Heveena

Heveena
Aliases	Gondus Elden
Affiliation	The Sanctuary
Occupation / Position	Author World leader
Portrayed by	Rena Owen
First Seen	About a Girl
Biographical information
Marital status	Single
Status	Alive
Home Planet	Moclus
Physical description
Species	Moclan
Gender	Female

Well, look at that. Your planet's greatest writer is a female.— Kelly Grayson to Advocate Kagus

Heveena was a female Moclan and novelist. She achieved fame as the greatest writer in Moclan history under the pseudonym "Gondus Elden."

For most of her life, Heveena lived in seclusion in the mountains of Moclus. Together with other Moclan women, she quietly established a clandestine network and a hidden refugee colony known as "The Sanctuary" and frequently visited it.

History

Early Life

When Heveena was born her parents made the decision to forego the sex reassignment surgery typically performed on Moclans who are born female. A nearly all-male species, Moclans view female Moclans as frail and biologically aberrant. The family lived by themselves in a home in the mountains, raising Heveena free of the public shame of her sex.

After her parents died, Heveena remained in her parents' home. She wrote novels under the alias Gondus Elden. Moclans adored her writings, unaware that Elden was in fact a woman.

"Many years" prior to 2421, Heveena and other women established a clandestine network of ships for families who sought refuge from the government that would forcibly alter the sex of their daughters. They established a colony known as "The Sanctuary," hidden in a dense nebula. Heveena became a leader and visited the colony over a dozen times, although evidently she continued to live in the mountains of Moclus.

Topa's trial

During the trial of Topa in November 2419, she testified on behalf of the plaintiff to allow Bortus and Klyden's child to remain female. At the close of trial, she revealed herself as Gondus Elden.

The Sanctuary

In 2421, Heveena was at The Sanctuary when the USS Orville discovered them, pursuing an ion trail left by Toren and Korick. (Toren and Korick had tricked the Orville's crew into delivering them to The Sanctuary's transport circuit to deliver their daughter Mersa.) Heveena initially planned to evacuate the colony and flee to a new hiding spot, but Captain Ed Mercer and First Officer Kelly Grayson convinced her to petition the Planetary Union Council for protection.

Heveena argued powerfully to the Council to recognize The Sanctuary as a sovereign state, but many delegations were unpersuaded and Ambassador Dojin of Moclus even threatened to secede from the Planetary Union. The Council decided not to recognize the colony planet in return for Moclus' promise not to touch The Sanctuary and for The Sanctuary to disband its transport circuit. Heveena believed the imperfect agreement was a step forward in the advancement of rights for female Moclans, and she returned to The Sanctuary.

New Horizons

Heveena appeared in a flashback to Topa's trial in the Orville's Environmental Simulator when Topa found out in 2422 that he hatched as female through Grayson and Bortus. The trial was saved under the file name "Kimbok33" in the Orville's Environmental Simulator.

Later that year, the Planetary Union asked members of the Orville crew to visit Heveena's sanctuary world as part of an annual inspection. As part of the agreement between the Union and the Moclans, each were allowed to send a team to ensure the terms of the agreement were not being violated. The Moclans came to ensure that Heveena was no longer smuggling new Moclan females to the planet, while the Union ensured that the Moclans were not trying to harass or oppress the colonists in any way. Kelly Grayson and Bortus agreed to be members of the team. Topa asked to come along as well. Though Bortus was skeptical of the idea, Kelly convinced him to allow her to come along, feeling the experience would be good for her.

Upon arrival on the planet, Topa was delighted to meet Heveena. She had been reading her works and particularly enjoyed one called Mountain of Solitude. She told Heveena that it was a honor to be in her presence, but Heveena replied that the honor was all hers. She told Topa that her story was an inspiration to everyone on the planet. When Topa told her that she had seen her in simulations, she replied that she hoped the real her wouldn't disappoint.

Later, Heveena and Topa talked privately. Topa thanked Heveena for speaking for her during the trial, but Heveena told her that her gratitude was misplaced, that she had failed her. Topa replied that this wasn't the case, that it had just taken a bit longer. Pleased, Heveena showed Topa the luminites, glowing insects found on the planet. She told her that blue luminites were extremely rare and that she herself was like one. She then revealed a secret to Topa: that she had resumed her underground network to smuggle females from Moclus and bring them to safety. She asked Topa to take part in a mission: to receive encrypted communications using the Orville's advanced communications array to greatly speed up the process. To this end, she entrusted Topa with the name of her secret contact on Moclus.

