BLOODLINE

Chapter 1

Starfleet Academy - San Francisco.

"Yo, Paris, wait up will ya."

Taking a quick glance back over his shoulder, Tom Paris slowed his pace just enough for his shorter, stockier friend and fellow third-year cadet, Jack Cummings, to catch him up before continuing his manic rush across the campus to his next class. Professor Benton had threatened to put his ass on report if he was late one more time this semester, and that would definitely not go down well with his father, the mighty Admiral Owen Paris.

"Can't stop, Jacko." Tom flashed a wry grin as he ran a hand through his blond regulation -cropped hair, raising his padd and jiggling it for emphasis, "An enthralling afternoon of Stellar Cartography awaits."

"I was just wondering if you had plans for the weekend?" Jacko asked hopefully, almost jogging to keep up with his friend. "Me, Vinnie and Costello are thinking about another trip to Vegas, if you're up for it?"

Tom snorted. As if. "No can do, buddy. My sister's getting married the day after tomorrow and the family would space me if I didn't show."

Despite the air of casual indifference, Tom actually had no intention of missing the wedding - after all, Kathleen was his favorite sister They might be separated by a six-year age gap but she was his rock, the one person in the entire universe he could confide in, who really understood and helped him to cope with their father's often oppressive control and unrelenting expectations for his only son. When the pressure got too much, Tom ran to Kat. Simple as that.

The fact that her husband-to-be wasn't Fleet got another huge thumbs-up from Tom.

Joel McCreedy was a medic, just like Kat. Oh yeah, the Admiral had made it clear from the start that he was less than thrilled with the match, but he was finally forced to give his blessing when his headstrong and feisty daughter made it clear that she was resolutely determined to marry the person of her choice, and not some up-and-coming Starfleet officer picked from the ranks by her father. Their elder sister Moira had yielded under that pressure and was now in a far-from-perfect marriage with a Lieutenant Commander; a career officer who was rarely home. Only the gods knew where they'd found time to produce two children.

Even though she kept up the pretence of married bliss, Tom wasn't fooled. He could tell by the look in her eyes that it was a sham. And the worst thing about it was that Tom had no doubts whatsoever that the same fate awaited him somewhere down the line. The Admiral controlled every other aspect of his life, so why not that too! The precious blue-blooded Paris lineage had to be protected.

Happy in principal to be an integral part of Kat's big day, Tom just wasn't relishing the rest of it..

After some clever coaxing from their mother - ever the mediator between Owen Paris and his offspring - Kathleen and Joel had surprisingly agreed to the whole lavish wedding thing, which Admiral Paris in turn assumed gave him carte blanche to use as some sort of public relations extravaganza. All of the Starfleet top brass would be there, along with World Council officials and even representatives of the United Federation of Planets. If there was room to squeeze in a few family and friends among the stellar VIPs it would be a miracle.

And Tom knew that his father would parade him around in front of the great and the good like the prized progeny he was.

"Aw, c'mon Tom," Jacko all but bleated. "Vegas won't be the same without you." His mind wandered back wistfully to the groups last legendary trip to the gambling capital of the Alpha Quadrant, when their boisterous antics had almost got them tossed in jail overnight. Ah, good times.

Tom came to a halt outside the vast state-of-the-art wing of the Academy where the Stellar Cartography labs were housed, pausing to straighten his cadets uniform and comb his fingers through his hair yet again. Professor Benton was almost as much of a stickler for appearance as his father.

When he was satisfied that he would just about pass inspection, he laid a reassuring hand on his friends shoulder and gave it a squeeze for good measure. "You're just gonna have to get by without me this time," he consoled mock solemnly, amusement dancing in his clear blue eyes.

Turning quickly, Tom sprinted up the steps and paused just as he was about to step through the large glass paneled front entrance. "Oh, and Jacko?" he called out, grinning rakishly over his shoulder.

"What?" came the sullen response.

"Give that cute little red-head from Caesars my love, huh."

It had been a long and tedious afternoon, and Tom slouched lazily in the back of his father's ground car as it entered through the ornate gates of the family estate and began to weave its way through the majestic acres of lush landscaped gardens to the house itself - a sprawling replica of a 2-story late-21st Century Spanish-colonial style mansion that had been in the Paris family for five generations. The whole estate was nestled on a hilltop, with panoramic and breathtaking views of San Francisco Bay, taking in the iconic Golden Gate Bridge and Starfleet Headquarters off in the distance.

Finding the ground car - complete with stoic staff driver - parked and waiting for him at days end, came as no real surprise to Tom The Admiral's orders had been to come straight home, and the old man was making damn sure his spirited only son didn't get 'distracted' and did just as he was told for once. No fun and games for Tommy boy this weekend that's for sure, he thought wryly as he watched as the familiar scenery rolled by.

