The Vorkosigan Companion

by Lillian Stewart Carl

  Truzillo:

  No first name given. An officer in the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, he is the captain-owner of the Jayhawk. Miles asks Baz to convince him to trade his ship for a brand-new Illyrican-made warship, part of a solution to an arms embargo at Vega Station. (MD)

  Tsipis:

  No first name given. The Vorkosigan family business manager, he handles the household accounts. He sets up Miles's accounts to handle the day-to-day operation of Vorkosigan House, and would like to discuss a more aggressive investing strategy with him as well. (M)

  Tung, Ky:

  The captain of the Triumph when Miles first meets him at Tau Verde IV, he is a squat, hard-edged Eurasian, about fifty years old. He and his crew are captured at the refinery after Arde Mayhew rams the RG 132 into his warship. He is a citizen of the People's Democracy of Greater South America. A military history buff, he was a junior lieutenant in the Selby Fleet at Komarr, and a great admirer of Aral Vorkosigan, having read Aral's report on Komarr eleven times. After being reprimanded by Admiral Oser in front of his crew, and not given another command, the angry Tung leaves the Oseran fleet and joins the Dendarii Mercenaries.

  Demoted to personnel officer by Admiral Oser after he retook the Dendarii four years later, Tung helps rescue Miles and Gregor. Arrested by Oser for his actions, he is freed by Miles again in exchange for restoring him to command. For his actions during the Vervain conflict, he is taken on a personal tour of the Prince Serg, followed by lunch with Aral.

  Promoted to commodore in the Dendarii Mercenaries, he leads the rescue of Miles and the prisoners on Dagoola IV. He has a daughter on Earth who has a new first grandson. His sister is from Brazil and he visits her and her family during the fleet's layover. He turns in his resignation there to marry to his second cousin, once removed, and retire. (BA, BI, VG, WA)

  Tuomonen:

  No first name given. A captain in Barrayar Imperial Security, he is the head of the Serifosa office. He is in his late twenties and fit, with dark hair and brown eyes. He married a Komarran woman five years ago, one year after his posting to the planet, and has one daughter.

  He is a smart, conscientious man, and he and Miles get along well, but he is very upset when Miles ends up hurt at the experimental plant after neglecting to tell him that Etienne was taking him there. He interrogates Ekaterin about her husband's death with skill and grace, although he does have to bring up an embarrassing theory about Miles possibly eloping with Ekaterin after killing her husband. Facing a black mark on his record because he didn't uncover the conspiracy to close Barrayar's wormhole, he's told by Miles to look him up if his military career ever comes to a standstill, as he could use a good assistant. (K)

  • • U • •

  Ullery:

  No first name given. A physician and the senior officer of the survey party, directly under Reg Rosemont in the chain of command, who fills Cordelia in on what happened at Base One. (SH)

  Undress greens:

  A casual Barrayaran military outfit, consisting of a high-collared tunic, side-piped trousers, and half-boots. Miles and Ivan wear undress greens to the first party they attend on Eta Ceta IV in the Cetagandan Empire. (C)

  Ungari:

  A captain in Imperial Security, he is bland like Illyan, but attractive, and somewhat stockier. About thirty-five years old, he has been working as a galactic operative for ten years. He is in charge of the mission to gather intelligence regarding the activity around the Hegen Hub with Miles, but everything goes awry, and nearly ruins his career. (VG)

  Unicorn and Wild Animal Park:

  A division of GalacTech Bioengineering, it is an animal park that Ryan Siembieda toured during his time on Earth after being revived from cryo-preservation. (BA)

  Union of Free Habitats:

  Located on the edge of Sector V, it is a group of space habitats located in the ring of one of two asteroid belts circling their star. Contains the arcologies Graf Station, Metropolitan Station, Minchenko Station, Sanctuary Station, and Union Station. Emperor Gregor sends Miles there to adjudicate a dispute between Graf Station and the Barrayaran escort ships accompanying a Komarran trade fleet, and he uncovers a plan to spark a war between Cetaganda and Barrayar in the process. (DI)

  Union Station:

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

  United Brethren String Chamber Orchestra:

  A classical orchestra on Athos, one of their hymns is "God the Father, Light the Way." Ethan orders this song played in one of the uterine replicator chambers instead of a screechy dance tune. (EA)

  Upsider:

