House of Steel: The Honorverse Companion (35 page)

Tremaine, Prescott David

Captain (SG), Royal Manticoran Navy

David “Scotty” Tremaine was assigned to HMS Fearless (CL-56) in 1900 PD as a boat bay control officer. During Fearless’ deployment to Basilisk, Ensign Tremaine first met PO Horace Harkness when the two of them were assigned to customs enforcement. Tremaine provided primary air support for Fearless’ Marines on Medusa. Promoted to lieutenant (jg) in 1901, he was assigned to HMS Troubadour in 1902 and survived that ship’s destruction during the Second Battle of Yeltsin. Following Second Yeltsin, he was assigned to HMS Prince Adrian and promoted to lieutenant (sg) in 1905. In 1910, he was transferred to HMAMC Wayfarer as flight operations officer. In 1911, promoted to lieutenant commander, he served as Honor Harrington’s staff electronics officer in CruRon 18 and was among the POWs who accompanied her to Cerberus. After serving as CO, ENS Krashnark, in the Battle of Cerberus, he returned with Harrington to Trevor’s Star and was promoted to full commander in 1914, when he was assigned as COLAC in HMS Hydra. Promoted to captain (jg) in 1917, he served as COLAC for HMS Werewolf in Task Force 34 for the Battle of Sidemore in 1918. Promoted to captain (sg) in 1920, he served as COLAC of CarRon 3 in Eighth Fleet.

Truman, Dame Alice

Vice Admiral of the Red, Royal Manticoran Navy

Alice Truman was born into a family with a long and distinguished history in the RMN. By 1902 PD, Commander Truman was the commanding officer of HMS Apollo and served as Honor Harrington’s second-in-command at the Battle of Blackbird, where her ship was severely damaged. After the engagement, she evacuated Manticoran wounded and nationals and alerted the Admiralty of the desperate need for reinforcements at Yeltsin’s Star. In 1910, she accepted command of the armed merchantman Parnassus and participated in Commodore Harrington’s anti-piracy operations in the Silesian Confederacy. In 1912, she received command of HMS Minotaur and proved the LAC carrier concept at the Second Battle of Hancock Station. She then commanded the LAC-carriers assigned to Eighth Fleet for Operation Buttercup. Like many, she was placed on half-pay by the High Ridge Government Admiralty, but on Harrington’s insistence, she was returned to command the LAC-carrier task group in Task Force 34 during the Second Battle of Marsh. Once more designated to command Eighth Fleet’s LAC-carriers in 1920, she became Harrington’s second-in-command when Harrington assumed command of that fleet.

Van Dort, Bernardus

Minister without Portfolio, Talbott Quadrant

Bernardus Van Dort, a native of Rembrandt, was the founder, majority shareholder, and chairman of the Rembrandt Trade Union, as well as the primary moving force behind the Talbott Cluster’s request for annexation by the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Van Dort is currently a minister without portfolio in the new Talbott Quadrant government.

Venizelos, Andreas (deceased)

Commander, Royal Manticoran Navy

Andreas Venizelos, as a lieutenant in 1900 PD, was the tactical officer on HMS Fearless (CL-56) and commanded the RMN personnel assigned to Basilisk Traffic Control. In 1902, as a lieutenant commander, he served as the executive officer on HMS Fearless (CA-286), and in 1905 was promoted to commander and served as CO, HMS Apollo. In 1911, as Honor Harrington’s chief of staff in CruRon 18, he was one of the officers captured and taken aboard PNS Tepes and was killed during the escape from that vessel.

Wanderman, Aubrey

Senior Chief Petty Officer, Royal Manticoran Navy

Aubrey Wanderman joined the RMN after leaving Mannheim University, where he was a physics major. He finished second in his training class and was assigned to HMAMC Wayfarer as an electronics technician. In 1920, SCPO Wanderman was assigned to HMS Hexapuma at the time of the Battle of Monica. He is currently assigned to HMSS Weyland’s fabrication and materials division.

Webster, Lord Sir James Bowie, Baron New Dallas (deceased)

Fleet Admiral, Royal Manticoran Navy (retired)

Ambassador to the Solarian League

James Webster took command of Home Fleet as First Space Lord in 1903 PD. As one of the many officers placed on half-pay by Sir Edward Janacek, Admiral Webster became a military analyst for the Opposition. The Grantville Government named him ambassador to the Solarian League, where he orchestrated a remarkably successful public relations campaign on behalf of the Star Kingdom and the annexation of the Talbott Cluster until his assassination in 1921 PD.

