When Momma is not happy...

"Let me be sure I am understanding this."

The Iconian matriarch L'Miren wasn't physically present, but her presence was felt nonetheless even from the screen as Mary stood on the bridge of her ship. Quirwab stood beside her, still in robes as an emissary of sorts. At least, that was how Mary was treating her, so everyone else was playing along. As soon as she had returned to the ship with the Klingon in tow, Mary had called L'Miren and explained. And no, L'Miren was not happy about any of this!

Mary had bid farewell to the Catains, although it had taken quite a bit to get loose. To convince S'Rama to let her go. The female Catain had been more than bit clingy. She was still very sad, but R'Lass promised to take her in hand and help her through this. The Federation was sending relief supplies and the Klingons were helping a great deal too. Search and Rescue wasn't exactly what most thought of when they thought the word 'Klingon', but Mary had done it and knew exactly how dangerous it could be. Even on a well developed world like Cait. But, her duty was done, the cure was delivered and no more people would die from that horrible disease. No one had asked after Nuna, for which Mary was grateful. She hated the white furred doc with reason, but what had been done to the evil witch had actually turned Mary non-existence stomach. She was glad no one had asked. She would have answered and no one would have been happy even if the punishment did fit the crime. R'Lass had managed to make a feast that everyone could enjoy, even Mary. Mary didn't need sustenance the way physical forms did, per say, but she did enjoy being social. She had helped S'Rama and by extension, all of Cait start on the road to recovery, so it was a good day and she was sad to leave, but she had to. The Voth might or might not have made a mess, but Mary had a mess of her own to clean up and maybe she could strike two birds with one stone.

One thing was for sure. She wasn't going to try and do it alone. Jhinis wouldn't stand for it and K'Tao was lurking somewhere too. So, she had called her Mother and even from all the way across the galaxy, the Iconian had responded. She had been happy to hear from Mary, but now? She was far less happy.

"The Voth used the molecules that many in your quadrant call 'Omega', the ones that the sphere produces. They took them and used them to make a weapon." L'Miren said slowly and Mary nodded.

"That is what they said." Mary frowned. "I honestly do not know if I believe them or not. Would there be any evidence that we could detect?"

"Maybe." L'Miren mused. "Maybe not. If subspace disruptions spread far enough, no one could get word out. The manufacturing facilities were meant to be autonomous, to power the sphere. Allow it and the others to jump through subspace as needed. The molecules were never supposed to be removed from the machinery there." Mary made a face and L'Miren made a noise of worry. "If they did, then yes, we need to know and maybe we can counter it. But if it spreads…" She trailed off and Mary nodded again. "And they wanted you?"

"Again. That is what they said." Mary allowed. "They didn't say why. I reported the incident to Alliance HQ and I know K'Tao kept you informed. Alliance HQ will contact Delta Quadrant Command and see if anything has been detected. They will send scouts."

"If they do, and if there has been a subspace incident of that kind, those scouts will become stranded with little hope of rescue." L'Miren said softly and again, Mary nodded. L'Miren all but groaned at her. "Captain…"

"I showed you all of what I remembered. You are far better at parsing the data fast than I am." Mary said softly. "I…. I am conflicted here. There is a potential galaxy spanning problem but at the same time… I… If there is even chance… I hate her, but at the same time, I still love her. I ask for your advice." Mary stopped speaking when L'Miren looked at Quirwab who did not react.

"Mary is an idealist, Quirwab of House Mokai." L'Miren said as if she, Mary and the Klingon were the only ones on the bridge. No one else dared move, let alone comment. "She wants to help others. Make a difference. I cannot afford idealism. I have to see all angles. Just like you."

Was she talking about the Voth or something else? Did Mary want to know?

"I have looked at this from as many angles as I could, Guardian L'Miren." Quirwab said when Mary nodded for her to speak. "But even then, I know I do not, cannot, see it all. No one can."

"Not even Daniels." L'Miren did not bother to hide her disdain for the man.

"I understand your anger at what happened. He briefed me on what occurred. I was not there, Guardian L'Miren." Quirwab said carefully. Such was not cowardice, it was good sense! Even for a Klingon, angry Iconian equaled 'ouch'. Klingons generally knew the difference between bravery and idiocy. Generally. No one was dumb enough to assume that L'Miren could not act even here, on the bridge of a starship halfway across the quadrant from her physical form. "I have worked with the human, but I do not know his motivations. I do know he is focused on the timestreams to the exclusion of all else. This blinds him on occasion, just as I was blind, once upon a time." She was tightly controlled, but Mary swore she heard regret in her tone.

