The Vorkosigan Companion (41 page)

Fors, Bern:

A sergeant for GalacTech security. Sent out to recover a stolen shuttle on Rodeo, he and his partner are thwarted by Silver and Ivy Minchenko, who use the shuttle's engines to destroy their ground vehicle. (FF)

Foscol, Lena:

An accountant for the Waste Heat Department of the Komarr terraforming project at Serifosa, she is a middle-aged woman with frizzy, gray-blond hair. Involved in Soudha's scheme to destroy the wormhole to Barrayar, she embezzles the money from the terraforming budget to finance the jump-point plot. She is the one who informs Miles that help will be on the way after Etienne and he are chained outside, and calls Ekaterin to get them. She is noticably upset that Etienne died before help arrived. During the final standoff, she votes to continue the hostage situation, wanting to use Ekaterin and Helen Vorthys to escape the standoff at the jump-point station. (K)

14th Commandos:

A captured Marilacan military unit held in the prison camp on Dagoola IV until being rescued by Miles and the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet. (BI)

4th Armored All-Terrain Rangers:

A captured Marilacan military unit held in the prison camp on Dagoola IV until being rescued by Miles and the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet. (BI)

Framingham:

No first name given. A sergeant of Blue Squad in the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet, he participates in the mission to rescue Mark and the other Dendarii at the clone facility on Jackson's Whole. (MD)

Franklin:

A representative from Barca on the Population Council, Ethan and Desroches discuss the possibility of sending him on the mission and the potential negative repercussions of it. (EA)

Frill:

A derogatory term for a woman used by Barrayans, implying that they are useless decoration. (B)

Frost IV:

A planet that lost its entire computer network system and records in a tectonic occurrence twenty-eight years earlier. Jackson's Whole, which sells complete new identities, often uses it as an origin planet if the buyer fits the correct age range. (BA)

Fuzzy crabs:

Animals native to Sergyar that are the size of a pig, with too many hairy black legs, four beady, black eyes set in neckless heads, and razor-sharp yellow beaks. Aral and Cordelia fend off three of them while burying Reg Rosemont. (SH)

Galen, Rebecca:

One of the two hundred counselors killed in the Solstice Massacre. Her death caused Ser Galen to become a terrorist fighting against Barrayar. In a communiqué between Aral and Simon about Duv Galeni's suitability to join Barrayaran Imperial Security, Aral noted she was one of the few victims who faced her killers when she died. (BA)

Galen, Ser:

The father of Duv Galeni, he is a Komarran terrorist who is behind the plot to replace Miles with Mark, and have him sow chaos on Barrayar. He is about sixty years old, with blue eyes, gray hair, and a thick body, and appears to be an ordinary businessman or teacher. He travels under the name Van der Poole. His sister Rebecca was killed in the Solstice Massacre, and his eldest son died when a bomb Galen made went off prematurely.

Supposedly killed in that incident as well, Galen has been living on Earth while training the clone Mark to impersonate Miles. He switches the two brothers, then gets Mark released from jail, kidnaps Ivan, and forces Miles and Duv to meet him at the Thames Tidal Barrier to eliminate Miles. Mark kills him with a nerve disruptor when Galen orders him to kill Miles. (BA)

Galeni, Duv:

A captain in Barrayar's Imperial Security, and the senior military attaché for the Barrayaran Embassy at London, Earth. He is also, by default, chief of Imperial Security there as well as Service Security. In his thirties, with dark hair, hooded, nutmeg-brown eyes, a hard, guarded mouth, and a Roman profile, he is an arresting-looking man with blunt, clean fingers. He was born David Galen of the Galen Orbital Transshipping Warehouse Cartel, once a very wealthy, powerful family. His aunt, Rebecca Galen, died in the Solstice Massacre. Duv's father, Ser, became an active member of the resistance, and was thought to have been killed, along with his oldest son, in an accident with one of his own bombs. Because of his Komarran heritage, he has worked very hard to earn his current position. Duv has a doctoral degree in Modern History and Political Science from the Imperial University at Vorbarr Sultana and at age twenty-six turned down a faculty position at the Belgravia College on Barrayar to go back to the Imperial Service Academy.

He is kidnapped by his father, Ser Galen, who tries to turn him against Barrayar and get him to work for Komarr's freedom. Initially prejudicial toward Miles because he is Aral's son, his attitude changes when the two are held prisoner together. During the events at the Thames Tidal Barrier, Duv takes out two of the Cetagandans sent to kill Miles, and steals their groundcar to get Miles, Ivan, Elli, Mark, and himself out of the area.

