Chapter Four
Arrival

KIRK'S PERSONAL LOG STARDATE 61738.3

We'll reach Barrier Gate Station in the morning. I'm excited about getting to the planet and our new home. We are in sensor range of the station now and Will has told me that there have been no more of the stolen Saber-class ships or the Maquis ships in the area. I'm happy about that. We have a wedding to plan when we get there, and the last thing any of us want is to try and get married in the middle of a war.

I've been keeping my daily appointments with Councilor Riker, and I believe they've helped me tremendously. My nightmares are gone, replaced with happy dreams about my mother and father. Deanna is pleased that I'm able to sleep comfortably again. She says it was nothing that she did or said to me, but I know that I have her to thank for getting me back to focusing on what's important.

We've had several more visits from Q and another male Q who Quinn calls "Uncle Q". Neither of them have played any tricks on us and it's been kind of fun to have them around at times. Will wasn't so sure about them at first, but there really wasn't much he could do about them. The Q have the power to come and go as they please, so I was just thankful that they came and went with nothing more than creating things that made us happy while they were here.

"Why are you sitting out here in the dark?" Quinn asked as he came out of the bedroom in his robe.

Jim was sitting in the recliner with a cup of coffee on the end table beside him. He appeared to be watching the stars pass by through the windows. The curtains were pulled back, giving them an unhindered view of the passing stars. Quinn knew that Jim found the sight pleasing and soothing at times. He wondered if he'd had another nightmare.

"Just recording my log," replied Jim, smiling at him. "I had an interesting chat with your mother this morning. She woke me at 0400."

"What did my mother have to say?" he asked, wondering why she hadn't woke him as well.

"That she's proud of me," Jim said, and Quinn could tell by the tone of his lover's voice that he was shocked. "She said that she and a few others from the Continuum would be there for our wedding to make sure that we have a perfect day."

"That's nice of them," said Quinn. He knew instantly that there was more to it than what his mother had told Jim. He just didn't know what it was.

"Yeah," agreed Jim. "I've just been sitting here thinking about how great it would be if my mother and father could be there for the ceremony."

"Ah," Quinn said, understanding immediately. "I wish there was a way that I could make that happen for you, Jim."

"I know," he replied. "Kathryn and Katie will be there. They're as close as I can get to parents of my own."

"What about Admiral Paris?" Quinn asked, sitting down on the couch.

"Mr. and Mrs. Paris think of me as a very nice young man," he said, smiling. "But that's a far cry from the son they never had."

"You never talk about your parents," Quinn said softly.

"It hurts to talk about them most of the time," he admitted. "Deanna got me talking about what my life was like before stasis, and I told her about my mother's holo novels and my father never going to the academy. It just brought back a lot of memories and made me miss them even more."

"I can't even begin to understand how you feel," admitted Quinn. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to have been taken from his parents like that. He'd spent most of his life running from his, but Jim had been placed in stasis only to wake up over a hundred years out of his time and then thrust into an alternate timeline where his parents never existed.

"But I can," Chad said softly as he came into the room. "I know exactly how Jim feels."

"You're missing your family, too," Jim said simply.

"My parents and my little brother," he replied. "He was six years old when we went into stasis. Do you remember him?"

"Of course I remember Carter," Jim said, smiling. "He was very smart for a six year old. I remember him telling us that he would personally find the cures for us and bring us home. He sort of adopted me."

"Yeah," laughed Chad. "Carter was special."

"Why didn't either of you create your families on the holodeck?" Quinn asked, though he thought he knew the answer to that question even before he asked it.

"It would have been too cruel," Jim whispered.

"We'd have never wanted to leave the holodeck if we had," Chad added. "We thought about it. We even started to do it, but we both knew that it wouldn't be real. That decided it for us. We wanted our families back so badly, but holographic representations just wouldn't have been the same. In the end we both knew that it would hurt worse."

* * *

"Deanna, what is it?" Will asked as he came into the living room of their quarters and found her sitting in the dark.

"Such despair," she whispered as he came to kneel before her. "Pain and longing. It's so heartbreaking, Will."

"Who?" he asked. There was no reason for him to elaborate on the question. He knew it had to be someone on the ship. They weren't close enough to the station for her to be sensing anyone there.

