Squabbles
Mary was still getting used to wearing the dagger. As a Starfleet officer, sort of, R'Rollow had carried one as well for the exact same reason. He had warned her about it, he it took along time to get used to it on the hip. He had been told not to wear it (which he had ignored), been reprimanded, fined a couple of times but in the end, he had continued to wear it due to his responsibility to the crew he had 'inherited'. Mary could do no less. She was still horrified on a daily basis as she discovered all of the depths that M'Tara had sunk to, but the new captain of the Denali was determined to do what she could to fix what she could of her aunt's horrific legacy. The K'Valk's Honor had been a wreck when M'Tara's soldiers had captured it and her forces hadn't done more than make it basically spaceworthy. The Denali was a much better ship, both newer and not blasted to pieces before being patched up to hold prisoners while they were being turned into slaves. That said? It was still rough going at times.
Mary took her place on the bridge as the ship was approaching Cait. The homeworld of the Catian people was deep in Federation space, but she would not relax until the ship was back on patrol. The Federation had a kinds of problems with her and her crew. Add to that? The crazy Romulan was still lurking somewhere and-
"Captain." Mary jerked out of her thoughts as Jhinis spoke up. They didn't need verbal speech, but both still preferred it. It creeped people out when they worked as one mind. "A priority transmission for you from Iconia."
"Oh?" Mary looked at Jihinis whose feeling was suddenly sick. "Jhinis?"
"Mlian disappeared from the room she was convalescing in." Mary's Herald said very quietly and everyone on the bridge went still. Mary had few secrets from her crew and more than one of them had expressed disbelief at Mary's choice to help Mlian. No one could trust an Undine. Then again, trusting Iconians was not considered a good idea either, so… Hmmm.
"I hoped." Mary admitted with a hint of sadness. "But if she left, then I guess she was better." Mary paused as an awful thought surfaced. "If she left and was not taken." Lorinos had powers that could only be guessed at, Michelle likewise. "No signs of her or of anything worse?"
"No signs." Jhinis replied after a moment of perusing the message. Non Iconians or Heralds would be able to read such communication but it would take encryption specialists days or weeks to parse the sheer amount of data involved. Then they would likely spend just as much or more time picking out the actual message from the gibberish. Iconians and Heralds, even the ones come late to their powers like Jhinis, could do that as a matter of course. "One oddity, however. The sentry ship posted to guard the wreck of the K'Valk's Honor says a Bird of Prey left the ship a few hours after Mlian vanished. It cloaked as soon as they detected it and a warp trace was found, but they could not determine the course."
"Well…" Mary shrugged, forcing herself to relax. "I thought helping Mlian was a good idea at the time. Once we make our delivery, we will have time for mysteries. I would like to know she is okay, but I will not endanger the crew." Everyone on the bridge stilled at that. Mary had made her feelings quite clear. The crew was important to her. Not herself. She wasn't 'quite' immortal, she had died once. Coming back had been a shock for many people, herself included and she knew she would have bouts of therapy ahead of her. But this needed to be done. She had to help R'Rollow's people. "Be ready to hail clan matriarch R'Lass as soon as we arrive." Mary continued before anyone else could find their tongues. Then she jerked and spoke sharply. "Helm! Evade starboard!"
R'Kerti was off shift, but the Gorn who had replaced her knew how to maneuver the ship. He also had no qualms about obeying Mary's orders after the horrific battles over Boreth and Qu'onos. The ship's inertial dampeners whined in protest as the warp fields altered suddenly, but the ship was well built and it maintained its integrity even as the bridge crew fought to understand what Mary had reacted to.
"Drop us out of warp!" Mary snapped and the crew leaped to obey. "Helm! Set a random evasive course as soon as we know where we are! Do not wait for orders! That plasma torpedo nearly hit us! There have to be more on the way!"
"Plasma?" More than one person repeated that word. Their shock was understandable. Plasma torpedoes were sublight weapons. Hitting a target in warp with such was improbable to the point of impossibility. But then Jhinis hissed.
