"I don't know what's going on with this sun," said Joker's voice over the intercom. "But it's doing a number on our shields. I've got us in a barbecue roll, but if this keeps up we're going to be actually barbecued."

"I know, Joker," said Donnelly. He stood at the main monitoring station in Engineering, his eyes flickering over the telltales. He was not happy with what they were telling him. The Normandy had been only orbiting Haestrom for an hour, and already the shields looked as if they'd gone through major combat. His two other staff were at their stations, also trying to keep ahead of the situation.

"Drive core power stable," said Rogers. For once, his face didn't look sour. It looked more like it was pinched with fear.

"We still have reserves?" asked Donnelly.

Abramson spoke up. "Our reserve power is still available. No problems there."

Donnelly clicked back on with Joker. "I'm going to boost shield output with our reserves," he said, "but if that doesn't work I'll have to get the power from somewhere else. If I have to take something offline, which would you prefer? Stealth or maneuvering?"

"Hmm, such a great choice. Leave our ass hanging out or not be able to move our ass much? I guess nix the stealth, if it comes to that."

"Got it," said Donnelly. His fingers flashed over the controls. "Okay, it looks more stable for now with the added reserve power. We should still have all non-essential personnel bunker down in the mess."

"But what about me?" asked Joker. "I've gotta drive the ship. You gonna bring me some lead-lined undies?"

"Nah, Joker. I figure if you die we can just put a brick on the accelerator and call it good."

"Aw, I knew you cared. Kisses!" Joker broke contact.

Donnelly called Miranda next. "Conn, this is Engineering."

"Go, Engineering."

"Ma'am, we have a potential situation with the shields. The erosion isn't too bad for now, but I may have to take stealth offline if I need a boost. I would recommend getting all off-duty and non-essential personnel into the mess hall. It's in the center of the ship, surrounded by water tanks. It should make a decent storm shelter."

"Understood, Engineering. I'll issue the alert. You get up there too."

"No can do, ma'am. I need to keep on top of the board down here." He checked the dosimeter clipped to his lapel. "Radiation levels are fine for now down here. We've got a hardsuit stowed here, I'll get it on just in case."

He could feel the Cerberus officer hesitating on the other end. "Understood," she finally said, and signed off. There was an alarm klaxon, and then Miranda's voice echoed overhead. Donnelly could hear it reverberating throughout the deck behind him.

"Attention," said Miranda's voice, "This is a ship-wide alert. All off-duty and non-essential personnel are to report immediately to the mess hall. Check dosimeters and report any non-normal radiation exposure to Doctor Chakwas immediately. Essential personnel must don hardsuits immediately. All stations report in once suited."

The two other Cerberus staff turned to look at him. Donnelly began snapping out orders. "Rogers, get to the mess. Abramson, check the subfloor area. No wait, I'll do that. Both of you get your asses to the mess. Clear and lock down sections as you go, and sign in when you get there."

They sprinted off as Donnelly headed for the steps leading down to subfloor maintenance. "Jack?" he called. "You down there?"

There was no answer.

He turned and jogged to the suit locker tucked away in one corner of Engineering. He pulled out the hardsuit and began donning it. The instinctual movements helped calm him. The last time he'd put on one of these, it had not gone well. He finally twisted the helmet into place, and felt a cool wave over his face as the suit began feeding in air.

"Conn, Engineering."

"Go, Engineering." He could hear the metallic overtones in Miranda's voice, and knew she'd also suited up. He admitted that she at least had the sense to put on a hardsuit in this situation, and not rely on her usual slinky catsuit.

"I'm suited up, ma'am. My staff is on their way up to the mess, Engineering is evacuated. Shields are...okay for now. The ship's rolling is keeping the erosion to a minimum. As long as we get out of here in a an hour or two, we should be fine."

"That depends on the ground team, Engineering."

"Understood. Oh, Joker is still at the helm, someone should check to see if he's okay. At least get him into a suit."