"Jim Kirk and Chad Dodds," she said as tears spilled from her eyes. "Will, they both carry around this sadness inside them all of the time. I can't understand how it doesn't consume them."

"With those two I think I can understand the sadness," he said. "I can even understand the longing. The fact that they don't let it consume them is just a testament to the kind of men they are."

"Oh, Will," she said, throwing her arms around him.

"Is it like this for you all the time, Deanna?" he asked, holding her tight.

"No," she said against his chest. "It just started a little while ago. I woke up feeling such agonizing sadness. I knew instantly who it was coming from. It gets worse the closer to the station we get. I know that's because they'll be taking a shuttle to the planet as soon as we get there, and that means the planning stage for the wedding will be truly under way. Will, he's in agony over his parents not being there on his wedding day. Now Chad is commiserating with him and it's almost unbearable."

"Do you still want to attend the wedding?" he asked, thinking that this was too much for her. He couldn't believe that the sadness in the hearts of Jim and Chad was so strong that it was affecting her in this way, yet they walked around with smiles on their faces.

"I have to be at the wedding, Will," she said. "I don't know why, but I feel that we both have to be there."

"Then that's where we'll be," he said. "I'll make sure of it."

"And so will I," said Q to herself as she watched them while staying invisible.

The Betazoid was enough to show her that the incredible sadness that Jim and Chad lived with was enough to crush them completely. She hoped that she could ease it. Judge Q had given her permission. She just hoped that what she planned would end their suffering and not create more.

* * *

At 0900, Jim was seated in the Mess Hall playing Kadis-kot with Katie O'Claire while Quinn helped Dr. Addison get Sick Bay ready for new crew members. B-4 and a few others would be staying on at Barrier Gate Station to await the starships they'd been reassigned to. The only one Jim know about was B-4. He was being reassigned to the Enterprise F to become Captain Picard's First Officer, and the Titan would be picking up Commander Kuvak. The Vulcan Commander would be serving as Will's First Officer.

"Red, grid eleven - four," said Katie, moving her piece on the board. "You're awful quiet this morning. Is everything all right?"

"Orange, grid eleven - six," he replied, moving his piece. "I'm fine. I guess I'm just more homesick than usual lately."

"For your parents?" she asked, looking at him hard.

"Yeah," he replied. "Chad is too. I think it's because we're moving into houses that belong to us. I know that part of my problem is the wedding. I wish my parents could be there."

"The Admiral and I will be there along with Chakotay," she said. "Green, grid four - thirteen."

"Center," he replied, moving his pieces into formation. "It means a lot that the three of you are going to be there."

"But we're not your parents," she intuited.

"The three of you are the closest thing to parents that Chad and I have," he said.

"But you still wish your real parents could be there," she said. "I understand that. I can't commiserate, but I understand it."

"It's going to be the most important day of my life," he said. "I just wish they could be there to see it."

"I wish I could help," she said. "Orange, grid ten - five."

"Kadis-kot," he replied, smiling at her. She saw that the smile didn't reach his eyes though.

"That's three straight wins," she commented. "Your mood doesn't seem to be affecting your game."

"Let's make that our last just the same," he said, smiling at her again. She noticed that it still didn't reach his eyes.

"What did you have in mind to do next?" she asked, getting to her feet as he stood up and started to collect the boards and pieces.

"I'd like to show you something," he said when he was finished.

"All right," she said. "The holodeck?"

"Right," he said, turning to leave.

She followed him to Holodeck 1, listening to him talk about what it was like to grow up in the twentieth century. He talked about a world where families still had automobiles but children were taken to school by shuttle craft. He talked about trips to the moon that his parents had taken him on when he was very little and how he'd begged to swim in Lake Armstrong. There was a short tale of how his dog, Lucky, had gotten hit by a car and the veterinarian had used a Starfleet Medical procedure that had only been tested on humans to repair the lungs and heart and keep the dog alive for another two years. Lucky had died from old age at the age of twelve. Jim had been fourteen and cried over the dog's grave in the back yard, dug by his father.

She didn't know the exact moment when Deanna stepped up beside her, but as Jim's voice took on a hollow emotionless sound she was thankful for her presence. When they reached the holodeck, Katie was sure she knew what he was going to show her. She and Deanna listened quietly while he told the computer what he wanted, corrected this or that and instructed the computer to fill the house with the scent of apple pie.

