Black Hearts, Deleted Scene
Feb. 15th, 2007 01:52 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jeriendhalThis is what I've been working on (trying to make work rather) for the past few days. Unfortunately the pacing and location of the scene drains the urgency out of the story, and frankly Gwen deserves a better introduction than she gets here. So I'm cutting this bit from the story, but I like enough that I'm presenting here just for everyone to enjoy.
Miles sipped his tea and nibbled on an oatcake, admiring the sun rising above the rim of the river valley as he sat on the front porch of the Viceroy's vacation residence, some fifty kilometers from Chaos Colony. Below on the river, jelly flyers were drifting upward on the rising air, having taken on water for ballast and cracking into hydrogen lift gas the night before.
The front door opened and Ru-ofanius (“Call me Rufus, please,”) emerged, holding his own tea and a sweet roll. Some heroic action courtesy of the Viceroy's personal tailor had produced a tunic and pants in the style of a Barrayran country lord, fitted for the Vulpine's unique body structure. It seemed to suit him. He nodded to Miles and asked, “Any word?”
“Nothing yet. It's only been thirty-six hours since the liner was hit, Rufus,” Miles said, “Even with the fire that's been lit under ImpSec's ta-- bottom by the orders I just transmitted, it's going to take time for information to start flowing back.”
“Mmm, I suppose you are right. I confess I am not fond of inaction, though,” Brushtail said, then took a sip of tea. He gestured towards the river valley. “This is all very picturesque, but I can't help but compare it to the conditions that young Terinu and Leeza are experiencing right now.”
“It's the best from a security standpoint. Keeping you on the station risked a potential security breach. The vacation house has the same com gear as the Viceroy's main residence in town, with considerably fewer prying eyes.” He didn't mention the cover story about the Viceroy taking a sudden vacation on the advice of his personal physician, which was all too believable nowadays. “I understand your meaning however.” Dammit, what was happening to Mark and Kareen? From Rufus' description of Chan's tactics, particularly what she had done to Leeza Blake in their last encounter, Miles could only pray that they both had enough sense to keep their heads down and wait for rescue.
Suuuuure.
“Rufus? Rufus, where are you?!” Gwen's voice called out from the second story, sounding panicked.
“Down here, Gwen,” he called back.
They heard the sound of booted feet thumping down the stairs and the young woman burst out of the front door, looking furious. She'd traded her Betan style clothes for a more demure Barrayaran calf length skirt, blouse, and bolero vest in forest green colors suitable for the fall. “I thought you said you weren't going anywhere!” she shouted.
“I'm right here, Gwen,” he pointed out.
She ran a hand through the heavy, single braid that ran down her back. “I know, I know. It's just that when I finished getting dressed and I couldn't find you....”
“Nothing can happen to you here, Miss Freeman,” Miles assured her. “The Count my father's personal armsmen are hand picked twenty-year men from ImpSec and ImpMil. Nobody can approach the Vacation Residence unnoticed.” From what his mother had gathered from her private conversation with the girl, Gwendolyn Freeman, niece to the missing Leeza Blake, had grown up in an almost Betan style bubble of unconscious privilege. Or at least she had, until she'd been caught up in a bizarre kidnapping plot initiated by her supposed boyfriend, who had been working for a rival government opposed to the Galactic Sapiens Alliance.
As she played with her hair, Miles covertly looked over the reason she'd been kidnapped. A small silver plug the size of a ten groat coin was partially hidden behind her left ear. As she had explained on the station, it gave her the ability to integrate her mind with computer systems, much in the way that a jump pilot made the ship he piloted an extension of himself through his jump implants. It also, Miles gathered, allowed her to hack through computer security near effortlessly, a point that would probably be shortly giving ImpSec head Allegre conniption fits once he figured out the implications. If he can fight the temptation to shoot her out of general paranoia, he's probably going to offer her a salary soon.
Still, for all the hardware she was carrying in her skull, Gwen Freeman was still just a fifteen year old girl, very far from home. Hence her panic when her friend Rufus had left her sight.
“I'm supposed to feel safe surrounded by a bunch of slope-headed grunts?” she retorted.
“Yes, well, for the moment they are our slope-headed grunts, Gwen,” Rufus intervened smoothly. “Come along, I'll help you find the tea and breakfast sweets and we can take a walk down to the river, eh?” He led her back inside, passing Cordelia as she stepped out in a swirl of red brown skirts that matched the remaining color in her graying hair.
“Did you hear any of that?” Miles said with a sigh, as his mother leaned on the porch rail beside him.
“Ah, pretty much all of it,” she said, smiling slightly. “I believe Pym would take umbrage at that description.”
“Pity Sergeant Bothari isn't here to glower in her general direction. The poor girl would probably faint.”
“Well, from what I gather, she isn't exactly in her element. I think a little patience with her tantrums might go a long way. Just imagine you're dealing with a representative from Beta Colony who failed to pay attention to the briefing before being sent to Barrayar.”
“That does not fill me with confidence,” Miles said with a mock shudder. He glanced towards the open window upstairs. “Father still sleeping?”
Cordelia nodded. “Yes, thank goodness. This latest crisis has stressed him out more than he's willing to admit. He imagines he's indispensable, but Sergyar will run just fine without him for at least a few more hours.”
End
Miles sipped his tea and nibbled on an oatcake, admiring the sun rising above the rim of the river valley as he sat on the front porch of the Viceroy's vacation residence, some fifty kilometers from Chaos Colony. Below on the river, jelly flyers were drifting upward on the rising air, having taken on water for ballast and cracking into hydrogen lift gas the night before.
