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Ivan is asleep when it happens, but the captain knocking on his door gets him up quick enough. "What? Where's the fire?" Ivan asks. This was supposed to be a quiet posting. Well, the posting on Earth was supposed to be quiet too, cultural, etcetera, but Xerxes is supposed to be downright boring. Ivan is not supposed to be awakened from his eight hours unexpectedly.
"Murder, not a fire. You're cousin to Lord Mark Vorkosigan, aren't you?" says the captain.
Ivan has to think for a second. "...Yes?"
"Security vid picked him up within radius of a murder. This is the first we knew of him being on the planet, but the locals want us to bring him in so they don't have to it themselves and risk mishandling a Vor lord. Seemed worth consulting you on him - the file on him's really something."
Ivan blinks. "You need to arrest Mark."
"Yes."
"...Sir. Uh, give me a while to try doing it myself. He's... I'm not positive I can succeed but I am pretty sure I can survive trying, and unless he's in a cooperative mood I'm very uncertain anybody else can say the same thing."
"He may have just killed a man."
"I'm aware. He likes me. He doesn't know you from a hole in the ground, or anybody else within fetching distance, sir. Give me his last location and a few hours? Please?"
"By yourself?"
"He wouldn't know anybody you could send with me from a hole in the ground."
The captain chews his lip. "None of your shenanigans, all right?"
"Sir, I'm not the shenanigans one, it's just contagious when m'co- my other cousin's around. I'll see if I can find him, if I find him I'll try to bring him back."
The captain eventually acquiesces. And that is why Ivan is tromping around downtown, debating whether or not to call "Mark? Mark?" like he's looking for a lost dog.
Ivan has to arrest Mark
middlingalong
middlingalong
"Would they be dead, or just stunned with you rabbiting off into the untraceable yonder?"
unmarred
"That would depend on how much force they came after me with and how far away I saw them coming."
middlingalong
"Right. So... if I comm in and the captain says there's no way you can have your conditions, do I wind up stunned while you rabbit into the untraceable yonder?"
middlingalong
Ivan sighs. "I'll see what I can do. He trusted me this far, yeah?" And he taps his commlink. "Captain, found him - well, he found me - he'll be fast-penta'd nice and friendly if it's unrecorded and I'm doing the interview, nobody else there."
"That's not going to satisfy the locals, conflict of interest, Vorpatril -"
"Yes, well, he's not coming in elsewise and if you're going to tell me to attack him I'm going to wind up unconscious on the street, sir. If the locals want him hostilely fast-penta'd they can try to get ahold of him themselves, yeah?"
"Is he listening to this conversation?"
"You'd rather I wander off for privacy, let him out of my sight -?"
"No, no - If the locals fuss will he park in the embassy for a few days while they follow up other leads?"
Ivan looks at Mark.
"That's not going to satisfy the locals, conflict of interest, Vorpatril -"
"Yes, well, he's not coming in elsewise and if you're going to tell me to attack him I'm going to wind up unconscious on the street, sir. If the locals want him hostilely fast-penta'd they can try to get ahold of him themselves, yeah?"
"Is he listening to this conversation?"
"You'd rather I wander off for privacy, let him out of my sight -?"
"No, no - If the locals fuss will he park in the embassy for a few days while they follow up other leads?"
Ivan looks at Mark.
unmarred
"I'll tell you what I know about the person who actually did it," he says. "And I will stay as long as I am comfortable staying. A few days, if no one does anything to make me uncomfortable."
middlingalong
"Let me guess," says the captain, "you'll want to bunk with your cousin, too, Vorpatril seems very important to this business."
Ivan coughs.
Ivan coughs.
middlingalong
"What d'you want me to do, sir?" Ivan asks.
"...Bring him back with you, we'll do it his way," says the captain.
"Yessir." Ivan flicks off his comm. "Well, that went well."
"...Bring him back with you, we'll do it his way," says the captain.
"Yessir." Ivan flicks off his comm. "Well, that went well."
unmarred
Follow, follow.
"Can't say much for the circumstances, but it's nice to see you," he mentions.
"Can't say much for the circumstances, but it's nice to see you," he mentions.
middlingalong
"You could have dropped in, I can't imagine you'd give this embassy more of a heart attack than Linyabel gave the one on Earth."
unmarred
"I didn't actually know you were on the planet. I haven't been here long. By the way, in case your captain has ambitions of holding me against my will, you should know that while I would not kill you to escape somewhere I didn't want to be, the same may not hold for anyone else trying to keep me there."
middlingalong
"I'll let him know that when we get there, shall I. You realize this probably means that if he decides to hold you against your will I will be getting the orders to do it."
unmarred
"Yes," he says. "Fewer people will get killed that way. An improvement over the alternative, don't you think?"
middlingalong
"Captain's probably going to want a list of things that make you uncomfortable besides 'having a roommate who isn't me'."