Tom was out of the car as soon as it came to a smooth halt alongside the fleet of delivery vehicles currently cluttering the circular driveway. He darted in through the main entrance of the house, keen to make it up the wide curved staircase and to his bedroom before anyone - particularly his father - registered his arrival. If his luck held, then his presence might go unnoticed long enough for him to get out of the restrictive uniform, take a long steaming hot shower and change into something a bit more casual before he was summoned to make nice with the weekend house guests.

The high-collared black and gray tunic was discarded even before the door to his room slid open automatically at Tom's approach, with his gray short-sleeved undershirt coming off next, both items flying across the room to land in an untidy heap on the floor beside the bed. Next he kicked off his boots and unfastened the uniform pants, and with thumbs hooked through the waistband had tugged them and his shorts halfway down over lean hips when a noise - a soft clearing of a throat - froze him in place. When he eventually summoned the courage to glance up, Tom found himself staring into a pair of very amused and very attractive eyes.

For a moment he was temporarily mesmerized by the vision of loveliness standing in the doorway of his bathroom, wrapped in nothing but a big old white fluffy towel. Long dark brown hair piled up casually on her head, with little wispy strands falling loose to her shoulders, where droplets of water from the shower were still evident on her flawless olive skin. Despite the shock of finding a total, half-naked stranger in his room, he still couldn't resist checking out the tall, slender form, with legs that went on forever. Tom swallowed…hard.

And those beautiful dark eyes framed by incredibly long eye lashes appraised him right back.

"So I'm guessing you must be Thomas?" she asked in accented English - French he guessed correctly even in his semi-shocked and semi-naked state.

Tom nodded dumbly.

"The guest quarters weren't ready and you weren't expected home for awhile, so Kat suggested I use your bathroom to freshen up," the young woman smiled and shrugged apologetically. "I hope you don't mind?"

"I…uh…no…it's uh…okay." Tom mentally kicked himself for not being able to string a comprehensive sentence together. She must think you're a complete dumb ass, Paris

"I'm Ricki Lefevre by the way."

As he struggled to think of something appropriately profound or bitingly witty as a response, Tom was distracted by soft laughter from behind him.

"Well, I see you two have met. "

Tom did an ungainly spin on his heels, vainly clutching at his pants in an attempt to stop them from falling to his ankles and causing more embarrassment - mainly to himself. From the doorway, Kathleen Paris beamed mischievously at the sight of her blushing baby brother.

"Watcha squirt,." she added before arching an eyebrow and staring deliberately towards his groin area and open pants. "Giving my maid of honor a private viewing of the Paris family jewels, eh!"

With a whoop of delight, Kat sprang forward to envelope Tom in her arms. Pulling back, she planted a huge kiss on his cheek and then cupped his chin in her hands. "Didn't I tell you he was cute, Ricki?"

"I think you may have mentioned it once or twice," came the still amused husky tone.

"So, Richelle." Ever the stickler for formality, Admiral Owen Paris steadfastly refused to abbreviate names. "I understand from Kathleen that you work with your father!"

To her mind, the Admiral looked slightly ill at ease in his version of casual attire. This powerful man, one of the three most high-ranking officers at Starfleet Command, obviously found it difficult to completely cast off his military persona and relax, even in his own home surrounded by his family.

"Yes, sir I…" Ricki began, only to be distracted by a tousled blond vision darting into the dining room and literally hurtling himself into his customary seat to the Admiral's right - and next to her. Tom glanced warily at the his clearly not amused father and muttered a quick apologetic something, before turning to the rest of the group, grinning disarmingly.

He quickly acknowledged all of the dinner guests; including his elder sister Moira and her husband Lt. Commander Evan Starkey; Kat's fiance Joel and his parents, along with two more of the bridesmaids who had arrived ahead of the wedding rehearsal scheduled for the following day.

Ricki found herself smiling back and losing herself in those vivid blue eyes. Even with the brief amount of time she'd spent with the Paris family so far, it was clear to her that father and son were polar opposites. The Admiral's air of stern authority and aloof formality, a stark contrast to the bundle of life and charismatic energy that was the younger Paris male.

Now dressed more casually in a midnight blue shirt hanging loose over a pair of dark pants, Ricki mused that Kat had done her brother a major disservice by describing him merely as 'cute'. There was no doubt in her mind that Tom Paris was one of the most attractive individuals she had ever met…male or female. He was still very young - late teens or very early twenties at a guess - so whether he fully realized the impact he had on mere mortals was unclear. Though by the way his mother was gazing adoringly at him from across the table to her husband's left, there was obviously one person who told him so often enough.

Tom's hand brushed against Ricki's as he reached over the table to pour himself a large tumbler of water, while his mother dished him up a large portion of her own special recipe southern fried chicken..