Shortly afterwards, Topa was kidnapped by the Moclans from the party sent by Moclus to inspect the colony. Bortus and Kelly left in pursuit, but Heveena remained on the planet. When the Orville did not hear from any of them, Captain Ed Mercer ordered the ship to the sanctuary world in violation of the treaty. There, upon learning of the situation, Ed brought Heveena aboard the Orville. He asked her what had happened, but it quickly became clear that she was holding something back. He told her that he needed to know and she admitted to having violated the terms of the agreement. He called her out for putting a child in the position she had, telling her that while he respected her struggle, she was trying to advertise tactical opportunism as pious morality.

Ed contacted Admiral Halsey, explaining the situation. He told Ed that the best move would be for Heveena to testify before the Planetary Union Council, that if she admitted to violating the treaty, they would have the power to launch a formal investigation. Heveena, however, replied that her answer was no, stating that if the matter were brought before the Council, she would deny everything. Ed, disappointed, told her that he wanted her to stay aboard the Orville until Lieutenant Commander Talla Keyali completed her investigation and she agreed.

Not longer afterward, Heveena received a summons to the Environmental Simulator, being told that there was someone that Ed wanted her to meet. Confused, she nevertheless entered and found herself in a homely, 20th-century country home. Things quickly became clear when Dolly Parton entered the room. Heveena, stunned, bowed to her, having a great respect for her music after having been introduced to it by the Orville's crew. She then, however, realized what Ed was trying to do and pointed out the fact that Dolly was an illusion. Dolly agreed this was the case, revealing that she knew that she had been programmed from historical records and data. She told Heveena that while she might not be real, she was nevertheless still Dolly.

Dolly asked Heveena to sit, telling her that she looked like she had the weight of the world on her shoulders and asking her if she wanted to talk about it. Heveena told her that she had placed a young girl's life in danger to achieve a greater good, that she had been given a chance to save her but it would put more female lives at risk. Dolly agreed that it was complicated, asking her if she knew where she was at the moment. She explained that Heveena was in a cabin much like the one where she was born and raised in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. Heveena told her she had also been raised in the mountains and Dolly replied that she knew there was a reason that she liked her. She told her a story from her childhood, then played the song "Try" from her album Blue Smoke for her. Following this, Heveena relented and Ed ordered that the Orville set a course for Earth.

On Earth, Heveena admitted what she had done. The crew of the Orville and the Union tried to use this to order for a full investigation into Topa's kidnapping. The Moclans, however, expressed outrage at Heveena's actions. They ordered that Heveena be arrested, stating that the only fact that had been presented was that she violated the agreement. They declared that she must be arrested or the Union would be complicit in her crimes. They declared that they would no longer abide by the terms of their previous agreement and that the Council give them a formal apology for allowing what Heveena had done to happen in the first place. They asked for anyone to stand if they could debate the legality of the position.

Just then, however, Bortus and Kelly arrived with a badly beaten Topa. They explained that Topa had been kidnapped and taken to a secret black site in the Zonari System where she had been tortured savagely until made to reveal the name of Heveena's contact. The Moclans had then planned to murder her after getting the information and were only barely stopped from doing so. Bortus called the Moclans out as butchers, demanding that they must answer for their crimes. As a result of this, Moclus was expelled from the Planetary Union and the sanctuary world was granted Union protection as an independent state. Heveena then told Bortus that she was truly sorry and that she did not expect him to forgive her. Bortus replied only that this was a reasonable expectation.

Writings

Several fragments of Heveena's writings have been revealed:

• "The blackest abyss is a pock in the flesh when one has gazed in solitude upon the infinity of self."
• "Between soul and sacrifice beats the heart of civilization."

One of her works was titled Mountain of Solitude. This was Topa's favorite.

Production

Heveena's dwelling is a mountain cave.

Heveena is protrayed by actress Rena Owen, who originally auditioned for the role of Doctor Claire Finn in the pilot. Luckily, the casting department remembered Owen and she was called back to audition for the role of Heveena instead.

Trivia

• She has quoted the works of a human author, though she did not know who said it: "Every revolution begins with a single act of defiance." The quote is typically attributed to Mahatma Gandhi.

Appearances

• Episode 1x03: About a Girl
• Episode 2x12: Sanctuary
• Episode 3x05: A Tale of Two Topas (simulation)
• Episode 3x08: Midnight Blue