Chapter Text
Gretchen arrived on the doorstep at the Paris household on time for the meal she had been invited to by her friends Maura and Owen Paris. She rang the bell and waited longer than normal for someone to open the door.
“Sorry, Owen only just got home this second, I’m surprised you didn’t bump into each other actually.” Maura greeted her with her customary hug, but Gretchen sensed something was slightly off.
“What’s up Maura?” Gretchen questioned, looking around her host and into the house but she could only see the hall and nothing much was out of place there.
“I’m not sure. Owen arrived home late with a co-worker in tow and they are quickly setting something up in the living room. Owen seems distracted. I don’t know Gretchen.” Maura whispered in response, allowing her friend to see the tension she felt at the uncertainty.
The two women entered the main living space together. Maura quickly introduced an awkward looking Lieutenant Barclay to Gretchen, and they waited a few more seconds in silence until Owen finished what he was doing and greeted Gretchen himself. Gretchen could not help but agree with Maura’s assessment of her husband. He was beside himself, he did not appear to be able to think particularly straight, which was a real shock for he was a Starfleet Admiral. Thinking straight even when in times of intense stress was part of the job description.
“I’ve only been home 10 minutes so sorry I didn’t say this the second I walked through the door but I needed to sort things out with Lieutenant Barclay. He has been a pioneer of a group trying to find a way to contact Voyager now we know they are alive and in the delta quadrant.” The room was silent. Neither woman dared to speak or breathe. He motioned them to sit down at the dining table.
“Um. Lieutenant, would you like to explain what occurred this afternoon please” Owen managed as his voice faltered. Concerned eyes darted around the room but Gretchen remained optimistic, if something bad had of happened, he wouldn’t have told us at a dinner table she reasoned.
“Yes Sir, well you see…” Barclay started mumbling on about the theory which had allowed them to make brief contact with Voyager. “So we only managed to get a few brief messages in but we made contact.”
“Are you telling us you contacted voyager today?” Gretchen asked, in need of clarification before getting excited in case she had misunderstood.
“Yes. I have a recording which I hastily got permission to show you which is why I was running late as you can imagine. Reg, please play the recording. I do warn you that it is short.”
Reg clicked a tricorder-like device that he had pulled out of his pocket.
“Starfleet command come in.” Kathryn’s voice filled the room “This is Captain Kathryn Janeway do you read me?”
“Captain, this is Lieutenant Reginald Barclay at Starfleet Command.” Reg’s voice could be heard much clearer than Kathryn’s 60,000 light years away.
“Its good to hear your voice Lieutenant we’ve been waiting a long time for this moment”
“The feeling is mutual. Unfortunately, the micro wormhole is collapsing, we have only a few moments.”
“Understood. We are transmitting our ships logs, crew reports and navigational records to you now.” Gretchen could hear the excitement underneath Kathryn’s calm and collected command voice.
“Acknowledged. And we are sending you data on new hyper subspace technology. We’re hoping eventually to use it to keep in regular contact. We’re including some recommended modifications to your comm system” Reg replied.
“We’ll implement them as soon as possible”
“There’s someone else here who’d also like to say something”
“This is Admiral Paris” Owen Paris’s voice filled the dining room and all eyes turned to him.
“Hello Sir”
“How are your people holding up?” Owens own command voice much softer than normal and the implication of the question about his son clear to all that knew him, Captain Janeway of the Federation Starship Voyager included.
“Very well. They are an exemplary crew. Your son included.”
“Tell him…tell him I miss him and I’m proud of him”
“He heard you Admiral” Kathryn replied, emotion clear in her voice.
“The wormhole is collapsing” Reg’s panicked voice could be heard again.
“I want you all to know we are doing everything we can to bring you home” Owens reassured Kathryn.
“We appreciate it sir. Keep a docking bay open for us. We hope to see….” The comm link closed as the micro wormhole collapsed.
The occupants of the dining room turned to look at each other grins spreading on all of their faces.
“Owen. You spoke to Katie today. I can’t believe it!” Gretchen exclaimed. The three of them hugged excitedly and Gretchen pulled Reg in too, though it was rather awkward.
“About those upgrades you suggested to Kathryn. I know you probably can’t say much and wouldn’t want to get our hopes up, but would that mean we might be able to get to speak to them again?”
“I certainly hope so. We’ve got the best working on it. Right Reg.” Eyes turned back to the odd one out in the group, they had all but forgotten he was there.
“Errr… yes. I am very hopeful we might be able to get effective two-way communications established Admiral.”
They vehemently thanked Reg for the work he had done and the chance to hear that they were ok. Reg excused himself shortly after and left, unable to accept any more praise and wanting to get back to his own apartment and let the events of this day sink in.
Gretchen, Maura and Owen all felt like another weight had been lifted from them. It had been years since they last heard that their children were alive, and it was good to get another confirmation that they were still on their way home.
“Right. I suppose we better tell the kids the good news. Shall we start with Helen? I think Dave is on a night shift at the hospital tonight. If we call now, we might hit that sweet spot between our little terror of a grandchild going to bed and before Dave leaves to go to work.”
Gretchen nodded at Maura’s suggestion and let them call their daughter in peace. Together they would call all their combined children and share this joy. The possibility that she might be able to speak to Kathryn soon made her heart swell with happiness and anticipation. She wandered into the kitchen while Owen and Maura were talking to Helen and made herself a large cup of black coffee, satisfied that Kathryn was still on her way home to her.