"I'm at the helm now, Engineering. I'll look after Joker. Conn out." That surprised Donnelly. Another thought struck him, and he tapped a few commands to check personnel logs. It looked like Jack was signed into the medbay. He gave a little sigh of relief.

He felt a little trickle of sweat behind one ear. The shields were still eroding. Not as fast as originally, but still faster than he liked. Donnelly didn't want to think about what the ground team was going through. They would have the bulk of Haestrom's atmosphere to protect them, but it would still be bad down there.

The Normandy lurched, stopping its roll. Donnelly cursed. The erosion was no longer evenly distributed, and began eating away at the shields along the ship's belly.

"Engineering, Conn," said Miranda's voice in his helmet.

"Go, Conn."

"A geth ship has maneuvered into a possible intercept course. We are taking evasive maneuvers to avoid detection. You must not disengage the stealth system, not until we can get the ground team out."

"Understood, ma'am. It's getting bad. Our wireless comms aren't reliable right now, and we'll need to keep plugged into hard lines to keep in contact. We also need to get all crew suited up. Once the radiation really hits our systems, we're going to start tripping breakers. That will include life support. I'll keep ahead of the whack-a-mole from down here as best I can, if it comes to that."

"Do what you can, Engineering. Conn out". Donnelly kept checking status reports as, with one ear, he heard Miranda issue the all-suits order. Maybe he could take power from the main guns? No, if he did that they'd be screwed if they were found out by the geth and had to fight.

"Engineering, Chakwas here."

"Go, Doctor."

"Is Jack there? We can't find her up here."

"What? She's signed into the medbay, I see it right here. She's not in the mess?"

"She was in the medbay about an hour ago, but I was looking for her when the alerts sounded. She's nowhere to be found. Did you check her quarters?"

Oh, so now they were her quarters? He ignored the little surge of anger. "Crap. I didn't physically check, no. I yelled down, and we've had an alarm and several announcements. If she was down there, she'd have heard it."

"I'm...not sure if that is the case," said Chakwas. "I'm also missing some sedatives. And Zaeed mentioned he is missing a bottle."

"Ah." Donnelly gripped the edge of the console as he pondered. Go check, or stay at his post? "I guess we don't have enough problems to deal with, eh? I've got to keep an eye on this, but also I need to know if she's there. Wait, I'm an idiot. EDI, are you there?"

"I am always here, Mr. Donnelly."

"Do you have a location for Jack?"

"I...am not entirely certain. I believe Jack Nolastname has become very adept at moving around using the service access tunnels, my sensor systems coverage is not as complete in there. Standby, processing. Yes, I have more data. Partial footage I have of Jack Nolastname indicates she is in the subfloor Engineering space."

Donnelly leaned his head forward, feeling his scalp hit the front of his helmet. He took a deep breath. "Okay. Let me go get her." He cut the contact, straightened and gave the readings another scan. He had...maybe fifteen minutes?

"Conn, Engineering."

"Go, Engineering"

"We suspect Jack may have been missed in the evac. She may still be down here. I need to check her area, will report back ASAP."

"WHAT?"

"No time to explain, ma'am. Engineering out."

He unlatched himself from the console and sprinted for the stairs. Donnelly hadn't worn a hardsuit in a while, and he banged himself against the walls as he made his way down. He reached the bottom and scanned the little room in a panic. The red light cast a bloody glow over everything. Nobody on the bed, nothing in sight. But he wasn't going to make the same mistake twice, he was going to be sure. Donnelly grabbed the mattress and heaved it aside, spilling papers and food wrappings everywhere.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

Jack had tucked herself behind the mattress. She was curled in a foetal position on the floor, facing away from him. She was pressed into the wall as if trying to hide. He leaned down and shook her shoulder.

"Jack? C'mon, wake up. We need to get out of here."

She shifted, and mumbled. She had something clutched tight to her belly. Donnelly couldn't see what it was.

"Okay fine, I'm going to pick you up, okay Jack? We need to get moving."

