singing open the great gates

[middlingalong]

The following day, very little happens, except for Vorreedi mentioning that Yenaro has been arrested (by the civil police, for theft, on charges from a ghem-lord Miles has never heard of, as opposed to by Cetagandan security for treason).

Also, Ivan gets bored - with all the bodyguards Vorreedi now requires for them after the incident at the bioestheties exhibition, the possible spontaneity of going out with his ghem girlfriends is much reduced.

But the next day they get to attend the Singing Open of the Great Gates.

And oh, is there ever singing.

Comments

[middlingalong]

"Why don't you sign up for Cetagandan Imperial Security, then, coz," says Ivan. "Maybe ghem-Colonel Benin would promote you. Maybe they'll load you up with a whole grab bag of prizes."

[isthisart]

Linyabel raises an eyebrow at Ivan. She doesn't think she approves very much of him.

[thisvorlunatic]

"Ivan," Miles says pointedly. "Don't be an ass." He flashes a grin. "I'm too short for Cetagandan Security, obviously. If I was freelancing for anyone, it was the Star Creche."

[isthisart]

"For which," Linyabel puts in, "the Star Creche is thoroughly thankful."

Benin deflates slightly. "Hm. In any case, Lord Vorkosigan - my Celestial master the Emperor haut Fletchir Giaja requests you attend upon him in my company. Now."

[thisvorlunatic]

"...Certainly," sighs Miles. He glances conflictedly at Ivan and Vorreedi, unsure whether he wants them along, or wants them in the next solar system. Ivan especially.

[middlingalong]

"...the haut Linyabel and your friends may accompany you," Benin says. He adds, to Vorreedi and Ivan - assuming Linyabel is full up on protocol, "With the understanding that they may not speak unless invited to do so."

Vorreedi nods understanding. Ivan attempts to look extremely bland.

[isthisart]

With that, Linyabel starts floating forward. They wind up near Nadina.

"Such a nice young man," Nadina murmurs about Benin, nodding at him. "So neatly turned-out, and he understands the proprieties. We'll have to see what we can do for him. Don't you agree?"

"Not me," says Linyabel. "Surely."

"You've acquitted yourself so well, though. Perhaps things could be different now."

"Not, I think, enough to suit me, even if enough to suit the haut. But by all means, get ghem-Colonel Benin a present."

And with that, they are on the Cetagandan security shuttle, accompanied by Benin himself.

[thisvorlunatic]

"By the way," says Miles, smiling with a hint of mischief, "congratulations on cracking your very tricky murder case, General Benin."

"...Colonel Benin," the ghem-colonel corrects, blinking in puzzlement.

"Time will tell," Miles says serenely.

[isthisart]

Linyabel stays with them - and with Miles in her lap - until they have landed, and then she picks him up and puts him on his feet gently and goes with Nadina and Benin one way while ghem-guards - courteous, but mysteriously and politely void of any means for their guests to communicate with the outside - lead the Barrayarans elsewhere.

Elsewhere is an antechamber; following a prolonged wait, elsewhere becomes a chamber proper which Vorreedi claims not to recognize. It doesn't, apparently, see use in public or diplomatic ceremony. It has curiously deadened acoustics and, under cunningly but incompletely concealed panels, a pop-up comconsole and station chairs. They are obliged to stand for the time being, as none of the pop-up furnishings are currently popped up.

Yenaro, who looks much the worse for wear, is waiting there too. He is not pleased to see Miles and Ivan, and tries to pretend not to notice them.

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles, undeterred by Yenaro's displeasure, essays a cheerful wave.

[isthisart]

Yenaro, pained, nods politely back.

Ghem-Colonel Benin enters the room, and dismisses the ghem-guards. Following him are Linyabel, Nadina, and Lisbet, in float-chairs but without force-screens, who arrange themselves on the side of the room. (Nadina's hair is tucked with its ends out of sight in her garments.)

Last, the emperor himself strides in, shedding more guards at the entrance. By Imperial standards, his outfit is casual, half a dozen layers of mourning white. Yenaro sways on his feet as though likely to faint. Even Benin is rigidly formal. A chair rises from the floor to greet the imperial presence, and down sits Emperor Fletchir Giaja. He beckons Benin; Benin dismisses even Yenaro's guard. The room contains one Emperor, three haut-ladies, three Barrayarans, and Yenaro.

