Chapter 1

Captain Kathryn Janeway stood in the center of the bridge, her muscles tense with excitement. A million butterflies fluttered in her stomach as she listened to the voice that came over the comm.

"We can do this Captain!" Lieutenant Reginald Barclay's eager exclamation filled Voyager's bridge. They couldn't see him but his voice clearly carried his nervous and somewhat neurotic personality. Today mixed in with that shy nervousness was exuberant hope.

His excitement was mirrored on the faces of the entire bridge crew. They had never met Barclay in person. He was many thousands of lightyears away, on Earth. But he had already done the impossible for them, located their little lost ship on the other side of the galaxy and, through the channel of a micro-wormhole, established regular communication. After so many years lost in the Delta Quadrant Voyager was finally able to contact Earth. And it was all thanks to Lieutenant Reginald Barclay and the Pathfinder Project.

But what he was proposing now…it was just too good to be true.

"Widen the micro-wormhole?" Janeway asked. "But how?"

"Well, right now we are using tachyon particles to create the wormhole. But they're just barely strong enough to convey the…the data stream we're using now. But…" He paused dramatically. "…if we used chronoton particles. They're ten times stronger. If we could combine the two they would feed off each other's gravimetric energy, widening the wormhole enough to…to fit Voyager through."

"Chronoton particles?" The proposal was daring. "But wouldn't that cause a temporal flux?"

"Negligible. Point three, maybe four. As…As long as we keep them strictly regulated it…um… shouldn't be a problem."

"When can we start?" She didn't care if she sounded overanxious. She had been struggling, fighting to get this ship home for so long, and so many times the rug had been yanked out from under them to send their hopes crashing to the ground. But now they had help, Starfleet's help. And she was confidant that would make all the difference.

Commander Pete Harkin's voice replied. He was the man in charge of the Pathfinder organization. "We need to begin immediately. The neutrino activity in the pulsar is at its peak. We've only got one shot at this."

"What do you want us to do?" Janeway asked, eager for the rescue they had been waiting for so long.

"Nothing." Harkins answered. "It's all done from this end. When the wormhole is large and stable enough we'll signal you to come through."

"It'll work." Barclay assured, sounding more confident than anyone had ever heard him. "All the numbers check out. We've tested every…every scenario in the holodeck and…"

Hawkins interrupted. "The gravimetric distortions from the wormhole may interfere with communications."

Janeway nodded. "Understood."

There was an encouraging smile in Harkins' voice. "Here's to a safe homecoming."

"We look forward to meeting you both in person."

"Likewise, Captain." Barclay said, then added. "Don't worry it'll work."

They broke the connection and the bridge was engulfed in a stunned hush. The only break in the silence was a few blips from the computer.

It seemed like a lifetime ago when the Voyager had first left spacedock at Deep Space Nine in search of a tiny group of terrorists. And surely it was an eternity since that distortion wave hit the ship, carrying it clear across the galaxy, so very far from home. Two crews, once enemies, had been forced to become family, working together to keep their vessel on a sure course back home. But simply flying home was not enough. They all knew that even at high warp it would take them seventy years to reach the fringes of the Alpha Quadrant. They were much closer now, having found ways to speed their travels. But Earth was still many years away.

Now they were being offered an unbelievable opportunity. It was almost too good to be true.

The silence was broken when Harry Kim's excited voice spoke up from the Operations console behind her. "Neutrino emissions are increasing. The wormhole is growing. It's working!" She turned to see him smiling from ear to ear, his black eyes shining like his ebony hair. He looked as if he were about ready to burst. The young man never was one to curb his exuberance and despite his attempts he always wore his emotions on his proverbial sleeve. It was a quality Captain Janeway found to be quite endearing. He had first come aboard Voyager very young and very green, both excited and nervous about his first mission. He had grown into a trusted and experienced officer, but of all her crew, Harry's homesickness showed the most. "It's ten meters across now…thirty…sixty."