He squatted over her as he tugged her shoulder. She shifted and rolled. Her head came up and she looked at him, but her eyes were half-closed. The old shiner around her right eye was almost faded away. However, the left side of her face sported a newer, even larger bruise accompanied by several cuts and scratches.

And then suddenly, her eyes snapped open and stared at him with pure hate. He heard her scream, loud even through the suit. Her arm swung out from her stomach, holding an empty glass bottle. Both the bottle and arm blazed with a blue aura as they connected with the side of Donnelly's helmet.

It felt like he'd been hit with a forklift. He spun across the little space, banging like a sack of laundry against the far wall. He tumbled to the ground. He shook his head and tried to get his feet under him as he heard Jack yelling.

"Not going BACK, motherfucker! You hear me? No more CUTTING, no more TESTS, no more DUELS. None of you assholes are taking me back, you will not TOUCH me, I will fucking END YOU ALL."

"Jack, wait-" he began.

A glowing blue boot smashed into his side, sending him sprawling onto his back. There was a bright flare of pain from his torso. He looked up just as Jack landed on his stomach, straddling him. Her face was contorted in a furious howl. The now-broken bottle swirled with blue light, and was poised inches from his visor. He tried to move, tried to throw her off, but it was like he was encased in concrete. He saw a blue shimmer over his visor. He cried out in panic.

"Jack! It's me! Stop..."

"Gonna gut you like a FISH! Gonna drink your BLOOD! I'm gonna WEAR YOUR SKIN! You and your knives and your fucking NEEDLES..."

"JACK! IT'S ME! IT'S ASSFACE!"

The name seemed to hit her like a slap. She sat for a few seconds, breathing heavily. She leaned forward and peered through the visor at Donnelly's eyes. "Assface? Why are you dressed like a guard? This isn't the hospital, is it? What...oh shit, I don't feel so good."

The jagged bottle slipped from her hand and she tumbled off of him, shivering. The aura faded, and Donnelly could move again. He ignored his protesting side and scrambled to his feet. Jack lay like a beached porpoise, still shivering. For about two seconds, Donnelly thought it would be safer to just leave her there. Then he sighed, reached down, and slung her over his shoulder. He grunted with the pain that it caused. He figured he had at least one rib cracked, maybe two.

The ship's situation did not look good by the time he got back to the main console. They had maybe five minutes until the shielding along their ventral side was gone. He punched a few controls, and an acceleration couch unfolded from the floor. He placed Jack into it as gently as possible, and then latched himself back into the console.

"Conn, Engineering,"

"What the hell is going on, Engineering?"

Donnelly blinked. Had Miranda actually cursed? "I'm back at the console, ma'am. I found Jack in the maintenance area. I think she's under the effects of sedatives and definitely alcohol. She attacked me...I think I've got a couple of busted ribs. She's-" he glanced over, "-she's in a bad way. I'm not sure what's going on, she's shivering. She's delerious. Maybe shock. I need somebody to get down here to collect her. Oh, and I estimate about five minutes to ventral shield failure."

There was a moment of silence. "Understood, Engineering. Will you be okay?"

"I've felt better, ma'am, but this isn't my first time with broken ribs. Just don't expect me to do any dancing."

"Engineering, this is Chakwas. Marcus, did Jack use biotics when she attacked you?"

"Oh hell yes. She damn near took my head off."

"I see," said Chakwas. "I'm guessing she is indeed suffering from an extreme form of shock, induced by too much biotic use without sufficient energy reserves. I told her she wasn't eating enough. Can you cover her, keep her warm, and keep her feet elevated?

"I'll do what I can, Doctor. I'm going to be very busy here in about...three minutes."

"I can give you longer," said Joker. Donnelly felt the ship roll. As he watched, the erosion on the Normandy's belly slowed and then stopped. The shielding on their top now began to fade.

"Joker, that is not an optimal orientation for stealth," said Miranda. "But never mind. Engineering, new time estimate for shield failure?"