The front door opened and Ru-ofanius (“Call me Rufus, please,”) emerged, holding his own tea and a sweet roll. Some heroic action courtesy of the Viceroy's personal tailor had produced a tunic and pants in the style of a Barrayran country lord, fitted for the Vulpine's unique body structure. It seemed to suit him. He nodded to Miles and asked, “Any word?”
“Nothing yet. It's only been thirty-six hours since the liner was hit, Rufus,” Miles said, “Even with the fire that's been lit under ImpSec's ta-- bottom by the orders I just transmitted, it's going to take time for information to start flowing back.”
“Mmm, I suppose you are right. I confess I am not fond of inaction, though,” Brushtail said, then took a sip of tea. He gestured towards the river valley. “This is all very picturesque, but I can't help but compare it to the conditions that young Terinu and Leeza are experiencing right now.”
“It's the best from a security standpoint. Keeping you on the station risked a potential security breach. The vacation house has the same com gear as the Viceroy's main residence in town, with considerably fewer prying eyes.” He didn't mention the cover story about the Viceroy taking a sudden vacation on the advice of his personal physician, which was all too believable nowadays. “I understand your meaning however.” Dammit, what was happening to Mark and Kareen? From Rufus' description of Chan's tactics, particularly what she had done to Leeza Blake in their last encounter, Miles could only pray that they both had enough sense to keep their heads down and wait for rescue.
Suuuuure.
“Rufus? Rufus, where are you?!” Gwen's voice called out from the second story, sounding panicked.
“Down here, Gwen,” he called back.
They heard the sound of booted feet thumping down the stairs and the young woman burst out of the front door, looking furious. She'd traded her Betan style clothes for a more demure Barrayaran calf length skirt, blouse, and bolero vest in forest green colors suitable for the fall. “I thought you said you weren't going anywhere!” she shouted.
“I'm right here, Gwen,” he pointed out.
She ran a hand through the heavy, single braid that ran down her back. “I know, I know. It's just that when I finished getting dressed and I couldn't find you....”
“Nothing can happen to you here, Miss Freeman,” Miles assured her. “The Count my father's personal armsmen are hand picked twenty-year men from ImpSec and ImpMil. Nobody can approach the Vacation Residence unnoticed.” From what his mother had gathered from her private conversation with the girl, Gwendolyn Freeman, niece to the missing Leeza Blake, had grown up in an almost Betan style bubble of unconscious privilege. Or at least she had, until she'd been caught up in a bizarre kidnapping plot initiated by her supposed boyfriend, who had been working for a rival government opposed to the Galactic Sapiens Alliance.
As she played with her hair, Miles covertly looked over the reason she'd been kidnapped. A small silver plug the size of a ten groat coin was partially hidden behind her left ear. As she had explained on the station, it gave her the ability to integrate her mind with computer systems, much in the way that a jump pilot made the ship he piloted an extension of himself through his jump implants. It also, Miles gathered, allowed her to hack through computer security near effortlessly, a point that would probably be shortly giving ImpSec head Allegre conniption fits once he figured out the implications. If he can fight the temptation to shoot her out of general paranoia, he's probably going to offer her a salary soon.
Still, for all the hardware she was carrying in her skull, Gwen Freeman was still just a fifteen year old girl, very far from home. Hence her panic when her friend Rufus had left her sight.
“I'm supposed to feel safe surrounded by a bunch of slope-headed grunts?” she retorted.
“Yes, well, for the moment they are our slope-headed grunts, Gwen,” Rufus intervened smoothly. “Come along, I'll help you find the tea and breakfast sweets and we can take a walk down to the river, eh?” He led her back inside, passing Cordelia as she stepped out in a swirl of red brown skirts that matched the remaining color in her graying hair.
“Did you hear any of that?” Miles said with a sigh, as his mother leaned on the porch rail beside him.
“Ah, pretty much all of it,” she said, smiling slightly. “I believe Pym would take umbrage at that description.”
“Pity Sergeant Bothari isn't here to glower in her general direction. The poor girl would probably faint.”
“Well, from what I gather, she isn't exactly in her element. I think a little patience with her tantrums might go a long way. Just imagine you're dealing with a representative from Beta Colony who failed to pay attention to the briefing before being sent to Barrayar.”
“That does not fill me with confidence,” Miles said with a mock shudder. He glanced towards the open window upstairs. “Father still sleeping?”
Cordelia nodded. “Yes, thank goodness. This latest crisis has stressed him out more than he's willing to admit. He imagines he's indispensable, but Sergyar will run just fine without him for at least a few more hours.”
End
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no subject
Date: 2007-02-15 07:09 am (UTC)Urm. Anyhoo.
"Suuuuuure"
So true!
Gwen changing her clothes for something more demure? Hm. That is almost out of character. Except that Cordelia can talk people into anything (as Alys comments now and then).
Nice Sergyar nature touch, btw. *grins*
Another thing - is it so very easy for Gwen to currently interface with the Nexus network? I mean, hardware-wise, jack and all. I think the technology *might* need some adjustment for her implant (and I LOOVE the "ten groats coin" part) to be functional.
Yes, well, for the moment they are our slope-headed grunts, Gwen
Mmm nice. I do believe Miles and Rufus will get along quite well.
Change of pace may be not such a bad thing. I like this installment too!
no subject
Date: 2007-02-15 07:13 am (UTC)Must be still sleeping...
*lol*
mjkj
Re: *lol*
Date: 2007-02-15 03:10 pm (UTC)That's really a question I need t figure out.
Quickly.
no subject
Date: 2007-02-15 01:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-02-16 11:28 pm (UTC)