  A term used to refer to someone born on a space station. (All)

  Urquhart, Bret:

  Ethan Urquhart's youngest brother, he plays piccolo in the army regimental band on Athos. (EA)

  Urquhart, Ethan:

  A doctor and the Chief of Reproductive Biology at the Sevarin District Reproduction Center on Athos. Six feet tall with dark hair, he is constantly mistaken for a twenty-year-old due to his lack of a beard. He was raised by his father and his designated alternate parent on a fish farm in the South Province, and is the eldest of five male children, followed by Steve and Stanislaus from the D.A.'s genetics, then Janos, also from the D.A.'s genetics, and last is Bret from his father. He served in Athos's military as a master sergeant in the Medical Corps. Sent by the Population Council of Athos to replenish their ovarian cultures to maintain their population, he encounters women for the first time, and risks his life to recover a shipment of cultures for his planet's future. (EA)

  Urquhart, Janos:

  Ethan Urquhart's brother, three years younger than him. He is the son of Ethan's father's D.A., and he and Ethan have a sexual relationship. Irresponsible and reckless, he destroys Ethan's brand-new lightflyer in an accident, damaging a tree in the process. After Ethan goes on his mission, Janos runs off with his friend Nick to the outlands. (EA)

  Urquhart, Stanislas:

  Ethan Urquhart's brother, created from his father's designated alternate parent's genetic material. (EA)

  Urquhart, Steve:

  Ethan Urquhart's younger brother, created from his father's designated alternate parent's genetic material. (EA)

  Ushakov:

  No first name given. A colonel in Imperial Security Operations, he is Alexi Vormoncrief's commanding officer. Simon Illyan tells Vormoncrief that Ushakov will be hearing from General Allegre about the altercation with Ekaterin at the Vorthys's house. (CC)

  Uterine replicator:

  An artificial womb used to carry and develop human embryos to full term. Invented on Beta Colony. The use of replicators has spread to several planets across the galaxy, including Barrayar, Cetaganda, Jackson's Whole, and Athos. It is a portable container that replicates the functions and use of a natural womb, and frees women and babies from the hazards of natural gestation and birth. The fetus may be grown from blastocyst to birth in the replicator. Small enough to be carried by one person if necessary, the replicator has a containment membrane, nutrient tanks, filters for waste products, and its own power unit. It is necessary to service the replicator periodically, discarding the waste products and ensuring that the systems are running efficiently. Since gestation takes place outside the body, it is standard practice to certify that the blastocyst implanted into it for gestation is free of genetic defects before transfer to the replicator. Replicators are also used for bioengineering experiments, most notably to create the quaddies.

  Aral Vorkosigan introduces the technology to Barrayar when he takes seventeen of these Betan inventions home with him after the Escobar War, all containing the offspring of rapes by Barrayaran soldiers on captured female opposition soldiers. These replicators become important in the series. After the soltoxin attack on Aral and Cordelia Vorkosigan, the only way their unborn son Miles can survive is through the use of one of these replicators. Cordelia gave permission for his fetus to be transferr
ed to one for experimental calcium treatments to stimulate his bone growth, which was impaired by the antidote to the poison. After Cordelia, Droushnakovi, and Bothari sneak into the Imperial Residence and kill Vordarian, they carry Miles's replicator out with them through the secret tunnels. (All)

  • • V • •

  Vaagen:

  No first name given. A captain in the Barrayaran Imperial Military and doctor of Biochemistry, he is introduced as the research facility's expert on military poisons. Cordelia promises him a research center if he can save Miles after the soltoxin attack. He is beaten by Vordarian's guards because he won't reveal where Miles's replicator is after the coup. When they find the replicator anyway, he's released, and makes his way to Cordelia and Aral to let them know that Vordarian has their son. (B)

  Valentine:

  No first name given. A retired admiral in the Barrayaran military, he is one of the nine Imperial Auditors, although he has been too frail for years to actively carry out the duties of his position. (M)

  Vallerie, Lise:

  A reporter with the Euronews Network on Old Earth. Miles makes up a story that Admiral Naismith is a clone of him during an interview with her after she sees him in both his identities. He's pleased with his story, figuring it will throw the Cetagandans and anyone else who might be looking for him off the real scent. The reporter obligingly spread the news. She also knows Investigator Reed at Eurolaw. (BA)