"I understand Mary's..." L'Miren paused and made a noise of almost consternation. "That is… Captain Pangolin's motivations." She corrected herself carefully. "Your motivations are a mystery. I dislike mysteries when those I love are in potential danger as well as realized danger." Cold, hard and merciless. There was no threat in her tone, but only an idiot would not hear it anyway.

"No one will attack her again, Guardian." Quirwab's tone was barely warmer than L'Miren's! Mary stared at the Klingon and wisely stayed out of it. There was far more to this conversation than the words. "The modern Empire may not like or trust Captain Krenn after all of what he has done and not done, but when L'Rell gets a call for help from someone like that, she acts. Task Force Omega was in the area and I needed a ride here, so they came both to carry me and to make sure no one did anything rash. With them warding the Denali? No one with brains will do anything."

"Do I want to know?" L'Miren asked and her tone was odd. Almost long suffering. Any parent would know that was the 'No, I don't want to know, but its my kid, so I better ask!' tone.

"Probably not." Quirwab admitted. "What Krenn does boggles my mind and I have seen things in studies that cannot be explained by any rational mind. Faith is not rational. When it is broken…" She shook her head. "My motivation is simple to understand, but incredibly difficult to attempt. I damaged something and I want to see if I can fix what I damaged. Your technology may be able to." L'Miren just looked at her and Quirwab continued. "What do you know of the Mycelial Network?"

"Little." L'Miren admitted. "We have our own methods of travel. From what I understand, it is a level of subspace where the roots of a particular fungus extend. We never saw such or explored it. As I say, we had other means of travel."

"Wise." Quirwab nodded. "We, Klingons that is, discovered the network during the war with the Federation. The first one." She took a deep breath and then continued. "We were ordered to find a way to use it as a weapon. I was on the team that developed said weapon."

"The weapon that J'mpok used on Khitomer and then at Qo'nos." Mary inhaled and Quirwab nodded.

"Yes." Quirwab agreed. "I was not the only one making it, but I was the only one who was trapped in the network after a malfunction during a test. I was pulled in and saw it in all its glory. I saw what we did to that beautiful place. What various people in the Federation did. Experimenting with it like we did. I cannot explain the place to any who have never been there, but it is alive, that place."

"And?" L'Miren pressed, but oddly kind.

"For me, bare minutes passed in there, but I saw what happened when J'ula fired the weapon she had us build. Beauty decayed right before my eyes into horror." Quirwab shook her head. "There was no honor, no glory, just a slow, sickening death. The weapon malfunctioned when she fired it at Starbase 1, trapping her and the House Mokai fleet." Mary slowly nodded and the Klingon continued. "I was rescued from the rift even as her flagship and the rest of her fleet was pulled in. Somehow, my brother who commanded a Bird of Prey, managed to transport me out and avoid being pulled in himself. We were of House Mokai, but as far as we knew, we were the last of that house. He went back to the Empire, seeking to serve with honor and I went to Boreth to try and make sense of what I saw. What I did."

"You were following orders." Mary said softly and then shook her head. "That is not an excuse, simply an explanation. You didn't know."

"I know that now." Quirwab took a deep breath and then shook her head. "My brother served for a long time and then, his ship was destroyed in a meaningless battle." Everyone went still and Quirwab nodded. "That was when Krenn came for him, gave him another ship and a purpose beyond endless strife. The Reflective Master always needs allies and/or crew. You know that better than many, Captain Pangolin." Neesha, Mary's best friend fought beside Krenn and had for a long time.

"The Ferryman cannot be happy with that." Mary said very softly and Quirwab shook her head. To grab beings who were destined for Grethor or Sto-Vo-Kor before they could go? What many would call 'gods' and 'demons' were not going to be amused. In other words? Ouch.

"He is not." L'Miren stared from one to the other but did not comment and after a moment, Quirwab continued. "That said? No one wants Krenn's job." Mary scoffed and the Klingon matched it. "All I ask for myself, Guardian L'Miren, is to see if I can find a way to fix what I broke. Using Harpeng radiation in there damaged entire clumps of the spores. The area I infected hasn't fallen apart, but it hasn't healed either. It is alive and my actions poisoned it. I ask aid in cleansing the poison. No more. Nothing I have tried works."

"I cannot promise anything, but we do know that form of radiation." L'Miren said slowly. "I can start people looking into cleansing such, but it will not be easy."

