Tribulation

"What?"

Lieutenant Eshade's stunned query mirrored Tarsi's own mind as the pair stared at their controls. The Klingon ship was not moving. Its weapons were still live, but it wasn't targeting any of the fighters who were now all targeting it! That ship was small. Its crew could not have numbered over a couple of hundred. Yes, Klingons were bad news, especially in boarding actions, but the Denali had fought in the Klingon War and the Iconian War! They knew how to handle such!

"Federation fighters, we do not have time to discuss this." The voice from the other was still calm, but tension lay underneath it. "We have at best a minute of your time before all hell breaks loose. We are not here to fight you, we are here to try and keep this from-" He paused and then a sigh came. "Too late."

Tarsi gasped as the sensor readings from the Denali went nuts. "What is going on?"

"If we are not very careful? Hell."

Aboard the Denali

Mary woke up screaming as pain flared across her torso. It wasn't like before. It was-

She opened her eyes to see a red beam striking her chest. For just a moment, astonishment ruled. Someone was shooting her with a phaser! After she tried to help and got hurt. They were shooting her! Anger came. The pain faded as rage flooded through her. She rose to her feet, eyeing the now ashen faced human in the red shirt who stood in the doorway to her stateroom, the emitter of his phaser glowing in hand as he poured more and more coherent energy into her.

The beam did nothing and he paused in his attack.

"Die, monster!" The Starfleet security guard snapped as he slid the power setting of his weapon all the way up and took aim again. This time, when he fired, the beam hurt her, but the pain barely registered past the red-hot rage that burned inside her. He stared at her, eyes huge as the weapon in his hand poured even more energy into her and did nothing but make her angrier!He snarled and moved to rush her. "I won't let you-!"

He was cut off by the whine of another weapon and a green bolt of energy took him from the side. That was not a phaser! He was alive. She could see his chest rise and fall even through her rage and she wanted to stop that. To end him! To punish the fool who dared strike her! To-

"Easy." The female figure that stepped into Mary's view was not right. It wasn't Starfleet. It was a Klingon, but the face was all wrong. No ridges showed on her skull and the uniform the warrior wore was archaic. Not anything like Mary had seen outside of history holos. But... familiar. "He is down, Mary. It is okay. You are safe, girl." The warrior slowly lowered her weapon and then slid it to her side where it adhered. She raised empty hands. "How badly are you hurt?"

"I… He… Who…?" Mary stammered as the rage faded and pain flared across every iota of her being. "No!" She moaned as her form phased. She was losing control! She couldn't lose control here of all places! When she phased, she often threw energy around uncontrolled! Never very far, but she had hurt her dorm mates a few times. One nice thing about having a Horta and a Gorn for dorm mates, they were hard to hurt! "Oh, god! I am-!"

"Mary! Breathe!" The other spoke in a voice that would be obeyed. "Don't think! Breathe!"

Mary gasped once, twice and then shuddered as she took a deep breath and then another. Her form solidified. She didn't actually need to breathe, but forcing herself to breathe like a human helped her focus on being who she wanted to be. There were odder means of meditating and Mary had tried many in her life. The pain faded. She didn't actually feel such things unless she wanted to the way humans did. Normally, she did, but now? It helped not to.

"How…" Mary gasped as she sank to the floor, drained beyond belief by this sudden change. "How did you know how to do that?" She stared at the Klingon as the female smiled at her. Not sarcastically, or even ruefully. Genuine. Kind! It looked so out of place on a Klingon face, but not. This Klingon was familiar, but Mary was sure she had never met the non-human. She would remember this one! "Do I…? Do I know you?"

"No, you don't." The Klingon said with a small, sad smile as she knelt to check the fallen Starfleet officer. She shook her head. "Well, this fool is still alive. He will have a hell of a headache and you will have some explaining to do. Don't tell them, Mary. Don't tell them what you did." She warned and Mary stiffened. "Don't lie, but don't offer either. You are not alone, Mary. Hold to that. Keep hope alive." She tapped her arm and a com unit chirped. Mary tensed. She was leaving!

