CHAPTER 7

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Kathryn opened her eyes. First she was only able to recognize a blurry figure above her, until her vision started to get sharper.

"Doctor…" she whispered to a familiar-looking man who stood by her biobed.

"Welcome back admiral", he responded.

"Admiral… my father was an admiral, Doctor. The last time we met, you were still calling me captain."

"Well… if you prefer I can still address you as a captain."

"It's alright Doctor", Kathryn sighed and lowered her back against the pillow once again. "How long have I been here?"

"Three days."

"Three days?"

"That is correct. I am glad to see you awake, but I would recommend that you rest now. Your body has taken a lot during the past days."

"I can imagine that."

Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. But suddenly she realized something. "Where's Chakotay?" she asked and opened her eyes again. "I can't hear him."

"Your neural link was severed on Umbriel. I believe the instability of the subspace fracture made your neural transceiver to overload when you were still connected to the hive mind in other universe. That, or the wound on your head. I found a nasty bruise on your skull, near the neural transceiver. It may have been damaged before you even entered the fracture."

"That is possible", Kathryn sighed. "But where is Chakotay now?"

"I had to put Mr. Chakotay in stasis", Doctor told.

"In stasis? Why? What is wrong with him?"

"The nanoprobes in his system are something I have not seen before; something I had not even theorized before. Therefore, I have called Dr. Beverly Crusher from the USS Enterprise to join me in this little project where we are taking the nanoprobes out of his system. She is another expert of the Borg technology in this quadrant and she was most interested to study the "royal resurrection vinculum nanoprobes" with me. I have not worked with her before, but I am quite sure we are going to make an excellent team. I guess we could even write a paper together, who knows? Anyway, you on the other hand are entirely different story. I have already extracted 89% of the Borg technology from your body. I should be able to remove the rest as well, or at least 98% of it, but now you need to rest until we continue the treatment."

"That is good to hear."

"I should also inform you that the Starfleet and your family has been noted about your miraculous return."

"My family?" Kathryn asked. "Do they know I am not their Kathryn?"

"No", The Doctor told. "Starfleet decided to conceal the truth form the general public."

"Excuse me?"

"The official explanation of your miraculous return is the one without mentioning parallel universes. The general public was already frightened when the Starfleet informed that they have found functional Borg technology on Umbriel. So in order to avoid full panic, Starfleet gave a statement where your return was explained by the amazing discovery of a Borg escape pod, which contained the remains of the Queen. Naturally Annika Hansen was given the credit of the discovery, since she was the one to tell Mr. Chakotay where to go."

"I cannot fool my mom", Kathryn sighed. "I have no memories from this universe so I'm sure she will know."

"Do not worry," The Doctor informed cheerfully. "I have already said that there might be some gaps in you memory. Surviving from the explosion of the massive Borg cube and to be stored in an escape pod can damage memory in a significant way."

"I see", Kathryn said. "What about Starfleet? Did they investigate Umbriel?"

"Let's just say that there is a new crater on the Umbriel moon now, created couple of days ago. There is nothing left there. The vinculum, as interesting the object would have been for further study, has been destroyed and all that is left from it is a massive, 1,5 kilometers wide hole on the ground of Umbriel."

"That is good to know."

"So there is no need to worry, admiral. We are still living in a Borg-free universe."

Kathryn closed her eyes. She was relieved.

"What about Chakotay?" she asked then. "Will he survive?"

"I am confident that he will."

"Good."

"Now, I have few letters for you", Doctor said then.

"For me?" Kathryn asked and opened her eyes again. "From whom?"

Doctor didn't response, but he gave her a padd instead. Then he turned around and left.

Kathryn activated the small screen and started to read.

Dear Admiral,

There are no words to describe how much joy the news of your return gave to all of us. The crew has missed you tremendously. I am actually writing this letter to you from Delta Quadrant where the Voyager was thrown one more time. I know you didn't like the idea of Starfleet ever returning here, but so far it has been an interesting mission. But I have to say that the Delta Quadrant is not the same without you.

I know you must be feeling overwhelmed by now. So yes – I am aware of the truth. Therefore, I felt the need to write this letter to you. I wanted to remind you what happened to us years ago in the Delta Quadrant and specifically what you told me once.

We had been in the Delta Quadrant less than two years, when something very strange happened to me. Instead of one Voyager, there were suddenly two, and I had to jump from one universe to another. In fact, my captain in the universe that used to be mine gave me a direct order to leave my Voyager and to jump to the other. So I know what you must be feeling right now.

All I can say that no matter how strange that might first be, you will get used to it, and before you know it, this universe is really the one where you belong. And I know you must belong here, because when you were gone 18 months ago, none of us accepted that. So we are so grateful to have you back.

Get well soon. Best wishes,

Lt. Harry Kim

"Lieutenant?" Kathryn asked and wiped a tear off her cheek. "Oh Harry…"

Kathryn closed her eyes and went back to the time when they had been in the Delta Quadrant only for a year or so. The ship had hit severe subspace turbulence and their antimatter was being drained. Her counterpart from other universe had destroyed her ship in order to save hers. And Harry, with newly born baby Naomi, had jumped from the other universe into their own. And she had welcomed them both. And she had not ever thought about Harry as some other person than he really was. Perhaps she should try to do the same to herself now.

"Thank you Harry", Kathryn whispered. Then she activated another letter on her padd.

Dear Kathryn,

I don't know exactly why I am writing this letter, since you don't even know who I am, but I guess there are some things I simply need to get off my chest.

I guess I wanted you know that Chakotay loves you. If you don't know that by now, you really should. I had the opportunity to "borrow" him for awhile and what I learnt during the months I spent with him is that he is truly amazing person. But I guess you already knew that, right? So I hope you realize how lucky you are to be loved by him and that you appreciate every moment you have him by your side. Something tells me that you do and that thought eases me.

Perhaps one day, when I am able to be genuinely happy for you both, we could meet somewhere. Until then – get better and have a wonderful life. You have been given a second chance. You truly are the lucky one.

Take care of him.

Tessa

Kathryn was at a loss of words. She was uncertain what to think or how to feel. She put the padd away and closed her eyes again. It was strange to be here, but she decided that "here" was home now. She still had questions in her mind, but she wanted to believe that all the answers would come in time.