Chapter 9

"You could just use that, Anny," said Jer. "No one would ever know." He sat on the chair in his room and watched Anny turning a small card over and over in her hands. It was a credit chit and it contained a very substantial sum of money.

"I'd know," she said, after a long pause.

"It's not like you'd be spending it on yourself! Your family needs help, Anny!"

"It's still against regulations. Officers aren't allowed to take money as a reward for their actions—or for any other reason for that matter."

Jer grimaced. It was true and it did make a lot of sense. Particularly on Barrayar. Over the centuries there had been many coups and revolts against the Empire. And many of them began with the conspirators buying the loyalty of military officers. There were very strict rules against officers taking money from others now. The credit chit Anny was twirling had been given to her by Lord Mark Vorkosigan for her heroic feats on the planet Dounby in their senior year at the Academy. At the time neither one of them had looked at those parts of the regulations and Anny had just kept the chit, unsure what to do with it.

"Well then, what are you going to do, Anny? This is one problem I don't think you are going to be able to solve by putting your head down and bulling through the way you usually do. You are going to need help!"

Anny sighed and looked at him. "Yeah, you're right. And I think I know where to get it."

[Scene Break]

Lord Auditor Miles Vorkosigan smiled and got to his feet when Pym ushered Anny Payne into the Yellow Parlor of Vorkosigan House. Tsipis, the man who managed the finances of the Vorkosigans, also rose from his chair although a bit more slowly. The man's hair was completely gray now. He'd been mumbling things about retirement lately.

"Anny! It's so good to see you again!" Miles came forward and took the woman's hands briefly.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice, sir," said Anny, smiling for a moment. The woman seemed unusually nervous.

"Glad I was able to. Gregor keeps me hopping, but I was lucky to be home when you called. You know Tsipis, I think?"

"Yes, sir, we've met a few times."

"Six times, to be precise," said Tsipis. "Winterfairs mostly. Good to see you again, Lieutenant." They shook hands.

"Come, sit down," said Miles. "Can I offer you something? Ekaterin will have lunch waiting for us when we're done, though."

"Then I can wait, thank you, sir. Even the Regimental Officer's Mess can't compete with a Ma Kosti lunch." They all found chairs and Anny perched on the edge of hers like a cadet.

"So I understand your family has run into some difficulty, Anny? How can I help?"

"Well, I'm not sure that you can, sir, but I didn't know where else to turn. And my mother and sisters are citizens of your district so I thought…"

"Why don't you explain the problem, Lieutenant," said Tsipis. "I can't imagine any problem that my lord couldn't solve."

"Yes sir. Well, it's a bit complicated. My mother is a widow, my father died about six years ago. After that—after I left for the Academy—she found a boyfriend, a man named Monti Heinz. He moved in with her on our farm. Even though they didn't marry, my mother sort of turned everything over to him. Anyway, a few weeks ago he sold the farm, took the money and disappeared. My mother didn't find out what he'd done until the person he'd sold it to showed up and gave her and my sisters a week to pack up and leave."

Miles frowned and clenched his fist. "The bastard. Heinz, I mean."

"Did your mother actually sign over the deed to the farm, Lieutenant?" asked Tsipis.

"I don't know, sir. My mother was sort of incoherent when I talked to her on the comconsole. Frankly, I don't know that there even is a paper deed. My family has lived there for nine generations."

"Yes, the lack of records is often a problem in the Dendarii Mountains," said Tsipis, nodding. "Nearly all the records that existed for the Time of Isolation were lost during the Cetagandan Occupation…"

"Vaporized along with Vorkosigan Vashnoi," muttered Miles.

"Yes, and even now far too much of the business done there is based on a handshake rather than a contract."

"Well, if there's no paperwork and you mother didn't approve, I'd have to think that the sale was illegal," said Miles. "We ought to be able to get it reversed without much trouble…"

"Possibly, my lord," said Tsipis, who raised an eyebrow in caution. "I should say that you certainly can reverse it in either your capacity as your father's Voice or as an Imperial Auditor, but as for how much trouble it might cause… I don't have to remind you, my lord, of how strong-willed the Dendarii hillsmen are. If the buyer feels that he's been wronged…" Tsipis shrugged.

