to know a different side of the ultra-competent former chief of ImpSec. He also finally gets a diagnosis of his seizures, which have been caused by overproduction of neurotransmitters, which build up in his brain until their release in stressful situations, causing the seizure in a biochemical form of epilepsy. It can be treated, but not cured, with a brain implant. Somewhat leery of the idea, Miles puts it off until his investigation is finished. Returning to Vorbarr Sultana, he brings his new powers into play as he plunges headlong into determining what exactly happened to Simon. The doctors reveal that the damage to the memory chip was intentionally done, and unfortunately, the evidence points to Duv Galeni. Convinced the Komarran is innocent, Miles keeps digging, resulting in an offer by Haroche to reinstate him in the military as a captain, and go on being the liaison with the Dendarii as if nothing had ever happened. Miles sees this offer for the bribe that it is, and realizes Haroche was behind the sabotage of Simon's chip, and the destruction of his career. He figures out a way to not only find the evidence of the plot, but also to catch Haroche red-handed in the act of destroying evidence that would convict him. Haroche is arrested, Galeni is cleared of all charges, and Miles's position as Imperial Auditor is made permanent, with the approval of the other current auditors. Miles is given retirement from the military with the rank of captain by Gregor as a favor to him. Galeni recovers from the ordeal of almost having his career ruined, and picks up with Delia Koudelka, to the chagrin of Ivan, who asked her to marry him too late. The Emperor also announces his official betrothal to Laisa Toscane, and Barrayaran society shifts into high gear for the upcoming wedding, led by Alys Vorpatril, who has also started a romance with Simon, which amuses Miles and horrifies Ivan. Miles has the operation to implant the device to control his seizures, and makes peace with who he is at last. After one final, futile attempt to win Elli's hand in marriage, he promotes her to admiral of the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, to continue in his place, as he heads back to Barrayar to assume his new position as Imperial Auditor.
Komarr (1998)
Miles's first off-planet assignment as Imperial Auditor is to assist another Auditor, Georg Vorthys, with his investigation of what first appears to be the accidental collision of an ore freighter with the soletta mirror array that orbits Komarr, providing vital solar energy to the planet's millennium-long terraforming project. Miles meets Vorthys's niece, Ekaterin Nile Vorvayne Vorsoisson, currently trapped in an unhappy marriage to Etienne (Tien) Vorsoisson, an administrator at the Serifosa Dome. Their initial appraisal of the situation indicates a worse-than-feared scenario—if the array isn't repaired, within the next twenty-four months the terraforming progress made on Komarr will stop, as there will not be enough heat in the atmosphere to keep the environment going. This would seem to indicate that sabotage may have been the goal, but by whom? While Auditor Vorthys dives into the technical engineering aspects of the accident, Miles gets to know Ekaterin and her son, Nikolai. He inadvertently discovers that the boy has Vorzohn's Dystrophy, a hereditary, degenerative disease. Tien, fearing backlash among the sensitive Barrayarans, has kept his knowledge of this a tight secret, even preventing his son from getting the treatment that could cure him until Tien can receive it first. When Ekaterin learns of a mysterious disappearance of an engineering tech in Waste Heat Management, she dismisses it at first. However, when the body of another technician in the same department turns up in the wreckage of the accident, it is not a simple coincidence. Eavesdropping on a conversation between her husband and another administrator, Soudha, Ekaterin believes Tien has been taking bribes, which he then lost by buying shares in a failed Komarran jump-ship expedition, which has left the family deep in debt. This,