Webster, Samuel Houston

Rear Admiral of the Green, Royal Manticoran Navy

Samuel Webster began his career as a communications officer, serving alongside Honor Harrington on multiple occasions, including his first hyper-capable command, HMAMC Scheherazade in 1909. As a Rear Admiral of the Red, he commanded Battle Squadron 16, TF 34, at the Battle of Sidemore in 1918. Promoted to Rear Admiral of the Green in 1920, he is currently attached to BuWeaps as Admiral Sonja Hemphill’s senior departmental commander.

Winton, Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette

Queen Elizabeth III, Star Kingdom of Manticore

Empress Elizabeth I, Star Empire of Manticore

Elizabeth Adrienne Samantha Annette Winton is the sixteenth monarch of the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Born the year Basilisk was annexed, she was named Duchess of Basilisk in 1867 PD on her first birthday. She became Queen at age eighteen, after the untimely death of her father. Although there have been rumors for many years that the death of King Roger III was more than a simple grav skiing accident, no proof has ever been made public. Ably assisted by her Aunt Caitrin (serving as her regent), the Duke of Cromarty (as her prime minister), and her Uncle Jonas (at BuWeaps), Elizabeth continued and expanded her father’s labors to prepare the Star Kingdom for war against the People’s Republic of Haven. From 1905, with the outbreak of active hostilities, until Operation Buttercup in 1914, Elizabeth led her star nation to a point of decisive military superiority over the PRH.

Following the destruction of HMS Queen Adrienne and the death of Allen Summervale in February 1915 PD, she was unable to convince the Opposition to agree to an all-parties government to fight the war to a conclusive victory. Despite her opposition, Baron High Ridge formed a coalition government which excluded the Centrists and Crown Loyalists and accepted Saint-Just’s offer of a truce. When hostilities resumed with Haven in 1918, High Ridge asked her permission to form an all-parties government after all, in a bid to spread the blame for the disaster. Elizabeth, in an unprecedented decision, refused his request. Following the High Ridge Government’s inevitable fall, she summoned William Alexander to form a new government and agreed to the division of the Silesian Confederacy between the SKM and Andermani in order to bring Emperor Gustav XI into the Manticoran Alliance against Haven.

Elizabeth Winton was adopted as a teenager by a treecat that she named Ariel. The treecats refer to her as “Soul of Steel.” Elizabeth Winton’s fiery temper is famous (or infamous, depending upon one’s perspective), and she has a long memory for those who have wronged her, her family, or those she holds dear. She is also extremely loyal to people who serve the Star Kingdom well.

She is married to Justin Zyrr-Winton, a common-born native of Gryphon. Their children are Crown Prince Roger and Princess Joanna. She and Prince Consort Justin are two of Raoul Alexander-Harrington’s godparents.

Winton, Crown Prince Roger Gregory Alexander Timothy

Roger Winton is the Crown Prince of Manticore and the eldest son of Queen Elizabeth III and Prince Consort Justin. He is currently engaged to Rivka Rosenfeld.

Winton, Lady Judith Newland, Duchess Winton-Serisburg

Judith Newland Winton is the daughter of
Grayson
merchants who were killed when their ship was taken by Masadan pirate Ephraim Templeton. She was taken by Templeton as his youngest “wife” at age twelve. She kept her literacy a secret out of fear, but Templeton’s eldest wife, Dinah, realized she was literate and inducted her into the Sisterhood of Barbara, a secret resistance organization among Masadan women. Judith routinely hacked into the computers on Templeton’s ships and taught herself to operate a starship. To save the life of her unborn daughter, she and Dinah led their “chapter” of the Sisterhood in the capture of one of Templeton’s ships and escaped from Masada to Manticore in 1892 PD, with the assistance of Midshipman Michael Winton, then crown prince of Manticore and serving in HMS Intransigent. In 1894, Michael married her and adopted her daughter Ruth. Her past became public only after
Grayson
and Manticore became allied, at which time she became a national heroine on Grayson.

Winton, Prince Michael, Duke Winton-Serisburg

Rear Admiral of the Red, Royal Manticoran Navy

Michael Winton, the younger child of King Roger III and Queen Consort Angelique, was crown prince until the birth of Elizabeth III’s children. He entered Saganami Island, the Royal Manticoran Navy’s academy in 1888 PD, specializing in communications. In 1892 he was assigned to HMS Intransigent for his midshipman’s cruise and was part of the diplomatic team sent to Masada. He assisted the members of the Sisterhood of Barbara, led by Dinah Templeton and Judith Newland, in their escape from Masada. Two years later, he proposed to Judith and married her, adopting her daughter Ruth. He continued his active service career, specializing in R&D with occasional diplomatic assignments. In 1914 he was promoted to commodore and became the commanding officer of BuShips Cyber and Communications Command. Although not placed on half-pay by the Janacek Admiralty, he refused to serve the High Ridge Government and voluntarily went on inactive duty, serving primarily as his sister the Queen’s personal envoy to members of the Manticoran Alliance. In 1919, promoted to Rear Admiral of the Red, he returned to Cyber and Communications, which he currently commands.

