The Vorkosigan Companion (45 page)

Koudelka, Delia:

The first and tallest of Commodore Clement and Ludmilla Koudelka's daughters, she is blond, beautiful, smart, and athletic. Miles escorts her to the Imperial State dinner, as she is quite graceful, and loves to dance. Ivan asks her to marry him, but finds out she has chosen Duv Galeni, and will be marrying him instead. She attends Miles's dinner party with Duv during their engagement, and also attends Miles's wedding. (CC, M, MD, WG)

Koudelka house:

The Koudelkas live in a large, three-story home on the end of a block row right in the middle of Vorbarr Sultana, with windows overlooking a park, only six blocks away from Vorkosigan House. Clement and Ludmilla purchased it twenty-five years ago, when he had been Aral's aide while he was Regent. (CC)

Koudelka, Kareen:

The fourth daughter of Clement and Ludmilla Koudelka, she is a vivacious eighteen-year-old with short, loose, ash-blond curls, electric blue eyes, and a passionate drive. She plans to study at Beta Colony, courtesy of Cordelia Vorkosigan. Mark meets her at the Emperor's Birthday Celebration, then promises her a dance at Winterfair, if he returns alive from his mission to rescue Miles.

After her first year at Beta Colony, she is in an exclusive relationship with Mark, although she cannot bring herself to tell her parents. She wants to go back to school on Beta, but her family is not wealthy, and asks her to consider attending college in Vorbarr Sultana. To earn money, she accepts shares in Mark's butter bug company, first to keep tabs on Doctor Borgos, then becoming the head of marketing. Her parents disapprove of Mark as a suitor, and Kareen is upset at the limited choices she has as a woman on Barrayar. She prefers life on Beta Colony, but does not want to give up her family either. With Cordelia's help, she works out a mutual option between Mark and herself, and brokers an understanding that her parents can accept. Along with her sister Martya, Kareen helps save Doctor Borgos from the Escobaran parole officers. (CC, MD)

Koudelka, Ludmilla Droushnakovi:

When first assigned to Cordelia, she is the servant of the Inner Chamber in the Imperial Residence, and Princess Kareen's personal bodyguard. She is alert, tall, and heavily muscled, with gold-blond hair and blue eyes. At the time of Vordarian's Pretendership, both of her parents are still alive, and she has three older brothers, all in the military along with her father, and a younger sister. She is instrumental in getting Cordelia and Bothari inside the Imperial Residence using hidden tunnels under the compound that Captain Negri showed to her. After Koudelka deflowered her on the night of Aral's assassination attempt, she works through the guilt of not being officially on duty at the time, and eventually makes up with and marries him. She and Kou have four daughters, Delia, Kareen, Olivia, and Martya, planning to marry them off to the surfeit of Barrayaran Vor males that are being born at the same time. She is one of the first ladies on Barrayar to use a uterine replicator for her two youngest daughters. She feels the same as her husband does about Mark and Kareen, but comes to an understanding on the relationship after Cordelia talks to both of them at Kareen's request. She takes over Alys Vorpatril's duties while Alys is on Komarr playing Baba for Gregor's upcoming wedding to Laisa. She and her husband attend Miles's wedding. (B, CC, M, WG)

Koudelka, Martya:

Another of the Koudelkas' four daughters. Ivan escorts her to the Imperial State dinner. Younger, shorter, and tawnier than her sister Delia, Martya is also more acerbic and direct. After Delia turns down Ivan's marriage proposal, he panics and asks Martya to marry him, but her reply is a succinct, "anyone but you." One of the guests at Miles's dinner party, afterward she is assigned to keep an eye on Kareen, and becomes her sister's go-between with Pym, and also good friends with Ekaterin. When Kareen is banned from working in Vorkosigan House, Martya gets in on the butter bug scheme, where she also meets Doctor Borgos, whom she finds quite interesting. She was to be Ekaterin's Second during the wedding ceremony, but stepped aside to give Taura the honor as a reward for stopping the assassination plot. She also kisses Roic on the cheek for saving them all from the terror Miles would have become if Ekaterin had died. (CC, M, WG)

Koudelka, Olivia:

One of the four tall, blond Koudelka sisters, she has an independent streak, and accompanies Martya to help cheer up Tatya Vorbretten during the Cetagandan bloodline scandal. Later she falls in love and gets engaged to Lord Dono Vorrutyer. She always wanted to be a countess, and will have her chance when Dono wins his petition to inherit his brother's District. She attends Miles's wedding. (CC, M)

