Kate Shepard walked into Admiral Hackett's office. He was seated at a small desk that was loaded with stacks of disheveled papers. Shepard was surprised to see that an alliance admiral was working out of a shoe box. She expected more trappings of status and power, a larger desk, a high backed chair, that sort of thing. Then she realized that was not his style, he was not pretentious and had no reason to be. He was commander of the Fifth Fleet, and most likely was hardly ever there anyway.

She stood at relaxed attention and waited for him to acknowledge her presence. He was reading over reports of some sort and scowling at the papers as if he could communicate through them. He tossed them down in disgust, removing his reading glasses and looking up at Shepard. A smile broke through his frown and he nodded.

"Commander Shepard, please sit down."

"Admiral. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I need to give you some new information. I think you will find it of interest."

He sat back, sizing up the first human SPECTRE. Shepard was never one to be rattled, even though he knew she was burning with curiosity, because he would be, in her shoes. She and Hackett rarely spoke face to face so she had to be wondering why he would ask her to be briefed in person.

"You are aware that I was one of the people who recommended you for SPECTRE candidacy, yes?"

"Yes." She replied coolly.

"And I've always respected you, as a soldier, a leader and a person, yes?"

"Yes, sir. The feeling is mutual as I'm sure you're aware." Kate folded her hands in her lap so she wouldn't fidget.

Shepard helped him without any back talk or hesitation, any time he asked her. And now that she was a SPECTRE she no longer had any obligation to serve the alliance. She did it because of her respect for him.

"First of all, I wanted you to know that some of the officers in my cadre are referring to the Normandy as 'Shepard's Ark'."

"Sir?" Kate's eyebrow flew up. It was the only indication of annoyance she ever showed, but it made her a lousy poker player, much to her aggravation.

"Well, commander, you've managed to gather enough aliens that should the world end -"

"I understand the reference, but I doubt you summoned me here to tell me that."

"No, I didn't. I just thought you should know." His smile transformed into a smirk.

"And do you have an opinion on this nickname?" Shepard's face was now completely unreadable.

"I do. I told them if I ever heard it again there would be repercussions. You're doing exactly what we want you to. You're building alliances, both personal and professional, with our partners."

So he knew about the friendships she was forming, of course he would. He knew everything sooner or later, and it was usually sooner. She wondered if that was the reason for the face to face.

"The reason you're here, is that I have a personal favor to ask you. And I need you to hear me out before you react to it."

"Alright." Kate braced herself.

"I want you to make sure nothing happens to Doctor T'Soni. Keep her on that ship, no matter what. If my intel is good, we're going to need her. I believe you, and I agree that the reaper threat is real. No one else shares my opinion, but I think the two of you are the key to dealing with them. That isn't my intel, that is just my gut feeling. But when others reach the same conclusion I have, her life may be in danger."

"Her life is already in danger, sir. And she's not going anywhere, if I can help it. But sir, why would anyone want the reapers to invade? That just doesn't make any sense." Shepard still didn't understand how Saren could be working with the geth, how he could justify his betrayal of his own species, much less the rest of the galaxy.

"I believe indoctrination is the key. I have only the most preliminary shreds of information about it, but I think the reapers use it to influence before they ever return from dark space. To soften the way, so to speak."

"So you think it's indoctrination that has warped Saren's thinking?" Light was beginning to dawn in Kate's mind.

"I read your report regarding Benezia. And we both know that asari matriarchs are tough minded. If indoctrination could make her do a one eighty, then it has to be a powerful force unlike anything encountered in thousands of years, or the asari would be familiar with it. And given that the protheans disappeared about fifty thousand years ago, that would seem correct, would it not?"

Hackett was quick. There was no doubt of that. He was piecing the puzzle together faster than Shepard, but then, he had more pieces to work with. Everything was starting to fall into place for her too, however.

"So Saren is a puppet just as Benezia was?"

