The Vor Game

condemned. How did they end up here? Someone must be economizing. Shall I order you a regular menu?'

'Yes, thank you,' said Miles immediately, and paused. She had neatly misdirected his attention from Gregor to himself. He must keep his mind, on the Emperor. How much useful information had Gregor spilled, by now?

'You realize,' Miles said carefully, 'you are creating a massive interplanetary incident between Vervain and Barrayar.'

'Not at all,' said Cavilo reasonably. 'I'm Greg's friend. I've rescued him from falling into the hands of the Vervani secret police. He's now under my protection, until the opportunity arises to restore him to his rightful place.'

Miles blinked. 'Do the Vervani have a secret police, as such?'

'Close enough,' Cavilo shrugged. 'Barrayar, of course, definitely does. Stanis seems quite worried about them. They must be very embarrassed, back in ImpSec, to have so thoroughly mislaid their charge. I fear their reputation is exaggerated.'

Not quite. I'm ImpSec, and I know where Gregor is. So technically, ImpSec is right on top of the situation. Miles wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry. Or right under it.

'If we're all such good friends,' said Miles, 'why am I locked in this cell?'

'For your protection too, of course. After all, General Metzov has openly threatened to, ah—what was it— break every bone in your body.' She sighed. 'I'm afraid dear Stanis is about to lose his utility.'

Miles blanched, remembering what else Metzov had said in that conversation. 'For . . . disloyalty?'

'Not at all. Disloyalty can be very useful at times, under proper management. But the overall strategic situation may be about to change drastically. Unimaginably. And after all the time I wasted cultivating him, too. I hope all Barrayarans are not so tedious as Stanis.' She smiled briefly. 'I very much hope it.'

She leaned forward, growing more intent. 'Is it true that Gregor, ah, ran away from home to evade pressure from his advisors to marry a woman he loathed?'

'He hadn't mentioned it to me,' said Miles, startled. Wait—what was Gregor about, out there? He'd better be careful not to step on his lines. 'Though there is … concern. If he were to die without an heir any time soon, many fear a factional struggle would follow.'

'He has no heir?'

'The factions can't agree. Except on Gregor.'

'So his advisors would be glad to see him marry.'

'Overjoyed, I expect. Uh . . .' Miles's unease at this turn of the conversation bloomed into sudden light, like the flash before the shock-wave. 'Commander Cavilo—you're not imagining you could make yourself Empress of Barrayar, are you?'

Her smile grew sharp. 'Of course I couldn't. But Greg could.' She straightened, evidently annoyed by Miles's stunned expression. 'Why not? I'm the right sex. And, apparently, of the right military background.'

'How old are you?'

'Lord Vorkosigan, really, what a rude question.' Her blue eyes glinted. 'If we were on the same side, we could work together.'

'Commander Cavilo, I don't think you understand Barrayar. Or Barrayarans.' Actually, there'd been eras in Barrayaran history where Cavilo's command style would have fit right in. Mad Emperor Yuri's reign of terror, for example. But they'd spent the last twenty years trying to get away from all that.

'I need your cooperation,' Cavilo said. 'Or at any rate, it could be very useful. To both of us. Your neutrality would be … tolerable. Your active opposition, however, would be a problem. For you. But we should avoid getting caught in negative attitude traps at this early stage, I think?'

'Whatever did happen to that freighter captain's wife and child? Widow and orphan, rather?' Miles inquired through his teeth.

Cavilo hesitated fractionally. 'The man was a traitor. Of the worst sort. Sold out his planet for money. He was caught in an act of espionage. There is no moral difference between ordering an execution, and carrying it out.'

'I agree. So do a lot of legal codes. How about a difference between execution and murder? Vervain is not at war. His actions may have been illegal, warranting arrest, trial, jail or sociopath therapy– where did the trial part drop out?'

'A Barrayaran, arguing legalities? How strange.'

'And what happened to his family?'

She'd had a moment to think, blast it. 'The tedious Vervani demanded their release. Naturally, I didn't want him to know they were out of my hands, or I'd lose my only hold on his actions at a distance.'

Lie or truth? No way to tell. But she backpedals from her mistake. She let establishing her dominance through terror rule her reactions, before she was sure of her ground. Because she was unsure of her ground. I know the look that was on her face. Homicidal paranoids are as familiar as breakfast, I had one for a bodyguard for seventeen years. Cavilo, for a brief instant, seemed homey and routine, if no less dangerous. But he should strive to appear convinced, non-threatening, even if it made him gag.

'It's true,' he conceded, 'it's rank cowardice to give an order you're not willing to carry out yourself. And you're no coward, Commander, I'll grant you that.' There, that was the right tone, persuadable but not changing his stance too suspiciously fast.

Her brow rose sardonically, as if to say, Who are you to judge? But her tension eased slightly. She glanced at her chrono and rose. 'I'll leave you now, to think about the advantages of cooperation. You're theoretically familiar with the mathematics of the Prisoner's Dilemma, I hope. It will be an interesting test of your wits, to see if you can connect theory with practice.'

Miles managed a weird return smile. Her beauty, her energy, even her flaring ego, did exert a real fascination. Had Gregor indeed been . . . activated, by Cavilo? Gregor, after all, hadn't watched her raise her nerve disruptor and . . . What weapon was a good ImpSec man to use, in the face of this personal assault on Gregor? Try and seduce her back? To sacrifice himself for the Emperor by flinging himself on Cavilo had about as much appeal as belly-smothering a live sonic grenade.

Besides, he doubted he could work it. The door slid closed, eclipsing her scimitar smile. Too late, he raised a hand to remind her other promise to change his rations.

But she remembered anyway. Lunch arrived on a trolley, with an experienced, if expressionless, batman to serve it in five elegant courses with two wines and espresso coffee for an antidote. Miles didn't think Cavilo's troops ate like this, either. He envisioned a platoon of smiling, replete, obese gourmets strolling happily into battle . . . the dog chews would be much more effective for raising aggression levels.

A chance remark to his waiter brought a package along with the next meal-trolley, which proved to contain clean underwear, a set of insignialess Ranger fatigues cut down to his fit, and a pair of soft felt slippers; also a tube of depilatory and assorted toiletries. Miles was inspired to wash, by sections, in the fold-out lavatory basin, and shave before dressing. He felt almost human. Ah, the virtues of cooperation. Cavilo was not exactly subtle.

God, where had she come from? A mercenary veteran, she had to have been around for a while to have risen this far, even with shortcuts. Tung might know. I think she must have lost bad at least once, He wished Tung were here now. Hell, he wished Illyan were here now.

Her flamboyance, Miles increasingly felt, was an effective act, meant to be viewed at a distance like stage makeup, to dazzle her troops. At the right range, it might work rather well, like the popular Barrayaran general of his grandfather's generation who'd gained visibility by carrying a plasma rifle like a swagger stick. Usually uncharged, Miles had heard privately—the man wasn't stupid. Or a Vorish ensign who wore a certain antique dagger at every opportunity. A trademark, a banner. A calculated bit of mass psychology. Cavilo's public persona pushed the envelope of that strategy, surely. Was she scared inside, knowing herself for overextended?You wish. Alas, after a dose of Cavilo, one thought of Cavilo, fogging one's tactical calculations. Focus, ensign. Had she forgotten Victor Rotha? Had Gregor concocted some bullshit explanation to account for their Pol Station encounter? Gregor seemed to be feeding Cavilo skewed facts—or were they? Maybe there really was a loathed proposed bride, and Gregor had not trusted Miles enough to mention it. Miles began to regret being quite so acerbic to Gregor.