Nicole née Iaggi Ransom

Nicole Marie née Iaggi Ransom was a Veterinarian by trade and education; sometime a member of Ransom's Crew; later the wife of Marcus Ransom and the mother of his son Nathan.

Profile

Age: 50 - at the time of the story.

Appearance: Stout, round-faced, copper-colored, large-eyed, long-haired, and brown-eyed behind steel-rimmed spectacles. Hair is brown, with a prominent white streak at the widow's peak.

History: lived through and fought the revolution. Likely very wise; proud and steadfast in her opinions. Sees herself as accommodating (even when she is not), but still a shrewd negotiator. Enthusiastic about animal care, and a trained veterinarian. She has worked with seals, foxes, birds-of-prey, turtles, whales, dolphins, horses, lions, tigers, house-cats, dogs, and even tame fish. Skillful and probably influential in her field. “And she sings, too”: alto, varying to soprano. In her own science, she has many friends.

Nicole probably has a feeling of superiority towards Clipson: no matter his age or accomplishments, to her he's still a little boy.

Education: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine.

Occupation: Doctor of Veterinary Medicine; opthalmology, exotic-species medicine, wild-animal work.

Interests: Making jewellery; taking photographs; working with animals. (Boasted of having "Vaccinated six juvenile raccoons, set a spinal needle, and tamed a feral cat" in her youth; but this was the least of her accomplishments)

Strong points: Strong-minded, resourceful, versatile, intelligent, dignified, rational, optimistic, amiable, and very social. She was fluent in six or seven languages, not including the languages of science, and once insulted Elias Grimshaw in every single one.

Weak points: Impatient, hot-tempered, stubborn, vindictive, conventional, and self-assured. Also, over-fond of junk food. She hates weakness, especially in herself. Weakness in others is to be pitied or despised, according to what she thinks of the person in question.

Way of Speaking: Varies with mood; but generally segregates people according to their ages. To elders she's polite; to juniors sororal; to equals, friendly; etc. Her manner toward her son is both effusive and direct. Clipson, of course, she detests, and will say anything to disagree with him, unless it contradicts a professional principle.

Skeletons in Closet: Clipson, Natalie, and various other rejected alliances. She's also embarrassed to admit how deeply she adores Ransom, though he knows it full well.

Fears: losing a patient; seeing one of the skeletons in her closet come alive; losing her dear ones; dying of something other than Old Age; herself becoming helpless; etc.

Contents of Medicine Cabinet: All veterinary medicines, except those stored in bulk; all human medicines for bites, burns, lacerations, scars, blows, and sicknesses of every kind. At work, she keeps scanning-machines; rolls of bandage; coagulants; laboratory goggles; a Certificate; thermometers, hydration-meters, blood-pressure meters, a chronometer; medical lights; endoscopes, microscopes, periscope, stereoscope, and a stethoscope (this is slightly obsolete, but she keeps one for appearances' sake); also, two tricorders.

Contents of Bookshelf: Medical texts, scientific journals, children's stories (for Nathan); memoirs of great scientists, photograph collections, musical books, technical manuals, case files, and misc.

Hopes/Aspirations: mostly achieved. Her great ambition was 'to be a D.V.M.', and now she is one. Second came the hope of a set of intimate friends-and-relations, on whom she can rely as on her own limbs, and to whom she goes for all socialization; this is exactly what she has.

Family Background

Nicole's father Ralph was a descendant of Nathaniel ('Nat') Iaggi, a well-to-do but unscrupulous railroad entrepreneur, who by a combination of fair means and foul, became the founder of the first transcontinental railway in Altronis' western hemisphere. Her sister Natalie and son Nathan are both named after him. Although Nat Iaggi claimed to be a 'self-made man', who owed no debts, he was known to have seized immense tracts of land through improvement doctrine, eminent domain, shady business deals, fait accompli, and outright blackmail; all backed by financiers abroad, in exchange for a controlling interest in the branch railways. A few generations later, his vast accumulation of wealth was exhausted, when the success of numerous later railways grew greater than his, and his revenue was cut off. His descendants lapsed into a working-class life, to which Nicole is the principal exception.

The last of Nat Iaggi's descendants, until Nicole, to hold any reliable fortune, was his great-granddaughter, Dinah, who rebuilt an irrigation system and revived a dozen orchards in a village in the mountains, and connected the village to the main trunk railroad (in memory of her ancestor). Some years later, the village and all its industry fell victim to the Altronis Corpocracy.

Publications

Causes of death in preweaned northern elephant seal pups (Mirounga angustirostris, Gill, 1866), Año Nuevo State Reserve, California, 2012. Authors: Terry R. Spraker, Eugene T. Lyons, Tetiana A. Kuzmina, Michael S. Tift, Stephen Raverty, Nicole Jaggi, and Daniel E. Crocker;

Parasitological examination for presence of hookworms (Uncinaria spp.) in northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris) at Año Nuevo State Reserve, California (2012). Authors: E.T. Lyons, 



Tetiana Kuzmina, 

T.R. Spraker, 
Nicole Jaggi, 



Daniel P. Costa, 

Daniel E. Crocker, 



S.C. Tolliver, and Michael Tift.