"About twenty minutes, ma'am. I'll get Jack as comfortable as I can, but I really need someone in a hardsuit to come collect her-"

Alarms blazed on his screen. "Possible targeting radar," yelled Joker in Donnelly's ear. "Prepare for evasive manuevers!"

Donnelly didn't waste time cursing. He spun, feeling another jab of pain in his side, and began strapping Jack into the acceleration couch. She struggled, weakly trying to pry the straps loose as tears ran down her face. Donnelly tried to reassure her. "It's okay Jack, this helps, I'm here to help, we're going to be bouncing around for a bit, okay?"

"No tests," she murmured.

"No, lassie, no more tests."

He untucked the emergency oxygen mask from under the couch. "I've got to strap this to your face, okay Jack? It's just air, just in case we lose pressure." The Normandy lurched, and he was thrown forward. If he hadn't been anchored to the main console, Donnelly would have face-planted right into Jack's chest. He fumbled her oxygen mask into place, trying to ignore the panic in her eyes. He then turned away and checked his suit. His own air appeared to be unaffected by Jack's assault. That was just about the only thing that had gone right so far.

He touched a few more controls, and two more emergency anchors unfolded from the ceiling and latched onto his suit's shoulders. The ship rolled again, but he was held securely this time.

"Shuttle is en route. ETA five minutes," said EDI.

"Music to my ears, EDI," said Joker. "This is going to be a hot extraction, folks. How we doing, Marcus?"

"Main power feeds stable," said Donnelly. "Ventral shields are rebuilding, dorsal shields now ten minutes to failure. When we do the shuttle snatch, do you need me to cut the ventral shields, or will you do it from there?"

"I'm on it. Just make sure we've got plenty of maneuvering power...crap!" There was a sudden jolt to the side, and another warning flashed on Donnelly's screen. "That was close. The geth are firing mass drivers, it looks like we've been made."

"Hold our trajectory, Joker," said Miranda. "We need to be able to intercept the shuttle."

"Yeah, as long as the geth don't figure our course-"

The Normandy rang like a gong. There was a brief, terrible wind and then Donnelly was surrounded by utter silence. The only sounds were the comms and his breathing.

"We're hulled," he announced. "Loss of pressure in Engineering." He glanced over at Jack's couch, and saw the couch's top covered with the coruscating bubble of its emergency mass effect field. Jack's eyes were huge over the oxygen mask, staring at him. He gave her a thumbs-up and turned back. "Both myself and Jack are okay."

"Engineering, Conn. Ship status report."

"Power at one hundred percent to starboard nacelles," said Donnelly. "Ninety percent to port nacelles and dropping. Stand by, rerouting. Okay, now it's stable. We probably have some cabling out there. We still have FTL capability."

"ETA to shuttle intercept, two minutes"

"Thanks, EDI," said Miranda. "Engineering, notify if power drop resumes."

"Aye, ma'am."

It was a tense two minutes. Joker threw in a couple of zigs to make sure the geth couldn't score another hit, and then there was another, deeper note that rang through the ship. "Successful shuttle capture," EDI announced. "FTL system online."

"Get us gone, Joker," said Miranda.

"Gone we be.

----------------------------------------

Donnelly unlatched himself from the console and lumbered over to the door. Every step felt like a red-hot needle jabbing into his flank. The door had a nice hole punched through it. It was probably due to shrapnel from the round that had hit them. If the geth had targeted a few meters over, that piece of shrapnel would have gone right through him.

And then, he thought wearily, maybe he could have gotten some sleep. One emergency patch later, Donnelly began repressurizing the engineering deck. He heard the hiss around him as air was restored.

"Conn, Engineering."

"Go."

"Pressure has been restored in Main Engineering. I still show loss of atmosphere between here and the elevator."

"Damage control parties are in route," said EDI. "Estimate thirty minutes to fully restore internal pressure."

"Engineering, this is Medbay," said Chakwas. "How is Jack?"

Donnelly looked her over. Her eyes were closed, and he was pretty sure her skin wasn't supposed to be that ashen.

