The Vorkosigan Companion

by Lillian Stewart Carl

  • • L • •

  L. Bharaputra & Sons Biological Supply House:

  Based on Jackson's Whole, it is one of the largest genetic- engineering companies in the galaxy. Controlled by the ruthless House Bharaputra, it will take extreme measures, including murder, to protect itself. When the Population Council on Athos ordered a supply of ovarian tissues from them, the order was intercepted and lost on Kline Station. The company was also cheated by the Cetagandans in a co- sponsored genetic breeding plot for creating telepathic subjects, and hired Elli Quinn to eliminate Colonel Millisor and his men as revenge. Their representatives are tall, dark-skinned, and wear gaudy, embroidered silk jackets. A pair of them, one dressed in pink and one in brown, are sent to retrieve Baron Luigi Bharaputra's advance payment from Quinn when she takes too long in eliminating Millisor. (EA)

  Lai:

  No first name given. A lieutenant in the Betan military, he is a crew member aboard the Rene Magritte. Slight and thin with a scholarly scoop, he accompanies Lieutenant Stuben aboard the General Vorkraft to rescue Cordelia. (SH)

  Lairouba:

  A planet that has sent its leader to Earth to participate in talks about the right-of-passage through the group of planets known as the Western Orion Arm. Tau Ceti is the hub of this nexus, and Komarr connects through it by two routes, which is why Barrayar is interested in the discussion. (BA)

  Lake:

  No first name given. A lieutenant in the Oseran Mercenaries, he is pale, blond-haired, and Admiral Oser's right-hand man. Elena Bothari dislikes him intensely. He supervises the attempt to kill Miles on Oser's orders, but Miles escapes with help from loyal Dendarii men, including Clive Chodak. Captured by Cavilo's men, Lake is severely interrogated on the Kurin's Hand. (VG)

  Lamitz:

  No first name given. A general in the Barrayaran military, referred to as possibly homosexual. (VG)

  Lannier, Ma:

  No first name given. She taught Harra Csurik reading and writing. (MM)

  Lara:

  No surname given. A corporal in security on Kline Station, she is average-looking with dark hair. She got her name from her grandmother. When Ethan Urquhart attempts to find out about the attempted attack on him from Colonel Millisor, she thinks he's flirting with her. She is called away to investigate the disappearance of a prisoner, one of Millisor's men who fired a nerve disruptor at Ethan earlier that day. (EA)

  Lars:

  No surname given. One of two guards Ser Galen used to discipline Mark during his training to impersonate Miles. (MD)

  Las Sands:

  An area on Athos that has a senior, unnamed representative on the Population Council. (EA)

  Latour, Louise:

  One of Gras-Grace's aliases, listing her as a citizen of Pol. Russo Gupta carries the identification papers while on Graf Station. (DI)

  Lava lamp:

  Just like the twentieth-century version. Miles purchases a Jackson's Whole–made one on Komarr as a birthday present for Emperor Gregor. (K)

  Lazkowski Base:

  Located on Kyril Island on Barrayar, near the Arctic Circle, it is a winter training base for infantry known as Camp Permafrost, with a capacity of six thousand men. After Miles graduates from the Academy, his first assignment is a six-month duty as the camp's Chief Meteorological Officer. Alexi Vormoncrief is posted there as punishment for interfering in Miles's and Ekaterin's relationship. (CC, VG)

  Liant:

  No first name given. One of the prisoners under Beatrice's command who helps reorganize the prisoners for evacuation on Dagoola IV. (BI)

  Liga, Sydney:

  An arms buyer on Pol Station Six, he has pale, rabbit-like features, with a protruding lip and dark hair. He meets with Miles, who is posing as the arms dealer Victor Rotha, claiming to need upgraded weapons for his security guards on an asteroid mining facility. He is killed by Cavilo, who tries to pin the crime on Rotha/Miles. (VG)

  Lightflyer:

  A vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that ranges from one- and two-person versions through bigger passenger vehicles that can carry several passengers to large cargo versions. Antigravity technology is used for lift; however, the method of propulsion is not specified. All lightflyer safety restraints and crash protection systems are very effective, making it possible to survive a lightflyer crash that demolishes the vehicle. (All)

  Lightner, Peter:

  A Betan pilot in Betan Astronomical Survey, he is known as Big Pete. One of Cordelia's crew who helps rescue her, he pilots the stolen shuttle out of the General Vorkraft. (SH)

