- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Coffee - the finest organic suspension ever devised. It's got me through the worst of the last three years. I beat the Borg with it.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I'm curious, Seven. What do you think about all this? Messages? The possibility of getting home?
- Seven of Nine: It lacks any emotional resonance for me. I've never even been to Earth.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: You realize you may have family there.
- Seven of Nine: [processing this] That had not occurred to me.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: You could have cousins, grandparents... There might be more emotional resonance than you think.
- [Seven is trying to retrieve a garbled transmission from Starfleet Command]
- The Doctor: Six words in fifty-eight hours? Wouldn't it be more efficient just to wait until we arrive at the relay station?
- Seven of Nine: This message is important to the Captain.
- The Doctor: I'm aware of that. In fact, if it weren't for me, this transmission wouldn't have been possible in the first place. I was the one who risked my matrix in order to go to the Alpha Quadrant. If we ever get home... I expect I'll become quite the hero. "Emergency Medical Hologram instrumental in the Return of Voyager Crew." Has a nice ring to it, don't you think?
- Seven of Nine: On the other hand, it is entirely possible that your program will be deleted and you'll be upgraded to conform to the most recent standards.
- Harry Kim: I thought Seven was working in here.
- B'Elanna Torres: She's gone with Tuvok to shore up the station's confinement field. I've taken over for her. Disappointed?
- Harry Kim: Of course not. Would you stop that? I've told you there's nothing between us.
- B'Elanna Torres: I know there's nothing *between* you. It's purely a one-way attraction.
- [Paris doesn't appear very enthusiastic when Torres announces a letter for him from his father]
- Tom Paris: I don't know exactly why, but... the more everybody gets excited about these letters from home, the more I don't want any part of it. Maybe because... what I have on Voyager... is so much better than anything I ever had back there. I just don't want the reminder.
- B'Elanna Torres: I learned this morning that a lot of my friends are dead, and I've gone from being so angry that I wanted to kill someone... to crying for an hour, and now I'm just trying to... to accept it and move on.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: At the very least, we know the relay stations extend almost all the way to the Alpha Quadrant. If Starfleet has found a way to use them to transmit messages, we'll be able to stay in constant contact with people at home. That has to be comforting
- Harry Kim: Sure it is, but I think it's more comforting to think that Starfleet is going to GET us home; and, if no one objects, that's what I'm gonna do.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [reading the first transmissions] "How much we miss you... We talk about you often... wondering about your... day." Sounds awfully personal from Starfleet Command. "The children have grown so much, you wouldn't..."
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [begins to understand] These are letters. These are letters from home.
- Chakotay: How are *you* doing?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Me? I'm fine.
- Chakotay: You'd say that if you'd just had your legs torn off by a Trayken beast.
- [Janeway has learned that her fiancé has married somebody else]
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: I guess I didn't really expect him to wait for me, considering the circumstances, but it made me realize that I was using him as a safety net, you know, as a way to avoid becoming involved with someone else.
- Chakotay: You don't have that safety net anymore.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: That's right. Then again, my life is far from uneventful here in the Delta Quadrant. It's not like I would've had a chance to pursue a relationship, even if I HAD realized I was alone.
- Chakotay: You're hardly alone - and to my way of thinking, there's still plenty of time.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Plenty of time.
- [Torres is delivering the last letters on the bridge]
- B'Elanna Torres: I'm sorry, Tom. I wasn't able to download yours in time.
- Tom Paris: [looking slightly disappointed] Just when I was getting eager to read it.
- B'Elanna Torres: You could assume that he said he loves you... and that he's proud of you.
- Tom Paris: I think I will.
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: [talking about her letter from home] It was from Mark, the man I was engaged to. He told me about the litter of puppies my dog had, and how he found homes for them, how devastated he was when Voyager was lost, how he held out hopes we were alive longer than most people did until he realized that he was clinging to a fantasy; so, he began living his life again, meeting people, letting go of the past. About four months ago, he married a woman who works with him. He's very happy.
- Chakotay: How do you feel about that?
- Captain Kathryn Janeway: Well, I knew he'd eventually move on with his life, but there was such a finality to that letter.
- Alpha-Hirogen Idrin: A long, coiled intestine. An interesting trophy.
- Seven of Nine: What possible use could you make of my intestines?
- Alpha-Hirogen Idrin: Unusual relics are prized. Yours will make me envied by men and pursued by women.
- Neelix: [delivering messages from home] Good news, Mr. Vulcan. This one's for you.
- Tuvok: Thank you, Mr. Neelix. You can put it on the desk.
- [Neelix puts the tablet on the desk and waits]
- Tuvok: Was there something more?
- Neelix: Aren't you going to read it?
- Tuvok: Of course.
- Neelix: I-I mean, aren't you going to read it now?
- Tuvok: I'm finishing my weekly tactical review. When it's completed I'll read the message.
- Neelix: You're going to wait until you've finished the tactical review?
- Tuvok: Do you have any reason to believe the content of the message will change during that time?