He'd obviously done this before, because the computer needed very little instruction. The house was perfect even down to the pictures of Jim on the wall above the fireplace mantle. There were ten pictures total. She guessed that he was five years old when the first was taken and fifteen when the last was taken. In each of them he was smiling and looked happy. Yet somehow the sight of those photographs filled her with sadness.

"My best memory of this house was in the winter of 1988," he said, stepping over to the coat tree near the front door. There was a heavy overcoat hanging there. "My father came in that day and hung his coat up, put his keys on the table here just like always. He came into the kitchen where my mother was baking apple pies to tell us that he'd been selected for a promotion that might send him to the academy to study Quantum Engineering.

"My mother had news of her own," he said, smiling at them as tears spilled from his eyes. "She'd just published her seventh holo novel. It was the last in a series of mysteries where the main character was a famous detective at the time. They talked about going out to celebrate, but instead we sat at the kitchen table and ate warm apple pie with vanilla ice cream. It was one of the happiest days of my life. I was so proud of them."

He turned suddenly and went up the stairs to the second floor. They quickly followed him to a bedroom that had obviously belonged to him. Everything in the room was either blue or green. The thick comforter on the bed was green and blue plaid. There was a table against the wall with the only window in the room. On it was a half finished model of a starship. The class was nothing that Katie or Deanna had ever seen before.

"Dad called it our funny ship," he said, smiling sadly at them when he noticed them looking at it. "It wasn't a model of a real ship. We just put it together on our own with no instruction. Dad said that one day we would build that ship together. He was so sure that I'd be an engineer just like him, only they'd send me to the academy when I graduated from high school.

"This is where I grew up," he said, turning to face them. His face took on a hard look for a moment. "I love being Captain James R. Kirk of the Starship Lexus. I wouldn't trade it for anything at all, but I would for this."

He looked sad again as he gazed at the work table. Deanna could almost see him sitting there with a man that had to be his father, carefully working to put the tiny pieces of the ship in place. She imagined them laughing and having fun, and her heart broke for him even more. She noticed that the sadness she felt from him had taken on a more profound depth as he stood in this holo recreation of his home. He looked younger almost and so vulnerable.

"We'll be arriving at the station soon," he said, but it was as if he were talking to the room itself. "I'm not going to copy this program to take with me. I have to let go of all of this and accept that this part of my life is gone now."

"Oh, Jim," Deanna sighed in tears.

"I keep trying to pretend that I just grew up and moved away," he said as he looked at them with that defeated look in his eyes. "It doesn't work though, because I would never have moved so far away that I couldn't come back to this house where I was loved so much."

"Come here," said Katie as she wrapped her arms around him. He may have been a Captain in Starfleet. He may have been twenty years old and about to turn twenty-one and get married, but at that moment he was the scared sixteen year old that Julian Bashir had revived from stasis on Voyager. "You poor boy."

"I have to let this go now," he said as he held her tight. "It hurts too much to do this anymore."

They followed him down the stairs where he stared at his photos on the wall for a few moments and then led them outside to where the Arch would be located. He turned and looked at his boyhood home and sighed. He was really going to miss this program. He had to move forward though.

"Computer, end program," he said, and it all disappeared. "Computer, delete program Kirk Family Home 1 and all files associated with it."

"An authorization code is required to execute that order," replied the computer.

"Authorization Kirk twenty-one oh seven alpha," he said.

They left the holodeck without noticing that Q had been standing behind them. She turned and looked at the empty holo deck and sighed. She snapped her fingers and the house was back again. She walked up the porch steps, stopping to look at the porch swing for a moment before going inside. The house, the scent of apple pie, the photographs of Jim's progression from age five to ten and the over coat and coat tree were all back in place. She went upstairs and stood in the bedroom that had been his, looking at the model of the ship on the work table.

"What have you got up your devious sleeve this time?" asked the male Q as he materialized beside her.

"I don't have anything up my sleeve, Q," she said. "I'm simply looking."

"It looks boring to me," he said, looking around the room with a revolted look on his face. "He'd give up who he is today for this?"

"Humans have an inborn need for family, Q," she said. "If you ever find a Q to mate with and have a child of your own you might know about that one day."

"Never!" he spat. "Brats were your area. I warned the Council that nothing good would come from you mating with Q. Did they listen? No."

