The Vorkosigan Companion - Lillian Stewart Carl [204]
Happily wed, Miles and Ekaterin celebrate their first anniversary by starting two children in replicators and then going on a galactic honeymoon. The children will be a boy named Aral Alexander and a girl named Helen Natalia. They are on their way home from that honeymoon when Miles gets a message to go to Graf Station and sort out the mess caused by the confiscation of a Komarran space fleet and its Barrayaran armed escort. But events soon transpire that lead to attempted and actual murder, and could cause another war between Cetaganda and Barrayar. Though it nearly kills him, Miles is able to straighten out everything and make it home in time for the births of his children. (All except FF, SH)
Vorkosigan, Piotr:
Aral's father, and a general in the Barrayaran military, Count Piotr Vorkosigan's life bridges the planet's history from the Time of Isolation to the modern era. At twenty-two, he became a general in the Barrayaran army that expelled the Cetagandan invaders after two decades of resistance. When it became apparent the Mad Emperor Yuri Vorbarra was unfit to rule, Piotr led a civil war that deposed and executed Yuri and placed Ezar Vorbarra on the throne. As Emperor Ezar ruthlessly turned Barrayar into a government of laws for all, Piotr was the backbone of the Conservative party in the Council of Counts, with his fingers in the pies of numberless political intrigues. As his son Aral became a political player for the Progressive party, Piotr swallowed his pride and his political leanings and followed. When Aral married a galactic woman, Piotr struggled, but tried to cope. When Cordelia became pregnant, Piotr was beside himself with joy, having almost given up hope that Aral would have sons. Although Piotr attempts to have Miles aborted after the soltoxin attack, and tries to kill him after he is born, he warms to Miles as the boy proves to be as smart and fearless as Piotr himself. But after he learns that Miles has washed out of the Imperial Academy, Piotr dies in his sleep. Miles burns a death-offering to him after graduating from Imperial Academy. (B, MM, SH, WA)
Vorkosigan, Selig:
One of Miles's ancestors, he broke a siege of Vorkosigan Surleau using a handful of retainers and subterfuge. The dagger that Miles carries, formerly Piotr's, is supposed to date back to his time. (VG)
Vorkosigan Sousleau:
Prime Minister Vortala tells Aral that he heard the village near his summer home was going to be renamed this in honor of his habit of capsizing his sailboat. (SH)
Vorkosigan Surleau:
The Vorkosigan summer residence on the Long Lake, near the Dendarii Gorge. It was once a guards' barracks. After the Cetaganda War resulted in Vorkosigan Vashnoi being turned into an irradiated nuclear bomb crater, it became the main Vorkosigan residence in the District until the official home in Hassadar was completed. The old guard house has been refurbished and modernized since its original days. It sits near the ruins of the great castle, a low, stone residence artistically landscaped and bright with flowers. Defensive arrow slits have been remodeled into large glass windows that give a view of the lake, and there is a modern comm-link antenna on the roof. A modern guards' barracks is farther down the hill, hidden among the trees.
Aral lives at Vorkosigan Surleau after his resignation from the military, and Cordelia goes to finds him there after she arrives on Barrayar. Miles loved growing up there, enjoying riding horseback and swimming in the lake. He retreats there whenever the stresses of Vorbarr Sultana get to be too much for him. (All except FF)
Vorkosigan Vashnoi:
The old district capital of Vorkosigan's District. It was bombed with atomic weapons by the Cetagandans during the war, killing thousands. Its irradiated ruins