By Carolyn Carey
Epilogue "Liber Scriptus"They stepped onto the bridge and stared in awe at the images on the viewscreen. Seemingly out of nothing a gas cloud had formed, harboring all the colors of the rainbow, and more. The swirls of gas were moving in a frantic dance, faster and faster.
Both officers were too awestruck to give any instruction's to Voyager's computer. They simply stood and watched.
The cloud began to glow, then ignited. The blinding white light of the immense explosion that followed blanked the screen, a safety device that prevented Starfleet crews from any optical damage due to sudden changes in the intensity of light.
Kathryn found her tongue first.
"Computer, what was that?"
"Insufficient data to answer that question."
Suddenly the viewscreen came back to life. The colorful swirls of gas that had been there only seconds ago had vanished. A bright star was now in their place. But that could not be. It had not been there before, and it took a little more to create a star then a few swirls of exploding gas...
"Computer, analysis!" Janeway managed to order in a hoarse voice.
"A white dwarf star has appeared directly ahead. Distance from Voyager: two thousand kilometers."
Goosebumps rose on her skin as she recalled the Kalanar commissioner's final words...
"You know, on Kalanar we say that when someone dies a star is born somewhere in the universe. That is how we live on... at least that's what the ancient scriptures say... I've never believed in those stories. I wish I could now..."
"Your ancient scriptures were right... Goodbye, Talshek," Janeway muttered.
"Kathryn?"
She turned to look at him.
"It's a long story, Chakotay, but I need to get it off my chest. Join me for coffee?"
Chakotay smiled. He had not expected to succeed this easily.
The daily captain's log recorded that Voyager was back on course for the Alpha Quadrant, cruising at a leisurely speed of warp 6.5. Among other things the log briefly mentioned the birth of a new star seemingly out of nothing. From now on it would be referred to as "Talshek Prime". No explanation for the phenomenon was given.
THE END