"Ricki was just telling us about her work," Miriam Paris explained to her son as she piled food onto his plate. She smiled at the young woman. "It sounds absolutely fascinating."

"It is," she responded just as warmly.

"Ricki's a marine biologist, Tom," Kat offered "You may have heard of her father, Yves Lefevre?"

Tom's gaze fixed on the young Frenchwoman, widening in awed delight. "Sure I've heard of him. Everyone has. Yves Lefevre is a legend. I'm a huge fan ," he stated sincerely.

"Our Tom has had a fixation with the ocean for as long as we can remember," Miriam Paris advised, shooting her husband a meaningful look that was lost on anyone outside of the immediate Paris family, before turning back to their guest. "Well, considering how important your work is, we're delighted that you could take the time out to share in Kathleen and Joel's special day"

"I wouldn't have missed it for the world," Ricki said, glancing in her friends direction. "My father understands. Besides, it couldn't have been better timed. The Laresa VI is presently docked in Marseilles for repairs and won't be sea worthy again for another month or so. That's if we can get research funding from the GEA for our next expedition."

"Which is?" Tom prompted with genuine interest.

"The Great Barrier Reef," Ricki exclaimed excitedly, half turning in her seat so that she and Tom were practically face to face. She was passionate about her work and delighted in sharing the details with him. "For the first time in nearly 150 years, a research team - led by my father - has been granted permission to explore the reef."

Despite the irreparable devastation caused to much of the planet by global warming in the 20th and 21st centuries, the Great Barrier Reef was still one of the wonders of the natural world and the only living organic collective visible from Earth's orbit.

Ricki took a long sip of wine before continuing. "You may know that the reef - and we're talking about more than 300,000 square kilometers of ocean here - was declared a protected zone by the Global Environment Agency in the late 21st Century. It was their hope that without outside intervention or over-fishing it would eventually regenerate itself. It used to be the habitat of literally thousands of different species of sea life, some of which are now extinct.

"But we're hopeful that we'll be able to document the return of a large number of species and some new ones."

Tom was enthralled by the passion that burned brightly in her beautiful eyes.. His food and the other dinner guests now all but forgotten, a fact that hadn't gone unnoticed by the Admiral, who gave a gruff unsubtle clearing of his throat.

With some effort and an apologetic half-smile for Ricki's benefit, Tom turned reluctantly back to the rest of the group and was drawn immediately into his father's proud boasting to Joel's parents about Tom's recent performance as part of the elite Nova Squadron.

Throughout the rest of the evening, the Admiral seemed determined to distract his son's attention from Richelle Lefrevre, though from time to time he noted the boy's gaze drifting back to the beautiful young Frenchwoman. The mutual attraction and chemistry between the pair was unmistakable and that fact alone filled Owen Paris with a gnawing dread.

Later, with the meal over the group dispersed; Owen and Miriam Paris, ever the proper hosts had gone off to greet in the other weekend houseguests who were starting to arrive en masse. Joel and his parents had returned to their hotel and Ricki and the other bridesmaids had excused themselves to unpack properly in their guest quarters.

Tom and Kat now cuddled up together under a blanket on one of the old-fashioned porch swings, watching as the sun completed its hazy descent leaving the western sky a stunning blend of deep red and burnished gold in its wake. Another beautiful day was destined to follow this one, which had turned out pretty damn good by Tom's reckoning.

He sighed as Kat's fingers carded gently through his short strands of hair. Ah bliss!

"You kept her a secret," came his drowsy voice after a while. Kat grinned, knowing exactly who her brother was referring to.

"Actually, I've known Ricki since college. We were roommates. I'm sure I've mentioned her before,." she teased.

"Nuh uh. Believe me, I'd definitely have remembered."

A comfortable silence followed between the pair, broken a short time later when Kat decided to broach a more sensitive topic.

"How have things been?"

Tom knew straight away that she was asking about their father.

"Oh, same old, same old.," came the weary response, but the sudden tension in his body gave away his true feelings. Kat was more than a little sorry that she'd spent so much time away from her family of late, but trying to juggle her burgeoning work load at the medical center and her relationship with Joel had been her main priority. Now she felt guilty for neglecting Tom, knowing that she was his main confidant when times were hard.

She nudged him playfully. "I want the truth, squirt."

Tom let out a long suffering sigh. "It's the usual stuff, ya know. Nothing I can do…ever…will make him happy, Kat. My grades aren't good enough. My attitude sucks. I'm spending too much time socializing and not enough time studying . And it doesn't help any that a lot of his old cronies are my tutors. If I'm a little late for class or have a hair out of place then they report straight back to the Admiral."

"It's tough, huh?"

Tom shrugged and gave her a devilish grin. "Nah. Probably no more than any Fleet brat, whose father happens to be a high-ranking, overbearing control freak."