A/N: See Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.
Chapter 7: Their True Home
The following days and weeks after Captain Janeway's passing were very painful for her crew and family on Voyager, and understandably, they were the most difficult for the Doctor. Thankfully, they all really rallied around him and cared for him and looked out for him, especially Tom, B'Elanna, and Harry. And they did all they could to help him take care of his and the Captain's children.
Chakotay also tried his best to be as helpful as possible to them during that heartbreaking time in their lives, and ironically, one of the things that made him so helpful and empathetic towards the Doctor was the fact that in his heart of hearts, he'd always been deeply in love with Kathryn. And despite all the years of her marriage to Dr. Luke and their five children, that had never changed. And it never would. No matter how many years passed, no matter how old he got, he would never, ever forget Kathryn and the enormous impact she'd had upon his entire life and his very soul. And in those last two weeks of Voyager's journey to the Alpha Quadrant, he wanted to make certain that the crew never forgot what their Captain had sacrificed to get them home safely, which was why, during that time, he utterly refused to sit in the captain's chair. He captained Voyager, but he did it from the first officer's chair, not the captain's chair, because he wanted the crew to see the empty captain's chair every day and remember that Captain Janeway had sacrificed her life to get them back to Earth.
Finally, after so many years, Voyager returned to Earth on the sixth of October in 2392. After being debriefed by Starfleet over the next couple of weeks, they all returned to their homes and families on Earth. Dr. Luke and the children stayed with Kathryn's mother Gretchen until he found a beautiful five-bedroom house for them nearby. Thankfully, their Voyager family members came by very frequently to visit them and check on them, and the Doctor also visited them as often as he could.
While the Doctor and his and the Captain's children lived near the Captain's mother in Indiana, Tom and B'Elanna and their two daughters, Miral and Julia, moved into a lovely house near where Admiral Paris lived, and Harry, Samantha, and James moved into a nice apartment near Harry's parents. Naomi moved into her own apartment near Starfleet Headquarters in San Francisco, as did Icheb and Brax, all of whom were now also Starfleet officers in their own right. Neelix was made an ambassador to Starfleet, and he and Dr. Dexa and Alixia also got their own apartment near Starfleet Headquarters, as did Chakotay, who officially retired from Starfleet and became an anthropology professor at Starfleet Academy. Kes, who'd long since received more than enough medical training to become a Starfleet nurse, as Tom had, finally decided to officially join Starfleet, and she served as a nurse aboard a Starfleet medical ship. And finally, Tuvok also retired from Starfleet, and he, Seven, and Selik went to live in his home on Vulcan, which Tuvok's ex-wife T'Pel had long since moved out of, that his adult children had been maintaining for him during his absence. After leaving Starfleet, Tuvok began a career in law enforcement in his community on Vulcan, helping to always maintain order and peace in his city, just as he'd always done so effectively on Voyager. After the role he'd played in Captain Janeway's death, it was simply too hard for him to stay in Starfleet. Seven was indeed quite sad to see Tuvok leave Starfleet, but she understood why he had to do it.
They all settled into their new lives fairly quickly over the next four months. But then, one ordinary night, all the born-again believers of the Voyager crew shared in the same prophetic vision. And what they learned in that vision turned their whole lives on their heads completely. The next morning, which was on a Saturday, Dr. Luke spoke with all his Voyager family, and he invited them to his house so they could discuss it in person that afternoon. He would've preferred it if every believer from the Voyager crew could have come that day, but they weren't able to because of various other obligations they had. Thankfully, though, Chakotay, Tuvok, Seven, Tom, B'Elanna, Neelix, Dr. Dexa, Harry, and Kes were all able to come.
After they all sat down together in Dr. Luke's living room, Chakotay said, "It's been a little while, hasn't it?"
"Yes, it has been," Dr. Dexa agreed.
"It's good to have the family back together again," said Dr. Luke. "Or perhaps I should say…it's good to have most of the family back together again."
