"Oh, yet we trust that somehow good

Will be the final end of ill,

To pangs of nature, sins of will,

Defects of doubt, and taints of blood;"

- Lord Alfred Tennyson.

The shuttle shook at it approached the SSV Tempest. The pilot shifted the joystick to adjust the approach path a few degree and murmured back to his passenger, "Just entered their M-E field. traces of atmosphere get stirred by the effect - nothing to worry about."

Ashley hated this part of flying. Frigate pick ups allowed you to board a big ship on the ground, but the Tempest was a cruiser and too big to safety land on world, even with its e-zero core. So these tiny shuttles where needed to reach from the ground to low orbit anchor. And unlike frigates, these damned things where subject to a hundred times the amount of turbulence and chop.

She replied over the mic, "No problem. Time to dock?"

"About a minute," and then over the radio, "Tempest control, shuttle V-24 requesting a docking vector."

Ashley nodded and looked down at his billet pack, checking nothing had come loose before docking. Her hard suit made it a pain to do it whilst sitting down, but she was an expert at moving around in it, especially during the times she had spent in void combat with Shepard. Her mind drifted off back to the Battle of the Citadel - her, Shepard, and Garrus against a Reaper, and its legion of army of Geth and Krogan. She still found it hard to remember how they'd managed it, and she'd hadn't let herself think to much about her time with Shepard.

Horizon had changed all that, of course. It had changed everything she thought she'd known about the last 2 years.

The shuttle docked without incident and Ashley was greeted by the ship's XO, Commander Thompson. After the formalities where out of the way, she stowed her billet pack in the cramped living quarters, and asked, "How long until we reach the Citadel, sir?"

Thompson replied, "ETA 10 hours. Fortunately, we only need to make about 2 jumps from here." He paused and adds, "Anything else you need, ma'am?"

Ashley raised her eyebrow at the 'ma'am', "Not at the moment, sir. May I ask about the ma'am, sir?"

He looked left and right a moment and grinned slightly when he saw none of the crew where around, "Well, its an honour to carry one of the heroes of the Citadel battle, ma'am. Wholly an honorific 'ma'am', but most of the crew would use it. And the captain wanted to greet you himself, but its generally 'not done' to have the Captain greet guests."

She tried to avoid smirking at that, a brief flight of smugness at the flattery, "I see...well, carry on then...sir"

Thompson saluted before leaving and Williams sat down on the bunk allocated to her. Normandy didn't have the space for bunks, but the extra space on a cruiser allowed more space for crew comforts than a sleeping pod. She stripped off the hard suit and checked the soft crew suit beneath was in a presentable condition. That done, she decided to try and get some sleep before the she had to see the Anderson.

Her mind ran through what could be so important the Alliance would divert a Cruiser to transport her to them, and her mind raced through the possibilities. But she came up with no obvious winner to that question, and so she left it for now.

She thought about what Commander Thompson had said and a smile curved her lips - inspite of what the brass thought of her and her family, she'd proven publicly that her family where as good as any other Alliance soldier.

And then she thought of Garrus and her smile faded away. It wasn't fair that he seemed to get hardly a mention compared to her, though Shepard had been fairly been the main point of the media's focus. And the rest of the crew - they were only ever a footnote on the news stories, if that. But they had been as important to the mission as her, and the injustice and undercurrent of propaganda (if not outright xenophobia) always make her feel angry when her thought about it. It was almost the opposite of what grandad had experience; he'd done the best he could, but when the fighting was over, he was the one the brass decided should hold the can. Her unit - Shepard's team - had done the best it could

She had gotten few messages from Garrus in the last two years, though he always encrypted the send address - and she didn't want to know what he'd gotten himself into that required that step. He'd told her the Turian media coverage actually tried to make him look nearly as vital to the team as Shepard himself. The reversal of positions always made her think - "Can't trust aliens, because their too much like us!" But still, she could at least understand the Turian's desire to show off Garrus - after all, Saren had been one of their own.

And then of course, the Reapers lurked in the corners of her mind. They almost didn't seem real, between the Council's story that it was a Geth only attack, and the sheer unimaginable nature of them. But she knew that they where real, and a threat that really did scare her when she dwelt on it. Not that she'd ever admit to that - and Sovereign had shown they weren't unstoppable.

And finally, her mind settled on the issue she'd been trying NOT to think about this whole time - Shepard himself. It was still strange to know he was alive - she'd spent so much time trying to get over his death, her mind was straining at the idea of reversing that. And he was alive - and she'd been angry and confused; if not because of the reality of him, then for the loss of half that colony. The Collectors had kidnapped everyone, and she'd only unfrozen after the ship had took off. And neither she or he could do a damned thing about it.

