Alpha quadrant, sector 001
Mars Station

Dr. Abbey Paris folded the last of her shirts and set it in her duffle. She didn't have many outfits in there; she figured she could replicate whatever she would need as she went. The few she had were the ones she had been wearing for the past few days.

"Got everything?" a voice asked from the doorway of the small guestroom she had been occupying for four days, since she arrived at Mars Station. She snapped her head up to see her sister standing there.

"Yeah, I think so," she said as closed the bag. "Anything I forgot, you can just send back to Mom and Dad. I'm sure they won't mind holding it for awhile."

Miral waved her hand dismissively. "If it's small enough for you to have forgotten, I wouldn't mind holding it, either."

Abbey studied her older sister for a minute, feeling the familiar mix of jealousy and sadness. Miral was, and always would be, the big sister who set the bar too high for anyone else to reach. Growing up, Abbey always thought of Miral as everything she was not. She was tall and poised, with their mother's thick dark hair, dark eyes, and bronzed skin. She was smart enough to have been accepted to the Academy at seventeen, although she chose to defer a year in order to enter at the same time as Richard, her future husband. She was a very talented pilot; she had been invited to try out for Nova Squadron her freshman year at the Academy, and became the first fourth classman ever to be accepted. Everyone always commented that she was completely fearless, both at the helm and fighting hand-to-hand. She had their father's flying skills and sense of humor; their mother's strength, looks, determination, and, unfortunately, her temper as well. Abbey, on the other hand, was small to the point of near-waifishness—a trait that had been handy in her days as a gymnast, but was now just a source of frustration. She was much more fair, her hair a shade of blond lighter than their father's, with his blue eyes and ruddy skin, none of which went nicely with the cranial ridges she got from their mother. She was smart and talented enough to get into the Academy, but unlike Miral, was nearly useless at the helm of a starship or shuttle, and unlike Joe, not assertive enough to make Red Squad, the elite group dedicated to advanced fieldwork training. While she was competitive in some aspects of her life, like her gymnastics growing up, more often than not, she couldn't care less about being on top. She lacked the kind of drive their mother had, making her more like their father in that way; merely content to take life's battles as they arise, and not go out looking for new ones. She wasn't completely hard on herself—she knew she was a talented piano player, and once among the best gymnasts Starfleet had. But the piano was a hobby, and the gymnastics was gone. She knew she had more patience than either of her parents or either of her siblings, and often wondered growing up where that, like her musical abilities, came from. She was the closest thing to a misfit that the Paris family had.

She glanced up at the antique wall clock—circa 1950—their father had replicated Miral as a housewarming gift, and quickly calculated the time. It was half after one o'clock—1330 hours. Their mother was scheduled to arrive any minute; their father had arrived the afternoon before with Harry Kim, and was staying in his commuter quarters on the other side of the residential area of the Station.

"Thanks again for letting me stay here the past few days," she said to her sister.

To her surprise, Miral smiled. "Abbey, it was my pleasure. I hadn't seen you in awhile, and, well, I had gotten excited about us both being here at Utopia Planitia together. I had all sorts of things planned that we could do together."

"Like sleepovers and manicures, giggling about deeply buried secrets?" Abbey asked with a grin. They both laughed at the thought—they were not girly girls, and none of those activities ever really appealed to either of them. "Sorry I had to ruin your plans by taking this assignment."

"As long as you're happy, Abbey, that's all that matters," Miral said, surprising her sister yet again. "Enjoy it while you can. Before you know it, you're going to be married and stuck at some station with the kids while your husband gets all the fun assignments." She said it with a smile, but Abbey knew that she meant every word. Although she was a good test pilot and excellent flight instructor, it wasn't nearly enough excitement for Miral. Abbey suspected that she resented Richard's freedom, but she wasn't about to bring that up. Some other time, perhaps.

*Shuttle dock to Commander Paris,* Miral's combadge chirped.

"Must be Mom," Miral said before responding: "Paris here."

*The shuttlecraft Antarian Rally is on approach.*

"Thank you, we'll be there shortly. Paris out." Both Parises rolled their eyes when they heard which shuttle was coming. The Antarian Rally was the Paris family's private shuttle, designed and built entirely by them and named after the race their parents were competing in when their father proposed. "Well, we should get going," Miral said to her younger sister. They headed out of the apartment, toward the transport to take them to the business side of the base. This is it, thought Abbey. There's no turning back now.

---

To their surprise, there was not one person in the Antarian Rally, but two. "Joey!" Abbey exclaimed when her twin brother stepped out of the shuttle. "What are you doing here?"

"I couldn't let my twin sister go off on her first assignment without saying goodbye," he replied with a grin. "Plus I had just finished my top-secret mission and was in the neighborhood." He gave his smaller sister a large hug, then pulled back and held her at arm length to look at her. "Look at you, all grown up with your full lieutenant pips," he said with a teasing grin.

Her eyes flashed devilishly for a second. "I know. After four years as an ensign, I outrank you."

"Only for another week," he said, his grin widening.

Abbey's eyes widened as that registered. "You're getting the promotion? Congratulations!" She gave her brother another hug. Unlike the medical corps, which had predictable promotions every six years, assuming one stayed out of big trouble, promotions in Intelligence weren't always easy to come by.

"He just told us last night, when he got in," B'Elanna said as she joined them. "Whatever it is he was just doing, it must have made an impression on his commanding officers."

"Either that or he's blackmailing them about something," Miral said dryly. Joe only grinned back at his older sister.

Since Abbey still had another two hours until she was allowed on the Kirk, they met up with Tom, and the Paris family decided to find a place for a late lunch. As they ate, Abbey studied her twin brother. He was younger than her by almost an hour, but had always been bigger, and always somewhat protective of his small sister. It had been over a year since the two had seen each other in person, and depending on how deep he was into an assignment, his letters came somewhat sporadically, and often contained little more than responses to her stories, so Abbey had little idea what had been going on in his life. What she did know was that the time in Intelligence had changed him. He still looked the same: tall and athletic, with thick, dark hair and dark eyes, but there was something different now. He looked more serious, and even while talking in the restaurant, Abbey noticed his eyes flickering toward the door, windows, and other patrons, always ready for whatever may occur. He used to be much more relaxed and playful, with a definite devilish streak. As cadets, the Paris twins' practical jokes were something to be feared by students and professors alike; now, Abbey doubted he'd be interested in reprogramming the hand-to-hand combat simulation with Girl Scouts instead of Klingons, or replacing all the band instruments with replicas that sounded like Nosacarian geese. On the one hand, she was glad it appeared that her brother was growing up; on the other, she was sad to think that her favorite childhood playmate wouldn't be interested in playing anymore.