Doctor James Atheling was a 23rd century Human man. He was a scientist, noted physicist and professor.
Atheling held the reserve rank of commodore in Starfleet and was an expert on non-thermal sources of bosons and tachyons.
He was fond of 20th century detective fiction and favored Raymond Chandler's novels over those of Dashiell Hammett. By 2269, he was in his early sixties, sometimes wore spectacles, and had thin, gray hair.
Biography[]
By the 2250s, Atheling was a highly-regarded instructor at Starfleet Academy when he taught cadet Andre Charvat.
By 2256, Atheling had earned a full professor-ship and become a department head. He served as cadet Sharon Follett's thesis advisor from 2256-2258.
Afterward, he established the Nesta research station on the planet Nesta.
In 2269, he accepted a position as the new dean of Starfleet's College of Science at the planet Academy. He was ferried there by the Federation starship USS Enterprise, but, en route, he recommended stopping to investigate a newly-discovered rogue planetoid orbited by an artificially constructed microstar. He was concerned when his former student Follett joined the first landing party, and later accompanied Spock's group of three rescue shuttles.
Atheling became stranded on the planet Anomaly, selected as one of six people whose memories were explored by the telepathic Arivne, along with Charvat, Follett, Spock, Leonard McCoy, and Rosaly Ybarra. These memories included cheating on a mathematics test, then compensating by becoming an expert in the tested topics.
A falsified distress call and captain's log created by the Arivne recorded that Atheling was killed in a transporter malfunction. In reality, the stranded personnel were eventually returned to the Enterprise, and the ship proceeded to Academy. (TOS novel: Planet of Judgment)
