"I didn't see them at the conference," said Miles.
"Oh, they all went the first day. Very popular. They come fitted with a vocabulary of over a dozen words, and are supposed to be great with children. And good for home security." That last was delivered in a less confident tone.
"Where, um, did they have them made?" Miles inquired.
"Some bioengineering company on Jackson's Whole, I understood," she said.
Of course.
"They were shipped frozen, and NewEgypt was able to save money by reviving them in their own labs. But they prove rather tricky to maintain. Very finicky eaters."
"Cat genes . . . mostly?" said Miles.
She looked rather doubtfully at the mini-sphinx, who stared back sphinxlike. "I would think so. Wouldn't you? I'll tell Mr. Wing you are here, Lord Vorkosigan."
Wing bustled out promptly to greet his self-invited guests. Leaving Roic in the outer office to chat up the secretary, and perhaps exchange riddles with the sphinx, Miles allowed himself to be ushered into Wing's inner sanctum by the man himself and settled in a comfy and elegant gel-padded visitor's chair. Nice corner suite, windows on two sides overlooking the buildings and serene gardens of the complex; Miles was weirdly reminded of Suze's lair.
Wing took a seat behind his big black glass comconsole desk, folding his hands and looking up in wary inquiry. "You say you have an emergency, Lord Vorkosigan?"
Miles picked a sphinx hair off the sleeve of his gray jacket and tried to remember what he was about. "No, I'd say you do." He sat back and scowled, wishing his feet touched the floor.
Wing seemed alert, but not alarmed. "How so?"
"I've spent a few days poking around Northbridge after the conference, and after our conference. Figuring out just what I'm getting into with my new investment. There turns out to be a hitch. Did you know?" Miles let his scowl go suspicious, in hopes of putting Wing on the defensive.
Wing merely said, "Hm?"
Miles reminded himself to keep in character while he delivered the bad news; smart enough to be believed, not so smart as to be a threat. "The structure of my compensation for services to be rendered depends on the value of my WhiteChrys Solstice shares rising, not falling. If they fall, I will be left holding not a profit, but a debt!"
"They won't fall," said Wing confidently.
"I beg to differ. Your parent company, here, is about to suffer a major financial blow."
Wing did not immediately go on soothing him, but said, "How so?"
"You know all those commodified contracts you've bought from NewEgypt? You've been sold a lot of dud dead. It turns out that a particular brand of cryo-fluid on the market between fifty and thirty years ago breaks down after a couple of decades, rendering patrons nonrevivable. Brains turned to slush, as my technical consultant so vividly phrased it. Increasingly, any revivals from that period which used that product are likely to fail. Your patrons' kin are owed back millions in nuyen and all those votes."
Wing's lips parted in genuine surprise. "Is this true?"
"You can check it yourselves, as soon as you point your labs in the right direction."
Wing sank back in his chair. "I certainly shall."
"NewEgypt is your culprit. The commodified contracts scam originated from there, as I understand it-generated by a fellow named Anish Akabane, their chief financial officer."
Wing nodded slowly. "I know him. Clever bastard!" He sounded more admiring than outraged.
"It seems to me you have a clear case against NewEgypt, you and every other cryocorp in Northbridge who's been suckered. You might even combine forces in a joint suit."
Wing squinted in no-doubt-rapid thought. "Only if it could be proved they knew."
"It could be proved they knew at least eighteen months ago. You can certainly bring the bandits down."
Wing held up a hand. "Slow down, Lord Vorkosigan! I share your outrage, but I don't think the course you suggest will work to protect your investment."
Leaving aside the airy nature of Miles's investment. "Sir?"
"This is confidential? You've told no one else?"
"I started with you. I'd planned to go on down the row of every corp in the Cryopolis, after."
"I'm so glad you came to me first. You did the right thing."
"So I hope, but what do you mean?"
"We have to think first of protecting the value of WhiteChrys and the interests of its shareholders, including yourself. First-after checking the facts, of course-we have this clear, if obviously limited, opportunity to unload our own liabilities. It would be the height of irresponsibility not to seize it. It would be far better for WhiteChrys to let this problem come out slowly and naturally from other sources, rather than springing it on the public all at once and creating an avoidable crisis."
