She pauses to gather her thoughts, before she speaks again.

"The trouble with this, is that as free and clear as I and my fleet may seem - we are not. If I swear allegiance to anyone that is not Sith, I and those I'm responsible for will be branded traitors by our empire if travel between galaxies ever becomes more viable. The person I currently bear allegiance to would be branded a traitor if she didn't lead the hunt against me." And she would, Callida doesn't say. "I, my fleet, and those I swore allegiance to would be targeted before anything else in this galaxy."

She also doesn't say 'Unless I presented your heads to my emperor on a silver platter immediately after it happened,' because if she sincerely swore allegiance to Barrayar - she wouldn't. Lord Callida's proven to be near incorrigibly loyal. Which is half of the trouble, of course.

"So you see, I am in a rather awkward position."

"I do see that," he agrees. "And in fact one of the primary clauses of the Barrayaran formal citizenship oath is a promise that you are not bound by any conflicting claims. Something could perhaps be done... I would need to consult with my Emperor about the details, but consider the difference between allegiance and alliance."

"Alliance is more doable," she agrees. "Though I do feel obligated to explain the Sith Empire in more detail, so that if extra-galactic travel does become viable, you do not suddenly become surprised by the allies you've gained. And similarly I would like to have a better knowledge of Barrayar before anything formal is decided." Thoughtful pause. "But I do like you so far."

"By all means, we should exchange information about our respective cultures."

Lord Callida smiles, considering whether to let on that she has what amounts to magic.

... Yeah, okay. If they've gotten this far, she would rather they not have a nasty surprise later.

"I believe the most important thing you should immediately know about my culture is that there is a difference between Sith, and Sith imperial citizens. I am the former, and the only one in this fleet. Lord Nekros was another. Sith are formally socially above non-Sith and rule, and the main reason for that is because we have what amounts to magic powers." She pauses to gauge his reaction.

Intrigued but not necessarily disbelieving.

"And how exactly do they amount to magic powers?"

"I have telekinesis, empathy, a mild precognition that is highly attuned to when I'm in danger, super speed, super strength, and various other abilities that I don't use as frequently. I can demonstrate most of them without trouble, if you have a request?"

"...What precisely do you mean by empathy?"

"I can feel emotions of the people around me, and some direction of their intentions. I can almost always tell when someone's lying to me. A Sith may, if they choose, delve further into the subject and gain the ability to read minds, but I haven't, for a number of reasons, and try to keep some measure of respect for privacy."

"Understood. I'm very curious where these magic powers come from, but I'm not even sure whether that's a coherent question."

"Certain individuals are something called 'Force sensitive,' and on their own, without training, they have - something like a subtle enhanced sense of luck, or timing. From there they can get training to have proper magic powers. As to what makes certain people Force sensitive, I have no idea, but it seems to run in families."

"That's... interesting. And possibly information you should keep to yourself. I can imagine several different groups of people who might want to kidnap and mass-clone you if they suspected you were genetically predisposed to developing useful magic."

... Ah, yes, they do have better clone technology, don't they. She makes a face that accurately communicates the phrase They could fucking try, but then it's back to professionalism.

"I'm not entirely sure it's precisely genetic," says Callida. "But yes, it's not something I plan to advertise. Nor was the fact that I'm the only person that I know of trained in this magic in the galaxy, I just wanted to avoid giving you a later nasty surprise."

"Well, thank you for that," he says, with a slight smile.

"You're welcome. You've been very forthcoming and honest with me, it seemed correct to return the favor."

"I have to say, I strongly prefer this to the conversation I was expecting to have with Lord Nekros," he says.

"Being a better conversationalist than Lord Nekros is not a high bar to clear," says Callida wryly. "But thank you, that was my intention."

"Should I refrain from asking about the exact circumstances under which he was removed from command, by the way?"

Eyebrow raise. "He lost his temper about the situation near a power coupler, decided to take his anger out on his environment, and had an unfortunate and completely unpredictable accident, and we are all very broken up about his loss. Or at least that's our story until we think of something more plausible."

"Yes, I was afraid it might be something like that. I can't say I'm disappointed, however."

"No. He would have gotten everyone in this fleet killed, with possible exception of myself, the ship I was on before I moved to the flagship, Lieutenant Kyrell, and everyone we could convince onto a shuttle."

"He might very well have gotten everyone in your fleet killed, I'm sorry to say. But that depends on just how unpleasant his plans for this meeting actually were, which you may not have asked him before he had his tragic power coupler accident."

"Capture you, torture you for all information on the Barrayaran fleet and defenses that you had, use it to make a pass at conquering the system. I argued against it, he declined to be dissuaded, and here we are."

"What an unimaginative plan," he sighs.

"I know," she agrees. "But he wasn't chosen for his cunning or intellect, and if I must disagree so strongly with another Sith, I'd rather it be an unimaginative one."