"Just how much money are we talking about, Anny?"

She named a sum and Miles snorted. "A pittance. I'd say just pay off the buyer now and worry about tracking down this Heinz character at our leisure."

"My lord, I can't ask you to…"

"Anny, if it was ten times as much, it wouldn't make a dent in what I owe you!"

"Well, that's not really the point, sir." Anny was looking very nervous and Miles watched as she pulled a credit chit out of her pocket. "I… I made a mistake on my apprentice cruise. On the way back home I met your brother on Hegan Hub…"

"Yes, he mentioned that to me."

"Well, he was very happy with what had happened on Dounby and he wanted to thank me for it…"

"As well he should!"

"Uh, and he gave me this, sir. I should have just refused it, but I wasn't thinking too clearly at the time. It's a lot of money, sir, and by the regulations I can't accept it. By those same regulations, I shouldn't accept any money from you, even if it is to help my family."

Miles frowned. "I don't think the cases are really the same, Anny. This wouldn't be a reward and wouldn't directly benefit you. And if we can get the original sum of money back again, it would be like it never happened. Right, Tsipis?"

The man pulled at his chin. "I'd have to look into it, my lord. I'm not that familiar with the military regulations. But frankly, if you, as your father, the Count's Voice decided to assist a widow living in your district, I can't imagine that it's any business of the military's."

"There, you see? And even if I can't do it as my father's Voice, I can damn well do it as an Imperial Auditor. I don't have to answer to anyone but Gregor about that!"

"If you can do something, sir, I'd be very, very grateful. And if you could take this off my hands, I'd appreciate it, too." She held out the credit chit and Miles took it.

"Anny, I doubt very much that anyone would have ever known about this if you'd acted cautiously."

"I'd have known, sir."

Miles grinned. "I would have wagered the full content of this chit that you were going to say that, Anny." The woman had an integrity and devotion to duty that he admired. In spite of all the crap they'd thrown at her at the Academy, she'd never once asked for any favoritism from her high-powered backers. Miles was pleased that here, finally, there was something he could help her with.

The woman smiled for a moment. "There's something else, too, sir. Before I realized I shouldn't have it, I gave some of the money away to set up a memorial fund for Zac Karal in Silvey Vale. I'm not sure what should be done about that."

"So that's where that came from! Harra Csurik told me about an 'anonymous donor' who had helped her set up a scholarship fund, but she wouldn't tell me who it was!"

"I… I hope she doesn't have to return the money, sir."

Miles waved his hand. "Relax. As far as anyone will ever know, the money came from Mark directly. Which is what the records will show, after all, even without any Auditorial slight-of-hand. In fact, if you want, I can just add the rest of this to the fund, too."

"My lord, perhaps you might want to spread Lord Mark's 'gift' around a bit," said Tsipis. "There are other needy villages in the Dendarii."

"Quite right! Good idea! Starting with a certain needy widow in, what was it? Red Rocks?"

"Yes, my lord." Anny was smiling again and this time it didn't fade. "I can't thank you enough, sir."

"Glad I can be of some help. Of course, Tsipis here will do all the real work. I'll alert the local police services to be on the lookout for that Heinz character and issue a cease-and-desist order as far as evicting your family goes." He stood up and dusted his hands. "And that should be that! Just in time for lunch!"

He escorted Anny and Tsipis down to the dining room where Ekaterin, Helen and Aral—and lunch—were waiting. Helen was especially keen to see Anny. She'd developed an attachment to her as a toddler when Anny was staying at Vorkosigan House prior to entering the Academy. It was a jolly lunch although Miles could tell from some of the answers Anny gave to Helen's endless questions that she wasn't happy about her new staff assignment. He thought back to his own initial assignment after leaving the Academy. Weather officer! On Kyrill Island! The worst assignment imaginable. He'd been hoping to be posted to the Prince Serg, Barrayar's biggest and newest and most powerful warship at the time. He could still feel the disappointment. But as he'd found out later, if he'd just kept his mouth shut and done his job he would have gotten his posting on the Prince Serg in only a few more months.

