Protea

This article has a separate continuity. This article is in the Richard Hatch Novelizations separate continuity, which is related to the Original Series. Be sure that your contributions to this article reflect the characters and events specific to this continuity only.

Protea is a teacher aboard Hestia who operates an education program serving approximately thirty children. She is a childhood friend of Commander Athena and perishes in the evacuation barge incident during the Fleet's resource crisis.

Biography

Early Life

Protea grows up with Athena, establishing a friendship that extends over many yahren. She has at least one daughter.

Education Program

Protea establishes and operates an education program aboard Hestia, serving approximately thirty children in addition to her own daughter. The program functions despite cramped quarters typical of fleet vessels and represents a significant effort to maintain educational continuity for the ship's children.

During a period when Athena last observes the program under normal conditions, Protea appears content with the educational program despite the space limitations, exhibiting satisfaction with her work. Her commitment to the program is such that she characterizes it as something she "fought so hard to get going."

Resource Crisis

During the fleet-wide resource shortage, Hestia's population experiences severe deprivation. Protea makes ten attempts to contact Commander Athena through private communication channels, with requests repeatedly redirected through bureaucratic processes rather than reaching fleet command directly. When communication is finally established, Protea reports that the ship's population is starving.

Physical evidence of malnutrition is visible during the communication. Protea's appearance shows significant deterioration from earlier observations—her hair, previously dark with silver threading, has become dull steel gray. Athena notes the visible aging effect of the starvation conditions.

When offered emergency relocation to Daedalus for herself and her daughter, Protea declines. She states: "I'm tired. But it's not just me, Athena. I have my daughter, yes, but there are thirty others." She indicates she cannot abandon the children under her care, prioritizing their welfare over her own safety.

Protea expresses hope that evacuation to Rising Star will provide access to improved food supplies, responding "Thank the Lords" when informed that Commander Apollo has ordered adequate provisions stocked.

During the final communication with Athena, Protea attempts to convey a warning about unspecified dissent: "It's not just that we've been suffering. Some people don't want to..." She does not complete the statement, interrupted by commotion behind her. Her final words to Athena are: "I've got to go. Be well, Athena. I'll probably never see you again." The communication ends at this point.

Death

Protea boards the rescue barge during Hestia's evacuation, along with approximately 200 other passengers and the barge's crew of 22, for transport to Rising Star. The barge experiences complete fuel system failure during transit, with all life support systems subsequently failing. No personnel survive the incident.

Character

Protea is characterized as talented in her educational work. Her dedication to her students is demonstrated by her refusal to accept personal evacuation when it would require abandoning the children in her program. Athena recalls her as having been "laughing, quick, lithe" in earlier years.

Her incomplete warning during the final communication suggests awareness of brewing discontent or rebellion among Hestia's population, though the specific nature of this concern remains unresolved.