"Careful, Q," she said, stepping closer to him and glaring into his face. "You know what the Council says about the difference between you and me."

"Oh, I haven't forgotten that you're more powerful than I am," he said, stepping back with a bland look. "My punishment won't last forever."

"Is that a threat?" she demanded.

"Why of course not, oh powerful one," he said, cocking his head. "But if I wanted to get you I know just where to strike."

He disappeared after that and left her to fume in solitude. She thought for a second that perhaps her mate needed company on that planet in the Triangulum Galaxy. She smiled as she thought about it. It wasn't a terrible idea, but still she couldn't fill up that tiny planet with punished Q. If he meddled in her son's life or the lives of Jim Kirk and Chad Dodds she'd seriously consider it. With the edict in place she'd be completely within her rights to punish him. Perhaps she didn't have the permission to punish him that harshly, but she'd think of something if he pushed her.

She left the holodeck, letting the house go for a time. Jim, Quinn and Chad were what she was really interested in. Of course the house was part of Jim's pain over missing his parents. That would have to be considered, too. Chad had joined him in sorrow that very morning to talk about his own family and how much he missed them. She couldn't understand it, but they were actually getting to her. Maybe it was Quinn's genuine feelings of helplessness because he couldn't help them that was getting to her. It didn't really matter either way though. One way or another they had gotten to her and she was feeling sad for them. Sad! She couldn't believe it.

She had taught herself to feel absolutely nothing when her mate had wronged her and their son had become the trouble maker of the universe. Yet now she was sad because Jim Kirk and Chad Dodds were sad. It was preposterous, but it was true. Perhaps this was what Judge Q had been talking about when she'd told her to be careful with Kirk and Dodds. She'd said they weren't like most humans, but she hadn't told her what she meant by that statement.

The very fact that the Council was prepared to offer them a place in the Continuum spoke volumes for them, but she didn't know what was written in those volumes. She was lost with this one. She supposed she'd just have to watch a bit more, step in where it was warranted and wait. After all the edict said that they were to make sure the ship made it to the station and that Jim Kirk and Chad Dodds made it from the station to the planet safely. Once they were there it was only the wedding they had to make sure went off with no problems. She'd have done that on her own at any rate. After all Jim Kirk was marrying her son.

"I know you're here, Mother," Quinn said with a sigh as he looked around the living room of the quarters they all lived in.

"Well I guess I'm losing my touch," she said, letting herself be seen.

"Oh I knew you were here just like I knew Uncle Q was in Sickbay all day," he said. "Whatever the two of you are planning better not cause any trouble. We're hours away from the station, and I want to make it there on time. I have a house to furnish and wedding plans to make."

"And you don't want my help with those plans," she said, pouting.

"No, Mother," he said with an exasperated sigh. "I've told you before that this is a human thing. I need to do this on my own. I need to do it for Jim."

"I should tell you that the Council is planning to be in attendance," she said, watching his face for any sign of a blow up.

"Why?" he demanded calmly, shocking her. Where was his Q temper?

"Because they're curious about Jim and Chad," she said honestly. "I don't begin to know why. I wish they'd tell me."

"They're not going to do anything to them are they?" he asked worriedly.

"Of course not," she said. "They've handed down an edict that Jim Kirk, Chad Dodds and you are not to be bothered in any way by any member of the Continuum actually."

"An edict, huh?" he asked and started to chew his lip in a most annoying way. She supposed it was a human thing and let it go.

"Yes," she said. "And your uncle had to be reminded of it twice."

"That sounds about like him," Quinn said with a fond smile. She'd never understand his feelings for that Q.

"You know not to trust him," she warned. "He's just as tricky as your father used to be."

"But you took care of that," he said, smiling.

"All in the 'be my son's hero' package," she said, smiling back at him.

"I'm surprised the Council went along with me staying human," he said after looking at her for a bit in silence.

"They're intrigued by your decision after you fought so hard to be a Q the last time," she said. "They know, as I do that love can't be broken by any force in the universe though. I suspect that's part of the reason why they didn't have much to say about it."

She couldn't tell him that they'd looked into the future and saw disaster if they'd forced him to remain a Q. That wouldn't have been a good idea at all. She still didn't know what type of disaster they'd seen. She supposed she'd never know. It wasn't as if she were about to become a Council member. None of the three were prepared to step down that she knew of.

