Feuds
Mary was still unhappy, but everyone else was mostly relaxed. Even Mlian had relaxed bit in Mary's arms. The young Orion was clearly overawed by all of these odd goings on, but she trusted Mary and Jhinis. Rkerti, for her part, hadn't left Mary's side either. Most of the others were wary of the new group, but the purple skinned android was openly curious about the odd golden tinged metal forms that surrounded the woman in the golden gown.
"M'Tara. No." Mary snapped as the android stepped towards one of the metal forms. The android stilled and then retreated a step. She turned to look at Mary whose eyes had not left the one called 'princess'. For her part, the Gorn was confused, but remained silent, letting Mary run this.
"They do not seem hostile." M'Tara said by way of inquiry even as she retreated another step. Her posture spoke of curiosity rather than wariness. For her part, Mary was very wary.
"They didn't seem that way when 'I' met them either." Mary was still shielding Mlian from the others. "Then again, I was just a nobody then. Isn't that right, princess?" The honorific was bitter.
"You were a child and badly hurt." Michelle was not upset by Mary's hostility. If anything? She was sad. "Your injuries were far beyond any normal means of healing. Yes, they brought you to us, but we didn't have space. We couldn't keep you there." Mary just glared at her and Michelle shook her head. "Mary, I am here to help."
"I don't believe you!" Mary snapped and everyone stared at her. Such vehemence was not normal for her.
"Mary." Michelle said with a sigh. "We won't hurt her any more than we hurt you." At that, Mary surged to her feet, still shielding Mlian from the woman in gold!
"Get out." Mary was almost feral, a far cry from her usual kind self. "Now!"
"Mary…" Michelle started, but was cut off!
"Don't make me get my Mother in here, your imperial bitchiness!" Mary all but threw the words at Michelle who recoiled, her guards moving to flank her. "You. Had. No. Right."
"We had a need." Michelle was still quiet, sad. "We wanted to survive, Mary. Just like any. The needs of the many…"
She broke off with a gasp as Mary flashed with power and suddenly, the young woman's high Herald tech armor was far heavier looking and far more ominous. Mlian gasped as well as her form was suddenly clad in similar armor. Lighter, but no less dangerous looking. Blue, white, silver. Pretty, but also dark and powerful looking. Jhinis' armor changed as well as the Herald took up her spot beside Mary, her hands loose at her sides.
"Mary." Neesha hadn't moved from her spot and the Klingon Herald's armor was still the white it had been. She had no weapon in hand. Did it matter? "Calm down."
"You cannot be agreeing to this. With her." Mary grated the words out through teeth that were clenched. Energy flared from her fingers and she held out Mlian to Jhinis who took the shuddering Orion even as Mlian wailed in loss. Jhinis held the girl, crooning as Mary braced the golden woman. Mary's hands were now glowing bright! "After what she did? Where is the honor in such acts?"
"There is none." Neesha finally moved. She took up station beside Mary and her staff was in her hand and glowing! It was aimed at Michelle who paled. "I didn't know, Mary. But I swore it before, and I reaffirm it now. You stood by me at my worst moments. When I was nothing but a mote of madness. You stood by me and helped me recover. What can I do try and balance the scales between us?"
"You did the same for me." Mary replied and her tone was calmer. A little anyway. "We are all that remain and…" She looked away from the princess for the first time in a bit and was she about to cry? "I didn't know!"
"Mary, it is not your fault." Neesha reassured her. "What happened was not your responsibility. Krenn put paid to that account." She smiled at Mary but it was melancholy. "You know that is the only reason I stayed with that nut, right?" Her smile may have started a bit forced, but it was genuine nonetheless and Mary relaxed further.
"That and he leads you and yours to the best fights." Mary said with a sigh as she relaxed fully and her hands stopped glowing.