"Yeah," B'Elanna said quietly, all of them thinking of the Captain.
"I know it hasn't been easy, Doc," Tom said sympathetically. "How are you and the children holding up?"
"Yes, how are you guys doing?" asked Kes.
"We're making it. It's not easy, but we're getting through it. Step by step, day by day, as best we can," the Doctor told them honestly.
"Where are the kids now?" Harry asked.
"They're spending the weekend at their grandmother's," Dr. Luke replied.
"That sounds nice," said Neelix.
"They always have a great time there," said Dr. Luke. "But anyway, down to the business at hand: that vision we all had."
"It has been my experience over the years that when God chooses to communicate with His children through the Holy Spirit, He most often does so very subtly. But when He wishes to speak loudly to get His children's attention, He will most certainly do so," Tuvok chimed in.
"Agreed," said Seven.
"He sure spoke loudly last night," said Tom.
"No kidding," Harry agreed.
"Although I've known for many years that Christianity is true, there were a number of things that did not make sense to me," said Seven. "But after the prophetic vision we all received last night, I understand."
"The levels of deception the vast majority of people are living in…it's insane," said Chakotay. "Not to mention tragic."
"I know," Dr. Dexa agreed.
"It's crazy to think that thousands of years ago, back in the days of the early church, four couples prayed to Jesus and asked Him to make a way for them to explore space, and He did, just because they believed He would," said Harry. "He secretly gave them a ship capable of warp drive and let them fly into space, making it possible through His divine power for them to leave Earth secretly, without anyone else even knowing. He basically downloaded all the information into their minds that they would need for space travel, and they flew to a number of different planets and solar systems thousands of years ago. They had children who built spaceships and flew to different planets and settled on different planets and populated those planets. That's how all these other alien races came into being. That's how Vulcans came into being, and Klingons, and Bajorans, and Cardassians, and Talaxians."
"Precisely," said Tuvok. "It would seem that many of the alien races we know of today are actually human beings. They are simply human beings who have developed differing physical characteristics as a result of the planet they settled on and lived in. Vulcans are human beings who developed an inner eyelid because of our intense sun, for example."
"Right," B'Elanna agreed. "And while Klingons didn't develop cranial ridges or stronger bones and multiple backup organs because of the environment on Kronos, it makes sense that Klingons would develop those things because of how very often they fought with each other."
"So Vulcans are humans with pointed ears, slanted eyebrows, and an inner eyelid," said Harry. "Klingons are humans with cranial ridges and a stronger bone structure and multiple backup organs. Bajorans are humans with nose ridges. Bolians are humans with blue skin, etc., etc."
"But the point is, all of them, regardless of skin color, ear shape, cranial ridges, or extra organs, are all human beings created by the Almighty God in His image," said Dr. Dexa.
"And all the beings we've seen or heard about that claim to be non-corporeal – beings like Q or the so-called Bajoran 'prophets' are actually demons," said Dr. Luke.
"All of them, the Q, the Bajoran 'prophets,' other entities like them, were all demons, and all the things they said and did were various forms of demonic deception," said Kes.
"All various forms of lies. All of it," said Chakotay. "That computer program they found on the Enterprise from that being claiming that life began on some other planet than Earth and that they sprinkled DNA on various planets over billions of years. The Bajoran 'prophets' and their false religion. Kahless and the false Klingon religion. It's all layers upon layers of demonic deception."
"All of it designed to convince people of what they truly wish to believe deep down in their collective psyche," said Tuvok. "That they do not need God. That they can be their own gods or even become a god."
"And that they can earn a spot in heaven by the things they do, whether it's dying a so-called 'glorious death in battle' like the Klingons believe, or by doing whatever the so-called 'prophets' on Bajor tell the Bajorans to do,, or other similar things," said Dr. Luke.
