Then her guide will be pleased to conduct her party to the manor. He brought enough local vehicles, with drivers, to transport everyone; if she feels that the length of her stay will make it worthwhile, someone can teach some members of her escort how to drive a groundcar, so she won't have to rely on local help to get around.

Well, that's very convenient. One member of Callida's escort would like to learn how to drive a groundcar! He looks at Callida in a subtle 'can I persuade her to let me' way, trying to figure out what the Sith wants.

Callida looks at him, impassively, then asks, "Do you want to learn how to drive a groundcar?"

"If it's not too much trouble, my lord," he says, reluctantly.

"It shouldn't be."

And then he may have lessons.

Now, is there anything the Barrayarans would like from her? Meetings, maybe? If not, she thinks she'll tour the city.

Her guide says that there is not currently anything scheduled, and she may take all the time she likes to settle in, and here is how to operate the comconsoles in the manor so she can be contacted about meetings in the future.

She will take some time to settle in, and make sure everyone can operate comconsoles (it's not very hard) and then leaves a few of her escort to hold down the proverbial fort. Callida and the rest would like to see the city, if it's not too much trouble for their guide.

No trouble at all! He'd be happy to show her around.

Excellent! Then what's the city like?

A fascinating mix of architectural styles, mostly in one of two basic themes: 'glass and concrete' or 'wood and stone'. Some buildings are gorgeous; some are awful eyesores; most are in between. Everyone on the street is human, and while the discreet translator earbuds provided by the guide handle all local languages equally, it doesn't seem like there are a huge variety. Their guide can point out sites of cultural or historic interest, but not go into detail about most of them.

Callida didn't bring any nonhumans with her, for just this reason, but it's a bit odd to see no other species at all.

But more importantly, how this city works can give her some context of how other cities work. And more context for the culture she's interacting with. She pays attention and asks questions and compliments the buildings that are gorgeous and the clever things she sees.

Their guide happily answers questions and accepts compliments on behalf of his society.

Excellent, this is going so well. She'll have her basic cultural background in no time.

Once the tour concludes, she returns to the manor. Any messages while she was away?

A brief vid message from Count Vorkosigan, welcoming her to the planet and inviting her to visit him and his wife at home, with a summarized schedule of availability.

Callida takes a minute to compose a response and find a time to visit tomorrow that fits the schedule. Then, Count Vorkosigan can have a message in reply; she feels very welcomed, the planet is quite unique and she enjoyed the tour of the city. She names several places that she visited and several more that she liked, and then asks if she could visit tomorrow at a time convenient for Count Vorkosigan and his wife?

Ten minutes later she has a response from the Countess. "Yes, absolutely. I look forward to meeting you."

The Countess gets a response soon after.

"Excellent, thank you. I look forward to meeting you, as well."

And then she'll spend the rest of the day looking through the comconsole to attempt to do the equivalent of browsing the holonet. Her people all have the rest of the day to themselves; she has bodyguards, but they are mostly for show. Can't let the majority of the locals know that she doesn't need bodyguards, of course.

The next morning, at the appropriate time: here is a Sith lord, on the Vorkosigan's doorstep, two bodyguards shadowing her.

A uniformed Vorkosigan armsman opens the door and shows them inside, where the Countess is waiting in the foyer.

"Welcome, Lord Callida. My name is Cordelia Vorkosigan. It's a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

"Thank you, Countess." She had one of her people ask about proper protocol and has had the information disseminated throughout her fleet. She was the first person to get it. "It's a pleasure to meet you, as well. Your home is lovely so far, though I admittedly haven't seen much of it."

"I'm glad you find it so," she says, smiling. "Aral says he recommended you seek my perspective on Barrayaran culture."

"Yes." She smiles back. "He particularly recommended your perspective on the Emperor of Barrayar."

"I hope you won't take it as self-flattery if I say I might be the best person on the planet to ask," she says. "Let's find somewhere to sit down; I don't think I can summarize Gregor adequately in a front-hall conversation."

If Lord Callida is amenable, the Countess will lead her to a nice cozy sitting room.

Lord Callida is quite amenable! She doesn't really want to have this conversation in the front-hall, either.

The sitting room is for sitting. Cordelia sits.

"Do you want the short, medium, or long version?"

"Long," decides Callida. "Unless that would be so long as to keep me here past when my escort's expecting me, I wouldn't want to worry them."

"I think I can get through the requisite amount of history in a maximum of two hours," Cordelia predicts.

"Excellent, then I expect the long version will be splendid."

"I'm not an expert on Barrayaran history, but I know enough to summarize recent Emperors," she says. "Shortly before the end of the Time of Isolation, Emperor Dorca Vorbarra united the warring Counts under his rule by conquering them all and then instituting a strictly enforced law that no Count was allowed to maintain a private army of more than twenty individuals. His historic nickname is Dorca the Just, and from what I've read, he earned it. Very fair-minded, in a... Barrayaran sort of way. I grew up on Beta Colony, in a cultural context where war is thought of as a distasteful foreign thing inflicted on the weak by the barbaric. Barrayaran history has complicated that impression for me to a significant degree."