"I can tell by the look on your face that there's more to it than what you've said," he accused.

"You're right, of course, but I can't tell you," she said, shaking her head. "I've been forbidden to tell you anything more than what I've already told you." An idea occurred to her as she spoke. "And don't go asking you uncle either. You'll only land him in the same trouble as your father."

"As my father," he said to himself, looking at the floor and then back at her. "So it was a Council punishment?"

"Of course it was a council punishment," she said quickly. "You don't think I could get away with stripping his powers and tossing him into another galaxy if it weren't, do you?"

"So the Council decided to punish him for meddling with Jim and Chad," he said. "And Voyager."

He was as smart as ever. She knew that he'd thrown that last in for her benefit; to make her think that he hadn't figured it out. Well she could rest assured that he wouldn't figure out what the Council was up to. If she couldn't then she knew that he couldn't. She felt better immediately.

"Don't go poking your nose in Council business, Junior," she said, smiling at him. "Don't think that being human shields you from their anger."

"Oh I know it doesn't," he said quickly. "Believe me. They were going to make me spend eternity as an amoeba, remember? I was human when that decision was made."

"Yes, I remember that," she said, smiling. "You were being unruly."

"Right," he said, shaking his head. "Anyway, tell me about this edict."

"I have," she said. "I told you exactly what they said. No Q is to meddle with you, Jim, Chad or this ship. We are to see that you make it to the station."

"So you're the reason we haven't heard from the Maquis?" he asked.

"No," she said with a sigh. "There's been no more sign of them anywhere near the ship."

"Yeah, that was kind of what I was talking about," he said.

"It isn't the Continuum's doing," she said. "I find myself wishing that one would attack so I could do something about it."

"Don't like your hands tied, huh?" he asked with a smirk.

"There's the Quinn I remember," she said, smiling and instantly mollified.

"Right," he said, shaking his head again. "What about what you did to these quarters? Isn't that meddling?"

"No," she said, smiling. "That's comfort. They said that was fine. We can do what we like as long as it makes things easier for you instead of harder."

"Really?" he asked, but she knew the look on his face meant he was thinking. "Even making Jim and Chad feel better about missing their parents?"

"I can't do that," she said. "That's a compulsion, Quinn, and the very definition of what has been forbidden considering those two."

"Forbidden is a strong word in the Continuum," he said. "Are you sure they said forbidden?"

"Judge Q said it to me in person, Quinn," she said.

"It's just that he's so sad lately," he said, and she could hear the misery in his voice. It was almost enough to make her break the edict.

"I know," she said, her heart heavy once again.

"I love him, Mother," he said, sitting down on the couch and putting his head in his hands. "I never expected to love anything, but I love him."

"I know you do," she said, sitting beside him and running her fingers through his hair. "I wish I could help. If for no other reason than to make you happy, but I can't do anything right now."

"I have to pack," he said, getting up. He recognized her final word when he heard it. Then another idea occurred to him and he turned to face her again. "You will turn this place back into what it was before you did this, right?"

"Everything will be back to the way it was," she promised, smiling at him. "I could help the three of you pack."

"I don't think so," he said after a moment of thought. He had to admit it was tempting. "If I'm going to be human I can't have you doing everything for me."

Suddenly six stasis cases were sitting on the now Starfleet issued table in front of him. He looked up and saw that the entire quarters were back to the way they had been before she'd changed them into a twentieth century apartment. He looked at her to find her smiling with what looked like guilt in her eyes. That was new.

"Fortunately the edict didn't say I had to do as you humans say," she laughed. "It's done, so don't get all upset."

"Thank you," he said with a sigh as Jim and Chad came in.

"I see were all packed," Chad said with a smirk.

"Jim, Chad, how are you feeling?" Q asked, looking from one to the other and back again.

"I'm better now," Jim said, wondering how she knew about what he was feeling. "I just had to let go."

"We both did," Chad said, sharing a pointed look with Jim.

They sat on the stiff couch, and Jim missed the comfortable one that Q had replaced it with for a second. They talked about what to do when they finally reached the planet. Jim told Quinn that shuttle traffic was heavy so they might have to stay on the station for a while to wait. Jim was silent for most of the conversation as an idea had been bouncing around in his head. He'd spent a great deal of time that day perusing the computer's memory banks and was almost ready to tell Quinn what he was thinking. He just needed to do a bit more research and talk to both the EMH and Julian Bashir first.

