"I do," says Miles. "Sergeant," he picks out a nearby Dendarii, "take a couple of techs through the house, suck dry any comconsole you find - while you're at it, look around for a handful of anti-personnel-scan devices, probably stored somewhere. Very small, very cutting-edge. Take them to Commodore Jesek and tell him they're a present from the Admiral and I want to know everything he can find out about them. Also, any stray pieces of our clothing that you find, and a little electronic object about yea big that looks like a black rod with clear caps at both ends, to be returned undamaged and uncracked to this lady here," he gestures the length of the pen and indicates Linya. "As soon as you all-clear the place, we're out of here."

"Separately?" inquires Linya.

"You can go where you like. Captain Galeni and I are headed for the embassy, where we hope to find Mark."

"Diddling their consoles and taking their things is illegal," Elli feels compelled to point out.

"And they're going to, what, complain to the police? Ha," says Miles. "By the way, to head off further confusion - my clone has normal bones. Mine are full of old break patterns. A close medical scan should have no trouble telling the difference, except in the long bones of our legs, which are synthetics in both cases. When in doubt, scan."

"Yes, sir," says Elli, and she goes off to order Dendarii around on these errands.

"Having a scarcer supply gives me greater motivation to hang on for dear life," he suggests.

"Can't be it," says Ivan. "I don't believe for a second she likes you 'cause you're clingy. You aren't even."

"Well, that's just it. She doesn't like clingy, therefore I am not clingy."

Ivan snorts. "Right, but at some point in there you had to figure out what she liked and do it right on the first try. Meanwhile I thought Sylveth liked me but apparently not enough to suffer her weirdly political friends' opinions about Barrayaran culture. Do I seem like a patriarchal misogynist to you, Miles? Me personally, I mean."

"Not especially, no."

"I don't think so either, but. I'd say it was easier back home but it's not like I've got a long-term girlfriend waiting for me there, is it, or there'd've been no Sylveth in the first place. How is Linyabel anyway?"

"Elsewhere. Buttering up her neuroscientist, at last word. He sure takes a lot of buttering."

"Does he get breadcrumbs too?"

"Cannibalism is frowned upon in most jurisdictions, Ivan, even if you bake them first."

Ivan giggles. "What's she even going to do with him if she hauls him to Komarr?"

"Neuro...science? I honestly wasn't completely clear. But besides the holo-pens I think her main research interest is life extension, so he's probably related to that."

"Isn't she probably going to live to be two hundred anyway?"

"Yes, but I'm not."

"Aww. Awww! See, that's sweet."

"Well, it's not literally because she is married to a mere heirloom human, I just happen to be a particularly relevant example. She wants life extension for everyone."

"Via neuroscience. Sounds sort of creepy to me, to be honest."

"It's not like she proposes to grow everyone Jacksonian body transplants. Is neuroscience just creepy by itself, without any attached details?"