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Time goes by. Linya, who already quietly turned nineteen, turns twenty. She collects an accelerated master's degree in neuroscience and starts corresponding with various people on the subject.
Pens spread out; the next time Miles sees Elli he gets a white standard-model pen she bought him on Escobar. She has one too; it's silver. She loves it and thanks him for recommending it to her. (She has bought a whole boxful to unload at a markup on the next planet or station she comes to that doesn't have them yet, but doesn't explicitly mention this in case he objects to her cutting into Lady Vorkosigan's margins.)
Miles also has one actual courier mission in there, just escorting a diplomatic pouch from Pol back home, to pad his service record for the less-cleared eye.
There is a visit to a clinic to collect and mystically join gametes, and Linya collects the resulting assembly in data format for editing. She does the grey eyes first and estimates that if she doesn't particularly hurry she'll have a Little Aral What-the-Heck-Should-His-Middle-Name-Be all ready to put in a replicator in two or three years, though she can accelerate that considerably if something comes up urgently requiring the presence of Little Aral sooner rather than later.
And then Miles gets sent off again and is gone for a very long time.
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isthisart
thisvorlunatic
Miles is briefly very, very confused. Where's the truck? Oh. The truck is no more. That is where the truck.
He lunges to his feet - fails to complete the movement; ends up on his hands and knees, dizzy and in pain. An un-squashed Barth on one side; his Dendarii on the other - a shiny black aircar descending towards them all, no doubt the Barrayaran outer perimeter backup, bloody useless bastards.
He struggles to his feet and attempts to gently detach himself from Barth, who is trying to haul him toward the aircar. Like fucking hell is he going back now. The three Dendarii seem ready to detach Barth by force - one draws his plasma arc - Miles steps regretfully between them. "We're all friends here!" he says as firmly as possible. The four of them take his word for it, albeit with deep reluctance. No one points any weapons at anyone else. Call it good.
He lunges to his feet - fails to complete the movement; ends up on his hands and knees, dizzy and in pain. An un-squashed Barth on one side; his Dendarii on the other - a shiny black aircar descending towards them all, no doubt the Barrayaran outer perimeter backup, bloody useless bastards.
He struggles to his feet and attempts to gently detach himself from Barth, who is trying to haul him toward the aircar. Like fucking hell is he going back now. The three Dendarii seem ready to detach Barth by force - one draws his plasma arc - Miles steps regretfully between them. "We're all friends here!" he says as firmly as possible. The four of them take his word for it, albeit with deep reluctance. No one points any weapons at anyone else. Call it good.
spacetobreathe
Elli, still carrying the rocket launcher that ended the truck, gallops towards Miles.
"That was a little close, don't you think?" Barth snaps at her. "You could've blown him up with your target!"
"It was safer than doing nothing about it at all, which was your apparent strategy!"
"That was a little close, don't you think?" Barth snaps at her. "You could've blown him up with your target!"
"It was safer than doing nothing about it at all, which was your apparent strategy!"
thisvorlunatic
"It's harder to get major ordnance onto the tubeway and through shuttleport security than it is to grab it off a rack and lean out the hatch," Miles says placatingly. He gestures to the scattered smoking debris; one of the Dendarii peels off to investigate. "Even these mystery folk couldn't get a proper weapon through shuttleport security, though it doesn't appear to have stopped them. I trust you don't expect Barth to have come armed with a float truck."
"Come away, sir!" says Barth. "You're injured. The police will be here. You shouldn't be mixed up in this."
Certainly Lieutenant Lord Vorkosigan shouldn't be. "Of course, yes, Sergeant. Go back to the embassy - take a circuitous route and don't let anyone trace you."
"But sir!"
"I will stay with my demonstrably effective Dendarii security," he says with a gesture to Elli.
"Captain Galeni will have my head on a platter—"
"And if I blow my cover, Simon Illyan will have mine." Miles makes a shooing gesture. "Go. That's an order."
The Chief of ImpSec is an excellent spectre to summon in situations like these. Barth finally leaves, in the useless and damning Barrayaran aircar, which is thereby handily removed from the scene. Good.
Miles looks over at the man who went to investigate the ex-truck. He's on his way back, looking unhappy on multiple levels. "At least two people, sir, judging by the number of, um, parts."
"Nothing left to question," Miles concludes. "Damn."
"Come away, sir!" says Barth. "You're injured. The police will be here. You shouldn't be mixed up in this."
Certainly Lieutenant Lord Vorkosigan shouldn't be. "Of course, yes, Sergeant. Go back to the embassy - take a circuitous route and don't let anyone trace you."
"But sir!"