"I know. I have tried everything I could think of, beg, borrow or steal and nothing worked." Quirwab agreed. "Such is all I ask. If your technology cannot do it, then it cannot be done and I must accept that. But until or unless you say it cannot be done, I will continue to hope."

"There is nothing wrong with hope." L'Miren was very kind now. "It can be misplaced, misled or mistaken, but it is not a bad thing to have. My people did not have it for a very long time. Now we do again." L'Miren turned back to Mary. "Captain Pangolin, Mary, you tried to save her before. It hurt you very badly. Badly enough that you hid the memories even from yourself." Mary bowed her head and L'Miren heaved a huge sigh. "Love make fools of all of us. Do you believe this plan will work?"

"I am not alone this time." Mary said quietly. She nodded to Quirwab who was impassive. "This one believes Owlesha wants to be stopped. I do not and will not understand all of her reasoning, but I do feel for that one still." She took a deep breath and then spoke again. "That said? I will not risk an Alliance starship or the tech you have placed in my care. My responsibilities to Iconian and the Alliance come first."

"Don't do that, Mary." L'Miren warned and Mary went still. "Don't put yourself last. Yes, you have responsibilities. Yes, you have duties. But you also have them to yourself. Do not neglect yourself, Daughter. Your feelings matter." Mary had no idea what to say at the kindness L'Miren was showing her, but Jhinis' mind came to hers, her Herald offering reassurance. When L'Miren spoke again, it held command, but also a hint of humor. "I believe this does impact the Alliance and Iconia. If that one does continue attacking you, that will have negative effects on both Iconia and the Alliance. What do you plan?"

"I do not know if we can trust what the Voth said." Mary said after a moment of calming herself. "After the altercation, I studied what the Alliance has on them. It is not much. They are not like most races I have known. They do not have a homeworld that anyone has ever seen." Jhinis shook her head, she had done more searches while Mary had been handling ship captain things. "The USS Voyager's encounters with them were not always peaceful, but they were not…" Mary paused and frowned. "I don't like the word 'evil' since it was shoved at me so often, but they are not."

"They are not like we were." L'Miren said bluntly and Mary stilled. "Don't lie to yourself either, Mary. We were. We chose to try a different road when the World Heart was returned to us, but that does not negate the facts of what we did and why. We were evil. We did evil. Now, we choose not to."

"I…" Mary bowed her head. "I don't want that to be, but truth is rarely what I want. I do not have to like it. I do have to accept it." L'Miren inclined her head to Mary who raised hers. "Did M'Tara ever take a Voth? There were none on the K'Valk's Honor."

"There are no records of such." L'Miren said soberly. "She did keep detailed records of the races she took and planned to subvert, but it is possible that she took one. Records may have been lost or made to be lost."

"So it is possible they see me as another threat." Mary said softly. "They did stop when I spoke the golden scum's name. So they knew of him."

"They will see you as a threat regardless, Captain Pangolin. They are not idiots." Quirwab said softly and Mary nodded, admitting the point. Simple truth. Especially when her backup had arrived and stopped an entire fleet in its tracks. "They have their own agenda. Everyone does."

"I want to try and save her." Mary said quietly. "But I cannot take the Denali and I cannot leave it without a captain."

"You will need help, Captain Pangolin." L'Miren was thinking hard now. "Your inherited crew want nothing to do with us and I don't blame them." She looked past Mary to where the Gorn who served as Mary's second in command of the ship sat and Taakezh stiffened. When she spoke again, it was in him! "What do you wish, Second Officer Taakezh?"

"I wish to aid Captain Mary Owlna Pangolin." Taakezh said in Standard. "She is everything I wished to be, once upon a time. I learn just by watching her that it may not be too late for even such as me."

"Mary is going to be busy for a bit. Can you do the duty that she has taken on herself?" L'Miren asked. Mary hissed, but L'Miren hushed her. "It is horror, that duty, but it is the only way forward those poor souls will accept."

Taakezh bowed his head and when it rose, his eyes held sorrow. "I can. Go, Captain. Do what you must."

Jhinis moved to stand at Mary's side and Quirwab did the same. Mary nodded to the Gorn and then, pure blackness swept the three of them away.

Somewhere out there

The Iconian teleport released the trio and they stood on a deck that was familiar to Mary. This was a Romulan ship and from the décor? An old one. The name on the wall said it all. Bloodwing. All three set themselves, but no enemies appeared. No alarms blared. Instead, there was the haze of a green as a Romulan transported in. Owlesha had been crying. Even after the transporter released her, she stood, all but jerking in place.