But naturally he hadn't kept his mouth shut and he never did get that dream posting. Considering where he'd ended up, he couldn't really complain about it anymore, but he hoped that Anny would have the sense to keep her temper in check. He could pull a few strings for her if necessary, but he knew she wouldn't want that and it would be better if he didn't have to.

"Well, this has been very nice," he said as the dessert dishes were cleared away. "But I have an appointment with the Emperor shortly. Anny, do you have a way to get back to your base? How did you get here? Not the monorail, I hope!"

"No sir, I managed to grab a ride on a shuttle that was coming to Vorbarr Sultana. Not sure how I'm getting back. I'll have to check to see if there's anything headed up that way. But I don't have duty until tomorrow, so I'm sure I'll make it somehow."

"Nonsense! Pym, get Roic to take her there in the lightflyer. We can use the ground car to get to the palace."

"Very good, my lord," said the armsman.

As Anny said good bye to Helen, Ekaterin approached him. "Miles, could you take the children with you to the palace? I've set up a play date with Laisa, but there's somewhere I think I want to go."

"Sure, not a problem. But where are you going?"

"I think I'd like to go with Anny. I haven't had the chance for a real woman-to-woman talk with her in ages. And some of the things she was saying about her new job. Well, I'd like to have a talk with her."

"All right, that sounds fine. Just don't encourage her to start making waves! Stuff like this is just how the military works."

"Making waves? Heaven forbid! Where in the world would I ever get any ideas about making waves?" She smiled at him and leaned over to give him a kiss.

He returned the smile and the kiss and then they both rounded up their charges and headed to the front door. Pym and Roic had their vehicles ready. Miles waited to see Roic, Anny and Ekaterin lift off and then herded the kids into the big armored ground car. Both Helen and Aral were complaining about not being able to go with their mother and Anny.

"Your mother wants some time alone with Anny," explained Miles. "Grown up talk between women. Even I'm not allowed to sit in on something like that!" This mollified Helen a bit, but Aral complained that then he'd never know what was going on and that wasn't fair. The ensuing discussion on the fairness of life lasted until they reached the palace. Miles dropped the children off with their royal playmates, chatted briefly with the Empress, and then he made his way to Gregor's private office.

Miles had slowly come to accept the fact that he was now one of Gregor's chief advisors. The two of them had always been able to speak to each other openly and bluntly and now that Miles' days of galactic gallivanting were behind him, they were traveling in the same circles again. In spite of himself Miles was becoming an expert on Imperial politics and policy. It was a role that his father had once filled…

The majordomo ushered Miles into Gregor's office. The Emperor was seated behind his enormous desk with the multiple comconsole displays as usual. The man had always—well almost always—been a workaholic. Marriage and parenthood had pulled him away from that for a while, but it seemed that he was being dragged back to it step by step. Miles was tempted to warn him about that except he knew Gregor would warn him about exactly the same thing in return. Old habits never really died.

"Afternoon," said Miles cheerily. "What's up?"

"Afternoon, Miles," replied the Emperor. "Have a seat." Miles complied and looked at his liege-lord expectantly. "Do you remember the discussion we had three or four months ago about the situation on Nova Paveo?"

"Hmmm? Oh, right. Hadn't heard anything about that for so long I thought maybe it was a dead issue."

"Sadly no. It seems that the Nuevo Brasilians were just marshaling their resources and making preparations. As we suspected, they aren't taking the Paveons' bid for independence lying down and it's turning just as ugly as we feared."

"Massacres?" Miles made an ugly face.

"Yes. All the usual atrocities, from the reports we're getting. And that's just from the forces they had on hand. They have a much larger force on the way. And this just came in from the Foreign Office." He handed a flimsy to Miles. "The Polians have been moving ahead with their proposal and they've managed to line up an impressive—and surprising—number of backers."

Miles looked over the list and whistled. "Beta Colony, Earth and the Cetagandans? How can we possibly stay out of this now?"

"I don't see how we can," replied Gregor. "It would be a diplomatic embarrassment for us to refuse and it would also make the Cetagandans the de facto leaders of the expedition. We don't want to allow that to happen."

