Healing hearts and minds

"It is okay, S'Rama." Mary said gently for about the sixth time as the Catian woman quailed in her arms.

The distraught female was coming down from her rush of adrenaline or whatever Catians called it that happened when what humans called 'The fight or flight' reflex kicked in. S'Rama was clearly a highly intelligent being and when she had realized who she was hugging, she had recoiled, but Mary was having none of it. The human looking being wasn't being rough, but she wasn't letting go either. S'Rama was a mess, both mentally and physically. The doctor had examined her quickly, nodded with a small smile for Mary and gone back to whatever he had been doing. Clan Leader R'Lass had taken up residence in a chair nearby, still very weak from her ordeal, but almost visibly healing now. S'Rama and the others who had been helped were all the same. Weak, sick of both body and mind. Hurting in so many ways. Mary was beyond that in many ways now, but she knew those feelings intimately. Her recent experiences with Mlian helped in dealing with the now utterly embarrassed Catain in her hands. S'Rama hadn't realized at first what Mary's uniform meant but now she did and she was very embarrassed that Mary was helping her personally.

"You… You are a starship Captain…" The Catian stammered. "You shouldn't be… You shouldn't have come!"

Mary's guards had fanned out, securing the area. They were present, but unobtrusive in a way that only the best trained people could be. Jhinis was at Mary's side, but also, not quite close enough to crowd the distressed felinoid.

"If I hadn't come, they would have nuked you and that would have done nothing but increase the body count." Mary said as she looked around. S'Rama was filthy and she clearly hadn't eaten or drunk anything recently. A table with food and drink had been set up nearby and Jhinis nodded, feeling Mary's thoughts as her own. The Herald in Alliance uniform move to the table and started pouring glasses of water. She took one to R'Lass who took it gratefully, clearly bemused by all this. "There has been enough death. I cannot change the past, no matter how I might wish to, but I can help now. I will."

She was gentle, but insistent as she led S'Rama to the table. A chair all but materialized at the table as Jhinis worked her own magic of speed and thoughtfulness. Mary sat the distraught Catian down in that chair, then moved to get a glass for her, but Jhinis was there, holding one out to Mary who took it with a smile. She held the glass out to S'Rama who stared at it, wide eyed.

"Even starship captains have to eat and drink, S'Rama." Mary quirked a grin at the stunned Catain. R'Lass was smiling from where she stay, but did not interfere. "I may not eat and drink what you do, but I need nourishment just like you."

"And what are you then?" R'Lass asked as she sipped her own water. "R'Rollow sent several messages, but with the outbreak…" The old Catain female sighed and sipped her water again. "I never had time to check my mail."

"You have time now, Ma'am." Mary said with a smile as she watched S'Rama sip her own water. The Catain's hands trembled, but she was in no danger of spilling. At least, not yet. "No one will do anything rash with my ship in orbit." That could have come out cold, but instead, it was almost a joke.

"Ah, Captain Pangolin…" R'Lass snickered a little. "You have to know that people always do rash things. That is one thing that transcends most species I know of." She was eyeing Mary oddly though. Her eyes lingered on the arcs of metal that hovered over Mary's head and Jhinis'. Not concerned. Curious?

"So very true." Mary allowed as S'Rama sipped again and smiled at Mary. "Better?" She asked and S'Rama nodded. "It is not a quick fix for everything, Clan Leader R'Lass." Mary pitched her words to everyone nearby and R'Lass' eyes were twinkling as she sipped again. "Everyone who was infected with need care. Recovery time at the very least. All this did was eradicate the disease and provide your bodies with some help in recovering."

"'All it did'?" R'Lass didn't bother hiding her disbelief. "No one could cure the horrible thing. Not even…" She swallowed hard. She had given birth to Nuna. Talk about conflicted emotions! "The one was cast out. We all thought she had, but we were wrong. But you did."

"My Mother's healers cured it. I am just the delivery girl." Mary demurred. "I am not a Healer. They were quite upset by the unprofessional acts of the one who lied to you all. Both the fact that it didn't really work and how it was made." R'Lass bowed her head and Mary nodded as S'Rama looked ashen. Mary was quick to reassure both of them. "This cure was not made the same way. My Mother's healers have tech that is well beyond anything the Federation has. It is a good thing they also have fairly ironclad ethics. At least… now they do." She slumped a bit and S'Rama stared at her.

