minute creation. Originally,  Nicholas Locarno, (also played by Robert Duncan McNeill (qv)) a  Starfleet Academy cadet who had been expelled in the episode "The  First Duty" of _"Star Trek: The Next Generation" (1987)_ (qv), was  to have been the person that Captain Janeway released from prison to  help track down the Maquis ship. However, using Locarno in  _"Star Trek: Voyager" (1995)_ (qv) would mean the producers would  have to pay royalties to Ronald D. Moore (qv) and  Naren Shankar (qv) (the writers of "The First Duty") every time  Locarno appeared in an episode. Rather than do that, the producers  created the character of Tom Paris, who shares a similar back story  as Nick Locarno (both had been cashiered out of Starfleet having  caused the death of another officer).