"Yes, we might end up just trading Nuevo Brasilian expansionism for Cetagandan. No bargain there."

"Exactly," nodded Gregor. "Barrayar must participate in this, I think. Perhaps even take the lead if we can."

"It won't be a hard sell for the military," said Miles. "They've been itching for some action for years. If we can keep the cost down, most of the counts won't have a problem with it, either. What size force are you thinking to send?"

"I've discussed it with General Vordalla and his people. They were recommending a corps-sized force, but I think we'll probably pare that down to about a reinforced division—four regiments plus support. The size of the foreign contingents will affect that, of course."

Miles smirked. "Gonna be a lot of people wanting to get in on this, Gregor. Nothing like a campaign ribbon or a medal or two to brighten up a fellow's tunic."

"As you well know, Miles," smiled Gregor. "But not everyone's going to be willing to go all the way out there. It's a four-month trip one way. But we'll leave who's going to the generals. It will be at least a couple of months before things start to move. In the meantime, I want your advice on how best to present this to the counts and the public. The humanitarian aspects will need to be played up for some audiences and the strategic implications for others."

"Yes," replied Miles. "Well, let's see what we can come up with…"

They brainstormed for over an hour and devised what seemed a good plan. A lot of other people would have to work out the details, but it was a start. Gregor leaned back in his chair and stretched. "I hope we're not making a mistake with this. The generals and the politicians and the diplomats might be all in favor, but I can't help but think about the poor sods who might end up doing the fighting and dying."

"Well, we can always hope there won't be much fighting. With half the great powers lined up against them, the EnBees might back down."

"We can hope. But the EnBees have never paid much attention to that sort of pressure before."

"I guess we'll see what happens," said Miles raising an eyebrow and smiling. "We done?"

"Yes… oh, no, not quite. One other thing was brought to my attention that I thought you might be interested in." He pulled a flimsy out of another pile and handed it to Miles. It had an ImpSec letterhead.

"Damn!" he snapped after reading it. "How can they do that? I mean he hasn't been in jail even two years! Can't you reverse this, Gregor?"

The Emperor shrugged. "It's more normal for me to pardon people, Miles, not un-pardon them. And he has a few strong supporters and they've pointed out that he never actually did anything."

"But he planned to! He admitted it under fast-penta! It was a conspiracy!"

"True. But he did get cashiered and he did go to prison. Punishment enough, some people say."

Miles cursed again. "But what if he's looking for payback? He could be dangerous."

"I've asked ImpSec to keep an eye on him. Allegre said he would, but I can tell he's not happy about devoting resources to this."

Miles frowned. This wasn't good. But wait… "Gregor, perhaps we should take a more active role in deciding just who gets sent to Nova Paveo. We might be able to kill two birds with one stone here."

[Scene Break]

Anny watched Vorbarr Sultana dwindling below them as the lightflyer gained altitude and speed and slowly relaxed. She could scarcely believe that the issue with her family and the farm had been settled so quickly and easily! She'd known from her sisters for a while that things had become pretty rocky between her mother and Monti, but no one had been expecting this. For a while she'd been afraid she was going to have to bring her mother and sisters to Malverton and try and find them somewhere to live. Then she'd thought of Lord Vorkosigan and it had clearly been the right decision. It was an enormous load off her and she looked forward to telling her family the good news. She supposed she really ought to go visit them sometime…

They passed through a layer of clouds and the view was lost. She turned to look at the woman sitting next to her. Lady Ekaterin Vorkosigan was nearly as tall as her and with almost the same hair color although it was much longer than Anny's per-the-regulations haircut. The woman was nearly twenty years older, but she wore her years very well. Anny hoped she would look that good at her age. But why was she coming along?

"I can't begin to thank the Lord Auditor for his help," she ventured. "I didn't know what to do."

"Oh, he was glad to do it, Anny, you can be sure. He still feels a bit guilty about putting you and your friends in harm's way during the fire."

"What?" said Anny, startled. She and her company had helped to save a small village from a forest fire in her junior year. It was obvious the place was special to Lord Vorkosigan but… "We were just doing our duty."

