Lois Bujold - Captain Vorpatril's alliance

Getting lost on board was not going to be a problem, or even an option. Ivan Xav focused on escape routes and emergency pods and equipment how-to’s, and conscientiously made them both go through the entire pressurization-or-other-emergency safety routine, till he seemed satisfied that they understood it.

“Do you do this for passengers a lot?” asked Rish, freeing herself from a breath mask and handing it back.

“We carry high-ranking non-Service supercargo from time to time, depending on the mission. Or the admiral sometimes includes his family on these more routine jaunts, but they had other things going on at home this week.”

“Have you worked for Desplains long?” asked Tej.

“About three years. He brought me along with him when he was promoted from Admiral of the Home Fleet to Chief of Operations, two years back.”

The bâtman-person appeared. “If you will come this way, Captain, Lady Vorpatril, Miss Lazuli.” He led them down to the end of a short corridor; an airseal door labeled Admiral Desplains slid open at his touch on the pad. Inside was a tiny suite—a sitting room and two bedrooms with a connecting bath. One bedroom had four neat bunks. The other boasted a double bed. Their three bags and Ivan Xav’s duffle waited, placed ambiguously on the floor of the sitting room.

“Admiral’s compliments, Lady Vorpatril, ma’am, but he begs you and the captain will accept the use of his quarters for the duration of the journey. He says the space is underutilized, without Madame Desplains or the children along. Which, indeed, it is.” The bâtman pointed out a few basic features and bowed himself out with a murmured, “There is a call button on the wall if you require anything more, but I trust I have provided most of the necessities.”

Ivan Xav stared around, seeming vaguely stunned. “Huh! Guess I’m forgiven, then…” He pulled himself together, peeked into both bedrooms in turn, wheeled to the women, and said, “Er…take your pick?”

Tej and Rish looked at each other. Rish said, “Excuse us a moment,” grabbed Tej by the arm, and dragged her into the bunk room, letting the airseal door slide closed behind them.

“Quit smirking ,” said Rish.

Tej chirped, “Oh, but how nice . Ivan Xav’s boss has given us the honeymoon suite. It would seem a shame to waste such a grateful gesture, don’t you think?”

Rish ran a hand over her platinum pelt in a harried swipe, blue ears twitching. “All right, I can see how it might be a good deal if he pair-bonds to you. Maybe not so good if you pair-bond to him. Don’t lose your head, sweetling.”

Tej tossed her curls. “It’s only a practice marriage. So I ought to get in some practice, don’t you think?”

“And quit prancing, too. It’s not like he’s an allowed suitor. That call button won’t bring in a brace of the Baron’s bodyguards to eject him from your bedroom if he displeases you. There’s only me. And while there are places where I’d back myself to take him on, this isn’t one of them. This ship is Barrayaran, bow to bulkhead. With no place to run.”

“He’s allowed if I allow him.” Tej’s voice went bleak. “Who else is left to make that call, Rish?”

Rish took a breath, but let it out slowly, unused.

“I know this isn’t a deal from strength, but here we are,” said Tej. “For the next six days. And afterward, too, for some unknown amount of time. There’s no harm in setting up a basic biological reward-loop as a minor safety net. You know I won’t mistake it for anything more.” Tej hesitated. “Although how you can look at what Dada and the Baronne had, and dismiss it as minor, I don’t know.”

“Exception that proves the rule, sweetling.” Rish paced the floor, two steps each way. “Oh, hell, go on and have your treat. Maybe it’ll be the fastest cure for this madness.”

Tej’s smile tucked up, irresistibly. “Not for him—I’ll wager my training on that. Anyway, his admiral practically handed him to me gift-wrapped. And you know how I like opening presents.”

This pulled a reluctant chuckle from Rish. She thumped a fist gently into Tej’s shoulder. “In that case, break a leg. Preferably one of his, not one of yours.”

“Nothing so violent.”

They went back out to the sitting room, where Ivan Xav was standing with the glazed look of those men who’d waited outside the women’s lav, except that the fingers of his right hand were drumming rapidly on his trouser seam. He jerked to attention with a weird, twisted smile. “So what’s the verdict?”

“Rish will take the bunk room,” said Tej, “and you and I will take the other room.”

His mouth opened. Closed. Opened again. “That…sounds great, but you know, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Of course, if you do want to, that’s…that’s just great!”

Rish rolled her eyes, picked up her bag, and withdrew to the bunk room, calling, “Good night, good night, to all a good night. I claim first dibs on the bath, though.”

Barely seeming to hear this, Ivan Xav blinked at Tej, and said, “And the other good thing is that on board here, we’re back on Fleet time, which is Vorbarr Sultana time. Twenty-six-point-seven hour sidereal day, you know, with the night proportional. Makes for a much more leisurely evening.”

Unexpectedly, he stepped forward, wrapped an arm around Tej’s waist, and swung her around like a dancer and down onto the room’s little sofa, bolted to the floor in case of artificial gravity mishaps. “How do you do, Lady Vorpatril? I’m so pleased to meet you.”

Yes, I can tell already , Tej did not say out loud. “Hi there, Lord Vorpatril.” What was he a lord of , anyway? She would have to find out. Later. “Say my whole name. Bet you can’t.”

His chin jerked up at the challenge. “Lady Akuti Tejaswini Jyoti ghem Estif Arqua Vorpatril.”

Tej, impressed, raised her brows. “You’re a fast study, Ivan Xav.”

“When I have to be.” One finger went out to tease a curl from her forehead, then hesitated. “Er…how old would you happen to be, Tej? I mean, you look maybe twenty-something standard, but Jacksonians, all that body modification…Cetagandans, all that genetic manipulation…could be anything from ten to sixty, I suppose.”

“As it happens, I am just turned twenty-five.”

“Oh. Whew.”

“What would you have done if I’d said ten?” she asked curiously.

“Cried. And turned you back over to your babysitter.”

“Or sixty?”

“Now, that I could have dealt with. Older women—it’s a fantasy, y’know. Or can be.”

“Have you ever fulfilled that fantasy?”

“I…don’t think this is the time to go into my past, y’know? Tonight should be all about you.” His voice was growing smoother, more confident. But then he hesitated again. “Ah…Great House baron’s treasured daughter and all, I expect you led a very sheltered life, huh? Very protected. Lots of armed guards and all that.”

“Yes, till the House fell.”

He tilted his head back and forth, as if thinking. Or puzzling. “Uh…I need to ask this, don’t mean to embarrass you or anything, and any answer is fine, as long as it’s true. Because I kind of need to know. Are you still a virgin?”

“Good heavens, no. Not since age fifteen.”

“Oh, was it fifteen for you, too? I mean, oh good. That’s not a problem for me, I don’t have any of that Time-of-Isolation baggage about marrying a virgin, that would be hypocritical, after all. Especially for a temporary-though-legal marriage. Easier the other way around anyway, really.” He paused again. “Contraceptive implant?”

“Also since age fifteen,” she assured him.