  Van Atta, Bruce:

  The supervisor of the Cay Project on Rodeo. He is about forty, tall, pale, dark-haired, with spots on his hands. He was once a subordinate to Leo Graf and then became his boss on the CPH. Divorced, he has a sexual relationship with Silver. Leo punches him after the escape incident with Tony and Claire. He leads the attempt to retake the station, and commands the security shuttle crew to fire on the fleeing habitat ship, but they do not obey his orders, with Doctor Yei even trying to knock him out with a spanner. (FF)

  Vandermark, Jan:

  The alias Mark Vorkosigan used the longest in the two years after he gained his freedom back on Earth. (MD)

  Varusan Crotch Rot:

  A sexually transmitted disease mentioned by Quinn as part of her ploy to bring biocontrol wardens down on Colonel Millisor at Kline Station. (EA)

  Vatel:

  A quaddie on pusher duty, he catches the out-of-control pusher after it damages the vortex mirror. (FF)

  Vaughn:

  The code name for Doctor Hugh Canaba during the Jackson's Whole mission to pick him up. (L)

  Vega Station:

  A space station with three jump points, one into the Cetaganda Empire through its satrapy Ola Three, one blocked by Toranira, and the third held by Zoave Twilight. Miles's original mission, before going to rescue Mark, was to take the Ariel, the D-16, and the Triumph to the station and leave them there, picking up three brand-new Illyrican-made warships for the Dendarii in trade. (MD)

  Venier, Ser:

  An assistant to Etienne Vorsoisson at the Serifosa branch of the Komarr Terraforming Project. He is a short, slight man, with brown eyes, a weak chin, and a nervous air. Miles thinks he resembles a rabbit. He is not involved in the plot to close Barrayar's wormhole. After Etienne is killed, he proposes marriage to Ekaterin, but she turns him down. (K)

  Venn:

  No first name given. The crew chief of Graf Station security, he does not care for downsiders and Barrayarans. He coordinates the investigation on the station side, and attends the interrogation of Russo Gupta and the inspection of the Idris. He helps Sealer Greenlaw and Adjudicator Leutwyn escape the ship after Dubauer hijacks it. (DI)

  Venne:

  Commander of the Tactics Room on Vorrutyer's ship. He sends hourly updates of the Escobar battle to Aral, and tells him of the messages coming in about the fleet being defeated. (SH)

  Vervain:

  A wealthy and technologically advanced planet near a wormhole to the Cetagandan Empire. Mu Ceta's forces were badly beaten when they tried to take Vervain and the wormhole by a combination of subterfuge and force, thanks to the intervention of Miles and Aral Vorkosigan. The planet has two jump exits, one to the Hegen Hub, the other into the sectors controlled by the Cetagandans. In the subterfuge part of the plot, Cavilo plans to turn on her Vervani employers and raid their planet, then fence the loot at Jackson's Whole. She is also employed by the Cetagandans, and was planning to run a double double cross by letting them into Vervain space to take over, with Vervain becoming another satrapy of the Cetagandan Empire. (C, VG)

  Vibra-knife:

  A personal melee weapon, it is a blade with its own power source that makes it vibrate at very high speed, greatly increasing its damage potential. (All)

  Vifian:

  No first name given. A tech in the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, she is from Kline Station. Injured in the Marilacan mission, she was treated at Beauchene Life Center, and has amnesia as a result of the cryo-stasis and treatment. (MD)

  Villanova, Elizabeth:

  A plump, pleasant downsider matron who oversees the quaddie children's crèches on the Habitat. Known as Mama Nilla by the staff and children. Elects to remain with the quaddies instead of evacuating off the station. (FF)

  Virga, Valeria:

  Author of Rainbow Illustrated Romances, including Love in the Gazebo, Sir Randan's Folly, and Sir Randan and the Bartered Bride, all of which are among the contraband video fiction Ti Gulik brings to Silver. (FF)

  Visconti, Elena:

