Silas Hiram, an Agricultural Professor and one of the colonists sent on Ark I to Alpha Centauri, figures prominently in both of the books and will appear again in 2014.
Why was he important? His voice (via his journal) is used to "see" into the past several times. He was the first human to note that Alnilam disappeared. This was the clue that cracked the case of the Stareaters.
Later, his actual journal was found and examined by Rei and Rome on Helome and confirmed the story that the Darwin people, in the gray sarcophagi, had a secret agenda, finally exposed in
The Ark Lords.
There was a beautiful short story about his life there (before they were eaten by the Piranha Rats) which will appear in The Vuduri Companion in 2014. Tomorrow, I will synopsize this little gem.