"Plasma was what hit the Denali when we were on our way to Iconia! The same ship that attacked the Denali before?" The Aenar snapped and Mary nodded "Who?"
"I am not entirely sure. If it is who I think, she is a rogue operative." Mary was focused on something no one could see. "She is Romulan but not affiliated with the Republic or Empire. She thinks I am a threat to the timeline, but from what I can tell, she is far more so."
"And… she wants you dead." Jhinis said slowly. Not really a question, more a statement.
"Yeah." Mary shook her head. "If it is her, she will be moving to fire again. If we get hit by whatever hit the Denali before, it will hurt just as it did before." She slowly shook her head. "The good news is, she really only want to kill me. The bad news?"
"She will kill anyone else who gets in her way." Jhinis finished the thought with a growl. "Call for help?"
"We have backup in the area." Mary said firmly enough that no one wanted to question her. "The last thing I want is for Mother or worse, T'Ket, to hear me call for help again." Everyone on the bridge, including Jhinis, shared a shudder at that. "Deploy."
The Red Alert klaxon started blaring belatedly and everyone knew the crews were running to their stations, many from their bunks. It was not a surprise that several icons lit up almost instantly. Some of the Bird of Prey crews slept in their ships. The first two were away in moments.
"Doubling on Hangar Two." Takeezh said as he tapped his controls. Hangar Three was still offline. They would have to launch two ships from Hangar Two, and then recover them later, but the crew had drilled such and were ready. "Point defense?"
"Yes." Mary agreed. "Small craft to point defense, phasers as well. We won't get much, if any warning and that ship packs a hell of a punch. Weapons free on any incoming projectiles."
"Incoming hail. Audio only and bouncing so fast its impossible to track." Jhinis said slowly. "She wants to gloat? Or trick us?"
"Or apologize." Mary said softly. Everyone stared at her and she shrugged. "She is always apologizing when she attacks me. I didn't remember all of my journey to Earth. Now I do and she tried to kill me twice while I was on my way to Earth and then again at Iconia. I don't want to talk to her, but maybe I can get her to show herself. Let's hear her."
The com activated and a female voice sounded.
"I can see you, Pangolin. Can you see me?"
Takeezh and all of the other Gorn on the bridge froze at the voice and Mary looked at her XO who slowly shook his head. Then he hung his head and Mary remembered that he had been carried to her ship on a cloaked vessel. He had never said by who and Mary had never asked. But then the words made sense and Mary hissed. The words were familiar!
"You did not just quote General Chang at me." Mary fought hard to keep from laughing. This was no laughing matter with her entire ship and crew in danger. But still… Chang's words to Kirk over Khitomer as the Enterprise and Excelsior had raced to save Gorkon's daughter from an assassin and prevent a war had been utterly epic and well documented. "Owlesha, stop being a prat. I know what you are doing and I know why. Do you?"
"I thought that would get your attention." The other snorted. "You always did focus hard on Klingon/Federation history."
"Can you blame me?" Mary asked as Jhinis worked feverishly to track the signal. From the frustrated feelings the Aernar tried so hard to hide from Mary, she did not succeed. She likely wouldn't as sneaky as the Romulan was. None of the Gorn moved and Mary waved them back to their duties. Taakezh slumped and then nodded. "You know the orders you were given were rescinded. Why are you still trying?"
"Because I have to." Owlesha was not angry. If anything, she was resigned.
"You used us to get to her!" Taakezh snapped, his ire fully fanned. "Were we nothing but a distraction?"
"A very good distraction, Captain Taakezh." Owlesha's words held no rancor. "Captain Pangolin has always had a soft spot for people in trouble. It is one of her chief weaknesses."
"You made us betray her!" Taakezh surged to his feet, but Mary waved him back to his post.
"She may have intended such, but you have not." Mary snarled at the Gorn when he did not move. [Or do you challenge me?]