"Who is your Mother?" S'Rama asked after a moment. "We owe her…" She broke off as Mary shook her head. "We do!"

"No, S'Rama. You owe her and hers nothing." Mary said quietly as every Catian in the area stopped short at her words. "This is her trying to pay back some of what she owes everyone. My Mother and her family did horrible things to many people. I wasn't here. I was… traveling." She said a bit lamely. "Mother was driven by the need for vengeance, but that is no excuse for what she and her people did. She feels that trying to make things better now is her penance for what she did. She cannot fix much of what she and hers broke. The lives lost are gone." S'Rama crumpled a little and Mary bent down to take the Catain in her arms. "It is all right." Mary crooned as Jhinis took the cup of water that was about to fall from her still hand before it could spill and held it ready if she needed it. But Mary just held the now softly crying Catian. "Grief is part of life. We mourn those who are gone, but we remember them." She bowed her head and touched it to S'Rama's. "The Whole will be as One, S'Rama."

"That…" R'Lass paled a little and Mary jerked back up, but then the Catian Elder straightened before Mary could even worry. "I know those words. R'Rollow told me those words and who spoke them." She wasn't hostile. If anything? She was even more curious. "Can you speak the truth of what happened?"

"Truth is a complex beast, Clan Leade-" Mary started, but R'Lass shook her head.

"After what you just did for all of us? You can drop the formality if you wish, Captain Pangolin." The old Catain female smiled wide at Mary's sudden non-expression. "You are far older than you look or act, aren't you?" Even recovering from what had nearly been a deadly illness, she was sharp!

"Far older than even 'I' knew until just recently." Mary admitted. "It is a very long and not very pleasant story." She warned when R'Lass looked as if she would inquire.

"You make me more curious if such as you describe can make a being as noble and brave as you clearly are." R'Lass smiled as Mary flushed a little at the compliment. "You could have waited. You could have just sent medical teams. You should have if you are in command of a starship. Responsible for the lives aboard. You didn't. You came to see it with your own eyes. 'To try and fix what you can' in your own words."

"I wasn't there." Mary said softly. "I wasn't there to stop them!"

"Could you have stopped them? Really?" R'Lass asked her kindly. Mary would not meet her eyes and R'Lass sighed as everyone but Jhinis and Mary's guards looked confused. "You are not hiding who and what you are now. The truth will upset many people." Mary nodded. "R'Rollow laid bare his heart to me. He told me all of what happened at Sol, but few would accept that my son did what he thought was right." She smiled sadly. "Like always."

"Yeah." Mary shook her head. "He is recovering, but he was very sick for a long time. He needed downtime. I swore I would deliver the cure and I have. I cannot stay for long. The Alliance is needed in too many places for me to remain long."

"Starfleet won't have him back after what he did. My people cannot accept him after he took that dear girl as his mate." R'Lass said quietly and Mary shook her head. "I... I worry about him. Them." The old Catian admitted.

"So do I." Mary agreed. "I offered him and his mate a place on my ship." She was suddenly the focal point of many eyes. "Joint Alliance vessels are bound by many rules. Bound to several cultures, but we do know what honor is. The Alliance, that is. Your son acted with honor, Clan Leader R'Lass and I will see him and his mate safe and happy."

"'Safe'?" R'Lass commented with a small smile. Mary had to smile that that. Traveling in space wasn't very safe at the best of time and the Joint Alliance was drawn to conflicts like old Earth moths to flame.

"Safe-er." Mary allowed and smiled wide as S'Rama looked at her. The Catain was not crying now, more curious. "I have access to things that no one else will. I have allies that make me very powerful, but will also make people very unhappy. I shouldn't-" She started, but was cut off.

"She is an Iconian!" All eyes turned to a very small form who stood at the door. The little Catain could not have been more then ten or eleven Earth years old. He was a mess, emaciated and filthy. Was his fur brown or black? It was impossible to say as dirty as he was. His face was a mask of fear and rage. "Will you kill us or enslave us?" He demanded of Mary as he stepped closer, his hands balled into fists.

