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Thomas Eugene Paris, or Tom Paris, is a male Human Starfleet officer in the 24th century who was famous as a crack starship pilot after his seven-year tour as the Primary Conn Officer of the Intrepid-class USS Voyager. As of 2385, he had assumed the position of Commanding officer of the Vesta-class Command cruiser USS Freedom, which was attached to Task Force Invincible of Vanguard Command, and was concurrent Fleet Captain of the task force's Wolf Pack.
Childhood[]
Tom Paris was born in 2346 to a long line of distinguished Starfleet officers. Early on, he already had a troubled relationship with the high expectations of his father, an admiral, who joined his friends and teachers to praise him as a child but remained tough and remote, telling him for instance that crying was a sign of weakness.
Starfleet Academy[]
Paris joined Starfleet Academy in 2364. While there, he almost failed stellar cartography as a freshman. He chose Marseilles, France, as the site of his physical training in the second semester. Despite his stormy four year stay in the Academy, Paris was able to hone his natural aptitude for piloting skills on craft large and small and proved adept at holo-engineering. A gifted pilot, Paris earned an assignment to the Academy's honor squadron.
Dishonor[]
Soon after his graduation from Starfleet Academy, Paris crashed a shuttle he was piloting in the Vega system near Caldik Prime, killing three other Starfleet officers. Afraid he would lose his commission, Paris falsified records that would reveal the cause of the accident as pilot error. His efforts to cover up the error succeeded. Soon after, Paris was assigned to the USS Exeter NCC-26351-B and in time was promoted to Lieutenant junior grade. Later, overwhelmed by guilt and regret, he confessed. He was court-martialed for his actions, and was dishonorably discharged from Starfleet. It was only his self-confession at the point he would have been exonerated that netted him a discharge rather than harsher punishment. This caused a major rift in the relationship between Paris and his father.
The Maquis[]
Paris left San Francisco for Marseille, where he drank and played pool in a waterfront bar. Chakotay, a former Starfleet officer serving with the Maquis, discovered Paris in Marseille and recruited him to serve as a mercenary pilot for the Maquis against the Federation. Paris accepted the offer as he sought for fulfillment as a pilot. This adventure went no better than his earlier stint in Starfleet, as Paris was soon captured by Starfleet while piloting his first mission for the Maquis and this time was sentenced to the Federation Penal Settlement near Auckland, New Zealand, wearing an alarm anklet.
The USS Voyager[]
Paris was given a reprieve of sorts in early 2371 when he was temporarily released from the rehab colony and given a second chance by Captain Kathryn Janeway, who needed him to pilot her new starship, the Intrepid-class USS Voyager, through the Badlands in search of her lost Security Officer who had been placed undercover among a Maquis crew Paris had once served with, led by Chakotay. Had he successfully completed the mission Paris could have applied for permanent parole, but ironically he and the rest of the Voyager crew became missing and presumed lost in the Badlands plasma storms.
While searching for the Maquis ship, they were thrown into the Delta Quadrant by a massive energy wave created by an alien known as "The Caretaker". Once there, they successfully located the Maquis ship docked at the Caretaker's Array. The survivors of the incident therefore became stranded about 70,000 light-years away from Earth. The Maquis ship was destroyed and its crew joined the Federation crew on Voyager.
The marooning of Voyager in the Delta Quadrant provided Paris with a new beginning. Janeway gave Paris a field commission as a Lieutenant, J.G. and made him primary conn officer of Voyager. He had a rough start, however, as Starfleet and Maquis alike viewed Paris with suspicion. Paris worked hard to earn his crewmates' respect; during this time, he became best friends with Ensign Harry Kim, a young officer on his first mission who defied his crewmates to befriend Paris. Eventually, Paris was accepted by the crew and became one of Janeway's valued senior officers.
Paris' duties were not limited to piloting Voyager. On Janeway's orders, he trained as a field medic and assisted the ship's Emergency Medical Hologram, The Doctor, until the Doctor recruited Kes as his primary assistant. Following Kes' departure, Paris once again served regular duty shifts in Sickbay.
B'Elanna Torres[]
Tom Paris became romantically involved with Lieutenant B'Elanna Torres, Voyager’s half-Human, half-Klingon Chief engineer, and soon after married her in 2377. Torres gave birth to their daughter, Miral Paris during the events that led to Voyager’s return to the Alpha Quadrant and Earth in 2377.
Voyager first officer[]
Upon Voyager’s return to the Alpha Quadrant, Tom was promoted to the rank of full Lieutenant and then a few years after, wqs promoted to the rank of Lieutenant commander. Tom journeyed with B'Elanna to the Klingon sanctuary of Boreth in order to help B'Elanna with a quest to find her mother, who had been lost in the wilds of Boreth's jungles.Soon after, he rejoined the crew of Voyager, which was now under the command of Captain Chakotay. Tom was Chakotay's first choice for Voyager’s First officer, but Starfleet overruled him, assigning Commander Andrew Ellis to the post instead. When Ellis was revealed to actually be a renegade Changeling, Tom moved up into the First officer position. He remained in the position through the beginning of 2381, and was aboard the vessel during the Borg Collective's invasion in that year when he received word of his father's death on Starbase 234. Voyager was part of the allied task force that assembled at the Azure Nebula while the USS Aventine (NCC-82602) and USS Enterprise-E scouted subspace tunnels. Paris oversaw allied efforts to open the unscouted tunnels, coordinating with Starfleet, Cardassian, Romulan, and Gorn vessels. Paris and Captain Chakotay were recalled to the bridge when one of the tunnels unexpectedly opened; Paris had the fleet readied, but they were overrun as over seven thousand Borg cubes poured from the tunnel.
In September 2382, as Voyager prepared for a new expedition beyond the Milky Way Galaxy, Tom and B'Elanna reluctantly transferred off the ship for the sake of their family, promising each other that if they didn't like their new assignments, they'd request a transfer back to Voyager once the ship returned to Federation space.
Vanguard Command[]
In 2385, Tom Paris was promoted to the rank of Captain and given command of the Vesta-class Command Cruiser USS Freedom (NCC-87998) He saw the transfer as a a great opportunity, being able to pilot the most powerful ship in Starfleet and stay close to his growing family, as B'Elanna Torres had also accepted a transfer to the Task Force Invincible as its fleet chief engineer.
Starfleet Performance Evaluation[]
In later counseling, Paris revealed an unsatisfying relationship with women that have fostered no long-term associations, including a relationship with Susie Crabtree as an Academy freshman and a French woman, "Ricky," met during his Marseilles semester. He also has an affinity for antique Earth ground vehicles and Human American history and culture, especially of the 20th century, and has enjoyed sailing in true life and in holo-programs.
Tom Paris is simply one crack, hot shot pilot. As the Voyager's former main flight controller, he has had to get the ship and her crew out of some of the toughest predicaments any starship has ever faced. Without a doubt, Tom Paris is perhaps the most skilled pilot in Starfleet.
Related links[]
- List of Vanguard Command captains
- List of Vanguard Command fleet captains
- List of Task Force Invincible personnel
External Links[]
- Tom Paris article at Memory Alpha, the canon Star Trek wiki.
- Tom Paris article at Memory Beta, the non-canon Star Trek wiki.
- Tom Paris article at Star Trek Expanded Universe.