RETURNS
by Cybermum

Voyager was home.

The irony was in the simplicity of their return.

A wormhole.

A probe.

Positive readings.

And Voyager slipped easily into the Alpha Quadrant. A routine exercise. Very quick. No time for preparation.

When Ensign Harry Kim announced their location - "Captain, we are in sector 29706 of the Alpha Quadrant, approximately __ light years away from Deep Space Nine" there was utter silence on the bridge.

Finally, after what seemed an eternity the captain turned briefly to her first officer and smiled. She then rose slowly from her chair and said very softly "Open hailing frequencies".

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager. Does anybody read me...."

Silence.

"This is the USS Starship Voyager, please respond..."

"Come in ...." The response was faint and the reception poor.

"On screen."

A distorted head appeared on the view screen.

"Clean it up, Mr. Kim".

"Yes Ma'am."

After a moment the image on the screen became sharper and the Captain addressed the figure in front of her.

"I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager...."

A deep voice interrupted abruptly - "And I am Commander Eric O'Connor of Deep Space Six." Voyager and her crew have been missing for more than seven years. The questions concerning their disappearance have been resolved. I don't know who you are, but this impersonation is offensive and will not be tolerated. You will stand down all weapons and prepare to be boarded."

"Commander O'Connor, we are indeed Voyager. We have been stranded in the Delta Quadrant since stardate ___. We were on a mission to the Badlands pursuing a Maquis ship and were pulled in by ...."

Again she was interrupted. "I have no interest in your explanations. Prepare to be boarded. Now."

Kathryn Janeway paused, took a deep breath and looked slowly around the bridge. Her crew was intensely focused on the man in front of them. Their expressions reflected their dismay. No matter how many times each of them had dreamed of this moment, had dreamed of coming home, none of them had imagined this response.

"Mr. Kim. Delete audio."

Kim nodded and did as he was told.

The Captain turned to her bridge crew and said. "We have been gone a long time. Most likely we have been declared dead. Commander O'Connor is being naturally cautious. I can't say that I blame him. On the other hand, even with all our enhancements and additions, our basic signatures and signals are of Starfleet origin. He should be able to read them quite easily..."

She addressed her first and second officers. "Commander Chakotay, Mr. Tuvok, any thoughts?"

"Captain, I suggest ...." The Vulcan's calm tones began.

His words were cut off by the sudden shudder that ran through the hull of the ship. Voyager was tossed sharply starboard and the bridge crew looked to their stations and began to concentrate on holding Voyager on course.

"Open audio" the captain barked.

"Commander." She addressed the figure on the screen, hands on hips, feet apart, voice firm. " I assure you that we mean no harm. Our weapons are down. Our shields are down. If you check our signature you will see that we are indeed who we claim to be. I ask you to cease firing on us. We will not respond in kind."

"Prepared to be boarded". O'Connor's voice brooked no objection.

Kathryn Janeway was not one to be easily intimidated. "Yellow alert. Raise shields" she ordered. The lights on the bridge dimmed slightly to allow the crew to view the figures on their consoles even more easily.

"Mr. Kim, open a ship wide comm link." Janeway paused and waited while he did as he was ordered.

Captain Kathryn Janeway addressed the entire ship. "We are in the Alpha Quadrant. We are on our way to Earth. It appears, however, that we have encountered a slight obstacle." She allowed herself a wry grin. " As we have learned many times on this journey, nothing is as easy as it seems. We will continue on our way towards Deep Space Nine. The ride might be a bit bumpy, but rest assured. We are going home".

As if to confirm her words, Voyager rolled again as she sustained another hit.

"Mr. Paris. Initiate evasive maneuver Janeway, beta 7 - y. Mr. Tuvok, activate the Voth phase shifter. We can use a few of the tricks and devices that we've acquired along the way. Then, Lieutenant set a course for Earth. Warp 6. "

Leiutenant Tom Paris raised an eyebrow, grinned and nodded. His fingers flew over the panel in front of him. There was a brief pause - almost as if the ship was taking a deep breath. And then Voyager responded to his touch. The ship leapt forward and continued on her way home.