  Elena Bothari's mother, she is a beautiful, dark-haired woman. She served in the Escobar War, was taken prisoner by the Barrayarans, and was raped by Sergeant Bothari under the orders of Admiral Ges Vorrutyer. After peace was declared, the resulting fetus was transferred into a uterine replicator, and was born as a daughter, Elena Bothari, who was raised by her father on Barrayar. Visconti was given a memory wipe to save her from the nightmares that could result from her experiences as a prisoner of war, but gradually recovers some of those memories. A banking security technician, she is trapped on Tau Verde IV when a new war breaks out there, and is recruited for the Dendarii by Arde Mayhew. When she realizes who Sergeant Bothari is, she kills him in front of Elena. Initially not wanting anything to do with her daughter, she grants Miles a lock of her hair as a death-offering for Bothari before he leaves for Barrayar, and eventually manages to reach a rapport with her daughter. (MD, SH, WA)

  Vogti:

  No first name given. One of Aral's armsmen. His wife and elderly mother were taken hostage by Vordarian's men. (B)

  Vone:

  A slang term for a videophone, it enables users to see and hear each other. (DD)

  Voraronberg:

  No first name given. A minor Barrayaran lord, he is the Imperial Residence's food and beverage manager. (MD)

  Vorbarr Sultana:

  The capital of Barrayar, and the planet's largest city. It is home to the Imperial Residence, Vorhartung Castle, the Council of Counts, several excellent universities and colleges, the headquarters of Imperial Security, and the Imperial Military Hospital. The Vorkosigans have a home there, which Miles lives in after he resigns from Imperial Security. (All except FF)

  Vorbarr Sultana Hall:

  One of the cultural highlights of the capital city on Barrayar. Tickets for performances are often sold out as far as two years in advance. Martya Koudelka gets four tickets to the Imperial Orchestra that plays there, and persuades the Vorbrettens to accompany Olivia Koudelka and herself to the performance. (CC, M)

  Vorbarra, Dorca:

  The father of Yuri and Xav Vorbarra by different mothers and kinsman of Ezar, he is known as Dorca the Just. He ended the period of internal strife on Barrayar during the Time of Isolation, uniting the counts under one imperial banner. When the Time of Isolation ended, he was the Barrayaran Emperor as the Barrayaran/Cetagandan war broke out. He promoted twenty-two-year-old Piotr Vorkosigan to the rank of general for his guerrilla campaign in the Dendarii Mountains. Aral thinks his father was spared during Yuri Vorbarra's Mass
acre because Piotr wasn't blood-related to Dorca. His house colors are red and blue. (All except FF)

  Vorbarra, Ezar:

  A relative of Emperor Yuri Vorbarra, Ezar served alongside Piotr Vorkosigan during the Cetagandan War. Between them, Ezar and Piotr ran the Cetagandans off Barrayar, though the resistance cost five million Barrayaran lives. When it became clear that Yuri was mad and unfit to be Emperor, Ezar and Piotr rebelled and put Ezar on the throne. Ezar married the sister of Mad Emperor Yuri, just before he was killed. He is the Emperor of Barrayar at the start of the war between Barrayar and Escobar. His son, Serg, is as unfit as old Yuri was to take the throne, so Ezar ruthlessly arranges for his only child's assassination during the course of the Escobaran War. He appoints Aral Vorkosigan Regent until Serg's son, Gregor, comes of age to take the throne. Aral says that Ezar was the man who stabilized the old way and new way on Barrayar. When Cordelia meets Ezar on his deathbed he is very white, with white hair, and hazel eyes—which he passed on to his son and grandson. He dies shortly after Aral is approved as Regent by the Council of Counts. (B, SH)

  Vorbarra, Gregor:

  The grandson of Emperor Ezar Vorbarra, and the son of the deceased Crown Prince Serg Vorbarra and Princess Kareen, the current Emperor of Barrayar is tall, dark-haired, and pensive, with piercing hazel eyes. He ascends to the throne at the age of five, upon the death of his grandfather and mother, and is raised by Aral and Cordelia Vorkosigan. Cordelia oversees Gregor's education until he is twelve, when he is sent for the appropriate Imperial military school training.

  Thanks to the Vorkosigans' careful oversight, he is a very effective ruler when he takes the reins of the Imperium at twenty-one, except for falling for an internal plot to discredit Aral through Miles's accidental creation of the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet. Once Miles is cleared of the charges, he suggests that Gregor use the mercenary unit as the Emperor's Own, which Gregor takes him up on. He also goes through a difficult period when he discovers that the reputation of his father—the "gallant" Prince Serg—is a myth, and that his progenitor was a monster.