"True." Neesha shook her head. "Mary, you have a right to your anger. They threw you to him to cover their escape." At that, everyone stared at Michelle who might have been a statue. "Everything that happened, what he did to you, is on her shoulders and his. I am not asking you to forego vengeance, such would be silly indeed of me. All I am asking is that you not do it here. Even with all of the pain, loss and grief, I am glad to have known you. To have walked the same paths you did. Do not throw your honor away for this petaQ, cha'Dich."
More than one person looked blank at the Klingon words. Jhinis nodded slowly and her face was hard as she held Mlian.
"You know, Neesha? Sometimes I wonder if it is really worth it, being a woman of morals. Ethics." Mary said sadly as he looked at Mlian who was crying in Jhinis' arms. "Someone who cares about what is right and what is wrong. The pain will never go away, will it?"
"No." Neesha replied quietly. "But pain tells us we are alive. The nerves work. The feelings are there. Without them? We are nothing but shells. We live, we love, we hurt. We are alive, Mary. Even beings like you and me are alive." She took one hand off her staff and laid on Mary's arm. "All I ask is that you wait to hurt her until the witch leaves your mother's hospitality."
"I…" Mary swallowed hard and then nodded once savagely. "You are right, Neesha. My Mother has offered hospitality and it would be dishonorable to slay a guest." She turned back to Michelle and her face was remote now. "Say what you will and go. You may have been welcomed to this planet, Princess…" There was precious little respect in the title. "...but you are not welcome in my house."
Two of the Princess' guards twitched at her insolent tone but Michelle shook her head.
"We want to try and fix what we can." Michelle said slowly. "What happened was bad. We all know that. You would have volunteered-" She broke off as Neesha and Jhinis both started to glow!
"I didn't volunteer." Mary was quiet, but the intensity level went through the roof as she took Mlian back from Jhinis. Mlian was confused as Mary held the girl close.
"Who?" Mlian asked as she stared up at Mary's face, awe and fear warring in her tone. "Who hurt you?"
"Lorinos did." Mary pointedly looked away from the princess. "The code this woman gave unlocked my memories. Memories she locked in the first place to protect her lies and manipulations. After she threw me out, I was taken and turned into energy form against my will by the same one who hurt you, Mlian." Mary said quietly. "He encased me in a human form and intended me as a spy in Starfleet ranks. It was his bad luck that the ship I was posted to was attacked by the ship that Neesha was serving on."
"What happened?" Mlian pressed. "If you were energy form, then how did they… kill…?" She trailed off, staring from Mary to Neesha as the Klingon looked away. Then realization set in! Energy forms could die. Mary had, very recently. That said? It was very hard to kill them, especially in the middle of such a battle. Mlian's face held nothing but shock. "No… Oh no!"
"We couldn't kill her." Neesha's voice was very soft into the sudden, utter horrified silence that fell. "We tried and tried and tried. Disruptors, agonizers, knives. Eventually, we tried Federation weapons and anything else we could find or make. Nothing worked. She escaped each time. Eventually, she was the only Starfleet personnel left on the Ranger but she was sneaky, Mary was and didn't try to fight us head on. By the end, we had control of engineering and other critical spaces, so she boarded our ship and set it to self destruct. She wasn't an engineer though and the destruct didn't 'quite' work. No one is sure why, but most of the people I have asked say Lorinos had to have been involved somehow. He didn't want to lose his most valuable slave, after all."
"Mary? You were a slave?" Mlian all but begged as Mary would not meet her gaze. "I…"
"I was, Mlian." Mary said softly. "It wasn't clear but the commands were always there. Be a spy. Be a good little Starfleet officer, keep my nose clean and report on what I saw and heard to him. He wanted me to flee the battle, but I couldn't. I also couldn't win a fight against an entire crew of Klingons, so I figured to kill them all. I set the charges on critical parts of their ship, I remember a flash and I was somewhere else. Neesha was there. Then she and I were fighting hand to hand." She shook her head as Neesha did. "Then it all went blank and I woke up in Iconian care. An energy form that looked like a human girl with no memory of who and what I was or where I came from. They burned what was left of my slave controls out of me in the course of trying to help me find out who I was and where I came from."