Winton-Henke, Lady Caitrin, Duchess Winton-Henke, Dowager Countess Gold Peak

Caitrin Winton-Henke, younger sister of Roger III and wife of Edward Henke, the Earl of Gold Peak, is the mother of Calvin and Michelle Henke and Queen Elizabeth III’s aunt. She served as Queen Elizabeth’s regent from the time of her brother’s death until Elizabeth’s twenty-first birthday and was instrumental in Elizabeth’s continuation and expansion of Roger’s program of naval expansion. Upon the termination of the regency, she served as one of Elizabeth’s senior councilors. When her husband became Foreign Secretary in the Cromarty Government, Caitrin was often selected as one of Elizabeth’s personal diplomatic representatives. Following Gold Peak’s death aboard HMS Queen Adrienne in 1915 PD, Caitrin largely withdrew from any official government role, although she remained one of Elizabeth’s most trusted personal advisors. As Dowager Countess Gold Peak, she acts as her daughter Michelle’s representative in the House of Lords and steward in Gold Peak, but the majority of her time is devoted to her role as CEO of the Edward Henke Memorial Trust, a charitable foundation set up by the House of Winton in her late husband’s memory to assist and support the children and families of personnel serving in the Manticoran armed forces.

Young, Lord Dimitri, Earl North Hollow (deceased)

Dimitri Young, father of Pavel and Stefan Young, was a commander in the RMN before he inherited his title, resigned, and went into politics. He was reputed to have compiled blackmail information on a great many people and to have used it to maintain power through political extortion. He was extremely obese and required a life support chair for mobility. When the court-martial board announced his son Pavel’s conviction and sentence, he died of a stroke.

Young, Lady Georgia Sakristos, Countess North Hollow

Georgia Sakristos worked for Dimitri Young as a security advisor, assistant and female companion. After Pavel Young became Earl, she remained in his employ, although there is some speculation she may have been involved in some of the machinations that led to his death. After Pavel’s death, she married Stefan Young and was selected by Baron High Ridge to chair the Conservative Association’s Policy Coordination Committee. After the destruction of the North Hollow mansion, she disappeared.

Young, Lord Pavel, Earl North Hollow (deceased)

Pavel Young was the eldest son of the Earl of North Hollow. At the Academy, he was issued a reprimand for sexually harassing Honor Harrington. He was relieved of command following the Battle of Hancock and placed under arrest for cowardice under fire. At his court-martial, he was found guilty of the non-capital charges against him and was dishonorably dismissed from the RMN. He attempted to have Honor Harrington killed via duel by proxy and by assassination, before he was himself challenged and killed by Harrington in a duel.

Young, Lord Stefan, Earl North Hollow

Minister of Trade, Star Kingdom of Manticore (retired)

Stefan Young became Earl after his older brother, Pavel, was killed by Honor Harrington in a duel. As the Earl of North Hollow, he was the only peer who actively opposed giving Honor Harrington command of the Q-ships to be deployed to the Silesian Confederacy. In the High Ridge Government, he was Minister of Trade but retired and went into relative seclusion after the destruction of his Landing mansion and the mysterious disappearance of his wife, Lady Georgia Sakristos Young.

Zilwicki, Anton

Captain (JG), Royal Manticoran Navy (retired)

Anton Zilwicki, a native Gryphon highlander, has a background in naval construction with a specialty in technical evaluation. After his wife Helen died in action against PN raiders, defending a convoy that included Zilwicki and his young daughter, he transferred to the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI). While he was stationed on Old Earth and working for the ONI, his daughter Helen was kidnapped. In direct violation of orders to leave the entire investigation in Old Earth hands, he appealed to Lady Catherine Montaigne for help from the Audubon Ballroom and found himself working in collaboration with an agent of the PRH, Victor Cachat. Placed on half-pay for violating orders, he adopted Berry and Lars, who had aided Helen on Old Earth, returned to Manticore, opened an investigation company, became Montaigne’s lover, and continued to represent the Anti-Slavery League. With the creation of the Kingdom of Torch, he became Queen Berry’s senior intelligence analyst.