Appeal to Count Vorkosigan himself...Right. Through some miracle, By suppresses a flinch. If-this-is-all-true-and-not-a-prank (that caveat is beginning to run together as one fluid phrase, now, appended onto the beginning of each and every thought) then Count Vorkosigan will not mean Aral Vorkosigan. Not, mind, that By isn't afraid of Aral Vorkosigan - on the contrary, the thought of the Great Admiral fills By with gibbering terror. But that's nothing compared to the hoary old Dendarii mountain wolf that is the Great General. Piotr Pierre Vorkosigan is the breed of beast you can only be comfortable viewing in a zoo. In the wild, it's best simply to run away.

Help me.

"When we have a bit more freedom of movement, I shall," he agrees, his voice just a little faint. He clears his throat and continues, stronger, "Do you have any idea when that might be, milady?" Perhaps so I can turn tail and flee? No...He knows, grimly, that he won't be able to do that. He has to stay and fight. He took oaths - not to this Emperor, not to this ImpSec, not to these people. But he took oaths.