  Lilly Junior:

  A tall Eurasian girl unwillingly rescued from the clone crèche on Jackson's Whole, she is a Durona clone meant for Lotus Bharaputra to inhabit. Lotus named her Lilly as revenge on her sister. She escapes from Mark and the Dendarii with Baron Bharaputra and goes back to the Bharaputra residence, where she meets Rowan and Miles, both prisoners. Her conversation with Miles causes her to question her previously unflagging devotion to Lotus, and she escapes the baron's home by posing as Rowan and going to the Durona Clinic. After Mark makes a Deal for the Duronas' freedom, Lilly travels to Escobar with the rest of her clone sisters. (MD)

  Live fur:

  Created by GalacTech bioengineering, a live fur is a living organism, like a cat, with none of the defects, like claws or shedding or eating or defecation. It is "fed" by an electromagnetic net in its cellular level passively gathering energy from the environment. Miles buys one for Elli, and keeps it in his room at the embassy, where it enjoys purring when petted, and snuggling up to his face while he sleeps. It scares Mark when he first stays in Miles's room, and he throws the fur into a closet. Elli sends one to Miles and Ekaterin as a wedding present. (BA, WG)

  Liz:

  No surname given. A pleasantly plump, middle-aged Komarran, she is the head of the Carbon Drawdown department in the Serifosa branch of the Terraforming Project. Her department has had great success with introducing peat bogs to the planet. (K)

  London Municipal Assizes:

  Housed in a big, black crystal building two centuries old, it is where all civil criminals are held for processing. Miles, Elli, Ivan, and Duv Galeni go there to try to get Mark freed into their custody, only to find that Ser Galen has beaten them to him. (BA)

  Lord Midnight:

  A story Aral relates to Mark about an unusual political benchmark that occurred on Barrayar. During the Time of Isolation, Count Vortala was feuding with his son, so he disinherited him, and persuaded the Council of Counts to approve naming his horse, Midnight, as his heir. The horse died before Vortala, and the son inherited everything anyway. (MD)

  Lord Vorloupulous and his 2000 Cooks:

  A true story used on Barrayar as an example of violating the letter of the law. When private armies were eliminated by order of Emperor Dorca Vorbarra, Count Vorloupulous called his liveried army "cooks" and armed them with butcher knives. With his army defeated by the Emperor's men, he would have been executed for treason except for the Cetagandan invasion. Vorloupulous's sentence was delayed, he was sent to fight, and he died in battle. (WA)

  Lord Vorventa the Twice-Hung:

  Miles refers to him during a conversation with Ekaterin about whether criminal charges would be brought against her deceased husband. Vorventa's double demise occurred during the Time of Isolation. (K)

  Love in the Gazebo:

  One of the contraband video fiction titles Ti Gulik brings to Silver. (FF)

  Love-Lies-Itching:

  A plant on Barrayar, which Miles sees in a new light in Ekaterin's virtual garden, composed entirely of native flora. (K)

  Love's Savage Star:

  A holovid Ethan watches while waiting for Quinn to find out what Colonel Millisor is up to. (EA)

  Lubachik:

  An ensign in the Barrayaran military, he graduates in Miles's class. Painfully earnest, he is assigned to Imperial Security training to learn advanced security and counterassassination techniques. (VG)

  Luigi
Bharaputra and Sons Household Finance and Holding Company of Jackson's Whole Private Limited:

  A powerful lending company that owns the lease contract on the Ariel, and that sends an agent to investigate the insurance claim on the ship. (WA)

  Lura:

  The Cetagandan Ba, or neuter servant, who enters Miles's ship when he lands at Eta Ceta IV's docking station and leaves him with a fake copy of the Great Key of the Star Crèche and a small nerve disruptor. Hairless, it had disguised itself with a white-haired wig. It was the Dowager Empress's personal attendant for sixty years, but had been tricked by Governor Ilsum Kety into contacting Miles and Ivan and giving up the fake Great Key to provoke a war with Barrayar. It is killed by Vio d'Chilian, and its body left near the Dowager Empress Degtiar's as she lies in state, made to look like it committed suicide. (C)

  Leutwyn:

  No first name given. Adjudicator called in on Graf Station to judge if warrants could be issued for arrest and fast-penta interrogation, arrived in time to witness the arrival of Russo Gupta and sanction his arrest and interrogation. He also attends the inspection of the Idris, and escapes the ship with Security chief Venn's help after Dubauer hijacks it. (DI)