"I'm not sure I follow you." I'm afraid I do. Damn. This dog won't fight.
Wing shook his head. "Every other responsible cryocorp operating team would agree with me. This isn't something to publicize. It could be very damaging not only to WhiteChrys, but to the whole industry, even to the economy at large."
"So you're talking not a joint suit, but a, but a, a joint cover-up?" Don't sputter, Miles told himself.
"Cover-up is too strong a term." Wing sighed as if in regret. "Though it would certainly be preferable all around. But if this problem has come so close to the surface that even an off-worlder's casual inspection can uncover it, it's clearly far too late for concealment to be effective. The news must be about to break."
Not so casual as all that, but Miles wasn't about to tell Wing the details.
Wing tapped his fingertips on the black glass of his desktop. "A small head-start for us, I think. And then-yes-I think it would be best for me to go to our competitor colleagues myself. Considering the aspects of this that threaten us all. Perhaps in a few weeks. Ah, yes! Lord Vorkosigan, your investment will be safe with us. Just leave it to me!" He sat back, smiling again, although gears plainly turned behind his eyes.
"But where, in all this, do those NewEgypt bastards get nailed to the wall?" Miles tried to keep his tone plaintive and not outraged.
"Have you ever heard the phrase, Living well is the best revenge?"
"Where I come from, someone's head in a bag is generally considered the best revenge."
"Well, ah, hm. Different cultures and all that. Well. You have delivered me a great deal to do this afternoon, none of which was on my previous schedule." A broad hint, that, for Miles to decamp and let Wing go grapple with his damage control.
Miles could just picture it; the corps drawing together not in collision but in collusion. "You've given me a lot to think about, Wing-san."
"And the reverse, I'm sure. Some tea, before you go?" Wing was clearly torn between social etiquette and getting on with this new crisis.
Cruelly, Miles said, "Why, yes!" Thus combining living well and revenge, he supposed, if a petty one. They repaired to the outer office, where the secretary was already engaged in filling Roic with green tea and almond cookies, and giving him admiring and grateful glances. The sphinx made plaintive noises from behind the bars of a large . . . sphinx-carrier.
"I'm so glad you're taking her," said the secretary, with a nod at the cage while pouring for Miles and her boss from a delicate porcelain pot. "She's a very loving creature, and quite tame, but she just doesn't fit our décor."
"Ah!" said Wing, brightening. "Have you finally found her a home, Yuko? Good work! I'll be so glad to get that litter box out of the executive washroom."
Miles stared reproachfully at Roic. "We're getting a sphinx?" Why? Or possibly, Why me, God?
Roic looked uncomfortable. "I said I knew someone who'd love t' have her."
"Ah." Miles trusted Roic had received some value in return. Information, hopefully. The secretary seemed a little too old for him, but whether her interest in his Barrayaran manliness was romantic or maternal hardly mattered, as long as it was friendly. And forthcoming.
Miles limited his revenge to one cup, then let himself be gently ushered out. Two underlings were produced to cart away the sphinx's food, dishes, toys, extra hats, and sanitary arrangements. Roic lugged the carrier, and oversaw it all stuffed into the back of the consulate's lift van. The sphinx's voice rose in unholy protest as they drove out under the red torii gate once more. "Aowt! Aowt!"
"Which way now, m'lord? Any other stops?"
"Not . . . yet, I think. My brilliant plan for fixing this mess and getting us all on our way back home just tanked. Tell you all about it on the way back to town."
"Yes, m'lord."
Jin let himself quietly out of the isolation booth, where both his mother and Mina were napping, Mina curled on the foot of the bed like a cat. His mother looked washed-out and pale, a little scary but nothing like that other woman Miles-san and Raven-sensei had failed to revive. Jin's joy at finding her alive had crashed through him like a great wave, but now that the first flush of relief was receding, he felt all tumbled and strange. Everything was uncertain again, with the grownups back in charge. Where would they go to live now? What would happen to his creatures? Would they make him go back to school? How soon? Would he have to be stuck in with kids a year younger than him?
Could it all be taken away again . . . ?
Ako, keeping watch in the recovery room, gave him a friendly nod from her chair. Jin heard voices out in the corridor, and went to see who it was.
