Pavel Young

Lord Pavel Young, Eleventh Earl of North Hollow, is a fictional character in the Honorverse, a series of military science fiction novels written by David Weber. He fulfills the role of villain on almost every appearance he makes. He appears on three novels: On Basilisk Station, The Short Victorious War and Field of Dishonor

Early Life

The eldest son of Lord Dimitri Young, Tenth Earl of North Hollow, Pavel Young was born heir to one of the oldest earldoms in the Star Kingdom of Manticore. Overly arrogant due to his birth, family fortune and political power, Pavel Young is a cruel individual and a pathological womanizer. He raped the pilot of his father's personal yacht when he was only sixteen, and was covered by his father.

Career

At the Academy

Deciding to become an officer in the Royal Manticoran Navy, Young attended Saganami Naval Academy and was one year ahead of Honor Harrington, in whom he took an interest. When she resisted his advances, he attempted to rape her, for which she beat him into unconsciousness. Because Honor refused to press charges out of humiliation, Young was reprimanded for conduct unbecoming and forced to apologize to Midshipwoman Harrington. He and his father would later take actions to stall Honor's naval career.

Thanks to political patronage and in spite of his questionable abilities as an officer, Young advanced quickly through the ranks of the Royal Navy, becoming commanding officer of the heavy cruiser HMS Warlock. Despite this, he was despised by admirals and officers alike both for his character and his incompetence, and was sent with his ship to picket the Navy's Basilisk Station: a posting considered to be the dumpster of the Royal Navy.

Basilisk Station

In 1900 PD (4003 AD), the light cruiser HMS Fearless, commanded by Honor Harrington, was also assigned to Basilisk Station. Seeing a chance to take revenge on the woman who humiliated him, Captain Young faked a request for "urgent repairs" and returned with Warlock to Manticore, leaving Fearless and Honor with the impossible task of keeping Basilisk Station in order, hoping to ruin her career when she failed to do so. His plan backfired as Honor implemented new measures using the scarce resources at hand and managed to enforce regulations and put a halt to smuggling, earning a commendations and the thanks of the local Manticoran authorities, ultimately foiling a Havenite plot to seize control of the Basilisk System, using a Q-ship which Young had previously cleared as an innocent merchantman. Once again reprimanded, this time for abandoning his assigned station, Young and Warlock were assigned to deep space patrols along the Silesian Confederacy.

Hancock Station and Discharge

Young returned to Honor's life four years later, during the crisis period prior to the outbreak of open war with Haven. Still in command of Warlock, Young was ordered to proceed to Hancock Station, where Honor was serving under the command of Rear Admiral Mark Sarnow as commanding officer of the flagship battlecruiser HMS Nike. When the Havenites attacked Hancock in the first battle of the war and Sarnow's task force was withdrawing under heavy enemy fire (thus drawing the Havenites to a point where Manticoran reinforcements could trap them), Young inherited the command of his squadron when its CO died. Panicked, he ordered his ships to scatter, disrupting the task force defenses. Even more, Young rejected an order by Honor to return to formation, and withdrew with Warlock to the protests and outrage of his own crew.

After the battle of Hancock Station, Pavel Young was placed under arrest pending a court martial, and charged with cowardice in the face of the enemy, disobeying direct orders and compromising the defenses of the force to which he was assigned: charges which would sentence him to death. However, his extremely influential father, a politician in a small party allied to the Prime Minister, threatened to go to the Opposition if his son was condemned, thus depriving the Prime Minister of votes he desperately needed to formally declare war on Haven. This was compounded by the fact that Honor, while flag captain, was not technically in command of the task group when giving the order.

As a solution of compromise, Young was acquitted in those charges which were punishable by death, and was only demoted and dishonorably discharged from the Navy. However, the shock of his discharge caused his father to suffer a fatal heart attack. Young inherited his title, becoming the eleventh Earl of North Hollow. He hired the Prime Minister's distant cousin, Denver Summervale, to kill Honor's first love (and Young's former executive officer on Warlock) Paul Tankersley, in order to punish her for his humiliation.

Death

In vengeance, Honor used her maiden speech to the House of Lords to challenge him to a duel. During the duel, Pavel turned early and fired his weapon at Honor's back. Despite taking a wound to the shoulder, Honor dispatched him with three shots to the heart. His younger brother Stefan inherited his title of Earl North Hollow.

References