  L-X-10 Terran-C:

  The project name for Terrence Cee, Doctor Jahar's genetic- engineering telepathy subject on Cetaganda. (EA)

  • • M • •

  Mail:

  Physical delivery of mail on planets is uncommon in major metropolitan areas, replaced primarily by electronic communication. Special messages, such as the invitations to Emperor Gregor's wedding, are written on parchment and hand-delivered. Some mail is sent by small recording or speaker devices. In the backcountry, such as the Dendarii Mountains on Barrayar, mail was delivered via mounted rider during Ezra Vorbarra's time, but has since been replaced by comconsoles. Since some backcountry people were illiterate, particularly during the Time of Isolation, the mailman might have read the message for the recipient, and written a reply for them as well. (B)

  Malka:

  One of the four hired thugs sent to castrate Lord Dono, he is captured by Ivan and Olivia, and injured in the process. (CC)

  Maree:

  No surname given. She is a very pretty clone with blond hair and blue eyes. Her actual age is about ten years old, but she appears to be twenty. She has had surgery done, including giant breast enlargements. After being removed from the clone crèche on Jackson's Whole, she attempts to escape the Peregrine and go back with Baron Bharaputra, but is stopped by Mark. Afterward, he attempts to molest her, but suffers a trauma-induced flashback, rendering him nearly catatonic. She is one of the clones who is set up with an education from Mark's fund after he makes the Deal to get the Duronas off Jackson's Whole. (MD)

  Margara:

  No first name given. An administrator at Beauchene Life Center. Doctor Aragones advises Miles to speak to her about recertifying the Dendarii medics in the latest triage and cryo-chamber techniques. (MD)

  Marilac:

  A planet that is key to Cetagandan plans to expand the Empire because of its location near a jump point to Zoave Twilight. The Marilacans have accepted large amounts of aid from the Empire, which Lord Vorob'yev thinks is lulling them into a state of complacency, since they don't think Cetaganda will attack an ally. After the invasion, Miles saves almost ten thousand of their soldiers to form a new guerrilla army to continue fighting, and also uses the Dendarii to smuggle aid to the Marilacans during the war. Eventually, the Cetagandans withdraw their forces without gaining control of the planet. (BI, C)

  Marilican Embassy:

  Miles and Ivan attend a welcoming party at the embassy for the various planetary diplomats at the start of the Dowager Empress's funeral ceremonies, and first meet Lord Yenaro there. The embassy has a large, elaborate, multimedia sculpture in its lobby entitled "Autumn Leaves." (C)

  Mattulich, Mara:

  Harra's mother, she is tall, stringy, tough, and chews gum-leaf. Harra is her only surviving daughter, but she gave birth to four other children, two stillborn, and two she killed because each was born deformed. Many of the older generation in Silvy Vale, including Mara's own mother, condoned the practice. Miles sentences her to death, but stays the actual execution, stripping her of all legal rights and placing her in the care of her daughter and the Speaker. After her death, Harra doesn't move her grave, leaving it to be covered by the new lake formed by the hydroelectric dam. (MM)

  Mayhew, Arde:

  A jump-ship pilot officer from Beta Colony. He lets Cordelia stow away on his cargo run off planet, enabling her to escape to Barrayar. Almost two decades later, he's around forty years old, and is the pilot officer of the jump ship RG 132. His jump implants are obsolete and his career will be over when the ship is sold, so he barricades himself inside and threatens to blow it up when Miles first meets him. Miles buys the ship and swears Arde as his armsman. He rams the Triumph with the RG 132 during the Tau Verde IV campaign, and pilots the Triumph's escape shuttle C-2 when saving Miles and Gregor during the Vervain conflict. He comes to Barrayar to attend the wedding, spending much of his time entertaining Nikolai and the other children with tales of his adventures. (SH, VG, WA, WG)

  Maz, Mia:

  She works at the Vervani embassy on Eta Ceta IV as the assistant chief of protocol specializing in women's etiquette. About forty years old, she has olive skin, dark curly hair, and loves chocolate desserts. She helps Miles with his investigation, giving him information on the Great Seal, and explaining some of the dizzying Cetagandan social customs. After the coup plot is stopped and the funeral of the Empress is over, she accepts Vorob'yev's proposal of marriage. (C)

  McIntyre:

