"A thought that's had me up at night myself," Kaidan admits, and all the moreso because his team was successful at retrieving the scientist. Deciding the manure's as shifted as it's going to get without overburdening the literal source of horsepower currently snoozing in a nearby paddock, he hops down from the cart and sticks his pitchfork back in the remaining pile. (There's at least a few more cart loads.)

"Honestly, though?" he continues. "They already have the tech -- the galactic community at large here manages their interstellar travel by intentionally folding ships through weak points in spacetime, which is just... insane. Everything that Micah's working on is rooted in modifying existing tech. What's up for contention is control of Barrayar's planetary space, the same thing that's been up for grabs this whole war of theirs. No access to the collapsed wormhole, no trips to other realities."