"Yes, but he sent you there and if you'd been hurt it would have been his responsibility. He feels things like that very deeply—and he doesn't forget." Lady Ekaterin looked at her with a strange half-smile. "And he has this thing about damsels in distress."

"I… I'm hardly a damsel," protested Anny, gesturing to her uniform.

The older woman laughed. "Miles has a very broad interpretation of the term, I think." Her smile faded. She glanced forward to where Armsman Roic was piloting the lightflyer and then hit a switch and the privacy screen slid up."You never met Sergeant Taura, did you?"

"No, who is he?" replied Anny, shaking her head.

"Was. She died a few months ago."

"I, uh, I'm sorry to hear that." She?

"She was special to Miles. One of his old comrades from his ImpSec days. When someone becomes special to Miles, he'll move worlds for them. He's just like that. I think you've become special to him, yourself, Anny."

She felt dazed. "Is that why you came along? To tell me this?"

"No, not really. But for all the time you've spent in Vorkosigan House it seems like we've hardly ever had a chance to speak privately."

"Is… is there something else you want to talk to me about?"

"Perhaps I should be asking you that question."

"My lady?"

"Please, we're alone here. Call me Ekaterin. I know you don't want to, but try. Okay?" She smiled at her and kept smiling until Anny finally nodded her head.

"All right."

"All right what? You can say my name, can't you?"

"All right… Ekaterin."

"Good! That wasn't so hard, was it?"

"No worse than the old 'Yes, First Sergeant!' drill, I guess."

Lady Ekaterin actually laughed at that and in spite of herself Anny found that she was relaxing. She'd always liked Ekaterin, but as she'd said, they'd had few chances for a real conversation.

"I was hoping that you could tell me more about your new assignment, Anny. You were a bit vague answering Helen's questions at lunch."

"Oh. Well, there really isn't a lot to tell, my… Ekaterin. As one of my men described it, we're the complaint department. I'm supposed to keep the civilians—both the townspeople and the soldiers' families—happy. Sooth ruffled feathers. That sort of thing."

"Sounds like an important job."

Anny snorted before she could stop herself. "It could be, I suppose, but with the constraints put on us all we can really do is listen to problems, not solve them."

"Constraints?"

Anny shrugged. "No budget, no authority, no… cooperation."

"I see. But can you tell me about the kind of complaints you get?"

Anny tried and Ekaterin kept up a steady stream of penetrating questions and eventually she'd told her just about everything about her job. Finally she asked the woman: "Ekaterin, why are you so interested in all this?"

"What? I can't be curious about a friend's job?" she replied. "But no, you're right, I have another motive."

"Oh?"

"You know that Miles is running the district while his father is on Sergyar?"

"Yes."

"Well, I've been trying to help him as much as I can. It's a big job. I started out overseeing land reclamation projects and the like because of my interest in botany and gardening. Then I was helping repair the damage left from the forest fire. But that inevitably put me into close contact with a lot of the people in the district. People started coming to me with their problems. All-in-all it sounds like your job is very similar to mine. Except I do have a budget and quite a bit of authority."

"That's interesting," said Anny in surprise. "I never would have thought of that."

"I never expected it when I first started, either. But there are some very needy people up in those mountains—I hardly need to tell you that! I do what I can and I think we've made a lot of progress in the last few years. Especially when it comes to health care and education. Kids going to college are up, infanticides are way down."

"That's wonderful." Anny knew that there were still some spots where newborns who showed any sign of mutations were killed.

"It's rewarding work," said Ekaterin, nodding. "But we can't solve every problem. And one problem I've run into from time to time made me want to have this talk with you, Anny."

"Really? What?"

"Domestic violence."

"Oh dear…"

"You never said a word about that in the description of your job, Anny, but I can't believe that you haven't run into it at Fort Vorolson."

Anny sighed. "Yes… yes, I've run into it."

"A lot?"

"I don't know how you'd define 'a lot'. One seems too much. I've had about a dozen cases brought to my attention. And I have to believe that there are more cases where no complaint is ever filed…"

"The ratio is about five to one in my experience, maybe worse than that," said Ekaterin. There was no smile on her face.