Janeway turned toward the forward viewscreen where the wormhole appeared as a pinprick of light and quickly expanded, blossoming like a huge, luminous rose in the blackness of space. Deep purple edges swirled toward a glowing center as bright as Earth's yellow sun. The dazzling spectacle reflected in her wide eyes and lit the bridge in lavender-hued hope. Hope that finally, their six-year sojourn was over.

She felt a presence at her left shoulder as Chakotay moved beside her. "Looks like this is it." The tall Native American smiled down at her, slightly warping the intricate tattoo that adorned the left side of his forehead. It had been just over six years ago she had considered this man an enemy, a terrorist threat to the Federation. Now, he was a loyal first officer and a trusted friend. She scarcely made a move without consulting his tranquil wisdom. He turned back to the screen, clearly just as awed as she was. "Did you ever see anything so beautiful?"

"The wormhole has reached one point three kilometers and holding, Captain." Came Tuvok's ever-calm voice from tactical. Unlike the rest of the crew he showed no signs of excitement. Janeway knew that he was just as eager to return to the Alpha Quadrant and be reunited with his family. But, as always, he kept any emotions buried under that stoic Vulcan exterior.

Janeway tapped the commbadge on her chest, opening a channel to the Astrometric Lab. "Seven—"

Seven of Nine's efficient, no-nonsense voice interrupted. "The wormhole appears stable, Captain, although quite turbulent." Not one for protocol, the liberated Borg drone occasionally found waiting for someone to finish a sentence that she had already anticipated to be an inefficient use of her time. Due to her remaining cybernetic implants she probably had more raw knowledge than any human that had ever lived but after being rescued from the collective only two years ago her social skills as an individual were still developing.

Janeway was too preoccupied to even notice the breach in protocol. "Are we getting anything from Starfleet?"

Harry frowned and tapped at the console. "Nothing, Captain. Like Seven said there's a lot of turbulence in there. It could be affecting their signal." He examined the readings a moment more. "Yeah, I don't think they could get a message through if they tried."

"Well, lets go before this thing closes on us!" Tom Paris urged from his seat just in front of the viewscreen. "I can smell the pizza already." His muscles were tense and his hands poised just above the flight control panel with barely enough restraint to wait for his Captain's order. A stricter captain might not have tolerated Tom's quirky, sarcastic humor. But Janeway found that despite the breach in protocol the pilot's out-of-turn quips often eased tense situations.

Janeway shook her head. Just because she wanted this to work didn't mean she was going to grow careless. "I'm not prepared to go into this blind. Send in a class 4 probe. If it makes it through safely we'll follow."

Having already anticipated her order Tuvok gave his console one tap. "Probe launched."

They all watched the viewscreen anxiously as the little cylinder flew out ahead of the ship in a streak of light, heading towards the huge mouth of the wormhole. It would take a few moments for the probe to reach the other side.

"Why pizza?" Chakotay asked, breaking the heart pounding silence.

Tom shrugged, eager to fill the tense moments between launching the probe and getting an answer from it. "Something I've been craving for awhile. The replicators do a lousy job and I'm afraid to even ask Neelix. He'd probably try to 'improve' the recipe. I would not classify leola root pizza as comfort food."

A snicker of agreement lilted through the bridge. Neelix, their resident cook and moral officer, had a tendency to spice his cooking to his own alien tastes, forgetting at times that Talaxian culinary arts didn't always agree with the human pallet.

"We're getting telemetry from the wormhole." Harry said anxiously, piping the images from the probe to the forward viewscreen. The video feed showed the probe navigating through the colorful tunnel, ropes of energy swirling around it. As it exited the wormhole the colors vanished, replaced by black dotted by flecks of light. In the center of was a beautiful blue and green planet with veils of swirling white wafting over its surface.

Janeway took a step closer to the screen as if the image had seized her by the heart and pulled her forward. Her large eyes misted at the apparition before her. Home.

"I can't believe it." Harry's voice hushed with reverence.