"I will stay with my demonstrably effective Dendarii security," he says with a gesture to Elli.
"Captain Galeni will have my head on a platter—"
"And if I blow my cover, Simon Illyan will have mine." Miles makes a shooing gesture. "Go. That's an order."
The Chief of ImpSec is an excellent spectre to summon in situations like these. Barth finally leaves, in the useless and damning Barrayaran aircar, which is thereby handily removed from the scene. Good.
Miles looks over at the man who went to investigate the ex-truck. He's on his way back, looking unhappy on multiple levels. "At least two people, sir, judging by the number of, um, parts."
"Nothing left to question," Miles concludes. "Damn."
spacetobreathe
"Nothing, sir. I'd apologize, but."
Emerency equipment of various sorts converges on their position, probably not piloted by assassin Cetagandans.
"Who were those other guys?" asks a Dendarii, looking at the retreating Barrayaran vehicle.
Emerency equipment of various sorts converges on their position, probably not piloted by assassin Cetagandans.
"Who were those other guys?" asks a Dendarii, looking at the retreating Barrayaran vehicle.
thisvorlunatic
"Never mind, they weren't here, you never saw them," says Miles.
"Yes, sir."
Wonderful, wonderful Dendarii. They do what they're bloody told when he needs them to bloody do it. Miles could use a little more of that in his life.
"Yes, sir."
Wonderful, wonderful Dendarii. They do what they're bloody told when he needs them to bloody do it. Miles could use a little more of that in his life.
spacetobreathe
Elli administers some first aid. Emergency personnel swarm.
A familiar reporter also creeps up on him. "Admiral Naismith. You're a trouble magnet!"
A familiar reporter also creeps up on him. "Admiral Naismith. You're a trouble magnet!"
thisvorlunatic
"On occasion," he agrees, favouring her with a charming smile. Admiral Naismith, of course, has no superiors to restrict his contact with the press.
"Who were those men?"
thisvorlunatic
"A very good question, which the London police will no doubt seek to answer," he says. "My private theory is that it was Cetagandans, irate with me after we dealt them a recent embarrassment in an operation I will not discuss. But of course I have no proof," he gestures eloquently to the uninformative splatter of intermingled fragments of truck and truck operators, "so perhaps you'd best not quote me on that."
"You don't think they were Barrayarans?" she wonders, making no remark either way as to whether she should quote him on that.
thisvorlunatic
"Barrayarans!" he says, evincing startlement. "What do you know of Barrayar?"
"I've been looking into your history," she smiles.
thisvorlunatic
"By asking the Barrayarans? Not the most reliable of sources on this subject, I'm afraid."
"The Barrayarans among others... The Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet is officially registered out of Jackson's Whole, is it not?"
thisvorlunatic
"For legal convenience; we have no other association with them."
"Of course. With your permission, Admiral, I'd love to do an in-depth feature on you. I think our viewers would be fascinated."
thisvorlunatic
"I'm sure they would," Miles agrees. "But the Dendarii do not seek publicity. It seems too likely to do us more harm than good."
"You personally, then. Nothing current. Your origins - I already know who you were cloned from, but not the details of why, or your upbringing. What was that like?"
thisvorlunatic
"Unpleasant," he says shortly. "Of all the ways there are to come into this world, mine was not the happiest." True enough... "If you want a dangerous and slightly sickening story to fascinate your viewers, may I recommend the civilian illegal cloning business to your attention? My own story is only one of many. Widen your focus, and thereby your opportunities." He makes an expansive gesture.
"It's been done," she shrugs. "If you work closely with me, of course you can have input into the feature... otherwise, though, you're news."
thisvorlunatic
"The practices still go on. Evidently not enough has been done." He glances over at the police groundcar... oh dear. "Excuse me, Ms. Vallerie. Duty calls." He flashes her a brief smile and beelines for Elli, who appears to be getting arrested.
spacetobreathe
Vallerie jogs in the direction of her vid-man.
Elli seems relatively unperturbed for someone who's getting arrested. "No big deal, sir," she tells Miles, "I've been arrested before."
Elli seems relatively unperturbed for someone who's getting arrested. "No big deal, sir," she tells Miles, "I've been arrested before."
thisvorlunatic
"But I don't want you to be arrested now," he says, and turns to the arresting officer. "Commander Quinn is my personal bodyguard, on duty, and it could not be more clear that I require her to stay that way!"
thisvorlunatic
"Fine," grumbles Miles. "Fuck... I'll see you later, Quinn. I have to get topside for a shower and a change and hopefully not minor surgery." He waves unhappily and peels off to head for the shuttle before the police can decide to ground it.