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was to remind you, ah I must get the phrase exact, it was one of her Betan cracks 'Home is where,
when you have to go there, they have to take you in.'"
"I can hear her voice," smiled Elena. "Tell her thank you. Tell her ... I will remember."
"Good." Count Vorkosigan pressed her no further. "Sit, sit," he waved them at chairs, which he snugged
up closed to the comconsole desk, and sat himself. For an instant, changing gears, his features relaxed,
then concentrated with attention once again.God, he looks tired, Miles realized; for a split second,
almost ghastly.Gregor, you have much to answer for. But Gregor knew that.
"What's the latest word on the cease-fire?" Miles asked.
"Still holding nicely, thank you. The only Cetagandan ships that haven't jumped back where they came
from, had damaged Necklin rods or control systems or injured pilots. Or all three. We're letting them
repair two of them and jump them out with skeleton crews, the rest are not salvageable. I estimate
controlled commercial travel could resume in six weeks."
Miles shook his head. "So ends the Five-Day War. I never once saw a Cetagandan face-to-face. All
that effort and bloodshed, just to return to the status quo ante."
"Not quite for everyone. A number of Cetagandan senior officers have been recalled to their capital, to
explain their 'unauthorized adventure' to their emperor. Their apologies are expected to be fatal."
Miles snorted. "Expiate their failure, rather. 'Unauthorized adventure.' Does anyone believe that? Why
do they even bother?"
"Finesse, boy. A retreating enemy should be offered all the face he can carry off. Just don't let him carry
off anything else."
"I understand you finessed the Polians. All this time, I expected it would be Simon Illyan to show up in
person to haul us lost boys home."
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"He longed to come, but there was no way we could both leave home at the same time. The wobbly
cover we'd put over Gregor's absence could have collapsed at any moment."
"How did you pull that one off, by the way?"
"Picked out a young officer who looked a lot like Gregor, told him there was an assassination plot afoot
against the Emperor and that he was to be the bait. Bless him, he volunteered at once. He and his
Security, who had the same tale told them spent the next several weeks leading a life of ease down at
Vorkosigan Surleau, eating off the best plates but with indigestion. We finally sent him off on a rustic
camping trip, as inquiries from the capital were getting pressing. People will twig soon, I'm sure, if they
haven't already, but now we've got Gregor back we can explain it away any way we like. Any wayhe
likes." Count Vorkosigan frowned an odd brief frown, odd because not wholly displeased.
"I was surprised," said Miles, "though very happy, that you got your forces past Pol so fast. I was afraid
they wouldn't let you through till the Cetagandans were in the Hub. And then it would be too late."
"Yes, well, that's the other reason you got me instead of Simon. As Prime Minister and former Regent, it
was perfectly reasonable for me to make a state visit to Pol. We came up with a quick list of the top five
diplomatic concessions they've been wanting from us for years, and suggested it for an agenda.
"It being all formal and official and aboveboard, it was then perfectly reasonable for us to combine my
visit with thePrince Serg's shakedown cruise. We were in orbit at Pol, shuttling up and down to official
receptions and parties," (his hand unconsciously rubbed his abdomen in a pain-warding motion) "with me
still trying desperately to talk our way into the Hub without shooting anybody, when word of the
Cetagandan surprise attack on Vervain broke. At that point, getting permission to proceed was suddenly
expedited. And we were only days, not weeks, away from the action. Getting the Aslunders to lie down
with the Polians was a trickier matter. Gregor astonished me, handling that. The Vervani were no
problem, they were highly motivated to seek allies by then."
"I hear Gregor is now quite popular on Vervain."
"He's being feted in their capital even as we speak, I believe." Count Vorkosigan glanced at his chrono.
"They've gone wild over him. Letting him ride shotgun in thePrince Serg's tac room may have been a
better idea that I thought. Purely from a diplomatic standpoint." Count Vorkosigan looked rather
abstracted.
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