"Wait!" Mary begged. "How am I going to explain this?"

The other just shrugged and vanished a silent haze of red energy. Was that a transporter? Not one that Mary had ever seen. Transporters always made noise, but not that one? Odd. Mary heaved a sigh and fell back on her training. She was confined to the quarters she had been given, so she could not assist the unconscious human. Not that she wanted to right this moment! She was many things, she was not a saint. Instead, she tapped her com badge.

"Computer?" A chirp replied! She had coms again. Good. "There is an unconscious Starfleet officer outside of my quarters. Please notify medical personnel."

She was not actually surprised by the response she got. Instead of a person inquiring about the situation, a transporter grabbed her and dumped her into a holding cell. Outside of the cell, no less than four Starfleet security troops held rifles aimed at her.

"Go ahead and shoot if it makes you feel better." Mary said with a sigh as she lay down on the floor of the cell. She was too tried to try and get up on the bunk.

"Put those away." A voice Mary loathed sounded and Mary carefully did not look at the speaker. The female Catian gave her the creeps. "You know phasers do not work on her."

"They work on Iconians when modulated properly." One of the troops retorted. "And we did. Give us an excuse, Iconian!"

"If she was an Iconian, we would not be having this conversation. We would likely all be dead." The furred alien in white stepped up to the force field to stare at Mary. Then she hissed. "Mary? Who shot you?"

"Who cares?" Mary barely had the energy to snap that. "I am dead either way. Either you people kill me or the Iconians do. Either way, I am dead. At least they likely won't try to dissect me like you would, Doctor Nuna." A sidelong glance showed the cat woman's face strained. "Like you did."

At that everything stopped. Even the hatred on the faces of the security troops faded at the sheer horror of that thought. Mary had cause to hate this being after the way she had woken after the attack in her dorm. Waking up at all had been a shock. Waking up with parts of her energy being ripped out of her form had been worse. Much worse.

"I apologized." The cat woman said slowly. "Mary… I didn't think you were going to wake up. Very few do after getting hit with thaleron radiation. I thought I was doing an autopsy, not a… A dissection of someone still alive."

"You better pray you put me back together properly." Mary turned her head away from the force field. "And you better pray I am not who I think I am. If I am…" She trailed off, menace oozing.

"I know." The Catian said very softly. Then she turned to the troops. "Out. Now." That was an order, not a suggestion.

"Ma'am!" The loud trooper said sharply.

"You have caused enough problems." The Doctor said with a growl that was pure 'angry big cat'. "Find out who shot her and if that one is still alive, I want to 'talk' to them." The way her hands clenched, she was trying hard not to extend claws.

"That thing did something! The sensors all went nuts!" The trooper protested. He did start for the door. He wasn't stupid.

"I didn't do anything except get hurt enough to fall unconscious and then wake up with someone shooting me." Mary did not move as all of the security troops lowered their weapons and started to file out. "But of course… He had every right to do that. I don't have any rights. Do I?" She demanded of the Doctor, more than bit snide.

"Mary, you know better. Until what happened at the Academy the Federation Council could ignore you. What happened there was too public. Too blatant. That was what the idiots wanted." The Doctor said sadly. "They wanted attention. They wanted publicity. They wanted a bloodbath and instead? They made you a hero." She shook her head. "I don't know what the politicians will say, Mary. I don't think they have any idea. They sent you here, hoping to get some kind of answer. Either you perish or you are not their problem anymore." She stepped up to the forcefield and shook her head. "Mary, you need help."

"If you touch me again, I will kill you." Mary's words were not a threat. They were a promise.

"I know." The Catian said quietly. "Jhinis." Mary went utterly still as another form stepped into view beside the Catian. This one was very different, but clad in the same white jacket and trousers.