"And as for Q, he and all the other demons in the so-called 'Q-Continuum' were there to further deceive Picard and the Federation into believing that the existence of beings like him, who supposedly had god-like powers, disproved the validity of the Bible," Chakotay explained. "That was the same reason for the demonic deception behind the computer program Picard and the Enterprise discovered after Professor Galen's death. These demons are willing to do anything, anything, to deceive people and stop them from believing the Bible and the truth of the gospel."
"It is deeply disturbing to contemplate, but it is not surprising," said Seven.
"According to the vision the good Lord sent us, the ancestors of all the people living on all the planets we've discovered, they all knew the gospel and they taught the gospel to their descendants, but the vast majority of them rejected it," said Dr. Luke.
"As my wife so accurately stated, it is disturbing, but it is not surprising," said Tuvok. "Jesus said Himself that wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. And He said that narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it. That is because every type of human being, regardless if it's Terran humans or Bajorans or Klingons or even Vulcans, has a natural tendency towards pride and self-righteousness, and every soul yearns to become righteous through his or her own deeds; to earn his or her way into heaven without Christ. It is extraordinarily difficult for the vast majority of people to accept the fact that without the shed blood of Christ on their behalf, they can never be fully righteous because of their own deeds, and they can never be good enough for God's holy standard of complete, one hundred percent perfection to get into heaven when they die."
"Regardless if it's Buddhism or the false Klingon religion or the false Bajoran religion, or even Catholicism, at the end of the day, it's all the same," Harry accurately surmised. "It's all about people trying to earn their own way to God and heaven by their own works, in their own self-righteousness, arrogance, and pride. As utterly insane as it is, people had literally rather burn in hell for all eternity than simply humble themselves and fully rely on Christ and His shed blood at the cross to save them."
"Full reliance on Christ for salvation is an assault on the prideful human ego," Tuvok concurred. "That is why the true gospel of God's undeserved grace and mercy towards humans is the narrow gate and the difficult way which leads to life. People naturally want to earn their way into heaven themselves so they can have an excuse for pride. The gospel leaves no room whatsoever for pride, which is why most people despise it and reject it."
"That is a big part of it, but there is another reason as well," said Seven. "Many people understandably struggle with the concept of a God who permits suffering, even great and terrible suffering at times. But they often fail to take into account that we are suffering the consequences of being fallen, and we are fallen because of human choice. We could still be in the Garden of Eden today had Adam not chosen to deliberately disobey God and bring death to the human race. Another thing about suffering many people fail to take into account is the fact that, as horrific and brutal as human suffering can be at times, God uses it to build up character within us. As much as we despise suffering, it's suffering that builds up things like courage, inner-strength, honor, and perseverance in us in ways nothing else can. And God is not a hypocrite. He never permits any human to endure any level of suffering that Jesus Christ, Himself, did not endure when He chose to get tortured to death on the cross and be cut off from His relationship with Father God for our sake. Nothing any human being can endure can even begin to compare to that."
"You are correct, wife," Tuvok agreed. "Unfortunately, suffering is necessary if there is going to be character growth and development. If people were constantly given a life of comfort and ease, without any pain or struggle, everyone, humans, Klingons, Talaxians, even Vulcans, would become weak, spoiled and insufferable."
"That's very true," Dr. Luke concurred.
"Sadly, the suffering we all saw in our vision will be the greatest period of suffering humanity has ever experienced, and what makes it infinitely tragic is that it's all so unnecessary," said Chakotay. "God has to allow some suffering in our lives to build up our character, but the suffering humanity is going to go through during the seven-year Tribulation, that we all saw in our vision, is suffering that they do not have to go through at all. But as usual, humanity does it to itself."
"For so long, even though I knew Christianity is the truth, I didn't understand how it could be true, without the prophecies foretold about Israel in the Millennial Reign of Christ, found in the Old Testament and the book of Revelation, coming to pass," said Seven. "But now, it all makes sense."
