Miles, Mystery & Mayhem - Lois McMaster Bujold [0]
Lois McMaster Bujold
This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental.
Cetaganda copyright © 1996; Ethan of Athos copyright © 1986; "Labyrinth" copyright © 1989; "Author's Afterword" copyright © 2001; all by Lois McMaster Bujold.
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form.
A Baen Books Original
Baen Publishing Enterprises
P.O. Box 1403
Riverdale, NY 10471
www.baen.com
ISBN: 0-671-31858-6
Cover art by Patrick Turner
Interior map by Eleanor Kostyk
First printing, December 2001
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bujold, Lois McMaster.
Miles, mystery & mayhem / by Lois McMaster Bujold.
p. cm.
"A Baen Books original"—T.p. verso.
Contents: Cetaganda — Ethan of Athos — Labyrinth
ISBN 0-671-31858-6
1. Vorkosigan, Miles (Ficticious character)—Fiction. 2. Science fiction, American.
I. Title: Miles, mystery, and mayhem. II. Title.
PS3552.U397 A6 2001
813'.54—dc21 2001043348
Distributed by Simon & Schuster
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
Production by Windhaven Press, Auburn, NH
Printed in the United States of America
BAEN BOOKS by LOIS McMASTER BUJOLD
The Vorkosigan Saga:
Cordelia's Honor
The Warrior's Apprentice
The Vor Game
Young Miles
Cetaganda
Miles, Mystery & Mayhem
Borders of Infinity
Brothers in Arms
Mirror Dance
Memory
Komarr
A Civil Campaign
Diplomatic Immunity
Ethan of Athos
Falling Free
The Spirit Ring
Cetaganda
To Jim and Toni
Chapter One
"Now is it, 'Diplomacy is the art of war pursued by other men,' " asked Ivan, "or was it the other way around? 'War is diplo—' "
"All diplomacy is a continuation of war by other means," Miles intoned. "Chou En Lai, twentieth century, Earth."
"What are you, a walking reference library?"
"No, but Commodore Tung is. He collects Wise Old Chinese Sayings, and makes me memorize 'em."
"So was old Chou a diplomat, or a warrior?"
Lieutenant Miles Vorkosigan thought it over. "I think he must have been a diplomat."
Miles's seat straps pressed against him as the attitude jets fired, banking the personnel pod in which he and Ivan sat across from each other in lonely splendor. Their two benches lined a short fuselage. Miles craned his neck for a glimpse past the pod pilot's shoulder at the planet turning below them.
Eta Ceta IV, the heart and homeworld of the sprawling Cetagandan empire. Miles supposed eight developed planets and an equal fringe of allied and puppet dependencies qualified as a sprawl in any sane person's lexicon. Not that the Cetagandan ghem-lords wouldn't like to sprawl a little farther, at their neighbors' expense, if they could.
Well, it didn't matter how huge they were, they could only put military force through a wormhole jump one ship at a time, just like everybody else.
It was just that some people had some damned big ships.
The colored fringe of night slid around the rim of the planet as the personnel pod continued to match orbits from the Barrayaran Imperial courier vessel they had just left, to the Cetagandan transfer station they were approaching. The nightside glittered appallingly. The continents were awash in a fairy dust of lights. Miles swore he might read by the glow of the civilization, as if from a full moon. His homeworld of Barrayar seemed suddenly a dull vast swatch of rural darkness, with only a few sparks of cities here and there. Eta Ceta's high-tech embroidery was downright . . . gaudy. Yes, overdressed, like a woman weighted down with too much jewelry. Tasteless, he tried to convince himself. I am not some backcountry hick. I can handle this. I am Lord Vorkosigan, an officer and a nobleman.
Of course, so was Lieutenant Lord Ivan Vorpatril, but the fact did not fill Miles with confidence. Miles regarded his big cousin, who was also craning his neck, eyes avid and lips parted, drinking in their destination below. At least Ivan looked the part