"No…" Mary breathed, struggling to sit up, to scuttle away from the forcefield as the being with the two tentacles on her head stepped up to it. Not an Andorian. Instead of blue skin, this being's skin was white. Her eyes were pure white as well, sightless. Aenar. A telepath and one Mary knew well. She was young, a few years younger than Mary, but her kind matured fast. She smiled at Mary, but said smile held fear. Fear that Mary understood completely. She had been the first clear thing Mary had seen after waking in the Doctor's less than gentle care and what had happened after had hurt both of them. Jhinis was shaking in memory that Mary shared, but for her part, Mary felt rage rise again. "Don't you dare do that to her again, you bitch!"

"You need help. We have our orders, Mary." The Doctor said quietly as Mary fought to retreat, but her body wouldn't obey her. She was too badly drained. The force field dropped and the Aenar stepped forward. Mary backed away as best she could, but ran into the wall of the cell. Then she was stuck in the corner as the blind being approached. "You will reach Iconia."

"No. Jhinis! No!" Mary begged as the Aenar went to her knees beside the shuddering girl. "Don't!"

"It is all right, Mary." The girl said as she reached out to take Mary's hands. When she spoke again, it wasn't aloud. It was directly into Mary's mind. I have studied up. I know what I did wrong. I know what I am doing this time.

Do they still have your brother? Mary sent back and Jhinis stilled.

"Mary, focus. Breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Nothing else." Jhinis said aloud but to Mary her mind tone was sick. Yes.

Are they still hurting him to try and hear what he hears from you? Mary demanded as she forced her physical form to calm, to ease as Jhinis was supposed to. If the Doctor suspected that they shared opinions of the witch, it wouldn't end well.

You cannot help us, Mary. We are lost, the both of us. Jhinis said sadly as she focused her mind to sooth Mary's energy. Mother was right. The job was too good to be true, but we needed the money and they are paying us. Then she spoke aloud as Mary calmed, the kind Aenar's empathy flooding through Mary in waves of softness and gentleness. "What happened, Mary?"

"I woke up." Mary sighed as her tautness uncoiled under Jhinis' ministrations. It felt so good. Hence why the agency that had her service kept her on such a short leash. "Something was wrong. The ship shuddered and the coms didn't work! I… We were under attack." She moaned in both fear and worry. Jhinis, don't go too deep!

"I won't go too deep this time, Mary." The Aenar promised, and indeed, her power was only skin deep. Before, she had accidentally touched the core of what Mary was and nearly lost herself in the stream of energy that composed the not-human girl. It hadn't felt bad for either of them and that had been the worst part. Neither had wanted it to end and both feared it was some kind of addiction. It had been incredibly hard for the both of them to separate and even now, they were connected on a deep, fundamental level. They cared for each other. "What is yours, will remain yours. I am sharing your pain to help you cope, not probing your mind." The white skinned form smiled and Mary shared it, a bit tentatively. "What happened then?"

"I… I forgot I was locked out. I touched the computer to try and activate an emergency transponder and…" Mary winced in memory and Jhinis stilled as fear blossomed in Mary's mind. When she spoke, it wasn't aloud. There was something in there. It wasn't anything I have ever seen or felt. It looked at me. Said I was to be deleted. Jhinis stared at her, matching fear rising. Protect yourself. Protect your brother. Whatever it was is likely still there!

"Then you woke up on the floor." Jhinis said slowly. Mary stared at her and Jhinis gave her a tiny wink of one blind eye. She knew. The telepath knew what had actually happened, but she wasn't going to say! Jhinis turned her head to look at the Doctor who was standing impatiently. "She woke up to the feeling to being hit by a phaser. Either of us would have killed the fool. She didn't."

"There was an incredibly advanced virus in the ship's systems." The Doctor said slowly. "They called me when they detected it and it took quite a bit from the whole team to get rid of it." Mary and Jhinis shared a look. If it was really gone. The Doctor did not see their shared look. "The ship's crew assumed it was Iconian."