Captain Janeway glanced at her two senior officers. "Gentlemen, my ready room. Mr. Paris, you have the bridge". She strode quickly towards her office with Chakotay and Tuvok close on her heels. As the doors slid shut behind them, she turned to face them.

"Well. We seem to have a bit of a problem here. Commander O'Connor is not willing to listen to us. I don't want to arrive back on Earth with our weapons charged. But I don't want to be taken home as a prisoner either. This crew deserves a proper welcome. At this point I would like to hear about any other options." Janeway had begun to pace the ready room as she spoke, her frustration and concern more than evident to both officers. She eventually stopped at her desk and perched on its edge.

"Captain". Tuvok began in his deliberate fashion. "As Commander O'Connor correctly stated, we have been missing for a long time. We must find a way to convince him of our identity..."

"Without getting blown to bits." Chakotay interjected.

Tuvok raised an eyebrow and continued "as the Commander has so aptly has put it, without getting blown to bits".

"Captain I could not help but notice that you have changed our course and we now are headed directly towards Earth." Tuvok persisted. "I assume that you have a plan in mind."

"My one thought was that we would have a better chance of having our explanations heard on Earth than on Deep Space Six. Obviously after this much time personnel has changed on the station, and certainly judging from Commander O'Connors' reaction, no one there is interested in verifying our story."

Chakotay nodded and grinned. "You think that you can find some 'old acquaintances' who will vouch for you, Captain?"

She smiled. "I'm counting on it".

Kathryn Janeway headed for the mess hall. She was acutely aware of her crew. She and Commander Chakotay had managed, with much effort and co-operation on both sides to merge two diverse groups, Maquis and Starfleet together to form an ideal team. After seven years they were more than just personnel. They were a community, a family. They had survived a multitude of adventures and ordeals. She had vowed to them, and to herself many times over that she would get them home. And Kathryn Janeway was not going to allow anything to interfere with her goal. She could feel the tension throughout the ship. They were finally at the end of their journey and suddenly there was another battle to wage. She hoped that it would only be a minor skirmish.

She arrived at her destination, walked purposefully towards Neelix's buffet and sighed. She could not help but anticipate the meals that she would soon enjoy at home. And coffee. Real coffee. If the captain of Voyager had one weakness, it was coffee. She had long ago given up trying to replicate it. It took too many precious rations to duplicate and still was not like the real thing. She had been drinking Neelix's version of tea for years.

She filled her plate, grabbed a cup, and headed towards an empty table.

"May I join you Captain?" B'Elanna Torres, a smudge of something on her cheek, sat down before Janeway even had time to smile.

Kathryn Janeway looked fondly at her protege and almost without thinking reached out to brush the evidence of B'Elanna's shift in engineering off her face. "Which console shorted out today?" she asked. "Actually it wasn't a console. Believe it or not, it was a small coupling in the phase shift receptor. It just needed a bit of lubricant. Captain." It was a question, not a statement. "What's going to happen to us? I mean, what's going to happen to us after we get home. We were considered criminals when we left..."

"B'Elanna, that was seven years ago. What you were then and what you are now are totally unrelated. You and all of the others are my crew. There will be no debate. I will do everything in my power to make that clear. To Starfleet Command or to anyone else who questions the issue."

B'Elanna looked at her captain. She believed her. She had to. Kathryn Janeway was a woman of her word. Her entire crew knew that. She just hoped that Starfleet would remember it too.

"I can't wait until you start explaining Seven to them!" Commander Chakotay shoved his tray onto the table and straddled the chair that he had commandeered from across the room. B'Elanna grinned and nodded in agreement. "An ex-Borg on a Starfleet ship. With full access to our engineering codes. I'm looking forward to watching the faces of all those admirals when you tell them about our so - called alliance with the Borg."

B'Elanna glanced up.

"Excuse me, Captain, Commander." She rose, picked up her tray, and headed over to a table near one of the view ports where Tom Paris was settling down with a bowl of soup and something that resembled a salad. "And there's pair that's going to take some explanation too". Chakotay watched as Voyager's chief engineer and helmsman greeted one another. They were one of the many couples that had evolved over the course of their seven year trek.

