Cassiopeia Vitt is an adventurer.
That description reveals her avocation but not her vocation largely because, being the only heir to a very, very wealthy father who obviously doted on her and left her far and away enough money to live on quite pleasantly, she has no need for a job. She does need, though, something to occupy her time and her mind and her energy so she routinely goes looking for a challenge.
We first meet Vitt in the adventures of her close friend and often lover, , a bookstore owner in Copenhagen but for the purposes of explaining why Vitt belongs in this compendium, Malone is a former operative with the U.S. intelligence group known as the Magellan Billet. Malone's boss in that organization is frequently calling for another favor from him and since Vitt is often with Malone, she gets dragged into things as well.
Just as often, however, Malone gets entangled in very messy problems because of his relationship with Vitt who, being an excellent student of antiquities and loving finding them and bringing them out of whatever dark recesses they were stowed, is likely to stir up far more than dust. Sometimes these relics are sought by others just as powerful and as determined as Vitt and Malone and sometimes those seekers or hiders are other governments.
Vitt's age is not mentioned (as far as I can find). She has to be in her late 30s if not more but is in excellent shape with considerable stamina to pull off the many actions she does in the course of her activities. She is a marksman with rifle and with bow, something for which Malone has been grateful on more than one occasion.
When we first learn of her, she is decribed as a woman who "...has many talents. Shooting, I'm sure, is one. She lives at Givors, an ancient citadel site. She's a woman of color, a Muslim, who possesses great wealth. She labors in the forest to rebuild a castle using only thirteenth-century techniques. Her château stands nearby and she personally oversees the rebuilding project, calling herself l'Ingénieur. The engineer."
Further is added, "She owned a multicontinent conglomerate, based in Paris, involved in a broad spectrum of business ventures with assets in the billion-euro range. Her father started the company and she inherited control, though she was little involved with its everyday operation. She also was the chairwoman for a Dutch foundation that worked closely with the United Nations on international AIDS relief and world famine, particularly in Africa."
So, Vitt is many things: a sharp businesswoman, an engineer, a philanthropist, an humanitarian, and, in the case of those lucky enough to earn it, a very good and loyal friend. Mostly, though, she loves adventure.