Nicole Nichols

Nicole Nichols (b c. 2001) was an officer in the United States Air Force. In 2031, she held the rank of major despite being only about thirty. She was a light-skinned black woman with a very shapely body.

Nichols was a senior officer aboard the Commodore Perry. She was the first officer from that ship to make contact with the Americans who had travelled to Home aboard the Admiral Peary. As such, she had the privilege of announcing to the Tau Ceti system that the United States had learned a workable version of FTL propulsion. She also liaised with Sam Yeager, informing him of the USAF's initial policy of not allowing him to return to Earth aboard an American starship, a policy which was eventually overturned. She was not entirely unsympathetic to Yeager, however, giving him the first news of his family he'd had since his son and daughter-in-law had gone into cold sleep in 1994.

Once in system, Nichols became something of a liaison officer with both the Race--she had several meetings with Atvar, who found her far less reasonable than Tosevites of his generation, and she flatly issued threats against the Race to remind it that the United States was now the stronger power. She quickly gained a reputation for formidability, unflappability, and unlikeability among the Race's government officials, and among most of the Admiral Peary's crew as well.

Literary Note
Nicole Nichols's name is quite similar to Nichelle Nichols, an actress who matched her physical description in the late 1960s. From 1966 to 1991, Nichols was a co-star of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy on Star Trek. She played Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, the communications officer of a starship. Obviously, this character is named in the actress's honor.