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She smiled. "Yes," she said. "And looking forward to that dinner you promised me. Southwestern cuisine, wasn't it?"

He nodded, and smiled, as if he had a secret. "Straight from Navajo country."

"Captain?" It was Tom Paris. It was good to hear his youthful voice on the bridge once more.

"Yes, Ensign?"

"I keep wondering-what's going to happen to us now?"

"Without the Shepherds, you mean?"

"Yeah. I mean, they've been doing this for eons. They have to know the equation. Yet Tialin said something about chaos. I would think they would know what's going to happen if they don't interfere, but maybe they don't."

Janeway frowned a little, thinking. "As I understand it, we're on our own. There's no more artificially per-

fect balance. A flat universe is almost impossible to conceive. I'd say the universe is either open or closed, now."

"So one way or another, it's going to end," said Paris.

"You're reckoning without the Q," Janeway reminded him. "Or the fact that perhaps other universes don't abide by the same laws that ours does. But whatever happens isn't going to occur for quite some time," Janeway said, chuckling. "I'd say there are many more-pressing things to worry about man the end of the universe, Mr. Paris." Her eyes lost focus, imagining the future. "And who knows, perhaps when that day finally comes, we'll have evolved to the point where we won't need a universe anymore."

"Anything's possible," said Chakotay.

She looked over at him, recalling Telek's words to her as he stood on the bridge. Truly, anything is possible. Their gazes locked, and she felt a slow, genuine smile spread over her face.

"Yes," said Janeway. "Anything is possible."

The Entity felt like a ghost. She couldn't bring herself to leave. She had to know if it would all work out, if her friends Chakotay and Tom, dear Tom, would return safely. Now that all was well, that the disaster had been averted, she found herself wishing she didn't have to leave. But she did.

Sadly, she withdrew, leaving this Voyager, which was not her Voyager, behind. She would travel in the spaces between the stars once more, learning, growing, but alone. Suddenly a thought occurred to her, one which filled her with joy.

This was not her Voyager. But it was out there somewhere. A timeline in which the being named Kes had grown and evolved, had become the Entity, had done no hurt to those she had loved. She had a purpose now.

The Entity would explore the universes, searching, until she found her old friends. And then there would be laughter, and love, and belonging before a return to the spaces between the stars. Her journey was just beginning.

The woman and the man walked hand in hand down the dirt road. Fields and orchards lay to each side, rich with color, heavy with fruits and grains. The small stone house waited up ahead, and its lights were on.

The pair did not hesitate. The woman strode forward and opened the door.

At least a dozen faces stared up at them. Recognition mingled with fear and suspicion. But the old woman who was the center of the circle of adults and young children alike merely met the interloper's gaze evenly.

"So, you have returned. To arrest us?"

"To join you, if you would have us." The woman knelt down in front of Dammik R'Kel, and gazed up into her lined, wise face.

"I had not expected to see Jekri Kaleh ever take such a position before me," said Dammik, mildly amused but also obviously pleased.

The woman shook her head. "That name is no longer mine. Name me. Teach me."

With great affection, the old woman placed a hand on the younger woman's sleek, dark head. "I shall," she whispered, and gave her a new name.

Harry Kim lay alone in his quarters. The lights were off. He liked it that way. He longed for the oblivion of sleep, but it would not come.

He lay now with eyes opened, seeing dark shapes in the dim lighting. Something bright red and flashing caught his eye. Someone had left him a message.