"Right at the turn of the twenty-first century, God created this bubble of spacetime on Earth in which time passes much, much faster than it does for most of the rest of the galaxy, much like what happened on that time-displaced planet I lived on for three years," Dr. Luke explained. "And we've all been living in that bubble. Years, centuries, sped by so fast, giving humanity the opportunity to learn, advance, even develop the ability to create spaceships, leave Earth, and explore the galaxy. But while we've all been doing all this growing and advancing and exploring in space, everybody else who didn't get caught up in this unique bubble of spacetime remained on Earth and continued living their lives as normal. For most people, it is not the twenty-fourth century. For most people, it's around the mid-2020s."
"And this unique bubble of spacetime that we're all living in right now was created by God, allowed to exist, so that humans could develop the ability to travel throughout space and help spread the gospel to all other peoples who had settled on all the other planets," Kes explained.
"Voyager was an important part of God's plan all along," said Chakotay. "Little did Captain Janeway and the rest of us know at the time, but we were always supposed to get stranded in the Delta Quadrant. We were always meant to be there to help spread the gospel to everyone who had not yet had a chance to hear it and get saved."
"But that bubble of spacetime isn't going to last forever," said Neelix. "Like all bubbles, it has to burst eventually."
"And when it does, which according to our vision, will be some time in the near future," said Dr. Dexa, "everyone who is born-again, regardless if they're on Earth or out in space somewhere or on some other planet, will be catapulted back to mid-2020s Earth, just one split-second before the Rapture happens. And everyone who is either mentally disabled or too young to understand the gospel for themselves will also be catapulted back to 2020s Earth and then Raptured up into heaven. Where we all will be safe with Christ while the seven-year Tribulation, foretold in the book of Revelation, will be happening on the earth."
"Tragically, for everyone who was able to accept Christ but rejected Him in their stubborn pride, when this bubble of spacetime bursts, they will be killed by it, regardless if they are on Earth or on another planet," said Seven. "But tragic as it is, God cannot withhold His righteous judgment on humanity forever. Justice for all of humanity's evil must come at some point."
"That's so true," Chakotay agreed. "People so blindly and foolishly believe that just because divine judgment doesn't usually happen immediately, that means it's never going to happen, and nothing could be farther from the truth. People so often mistake God's utterly remarkable grace, mercy, and patience for indifference. People think that because He doesn't instantly judge them for their sin, that means He doesn't care, or that He's even letting them get away with it. But just because God's divine judgment and justice can often take a very long time, that doesn't mean it's never going to happen."
"And many people in Starfleet will have much to answer for when the spacetime bubble finally bursts and they suddenly die and find themselves standing before Christ to be judged," said Dr. Luke. "I was shocked to learn in the vision that there actually are many people in Starfleet, especially Section 31, who are demon-possessed and know the truth about Jesus and Scripture, and have gone to insane lengths to try to hide the truth. The last thing they want is people learning about the spacetime bubble, and realizing that Scripture actually is true; that in reality, we're actually living sometime in the 2020s, in the Biblical last days. One of the very last things they want anybody finding out about is the nation of Israel and the Jewish people. How Scripture accurately foretold in the Old Testament, in Isaiah and Ezekiel and other places, that the Jewish people would be scattered all over the world and regathered into their rightful homeland of Israel in the last days; how they would become a nation again; how Israel would be reborn within one single day, which happened on May 14, 1948. Scripture accurately foretold how all of that would happen thousands of years before it did. The very existence of Israel and the Jewish people proves the validity of the Bible, and that's the last thing these people in Starfleet and Section 31 want people to find out."
"I know," Harry agreed. "It really blows my mind, how Section 31 actually played a huge role in deceiving Sisko into the false beliefs of the demonic Bajoran religion, even starting the Dominion War itself, because some Starfleet scientists were starting to get close to discovering the spacetime bubble and the truth about where we actually are in God's divine timeline. And the truth about the Bible, itself. It's sickening beyond words, to think that they would actually start a war that would get billions of people killed, just to keep everyone distracted from learning the truth about the gospel."