Kshatryan Foreign Legion:

A remote mercenary group Ivan considers joining to avoid Miles's wrath after learning that Alexi Vormoncrief has proposed to Ekaterin. (CC)

Kshatryan Imperial Mercenaries:

A group of about a dozen men recruited by Captain Thorne, Baz Jesek, and Arde Mayhew on Tau Verde IV for the Dendarii Free Mercenary Fleet. After botching a bodyguarding job, they are desperate to get off the planet. (WA)

Kurin's Hand
:

Cavilo's flagship of the Randall's Rangers fleet. (VG)

Kush:

No first name given. A soldier in the Barrayaran military, he is the leader of a patrol on the
General Vorkraft
that will be part of the attempt to stop the mutineers. (SH)

Kyril Island:

An arctic, egg-shaped island seventy kilometers wide, one hundred sixty kilometers long, and five hundred kilometers from the nearest landmass. At Aral's confirmation ceremony as Regent, Evon Vorhalas mentions the possibility of getting assigned there as punishment. Lazkowski Base, used by the Barrayarans for winter military training, is located there, and is where Miles is sent for a six-month tour of duty as the Chief Meteorological Officer. Alexi Vormoncrief is posted there as punishment for interfering in Miles's and Ekaterin's relationship. (B, CC, VG)

L. Bharaputra & Sons Biological Supply House:

Based on Jackson's Whole, it is one of the largest genetic-  engineering companies in the galaxy. Controlled by the ruthless House Bharaputra, it will take extreme measures, including murder, to protect itself. When the Population Council on Athos ordered a supply of ovarian tissues from them, the order was intercepted and lost on Kline Station. The company was also cheated by the Cetagandans in a co-  sponsored genetic breeding plot for creating telepathic subjects, and hired Elli Quinn to eliminate Colonel Millisor and his men as revenge. Their representatives are tall, dark-skinned, and wear gaudy, embroidered silk jackets. A pair of them, one dressed in pink and one in brown, are sent to retrieve Baron Luigi Bharaputra's advance payment from Quinn when she takes too long in eliminating Millisor. (EA)

Lai:

No first name given. A lieutenant in the Betan military, he is a crew member aboard the
Rene Magritte
. Slight and thin with a scholarly scoop, he accompanies Lieutenant Stuben aboard the
General Vorkraft
to rescue Cordelia. (SH)

Lairouba:

A planet that has sent its leader to Earth to participate in talks about the right-of-passage through the group of planets known as the Western Orion Arm. Tau Ceti is the hub of this nexus, and Komarr connects through it by two routes, which is why Barrayar is interested in the discussion. (BA)

Lake:

No first name given. A lieutenant in the Oseran Mercenaries, he is pale, blond-haired, and Admiral Oser's right-hand man. Elena Bothari dislikes him intensely. He supervises the attempt to kill Miles on Oser's orders, but Miles escapes with help from loyal Dendarii men, including Clive Chodak. Captured by Cavilo's men, Lake is severely interrogated on the
Kurin's Hand
. (VG)

Lamitz:

No first name given. A general in the Barrayaran military, referred to as possibly homosexual. (VG)

Lannier, Ma:

No first name given. She taught Harra Csurik reading and writing. (MM)

Lara:

No surname given. A corporal in security on Kline Station, she is average-looking with dark hair. She got her name from her grandmother. When Ethan Urquhart attempts to find out about the attempted attack on him from Colonel Millisor, she thinks he's flirting with her. She is called away to investigate the disappearance of a prisoner, one of Millisor's men who fired a nerve disruptor at Ethan earlier that day. (EA)

Lars:

No surname given. One of two guards Ser Galen used to discipline Mark during his training to impersonate Miles. (MD)

Las Sands:

An area on Athos that has a senior, unnamed representative on the Population Council. (EA)

Latour, Louise:

One of Gras-Grace's aliases, listing her as a citizen of Pol. Russo Gupta carries the identification papers while on Graf Station. (DI)

Lava lamp:

Just like the twentieth-century version. Miles purchases a Jackson's Whole–made one on Komarr as a birthday present for Emperor Gregor. (K)

Lazkowski Base:

Located on Kyril Island on Barrayar, near the Arctic Circle, it is a winter training base for infantry known as Camp Permafrost, with a capacity of six thousand men. After Miles graduates from the Academy, his first assignment is a six-month duty as the camp's Chief Meteorological Officer. Alexi Vormoncrief is posted there as punishment for interfering in Miles's and Ekaterin's relationship. (CC, VG)