  No first name given. A doctor on the Betan survey team, he is also known as Mac. One of Cordelia's crew that rescues her from the General Vorkraft, he tells her Koudelka was the Barrayaran hit by nerve disruptor fire on Sergyar. (SH)

  Medical hand scanner:

  A portable device used to scan for injuries of bones and soft tissues, and also to detect physical abnormalities in a subject. Miles was going to equip his Dendarii mercenaries with medical scanners to try to catch Mark, until he realized they both had artificial bone replacement in their legs, making them practically identical again. (BA)

  Medical stunner:

  Used for pain relief and local anesthetic during medical procedures. Miles has a Dendarii doctor numb his broken hand after he gets out of the prison camp on Dagoola IV. (BI)

  Mehta:

  No first name given. A doctor with the Betan Expeditionary Force Medical Service, she is a slim, tan-skinned woman about Cordelia's age with drawn-back dark hair, and is dressed in a blue uniform. She uses drugs without Cordelia's knowledge to try and get her to talk about her captivity with the Barrayarans. When she advises that Cordelia undergo long-term therapy, Cordelia attacks and subdues her during her escape. (SH)

  Memory chip implant:

  Simon Illyan's cybernetic eidetic memory chip is the only mention of brain/computer interaction, other than jump-pilot interfaces and feelie-dreams, in the Vorkosigan Saga. The chip, placed between the hemispheres of the brain, is a multilayer sandwich of organic and inorganic components from which thousands of connections go out to various points in the brain itself. Sensory signals for sight and sound pass into and out of the chip, and can give eidetic replay of memories on demand. The chip causes a high rate of schizophrenia in its recipients, with Simon being one of the notable, rare exceptions. His chip is sabotaged by a Komarran bioweapon administered by General Lucas Haroche, causing it to randomly dump stored memories into Simon's brain, creating debilitating hallucinations. It is removed, leaving him perfectly functional, although it necessitates his retirement from Imperial Security. (All except CC, DD, DI, FF)

  Mendez:

  No first name given. A middle-aged, competent police lieutenant in Rio de Janiero's homicide bureau that is investigating the attempted murder of Anias Ruey. He accompanies her to Doctor Bianca's house, standing by while she gets the
feelie-dream back. (DD)

  Metropolitan Station:

  One of the few orbital arcologies in the Union of Free Habitats that maintains gravity and deals with galactics. (DI)

  Metzov, Stanis:

  A general in the Barrayaran military, he is the commander of Lazkowski Base on Kyril Island when Miles first meets him. A career officer with thirty-five years in service, he is a tall, hard-bodied man with iron-gray hair and iron-hard eyes. Because of his actions in trying to put down the technicians' insubordination during the fetaine spill incident, he is discharged from the military and turns up near Vervain, working with Cavilo as part of Randall's Rangers. He tries to murder Miles twice, once by shooting him as he is about to board the Triumph, and again in Admiral Oser's former quarters. He is killed by Cavilo before he can get his revenge. (VG)

  Millifenigs:

  The currency of Felice, which government representatives try to use to pay Miles's mercenary contract. Delisted from the Betan Exchange, the slick, colorful bills are practically worthless on the open market, but Miles considers using them as wallpaper for Vorkosgian House. When the Tau Verde IV war is over, Miles checks the exchange rate to find them listed at 1,206 millifenigs to the Betan dollar. (WA)

  Millisor, Ruyst:

  A Cetagandan ghem-colonel and counter-intelligence agent, he is an average-looking man with a hard body and eyes like gray chips of granite. He has tracked Terrence Cee across the galaxy, and gets permission from haut-lady Rian Degtiar to pursue him to Jackson's Whole. The trail leads him to Kline Station and the order of modified ovarian cultures that was supposed to be shipped to Athos from House Bharaputra genetics company. His cover on the station is ghem-lord Harman Dal, an art and artifacts dealer. He captures and interrogates Ethan Urquhart, then orders the doctor killed when he yields no useful information. His Cetagandan clan face paint is brilliant blue with yellow, white, and black swirls. After he takes Teki hostage, his room is breached by Biocontrol Warden Helga, and he is arrested after attacking her. Freed by one of his men, he captures Terrence, Ethan, and Elli, and is about to kill the latter two and take Terrence back to the Empire when he is killed by a plasma bolt from the Bharaputran assassins sent to kill him and recover the money the baron paid to Elli Quinn to kill him. (C, EA)