Now I recall that Ingrit Tomson was TOS Enterprise security chief in some of the novels. But who were Stanger and Stone?
Jon Stanger was a member of Tomson's security crew in J.M. Dillard's novels. Quentin Stone was a character in Peter David's TNG novel A Rock and a Hard Place, often seen as a prototype for Mackenzie Calhoun in New Frontier.
I thought that Katee Sackoff was the fan favorite to play Vale.
I think Cobie Smulders is the best Vale candidate I've heard suggested. When I wrote Vale, it wasn't with any specific actress in mind, but once I'd seen Smulders as Maria Hill and then heard her suggested for Vale, I realized she came very close to what I'd been imagining.