Nimitz

Nimitz, known as Laughs Brightly among The People, was a male treecat who bonded with Honor Harrington when she was 11 T-years old and he about 45. They were steadfast companions thereafter.

He made history as one of the first treecats to settle on a world other than Sphinx, and as one of the first pair of bonded treecats ever to mate and have kittens, and the first ever to do so away from any Clan.

Physical and psychic characteristics

Nimitz was about 65 centimeters long as an adult, not counting his tail, and weighed about nine kilograms. Like all males he was cream and gray colored and had bright grass green eyes. (HH1)

He accompanied Harrington to the RMN Academy, and during her subsequent Naval career, saved her life on at least one occasion, and helped develop an especially intense bond which allowed them to share images and even small "clips" of live eye sight. (HH8)

Biography

Nimitz was born on the planet Sphinx as a member of the Bright Water Clan in the 19th Century PD. He bonded with Honor Harrington during her youth, and she named him after Admiral Chester W. Nimitz of the ancient United States wet Navy of Old Earth. He had to learn how to cope with human society, including such things as table manners; he even sometimes sat in his dinner plate at first.

In 1900 PD, Nimitz accompanied Harrington to her new assignment as the commanding officer of HMS Fearless. (HH1)

In 1903 PD, he followed her to her assignment aboard the newly commisioned Fearless, and became a "plank owner". He was severely stressed by Honor's distress when she learned of the death of Admiral Raoul Courvosier; unusually, he was unable to help her cope with her dismay and regret.

After returning to Grayson, Nimitz accompanied Honor to a dinner with Protector Benjamin IX at the Palace. Nimitz liked Mayhew's wives and children and impressed Mayhew, and the others; Michael Mayhew and Mayhew's wives passed him tidbits during the dinner. Elaine Mayhew discovered that Nimitz loved celery and fed him pieces throughout the dinner.

During the attempt on the Protector's life, and on his family, by the Brotherhood of Maccabeus, Nimitz was the first to notice what was happening, sensing the assassins' intent. He warned Honor through their bond, and launched an attack at the nearest approaching assassins, killing one and blinding the rest of those he reached. During the melee he also saved Honor's life at least once. He was present later when Harrington regained consciousness aboard Fearless. Nimitz accompanied Harrington to Grayson Command Central, which startled him a little because of all the noise.

Nimitz was usually confined in his life support module during engagements, there being no protective vaccum gear for treecats, as for instance during the Battle of Blackbird, in the Grayson system after the assassination attempt. He was with Harrington when she learned of the MNS Thunder of God's arrival in the Yeltsin's Star System. He only went into his survival module after he and Harrington finished a meal. (HH2)

Thanks to Paul Tankersley Nimiz began wearing a prototype skinsuit for Treecats and was able to join Honor on the bridge insted of being confined to his lifesupport module. He soon became an expert at Zero-gee manuvering and acrobatics. Though he was less than pleased with the plumbing connections.(HH4)

In a subsequent deployment, he met and mated with Samantha; they had a litter of 'kittens. Leaving Sphinx for Grayson with Harrington and the kittens, he and Samantha took a few members of his Clan to help raise the 'kittens and established the first treecat colony on another planet.^[1] (HH6)

Both Nimitz and Samantha were very strongly motivated to learn sign language (a variant of human sign language adapted to fewer fingers) after Nimitz was gravely wounded by StateSec guards during Harrington's capture, and lost the ability to 'speak' telepathically. Dr. Allison Chou Harrington suggested that it be tried yet again; this third time the treecats cooperated. (HH7, HH9)

Afterward, they taught other treecats to sign and, as a result, both humans and treecats could communicate with each another directly for the first time. (HH10)

Behavior and tastes

Like all treecats, Nimitz loved celery. He was an avid Frisbee player, and was passably accurate throwing tennis balls at swimming humans. On at least one occasion, he was notably less successful in dodging return fire. Like most treecats, he was less than fond of swimming and getting wet, causing a long running difference with Honor, who enjoyed swimming and did so for both exercise and enjoyment. Also like most treecats who encountered human children, he enjoyed playing [Frisbee keep away] and "Catch the 'cat"; in his case, the Mayhew children were frequent participants. Honor came to call him, affectionately, "Stinker", largely because of his mischievous, prank-prone, nature. (HH1)

Family

Nimitz was bonded to Honor Harrington in approximately his 45th T-year. He was mated with Samantha. The 'kittens' from their first litter were:

References

↑ Nimtz and Samantha had convinced the Bright Water Clan's elders that, as long as treecats lived only on one planet, they were in danger of extermination during an interstellar war in which that planet was involved might result in the loss of all treecats due to accident or deliberate attack. It would be sensible to begin spreading The People to other planets.

[1] Nimtz and Samantha had convinced the Bright Water Clan's elders that, as long as treecats lived only on one planet, they were in danger of extermination during an interstellar war in which that planet was involved might result in the loss of all treecats due to accident or deliberate attack. It would be sensible to begin spreading The People to other planets.

[1]