Harry Kim eagerly reported to the transporter room to beam aboard his parents and those of many of his colleagues. "Welcome aboard, Mrs. Paris." Her husband had already arrived, for the first of many meetings with Captain Janeway.

"I hear I'm not the only one."

Once he realized what Julia Paris meant, he corrected her. "B'Elanna is still Lieutenant Torres."

"Well, it is the 24th century." Things had been quite different in the early 20th according to Ms. Earhart, not Mrs. Putnam no matter what the New York Times thinks.

"Though you look healthy, I believe you'd like to go to sickbay. Same goes for you, Moira, Kathleen."

His own mother was next in the transporter buffer. "I'm so happy to see you so soon!" Mary said.

John interrupted. "Ah, we knew our boy was okay."

"So this is what you do, run the beaming machine?" Mary went on. She had turned this into an impromptu interview, likely for the benefit of her eighth graders, to whom he was already famous.

"Sometimes, but mainly I'm the operations officer."

"What's that again?"

"Keeping track of the ship's resources like things that are heavy power drains. I also helped a lot with engineering things. We all had to do a lot these last seven years."

Harry was relieved to be relieved. His mother attempted to speak with him privately, but her volume did not match. "So not only are you gone for seven years, you got a girl pregnant?"

"Both of those statements are accurate."

"Meet said girl, and our girl – Annika, and Annika."

"Despite everything, you seem to have done well for yourself," the new grandfather observed.

"Your son is a more than suitable mate," Annika the elder observed.

Another John was also here. "Mr. Torres, Tom would agree with you that Klingon women are a lot to handle."

"Glad he's managed it so far."

Samantha Wildman was one of those with loved ones off-Earth. Her husband remained stationed on Deep Space 9. It was much easier to open comm channels within the same quadrant, at least for such a special occasion. "Greskrendtregk!"

"It must be you, Samantha, as my name was pronounced correctly. How's the Delta Quadrant treating you and Naomi?"

"Past tense! I'm contacting you from Earth orbit!"

"That's the best news I've heard since four years ago." He had hosted meetings for friends and family of Voyager crew. The celebration of them being found had also been an announcement of fatherhood; Samantha hadn't known she was pregnant when the ship left Deep Space Nine. The EMH's excellence had included alien obstetrics.

"Get Gres some leave RIGHT NOW!"

"Who was that?"

"Captain Sisko. UFP 7 just broke the news to the general public, and the place is going wild. And when he wants things done, by sheer force of will they get done."

"I know the feeling."

"Seems we both ended up serving under some of Starfleet's new legends."

"I will take him to Earth myself in the Defiant if necessary!"

"The station would be in good hands. My life has been strictly professional, but I still understand family reunions. My congratulations – I know what it's like to somehow manage the impossible, but I'm still amazed at what that crew accomplished."

"Entirely agreed, Colonel."

"He also had a child born while away from his spouse, so he felt my pain. Family man for sure."

His young adult son Jake had a flair for writing. Ben was supportive of his son being something besides a Starfleet officer. Samantha took notes. Naomi was enamored with Starfleet now, but would she remain so when not being immersed in a starship? At any rate, childrens' fancies often changed.

Yet given what happened in the Alpha Quadrant while Voyager was away, the young Sisko had often applied his skills as a war journalist. His reports on the abortive Klingon war of 2372-3, and the Dominion occupation of Deep Space 9 were part of the updates provided to Voyager. In the former case he'd been exposed to fire and seen the field hospital. Some words from Earth's 2nd world war still rang true. Everyone's scared in their first action, if they say otherwise, they're a goddamn liar. The real hero was someone who fought despite being scared. It took some longer than others, but they still came through and didn't let it overcome their duty.

"Naomi is growing very fast. We've got a smart daughter eager to learn more, and people eager to teach her because she's so well liked. She's even Captain Janeway's assistant."

"She's going places, I'm glad those places are now Earth and Ktaria. See you soon."

Greskrendtregk had told her their survival was a captivating story of hope during the Dominion War. It was fitting the USS Lovell was part of their escort home; its namesake and two fellow astronauts adrift in space had grabbed Americans' attention even in the middle of a war. Imperial disasters like Vietnam helped illustrate the wisdom of the Prime Directive, Samantha had thought.

It was also fitting that USS Odyssey joined them at the Borg transwarp aperture for the last light year to Earth. Odysseus' story had endured for over three millennia - he had taken three years longer and returned home without his crew. A Galaxy-class Odyssey had been lost in what turned out to be the first shots of the Dominion War. The ship that Admiral Paris had rallied against the Borg was a sister. It was surreal to see the intimately familiar lines on another vessel, especially since the class had been brand new when they left, with the namesake the only vessel to precede NCC-74656. The captain of Odyssey had wanted to see just how the class had held up in such extreme circumstances; that briefing was delegated to Tuvok.

Mary Kim found her son again. "What about your music, Harry?"

"Though I forgot my clarinet, I eventually replicated one. Starfleet energy is usually practically limitless, but not when stranded in the Delta Quadrant. I had to save up for it. I'll be part of one last performance before we head down to Earth."