Theodore "Ted" Tubberman was a colonist and the chief botanist for the Pern colony.
Biography[]
First Fall[]
Ted lost his daughter and apprentice Lucy Tubberman in the first threadfall. Grief turned him into a very difficult person for the colonists to deal with while trying to rally and fight Thread. His outlandish conspiracy theories and arrogant nature soon made him quite disliked. After being outvoted on sending to FSP for help, his disruptive behavior led to him being carried out of the colonists' meeting.
Shunned[]
After the death of Avril Bitra, her former cohorts Stev Kimmer and Bart Lemos worked with Ted to steal the hidden homing capsule and launch a distress call into space. The colonists leaders, Paul Benden and Emily Boll, could only prove his involvement. The consequence for going explicitly against the vote of the colony was for him to be returned to his home stake and shunned. As a mark of how many people he had rubbed the wrong way, this punishment was fairly rejoiced at.
His oldest son Ned Tubberman, found it hard to relate to him, and the stress on the family after he was Shunned took much out of him.
Shunning proved difficult under more than one circumstance. Ted's wife, Mary, stayed by his side with their small children and soon fell out of communication with friends and neighbors.
When Threadfall was expected to reach the Tubberman stake, the colonists were ordered not to help. Unable to completely abide by this edict, Drake Bonneau did a flyby on his sled and unwittingly saw a patch of undamaged grass. Drake's flyby was witnessed by Ned Tubberman, who urged Drake to go with him to the colony leaders and speak about what he'd seen. Paul and Emily, much to Ned's dismay, decided not to ask Ted Tubberman what he had created to preserve his land against Thread. When Ned accused them of foolish pride, the leaders pointed out that it was a matter of safety. If Ted would change his attitude toward working with the colonists, they'd be glad to speak to him. Ned admitted his father had not changed. It was later learned that Ted had bio-engineered grubs — anti-Thread organisms that were designed to make ordinary vegetation less vulnerable to destruction by those deadly spores. Ted also created a species of feline, based on cheetahs, which eventually turned on him.
Personality and Traits[]
He had fast fingers and a bad memory for names. His blood was O positive.
Due to his knowledge of Eridani techniques, he understood that felines didn't do well with Mentasynth, but he tried anyway, using the stolen supplies he took from Landing before he was Shunned.
Ted's primary personality trait after the First Fall was arrogance.
Appearances[]
- Dragonsdawn (only appearance)
- The Chronicles of Pern: First Fall (mentioned)
- Red Star Rising/Dragonseye (mentioned)
- Dragonsblood (mentioned)