"It's unthinkable. Absolutely unthinkable," Dr. Luke agreed. "Kathryn never told any of you this, she kept it to herself, but back when she was a young cadet in Starfleet Academy, Section 31 actually tried to recruit her because she was such an exceptional student. She was a bit tempted by their offer, but naturally, she refused. And it's a good thing, for all our sakes, that she did. And for the sake of all the races in the Delta Quadrant she helped spread the gospel to. The Reelans, the Tersans, and countless others."
"Right," Tom concurred.
"So, I guess the question is, what do we do now? Do we stay in Starfleet? Do we continue to be a part of an organization that could do such unspeakably evil things?" asked B'Elanna.
"I think we should," said Harry. "For those of us who are still in Starfleet, anyway. Yeah, I think we should stay. We have a lot of friends and acquaintances in Starfleet who haven't come to faith in Christ yet. If we stay in Starfleet, it'll give us an opportunity to reach out to them before it's too late."
"Not to mention the fact that those of you who are still in Starfleet will still have the opportunity to visit other planets, meet new races of people, and spread the gospel to them," said Dr. Luke.
"And those of us who aren't in Starfleet anymore can try to reach out to whatever civilians we can," said Chakotay.
"Then we are agreed," said Tuvok. "We all spend whatever limited time we have left trying to get the truth out to as many people as possible. No matter how difficult it might be or how resistant people will naturally be to the message of the gospel. Because their eternal lives depend on it."
"Agreed," they all said together. And they meant it with all their hearts.
As expected, the vast majority of the people they tried to reach with the gospel over the next four months were very resistant to it. However, mercifully, a few souls did listen to them and come to faith in Christ, and they all rejoiced in that. And on one warm, lovely summer day in early June of 2393 (in the spacetime bubble), they were all going about their business as usual, when they suddenly found themselves with an even greater reason to rejoice. It was on that day that the spacetime bubble finally burst, and they were all catapulted back to a day in the mid-2020s for a fraction of a second.
And then, the Rapture happened. The Lord Himself descended from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ rose first, including Captain Janeway. Then those who were alive and remained, including the Voyager crew and all remaining born-again believers from the spacetime bubble, were caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air.
And before any of them could even blink, they were with Jesus, Himself, in heaven, hugging Him, loving Him, and worshiping Him together for the longest time.
Finally, the time came for them to see the mansions He'd built just for them, and it was then that they really saw Captain Janeway and took in the radiantly beautiful sight that she was for the first time.
After Luke and their children and all the other crewmen showered her with hugs and kisses, she told them, "We've had it wrong all this time, guys. We spent so many years yearning for our homes back on Earth, dreaming of getting back there, but the title of that old song is really true: Home is Where the Heart Is. The world we lived on was never our home. It was never our true home. When we all came to faith in Christ, He made His home with us through the Holy Spirit, and our home became with Him. And as long as we're with Christ and each other as a family, where our hearts are, we're always home. And nothing and no one will ever take us away from our true home ever again. When I died, I thought I'd missed getting to go home, but I didn't. Even though I suffered, it was worth it, because I was given the gift of getting to go to our true home first. And now, I get the honor of showing you all of your homes that Jesus has personally made for all of you. We all live right next-door to each other. I'll show you. Come on!" she said so happily, and they all smiled and laughed with pure joy as they ran after her.
A few hours later, Jesus, Himself called Captain Janeway and her crew to a place in heaven they'd never seen before. A special hangar with a ship that looked similar to Voyager, but was in fact much bigger.
"My children, I'd like to introduce you all to a very special ship," the Lord told them. "The U.S.S. Voyager-B."
"The U.S.S. Voyager-B?" said Kathryn, absolutely beaming with delight.