Janeway tilted her head to one side and observed as their resident Borg made her way through the mess hall with Harry Kim. Since the captain had disconnected her from the collective four years earlier, Seven of Nine had slowly regained some of her humanity. It had taken her a very long time to adjust to being 'one', and to becoming a free thinking member of a community. And it had taken an equal amount of time for a very nervous crew to adjust to her presence. But Janeway had taken her under her wing and had made it clear to all personnel that Seven was to become part of the crew. Progress had been slow, but the Borg had gradually adapted and her knowledge of engineering techniques unknown to B'Elanna and her staff had been a decided asset in Voyager's travels.

"Kathryn," Chakotay leaned forward and touched her hand. " We're almost there. You've gotten us back to the Alpha Quadrant. And you will get us home."

Janeway sighed and smiled. "Why do I have a feeling that this is not going to be a simple exercise" she enquired.

At that moment Janeway's comm badge chirped. "Tuvok to the Captain."

"Janeway here".

"I think you had better come to the bridge."

"On my way Lieutenant."

The captain gulped down one last swallow of her tea and headed towards the door, her First Officer following quickly behind her.

"Report". The order was articulated almost before the doors to the turbo lift opened to allow Janeway and Chakotay onto the bridge.

"Captain we seem to have encountered an unusual situation".

Kathryn Janeway turned to regard her chief security officer with a look of surprise. Tuvok's words were definitely out of character for someone who was usually painfully precise.

"Elaborate Mr. Tuvok."

"Captain, as you are well aware, we have activated our Voth shield and should be traveling under it's protection. However, our sensors have detected another cloaked vessel that has been trailing closely behind us for the last several minutes. We cannot identify it. It does not bear the signature of a Federation vessel, or indeed, that of any other vessel of any star system that we have as yet encountered in either the Alpha or the Delta Quadrants. I have tried repeatedly to hail them, but have not had any response."

Janeway turned to the young ensign at Ops. He was relatively new to the Alpha shift, but had been carefully trained and knew his station well. "Mr. Jakes, have they received our communications?"

"My readings show that they have, Captain" he replied.

"Open hail".

"Yes ma'am".

"This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager hailing the vessel on our port stern. Please reply."

There was no response.

The captain tried again and was unsuccessful.

"Captain I suggest we try and shake our tail". Commander Chakotay advised.

"Agreed."

"Chakotay to engineering".

"I'm here, Commander".

"Rushed lunch, B'Elanna?"

Chakotay could hear the smile in the chief engineer's reply. "You know me Chakotay. I always like to be where the action is!"

Chakotay continued. "B'Elanna, recalibrate the warp coil to minimize our signatures, and see if you can adjust the phase shifters to a different temporal frequency."

"Recalibrating, Commander".

Tom Paris and Harry Kim arrived on the bridge and took over their stations. Even though all relief officers were well able to handle any emergency, the two members of the senior bridge crew were aware of the importance of the unfolding events, and wanted to be a part of whatever transpired.

"Evasive maneuvers. Now, Mr. Paris".

Voyager darted forward.

Janeway charted their progress on the computer terminal that was attached to her command chair. There was no sign of their 'tail'. Suddenly she drew a sharp breath.

"On screen."

She stood up and stared at the sight in front of her. The star system through which they were passing was, finally, a familiar one. One by one the bridge crew looked up and followed her gaze.

"We are approaching Earth's solar system". Harry Kim's voice was almost reverential.

"Janeway to engineering. De-activate the phase shift."

"De-activating" came the immediate reply.

"Impulse only Lieutenant. Bring her in slowly."

"Aye, Captain". Tom Paris' response was almost inaudible as he carefully guided Voyager towards her ultimate goal.

Suddenly Harry Kim's voice cut through everyone's concentration. "Captain, we have company, starboard and stern. Starfleet signatures. And they don't seem friendly." He paused. "We're being hailed."

" Open a communications channel."

Janeway stepped forward just as the figure of a Starfleet Commander appeared on the view screen before her.

"Alien vessel, identify yourself " the Commander demanded.

"I am Captain Kathryn Janeway of......"

She was immediately interrupted.

"Alien vessel, Commander O'Connor has notified us of your imposture. You will cease this deception at once and identify yourselves".

