Chapter Text
Epilogue
Nolqira was beside himself. Idiots! He was surrounded by idiots! How could Virapl have been so bloody stupid to survive the mission? The Federation was furious--and of course, the Romulan government was making absurd statements about finding the culprits.
At least Shopar had the decency to obey orders and destroy his ship--and everyone on it. The Tal Shiar agent knew that wasn't much of a consolation. Nolqira turned as his computer announced an incoming message. He was surprised, since no one knew where he was.
"Senator Ralurm."
"Nolqira. I'm sure you heard."
He just nodded, her smile made him nervous.
"Good. You see, Senator Mykar has promised a complete investigation. He suspects my involvement."
Nolqira laughed. "I understand, Senator Dha'rudh--" he spat out the insult, "--but he doesn't know about me."
He stopped laughing as her smile grew. "I wouldn't be so sure about that." The screen went blank. Nolqira stared at it for several seconds. Obviously, he had to disappear sooner than planned. He sat down, opened the bottom drawer of his desk, and activated a hidden button. A small drawer clicked open. He picked up the document that lay there and replaced it with his old identification card.
There was a crashing sound just outside the door followed by the door being blown inward. He ducked.
Six Romulan security officers rushed in. "Agent Nolqira?"
"No. I don't know anyone by that name." Nolqira smiled politely as he closed the drawer by leaning against it.
"You are under arrest by order of his Imperial Majesty," the sub-commander said.
"I'm sure there must be some mistake," he said as he stepped forward.
"Agent Nolqira, there is no mistake. You are under arrest for treason." The sub-commander motioned two of his soldiers forward.
#
As she walked in, Janeway glanced around the transporter room and nodded to Harry. This wasn't quite how she'd envisioned this moment. Her ship was badly damaged, and the temperature was too low for comfort--but the fact remained--they had done it. She took a quick look at the assembled senior staff. Chakotay grinned fleetingly and moved to stand at her side.
The Doctor moved away from Harry, armed with his holo-camera: he'd insisted this moment needed to be preserved for posterity. No one had argued with him.
The transporter shimmered, and several forms appeared. Commander William Riker stepped off the pad. More than anything else, the sight of the Enterprise away team brought home the fact that Voyager had finally made it to the end of her journey.
Janeway smiled, happier than she had been for some time. No, happy was not quite the right word. Relieved. She was relieved that she had finally kept her promise to bring her crew home. For some reason it was all she could do not to start crying. Harry wiped his eyes. Even Chakotay seemed misty-eyed.
Riker shook Janeway's hand. "Let me be the first to welcome you home, Captain."
"Thank you. It's good to be home." She glanced at his collar and silently counted the number of pips. "Not that I'm not glad to see you, Commander, but where's Captain Picard? Or don't we rate being met by the captain of the flagship?" she said, with a grin and a twinkle in her eye.
"You definitely rate, Captain, believe me. Captain Picard is furious at missing you--but he was on leave back at Earth when our orders came to meet you at Deep Space Nine. What are you doing out here anyway? The word was that you were going to emerge from the slipstream and proceed directly to Deep Space Nine."
"It's a long story," Janeway said.
"And I take it the Romulans are involved?" Riker asked shrewdly.
"The evidence certainly points that way," Janeway said, "considering that they had two ships waiting for us as soon as we exited into normal space."
"I'm sure Starfleet will be making full inquiries into the matter. So," Riker said as he turned and shook Tom's hand. "I hear you're the one who captured the Romulan ship."
"Yes, sir. Commander Chakotay helped."
"Good job. Now, is there anything I can do for you, Captain Janeway? The Enterprise is at your service."
"We have thirty prisoners, which is slightly more than our brig can safely hold. Would it be possible for you to take a few drowsy Romulans off our hands?" she answered, grinning wryly.
Riker laughed. "I think we have room in our brig to accommodate quite a few of them, Captain."
"Excellent. We also have a number of repairs to complete before we can get underway. Lieutenant Torres has a list of materials that we need."
"I'll send our chief engineer over. Lieutenant Commander Stone wants to see all this Borg tech in person."
"What happened to Commander La Forge?" Janeway asked in surprise. "Don't tell me one of the Enterprise officers finally accepted an assignment on another vessel!"
Riker laughed, not entirely naturally. "Miracles do happen, Captain. Geordi was reassigned to the transwarp development project over at Utopia Planitia in July. Stone is still new to the Enterprise, but she's more than capable."
"We look forward to meeting her," Janeway said. Perhaps it hadn't been very kind of her to tweak Riker like that, but she could still recall the hotshot Academy cadet who told everyone who cared to listen how he was going to make captain by age 30, beating Jim Kirk's record. But ambitions sometimes change, as she knew from personal experience. She caught the eye of her first officer and smiled.
There was a grunt from the transporter pad. A tall human male with faded blond hair stepped down to join them. "I'm Commander Craig. I'm from Starfleet Department of News and Information. I'm in charge of publicity for the Pathfinder project and your homecoming. Welcome home, Captain. I have taken the liberty..."
Janeway stifled a grin as she glanced once more at Chakotay who winked. Bureaucrats! Now she knew they were really home.
-end-