The Vorkosigan Companion (58 page)

Vormurtos:

No first name given. A Barrayaran lord and one of Richars's supporters, he drunkenly accosts Miles and Ekaterin after a social function, only to be verbally defeated by Miles. (CC)

Vorob'yev:

No first name given. The Barrayaran ambassador to Cetaganda, he is a stout solid man, about sixty years old, with sharp eyes. He wears the Vorob'yev house uniform, wine red trimmed in black. Appointed to the position by Aral Vorkosigan, Vorob'yev retired from the military, and has held this position for six years. He tries to keep Miles out of trouble and prevent an interstellar incident, but is unable to contain him. In the end, having survived his run-in with Miles and having kept relations between the two planets more or less intact, he asks Mia Maz to marry him, which she accepts. (C)

Vorparadijs:

No first name given. A general in the Barrayaran military, he is the last surviving Imperial Auditor appointed by Emperor Ezra Vorbarra. He is ancient, skinny, and uses a cane. Although he is technically the senior Auditor, the others don't let him know when they are meeting. Laisa wants to meet him at the Imperial State dinner, but Miles warns her off, letting her know that the office is the interesting part, and the man himself is a terrible bore. He is not at the meeting to confirm Miles as an Imperial Auditor. (M)

Vorpatril, Alys:

Wife of Captain Lord Padma Xav Vorpatril, she is the very pattern of a proper Vor woman. She has long, dark hair, and is accustomed to being in charge, although not overbearingly so. She is pregnant at the same time as Cordelia, and assists her in integrating into Barrayaran society. Her house colors are blue and gold.

During the War of Vordarian's Pretendership, her husband and her unborn child are on Vordarian's assassination lists, because their blood right to the Barrayaran throne is better than his. She and Padma hide in the caravanserai section of town during the coup attempt, but they are discovered, and Padma is killed. Cordelia is able to rescue Alys. In the confusion of their escape, Alys goes into labor, delivering her son, Ivan, that same evening. After the coup is put down, Alys oversees Koudelka's and Droushnakovi's wedding preparations.

She eventually becomes Gregor's official hostess, and handles his social calendar. She organizes the Imperial state dinner where Emperor Gregor first meets Laisa Toscane. She takes Laisa under her wing, and makes sure the Komarran heiress is accepted as Empress by all the old Vor families. During Simon Illyan's illness, she stays by his side, and then helps take care of him during his convalescence afterward. The two of them embark on a romance, much to her son Ivan's dismay. When Miles is courting Ekaterin, she is quite appalled at the disintegration of his infamous dinner party, but sympathetic to his plight as well. A veteran of Vorbarr Sultana politics, she assists greatly with René Vorbretten's and Dono Vorrutyer's cases, confirming counts that will vote for them, and removing a few that won't. She is also Byerly Vorrutyer's contact to Imperial Security. (All except FF, SH)

Vorpatril, Falco:

A count, he is a member of Barrayar's Conservative Party. He is one of Ivan's relatives. Despite Falco's exasperation at Ivan's inability to get married, Ivan tries to persuade him to vote for René Vorbretten's and Dono Vorrutyer's petitions at the Council of Counts. Initially against Dono's case, Falco comes over to their side when Richars attempts to castrate Dono. It is not known how he voted on René Vorbretten's case. (CC)

Vorpatril, Ivan:

Miles's cousin, he is tall, fit, easygoing, handsome, a bit lazy, and—after a successful but not outstanding pass through the Imperial Academy—a model Vor military officer. He makes a career of slipping through life nearly invisibly, doing just enough to succeed, and reserving his real efforts for his social life and for dealing with Miles, who is the closest thing to a brother Ivan has.

As children together, Ivan and Miles set the pattern of their adult relationship. Miles came up with wild ideas, and then coerced Ivan into helping him carry them out. The two of them, Miles and Ivan, engage in an underground game of one-ups-manship whenever they are together, but Ivan picks his ground carefully whenever he decides to challenge Miles. The first serious challenge Ivan issued to Miles—not intentionally, for a change—came when Ivan was accepted into the Barrayaran Imperial Military Academy at the same time that Miles failed the physical qualification test after acing all the written examinations. Miles traveled to Beta Colony to visit his grandmother, but seemingly vanished in midroute. Ivan was sent to find Miles by Admiral Hessman, but his mission was part of an intricate plot to bring down Prime Minister Aral Vorkosigan. Ivan was not supposed to survive the trip. In spite of the odds stacked against him, Ivan survives and finds Miles, who uncovers the plot against his father based on the information Ivan gives him.

