A Perfect Moment

Epilogue

The space port on Earth was at the best of times a busy, bustling place. It was filled with purposeful movement and conveniences designed to speed a multitude of travellers on their way. The efficiency of the operation was such that those who used it seldom had time to sit and observe. Even the observation lounge with it’s stunning view of the Planet beneath was scarcely a place for reflection and relaxation. Everyone who used it seemed to have things to do, no one sat and stared, instead they collected their messages, spoke to the office or studied padds with a furious intensity.

There was no quiet time here, the facilites were permanently open to support the high numbers of travellers of all kinds of species who journeyed to or from Earth everyday. At anytime of the day and night you could find people arriving or departing and almost always they were in a hurry.

But something very curious was happening. In the observation lounge people had stopped in front of the enormous viewport and were actually looking out of it. It was such an unprecedented event that it drew the attention of other travellers and soon all the occupants of the room were looking out of the viewport. The usual sound of a multitude of conversations had died away, until there was instead only a collective whisper and a sense of waiting for something important to happen.

As the excitement grew a collective gasp swept the room and a ship became visible. It’s long, sleek lines were distinctive – the starfleet registration obvious from a distance. As it slipped past the viewport with an elegant langour someone, no one would ever know who, began to applaud. The appluase spread, the emotion of this moment becoming contagious. In the room that never stopped, a group with nothing in common beyond being here for this moment, stood and watched and cheered as Voyager came home.

The End