"No challenge, Captain Pangolin." Taakezh sat back at his post. "I look forward to seeing you 'kick her ass' as humans say." The two Alliance humans who had joined the bridge crew snorted at that, but everyone was focused on their tasks.
"Sneaky and underhanded as always." Mary turned her gaze to the viewscreen that showed only deep space. "What is it this time? A bomb?"
"You really think I would kill everyone aboard your ship and destroy the cure for the Catians just to kill you?" Owlesha's tone was cold.
"Of course you would." Mary snapped. "It is what you do. I am curious. Antimatter or thaleron?"
"Mary Owlna Pangolin, I do not want to kill your crew." The other replied, still cold. "The only life I must take is yours."
"And anyone else who gets in the way is simply collateral damage." Mary sneered. "If you had managed to kill the Denali before, I might have let you kill me as deep in despair as I was after the-" She paused and then hissed. "You bitch! You gave those crazy fools the thaleron bomb!"
"I thought they would use it to kill you. I didn't think they would target innocents." Owlesha tried, but Mary was far to enraged now.
"Yeah, like any Romulan would think any Starfleet is an innocent, even a cadet who hasn't been sworn in yet! Of course you would blow up Starfleet Academy if you could. Be a good little Centurion!" Mary felt Jhinis' worry pulse at her and she pulsed reassurance back. She was in control. Barely. "And now, you are trying to anger me. To see if I will rage here of all places. The answer is 'No'. I have learned better control. Or more accurately, I have relearned it. My memory is unlocked." A gasp came from the com but Mary continued. "And before you say it, no, I will not surrender myself to save my crew. Because you will kill them anyway, you lying bitch. You are just as bad as Michelle, if not worse. She at least has a reason for doing the evil she does. You just like killing people."
"That is not true." Was the quiet rejoinder. "I… I know what she did and why. I know what the one who took you did to you. I am sorry, Mary Owlna Pangolin. I know what it is to be used. To be lied to."
"Using other people to get what you want no matter the cost to them is what your kind do, Owlesha Pangolin."
At that, everything stopped. There was sudden, utter silence on the bridge. Even Jhinis was stunned into immobility. Even the normally unflappable telepath Herald was shocked by that.
"Mary?" Jhinis asked as Mary stepped back to her seat and sat heavily. No one else seemed to dare move. Mary bowed her head and did not speak. Someone else did.
"I am sorry." Owlesha said sadly. "I didn't understand. I didn't know until so much later. Until Daniels. I am sorry!"
"You are always sorry!" Mary all but sobbed that, her anger fading, replaced by sadness. "I tried. I tried everything I could. You didn't want my help!"
"I was young and foolish. You were far older, far wiser. I didn't understand." Owlesha offered, just as sad as Mary. "I thought you meant me as a slave. As a tool. Not… Not what you really wanted."
"Shut up and do whatever you are going to do." Mary was done talking it seemed. "Kill people. Your real parents would be very proud, I am sure."
"Does L'Miren know?" Jhinis asked very softly.
"I have no secrets from my mother. She knows." Mary replied. "She knows and she understands. Due to my energy form nature, I can never have children of the body. When I found an infant Romulan girl in a wreck while I was on my way to Earth I couldn't just leave her or kill her. Maybe I was wrong that I wanted a daughter. Others thought what they wished, but I never wanted a slave. I thought if I loved her, I could teach her and raise her right. Instead? I got horror. Enough is enough. Do it, Owlesha!"
"I am sorry, Mother." Owlesha's voice was tiny now.
"Never call me that again. Thanks to Daniels and your wonderful choice of weaponry, I have no daughter." Mary might have been carved from stone now. Everyone stared at her in horror, but she was a statue. "Do whatever the hell you are going to do. Summon your allies and I will summon mine. We will fight, again and no one will win. Just like last time and the time before that and the time before that. Neesha beating you with her fists, me destroying your ships or fleets, nothing will change. You will keep doing what you have been doing and nothing will change except the body counts of the innocent. Even if, by some miracle, you do manage to best me and destroy my form, the timeline will go on. i am not its end and I will never be such."