He shut the door behind him to find Vorlynkin-san, looking startled, confronting Raven-sensei and two new people. Jin's mouth, too, fell open as he stared at the couple.
The man was almost another Miles-san-same height, same looks-except twice as wide, and with no gray in his hair. He wore a sharply-cut suit in black on black with more black that somehow made his girth look trim. The woman was even taller than Jin's mother, with bright blond hair swept back in a cool knot, and eyes almost as blue as Consul Vorlynkin's. Her suit was more flowing, in soft gray, with a silky white top and a glint of gold at her throat and ears. Her outfit reminded Jin of Miles-san's shirt, simple yet somehow extra . . . extra-looking. Her smile down at him made him feel warm all over.
"Jin," said Consul Vorlynkin. "I was just coming to find you. I was about to run back to the consulate for a bit, but . . ." He stared at the new not-Miles.
"Mom and Mina fell asleep," said Jin.
"Ah, good," said Raven-sensei. "I'll just go check on them, and have a word with Ako, and be right with you all." He slipped into the recovery room.
The blond lady's eyes glinted merrily at Jin, like sunlight off a lake in summer. "And who's this, Consul?"
Vorlynkin seemed to pull himself together, though why the arrival of this pair should have scattered his wits Jin was not quite sure, well, except for the short man's surprising looks. "This is Jin Sato. He's the son of the woman the Lord Auditor and Dr. Durona have just revived here. Lord Vorkosigan met him, well, I'll let him tell it when he gets back. Jin, this is Lord Mark Vorkosigan and his partner, Miss Kareen Koudelka. From Barrayar."
Miss Koudelka held out a slim hand for Jin to shake, just as if he were a grownup, and the man, after a beat, followed suit. Jin wondered if partner meant girlfriend or, like, coworker. The pretty woman seemed like she ought to be a corp executive, the expensive-looking bag slung over her shoulder sized for business gear, not cosmetics.
"Are you Miles-san's brother?" Jin asked. Like Tetsu and Ken? Jin stood, he realized, eye-to-eye with the man just as he did with Miles-san, but somehow the extra bulk made Lord Mark seem taller. And his smile didn't lurk in his eyes the way Miles-san's did.
"Twins, born six years apart," the man said, sounding bored and rehearsed. "It's a long story." Clearly, not one he was about to tell Jin.
"You don't look, um . . . exactly alike," said Jin. Lord Mark also lacked Miles-san's cane, and he seemed to move more fluidly. Maybe he was the younger brother.
"A distinction I go to some trouble to maintain," said Lord Mark.
Raven-sensei let himself back out of the recovery room. "I think you should meet Madame Suzuki first, Lord Mark."
"Must we deal with her? This Ted Fuwa fellow is the sole owner-of-record."
"Only of the physical plant. For our purposes, the physical plant is-well, not nothing, but interchangeable. It's the human liabilities-and opportunities-it contains that made it worth dragging you here for a closer look. And Madame Suze is unquestionably the mistress of that particular court of chaos."
Lord Mark gave a short nod-listening, not arguing.
"Did your brother know you were arriving, Lord Mark?" asked Vorlynkin. "He hadn't mentioned it to me. Nor had Dr. Durona." His glance under his lashes at Raven-sensei was not very friendly.
"We caught an earlier ship than expected," said Miss Koudelka.
"I actually haven't any interest in impinging on whatever hornet's nest Miles is presently poking," said Lord Mark. "We don't normally comment on each other's enterprises. Think of it as the parallel-play stage of siblinghood."
His partner-lady put in smoothly, "Actually, I understand one of the functions of the consulate is to assist Barrayaran business people on Kibou."
Vorlynkin nodded warily. "Although the Auditorial investigation naturally takes precedence, just now." He added under his breath, "Whatever the hell he thinks he's doing . . ."
"Of course." Miss Koudelka's smile grew blinding; Vorlynkin blinked. "Perhaps, Mark, Raven, the consul should come along? Then we'll only need to explain things once."
Vorlynkin looked nonplussed. "Jin, do you mind?"
"Oh, Jin is welcome, too," said Raven-sensei airily. He added aside to Miss Koudelka, "Native guide and all that."