"I woke up few days after she did. I am an energy form that looks like a Klingon with the memories of a young warrior named Neesha." Neesha added. "Mary and I started as enemies but we bonded over the course of our recoveries. I knew that someone had done something to her, but I had no idea what or how. Before she left, I swore vengeance on whoever had hurt my friend." She glared at Michelle. "You did not hurt her. Be very glad of that."
"Get out. I need to talk to these and you are not welcome in my house, princess." Mary turned her back on Michelle who made a noise of sadness.
"I want to make it right!" Michelle all but begged as Mary moved back to the couch and sat, still holding Mlian who stared from the standing woman to the sitting one.
"You can't." Mary retorted. "Go away or I will have my Herald throw you out." Jhinis crossed her arms as she moved to flank Mary again. Neesha did not move. "At least if Jhinis does it, I will be reasonably polite."
"Mary! Please! Let us try to help!" Michelle pleaded, but Mary ignored her. "We messed up. 'I' messed up. I thought I could get you home."
"I am home." Mary hugged Mlian and then let her go as the Orion girl shifted in her arms and then all but oozed down to sit beside Mary. "Go. Away."
"Mary." Mlian laid her head on Mary's chest. "Please be calm. It is all right. I am here. I am okay. You are okay. We are okay. Easy." She crooned and Mary relaxed a little. "Maybe you should hear her out, and then send her on her way?"
"My anger is strong, Mlian." Mary said quietly but then she relented a little. "Say what you will, princess. I don't have all day."
"I cannot change what happened, Mary." The woman in the golden gown spoke slowly and carefully. "If I could with no repercussions, I would. What I did was wrong, but I had over six thousand people relying on me to keep them safe. My mother remained to deny our enemies their prize and when this came to me, I was desperate." She touched the crown on her head, but it remained inert. "I can make no other excuse for throwing you to him. It was wrong, but needed."
"Do you know what he did to me?" Mary asked in a very soft voice. The tension skyrocketed and Mlian whimpered a little, but snuggled close to Mary.
"Yes." Michelle replied. She wasn't trying to shift blame or even mitigate her crime. "The Iconians were very upset when they discovered the truth. When they asked me about you and I explained. They understand about hard choices, Mary, but what I did was wrong. Let us, me, try to fix this!"
"You cannot 'fix' me." Mary said flatly. "And even if you could? I wouldn't let you touch me again!" Again, the tension rose even higher and the Klingon Herald moved to lessen it.
"Mary." Neesha moved a bit closer to the couch where Mary sat. "You are not alone. I come bearing an offer."
"An offer?" Mary asked as everyone looked at the Klingon in Herald armor. "Neesha, what do you mean?"
"You know that my clan have been keeping tabs on things." Neesha said with a small smile as Mary frowned. "The Iconians let me go when they let you go, but I was even more lost than you were. My entire world was gone. The Klingon Empire I knew didn't exist anymore. I wanted to help you, but you were gone and the one who hurt you hides like nobody's business. I don't know what I would have done if Krenn hadn't shown up when he did." She scoffed. "Then again, it is what he does, no?"
"He has a few advantages." Mary replied, mystifying most of the people in the room. "I assume… he…" She broke off and hissed as Neesha smiled wide. 'Oh my god!"
"In the words of the human Godfather, he made me an offer I couldn't refuse." Butter might not have melted in the Klingon's mouth as Mary gaped at her. "And I have been authorized to extend the same offer to you. He is what he is, and he has his own duty. We assist him as we can, but we are not his."
"You bow to none except your clan leader and your own honor." Mary said slowly. "I… I need to think on that. Not just my life ride on this now." She hugged Mlian again and the shuddering Orion relaxed.
"No one will press you to do anything, Mary Daughter of L'Miren." Neesha reassured her. "I am giving you options, no more. I did not fight in their war. I was conflicted and our Elders knew it. They gave me leave to recuse myself. Many of my House perished. I could not have stopped the Iconian vengeance and I know it. It does bother me that I stood aside and let it happen, but my interest was always finding and helping you."
