Star Trek Voyager: VX

"Hunters"

Stardate 51501.4

Zariel grinned her thanks at Neelix as he left Xeno, having dropped off letters from home for her, Samantha, Wally and T'Lin. She hugged the mini PADDs to her chest for a moment, her eyes bright and distant. Then she hit a panel on the center console, activating a function they'd set up some time ago: a summons for all Xeno personnel to report.

They came in one at a time, asking questions, but she merely smiled and shook her head until they were all there. Then she produced the PADDs from behind her back, and held them out. "We all got letters from home!"

Sam squealed, Wally shouted, and T'Lin's eyebrows shot upward. As one they darted forward to seize the letters.

Zariel grinned; it was like Christmas morning in here. She said, "Enjoy, y'all," and headed towards the door, intent on going to her quarters to read her letter.

"Hold it there, where do you think you're going?" Wally's voice stopped her.

Zariel pointed vaguely toward the door, but he said, "Let's read them together."

Samantha said, "Yes, let's do. Good news or bad, we'll share."

Wally and Sam looked at T'Lin for agreement, and she nodded. The three of them turned to Zariel, and Wally said, "Come on now, all for one and all that. Let's read, and then tell each other what's going on at home."

Zariel grinned and nodded, and pushed her chair around and sat down in it. "All for one, then. Now hush, y'all, I'm tryin' to read."

They all flopped down in their chairs and turned full attention to the letters, to those green characters on black screens that were lifelines as much as letters.

Zariel seemed to have two letters, one from Patrick and one from Michael. She tapped the one from Patrick first.

Dear Mom,

Hi and Hotty Toddy! I'm two weeks into my last semester of college, can you believe that? In May I'll finish my psychology degree and in August I'll start law school. Yeah, I know, I always said I'd never be a lawyer like Papaw, but it kind of snuck up on me. So I'll give it a shot and see what happens. You should have seen the reaction on campus when we heard about Voyager – the place just totally erupted. I started a Hotty Toddy for you in absentia. Not much space left, get home as quick as you can. I know, I know, you're already there.

Dear Mom,

Hi, how are you? I'm glad you're ok and Voyager is coming home. School is fine, baseball is fine. We won the state championship last year. I started in left for the varsity. I still take guitar lessons. Come home soon.

She read the letters each three times, so characteristic of her boys, feeling as if she could almost reach through the PADD's screen and touch her boys, lay a hand on their faces and ruffle their hair. She could hear their voices, feel their hugs. Memories flooded her mind. She gently laid her fingers on the screen and kept very still for a moment, determined not to cry.

After a few deep breaths, she looked around Xeno. T'Lin was sitting very still as well, staring across at the opposite wall, her letter lying in her lap. Samantha was still looking at her letter, tears streaming unashamedly down her face. Wally was gazing up at the ceiling, and his eyes looked suspiciously moist as well. He looked across at her and sniffed unconvincingly, "Got something in my eye."

Zariel snorted laughter, and T'Lin and Samantha looked at her as well. She spread her hands and said, "Well, what's the word from home?"

Wally's parents had been overjoyed to hear from Voyager, and had hosted a celebration which disrupted the city of Rome for three days. His entire family was well, his cousin had gotten married, and they expressed best wishes for his safe return.

T'Lin, the youngest of four sisters, had more varied news. Her closest sister had been promoted at her job, moving from T'Ling'Shar to Shi'Kahr. Her next sister had been honored for her research on Hephaestus fever. Her oldest sister, however, had lost a child to stillbirth, and was recovering slowly.

Samantha's was a love letter to her and her daughter, words abbreviated and vowels omitted in order to cram as much adoration as possible into the limited space each letter was allowed. Zariel struggled again to keep from tears as Sam read it aloud.

Zariel got up and walked over to Sam, holding out her hands. Samantha grasped her hands and stood up as well, reaching a hand out to Wally. He cocked his head at T'Lin, who stood as well, completing their circle. Zariel looked around at them and opened her barrier to them, ever so slightly. Their emotions mirrored hers, a sense of renewed connection and of hope, and gratitude for the connection the four of them were sharing on their way home.