"You're being quiet again," Quinn said, searching Jim's eyes for any sign of what might be on his mind.

"Just thinking," he replied, smiling at him. Quinn smiled back when he saw that the smile on Jim's face actually reached his eyes. "I'll talk to you about what I'm thinking when I have it all thought out."

"All right," he said, glancing at Chad who shrugged.

"I've got to contact the warehouse when we get to Alta Venus," he said, changing the subject. "Otherwise we won't have furniture."

"I could take care of that for you," Q said, reminding them that she was still in the room.

"No thank you, Mother," Quinn said, smiling. "I worked hard to find the furniture I found."

They arrived at Barrier Gate Station twenty minutes later. The trio had to wait while protocols were met before they joined the line of crew that would be leaving the ship to be reassigned. Jim's first look at the station reminded him so much of Deep Space 9 that he was almost sure they'd gone in the wrong direction. He chuckled to himself as he thought about how much longer they'd have been in space if they'd gone to Deep Space 9.

"What's funny?" Chad asked as they walked onto the promenade.

"Silliness," he replied, smiling at his friend. "Nothing important."

"Will you look at that," said a familiar voice, and Jim turned around to face Alex Munro. "Captain Kirk."

"Commander Munro," he said, smiling. "It's good to see you."

"We're waiting for shuttle space," he replied. "Telsia and Juliet are waiting in the Starfleet Lounge."

"We'll just put our names on the list in the shuttle bay," said Jim as he and his friends moved off toward the lift.

"See you soon then," said Alex.

They were told that it would be a two hour wait for them, and Jim was shocked to find Will and Deanna standing outside the shuttle bay when they had put their names on the list. Deanna smiled at him, but her face looked slightly stiff for some reason. He decided that she was probably reacting to everyone on the station. The only empath he was completely used to was Juliet, and she'd studied on Vulcan to suppress the effects of strong emotion.

"We've just received our orders," said Will when they were away from the crowd. "We're to remain here for a while. They've been expecting Maquis movement since they learned about the Skrreea."

"Sounds reasonable," he said. "They're on Pemera after all."

"Did you need a ride to the planet?" Will asked. "We can send you in one of Titan's shuttles."

"Thanks, but we're meeting Commander Munro and some of the crew in the Starfleet Lounge," he said. "You two are welcome to join us. They'll contact me when they have a shuttle for us."

"That sounds good," said Deanna. "I'd like to talk with some of them."

"I'm sure they'd like that," said Jim, thinking that Juliet was the one Deanna was most interested in talking with.

He was shocked to find not only Teslia and Juliet waiting with Alex but Annika, Axum and Kathryn as well. Moments later the adult Icheb walked into the lounge as well. He was happy to see them all and wondered where the rest of the crew was. Telsia answered that question by telling him that some had already made it to the planet by either shuttle or ship.

"We were starting to think that you'd already gone to the planet, Captain," said Icheb.

"We had a little skirmish along the way," he said.

"The Maquis," said Icheb, nodding. "I think every ship on their way to the station or planet was attacked."

"And?" he asked and noticed that Will was paying close attention as well.

"No casualties," he replied. "Each attack was sort of a ruse. Everyone thinks they were just letting us know they were there."

Alex told him that of the forty ships that attacked only three were caught. The total Skrreea in the brigs of the three starships was now one hundred. Six had died in the attacks, and they weren't sure about casualties on the Maquis side for the ships that had gotten away. Then the attacks just stopped. Jim wondered if it really had been just a message to let Starfleet know that the Maquis was out there or if Q had done something.

"There's going to be some kind of ceremony at Starfleet Command on Alta Venus next week, too," said Alex. "They've been pretty tight lipped about what it's for, but we were all told that attendance was mandatory and we're to be in dress uniforms."

"Well then I guess we'll be at the ceremony in dress uniforms," said Jim. "No ideas about the purpose?"

"None," he said. "There hasn't been much speculation about the ceremony. Everyone is too busy talking about the Maquis."