I assure you Commander, we are Voyager. We have been lost in the Delta Quadrant since stardate __. I will be glad to offer you as much proof as you want as to our identity. I have kept careful and accurate logs since our journey began and I have no doubt that when you examine them and our ship you will find that I speak the truth."

"Prepare to be boarded."

Janeway turned quickly with a questioning glance to both Chakotay and Tuvok. Both officers shook their heads almost imperceptibly. They were all in agreement.

"Deja vu" she muttered.

She addressed the view screen.

"Commander. I cannot allow you to board us. However we would be most appreciative of an escort to Earth and Starfleet Command in San Francisco. As you are no doubt aware , we have lowered our shields and are unarmed. I promise you, as I promised Commander O'Connor, we pose no threat."

The Commander appeared to be consulting with several people on outside the scope of the view screen.

"That is an agreeable compromise" he responded.

Janeway nodded.

"Tom, join their formation."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Captain". Harry Kim's voice was quiet. "Our unknown 'tail' is back. I still can't raise them."

"No idea who they are, ensign?"

Kim shook his head. "Captain, do I notify Starfleet?"

Janeway took several steps forward, and several more back. Several of the bridge crew stifled grins. The Captain was notorious for her pacing. They had all seen her in action more times than they could count. The longer the stride, the larger the problem. And Kathryn Janeway was taking very large steps.

"Captain" Chakotay offered. "I suggest that we try and discover who or what our unknown outrider is before we notify our escorts. They are suspicious enough of us as it is, and probably won't believe anything we tell them anyway."

"Agreed".

"Janeway to engineering".

"Seven responding Captain."

"I need to know anything and everything that you can tell me about our mysterious attendant. Use any type of scan or probe that you can, without alerting our Starfleet escorts."

In engineering B'Elanna Torres was working frantically to find a way to comply with the captain's wishes. The problem was the squadron that surrounded them. She knew whatever methods she employed would most likely be detected by the sophisticated equipment that Starfleet had at their disposal. She had exhausted most of her options when Seven of Nine approached.

"B'Elanna, perhaps I can help you."

B'Elanna had discovered over the course of her relationship with Seven that when the ex-Borg came to her with a suggestion it was worth listening. "When we assimilated Species 7394..."

B'Elanna cringed. It still disturbed her when Seven casually referred to her life as a Borg.

"We acquired a technology that enabled us to use a form molecular displacement as an alternate means of shielding. The signatures of the unknown vessel on our port side indicate that they are using a similar means of disguise."

"Molecular displacement?"

"Yes B'Elanna. We were able to rearrange the molecular structure of our ships so that they were slightly out of phase with our" Seven hesitated for a moment, she had become sensitive to her crew mates' distaste for her former life, "our opposition. It was a more," another pause, "efficient way of cloaking our cubes".

"Can you modify our equipment to match his?"

"Yes, I believe I can".

"Then do it". B'Elanna snapped, unconsciously echoing one of her captain's favorite phrases.

Seven of Nine moved purposefully towards B'Elanna's console, almost elbowing her out of the way. B'Elanna was used to this type of action from her crew mate and moved aside gracefully. Seven's fingers flew over the figures on the screen and B'Elanna watched, fascinated, as the numbers and symbols changed to Seven's specifications.

Seven glanced up and said "It's done".

"Scan them".

Seven nodded.

B'Elanna tapped her comm badge. "Captain, try hailing our pursuer now, Captain".

"Mr. Kim."

"Opening a channel, Captain."

"Vessel on our stern..." Janeway began.

Just a she began her standard greeting, there was a shimmering in front of her. Chakotay and Tuvok both came to immediate attention, phasers drawn.

Within seconds the entire bridge was 'battle ready'.

The flickering shape in front of the captain took on a slightly more corporeal form, but did not solidify.

"Greetings, Voyager." The voice was reedy, but the tone was definite. "I will not harm you."

"But I must explain our situation."

"Our situation?" Chakotay repeated.

"Yes Commander. I too am from the Delta Quadrant. My home world Xor-non is a small one that you passed just before you entered our wormhole.

"Your wormhole?" This time it was Tuvok who questioned the apparition.

"Just one minute." Janeway had questions that she wanted answered.