"I think so. I think Sovereign is the key to this thing. What she said about being on board and having it change her thinking. That has to be what is happening with Saren too, otherwise how could he possibly betray the council? He's been a SPECTRE for too long, he would never do that. Nothing else makes sense."

"You're right. And Sovereign is unlike any ship we've seen before. Benezia said the geth didn't build it, and I believe she's right. And if they didn't then maybe -"

"Now you're with me. If they didn't build it, the reapers must have. There was an artifact found in batarian space, the scientists who discovered it went mad. They destroyed their research and themselves, so we can only reconstruct so much of what happened, but it seems like that was also an example of this indoctrination. I've been unable to locate the object, I don't know what happened to it. I wish I could and I will keep searching. If we could put hands on some of this reaper tech, we might be able to analyze it and discover more about how it works. That is, if we can do so without becoming indoctrinated by it ourselves. But if we could learn how to fight it, how to resist, I think that knowledge would be invaluable."

"That would be extremely useful, certainly. But sir, what leads you to believe that Liara is important to this whole thing? I mean, I get that she's a prothean expert, but I don't quite see how it all fits."

Kate had no intention of putting Liara off of the ship. And it was her thought too, that the asari was important. Even putting her personal feelings aside, she and Liara had a synergy she'd never had with anyone else before. Her instincts were telling her the same thing Hackett's were, but she didn't yet have any facts to back it up.

"I think we're going to discover that any information that will give us an edge in the coming invasion will be prothean. Liara said it herself, they are the only extinct population that we have any substantial data on. The prior races have, for the most part, vanished into the mists of time."

"So you think she will be the key?"

"I think the two of you will be the key. You are important because of your talents and your interaction with the beacon. Liara because of her knowledge of the protheans and her ability to meld with you and retrieve any information you receive, including the data from the beacon. "

"Right, melding, I hadn't fully considered that."

"It's a useful tool, one of the strongest the asari bring to the table, also their natural affinity for biotics. We can learn so much from them. It's no wonder they are the most powerful of the council races. Combine those traits with their long life span and it's easy to see why they are the leaders. They have longer to learn and pass down that learning. It's a natural result of who they are."

"We don't know the full effects of melding, Shepard. You will be able to provide us more firsthand information on how it works, on what the asari are capable of." Hackett rubbed his eyes, even with his reading glasses, going over reports was his least favorite task. Unfortunately, it was also the one he was doing more and more often.

"Yes, I can do that. But I won't lie to Liara, if I agree to share anything I will tell her I am doing so."

He nodded. "In much the same way that you bring together the best traits that humans possess, Liara exemplifies the best qualities of the asari. The two of you make quite a powerhouse. If anyone can figure out how to stop the reapers, I'm putting my money on you. And I wouldn't expect anything else from you, Shepard. I don't think T'Soni will mind. She's a scientist. I think she can respect what we're doing here. And I won't ask you to divulge anything too personal. I don't think that will be necessary."

Kate laughed. There wasn't anything personal to share at this point and they had enough on their plate she wasn't sure there would ever be. Not to mention, Liara was so shy she wasn't sure if the asari admired her or was falling for her, she wasn't exactly forthcoming about her feelings.

"At this point I wouldn't worry about that, sir. I think there is more gossip about what is going on between Doctor T'Soni and I than fact. Because the fact is we are only as close as I am to any of the others on the crew. Garrus and I have spent more time together, truth be told."

"Well, all I know is that you are building strong relationships and that your crew respects you enough to follow you anywhere you ask them to go. That's all I can ask. Keep them safe, Shepard. We're going to need all the help we can get, when the time comes."

"Aye-aye, sir. I'll do my best."

He stood and so did she. He reached out his hand and she shook it. In an oddly warm gesture, he enclosed them with his other hand and squeezed lightly.

"Take care out there. I'll be keeping track of your progress. And I thank you for your time, commander."

"Thank you sir, you've helped me gain some useful perspective."