She nodded agreeably, and favored Jin with another sunny look.
Raven-sensei led off, Jin tagging along in silent wonder, down and under and through and up to Suze-san's door. Lord Mark and Miss Koudelka looked all around as they walked, very keenly, the blond lady taking vid scans on the way with a tiny hand-held.
At the corner suite, Raven-sensei knocked briskly. The door was opened surprisingly soon not by Suze-san, but by Tenbury-san. "What's all this?" He peered suspiciously through his hedge of hair. "You've gone and brought new people in without asking!"
"Asking is just what we came for," said Raven-sensei. "I'm glad you're here. May we come in and talk to Madame Suze?"
"I suppose." Tenbury squinted down at Lord Mark. "God, it's another one. How many of these sawed-off galactics do you have up your sleeve, Raven?"
Lord Mark's eyebrows twitched, but Raven-sensei replied soothingly, "Just the two," and Tenbury gave way.
Suze-san was sitting by her window playing mah-jong and drinking something that probably wasn't tea with Medtech Tanaka; Tenbury had apparently just risen from the third seat. Their eyes opened wide at Lord Mark's party.
"Now what, Raven?" said Suze-san. "I thought I'd settled with you. When do I get my two revivals, eh?"
"We're considering changing the Deal," said Raven-sensei.
Suze-san's scowl deepened.
"Instead of two, how would you like two thousand?"
Her brows went up, though her frown still bent down; but she waved a wrinkled hand, and the whole mob filed in and pulled up seats around her. Raven-sensei first introduced Consul Vorlynkin, who, indeed, had been running in and out of her facility for the past several days, as she likely knew perfectly well. Jin cast her a nod, trying to say, This one's all right. Tenbury half-sat on the wide windowsill, frowning and pulling on his beard.
Raven-sensei repeated his introductions: "Madame Suzuki, may I present my employer, Lord Mark Vorkosigan-he's also Lord Auditor Miles Vorkosigan's younger brother-and his partner, Miss Kareen Koudelka. Lord Mark is a co-owner of the Durona Group, my clinic on Escobar."
"Who's the other co-owner?" Suze-san asked, staring hard at Lord Mark.
Lord Mark bowed slightly and said, "Dr. Lily Durona. Who is also founder and clone-pro
genitor of the original Durona Group of Jackson's Whole. I acquired my interest a decade ago when I helped expedite the group's removal from the ownership of Baron Fell, there, and emigration to Escobar."
"You a doctor, too? Researcher?"
Lord Mark shook his head. "Entrepreneur. My primary interest in the Durona research is to support development of an alternative to the clone-brain transplant method of life extension that will knock it out of business."
"That technique's illegal!" said Medtech Tanaka.
"Not on Jackson's Whole. Unfortunately."
Jin tugged Vorlynkin's sleeve and whispered, "What are they talking about?"
He whispered back, "Some bad rich people try to get young again by having their brains transplanted into the bodies of clones, purpose-grown to match them. Very dangerous operation, and the clone's brain always dies."
"Eew!"
"I agree." His brows drew down as he frowned anew at Lord Mark. He made a hand-down motion to Jin, Be quiet and listen, and set the example.
Lord Mark tapped his spread fingers together in a gesture very like one of his brother's, and said, "The Durona Group is considering expanding its cryorevival services to Kibou-daini."
Suze-san's lip curled. "That would be a waste of-oh, wait. Cryorevival, you say? Not cryo-storage?"
"Cryo-storage seems to be a fully mature industry here, with no room for start-ups. I think there could be far more opportunity in an arena the current cryocorps are neglecting. Raven tells me you have over two thousand unlicensed, illegal cryo-patrons stored in your lower levels. A liability that has rendered this facility unsalable by its present owner-of-record, one Theodore Fuwa."
"Yah, when the idiot bought the place for development he didn't know we were here. He tried to get rid of his dilemma by arson, once," said Suze-san. "Anyway, it's closer to three thousand, by now."
"Even better."
"And what would you do to get rid of 'em?"
"Why, revive them, and let them walk out on their own."
Suze-san snorted. "Only if you've found a cure for old age."
A weird little smile turned Lord Mark's lips, showing his teeth. "Just so."