Disclaimer: Paramount owns the characters and the Star Trek idea.
Four gold beads, held by a gold hair clip.
Kathryn Janeway gazed at the stars from her ready room lounge.
Four cold reminders of the life she had lived just a few years ago.
As she reached up and lightly brushed her four gold rank pips with trembling fingertips, she made her final decision.
Not everyone agreed at first...
She was met with several protests from the senior officers.
...but they eventually decided it was for the best.
Voyager was in a bad state of disrepair, and crew morale was dropping.
Two moons, one lonely planet on the outskirts of a quadrant shared with familiar species.
Despite the fact that they had reached the edge of the Beta Quadrant a year ago, and though they would only say it to themselves, the crew was tired and willing to end the journey. They had located a lush Class-M planet within a few light-years of their position, and it was that planet that would be their permanent home.
She began to regret the decision almost as soon as she had made it.
She lost the battle with tears as she began to pack her belongings. Various "what ifs" crept into her consciousness and refused to leave. One particularly painful thought was the one she thought she had resolved; the Caretaker incident.
They could make a new home on the planet...
Voyager was being stripped of most useful technology, leaving the core ship systems behind.
...but it could never replace the old one.
The ship would be kept intact, as an emergency shelter and a monument to future generations.
She longed to fly again, to explore the depths of space once more.
Holotechnology could never compare to the thrills of real spaceflight.
Four gold beads, held by a gold hair clip.
She would wear four gold beads in her hair as a symbol of leadership, and as a reminder of years gone by, until she died.
Four cold reminders of the life she had lived just a few years ago.