Roic recognized Lieutenant Johannes, the young driver who—along with Consul Vorlynkin himself, because m'lord was, after all, m'lord—had picked them up at the shuttleport nigh on a week ago and transported them to the conference hotel.  Military attaché, ImpSec of sorts, and for all Roic knew, cook, gardener, and the consul's bâtman.  He felt a dim sense of comradeship, contemplating Johannes.

"Armsman Roic!"  Johannes's voice was curt and anxious.  "Are you all right?  Where are you?"

Roic began his summary once more; halfway through, the strained face of Consul Vorlynkin joined Johannes's image above the vid plate.

"If you follow up with the Northbridge police from your end, you'll likely know as soon and as much as we do," Roic finished.

Vorlynkin said, "Lord Auditor Vorkosigan is not with you—right?"

"We haven't spotted him here.  Any sign back there?"

A too-long pause.  "We aren't quite sure."

What t'hell did that mean?

"When you get free, report in to the consulate at once," Vorlynkin went on.  "Should I send Johannes to coordinate with the police?"

Roic scratched his head.  "If m'lord's not here, there's no point t' get in a panic about us.  I'll get back with the others."

"What about me?" said Raven, either indignant or amused, it was hard to tell.

"Who is that?" said Vorlynkin sharply.

"Dr. Durona.  An acquaintance from Escobar, one of the delegates," Roic replied.

Raven obligingly leaned forward into range of the vid pickup and smiled benignly.  Vorlynkin frowned back.

"M'lord would want to know he was"—safe seemed a premature claim—"with me," Roic explained.

Vorlynkin said distantly, "You know, if you people would be more forthcoming, we could do our job of supporting you much better."

The faint bitterness in the consul's voice was more reassuring to Roic than the man could possibly imagine.  It sounded quite like Vorlynkin had undergone some recent dealing with m'lord, one that he was loath to transmit over an unsecured comlink.

"Yes, sir," said Roic, in a mollifying tone.

He cut the com.

"Now what?" said Raven.  "Just sit here and wait for the sirens?"

"There had better not be sirens," said Roic.  "Best they drop down and secure the hostages first before making any noise."  That was what he'd suggested, at least.

After a longer pause, Raven said, "The Liberators didn't really act like they wanted to kill us.  Just convert us."

"Panic does odd things to people."

Raven sighed.  "You could stand to be more reassuring, Roic, you know?"

Huddling around the indicator lights as if at a very tiny campfire, they waited in the darkness.

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