"Slavery is wrong and there has been enough death." Mary did not move even as S'Rama stared at her, eyes huge. R'Lass bowed her head, but did not interfere as the child approached. He wasn't a threat to Mary, not physically. "I am not your enemy, child."

"M'Kol!" A male Catain whose fur was the same color as the kit's staggered into view, his face a study of rage and fear. "No!"

"You killed my Momma!" The little Catain screamed and threw himself at Mary who didn't move. A thought at Jhinis had the Herald stand down even as she readied herself. The MACOs stirred, but Mary shook her head as the little Catian charged her. Mary rose and let the boy slam into her legs. He barely came up to her waist but his fists struck her again and again as she stood there and let him. He couldn't hurt her even when his claws came out. More than one person hissed in disbelief as she let him claw her! It did nothing.

"The Iconians killed a lot of people. More than will ever be counted." Mary was quiet, sad as the boy yowled in frustration and redoubled his fruitless efforts. The older male Catain started forward, face frightened but Mary shook her head. She pitched her voice to reassure. "I won't hurt him. He has to a right to his anger. You all do. He cannot hurt me and he needs to let it out or it will hurt him." She smiled at the older male but it was forlorn. "I… I wasn't here." She said weakly. "I had been hurt and I was confused. I thought I needed to get home. To Earth. But it wasn't my home when I got there. It never was. I decided when I realized that, what I wanted to do. I want to try help people. Make right what I can." The boy was had clearly exhausted himself and his strike were feeble now. Mary bent down to look the boy in the eye even as he slapped her face. More than one person gasped, but Mary did not react. "You have a right to your anger, young one." Mary said quietly. "But do not let it rule you. Do not let vengeance take you or you go the way of my family." The boy stared as she fought not to cry. "I don't blame you for being upset. During the war, you would have been just about the age I was when I was lost my Momma." More than one person hissed at that but Mary wasn't done. "I lost my Dad too. I didn't remember until just recently, but it hurts." She reached out to the now panting boy and touched him on the chest. "Right here. It hurts."

"You... no…" The boy begged, but Mary just retracted her arm and looked at what had to be a relative. He shook his head and Mary retreated a step, then two. No one else moved.

"I had a very bad experience and the Iconians saved me after that." Mary said in a quiet voice that somehow carried. R'Lass was still sitting where she had been and her face was even more bemused. "They found me millennia ago, saved me and helped me grow. I am not human, although I look it. I am not Iconian, although I love them as my adopted family. If I had been here, I probably would have fought by their sides, although I am not sure. I cannot be. The beings I knew so long ago never would have done half of what you people endured five years ago. They were not perfect, but they were better than that. Then Iconia fell and most of them died. Most of the people I knew and loved are gone. Dead and dust millennia ago. I don't blame you for rage. For hate. What they did was awful. They cannot change what they did. What they spent so much time trying to do."

"Why did they stop?" S'Rama asked when Mary closed her mouth. The female Catain was eyeing the boy along with most of the others, but he was spent, too tired to fight any more. "That never made any sense to me. They had won! Even the Alliance couldn't face them and hope to win."

"Hope had been taken from them when Iconia fell." Mary said softly as she moved back to S'Rama's side. "They had nothing left but vengeance against those who had wronged them. Or so they thought. They were wrong. Hope was returned to them and when it was, they acted as I remember them acting." She smiled a bit sadly. "They can be contrary, stubborn and annoying just like any family. But when they make a decision, they act on it. They were given a second chance at more than vengeance, death and destruction. They took it. It will not be an easy road, but it is one I am proud to help them walk."

"The… The Iconians made the cure." S'Rama all but stammered that, stunned almost beyond words.

"They did and just like the disease itself, it will spread out from here until it eventually inoculates every Catian. Swiftly, silently and totally." Mary said firmly. "Heaven's Wrath is no more. You are free of that horror."

"I don't believe you!" The boy snapped, stopping to pick up a rock. The relative was quicker though and grabbed him before he could throw it at Mary.