"Lord Vorkosigan," says the Emperor.

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles steps forward as unshakily as possible.

"Sir," he acknowledges.

The Imperial fuss is not all that intimidating to him; his parents raised Emperor Gregor Vorbarra, his foster brother in all but name, and his childhood memories insist that emperors are for playing hide-and-seek with. Which could be a deadly intuition to obey in this context. He tries very hard to keep salient facts in the forefront of his mind, like ruler of eight planets, and older than my father.

"I am still... unclear," the Cetagandan Emperor continues, "just what your place was in these recent events. And how you came by it."

"My place was to have been a sacrificial animal, and it was chosen for me by Governor Kety, sir. But I didn't play the part he tried to assign to me."

The Celestial Master frowns slightly. "Explain yourself."

Miles flicks a glance at the haut Lisbet.

[exerce_imperia]

She nods.

[thisvorlunatic]

A complete explanation, then.

He takes a deep breath and starts at the beginning.

Vorreedi manages to damp his reaction down to a clenched jaw when Miles gets to the part about Ba Lura carrying the false Great Key on its ill-fated incursion.

From there he goes on to the funeral rotunda, to his realization that to exculpate Barrayar he must produce the true Key, that the ba's murder implied something seriously whiffy going on at the highest levels of Celestial Garden security, that Benin must have been a sacrificial appointee - Benin confirms with a nod that Naru did indeed personally assign him to the case. Miles goes on to praise Benin's ability to pick up his hints and run with them, and picks up the haut-thread of the narrative again with a commendation of Lisbet Serise's ability to read her people and general level-headedness.

"I'm sure Lura was primed with all sorts of lies, but haut Lisbet didn't buy a word of them. She acted throughout for the good of the haut - for all of us - never once for her personal aggrandizement," he says. "I'd say your late August Mother chose her Handmaiden well."

"That is hardly for you to judge, Barrayaran," says the haut Fletchir Giaja in tones so dry Miles can't tell amusement from genuine danger.

"Excuse me," he says boldly, "but I didn't exactly volunteer for this mission. I was suckered into it. My judgements have brought us all here, one way or another."

The Imperial eyebrows drift upward in surprise.

[middlingalong]

Ivan almost laughs. And then doesn't. Nope, nothing to see here, blank face, no expression.

[thisvorlunatic]

"And," the Emperor asks after a pause, "how did you come to be involved with Lord Yenaro?"

"Um," says Miles. "From my point of view, you mean? Right." And he proceeds to lay out the whole business as neutrally as possible, one two three - sorry, Ivan - from the microwaved leg braces to the zlati ale to the carpet incident. Vorreedi looks slightly sick when Miles describes that last. "In my opinion," Miles concludes, "Lord Yenaro was as much an intended victim as Ivan or I. The asterzine bomb proves it. There is no treason in the man."

Yenaro, when prompted, confirms Miles's story. Benin calls for a guard to escort the ghem-lord out.

There is an extended silence. Miles shifts uncomfortably.

"Does your medical condition require you to sit?" asks ghem-Colonel Benin, with a less-than-subtle glance at the haut Linyabel.

"I'll live," mutters Miles.

The Emperor makes a slight gesture, commanding immediate absolute silence from the Cetagandans in the room. Miles picks up this cue.

"That suffices for my appraisal of the concerns of the Empire. We must now turn to the concerns of haut. Ladies, you may keep your Barrayaran creature. Ghem-Colonel Benin. Will you kindly wait in the antechamber with Colonel Vorreedi and Lord Vorpatril until I call you."

"Sire," says Benin, and with a sharp salute turns to herd Ivan and Vorreedi out of the room.

Miles thinks of objecting, and then decides against it, on the grounds that no quantity of Barrayarans short of an army is going to make him any safer in Fletchir Giaja's presence than Fletchir Giaja decides he ought to be.

[exerce_imperia]

The remaining Cetagandans undergo a remarkable transformation, from haut-blankness to a more expressive affect. The Emperor looks angry. Lisbet looks... slightly amused.

