Samantha with Hamish Alexander-Harrington
Samantha, known as Golden Voice among her own kind, was a female treecat of the Sun Leaf Clan.
Physical characteristics[]
Samantha was slightly smaller than Nimitz, and had a coat of dappled brown and white. She was also extremely attractive by treecat standards. (HH6)
Biography[]
She had an extremely powerful mind-glow and was one of the extremely small group of treecats who felt the need for the human mind glow; she became the first memory singer to have acted upon that urge and form an adoption bond. She left the security of her clan, under considerable protest at the loss of a powerful memory singer, to contact humans. Her bonding partner was Commander Harold Tschu.[1] She was the first memory singer to ever leave the planet Sphinx until Hera immigrated to Grayson. She and Nimitz met and mated when their persons were assigned to the Q-ship HMAMC Wayfarer. She became pregnant shortly before Tschu was killed in the Battle of the Selker Rift.[2] She did not suicide, in part because of Nimitz' demand that she live. She was the last crewmember saved from the wreckage of the ship.
Honor Harrington and Nimitz returned to Manticore with her after Tschu's loss. (HH6) Her pregnancy resulted in Harrington's reassignment to non-hazardous duty, even though Harrington was not technically Samantha's person; she and Nimitz were the only "family" she had left. She gave birth to four 'kittens: Jason, Cassandra, Achilles and Andromeda.
Samantha and Nimitz convinced the council (i.e., the memory singers and elders) of the Bright Water Clan that, to ensure the survival of their species, it was necessary to spread it over other planets. Having seen the power of human weapons, they realized how fragile their existence on one single planetary habitat had become.[3] (HHA3.4: CoW) Some time later, Samantha was among those treecats who migrated to Grayson. (HH7)
Samantha, Nimitz, and Farragut were the first treecats to learn sign language. (HH9) She also adopted a new partner, Admiral White Haven[4], much to Honor Harrington's surprise. Samantha and Emily Alexander spent a great deal of time talking, and it was in these discussions that Samantha led Lady Emily to give her blessing to Harrington and White Haven acting on their love for each other. (HH10)
Samantha later became a liaison or semi-ambassador between treecats and humans to help treecats to more fully integrate into human society. She worked on the Crown Commission on Treecats with Dr. Adelina Arif, Dr. Allison Chou Harrington and several other prominent scientists. (HH11)
References[]
- ↑ According to limited records, Samantha was one of only eight female treecats in over 400-T-years to adopt anyone other than a Sphinx Forestry Commission ranger.
- ↑ According to Honor Harrington, Samantha's pregnancy was only the third ever recorded in the RMN.
- ↑ This was excellent foresight in light of the aftermath of Operation Oyster Bay.
- ↑ Treecats recognize their people within seconds or minutes of meeting, except in very special circumstances. But Samantha had spent considerable time in White Haven's presence without adopting him. She was also one of very few treecats to adopt a second human companion.