The Vorkosigan Companion - Lillian Stewart Carl [141]
Downsider:
A slang term, sometimes derogatory, referring to anyone born on a planet. (All)
Dream synthesizer:
A neat black box the size of an "antique book," it has leads that go from the box to circular silver "dreamer implants" in the user's head. It is used to compose feelie-dreams, which are stored using a master cartridge. Just like books, there are a wide range of dreams, from children's stories to romance to pornography, and they can be addicting. A diagnostic test kit comes with the set as a precaution against defects. They are not interchangeable without custom adjustments. Carlos Diaz sabotages Anias Ruey's synthesizer, then requests a feelie-dream from her, hoping that she will use it and inadvertently kill herself. Anias tests her synthesizer before using it, setting off the trap, and destroying it in the process. (DD)
Dress greens:
The standard Barrayaran military dress uniform is a forest-green tunic with a high collar, matching green trousers, and cavalry boots. (BA)
Droushnakovi:
No first name given. A sergeant in the Barrayaran army, he is Ludmilla Droushnakovi's father. He is shorter than his children. (B)
Droushnakovi, Ludmilla:
See Koudelka, Ludmilla Droushnakovi
Dubauer:
No first name given. An ensign and botanist with Betan Astronomical Survey, he has brown hair. Shot by Sergeant Bothari with a nerve disruptor, he survives the normally fatal injury, although it leaves him seriously mentally impaired, reduced to the intelligence of an infant, and unable to speak. Cordelia demands that he accompany Aral and her on their trek to the supply cache, and she gets him through the ordeal, although he is tortured by other Barrayaran soldiers during interrogation while in their custody. Repatriated with the other prisoners of war, he is sent back to Beta Colony, where his mother cares for him. (SH)
DuBauer, Chalmys:
A retired spaceship captain, he is Anias Ruey's closest friend. He is a heavyset man, middle-aged and middle-tall, with sandy hair that's graying at the temples, penetrating gray eyes, and a round face. Made redundant because of wormhole travel technology, he is out of synch with the present time because of the decades of slower-than-light travel for Beta Colony, and his dislocation due to space/light-year travel synchronization. His family passed away long ago, and he has a child on Beta Colony who is now a great-grandmother. Financially comfortable, he lives in an old-fashioned house south of destroyed Cleveland with security gates, protective defenses, a summer house, and a small staff. Indifferent to current culture, he is well thought of in the area and on good terms with local law enforcement. He enjoys gardens, epicurean living, and reconditioning old technical equipment for museums. He interrogates Carlos Diaz to find out the real reason he hired Anias Ruey to create the disturbing feelie-dream. (DD)
Dubauer, Ker:
A Cetagandan Ba passing itself off as a Beta hermaphrodite, it is tall and elegant-looking, with silver hair, dark eyes, and a Betan earring signifying it is romantically attached and not looking. A passenger on the Idris, it has a cargo of uterine replicators that it claims are genetically engineered animals, but are really haut fetuses it has stolen from Cetaganda in order to create its own empire to rule over as both Emperor and Empress. It kills Lieutenant Solian and kidnaps Bel Thorne, using it to gain access to the Idris after setting a biological bomb in the Madame Minchenko Memorial Hall to infect hundreds of quaddies as revenge for interfering with its mission. It is stopped by Miles when he recovers its case of genetic samples and destroys them. Taken back to the Cetagandan Empire, it is turned over to haut-lady Pel Navarr's custody, and shall remain a nameless prisoner for the rest of its life. (DI)
Durham:
No first name given. A lieutenant in the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, he is the pilot of Combat Shuttle A-4, which was hit by enemy fire during the Marilac operation. Although mortally injured and in shock, he gets