Free Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga) by Lois McMaster Bujold

a way down through the woods. As they neared the Barrayaran camp, he put a thick finger to his lips.
    "Go as quietly as you can. I haven't come this far to be shot by one of my own pickets. Ah. Lie down here." He placed her in a spot behind some fallen logs and knee-high vegetation overlooking a faint new path beaten through the brush.
    "You're not just going to knock on the front door?"
    "No."
    "Why not, if your Gottyan is all right?"
    "Because there's something else wrong. I don't know why this landing party is here." He meditated a moment, then handed her back the stunner. "If you have to use a weapon, it had better be one you can handle. It still has a bit of charge—one or two shots. This path runs between sentry points, and sooner or later someone's going to come down it. Keep your head down until I call you."
    He loosed his knife in its sheath and took a concealed position on the other side of the path. They waited a quarter of an hour, then another. The woodland drowsed in the warm, soft, white air.
    Then down the path came the sound of boots scuffing through the leaf litter. Cordelia went rigidly still, trying to peer through the weeds without raising her head. A tall form in the wonderfully effective Barrayaran camouflage fatigues resolved itself as a gray-haired officer. As he passed Vorkosigan rose from his hiding place as if resurrected.
    "Korabik," he said softly, but with genuine warmth in his voice. He stood grinning, arms folded, waiting.
    Gottyan spun about, one hand drawing the nerve disruptor at his hip. After a beat, a look of surprise came over his face. "Aral! The landing party reported the Betans had killed you," and he stepped, not forward as Cordelia had expected from the tone of Vorkosigan's voice, but back. The disruptor was still in his hand as if he had forgotten to put it away, but gripped firmly, not dangling. Cordelia's stomach sank.
    Vorkosigan looked faintly puzzled, as if disappointed by the cool, controlled reception. "I'm glad to know you're not superstitious," he joked.
    "I should have known better than to think you dead until I'd seen you buried with a stake through your heart," said Gottyan, sadly ironic.
    "What's wrong, Korabik?" asked Vorkosigan quietly. "You're no Minister's lickspittle."
    At these words Gottyan brought the disruptor up to undisguised aim. Vorkosigan stood very still.
    "No," he answered frankly. "I thought the story Radnov told about you and the Betans smelled. And I was going to make damned sure it went through a board of inquiry when we got home." He paused. "But then—I would have been in command. After being acting captain for six months, I'd be sure to be confirmed. What do you think the chances of command are at my age? Five percent? Two? Zero?"
    "They're not as bad as you think," said Vorkosigan, still quietly. "There are some things coming up that very few people have heard about. More ships, more openings."
    "The usual rumors," Gottyan dismissed this.
    "So you didn't believe I was dead?" probed Vorkosigan.
    "I was sure you were. I took over—where did you put the sealed orders, by the way? We turned your cabin inside out looking for them."
    Vorkosigan smiled dryly and shook his head. "I shall not increase your temptations."
    "No matter." Gottyan's aim did not waver. "Then day before yesterday that psychopathic idiot Bothari came to see me in my cabin. He gave me the real story of what happened at the Betans' camp. Surprised the hell out of me—I'd have thought he'd be delighted at a chance to slit your throat. So we came back here to practice ground training. I was sure you'd turn up sooner or later—I expected you before this."
    "I was delayed." Vorkosigan shifted position slightly, away from Cordelia's line of fire toward Gottyan. "Where's Bothari now?"
    "Solitary confinement."
    Vorkosigan winced. "That's very bad for him. I take it you didn't spread the news of my narrow escape?"
    "Not even Radnov knows. He still thinks Bothari gutted you."
    "Smug,