Hester Prine

Hester Prine was Miles Bowman's secretary. She was having an affair with the married Bowman.

Hester Prine is based upon Effie Perrine from Dashiell Hammet's The Maltese Falcon. Hester Prine is also the primary character in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Presumably, Harry Turtledove was playing on the fact that "Effie" sounds like the letter "F".