"Whatever hit me wasn't Iconian. It didn't feel like them." Mary replied as Jhinis finished up. She smiled at the telepath who smiled back but both held the same fear. "Jhinis?" She begged as the Aenar moved to sit beside her, still holding one of her hands.

"I am okay, Mary." The Aenar reassured her. "You are not. You need to take some time to reintegrate what got scrambled by the phaser." She stroked the hand she was holding. I am not leaving you to face this alone, Mary. The Klingon was right. You are not alone.

I didn't know her, but she knew me! Mary said weakly as Jhinis soothed her. That makes no sense!

No, it doesn't. The Aenar agreed, her mental tone sour, but her face was serene as her hand came up to stroke Mary's long blonde hair. The feelings were heavenly. Mental and physical soothing. Her specialty. "You need to rest now, Mary. It is okay. I will stay with you. You will be safe."

"Never… Never going to be safe…" Mary found her head pillowed on Jhinis' shoulder as her rhythms slowed to a downtime pattern. I… Please, Jhinis… Be careful. i lost everyone else I cared for. I can't lose you too!

You will never be rid of me. Mwahahahaha! The sheer inanity of the wicked lilt in the Aenar's mental fake evil laugh had Mary smiling even as her vision faded.

Denali brig

Jhinis waited until she could feel nothing but Mary's sleeping mind before speaking again.

"She may or may not remember what is spoken around her while she is on downtime. She will never trust you or us. If the Iconians deem her one of their own, if you are lucky, they will kill you for what you did to her." The Aenar said calmly as she rose, hefting Mary's slumbering body gently to deposit it on the bunk. She sat beside Mary, still holding the girl's hand. Her other hand stroked the poor girl's hair again and Mary relaxed further. "They might kill me too."

"To every scan, she was dead and we needed to know what she was. Now, we have another problem. The virus was keeping the hangar bays closed." The Doctor said quietly. "Without the aid that no one seems to have called in, the ship would have been destroyed." She shook her head. "Except that the bay doors opened by themselves and something distracted the virus while we cleaned it out."

"If she did that, she violated her word to the captain of this ship not to interfere with the operations of the ship." Jhinis said softly. "Mary may not actually be Starfleet, but she thinks like Starfleet. If she saw the ship in danger, how would she react?"

"Can you tell if she opened the hangar doors?" Nuna demanded.

"No." Jhinis said truthfully. "I think she did something, but I am not sure what and if called to testify, that is what I going to say. Mary's mind does not operate on the same wavelengths that others do. I cannot read her as I can others without going deep and probing deeper into her mind will likely kill us both."

That was true. Utterly true. But not the whole truth. She didn't need to read Mary and wasn't about to say that. She knew Mary's mind the same way Mary knew hers. Neither could lie to the other now. Touching Mary's mind was oddly soothing to the often distraught intelligence service telepath. It had been ever since they had shared that harrowing experience. After Mary's near death and the aftermath. They had both decided not to enlighten anyone on all of what had happened. Jhinis' superiors would see Mary's influence on the Aenar and her brother as a horrible thing and likely take steps to remove Mary's influence. That could be bad for either of the pair. Jhinis wasn't about to let that happen. The poor girl had suffered enough for wanting to do the right thing.

"How is she?" The Doctor asked, to all appearances concerned. That was a lie. She was a sociopath. A useful, if incredibly dangerous tool for the agency they served.

"Mary is sad, sick, scared and furious." Jhinis replied. "I don't need to be a telepath to tell you that. Physically? Her energy is stabilizing. Emotionally? The sooner we get this done, the better."

"Can you continue?" The Doctor asked, her tone professional now.

"I have to." Jhinis smiled widely. It was not a nice smile. The Doctor stared at her. "But for the first time in ages, I wish I had eyes that worked. I can function as I am, but I truly wish to see what happens when the captain of the K'Valk's Honor realizes you are aboard, Doctor Nuna."

A gulp was her only response. Even sociopaths knew fear.