Alfred Harrington

He was married to Dr. Allison Chou Harrington and had one daughter, Honor Harrington, and a pair of twins, James and Faith, who were born several decades after Honor. (HH2, HH8)

Biography

He was born on Sphinx as a member of the Harrington Clan, an old and respected yeoman family. (UHH)

At age eighteen, he enlisted in the Royal Manticoran Marine Corps, and rose to Platoon Sergeant within five years. He was even considered for an officer's commission, when an incident occured that left many people dead and earned him the Osterman Cross, the highest military honor exclusively for enlisted personnel. He accepted the offered officer's commission, but requested a transfer to the Navy so that he could become a medical officer.

Harrington attended Semmelweis University on Beowulf on a military scholarship, where he met Captain Jacques Benton-Ramirez y Chou of the Biological Survey Corps, as well his twin sister, Allison. Afred and Allison were almost instantly attracted to each other when they first met, although neither chose to act on it. When she was kidnapped a short time later to force information out of her brother, Alfred was able to locate her through a latent psychic connection he felt. Killing several of the Mesan kidnappers, he freed Allison and carried her off. Jacques came to their rescue when the Mesans cornered them in a ditch not far away, killing all remaining kidnappers from an assault shuttle. A short time later, Alfred and Allison confessed their feelings for each other, with the young woman explaining that maybe their love would be able to cancel out their respective shortcomings and make them both whole. (HHA6.3: BATB)

He warned her when he proposed marriage that his scholarship meant he owed the Navy fifteen years of service, and that they would need to return to Sphinx, which was considered quite conservative compared to Manticore, let alone Beowulf. (HH7)

He held the rank of Surgeon Commander when he retired from the RMN around 1870 PD.^[1] (HHA3.1: MMH) His final duty assignment was Assistant Chief of Neurosurgery at Bassingford Medical Center. He was one of then-Captain Thomas Caparelli's physicians after Caparelli's injuries suffered while assigned to duty in the Silesian Confederacy (HH9)

After retirment he and his wife eventually became senior partners with the Duvalier Medical Association. (HH1) In 1903 PD, he and his wife attended the recommissioning ceremony for HMS Fearless' aboard the space station HMSS Vulcan. (HH2)

Dr Harrington would repair his daughter's battle wounds through reconstructive surgery and therapy. It would take over a year for her to recover. In 1903 PD, he and his wife had an apartment in Duvalier City. (HH3) He and his wife and children were among the few members of the Harrington Clan who survived the Mesan Operation Oyster Bay. (HH12) He was terribly shaken by the loss of most of his family. (HH13)

Character

Alfred Harrington was a strong-willed and energetic person, with a potential for violence far beyond that of most humans. He was afraid of his own exceptional ability to kill and destroy, and only found peace with himself through the marriage to Allison and his work as a healer. (HHA6.3: BATB)

He had a strong enough mind-glow to show some latent telepathic abilities, a fact that the treecats attributed to him being a direct descendant of Stephanie Harrington. (HHA6.4: TBLP)

Service Record

Promotions

Sergeant, RMMC
Lieutenant (JG)
Lieutenant
Surgeon Lieutenant
Surgeon Lieutenant Commander
Surgeon Commander

Posts

Assistant Chief of Neurosurgery, Bassingford Medical Center, Landing, Manticore

Decorations

References

↑ When Honor was about eleven T-years old.

[1] When Honor was about eleven T-years old.

[1]