Matthew Brighthaven

A portrait of the character

Matthew Brighthaven is a former member of the Terran Space Navy on loan to the Pelted Fleet. He spent time as the commandant of Fleet Academe, and is part of the Fleet Admiralty. Was in his thirties during Alysha's time at the Academe.

Appearance and Personality

Matthew Brighthaven is a lean, tall man with a strong jaw, tan skin, and oak-brown hair streaked with grey. His eyes are a sharp steel-green color. Brighthaven has broad, sturdy shoulders and large hands with sensitive fingers. His voice is a baritone. He wears cologne.

He is 15 years older than Alysha, and about a decade younger than Newell. (This would put his birthdate at 419, one year after Laelkii's.)

Biography

Pre-Fleet History

Spent his first years doing solar system security runs. Airforce man. Airforce became Earth's space ops division. Officer. Good grades in the Academy. Ended up teacher's assistant in several cases, and worked for a while for the admin's office. Used to work patrols in Sol. Went from in charge of single craft to in charge of squad of several. Did a lot of training/mentoring--this got noticed. Got talked up by his superior officer at the time: "We need people to go over into the pelted. You're good at training; they need someone to head up their academy." B, thinking they meant one campus of it: "Sure." Arrives, discovers they meant THE ENTIRE THING. "Y'all, I have no idea how to run a school." "They don't need you to run the school, they have administrators for that. They need you to be a presence, and an influence."

At the time Alysha went into the Academe, Brighthaven had been there two years, and he left the Academe a year after her graduation. This is mistakenly known as a tenure of 3 years, but it would actually be a tenure of six (Volner was the one who insisted that Brighthaven had run the Academe for three years, so he might have been wrong, even though Brighthaven didn't correct him). He was also the youngest commandant ever to helm the Academe.

Post-Assignment to Fleet

Brighthaven was loaned out from the Terran Space Navy to the Pelted Fleet, and served as commandant of Fleet Academe. During his tenure there, he was betrayed by his second, Harroway Sloan, who sought to murder Alysha Forrest and frame Brighthaven in support of the Anti-Human League. With Forrest's support, Brighthaven elected to remain with Fleet and accept a position in the Admiralty.

Left "a couple of years" after Baner and Alysha graduated. Overhauled Fleet Academe during that period. Reformed the tuition system so specialist cadets still paid the high rates but cadets going command had a drastically reduced rate. Ensured more scholarships and work grants, and hired someone to seek those opportunities, not just in the Core but for other Academe campuses. Made a post for someone to oversee the curriculum and policies of the Academe as a whole, across all its campuses, with a committee to support that post's efforts. He spent 6 years in charge of the Academy before they moved him into PR, so he only lasted 2 years after she left. It was too hard for him to stay.

Ended up senior admiral in Public Relations after his tenure as Commandant, because according to Newell, "You're charismatic, you're a good speaker, and you think well on your feet. Doesn't hurt that you're young and good-looking. Plays well to the cameras." During this time he defended the rewrite of the Fleet Manual, and became the face of the new human push to reform Fleet.

Family

• Parents:
• Brother, married, they have a daughter (the niece that likes tea parties)
• Younger sister (died when she was 6; Brighthaven was 13 at the time.)

Has a niece? He likes to have tea parties with her. Has parents as well, and presumably a sibling (a brother, I think).

Had a younger sister who died in a car accident. She was 6. (He used to be sunnier until this point. He was 13.) Came from a family with some money... money didn't bring her back, though. Father was strict, didn't let him have anything he wanted. Had to work for his allowance. Parents still live on Earth, in Virginia.

Quotes

• "Whether you intended it or not, you're making a name for yourself and that ship of yours. Which you've only just been assigned to. You might consider slowing down a little. Maybe saving up so you can sprinkle things throughout the next few years. A few daring rescues. A world-shattering discovery or two."

• "We'll look out for each other, then. We have practice at that, don't we. Alysha."

• "When you find yourself confronted with a soldier's decisions--when you kill people, alet, and have to make your peace with it at the end of the day--knowing that you were doing it in a context that makes sense, that you aren't the only person to have struggled with it, and that generations before you, and generations after, will walk the same path... that helps you live with yourself."

Trivia

• knows how to mix a Manhattan, likes rye whiskey, used to have brandy in the back rooms of Phantasies, and drinks tonic with a lime twist when he wants to look like he's drinking something alcoholic

Story Appearances

Alysha's Fall (Fiction)

Faith in the Service (Fiction)

Who is Willing (Fiction)