The talk was cut short when Jim and his party were called back to the shuttle bay. It hadn't taken as long as he'd been told, but he was happy about that. The house may have been empty but it was his and he wanted to go home. Quinn, Chad, Gerron, Tom and B'Elanna were in his shuttle party. Tom and B'Elanna talked excitedly about the space they were prepared to rent on the station. Gerron and Chad talked about living situations. Chad had told Gerron that he could share a room in his house. Jim smiled at that. His friends were in the early stages of their romance, but it would come. He and Quinn had moved a bit faster, but circumstances were different for them.

He'd been back in this timeline, the timeline he'd wanted to return to for nearly five months now. He was finally going home to his own house on Alta Venus. They'd have to replicate a few things to sit on, and if Quinn couldn't get the warehouse to deliver the furniture he'd purchased then they'd have to replicate a bed to sleep in as well as beds for Katie and Chakotay who would be staying with them until they could purchase homes of their own. Quinn had told him that the main computer and replicators were all online already so that wouldn't be too difficult.

The planet was much more developed than it had been the last time they'd been there. Jim was happy to see all the vendors in the square outside Starfleet Command. There were also shops and delis along the strip. He and Quinn found the transportation center, and Jim purchased a transport vehicle large enough to accommodate them all. Chad purchased one for himself, but it was a bit smaller and more sleek.

The command building was large but as he had guessed most of the offices and laboratories were underground. It looked like a small tropical resort building. They had to go inside to the Office of Federation Records to register their transport vehicles. The inside of the building was instantly recognizable. It looked like the inside of a starship just like on Earth. They found the directory and were on their way to sub level 10 on the lift.

There were people moving in and out of offices on sub level 10. Most of them were in Starfleet uniforms, but a lot were also in plain clothes. They found the round room that was the Office of Federation Records and stepped inside. An older woman in a red and blue business suit with long white hair and violet eyes was behind the counter. She smiled at them as they came in.

"What can I do for you today?" she asked as they stepped up to the counter.

"I need to register my transport vehicle," Jim said, handing her the padd from the Transport Center. He watched as she checked the information and then entered it into her console.

"Thumb print, please," she said, holding out a scanner padd. He placed his thumb on the padd and she smiled. "Captain James R. Kirk, your transport vehicle is registered. Be sure to input your access code into the vehicle's main computer to prevent theft or accidents."

"Thank you," he said, handing her another padd. "Now if I could just register the house."

"Certainly," she said, smiling. "You'll be setting up a residence or a vacation home today?"

"A residence," he said. "Living with me will be Commander Quinn Janeway. My visitors are Lieutenant Thomas Eugene Paris II, Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres Paris II and Miral Paris II."

"The information seems to be in order," she said, smiling. "I'll just need thumb prints from each of you. Captain Kirk and Commander Janeway first, please. I'll just enter the information for the two of you as owners of the residence."

"Thank you so much for your help," he said, smiling at her as they collected their padds.

"Welcome to Alta Venus," she said, smiling back.

Back in the transport vehicle that really resembled a larger version of the Delta Flyer on wheels, Jim told them all about what the planet looked like when he'd first came here to buy the house. Miral wanted to see sights, and Jim was happy to oblige the six year old. Her seventh birthday was coming. A birthday she shared with her ten year old counter part from this timeline. Jim wondered if Tom and B'Elanna had contacted their counterparts to arrange a joint party or not. He knew that the four were friendly enough. Owen Paris accepted this Tom as another son and told people it was like having a set of twins. He called this son Tommy instead of Tom and B'Elanna was known as Lanna while Miral was happy to accept Scamp as a nickname that distinguished her from her ten year old "cousin" Miral.

They stopped at the Moncora Preservation so that Miral could see the exotic Alta Venus plants. The trees themselves resembled very large palm trees from Earth, but their trunks were covered with a soft fur that was constantly wet from the running sap. They were given samples of the sap to take home and use as syrup. One taste and Jim was sold on the stuff. It was deliciously sweet but not too sweet.

Miral was given four flowers from the N'Tanna bushes that were promised never to wilt. They were blue, red, violet and gold and sort of shimmered in the overhead twin suns' rays. She was delighted with her flowers and talked of nothing else as they got back in the transport vehicle and headed for the house that was conveniently only a few streets away. There were shuttle craft flying over them as they drove, coming and going from various landing strips. Jim was happy to see people in the yards either tending to lawns or talking with neighbors. The streets were busy but not so busy that it hindered their progress.

