Mirror Dance

“Wait a minute,” said Qui

Mark held up a restraining hand. “Let me give you a little Jacksonian history, as far as I know it. About ninety or a hundred years ago—”

“My God, Lord Mark, how long is this story going to be?” asked Bothari-Jesek. Qui

“Bear with me. You have to understand who the Durona Group is. About ninety years ago, the present Baron Ryoval’s father was setting up his arcane little genetic slave-trade, the manufacture of humans to order. At some point it occurred to him: Why hire genius from outside? Grow your own. Mental properties are the most elusive to create genetically, but the old Ryoval was a genius himself. He started a project that culminated in the creation of a woman he named Lilly Durona. She was to be his medical research muse, his slave-doctor. In both senses.

“She grew, was trained, and put to work. And she was brilliant. About this time the old Baron Ryoval died, not too mysteriously, during an early attempt at a brain transplant.

“I say not too mysteriously because of the character his son and successor, the present Baron Ryoval, immediately revealed. His first project was to get rid of all his potential sibling-rivals. The old man had sired a lot of children. Ryoval’s early career is something of a Jacksonian legend. The eldest and most dangerous males, he simply had assassinated. The females and some of the younger males he sent to his body-modification laboratories, and thence to his very-private bordellos, to service the customers on that side of the business. I suppose they’re all dead by now. If they’re lucky.

“Ryoval also, apparently, used this direct management approach on the staff he had inherited. His father had handled Lilly Durona as a cherished treasure, but the new Baron Ryoval threatened to send her after his sisters, to satisfy the biological fantasies of his customers directly, if she didn’t cooperate. She began to plot her escape with a despised young half-brother of Ryoval’s by the name of Georish Stauber.”

“Ah! Baron Fell!” said Thorne. Thorne was looking enlightened, Taura fascinated, Qui

“The same, but not yet. Lilly and young Georish escaped to the protection of House Fell. In fact, I gather that Lilly was Georish’s ticket in. They both set up in service to their new masters, with considerable negotiated autonomy, at least on Lilly’s part. It was the Deal. Deals are as semi-sacred as anything can be, on Jackson’s Whole.

“Georish began to rise through the ranks of House Fell. And Lilly began the Durona Research Group by cloning herself. Again and again. The Durona Group, which is now up to thirty or forty cloned sisters, serves House Fell in several ways. It’s sort of a family doctor for upper level Fell executives who don’t want to entrust their health to outside specialist houses like Bharaputra. And since House Fell’s stock in trade is weapons, they’ve done R&D on military poisons and biologicals. And their antidotes. The Durona Group made House Fell a small fortune on Peritaint, and a few years later made it a huge fortune on Peritaint’s antidote. The Durona Group is kind of quietly famous, if you follow that sort of thing. Which ImpSec does. There was a pile of stuff on ’em even in the stripped-down files they let me see. Though most of this is common knowledge on Jackson’s Whole.

“Georish, not least owing to the coup he brought House Fell in the person of Lilly, ascended to the pi

Bel whistled. “I knew some of this, but I don’t think I’d ever heard the whole story. No wonder Fell and Ryoval hate each other.” It glanced at Qui

“Keep that reflex,” Mark advised.

Bel nodded. “The Imperium wanted to import a galactic geneticist. I don’t quite know why.” It glanced at Qui

“Nor do you need to,” said she.

“But a certain Dr. Canaba, who was then one of House Bharaputra’s top genetics people, wanted to defect. House Bharaputra takes a lethally dim view of employees departing with a head full of trade secrets, so Canaba needed help. He struck a deal with the Barrayaran Imperium to take him in.”

“That’s where I come from,” Taura put in.

“Yes,” said Thorne. “Taura was one of his pet projects. He, um, insisted on taking her along. Unfortunately, the super-soldier project had recently been canceled, and Taura sold to Baron Ryoval, who collects genetic, excuse me Sergeant, oddities. So we had to break her out of House Ryoval, in addition to breaking Canaba out of House Bharaputra. Um, Taura, you’d better say what happened next.”

“The Admiral came and rescued me from Ryoval’s main biologicals facility,” the big woman rumbled. She heaved a large sigh, as if at some sweet memory. “In the process of escaping, we totally destroyed House Ryoval’s main gene banks. A hundred-year-old tissue collection went up in smoke. Literally.” She smiled, baring her fangs.

“House Ryoval lost about fifty percent of its assets that night, Baron Fell estimated,” Thorne added. “At least.”

Mark hooted, then sobered. “That explains why you all think Baron Ryoval’s people will be hunting for Admiral Naismith.”

“Mark,” said Thorne desperately, “if Ryoval finds Miles first, he’ll have him revived just so he can kill him again. And again. And again. That’s why we were all so insistent that you play Miles, when we were pulling out of Jackson’s Whole. Ryoval has no motive to take revenge on the clone, just on the Admiral.”

“I see. Gee. Thanks. Ah, whatever happened to Dr. Canaba? If I may ask.”

“He was delivered safely,” said Qui

“Hm. Well, that brings me to the other cross-co

Taura’s clawed hand flew to her lips. “That girl!”

“Yes, that girl. I wondered why she gave me the cold chills. I’d seen her before, in another incarnation. The clone of a clone.

“The Baro

“Rats,” muttered Qui

“So that’s another cross-co

“If they have him,” Qui

“If,” Mark conceded. “Although,” he brightened slightly, “it would explain why that incriminating cryo-chamber ended up in the Hegen Hub. The Durona Group wasn’t trying to hide it from ImpSec. They were trying to hide it from other Jacksonians.”