"I… I won't say it!" Owlesha stuttered the words out. "I won't apologize. It just make you mad!"

"It is not your fault." Mary said slowly. "I thought it was. I forgot."

"I tried to kill you!" Owlesha snapped, her rage fanned, but not at any of the trio. "He… He made you scream and I… She said it would be bad, but I had no idea!" She all but screamed the last.

"He was so happy when he found me and held me." Mary said softly. Jhinis and Quirwab were there, but she as focused on Owlesha's hands. Said hands were empty for the moment. That wouldn't last. "I didn't remember who he was, just that he was dangerous. I tried to flee, but he caught me. Then it was just golden pain. And then, you were there. You cut me free."

"And then I cut you!" Owlesha did scream that. "It didn't seem wrong, but it was! I just wanted to kill him! Not you! Never you! Daniels said I would be able to kill him, but he lied to me! You were never a threat! I... I don't want to hurt you! I love you!"

"I know." Mary was sad now. "Owlesha, put it down." Owlesha seemed to bend for a moment, but then she jerked back upright. "Owlesha! You are stronger than some ancient weapon! Put it down!"

"I am trying!" Owlesha was crying hard now as she bent slowly, painfully before jerking back upright. Was she in control? It didn't seem like it. "It won't… It wants me to kill you and I won't! I want to kill the golden scum! Not you!"

"The golden scum is dead." Quirwab said softly and all three of the mismatched females stared at her. Klingon reached into her robes and pulled out a tiny crystal. She bent down to place it on the deck and a hologram appeared over it. A familiar golden skinned face appeared in the image, but it was just a face! The severed head held a horrified expression as it floated in a small sphere of energy. "This copy of him is dead. T'Ket has the last remnant of his evil and she can be trusted to keep it secure."

"Copies?" Owlesha said weakly as she jerked in place. She was clearly fighting herself or something else inside her mind. Then again, some legends of that kind of sword said they had minds of their own. Mary had seen far too much weird to discount that.

"He made many copies of himself to hide in many places." Quirwab didn't move. She and Jhinis were both in grave danger here, but she met Owlesha's eyes calmly. "Krenn won't mind me telling you three that all of those copies have been deleted. You did not get the chance to strike him down, but he is dead." Mary felt shock, worry and hope all blossom as Owlesha stared at the image.

"He… He will come after her again." Owlesha said weakly, still trying to bend.

"No." Quirwab was kind now. "He won't."

"How do you stop someone like that?" The Romulan begged.

"With people just as powerful and angry as he was." An unexpected voice had Mary, Jhinis and Quirwab all drawing weapons. Mary and Jhinis had their staffs as Quirwab produced a Mekleth from somewhere as Michelle, Princess of Orokin stepped into the area, surrounded by four humanoid metal forms. None of them had weapons in hand! The six Voth that followed them in with heavy weapons aimed at them were probably the reason! Michelle shook her head at Mary's expression. "This isn't what you think, Mary Owlna Pangolin. We can help her."

"I don't trust you." Mary snapped and then threw herself at Owlesha. The Romulan screamed in denial as Mary grabbed her and held on tight. She trapped Owlesha's arms by her sides and the mad Romulan couldn't draw the sword. It cut Mary anyway and she screamed as agony poured through her energy.

Then the pain faded as soft, warm light came from one of the Voth! It covered Mary and Owlesha, seeping over both of them as Mary held the now bawling Romulan. Something clanged on the floor beside the pair, but Mary only had eyes for the crying girl in her arms. She held Owlesha tight, murmuring soft things as the woman who had once been a girl she had loved, cried her heart out.

"Princess? Keep your word. Destroy it." Came from one of the Voth and golden power flashed next to the pair, but did nothing to them. A hiss sounded and then, the stink of molten metal and a soft, tortured scream came from whatever was there. Then it was gone! "Now go."

"I… Yes. For what it is worth? I am sorry, Mary." Michelle bowed to Mary and then, in a flash of gold, was gone along with her guards. The sudden silence was only broken by Owlesha's sobs.

"That one needs help and your mother cannot teleport you so far again soon." The Voth who had spoken was calm. "Will you accept our aid?"

"Will you accept mine? Aid for aid, no obligation incurred?" Mary asked over Owlesha's trembling head as the crying woman buried her face in Mary's shoulder. The Voth stared at her for along moment, impassive. Then it, he, smiled.

"Yes." The Voth bowed his head in acknowledgment.

"Then, yes."