"Captain, we were easily able to scan your vessel as you flew through our system. If you will pardon me, our technology is far more sophisticated than yours will ever be."

"We are not from the Delta Quadrant" Janeway interjected. "We are from this solar system..."

"And you are about to enter orbit around the planet to which you refer as Earth" the alien continued as though he had not been interrupted. "You must not go there. You must not interfere."

"What do you mean?" The Captain's voice deepened with concern.

"Captain there was an accident. A terrible accident."

The alien form's molecular structure seemed to become more fragmented. It's agitation was evident. The shimmering increased and the voice grew slightly weaker.

"Captain" Harry Kim sounded apologetic. "We are being hailed by Starfleet Command".

"On screen."

"Captain, please let me explain... You don't have much time."

Kathryn Janeway was torn. They were home, in orbit around Earth. But there was a definite problem here. Something about this whole situation did not sit well with her. The alien's distress was real. She felt no threat from him. And yet, she felt a certain menace from their Starfleet escort. If Kathryn Janeway had absorbed anything on her trip through the Delta Quadrant, it was to trust her instincts.

She turned to the view screen.

Her tone was carefully neutral as she observed the rank insignia of the figure who now addressed her "Yes Admiral."

"Alien vessel. We have reached our destination. You and your crew will prepare to disembark at the space station whose co-ordinates are being transmitted to you now."

Janeway glared at the view screen. "Admiral - excuse me, I did not catch your name..."

"I am Admiral Alexander Duncan, of the 45th ..."

"Admiral Duncan" the Captain's voice was firm. "I have repeatedly told you that we are not an alien vessel. We are Voyager...."

"The Federation Starship Voyager was commandeered by Maquis traitors in collaboration with her crew almost eight years ago. The ship was destroyed, along with all hands after a pursuit that lasted more than two months. Her logs were recovered and confirmed that Voyager's captain and her first officer had been planning this little 'escapade' for over a year. I don't know who you are, but obviously you have chosen the wrong vessel to impersonate."

"Who was her captain?" Chakotay's voice startled her in its intensity.

"I beg your pardon."

"I asked ...."

"I heard your question. You are...."

"Commander Chakotay."

Duncan stared fixedly through the view screen onto Voyager's bridge.

"Captain Chakotay was in command of Voyager when she was hijacked. Up until that time he had been an upstanding member of Starfleet. His first officer was Commander Hogan."

"And Kathryn Janeway, was she involved with Voyager in any way?"

The Admiral pulled a padd towards him and consulted it briefly. "Ensign Kathryn Janeway was executed by the Cardassians, along with Admiral Owen Paris, during a covert reconnaissance mission they were conducting while aboard the Icarus. It was too bad", he continued, "all indications were that she was on her way to becoming a fine officer."

Tom Paris glanced up at the view screen, his mouth opening in shock.

During this exchange, Voyager's alien guest had almost faded from view. "Please Captain" she heard a voice in her ear. "Please don't do anything until we have discussed this further".

Janeway nodded. They could add telepathy the many talents that their alien guest so obviously possessed.

"Admiral I need time to prepare my crew for this."

Admiral Duncan considered her request. "So far, you seem to be co-operative" he deliberated. "I will give you two hours to ready yourselves. After that you will turn yourselves over to the unit waiting for you at Star Station 48."

"Thank you. Janeway out."

The captain turned to face her guest and her crew. "I want the senior staff in the conference room in ten minutes" she ordered. "In the meantime" she addressed the shimmering glow "would you please join me in my..." The alien disappeared before she had finished. She nodded to her two senior officers who followed her in the more traditional way into her ready room.

"Explanations. Now". The captain's voice was calm and steady.

"My name is Her-tan. My planet, Xor-non is one that is small, although we were rich in minerals and other natural resources. Several of your years ago we were beset by a violent group who devastated our planet. Since then we have been unable to produce enough food to sustain even what is left of our population. We were a world of scholars and technicians."

"Borg" Janeway whispered.

"We have been able to compensate somewhat for our lack by continuing to develop advanced technology which we trade for the few things we need to survive. We take pride in our work and in our knowledge."

Tuvok nodded. "You are obviously a gifted people."

