comfortably and headed for the Arcturus sector, which he knew well.

A sleek colonel was waiting for him in the office indicated in the clarification.

Shepard gave the proper military greeting, reported on the form — protocol and ritual, there's no escaping, it's not difficult to follow them.

The colonel clearly saluted in response — the command of the MSF contingent stationed on the Arcturus blurted out discipline, but then handed the captain a blank reader with an order issued according to all the rules, which was not required according to the procedure approved by the Admiralty of the Alliance VKS, but a simple reader.

On the instrument screen, Shepard saw only three lines of text that read: "Captain John Shepard of the Special Forces of the Alliance of Systems MSF will accept the post of senior assistant commander of the frigate Normandy."

There were also alphanumeric encrypted station coordinates of the commander's office of this ship — standard practice.

Saluting the senior officer for the second time, this time in farewell, Shepard turned around "on the spot" and left the office, not forgetting, of course, neither the briefcase nor the bag.

The station's headquarters structures were already used to officers arriving at the Personnel Department directly from the delivery trucks, so they looked at the luggage with understanding, remembering, however, that according to the MSF Regulations, for some reason an officer should not come to such institutions "with things." As always, one thing is written in the rules, but in reality it is completely different.

The fact that the colonel was a staff officer did not annoy Shepard at all. People work everywhere. And this colonel was not the first and not the last "parquet" officer seen by the captain during his service in the MSF. But the order, clearly "out of form," only added to the doubts and forced Shepard to take a closer look at the upcoming conversation with the commander of the ship, to which, as it turned out, he was now assigned.

From the materials regularly distributed to the officers of the Alliance MSF bulletins, John knew something about this ship: a joint human-Turian development.

At first glance, it was nothing special — an ordinary reconnaissance frigate, of which there were many in the divisions of the Alliance of Systems MSF. But this ship was distinguished, firstly, by the presence of an improved "invisibility" system, and, secondly, by the clearly too large core of the propulsion system, both in size and power, which made controlling this ship very problematic, requiring special training and constant increased attention from the pilots.

At the n-Seven Academy, Shepard was taught that his future career would necessarily include problematic ships, problematic crews, and problematic assignments. This was the fate of the highest-level commandos, in the journalistic style used by scribblers for not particularly discerning readers.

Corridor after corridor, passage after passage, elevator after elevator, Shepard approached the office of the commander of the ship. Meeting with this officer, traditionally the first on board after God, finally put a big and bold end to the uncertainty of the captain's position.

It seemed that there really was service ahead on a troubled ship, which, of course, did not add to John's joy or satisfaction, but at least it removed many questions, making room for new ones generated by a sense of impending danger. No, not related to this ship, more global, more terrifying.

It was difficult to determine the reason for this feeling now, and therefore, as Shepard moved through the Arcturus station to the office of the commander of the Normandy, he did not try to focus his attention on this feeling. He had previously been determined to a certain extent that such feelings would take place. Without a developed sense of danger, it was impossible to survive and maintain combat capability where commandos of his level most often had to operate.

After leaving the bag in the storage room in front of the entrance to the Arcturus sector, where the ship commanders' offices were located — the usual cabins transferred via a complex system to all senior officers whose ships were temporarily or permanently assigned to the Station's fleets, Shepard paused for a few seconds in front of the right door and, having got close, knocked.

"Come in," came a calm voice, slightly muffled by the pressurization.

The captain opened the door, stepped over the threshold, stopped, waited until the door clicked into place and gave the required arrival report.

"Report accepted," said the officer, who got up when Shepard appeared in the cabin from behind the desk, most often referred to as the office desk, and saluted in response to the guest's formal greeting. "Have a seat, Captain Shepard." He pointed to one of the two chairs next to the commander's desk. "I see you're unhappy."

"Yes, sir. But for now, I would not like to talk about the reasons for my dissatisfaction. Perhaps it has no basis in fact." Shepard answered calmly and clearly, sitting down in the indicated chair.

"Anyway, you've been assigned, Captain." the owner of the office sat down in his chair, turned on his laptop. "I am the commander of the Frigate Normandy, Captain David Anderson. Since we are of equal rank, you can address me as "Commander Anderson" or "Commander." Departure is in a few hours, everyone is already on board. I know you left your bag in the luggage room. If we go to the ship, you can pick her up. The departure of the Normandy is special, but not urgent. So you'll have time for that," the officer handed Shepard a "large" reader. "Here you can find all the materials on the ship and the crew. A kind of introductory information. I believe that after reading it, you will be able to get answers to your questions." Anderson stood up. "Come on."

Shepard followed the commander out of the cabin. The feeling of non-standardness of the situation just screamed. It seemed that Anderson didn't want to tell him much right now, here on board the Arcturus.

There could be several reasons for this: eternal competition between soldiers and politicians, the main inhabitants of the station, secrecy, and simply the desire of the commander to carry out the basic induction procedure directly on board his ship.

To Shepard's satisfaction, Anderson did not forget about his promise regarding the storage room: the bag was in place and was handed over to the owner by a storage sergeant in record time.

A few minutes later, the officers move to the part of the station from where shuttles traditionally departed to the ships stationed in the raid around the station.

A shuttle bus took Anderson and Shepard aboard the frigate, and the ship's commander motioned for them to enter his cabin.