Star Trek: 10 Things You Didn't Know About Kathryn Janeway

10. First Meeting With Tom Paris

In Voyager’s pilot episode, Captain Janeway visits Tom Paris at the New Zealand Penal Colony and asks him to join her mission to the Badlands. In this conversation she reveals that she served with his father on the Al-Batani and Tom’s response suggests that he hasn’t met or heard of her before.

Una McCormack’s The Autobiography of Kathryn Janeway, on the other hand, reveals that the pair did meet on various occasions as Tom was growing up and Kathryn was rising through the Starfleet ranks. It recounts her first meeting with him when he was only twelve years old, and how she could see that he was a troublemaker and seemed bored by the party being hosted by his father, Captain Owen Paris. She took the young boy to a holodeck and ran flight simulations with him - something she admits wondering if Tom even remembers. The fictional autobiography also explores Kathryn’s sympathy for Tom, growing up as the child of a Starfleet officer just as she did, and an understanding of the pressure and expectations that were imposed upon him.

According to Robert Duncan-McNeill on the Delta Flyers podcast, an early audition note for the role implied that he might have become a potential romantic partner to Captain Janeway. Thankfully, this was a storyline that was vetoed by the time casting was complete and filming began.

Threshold was more than enough Paris/Janeway romance for this audience to witness.