Their house was situated with the ocean to it's back. It sat on three acres of beach front land, had a transport terminal beside it constructed of the same bleached limestone and Moncora wood. The lawn was perfectly tended by the Neighborhood Grounds Keeper in their absence, and Jim saw that some kind of leafy bushes had been planted in front of the house in a neat row. They were perfectly trimmed and looked amazing. The leaves were green, gold and red and seemed to reach for the twin suns.

They had to enter their access codes to get the huge solid Moncora wood doors to open and permit them entrance. Inside the hallway was completely bare. A Risan crystal chandelier hung from the high ceiling reflecting light in very beautiful rainbows along the limestone walls.

The first room they came to was the large living room where they were shocked to find Starfleet issued furniture already in place. There was a long couch with two smaller models suitable for two people to sit comfortably with tables and lamps. Quinn's eyes narrowed as he took it all in.

"Mother!" he cried, turning in a circle. He stopped when she came through the archway that led to the dining room.

"Relax, Quinn," she said quickly. "This is only until your furniture arrives. I promise when your delivery men get here this stuff will just disappear. You need furniture to sit on and sleep on until then."

"She's right, Quinn," Jim said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Thank you, Q."

"All right, but promise that it'll be gone," he said, watching her closely.

"I promise," she said, smiling. "Now take your friends on a tour. There's furniture in every room that will be sufficient."

True to her word the furniture in the dining room and kitchen was Starfleet issue as well but completely sufficient to hold them over until Quinn could have his purchases delivered. The three bedrooms had starfleet issued beds and chests with not much more. They gathered in the living room again, leaving Miral in the second guest room to play with the toys she'd packed from the ship.

"All right?" Q asked as they returned to the living room.

"It's fine," Jim said before Quinn could respond. "Thanks again."

"Jim, anything," she said, smiling at him with affection that shocked him. "All right then. I have business of my own to attend to. I'll be back."

She disappeared before any of them could say anything, and they were left to stare at the spot where she'd been. Jim decided to replicate dinner while Quinn went to the office to contact the warehouse about delivery of his purchases. Then they collected Miral and sat at the small table in the dining room to eat a twentieth century meal of breaded pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy with corn and dinner rolls.

"This is great," Tom said, smiling as his plate was put in front of him. "So are you guys going to set this place up like a twentieth century house?"

"That's Quinn's department," laughed Jim. "I promised to keep my nose out of it and let him do his thing. He says he'll surprise me."

"I'm not telling," Quinn said with a smile when Tom looked to him as he sat down at the table with his own plate.

"So what did they say about delivery?" Jim asked him.

"They said it will be Monday morning," he replied.

"Well that's only the weekend," Jim said, smiling. "This stuff will do until then. At least we didn't have to pay for the larger replicator and transporter service."

"There is that," agreed Quinn with a small smile. "Have you heard from Chad?"

"No," he replied. "He knows the frequency to our computer, so I imagine he and Gerron are setting up house over there. You know he has Katie and Chakotay with him, right?"

"Oh, have they arrived?" Tom asked.

"I have no idea," replied Jim. "No one has contacted me, though I made sure that everyone had the frequency before we left Earth."

They talked about the space on the station that Tom and B'Elanna were going to rent after that. Tom was very excited about it. It seemed that all they had to do was wait until Monday morning to get the paperwork done and then they could start putting the place together. Owen and Julia were loaning them credits to get the business off to a start. Jim was happy about that. He'd wondered how they were going to do it.

"So you'll be staying with us until the space is set up?" Quinn asked.

"If you don't mind," said B'Elanna, smiling.

"Of course we don't mind," laughed Jim. "We love hanging out with you two, and Miral is like a niece to us."

That night Jim surprised them by telling them that he'd successfully uploaded over a thousand movies from the twentieth century into the home computer. They watched "Jumanji" with Robin Williams, because it was suitable for Miral as well. They laughed until they cried in some parts and were wide eyed with nervous excitement through other parts.

Then it was time for Miral to go to bed, and they watched "Speed" with Keanu Reeves for more adult entertainment. B'Elanna pronounced the movie amazing. Fun was had by all four of them. They were still talking about it as they excused themselves to go to bed. It had been a long day.