"Give the boy a chair, Fletchir," she says. "He fell onto the inside of a haut-bubble force-screen; if you make him stand up for much longer, he's going to fall over."

"As you wish," says the Emperor. He manipulates a control; a station chair rises from the floor next to Miles.

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles collapses therein.

[exerce_imperia]

"I am sure you all see now," says the haut Fletchir Giaja, "the wisdom of our ancestors in arranging that the haut and the Empire shall have only one interface. Me. Only one veto. Mine. Issues of the haut-genome must remain as insulated as possible from the political sphere, lest they fall into the hands of politicians who do not understand the goal of haut. That includes most of our gentle ghem-lords, as ghem-General Naru has perhaps proved to you, Nadina."

Nadina nods unhappily.

Lisbet shakes her head. "More to the point, look at Ilsum Kety. That is what I would call the true result of our ancestors' wisdom. The culmination of their high art. I am not yet sure where the solution lies, except that it certainly isn't with the late Celestial Lady's intended Imperial mitosis."

Fletchi regards Lisbet thoughtfully. She regards him right back, direct and calm. "Backups," she says firmly. "Backups, and perhaps an Imperial edict or two to encourage constellation crosses and genetic diversification. We need more experiments," is that a slight incline of her head towards Linyabel? "not less."

"Hm," says Fletchir. "And—Nadina—whatever possessed you to spill the contents of the Great Key across the entire Eta Ceta system? As a joke, it does not amuse."

[thisvorlunatic]

"My idea," interjects Miles from his chair. "And no joke, sir. As far as we knew, we might all have been about to die sometime in the next hour. It was my understanding that the highest priority was the recovery of the Great Key. The receivers got the Key but no lock - valueless gibberish, without the gene banks to go with it. One way or another, we assured you would be able to recover it, even after our deaths, regardless of any measures Kety might take. The upload was only canceled after Benin charged in and arrested everyone. Live or die, the job gets done—that's the best kind of strategy, in my opinion."

"Hm," Fletchir repeats. He glances at Nadina, then Linyabel. "Is this true?"

[isthisart]

"Yes," Linyabel agrees.

[thisvorlunatic]

Miles takes a breath.

"What will happen to - um, everyone? Naru, Kety, the other governors, Vio..."

"Naru will be executed," says the Emperor. "Haut Kety will... retire. Immediately. To a supervised estate. If he objects, suicide is also an option. The other governors will finish out their current appointments, after which they may find new ones hard to come by."

[exerce_imperia]

"And Vio," says Lisbet, "despite... certain other suggestions, will be permitted a painless suicide. Externally administered, if necessary, but I don't believe it will be."

"As for everyone," says the Emperor, with a faintly exasperated glance between Miles and Lisbet, "that is a problem on which I shall now retire and meditate."

He summons Benin to herd Miles away, which Benin does, reuniting him with Ivan and Vorreedi in the process. The three of them are taken to the Western Gate of the Celestial Garden, where a car from the Barrayaran Embassy awaits.

[middlingalong]

Benin addresses Vorreedi before the car carries them off.

"We cannot," he says, "control what goes into your official reports. But my Celestial Master... expects that none of what you have seen or heard will appear as social gossip."

"That, I think I can promise," Vorreedi says sincerely.

"May I have your words upon your names in the matter, please?" says Benin.

He can have Ivan's, sure as anything.

[thisvorlunatic]

And Vorreedi's, and Miles's. And with this assurance, he permits them to depart. Miles guesses from the colour of the sky that it's maybe two hours till dawn.

Vorreedi waits until halfway through the ride to ask Miles coldly, "What did you think you were doing, Vorkosigan?"

"I stopped the Cetagandan Empire from breaking up into eight aggressively expanding units. I derailed plans for a war by some of them with Barrayar. I survived an assassination attempt, and helped catch three high-ranking traitors. Admittedly, they weren't our traitors, but still. Oh. And I solved a murder. What more d'you bloody want?"

Vorreedi looks like he is just barely restraining himself from throwing up his hands. "Are you a special agent or not?"

"Well," Miles says pleasantly, "if not... I sure succeeded like one, didn't I?"