A few years later, he is posted in Vorbarr Sultana and involved with Laisa Toscane, which goes awry after Miles invites them to an Imperial State dinner, where she meets Emperor Gregor. When Duv doesn't move fast enough, Laisa falls for Gregor instead. Duv thinks Miles arranged the whole thing, and insults him, but later comes to his senses and apologizes. He also lets Miles know when Simon first begins to exhibit his memory problems. When Haroche can't make his frame of Miles stick, he tries to frame Duv instead, but Miles thwarts him, clearing Duv of all charges. Duv gets over Laisa and falls in love with Delia Koudelka.

During the preparations for Gregor's wedding, he has been promoted to the rank of commodore, and is the Chief of Komarran Affairs for Imperial Security. He also advises Alys on aspects of Komarran tradition and etiquette for the Emperor's wedding. He marries Delia, and they both attend Miles's wedding. (BA, CC, M, WG)

Gamad:

No first name given. A lieutenant in the Felician Army, he disagrees with Elena's decision to release the prisoners when the brig was hit by weapons fire during a battle with the Pelians. He also informs Miles that Major Daum was killed during that same battle, and that he is the senior ranking Felician officer until relief arrives. Miles finds him to be an irritating glory-hound. (WA)

Gasoline:

Fuel still used to power land vehicles on more remote planets. When one hundred tons of it is accidentally shipped to the Cay Habitat instead of fuel rods, Leo Graf turns it to his advantage by using the gasoline as an explosive to create a new vortex mirror. (FF)

Gavin:

The head accountant for GalacTech's Operations Department, he appears to be a big, rumpled goon with a broken nose, but speaks precisely, with elegant elocution. During the hearing regarding the Rodeo spaceport security breach, he explains the operational relationship between the Habitat, Rodeo, and Orient IV to Leo. (FF)

Gelle:

No first name given. A Cetagandan ghem-lady, she is beautiful, tall, and elf-like, with blue eyes and blond-white hair that falls halfway to her knees. She talks briefly with Miles and Ivan when they first meet Lord Yenaro, who criticizes her choice of perfume with the outfit she's wearing, irritating her. (C)

General Accounting & Inventory Control:

A bureaucratic office of GalacTech that gives Bruce Van Atta the power to destroy the quaddies by recommending that all "post-fetal experimental tissue cultures" be destroyed by cremation as per IGS Standard Biolab rules. (FF)

Georgos:

No first name given. The Lord Guardian of the Speakers Circle of the Council of Counts, during Vordarian's coup attempt, he is forced to read a public proclamation declaring Aral a traitor, and Vidal Vordarian the Prime Minister and acting Regent. (B)

Georos:

No surname given. The night shift team leader who works with Ethan at the Sevarin District Reproduction Center. (EA)

Gerould:

No first name given. A colonel in the Barrayaran military, he is a tall man in a black, dirty, wrinkled uniform, his face lined with exhaustion. During the Vordarian coup, he informs Aral that the fighting has gone to house-to-house in Marigrad. (B)

Ghem:

Similar to the Vor-class on Barrayar, they are the aristocratic, military elite of Cetaganda. Referred to as ghem-lords and ghem-ladies, they rank under the haut in social and political status. A ghem-lord can acquire a haut-lady as his wife, if given by the Emperor, an honor that cannot be refused. This is seen as the highest social and political reward by the ghem-lords, but is really a way of keeping them under control by the haut. A ghem-lord may have more than one wife, but the haut-wife automatically outranks the ghem-wife, with the haut heirs supplanting the ghem-lord's blood relations. (C)

Giaja, Fletchir:

The Emperor of the Cetagandan Empire. Tall, lean, and hawkish, with dark hair, he is seventy years old when Miles first meets him. He ascended to the throne at age thirty, and has ruled ever since. After learning about the Dowager Empress's plan for the copies of the Star Crèche and the governors, he scolds Rian, Nadina, and Pel Navarr for their part in the plan, reiterating that there can be only one interface between the haut-women and the Empire—the Emperor himself. Otherwise unscrupulous people might seek to take advantage of the power afforded by the gene banks. He awards Miles the Cetagandan Order of Merit for his role in stopping the plot, and has him walk in the funeral procession at his left hand, as a pointed message to the other attendees. He also sends a message to Miles via Dag Benin at Gregor's wedding expressing his condolences on the death of Admiral Naismith. When Miles saves the Cetagandan fetal shipment from a renegade Ba at Graf Station, the Emperor sends a personal message of thanks, but no other reward. (C, CC, DI)