Tom too sounded more subdued than usual. "After all this time here's a door right to our back porch."

"Captain. I'm down here in Astrometrics." B'Elanna's voice came over the intercom, her tone breaking the mood. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news down here but we're getting some unusual readings."

There was a collective sigh as if the bridge had just deflated. 'Unusual readings' could not mean anything good. Too good to be true.

"There is a phase variance of eleven point two four in the radiation stream as well as distorted energy readings indicative of temporal shift." Seven's precise voice announced.

Janeway tried not to look disappointed but it was no use. Her body sagged a little and she let out a despondent breath. "Right place. Wrong time."

"The 1960's to be precise." B'Elanna added

Tom straightened in his chair. "Really?" He sounded more intrigued than disappointed. The young man's affinity with the Twentieth Century was no secret. Ancient combustion vehicles were his hobby and 'rock and roll' his music. He also had a fascination with television and cinema, the archaic two-dimensional entertainment of the time.

"So close." This time Harry's whisper was saturated with dashed hope.

Janeway sank into her chair and stared blankly at the viewscreen. And yet so far. When they had first realized that Voyager had been stranded in the Delta Quadrant she had made her crew a promise. She would get this ship, this crew, home. And she had every intention of keeping that promise. She forced herself to sit up straight and willed a tone of optimism into her voice. "Well, so much for that shortcut. Let's get back on course."

"Captain." Janeway turned a bit in her chair so she could look at Harry. "The probe's guidance system is failing. I think it was knocked out during its passage through the wormhole. It's headed…" Harry's slanted eyes widened at the readout and he looked up slowly. "Straight for Earth."

"Are you sure?"

He nodded. "It's on a collision course, Captain. It'll hit for sure."

"Sound's like the probe wants to go home as much as we do." Tom said.

Tuvok chose to ignore the suggestion of sentience applied to an inanimate object. "If such a sophisticated piece of equipment is discovered in that era it will have massive repercussions."

"The timeline would be severely altered." Chakotay agreed.

"Just what I need, another temporal infraction on my record." Janeway said wryly. "You're right. We've got to get it back."

The viewscreen switched from the probes' video feed to the massive wormhole that lay directly before the starship. It was no longer a beacon, a symbol of hope. Its swirling purple light had taken on a sinister quality. Sensors told them the weather was rough in there.

Again Janeway opened a channel to Astrometrics, where her chief engineer currently was. "B'Elanna, how long will it take to reinforce the shields?"

"Just a few minutes."

"Do it."

True to her word B'Elanna and her efficient engineering crew completed the procedure in under five minutes.

Janeway turned forward to address the Conn. "Well, Tom, it looks like your dream come true. Take us in."

"Aye, Captain!" A childlike eagerness lit his blue eyes as his fingers danced across the console, steering the huge starship toward the interstellar gateway.

Swirls of lavender energy greeted the starship with violent turbulence. The deck bucked and vibrated beneath the crew's feet. "Red Alert!" Janeway cried as she was thrown from her chair. The lights dimmed to a glowing blue and flashing red as she scrambled back into her seat, this time digging her nails into the armrests.

"Shields down to eighty percent." Tuvok's ever calm voice announced from tactical.

Sparks sprayed the bridge as a station to the right exploded, sending a crew member springing away with a pained shout. For a moment it seemed that all everyone could do was just hang on and hope the ship wouldn't hurl them to the ceiling. Tom tried valiantly to keep a firm grip with one hand and steer with the other but the chair kept trying to throw him out. "Why doesn't this thing come with seat belts?"

Finally the deck stabilized as the purple hurricane vanished from the viewscreen and was replaced by the familiar peaceful starfield. Only now in the center of that star-peppered blackness was a beautiful blue and green globe orbited by one tiny white satellite.

"Captain." Harry's voice rang through the darkened bridge. "The probe's already crashed."

Janeway's head snapped up. "Where?" If it had landed in a populated area they were in a lot of trouble.

"On a small island about three hundred miles South East of Hawaii."