"Yeah… yeah, I guess I suspected that."

"So what do you when you get a case like that?"

Anny sighed again and shrugged. "There really isn't much I can do. If a complaint reaches my desk it's almost always one that was filed by a friend or neighbor of the victim. With no eye-witness testimony—and usually no complaint from the victim—the provost won't take action. I have no law-enforcement authority, so it's not like I can arrest the offender. Heck, I'm not even allowed to talk to them to try and work something out."

"Not allowed?"

"I tried at first; the COs of the men involved complained that I was interfering in their commands and I was given a cease-and-desist order by the general." Anny suddenly realized what she was saying and stared at Ekaterin. "You didn't hear that from me."

"Don't worry, I won't pass that on. It's about what I expected, actually."

"Are you having similar problems in the district?"

"Yes. The old traditions die hard. Any time I've tried to deal with an individual, his friends and neighbors close ranks and nothing short of fast-penta interrogations will bring out the truth—and that's not something I want to resort to."

"So how do you deal with it?"

Ekaterin didn't answer right away. She stared out the window of the lightflyer for a few moments before looking back at Anny. "You know that I was married before I met Miles?"

"Uh, sure. Your son, Nikolai, is from your first marriage, before you were widowed."

"Yes. But what few people know is that my first marriage was… abusive."

Anny gasped and instinctively searched Ekaterin's face for bruises or scars even though she'd never seen any before.

"Not physically abusive," added Ekaterin. "But there are other forms of abuse and they can be just as destructive as actual violence." She paused again for a moment. "The worst thing—or it seems like the worst thing now—was the… hopelessness. I couldn't see any way out without breaking all those old traditions. And I felt totally alone. There was no one to turn to for help."

"I'm sorry," whispered Anny, shocked.

"Don't be. I know now that much of my problem was self-inflicted. Not because I deserved my abuse—oh, how many women fall into that trap!—but because I didn't do anything to escape it. Because that's the thing, Anny: there is help out there. Good people who will help you if you only ask and who won't think less of you if you do. When I found that help, it was like… I don't know how to describe it… it was a gift beyond price."

"But how do you find the help?" asked Anny in growing eagerness. She realized that she had desperately wanted to talk to someone about this. Another woman. Jer had been as supportive and sympathetic as she could ask for, but it wasn't enough.

"Well, that's the trick, isn't it?" said Ekaterin with a bitter smile. "Most are afraid to ask, afraid to offer, afraid of doing something… embarrassing."

"So how do you get around that?"

"It's not easy. Most don't even want to admit that there is a problem. So I've found that the indirect approach is the best. Get the victims involved in something else. Something that's not embarrassing. Win their trust and then… maybe… bring up the big problem. What I've tried to do in the district is set up women's groups. Groups that can provide advice and help on a wide range of subjects. Child care, better farming techniques, financial planning, health and sanitation, dozens of things. Then, once the groups are established, we start slipping in things like contraception and counseling and support services for women in abusive relationships."

"And it's working?"

"It's helping, I think. It's not a problem that we'll ever be able to solve completely, but this is a start." Ekaterin paused and looked at Anny. "I'm thinking that you might be able to do something similar where you are."

"I… yes, yes, it might work! But I'm not sure how to set something like that up…" It was an exciting idea.

"Well, you have a couple of big advantages, Anny. One is that all the people are concentrated. In the district I'm dealing with hundreds of tiny villages scattered over thousands of square kilometers and with people who rarely travel very far. Second, you've got ready-made group leaders. I couldn't run the groups I set up myself; I had to find women willing to do it. Here you've got yourself, plus the wives of the officers."

"There is already a sort of informal group among the officers' wives," said Anny, thinking back to the talk she'd given for Mrs. Fetherbay. "But it's only for them, not the enlisted men's wives.—and that's where nearly all the trouble is."

"Yes. That's what I expected," said Ekaterin. "But I guess we'll have to make some changes, won't we?"

"We?" asked Anny in surprise.

"Help, Anny. I'm offering to help. It's an amazing concept, isn't it?"