Dear Thomas,
I hope this letter finds you well. Captain Janeway wrote a glowing report on your contributions to the ship. She says you are invaluable and have been vital in getting Voyager out of tough situations. She has entered a commendation into your personnel file. Starfleet reopened it, now that you are contributing once again to its service.
Your mother was very pleased to hear of your survival … so was I.
Thomas, I know we didn't part on good terms. I've spent the last three years trying to come to terms with the way we ended things – trying to come to terms with my role in the deterioration of our relationship.
I don't know if I ever told you that my father treated me the same way that I ended up treating you. That's a hard pill to swallow – realizing you've become the person you swore never to become – the person you hated when you were in your 20's.
I know it will be hard to believe, but I do know how you feel, I just forgot for a while. It is the belief of every parent that they know what is best for their child. It is the greatest challenge of every parent to recognize the point when its time for the child to choose for himself.
Your mother tells me I failed this test. That I pushed you to go to Starfleet Academy even though you would have preferred to join the Fleet's Navy. I hate to admit that I was wrong, so instead I'll say that maybe there were alternatives that, at the time, I was blind to.
Anyway, we were told to keep the letters short. I just wanted to say … I'm sorry I wasn't the father you wanted me to be … the father I wanted to be.
I know it's late and the circumstances aren't ideal, but I'd like to try to be that father now.
I love you son, and I'm proud of you. Stay safe.
Your father.