Admiral Janeway eyed the Borg vessel ahead, knowing the Borg Queen was aboard waiting for her. She knew the technology she had brought to Voyager was sufficient to get Voyager safely to the Alpha Quadrant but she was far from certain that what she had told Kathryn was sufficient.

The Admiral's memories went back to the weeks when she had made the decision not to try to use the transwarp conduit. She had been tempted and was prepared to issue the orders, but another Admiral Janeway, had returned from a future in which she had made the effort. Voyager had successfully reached the Alpha Quadrant but she had been severely damaged and had barely maintained enough structural integrity to retain an atmosphere. There had been one casualty in that effort:  Seven of Nine. The Admiral who had reached the Alpha Quadrant had come to warn her younger self not to make the attempt. She also told her that she and Chakotay had both struggled with that final loss but had eventually moved on together to build the life they had both wanted since New Earth. Looking back, the Admiral realized that Chakotay had never told his wife he had been in the early stages of a relationship with Seven, so when Seven was not killed, the relationship continued and Kathryn had lost her place in his heart. While the two salvaged the command relationship and remained friends, they had lost the special bond that had existed since they met. All she had gained by following 'her' Admiral's well-meaning advice was a few more years with Seven – but Seven spent them as Chakotay's wife. She hoped she had told this younger Kathryn enough to accomplish 'her' Admiral's goals and push this Kathryn to reclaim her personal life.

On Voyager, Kathryn remembered the words the Admiral had spoken and knew that she had to decide very soon whether to act on all she had been told. Chakotay stood behind her with Seven quietly discussing the readings coming in at her station. The Doctor interrupted Kathryn's thoughts, then a baby's cry echoed through the bridge. She sent Tom to sickbay before he abandoned his post then looked toward the viewscreen – Earth. That big beautiful blue marble reminded Kathryn that the future that might never happen was now her present with its own future and she knew what she wanted her future to include.

"Chakotay, take the helm."

Kathryn had ordered Chakotay away from Seven, placed herself defiantly between them, and ordered a course for home. Kathryn had taken the first step toward the future she wanted.