"I don't know what to do, Neesha." Mary admitted. "This has all been so fast. What I do know is that I will never, ever, trust the woman known as Princess Michelle again." The glare she leveled on the golden gowned woman was pointed. "My house is off limits. You and yours are not welcome here. Nor shall you ever be. Get. Out."
She was not glowing this time, but the sheer power in her words would be obeyed. Jhinis and Neesha moved to flank her and suddenly, everyone was with her, even Mlian had slithered out of Mary's arms to stand beside her, glaring at Michelle who bowed her head.
"Go." Michelle said to her guards who did not move. "I said 'Go'!" She snapped. "She won't kill me no matter how angry she is and any pain she gives me, I earned." All but one of the odd metal forms moved to the door and vanished, but that one stood by Michelle, not moving. Michelle just groaned. "Petra! Don't be an ass!" It was clear that the female proportioned metal form was amused by that but it did not move. It didn't seem hostile, but it wasn't moving either and Michelle made a noise that half sigh and half snarl. "Fine, be that way. Mary, we have to stay here. The Iconian's sheer power will keep him and his at bay. My subjects are in danger anywhere else and we cannot travel on our own. I want no hostility between us, Daughter of L'Miren." That was formal. "Please let the past remain the past."
"Eventually, I may be able to forgive what you did to me." Mary said quietly. "But I will never forget it now that my powers are unlocked. I want no war between us, but friendship is not going to happen. Make your own alliances, Princess but know this: I am watching you."
Mary was not hostile now, but she was not friendly either. Better? Maybe.
"Fair enough. Be well, Guardian's Daughter." Michelle bowed her head to Mary, then turned and left the room.
Only after she had left and the metal form that mimicked a human shape followed did Mary relax. Mlian shifted a little, snuggling closer to Mary. The Orion didn't say anything, just let her physical presence be felt in so much as it could be by a being like Mary was.
"Well, that was fun." Neesha said when no one else spoke. "Mary?" She inquired when Mary shook her head.
"Everyone here has accepted the secrets that must be kept, Neesha." Mary said sadly as she laid her arm around Mlian's shoulders. "I stand for this one. For all of you." She nodded to the others who nodded back. "I do need to think on things, but for now, Neesha? You had an offer?"
"I do." The Klingon Herald smiled at Mary. "And yes, it is for any and all of you. Even you." She nodded to Mlian who looked confused.
"Don't hurt her, Neesha." Mary cautioned as Mlian stared from one to the other. "She doesn't know."
"I know." Neesha looked sick for a moment. Then her face turned fierce. "And this is from all of us even if you do not accept our offer. Anyone who tries to hurt her again will die."
"Know what?" Mlian asked. Mary and Neesha shared a glance and Mlian growled. Compared to them, it was like a kitten trying to intimidate a pair of full grown tigresses. Luckily, they were amused, not irate. For her part, Mlian was getting irate. "Know what?"
"Mlian, be calm." Mary swept the almost angry Orion up in her arms and held her. "It is okay. No one will hurt you ever again if I have anything to say about it." Her kindness soothed the distraught green skinned female and Mlian relaxed. "This is not how I wanted to do this, but… Neesha?"
"Life doesn't care what we want." Neesha heaved a sigh. "My House knows that very, very well."
"You never said what House you belong to." Mlian said when everyone else looked blank. "Is it one of the Great Houses?"
"To us, yes. To others? No." Neesha replied. "We are small and we try to stay out of the light. We operate best in the shadows, doing what has to be done. They had no reason to take me in, but they have a habit to finding and adopting strays like me. That was one reason they were interested in you, Mary. Then I told them the truth and our leaders said to offer if I got the chance."
"Offer?" Mlian perked up. "Offer what?"
"A family." A small, tender smile crossed the Klingon's scarred visage for a moment and then was gone. "An often rambunctious family, but family. We offer shelter for all of you under the name of Kirk."