1) I think I need to revisit the O'Brian series - you're not the only one to sing their praises.

2) Aw, shoot, so I did, thanks for pointing it out, I mostly remember spelling by how words sound, and so I do badly with less-commonly-encountered homophones, and names often give me trouble. I've fixed it in the post.

3) I remember Nessus from Ringworld! Funny about the insertion into Star Trek, though.