style substance subterfuge

[spacetobreathe]

Miles-toting is a reasonably fun part of Elli's job. She is privy to such secrets as "where he is being toted from" and "who he will be when picked up to be toted", so she's the one who fetches Miles Vorkosigan, watches over his transformation into Miles Naismith, and accompanies the latter to his destination, pretending this time to be business partners (she Sales And Marketing, he eccentrically Development, product Top Secret).

Currently they're sliding back into their ranks and uniforms - she's got her Dendarii pants on already and lovely scarlet accessories to turn them into shiny silver fashion statements. But before they fully reintegrate with their outfit and she dons the rest of her outfit there is a hospital visit to make.

The survivors of the incident, such as they are, aren't in great shape. Miles knows how the dead-and-irrecoverable wanted to be disposed of; he knows his obligations to the crippled, likewise, and he discharges them with all the gravity and generosity that could be wished. Quinn wants his job, so she watches him do it, even this least lovely part. Reminds her a little of the news that her face was getting artistically replaced. But that doesn't mean she doesn't wonder why he has to get that up close and personal with Aziz, who after all probably can't understand a word he says.

Miles demurs with something about a fascinated fear of the loss of mind, and Elli lets it go.

They get good news about Marilac, about the value of their work there.

They split up so that he can shower, and she can get into her greys, and then there's going to be the usual meeting.

Comments

[spacetobreathe]

They come when called, of course.

"What's the plan?" Elli inquires.

[thisvorlunatic]

He sighs in wry awareness of how stupid the plan is probably going to sound. "I go after Mark, of course."

[spacetobreathe]

"Is this instead of the other contract, or instead of you personally accompanying it, or...?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"No, the other contract has to go forward." He shakes his head. "But we don't need the whole fleet to pull it off. If my recall message reaches Bel, and if nothing else goes wrong along the way, then the Ariel will be back in time for departure and my pursuit will amount to nothing more than a waste of a little fuel. If not, though - Baz, you're in charge of this one."

He brings up a map with a woggle of his pen.

"We're smuggling pack-horses, so to speak. Vega Station," he indicates the map, "is an independent deep-space transfer station currently under an arms embargo courtesy of the Cetagandan Empire, who owns one of its neighbours and strong-armed the other two. We come in through Toranira with a perfectly legitimate flight plan filed, headed to Illyrica through Zoave Twilight. And that is exactly where we go, but while we're in Vega space, we drop off three of our ships - not troops or armaments, but the ships themselves. Then at Illyrica we pick up three new ones. Winterfair gifts from Emperor Gregor."

Through the ship's internal system rather than his pen, he sends the specs to Baz's comconsole.

"The only trouble is, my brother just walked off with a third of our trade inventory. We were supposed to give away the Triumph, the D-16, and the Ariel. The nearest possible substitute for the missing ship is Truzillo's Jayhawk. I'm really hoping I can reel Thorne back in before we have to leave, because while the replacement ship would be an across-the-board improvement on the Ariel, it falls a little short of the Jayhawk's firepower. If I take too long chasing down the Ariel, though - Baz, can you talk Captain Truzillo into the trade?"

[alicornucopia]

Baz peers at the information about the would-be replacement. "Oh, wait'll he sees - yes I can. You could too, of course."

[thisvorlunatic]

"Yeah. But if I'm around to persuade him it will be because Thorne has made it thankfully unnecessary."

He sighs again and sends Baz a data dump of the rest of the mission files.

"Elena, I'm taking the Peregrine for this. We wait here for as long as it takes to get the ship ready to go. If we hear back from Bel in the meantime, well and good, we meet it en route and escort the Ariel back to the fleet. If not - the departure schedule for this mission is flexible on the scale of days, but not weeks. I give it until forty-eight hours from this moment. If that time comes and goes and the Ariel is not confirmed on its way to Escobar, Baz, you pack up and head for Vega Station without us."

[spacetobreathe]

Confirmatory nods all 'round.

And then: "Assuming this is more serious than a prank, extracting your clone - especially if he gets all the way to Jackson's Whole - could get dicey, for a definition of dicey meaning 'expensive'..."

[thisvorlunatic]

"ImpSec will cover it."

[spacetobreathe]

"Will cover a run after Mark? What's Mark to them besides a - a leftover from a plot over and done?"

[thisvorlunatic]

"A legitimate potential heir to the Barrayaran Imperium, deserving no less of their attention than I," says Miles. "Which fact I have made more than clear to Simon. If I have to go to expensive lengths to fish him out of whatever shit he's diving into, Simon will cough up the money the same way he would if it were me who needed the rescue."

[alicornucopia]

"A legitimate potential - the entire imperium would go into convulsions," Baz says. "They wouldn't have you on suspicion of mutation; someone who looks just like you and is a clone to boot can hardly improve on the situation."

[thisvorlunatic]

"I didn't say likely, I said legitimate. But yes, granted, either of us trying for the Imperium would land like a bomb. That doesn't make either of us any less ImpSec's business - more, if anything, against the possibility that someone might try to throw that bomb. It does make me wish Gregor would get married and have five children already, but that's rather outside the scope of my current worries."

[alicornucopia]

Baz nods, satisfied with this explanation. "Still, best if Bel turns around," he sighs.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Emphatically agreed."