"She's breathing, Doctor. But she's very pale, I don't like the look of it."

"Time is critical, Marcus," said Chakwas. "We need to get her stabilized now."

He thought about his available options. "We've got some emergency softsuits in here, I'll try to get her into one and carry her up. Engineering out."

----------------------------------------

Donnelly was tired and hurt and amped up on adrenaline. And therefore he thought he had killed the connection, but he had instead put his suit comm on general broadcast. And then Jack came to as he tried to get the emergency suit onto her.

And so the ship was treated to the sound of his normal slight Scots accent thickening into a brogue one could cut with a knife.

"All right, lassie, let's get you up. Ach, stop it! I told ye, it's me! Okay? Right, boots off. 'Cause ye canne fit 'em intae the legs, that's why! Now, stop wriggling! Okay, this leg in here, that leg in there. Right, now arms...STOP IT! Swear to god, I'll gi' ya a wallop tae remember if you hit me again, ya wee daft scunner! Heerrg...stop flailin' yer fookin' haid around! C'mon, hold still ye dafty...Okay, good, helmet on...Okay, now lass, look at me, okay? Stay with me..."

----------------------------------------

He dimly remembered depressurizing Engineering again. He remembered moments of heading up the dimly-lit service tunnels, with Jack clinging to his front. He also kept remembering another more horrible time in a hardsuit, holding on to the outside of a wounded warship under the glare of an evil mechanized god. The weight of Jack against his chest kept bringing him back to the present.

He definitely remembered getting to medbay. His side was on fire, every breath was now pure agony. Chakwas peeled Jack off of him and began to take her out of the softsuit. He looked around in a daze. Chakwas was just in her uniform, so he guessed there was air. He didn't remember going through an airlock. He reached up to undo his helmet and gave out an agonized grunt.

"Marcus, stop", yelled Chakwas. "You are not to move. Get him into that chair there and make sure he stays there until I can get a look at him." Somebody took Marcus's hand, towed him over to a nearby chair, and gently sat him down. The hands then unlatched his helmet and pulled it off. He took a deep breath of fresher air, then gave a little sob from the pain. Donnelly looked up at his helper.

"Kasumi?"

"Don't look so surprised. I'm an actual licensed nurse practitioner. Of course, the license has a false name on it, but the training is legitimate. Now, my big strapping man, let's have a look at you." She shone a light in his eyes and checked the pulse in his throat. She checked the monitors on his suit and pursed her lips.

"I'm fine, Kasumi. It's...ach...some busted ribs, no big deal. Just...check on Jack."

"You're not going to be stubborn and go walking anywhere?"

Donnelly shook his head.

"Because," continued Kasumi, "if you do get up, I will knock you down and sit on you."

Donnelly gave her a ghost of a grin. "Now, lass, most men would consider that a reward, not a punishment."

"Sweet talker. By the way, your accent is adorable when you're angry. I'm going to go give Chakwas a hand and you don't go anywhere."

Donnelly nodded. He closed his eyes and half-dozed for a bit. There was a light touch on his shoulder, and he started awake. Garrus loomed over him. The turian's mandibles worked with obvious emotion. His eyes kept flicking over to Jack's bed. Chakwas and Kasumi were bent over her, working furiously and speaking to each other in low tones.

"Are you okay?" asked the turian.

"I would shrug," replied Donnelly, "but that hurts too much. Here's an important safety tip, if you have to fight a crazy biotic make sure she doesn't have a bottle. How is she?"

Garrus blew air out his nose. "Not sure. It's worse than simple shock. Apparently when she ran out of energy reserves her muscle tissue started to get consumed. I guess she's stable for now, but they're trying to keep her hydrated and full of glucose."

Donnelly nodded. "I never found out what she was doing in the medbay in the first place," he said.

Garrus shrugged. "It was a training injury, of all things. She and Samara were doing some drills and it got a little spirited."

They both looked over at Jack's bed in silence. Garrus finally spoke again.

"By the way, what exactly is a 'wee daft scunner'?"