And then there was Cerberus. He'd said they'd 'brought him back' from the dead - she wasn't certain about that, but it did beg questions that she just couldn't answer and was afraid of. Was he brainwashed? Had he gone over to their side? Where they manipulating him? Well, she knew they where trying to manipulate him, but was it working? She hoped he could see past their lies and half-truths, but even Shepard wasn't perfect.

And this is why Ashley hated down time, she thought to herself as she stared up at the bunk above her. At least when people where shooting at you, you could get your head clear and focused. She closed her eyes again, and tried to block out the noise of the current shift returning to their bunks for their night shift.

Ashley walked down along the corridor towards the human embassy on the Presidium; she'd managed a shower and a change of uniform once she'd gotten off the ship and found the room the Alliance admins had book for her.

"Gunnery Chief Williams to see Councillor Anderson," she said to the secretary, nod replied, "Please go straight in - he's expecting you."

"Ah, hello Chief, how was the trip?" Anderson said as soon as she walked in. She immediately saw the forced cheerfulness on his face even as he half looked away.

"The trip was fine, sir, but I think you should get right to the point," she said with the bluntness that had gotten her more than one reprimand in boot. But Anderson was one of the few people she considered a friend she could speak freely with without rank or formality getting in the way.

"It's Shepard," he said, letting the shoe drop. Though his face said he wasn't dead, it suggested that worse was in store.

"Ok." said Ashley quietly, "What about him?"

"The Council are sending a Spectre after him."

Ashley blinked, not believing what she had just heard, "What? Why?"

Anderson looked at his desk a moment and pursed his lips, summoning up the restraint to be diplomatic, "Shepard is, from the reports we've got, starting to assembling an army. Reports suggest he's got Krogan clans to promise him troops in soon, Geth ships seem to be grouping around the area's he's been seen operating, and reports suggest that the possibly Rachni ships are migrating to the same area. And others besides."

Ashley's mind rolled this information around and she sighed, "They think he's gone Saren on them, right?"

Anderson nodded and said, "Yes. And despite my speaking on his behalf, I only have 1 of the 4 votes on the Council."

"I see... we both know he's not gone rogue, sir."

"Do we?" Anderson said in an equally blunt manner, "We didn't know he was working with Cerberus until someone leaked it to us. We don't know where he was for the last 2 months. And we don't know if he had anything to do with the Omega-4 events. For all we know, Cerberus have him brainwashed and are using him to rally together every alien force they can find to use as throw away forces for whatever their planning."

Ashley's mind boiled with anger at Anderson; because he doubted Shepard, because he suspected humanities biggest hero, because he doubted the man she loved, and because he was absolutely right. She didn't want to admit it, but she had the same doubts ever since Shepard had mentioned Cerberus.

"I see, sir" she said, carefully keeping her tone level.

"However... being on the Council can be useful at times."

"Oh? Having a council seat means we can have our opinions out voted when it comes to a hero of our species and of the Alliance?" she let the bitterness she felt leak into the statement.

"No. Because I means I can force them to assign an Alliance marine to assist the Spectre during his investigation."

Ashley raised her eyebrows at his statement and said, "You managed to get them to agree to that?"

Anderson nodded, "I did. Between my refusal to back down and Udina's soothing of ruffled feathers, we where able to get my choice of marine on the mission."

"Who did you pic-" she paused, before saying frankly, "Its me, isn't it?"

Anderson nodded with a slight smile.

"How did you manage that? I wouldn't have thought the Council would have liked that given my history with the Commander"

"I didn't say they liked it; I didn't like having to have Shepard investigated - this way at least we both get what we want."

Ashley nodded, her mind already starting to get ahead of itself, "When do I leave, sir?"

"You and Mael will be departing in the morning, 0900 sharp."

She paused and said, "The Spectre?"

Anderson nodded, "Yes. Salarian, ex STG; the Council want Shepard investigated first and fore most" He paused a moment and added, "He's good at what he does. And I while I want you to make sure he gives Shepard a fair chance... if he's gone rogue, I know you'll do your duty in spite of your...history with the Commander."

She looked at him, and felt the colour drain from her cheeks at the way he'd said that, "Sir?"

"You know what I mean, Chief."

She stood and saluted, "Aye-aye sir...." she dropped the salute but didn't move to leave.

"Anything else, Chief?"

She struggled with how to phrase the question, but ultimately she settled for bluntness, "You know I'll do my job if Shepard is a Cerberus puppet, sir, but how did you find out about...our history?"

"Chief... there are ways and means of finding out anything in known space. But sometimes having a hunch and bluffing is the cheapest way," he smiled alittle before adding, "So no, you don't have to worry about the Alliance brass or Council finding out. But don't let me down Chief. I'm trusting you on this."

She nodded alittle and made a mental note not to play poker against the Councillor EVER. "Aye-aye sir"

And with that, she left to prepare.