Liant:

No first name given. One of the prisoners under Beatrice's command who helps reorganize the prisoners for evacuation on Dagoola IV. (BI)

Liga, Sydney:

An arms buyer on Pol Station Six, he has pale, rabbit-like features, with a protruding lip and dark hair. He meets with Miles, who is posing as the arms dealer Victor Rotha, claiming to need upgraded weapons for his security guards on an asteroid mining facility. He is killed by Cavilo, who tries to pin the crime on Rotha/Miles. (VG)

Lightflyer:

A vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that ranges from one- and two-person versions through bigger passenger vehicles that can carry several passengers to large cargo versions. Antigravity technology is used for lift; however, the method of propulsion is not specified. All lightflyer safety restraints and crash protection systems are very effective, making it possible to survive a lightflyer crash that demolishes the vehicle. (All)

Lightner, Peter:

A Betan pilot in Betan Astronomical Survey, he is known as Big Pete. One of Cordelia's crew who helps rescue her, he pilots the stolen shuttle out of the
General Vorkraft
. (SH)

Lilly Junior:

A tall Eurasian girl unwillingly rescued from the clone crèche on Jackson's Whole, she is a Durona clone meant for Lotus Bharaputra to inhabit. Lotus named her Lilly as revenge on her sister. She escapes from Mark and the Dendarii with Baron Bharaputra and goes back to the Bharaputra residence, where she meets Rowan and Miles, both prisoners. Her conversation with Miles causes her to question her previously unflagging devotion to Lotus, and she escapes the baron's home by posing as Rowan and going to the Durona Clinic. After Mark makes a Deal for the Duronas' freedom, Lilly travels to Escobar with the rest of her clone sisters. (MD)

Live fur:

Created by GalacTech bioengineering, a live fur is a living organism, like a cat, with none of the defects, like claws or shedding or eating or defecation. It is "fed" by an electromagnetic net in its cellular level passively gathering energy from the environment. Miles buys one for Elli, and keeps it in his room at the embassy, where it enjoys purring when petted, and snuggling up to his face while he sleeps. It scares Mark when he first stays in Miles's room, and he throws the fur into a closet. Elli sends one to Miles and Ekaterin as a wedding present. (BA, WG)

Liz:

No surname given. A pleasantly plump, middle-aged Komarran, she is the head of the Carbon Drawdown department in the Serifosa branch of the Terraforming Project. Her department has had great success with introducing peat bogs to the planet. (K)

London Municipal Assizes:

Housed in a big, black crystal building two centuries old, it is where all civil criminals are held for processing. Miles, Elli, Ivan, and Duv Galeni go there to try to get Mark freed into their custody, only to find that Ser Galen has beaten them to him. (BA)

Lord Midnight:

A story Aral relates to Mark about an unusual political benchmark that occurred on Barrayar. During the Time of Isolation, Count Vortala was feuding with his son, so he disinherited him, and persuaded the Council of Counts to approve naming his horse, Midnight, as his heir. The horse died before Vortala, and the son inherited everything anyway. (MD)

Lord Vorloupulous and his 2000 Cooks:

A true story used on Barrayar as an example of violating the letter of the law. When private armies were eliminated by order of Emperor Dorca Vorbarra, Count Vorloupulous called his liveried army "cooks" and armed them with butcher knives. With his army defeated by the Emperor's men, he would have been executed for treason except for the Cetagandan invasion. Vorloupulous's sentence was delayed, he was sent to fight, and he died in battle. (WA)

Lord Vorventa the Twice-Hung:

Miles refers to him during a conversation with Ekaterin about whether criminal charges would be brought against her deceased husband. Vorventa's double demise occurred during the Time of Isolation. (K)

Love in the Gazebo
:

One of the contraband video fiction titles Ti Gulik brings to Silver. (FF)

Love-Lies-Itching:

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

Love's Savage Star
:

A holovid Ethan watches while waiting for Quinn to find out what Colonel Millisor is up to. (EA)

Lubachik:

An ensign in the Barrayaran military, he graduates in Miles's class. Painfully earnest, he is assigned to Imperial Security training to learn advanced security and counterassassination techniques. (VG)

Luigi Bharaputra and Sons Household Finance and Holding Company of Jackson's Whole Private Limited: