After leaving the engineering room and waiting for the doors of the cargo elevator to close -there was no passenger elevator on the frigate-Anderson looked at Shepard and said:

"Since its arrival on board, the Spectr Kraik has been almost constantly in the Communications Room or in the hold. Where he is much less likely to encounter members of the crew of the ship," said Anderson. "My colleagues don't like him and are very wary of him. I do not consider it necessary to introduce you to him, since your appointment is our crew and ship's internal business and, in principle, it does not concern him. So that..."

At that moment, the doors of the freight elevator began to open. Shepard heard the loud voice of a young corporal standing next to a female medic. The captain easily recognized Richard Jenkins, a member of the ship's ordinary crew, as the speaker, and Karin Chakvas, the ship's doctor, Major of the Medical Service MSF of the Alliance of Systems, as the woman.

The corporal was getting hot, trying to prove that he was fully prepared to show his best qualities on the battlefield, to which the ship's doctor bitterly commented that Jenkins' fervor had already forced her to "patch up" the corporal in the sick bay more than once.

For some reason, there was no information in the files of both readers viewed by Shepard about when the corporal had managed to distinguish himself so much during his stay on board the frigate, but for now it didn't matter — he had to personally get to know both "frigates".

The corporal snapped to attention when he saw the officers approaching.

"Dismissed, Jenkins," Anderson said.

After waiting until the corporal had moved a good distance away, the ship's commander added softly, addressing Shepard:

Actually, Lieutenant Alenko was supposed to take care of him and — very well — take care of him, but... as I already mentioned, because of the constant severe headaches, he has big problems with ensuring that all the duties assigned to him are fulfilled." After making sure that the elevator doors had already closed behind Jenkins, Anderson continued. "Karin... This is Captain John Shepard, a graduate of the n-Seven Academy, appointed to the position of senior assistant. At the same time, as I was told at the division headquarters, he will have to perform the duties of the commander of the amphibious unit."

"Pleased to meet you," the medical major nodded affably at Shepard. "By tradition, you have to undergo a medical check-up. So, please come to my Medical Room." She looked questioningly at Anderson, who nodded.:

"Go ahead, Shepard. Departure is coming soon, you will start work after medical control. While there is time... there is." The frigate commander turned towards the cockpit. "I'm waiting for you at the Star Chart in the СIC."

Shepard saluted the commander, standing at attention for a few seconds.

In the medical bay, Chakvas asked Shepard to strip to the waist, quickly conducted a medical check-up and, after waiting for the captain to tidy himself up, offered to sit in a chair next to his desk.

In conversation with the ship's doctor, Shepard learned a lot of new, valuable and useful things for himself.

Formally, Karin Chakvas was above the commander of the ship in rank, but as a doctor, she belonged to a different department of the Alliance's MSF and also specialized in treating aliens, and, as Shepard saw during the conversation, she was well versed in the treatment of humans.

She also told a lot of interesting things about Naylus Krajke — Spektr.

The Council of the Citadel, supplementing with his story the information already known to Shepard.

Half an hour of conversation flew by completely unnoticed.

"Go to your cabin for now, John. Everything is prepared for you there." Chakwas said. — "This ship is small in size, so it's not really a cabin, but just an enclosure. Here, those who can use cabins according to the state, calmly and freely refer to them as "enclosures". Perhaps this is against all written rules, but we are working, and not just stupidly following the rules. The upcoming flight, as I understand it, is also very stressful and specific. You will need to review many of the documents again. And after the start... Practical, real work will begin.

Nodding to the ship's doctor, Shepard left the medical bay. Of course, he didn't show it outwardly, but inwardly... It seemed to him that he had spoken not to the ship's doctor, not to the senior medical officer of the Alliance MSF, but to his mother.

There was a reason Anderson immediately addressed her by name.

Karin Chakvas was important to all Normans, so important that neither the obscure status of the frigate nor the special mission could devastatingly affect this importance.

Glancing at his omny-tool watch, the captain noted that there was not much time left before the launch and entered his the enclosure-cabin, immediately noticing a pile of readers and a laptop on his desktop.

Chapter 4. John Shepard, Captain of the Alliance of Systems MSF. Departure for Eden Prime. The acquisition

Shepard did not close the door to his cabin tightly. If he was assigned to this ship and to this crew, then it is necessary to immediately make it clear to the inhabitants of the frigate that the new senior officer is available for communication. Let them see that the door to the cabin of the senior assistant commander of the ship is ajar, that he does not hide anything from his new colleagues, is always ready to help, is always ready to answer a question or just chat, talk.

Even when Shepard was walking away from Chakwas, he felt the watchful, studying, questioning and perplexed, in short, the most diverse views of his new colleagues. He considered this normal: a new person in such a post always arouses the increased interest of the old-timers, because now he is actually the second officer after the commander of the ship. All the Inhabitants of the frigate, who are below him in rank and status, will somehow decide for themselves an important question: how to contact John Shepard now. Of course, they will not make this decision immediately or soon, and not all ship's crew members will make this decision final.

Anderson helped him a lot by giving him the opportunity to work with the "big" reader beforehand, study the materials of the "small" one, and now he has provided him with the materials of both the small and large readers for personal use, so to speak.

The copies of the materials, as it turned out, were contained in one of the ordinary readers lying on top of this neat stack, which now "decorated" his desktop.

Shepard also liked the new, never-before-used laptop of the officer class — the commander appreciates his assistant and wants him to have the best tools for his work.

Shepard unpacked the bag that Dayna had packed and which had already been delivered to the cabin by the frigate's watchmen, put some of the food in a small refrigerator, and put some on the shelves of the kitchen cabinet.

In the cabin, as it should be, there was a small service for six people — just in order to arrange a tea party or a meal together for the ship's officers. It will be very good to use the service when discussing many issues and problems. Beautiful dishes created according to civil standards are somewhat relaxing and at the same time create a more acceptable environment for communication.

After sitting down in an armchair, Shepard made himself comfortable for a few minutes — now this chair will become a working chair for him for a very long time, he will have to spend many hours in it and he needs to get used to it.

Having prepared herbal tea for himself in a large half-liter cup, Shepard took the cup by the handle, got up, and went to the porthole, which was covered with an armored tire. Of course, you could have dialed the code on the omny-tool or laptop and removed the lid, but the captain turned on the wall screen and selected the sensor camera built into the cabin window from the menu. It turned out faster, and the image of the Arcturus station could now be changed widely.

For several minutes, Shepard stood motionless, getting used to this view, getting used to the idea that the assignment to the ship had once again taken place and now he was the commander of an amphibious unit of a special reconnaissance frigate, not just a special forces officer with the rank of captain, but the senior assistant to the commander of the ship.

So far, there was no need to force habituation, and Shepard calmly and unhurriedly glanced at the contours of the station's hull, watched as military combat and auxiliary ships, boats, and shuttles approached and left the station's giant "pancake" mooring complex.

When he "shadowed" Anderson during the commander's rounds, he tried to remain silent more, but carefully looked around, memorizing more details.

Anderson probably liked this behavior of the new senior assistant: he clearly valued reticence more than eloquence, although he appreciated people who could speak clearly and to the point. If he, the best graduate of the n-Seven Academy, had to lead the crew of a problem ship, then, as the bypass showed, Anderson coped with the difficult task to the fullest. In a short time, he managed to bring both the ship and the crew "to their senses", to the standard, to introduce them into the framework and encourage them, and not only to make them work properly.

Now Shepard had to maintain and develop this state of affairs, and he felt he was ready to do it the right way, and he was ready to learn a lot from Anderson.

Distracted from the contemplation of the Arcturus station, Shepard activated most of the cabin's systems and control panels, customizing them to suit his needs and requirements. Major Chakvas may have considered the executive officer's cabin, which Shepard had inherited, to be an enclosure, but... each person has their own perception of the surrounding reality and their own priorities.

After dimming the general and overhead lights to a minimum, the captain turned on the spotlight above the table, sat down in an armchair and pulled a stack of readers towards him. Working with documents was now becoming one of his main activities in his new position.

Right now, he tried not to think about how abnormal it was to combine the position of senior assistant to the commander of a ship with the position of commander of a frigate landing group. Yes, he was taught to take such situations calmly, because in a critical situation there is no time to think about paper-thin bureaucratic regulations. And yet, a certain worm in the back of his mind clearly signaled: abnormal, abnormal, abnormal.

Reading the lines of text files, Shepard typed texts on the keyboard of his laptop, filled out the "formatting" of documents, noting that, passing by the door of his cabin, members of the crew the frigate involuntarily slow down their steps, sometimes even trying to look inside the cabin. Well, he didn't mind, that's why he left a gap. Let them watch, let them listen, let them get used to it.

The officer of the watch informed the crew of the Normandy over the ship's speakerphone that there were fifteen minutes left before departure. The frigate's departure time, as the captain understood, was constantly being adjusted, but for the first flight of the newest ship, which retained the status of "prototype", this was usual. Shepard, noting the new departure time on his omny-tool, spent another ten minutes reading the information from the last reader in the stack — he did it, although there were a lot of files in each reader and there was plenty of information in them.

Rising from the table, the captain habitually changed into a light armored suit. Departure is departure. If you have to go to the Star Map now, then you need to be prepared for any eventuality. Yes, it may be unusual for the ship's crew members, but as the XO, he will now make sure that light armored suits become common for all the inhabitants of the frigate.

Anderson won't mind-he'll get it right. And the rest of the frigate's inhabitants will have to get used to it. By the way, why the inhabitants of the frigate? "To the Normandians." It will be clearer, more resonant and more correct.

After leaving the cabin, he closed the door completely. He felt the puzzled stares of the crew members. Nothing. Get used to. And then they themselves will be surprised at how they used to use uniforms instead of spacesuits.

The helmet is attached to the belt and — forward to the Map. A few dozen steps and ahead is a pedestal on which a Star Map is installed. Anderson looks up from the screens located on the frame of the Map, nods, taking in the figure of the assistant with an attentive, even tenacious look.

There are no chairs, Shepard thought, but it would be necessary to install at least two chairs here by the Map. Standing, of course, is good, even toning up to some extent, but the upcoming flight... will be difficult. So the chairs won't hurt.

The XO stood next to the commander and connected to the ship's special communications network. The usual departure procedure, nothing special.

The Spectr Turian does not appear in the CIC. Either the Normans had already taught him not to interfere, or something else.

Many consoles of the "necklace" of the CIC are empty. Yes, there is a lot of information in the readers studied by John about the problems that arose on board due to the understaffing of the crew. They took those who are generally difficult to do without on board, and the rest ... left under various pretexts in the Parking Field, from where the Normandy came to the Arcturus.

Military policemen in their dim uniforms froze at the portals of the entrances to the CIC. They are also very interested in the new senior assistant. They feel that he doesn't like their presence on the ship. They understand themselves that this is not normal. But — the order, the service, the protocol, the ritual. Twelve policemen instead of the same number of specialists from the ship's crew. It will have a very negative impact. Very. Shepard was sure of that. His even convinced.

The frigate smoothly moved away from the station, went beyond the "outer raid" — the space allocated for parking for ships whose presence in the immediate vicinity of the Arcturus was not necessary. Turn, the ship clearly sets course for the repeater, accelerates. This maneuvering and acceleration, as Shepard understood, would take several hours. Of course, you can fly away from Arcturus in a "fire" order. This is a military station. This is not the situation or the case right now. Therefore, the Normandy leaves quietly. Regularly, as experts would say.