Helen Zilwicki

Helen Antonia Zilwicki was a Manticoran citizen and an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy.
==Family==
She was the daughter of Anton Zilwicki and his wife Helen, as well as the adoptive sister of Larens Zilwicki and Queen Berry I of Torch. ()
She was effectively Crown Princess of Torch according to the Torch constitution, being the oldest sibling of Berry, who had no children at the beginning of her reign. ()
==Biography==
Four-year-old Helen and her father were passengers on a convoy bound for the Grendelsbane System while her mother commanded the escort. When a superior Havenite force attacked, Captain Zilwicki made the decision to order the escort to turn and face the enemy. This maneuver saved the convoy but all of the escort ships were lost, including the one commanded by Helen's mother. ()
After the death of her mother, Helen accompanied Anton to Earth, where, at the age of six, she began a martial arts training with Robert Tye, her sensei.
At age fourteen, Scrags working for Raphael Durkheim abducted her. She managed to escape from the cell where they had imprisoned her, killing three men in the process. During the escape, she met up with two young children, Berry and Larens. Durkheim planned for her to be "accidentally" killed during a rescue operation, but Victor Cachat foiled this by killing the StateSec troopers and Scrags under his command. ()
Some time later, she entered the Royal Manticoran Naval Academy on Saganami Island on the planet Manticore, and studied under Admiral Honor Harrington. ()
For her Midshipman cruise, she served aboard the heavy cruiser HMS Hexapuma, deployed to the Talbott Cluster. She soon came to the attention of the ship's commanding officer, Captain Aivars Terekhov. He began grooming her as his personal assistant while he led naval forces in charge of weakening the resistance against the Manticoran annexation effort. As part of this mission, Midshipwoman Zilwicki was assigned as Bernardus Van Dort's personal assistant. She took part in negotiations with Stephen Westman on Montana, and fought in the decisive Battle of Monica. Soon after, she and the other midshipmen aboard the ship were promoted to the rank of ensign. ()
Hexapuma returned to Manticore, but Ensign Zilwicki was soon sent to the Talbott Quadrant again, this time as newly promoted Commodore Terekhov's flag lieutenant. (, )
While assigned to the Talbott Quadrant, she began a romantic relationship with Ensign Paulo d'Arezzo. ()
== Character and traits ==
Helen preferred Crown's Own beer, and considered it one of the better Gryphon dark beers available. ()
== Service Record ==
=== Promotions ===
* Ensign (1921 PD)
=== Posts ===
* HMS Hexapuma – Midshipwoman Cruise
* Cruiser Squadron 94 – Flag Lieutenant
== References ==
Zilwicki, Helen
Zilwicki, Helen
Zilwicki, Helen
Zilwicki, Helen
Zilwicki, Helen