"That's correct. When the seven-year Tribulation ends, you all will return to the earth and rule and reign with Me for one thousand years. But in the meantime, not only will all of you be celebrating being in heaven with Me and with each other; you're also going to be doing a lot of exploring." Everyone stared at each other in the most joyous sense of shock in those moments, and Jesus laughed. "Don't look so surprised. Is it really so hard to believe that I would also give you stars and planets to explore in heaven? I didn't make you children a bunch of explorers for nothing, you know."
"So we're going to spend the next seven years exploring heaven's stars?" Kathryn asked with great delight.
"Intermittently, yes. And you'll all spend a great deal of time talking with Me about all you've learned during your travels. And the first official voyage of the U.S.S. Voyager-B begins now."
They all spent the longest time hugging and kissing the good Lord and thanking Him, and then they all boarded their family's beautiful new ship.
"I never knew it was possible to be this happy!" Luke beamed as he walked beside Kathryn, holding her hand, on the way to the Bridge. He then stopped and just grabbed Kathryn and pulled her into his arms and held onto her, and she ferociously returned the hug. "I've dreamed of this moment, I've dreamed of holding you again, for so long," he whispered as tears of the greatest joy streamed down his cheeks.
"I've dreamed of it too, my love. Don't worry. You and our children and I…we'll never be parted from each other again. Ever."
"I love you so much."
Kathryn looked into Luke's chocolate brown eyes then with a mischievous smile, and she told him, "I love you more."
"Ah, yes. Our favorite argument. And we'll be having it for all eternity, won't we?"
"Absolutely," she said with a mile-wide grin, and once again, they just hugged and held onto each other for the longest time. Afterwards, little Deborah came running up to them, and Luke scooped her up into his arms.
Then, Kathryn and Luke walked out on the Bridge together, holding hands, while Luke held onto Deborah with his other arm. The Bridge of the U.S.S. Voyager-B was much brighter than that of Voyager, and in fact, it looked very similar to the Bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise. And to everyone's great joy, the U.S.S. Voyager-B contained absolutely no phasers or photon torpedoes or weapons of any kind, because obviously, it was completely unnecessary now. And with all of them now having perfect, glorified bodies, there was no Sick Bay because, again, it was completely unnecessary. Luke, Neelix, and Chell were also immensely delighted by the multiple, large classrooms on the new ship, which would naturally make schooling the children of their crew much easier.
While Chell and Naomi were with Kathryn's and Luke's four older children, and with everyone else's children, in one of the classrooms, Kathryn, Luke, Deborah, Chakotay, Tuvok, Seven, Tom, B'Elanna, Harry, Samantha, Neelix, Dexa, and Kes all stood together on the white and beige-colored Bridge of the U.S.S. Voyager-B. And they began taking their seats at their various stations.
"I know the First Officer is supposed to sit beside the Captain, but after all you and Luke have been through, I think you've more than earned the right to sit together," Chakotay told them.
"Thank you very much, Chakotay. I appreciate that," said Kathryn, and then she took his hand and gave it an affectionate squeeze, and Chakotay gave them a smile and a nod.
Kathryn took the captain's seat then, and Luke sat beside her, and Kathryn pulled little Deborah up into her lap and kissed her over and over again while she let out the heartiest, sweetest laugh that they all just adored. Chakotay sat on the other side of Luke, and there was enough room for Neelix, Dexa, and Kes to sit with them as well.
Tom took the helm in those moments, and with a nod from Kathryn, he flew the U.S.S. Voyager-B up into the skies of heaven.
He then turned towards his Captain and asked her, "Course heading, Captain?"
With the most contented smile, she answered, "Second star to the right. And straight on 'til morning."
They all knowingly smiled, and then Tom laid in a course.
And with that, the travels of the crew and family of the U.S.S. Voyager-B officially began. The start of the sweetest journeys imaginable. And nothing was sweeter than the knowledge that they would be with Jesus and with each other every day of their lives, forever. That nothing could ever, ever separate them from God and each other again. That no matter what, from here on out, they would always be in the presence of God and each other, which was, and always had been, their true home.