handslive

therealjae asked me for an entry for her Secrets vignette collection. She specified (for me) that it be from a science fiction book universe that I've liked. As luck would have it, I was just rereading Memory by Lois McMaster Bujold. This was my entry. Assume the standard fan fiction disclaimer here (i.e. characters are property of Ms. Bujold, etc.). I hope that Ms. Bujold does not harm me as I really like her stuff. I don't normally engage in fanfic of any kind.

[subsequently edited]

Simon Illyan sat quietly in the light from his comconsole. This last report had come through just before he was planning to call it a night. The brief summary came with two attached and rather lengthy documents. From 3 months ago? Ah, Cryo-Revival Report, Subject 21/A-1569, Dr. Durona and Dr. Durona's personal notes from the medical log.

Simon took a deep breath. He could with a thought call up every message from Aral in the last three months about Miles' cryo-revival. And only the actual cryo-revival report would satisfy. Miles had been unable to completely fill the blanks after his recovery, for obvious reasons. With the destruction of the lab and the Durona Group's escape, there hadn't seemed much hope of piecing it all together.

But that's what ImpSec was for. To take the trivial and the overlooked and construct the picture from the fragments. Glancing at the summary, they'd certainly earned their pay this time. The summary linked to several highlighted sections of Durona's notes, pulled together from a variety of sources, with corroborations in the final report. The notes were apparently more revealing than the final report, probably not intended for distribution. And then Simon realized what they'd found. He would have to commend the analyst who put these pieces together and saw the implications.

Dammit, Miles. And you said nothing. Not then, not in any report since. And what of the Count, your father? Dammit, boy, I'll have you home and an explanation and your hide.

Seizures. Only a few during recovery, but it was a possible side-effect of the revival. And certainly not the worst side-effect that could occur. Simon felt a moment of icy fear imagining Miles at the controls of a lightflyer or under fire during a mission and one of these seizures coming on unexpectedly.

I do not want to bear that news to Aral twice.

He would have to call Miles home. And gather more evidence. Which of ImpSec's agents in the fleet would Miles know about? Certainly, two of them, but there was a third and also the possibility of suborning someone for a fourth. Well. He would need Miles' complete medical files from the Dendarii. Properly approached, he might get a detailed statement from the medical officer herself. Or not, they were so loyal to Miles and worked so well as a result. Was Quinn involved in this hideous little cover up?

Quinn seemed the type to be sitting on Miles until he could be shipped to the nearest galactic medical center. Maybe? It would be a blessing if the boy had shown that much sense and gotten himself properly checked out and treated. But that didn't avoid the consequences of lying to the ImpSec physicians. It didn't avoid the fact that Miles had lied to Simon, either.

Lied to me. Dammit, how could you? To me! Was the little Admiral so much more than your father's faith? Or mine?

Simon quelled that thought. He knew the answer well enough.