"I know." Owlesha sounded abysmal now. "I tried to change. I really did."
"You still could, but you won't give up the sword." Mary shook her head slowly. "Everyone told you that picking that damn thing up was a bad idea but you were so much smarter than all of the rest of us. S'harien was a madman and a genius to build such things. No Vulcan or Romulan is stupid or crazy enough to follow you while you are carrying Ael's legacy of madness."
"Taking the blade from Romulus was the only thing she could do to shock them out of their madness." Owlesha sounded sick now. "And then I had to know. I had find it, to see it. I had to hold it. You were and are right, I am a fool. And damned."
"And then Daniels grabbed you and showed you his version of my future." Mary sneered. "Everyone makes the same mistake. The future is not set. We can change things, if we want to enough. You don't want it enough. Stop stalling. Attack. You know you want to. To show everyone how right you are and how wrong I am."
"Very well, Mary Owlna Pangolin."
No one was really surprised when a Romulan ship decloaked nearby. Everyone but Mary was surprised by the type of this. It wasn't a modern vessel. It was clearly Romulan from the avian image that was barely visible on its underside. It looked sort if like a T'Liss warbird, but it was huge, more than three times the size of a T'Liss warbird. Mary shook her head as two small Tholian ships exited its hangar and took up station beside the massive Romulan ship.
"That is an old Thrai class warbird." Mary said quietly when Jhinis started a data search for the type of ship. "A hundred years ago, those were the flag vessels for Romulan admirals. Or crazy captains who went pirate." Everyone who wasn't busy at their screens looked at her and she shook her head. "That is the Bloodwing."
"Bloodwing was a T'Liss class warbird, wasn't it?" Jhinis inquired as she shut down her searches and moved to flank Mary.
"Originally, yeah." Mary slumped a little. "A renegade Romulan captain named Ael t'Rllaillieu upgraded a bit after she took a relic from the middle of the Romulan Senatorium Hall and angered every single Romulan in existence with that bold move. The relic she took was a sword that no one could wield. It had sat on an empty throne meant for an Emperor or Empress since the Empire was founded. No one dared to wield it because it was made by a telepath to cut anything and the first thing it always cut was the holder's sanity. I guess I am not surprised that Owlesha took the ship too after her last attempt on my life failed."
A chime sounded and Jhinis moved back to her console. When she spoke, it was more than bit dubious. "The Tholians want to 'talk'?" Everyone stared at the Aenar in matching shock. Tholians did not 'talk' to people. The metal based race was xenophobic, paranoid and quite frankly, alien to most of the other races in the galaxy. Some wondered if they were even from this universe at all. Mary stilled. Wait a minute...
"They have probably figured out by now just how unstable Owlesha is." Mary shook her head. "Lets see what they want."
The main screen lit up with the image of a Tholian. It spoke without preamble.
"You can end this." The Tholian said sternly. "Will you?"
"I don't see how." Mary wasn't put off by the Tholian's brusque mature. It was just who and what the xenophobic race were. "I tried. I failed."
"Have you?" The Tholian inquired.
"The Romulan ship is firing!" The tactical officer called out and then hissed in shock. "Not at us!"
A green-orange sphere of energy flew from the massive Romulan ship. The far faster than normal plasma torpedo hit something that wasn't visible in open space and exploded. The oddly shaped ship shrugged off the plasma fire eating at its shields as inconsequential, but the damage was done. They were visible! And recognizable! Voth! In the Beta Quadrant? How?
"Kill the primates!" A hail came as a dozen Voth ships decelerated from transwarp. Well, that explained how they got there at least. "Take the other for study!"
"You are not touching my mother, you filthy piece of reptile shit!" Owlesha?! "Mlian! Now!"
All hell broke loose as another group of vessels decloaked on the flank of the newly come Voth force. The Klingon ships (including the Fencer! Since when did Krenn's ship have a cloak?) wasted no time. They opened fire.