Miles in Love - Lois McMaster Bujold [385]
"That is between Dr. Borgos and his irate creditors," Gustioz told her. "I'm just doing my job. Finally."
Enrique looked terribly distressed. "But who will take care of all my poor little girls? You don't understand!"
Gustioz hesitated, and said in a disturbed tone, "There was no reference to any dependents in my orders." He stared in confusion at Kareen and Martya.
Martya said, "How did you get in here, anyway? How did you get past the ImpSec gate guard?"
Gustioz brandished his rumpled folder. "Page by page. It took forty minutes."
"He insisted on checking every one," Sergeant Muno explained.
Martya said urgently to the maid, "Where's Pym?"
"Gone with Lord Vorkosigan, miss."
"Jankowski?"
"Him, too."
"Anyone?"
"All the rest are gone with m'lord and m'lady."
"Damn! What about Roic?"
"He's sleeping, Miss."
"Fetch him down here."
"He won't like being waked up off-duty, miss . . ." the maid said nervously.
"Fetch him!"
Reluctantly, the maid started to drag herself out.
"Muno," said Gustioz, who'd watched this by-play with growing unease, "now." He gestured at Enrique.
"Yes, sir." Muno gripped Enrique by the elbow.
Martya grabbed Enrique's other arm. "No! Wait! You can't take him!"
Gustioz frowned at the retreating maid. "Let's go, Muno."
Muno pulled. Martya pulled back. Enrique cried, "Ow!" Kareen grabbed the first weaponlike object that came to her hand, a metal meter stick, and circled in. Gustioz tucked his folder of flimsies up under his arm and reached to detach Martya.
"Hurry!" Kareen screeched at the maid, and tried to trip Muno by thrusting the meter stick between his knees. The whole mob was circling around the stretching Enrique as the pivot-point, and she succeeded. Muno released Enrique, who fell toward Martya and Gustioz. In a wild attempt to regain his balance, Muno's hand came down hard on the corner of the bug hutch peeping over the lab bench.
The stainless steel box flipped into the air. One-hundred-ninety-two astonished brown-and-silver butter bugs were launched in a vast chittering madly fluttering trajectory out over the lab. Since butter bugs had the aerodynamic capacity of tiny bricks, they rained down upon the struggling humans, and crunch-squished underfoot. The hutch clanged to the floor, along with Muno. Gustioz, attempting to shield himself from this unexpected air assault, lost his grip on his folder; colorfully-stamped documents joined butter bugs in fluttering flight. Enrique howled like a man possessed. Muno just screamed, frantically batted bugs off himself, and tried to climb up on the lab stool.
"Now see what you've done!" Kareen yelled at the Escobaran officers. "Vandalism! Assault! Destruction of property! Destruction of a Vor lord's property, on Barrayar itself! Are you in trouble now!"
"Ack!" cried Enrique, trying to stand on tiptoe to reduce the carnage below. "My girls! My poor girls! Watch where you put your feet, you mindless murderers!"
The queen, who due to her weight had had a shorter trajectory, scuttled away under the lab bench.
"What are those horrible things?" yipped Muno, from his perch on the teetering stool.
"Poison bugs," Martya informed him venomously. "New Barrayaran secret weapon. Everywhere they touch you, your flesh will swell up, turn black, and fall off." She made a valiant attempt to introduce a chittering bug down Muno's trousers or collar, but he fended her off.
"They are not!" Enrique denied indignantly, from tiptoe.
Gustioz was down on the floor furiously gathering up flimsies and trying not to touch or be touched by the scattering butter bugs. When he rose, his face was scarlet. "Sergeant!" he bellowed. "Get down from there! Seize the prisoner! We leave at once."
Muno, overcoming his startlement and a little sheepish to be discovered in high retreat by his comrade, stepped carefully off the stool and grabbed Enrique in a more professional come-along style.