"Not too long before we were attacked" Her-tan continued, "we developed the process for molecular displacement. We have been using this cloaking device on our ships and sending them out to find our own food so that we can free ourselves from the need to be dependant on traders and the inherent dangers that dealing with other, often volatile populations bring us. We have had several unfortunate incidents recently with some of these dealers which only confirmed the wisdom of our decision."

"Go on." The captain rested her chin on her hand. She was fully concentrated on Her-tan's flickering form.

"One of our scientists recently theorized that our molecular displacement device might be used to created a spacial tunnel, or as you seem to refer to it, a worm hole. We have been conducting experiments with this concept for several months, and unfortunately, your ship happened to come along just as we were about to test our prototype."

Tuvok nodded again. "And we got caught in the gravitational pull and were sent through."

"Yes." Her-tan's form almost seemed to sway in agreement.

"But unfortunately, at the same time that you got caught up in our molecular displacement path, something or someone on your ship tampered with the time line.

"The Voth phase shifter" Chakotay said.

"B'Elanna mentioned that she was working on it. She must have adjusted it just as we passed through the wormhole". Janeway recalled her conversation with the Chief Engineer in the mess hall.

"I have been sent through to retrieve you". Her-tan continued. "You cannot stay here. The time line here is totally different than the one that you seek. And you must not corrupt it. We have a law on our world that says we must not interfere...."

"A Prime Directive." If Tuvok could have shown surprise, he would have.

Janeway rose from the chair behind her desk. "Let's go and meet with the rest of the staff. We don't have much time to resolve this, do we?"

Kathryn Janeway faced the senior members of her crew across the large table in the conference room. Her-tan hovered at her shoulder.

"Well, we are home" she said. "But we're not. Again. And this time we won't even be able to set foot on Earth." She was referring to another incident when Voyager had managed to get back on Terran soil, but in the late twentieth century.

"Her-tan has explained the situation to you. What he has not yet mentioned is we have only one chance to get back to the Delta Quadrant. The Xor-non council has decided to discontinue their experiments for now. The molecular displacement technology has proven to be less stable than originally thought. Her-tan's rather shaky form is a direct result of too many usages of the device. And he has explained to me that if we go through the worm hole more than once again, our hull will become so destabilized that it will collapse. I'm afraid that we really have very few options. But I thought that since we are in our own solar system, you should be given a choice. If anyone would like to stay here, on Earth, we" at this point she glanced at Tuvok and Chakotay, "we will not stop you."

"Captain." B'Elanna stood up. "I've talked to a lot of the crew. And so have Tom and Harry. We all realized quite quickly that there was something funny going on."

She looked around at her crew mates. "Even Neelix agrees."

The Talaxian nodded his head violently.

"We want to stay on Voyager. We want to go to a home where we belong. Not where we are going to be treated like criminals or aliens or ...."

At this point Neelix interrupted her. "Captain. I certainly don't want to spend the rest of my life in jail. I've seen enough jails..."

"Yes, yes Mr. Neelix."

Tom Paris spoke up. "We are all in agreement Captain. We want to go back to the Delta Quadrant. I never thought I'd hear myself say that!" he exclaimed. "But when we do get home, I want to be able to tell my father all about it."

Kathryn Janeway looked at her crew. She sighed, and smiled at them. "So near, and yet so far." she said. Never had that phrase seemed more appropriate.

She turned to Her-tan. "Well. Let's do it."

The bridge crew were all at their stations. Her-tan had given Tom Paris the co-ordinates of the worm hole. B'Elanna and Seven of Nine had reprogrammed the Voth phase shifter to so that it would not interfere with the displacement device that the alien had attached to their warp coil.

"Ready Captain" Tuvok announced from his console.

"Just one moment lieutenant. On screen. Open a ship wide channel".

The blue and green globe appeared before them. It was indeed a beautiful sight. They all gazed at it in wonder, and awe, and sadness."

"This is Captain Janeway. We are ready to resume our journey. We will return to this solar system again. That, I promise you all."

The Captain sat down in her command chair. She pulled up her video screen and checked the data again. She glanced briefly at her first officer and he smiled back at her.

"Isn't it nice to know that at least you weren't a criminal in this reality?" he asked.

"Good officer material, though!" She grinned. And then faced forward.

"Engage."