Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga) Read Free Page A

out of his suffering. My combat knife is quite sharp. Used quickly, it would cut his throat almost painlessly. Or should you feel it is your duty as his commander, I'll lend you the knife and you may use it."
    "Is that what you'd do for one of your men?"
    "Certainly. And they'd do the same for me. No man could wish to live on like that."
    She stood and looked at him very steadily. "It must be like living among cannibals, to be a Barrayaran."
    A long silence fell between them. Dubauer broke it with a moan. Vorkosigan stirred. "What, then, do you propose to do with him?"
    She rubbed her temples tiredly, ransacking for an appeal that would penetrate that expressionless front. Her stomach undulated, her tongue was woolly, her legs trembled with exhaustion, low blood sugar, and reaction to pain. "Just where is it you're planning to go?" she asked finally.
    "There is a supply cache located—in a place I know. Hidden. It contains communications equipment, weapons, food—possession of it would put me in a position to, ah, correct the problems in my command."
    "Does it have medical supplies?"
    "Yes," he admitted reluctantly.
    "All right." Here goes nothing. "I will cooperate with you—give you my parole, as a prisoner—assist you in any way I can that does not actually endanger my ship—if I can take Ensign Dubauer with us."
    "That's impossible. He can't even walk."
    "I think he can, if he's helped."
    He stared at her in baffled irritation. "And if I refuse?"
    "Then you can either leave us both or kill us both." She glanced away from his knife, lifted her chin, and waited.
    "I do not kill prisoners."
    She was relieved to hear the plural. Dubauer was evidently promoted back to humanity in her strange captor's mind. She knelt down to try to help Dubauer to his feet, praying this Vorkosigan would not decide to end the argument by stunning her and killing her botanist outright.
    "Very well," he capitulated, giving her an odd intent look. "Bring him along. But we must travel quickly."
    She managed to get the ensign up. With his arm draped heavily over her shoulder, she guided him on a shambling walk. It seemed he could hear, but not decode meaning from the noises of speech. "You see," she defended him desperately, "he can walk. He just needs a little help."
     
    *       *       *
     
    They reached the edge of the glade as the last level light of early evening was striping it with long black shadows, like a tiger's skin. Vorkosigan paused.
    "If I were by myself," he said, "I'd travel to the cache on the emergency rations in my belt. With you two along, we'll have to risk scavenging your camp for more food. You can bury your other officer while I'm looking around."
    Cordelia nodded. "Look for something to dig with, too. I've got to tend to Dubauer first."
    He acknowledged this with a wave of his hand and started toward the wasted ring. Cordelia was able to excavate a couple of half-burned bedrolls from the remains of the women's tent, but no clothes, medicine, soap, or even a bucket to carry or heat water. She finally coaxed the ensign over to the spring and washed him, his wounds, and his trousers as best she could in the plain cold water, dried him with one bedroll, put his undershirt and fatigue jacket back on him, and wrapped the other bedroll around him sarong style. He shivered and moaned, but did not resist her makeshift ministrations.
    Vorkosigan in the meanwhile had found two cases of ration packs, with the labels burned off but otherwise scarcely damaged. Cordelia tore open one silvery pouch, added spring water, and found that it was soya-fortified oatmeal.
    "That's lucky," she commented. "He's sure to be able to eat that. What's the other case?"
    Vorkosigan was conducting his own experiment. He added water to his pouch, mixed it by squeezing, and sniffed the result.
    "I'm not really sure," he said, handing it to her. "It smells rather strange. Could it be spoiled?"
    It was a white paste with a pungent aroma. "It's all