After Miles is admitted to the Imperial Academy in spite of his physical limitations, Ivan and he routinely end up on the opposite side in undergrad war games, and Miles savors his frequent victories over his taller and better-looking cousin. Upon graduation, Miles gets sent to the worst posting in all of Barrayar's army—to Kyril Island as a weatherman. Ivan can't help but grin. But he's in position to help Miles research his new and psychotic commander's sealed military files, and the two ensigns inadvertently uncover a hole in Imperial computer security.

Ivan rises through the military ranks steadily, and is next promoted to the rank of lieutenant. But he still retains his responsibilities as a Vor and close relation to Emperor Gregor. Because of those connections, he accompanies Miles on the diplomatic mission to the Cetagandan Empire to attend the Dowager Empress Lisbet Degtiar's funeral on Eta Ceta IV. Ivan is entirely smitten by all the beautiful ghem-ladies, and they seem to return his regard, especially after a practical joke results in Ivan being slipped an anti-aphrodisiac before two ghem-women seduce him. Ivan
concocts a story about Vor lords having to pleasure their women multiple times before the Vor lord is free to participate himself. He then delivers on that promise, making his popularity explode after that. Ivan also comes up with the idea to have eight haut
gene banks, distributed by the Dowager Empress in a plot that has fallen apart with her death, recalled from the satrap governors' ships. But his good looks nearly get him killed. The haut-lady Chilian d'Vio thinks Ivan is the brains behind Miles's attempts to save Lisbet's heir, the haut
Rian Degtiar, from a murderous conspiracy that could eventually plunge Cetaganda and Barrayar into war. Miles rescues Ivan, but is captured in the process of retrieving the last gene bank and the Celestial Great Key that opens it. Ivan finds ghem-Colonel Benin, and leads a rescue party to save Miles and his Cetagandan helpers from satrap governor Ilsum Kety.

His next run-in with Miles occurs when Ivan is stationed on Old Earth, serving as the second assistant military attaché at Barrayar's embassy in London. His cousin is also on Earth in his persona of Admiral Naismith of the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet. But Lord Miles Vorkosigan also has to report in to Earth's Barrayaran embassy. Ivan covers for Miles when he goes to recover his three Dendarii, who have torn up a wine shop in the city. Ivan is captured by Ser Galen as part of a power play to force Miles to come to Ser Galen. Galen has arranged for a clone to be made of Miles, and he wants the chance to substitute that clone, later known as Mark, for Miles. Galen and the clone, now known as Mark, capture Ivan and lock him in an underwater pumping station, giving him an acute case of claustrophobia. But Miles is able to win the clone's trust, and they rescue Ivan, with the clone killing Galen along the way. Ivan, along with two Cetagandans, sees the two Vorkosigans, Miles and Mark, together, with Mark dressed as Admiral Naismith. The sight gets the Cetagandans off Miles's back for a considerable amount of time.

Ivan is given the task of introducing Mark to Barrayar after Miles turns up missing, and possibly dead, in the process of trying to extract Mark from a mission on Jackson's Whole. Since Ivan is still upset with Mark for giving him that claustrophobia complex back on Earth, he takes on the mission with a larger than usual lack of grace, resulting in Mark almost killing a bully in the Caravanserai.

After he's promoted to captain, Ivan helps Miles get through his forced resignation from his Imperial Security career, invading Vorkosigan House and dumping Miles into an ice bath to break him out of his near-catatonia. He then moves in, enjoying the delightful meals that Ma Kosti provides. Ivan is appointed to be Miles's assistant when Miles is promoted to the position of acting Imperial Auditor to investigate Simon Illyan's memory loss. He ultimately finds the bioengineered weapon that disables Simon. But Ivan's fondness for Simon doesn't stifle his dismay when he discovers his mother and Simon are having an affair.

About this time, Ivan's own marital prospects are looking grim, thanks to a Vor preference for producing boy children rather than girls around the time of Ivan's birth. There aren't a lot of eligible Vor women still unmarried, and Ivan begins to believe he's out of time to find his own wife. In a panic, Ivan asks Delia to marry him. In typical fashion, when Delia turns him down flat, Ivan asks Martya to marry him on the same day, and she turns him down even flatter. Then Ivan's worst nightmare comes true when his mother, Lady Alys, becomes his commanding officer while she arranges Gregor's wedding. Peeved at Miles's declaring Ekaterin off-limits to his cousin's courting, Ivan tells Alexi Vormoncrief about her, so Miles won't lack for competition. His meddling launches a string of unintended results, including Miles's disastrous dinner party.

