Introduction - "Alpha"
The excitement over the Federation Starship Voyager's anticipated return from the Delta quadrant was disappointingly short-lived. Seven years, the crew had seemingly floated from one altercation with unknown alien races to the next, tumultuously careening their way towards home: Earth. Seven years of long nights, weary battles, and foreign foods that threatened human palettes. Seven years of dreaming about loved ones, wishing to tell them any random word, longing with desperation for their company once more.
All that build-up and then little to show for it. Sure, there were a few days of celebrations, welcoming parties, promotions, and pats on the back from Starfleet. However, once the debriefings and medical quarantines had ended, the crew was released from duty, and all accounts of the seven years they had spent on the other side of the galaxy were shoved into databases. It would seem that the fate of Voyager's most explosive discoveries about life in the Delta quadrant were to be shuffled and filed by Informational Data Support System Holograms (ID's for short), Starfleet's fanciest form of the modern secretary. Former chief Engineer B'Elanna Torres had remarked during her toast at Admiral Kathryn Janeway's promotional ceremony that "if Starfleet can't throw their favorite token stranded crewmen a real coming-home party, maybe we should get stuck somewhere else for another seven years". Her bitter comment would have been held in disregard by the Admiral, and most former shipmates present, if it had not rang of such truth and upset that was unanimously shared.
To add insult to injury, the majority of the crew found that so much had changed in their absence, they were not returning to the home they had longed for at all. This remained true despite communications between Voyager and the Alpha quadrant that had been possible for several months; there simply was too much change to relate in brief 11-minute conversations, and as a result, an excess of surprises were in store for every crewmember. In fact, it seemed that the only positive news came for many in the former Maquis crew, who had left the Alpha quadrant with little to call home or family. However now many of them had places to stay, at least temporarily, with the friends or lovers they had established onboard Voyager. As for the pre-established Starfleet officers? Those who didn't have homes of their own or who had lived with partners and spouses found themselves on the doorsteps of relatives looking for a bed. Ironically, there were only 15 crewmembers from the entire ship who had remained faithful to the hope of returning to their significant others, and found that the same had been done for them since Voyager's disappearance.
The ultimate letdown had been hard to take for all involved. All their expectations of Earth had been blown out of proportion over the years significantly, and they had created an idealism that was simply not possible, by any standards. It was no one's fault, really. However, when Chakotay decided to throw a "small get-together" in Arizona to celebrate his birthday at his familial estate, it came as quite a surprise that nearly every single former member of Voyager's crew was in attendance. Three months had passed since they had come home, and through their dissatisfaction, they had decided to join together and find a way out.