"I don't blame you." Mary shrugged as she squatted down beside S'Rama whose face was a study. "Beware though, child. Vengeance is a powerful force and it drives most of those who seek it mad. You have a right to your anger, but so did the Iconians after their world was destroyed because they would not give unscrupulous beings the power to act as they wished." At that, everyone looked at Mary who slumped. "There are as many reasons as there were attackers, but that is the main one. They refused to share their technology, fearing rightly that it would be abused. They will not share their technology now for the exact same reason. What they will do, when they can, is help. That has not changed since I lived among them."

"You lived among them?" M'Kol sneered and then gasped as Mary stood up straight and her form wavered. In moments, she stood clad in ancient Iconian attire. Her meridian was the same, but everything else was different. The long vest and belt were white and blue, denoting her affiliation with L'Miren. The pants and boots were the same colors and the metal archs that surmounted each shoulder and across her back were shimmering with beautiful energy.

"I did." Mary was calm now even as Jhinis 's armor shifted to match Mary's. More than one person gasped as they saw the Aenar clad in the same attire! "Jhinis was born in this time, but she has sworn to me and I to her. We are not Iconian but we belong to their family. You needed help, we have given it. We will go now, so as not to strain your patience. Trust may never happen after so many perished in the War, but we will do what we can."

"Ma'am!" The MACO commander spoke up and Mary tensed as his worry came though. "Word from the ship! Two KDF ships just jumped into the system!" The Klingon war was over, but that did not mean much when Klingons were involved! They lived to fight. Period.

"Oh crap." Mary shook her head and more than one person gawped as her Iconian attire vanished, replaced by Alliance uniform. Jhinis did the same and moved close. Then Mary paused as her com badge chirped. "Pangolin here." She said as she tapped it. "Status?"

"Captain, we are being hailed by the KDF ships. Two Birds of Prey are visible, but in odd configuration. We think they are at least two more ships cloaked." Taakezh was not worried, per say. He knew that the Iconian battlewagon was close at hand along with many Starfleet and Catain ships. That said? The last thing any of them wanted was a fight here. "They are asking to speak to you." He sounded dubious and who could blame him?

"Patch me through." Mary said after a moment's thought and a quick conference with K'Tao and Jhinis. Mental communication was so much faster than verbal. "KDF, I am Mary Owlna Pangolin of the starship Denali. What do you want?" If she had been sure they were Klingons, she would have spoken in Klingon. She knew the language well. She knew a lot about Klingons, but KDF ships did not automatically mean Klingons.

"Mary Owlna Pangolin. I am Chu'Hak of House Mokai, captain of the Thag'Du." The voice was Klingon and male. Strong, confident and ready to fight. Typical Klingon. "We need to talk."

"I am in the middle of something, Captain." Mary said firmly, not giving an inch. She knew better.

"I know." The other relented, just a little. Odd. "That is why we are here."

"Oh?" Mary pressed.

"Our Matriarch was impressed with you. As was I when I saw your ship in battle at Qo'nos." The Klingon said firmly. "We come to aid the Alliance. We bring medical and logistical support."

"Klingons bringing medical teams?" S'Rama was hardly the only one to exclaim.

"Time change." Was Chu'Hak amused? Seemed like it. "We need to talk, Captain."

"Here." R'Lass said softly and Mary turned to stare at her. The Catain spoke louder. "We can do it here. Captain Chu'Hak, I am Clan Leader R'Lass. Will you abide by Alliance rules of neutrality?"

"I give my word of honor that Alliance rules will be followed." Chu'Hak said firmly. The Catian elder looked at Mary who nodded slowly. House Mokai hadn't had a good reputation for such, but Mary had seen them at Qo'nos and been impressed. They followed their Matriarch's lead and J'ula was determined to act with honor now. If any dared otherwise? If they were lucky, their crews would kill them and not leave them to her.

R'Lass looked at Mary who nodded.

"I will send the coordinates and get started on the cooking." The Catain shook her head as everyone stared at her. "We will need food that isn't prepackaged. I bet this will be a long day."

"Ya think?" Mary and Jhinis both snarked that and more than one Catian in the crowd laughed.