Afterward, Ivan is still feeling like the last Vor in his generation to be married, and starts seriously looking for his future bride. When he hears his former lover Lady Donna Vorrutyer is available again, he sets his sights on her, and then is dismayed to learn she has undergone a sex-change operation in order to inherit her brother's title of count along with the district. Ivan is also out of luck with former girlfriend Olivia Koudelka, as she has already fallen in love with Lord Dono. Ivan proves his worth when he helps thwart an assault on Lord Dono, then brings four Conservative counts on the Council to Dono's side, assuring him the vote and his countship.

Ivan then serves as Miles's Second during his wedding. Several days before the ceremony, Aral takes Ivan aside to warn him not to do anything to spoil the ceremony. But Ivan can't resist after decades of twitting his cousin Miles at every opportunity. His addition to the winter garden wedding decorations is to slip in an ice sculpture of two grinning rabbits copulating under a bush. (C, CC, M, MD, VG, WA, WG)

Vorpatril, Padma Xav:

A captain in the Barrayaran military, he is also the husband of Lady Alys Vorpatril, and Ivan's father. In his middle thirties, he is a big, cheerful man. He is Cordelia's escort during Aral's confirmation ceremony at the Council of Counts. Padma is Aral's first cousin via his mother's younger sister, and is Aral's closest living relative other than Piotr. Although Padma and Alys, who is heavily pregnant with Ivan, evade the roundup of the counts during the initial stages of Vordarian's War of Pretendership, Padma is discovered while trying to find a doctor to aid his wife, who is in labor. He is killed by Vordarian's guards, but Alys and Ivan are rescued by Cordelia. Alys arranges to have a memorial plaque inserted into the street on the exact spot where Padma died. (B)

Vorreedi:

No first name given. The protocol officer assigned by Barrayar to Cetaganda, he is actually an Imperial Security colonel and the chief of Imperial Security on Cetaganda. Middle-aged, middle-sized, he often wears a loose bodysuit and the well-cut robes of a Cetagandan ghem-lord. The Cetagandans know his true position in Intelligence, but politely do not acknowledge it, just as the Cetagandan officers of similar status are known on Barrayar. Vorreedi is supposed to oversee Miles and Ivan's stay on Eta Ceti IV, but is kept in the dark for much of the time by Miles. He finds out what was happening under his nose only after Miles spells out what he's done during an audience with the Cetagandan Emperor. (C)

Vorrutyer, Byerly:

Known as "By," he is a Vor "town clown," or social gadfly, and has a sarcastic tongue and wicked commentary on the social and political intrigues of Barrayar. He also has a secret career in Imperial Security as a Domestic Affairs civilian contract employee with a rating of IS-8. He's first introduced when he appears to court Ekaterin, although he may in fact have been working. A cousin to Miles and Ivan by way of Aral Vokosigan's first marriage. He has a cousin, Richars Vorrutyer, and a recently deceased cousin, Pierre, who died from a heart attack at barely fifty. By pretends to help both Dono and Richars, but he is actually on Dono's side. His machinations help Lord Dono by manipulating Richars's assault on him, which firmly turns the Council of Counts against Richars. By's Imperial Security drop contact is Lady Alys Vorpatril. His house colors are blue and gray. (CC)

Vorrutyer, Donna/Dono:

Count Pierre's younger sister, she is forty years old. When Pierre dies, Donna decides to block her despised cousin Richars from inheriting Pierre's District by having a sex change on Beta Colony, becoming Lord Dono Vorrutyer. He is an athletic-looking and handsome man of middle height, more lithe than muscular, with dark hair, a groomed, glossy mustache and beard, and electric brown eyes.

Ivan Vorpatril had a fling with Donna several years earlier, and the newly minted Lord Dono uses that relationship to help smooth the way to receive Gregor's approval and win the vote to make his countship official at the Council of Counts. Dono hates Richars because he tried to rape Donna when she was twelve, and when she stopped him he drowned her puppy and blamed her for it. Donna has been previously married three times, an early, arranged marriage that she behaved badly during to escape, a second marriage that both parties soon agreed was a mistake, and a happy third marriage that ended in tragedy when her new husband was killed in a sporting accident. Dono has remained a virgin in his new gender, and is looking forward to a very unusual marriage night first. Although set upon by thugs hired by Richars to castrate him, the attack is foiled by Ivan Vorkosigan and Olivia Koudelka, who use it to bring more counts over to Dono's side. At the Emperor's reception, Dono and Olivia announce their engagement. The couple attends Miles's wedding. (CC, WG)