Giaja, Slyke:

A Cetagandan prince, he is a cousin of the Emperor. He is tall and hawkish, as are many of the Imperial haut. Rian Degtiar and Miles initially suspect him of being the traitorous governor, but Lord Yenaro clears him when he reveals that Governor Kety is behind the plot. (C)

Gibbs:

No first name given. A colonel in Barrayaran Imperial Security, he is the financial crimes analyst at Solstice, a spare, middle-aged man with graying hair and a meticulous manner. Miles summons him to Serifosa to track the false accounting on the Waste Heat experiment station. He loves his job, and traces the embezzlement with delight. (K)

Goatbane:

A plant on Barrayar, which Miles sees in a new light in Ekaterin's virtual garden program, composed entirely of native flora. (K)

God the Father:

A religious term used by Athosians. (EA)

"God the Father, Light the Way":

A hymn on Athos that Ethan orders played in a uterine replicator chamber instead of a screechy dance tune. (EA)

Goff:

No first name given. One of the four hired thugs sent to castrate Lord Dono, he is captured by Ivan and Olivia, and is injured in the process. (CC)

Golden Voyage of Marat Galen:

A famous Komarran trade fleet that returned a hundredfold profit to its investors after its run. (K)

Gompf, Laurie:

Hazardous waste management officer on Rodeo. George Bannerji refers to her when he refuses to follow Bruce Van Atta's order to fire on the Habitat ship, saying he should have the proper "hazardous waste disposal" order signed by her first. (FF)

Gonzales, Helmut:

Rio de Janeiro's most successful feelie-dream distributor/marketer, he runs the Sweet Dreams Distributing Company. A large, booming man. Anias describes him as a soulless, inartistic Philistine, but good at his job. He presses her for the sequel to
Triad
, saying that all royalties from that feelie-dream will be applied to repaying the advance for the sequel until she delivers it. (DD)

Gorge:

One of the sub-personalities Mark creates to survive Baron Ryoval's torture, he comes out when Mark is being force-fed. (MD, CC)

Gottyan, Korabik:

An officer in the Barrayaran military, he is Aral's first officer aboard the
General Vorkraft
. Tall, with gray hair, he initially sides with the mutineers, but Aral persuades him to join his side after he returns to camp. He is battle-promoted to captain in the Escobar conflict, just before he is killed. (SH)

Gould, Philip:

The Beta Colony president's press secretary, he organized Cordelia's disastrous welcome home celebration. (SH)

Graf, Leo:

A welding engineer with an eighteen-year career with GalacTech, he teaches quality control procedures in free-fall welding and construction. In his mid-forties, he's a stickler for procedure and accuracy, and discovered quality fraud on a previous project. Brought to the Cay Project to teach the quaddies welding techniques, when he learns the entire project is to be scrapped, and the quaddies dumped on Rodeo, he leads a plot to hijack the habitat and take it through the wormhole to freedom. (FF)

Graf Station:

Named after Leo Graf, the space station was originally founded on a small, metallic asteroid, and has been expanded for the past two centuries, including using parts of the original jump ship as construction material. Graf Station is part of a satellite of colonies located within the twin rings of an asteroid belt, collectively known as the Union of Free Habitats. Only Graf Station and a handful of other scattered habitats in the Union maintain gravity and deal with galactics. Along with its Graf Station security force, dressed in slate blue uniforms, it also has Union militia for protection. Sent to the station to investigate a dispute with a Komarran convoy, Miles uncovers a more sinister plot involving a potential war between Barrayar and Cetaganda. (DI)

Grant:

No surname given. Pilot of the shuttle that brings Leo Graf to the Cay Project Habitat. (FF)

Gras-Grace:

No surname given. A stout, red-haired, pleasantly ugly woman, she was the leader of the smuggler crew that included Russo Gupta, Firka, and Hewlitt, and was killed by Ker Dubauer after transporting his cargo of haut-fetuses. She carried separate sets of identification listing her as Grace Nevatta of Jackson's Whole and Louise Latour of Pol. (DI)