Game of odds

Miles Vorkosigan graduates from a military academy and receives distribution to a garrison in the far north of Barrayar. In the garrison, he is forced into conflict with the base commander, General Stanis Mettsov, who accuses him of trying to riot. After a closed trial of the imperial security service, Miles’s innocence was proved, Metsov was dismissed, but Miles himself, who violated the army’s subordination rules during the conflict, was placed under arrest by the Security Council to hush up the scandal and avoid unpleasant political consequences for Miles’s father, Prime Minister Barrayar Aral Vorkosigan .

In the meantime, tensions are growing at Hedjen’s Hub, a large galactic transport hub, affecting Barrayar’s interests as well. Among other space military forces pulled to the scene, a fleet of Dendarii mercenaries was noticed, the command of which was usurped by Admiral Naismith - the second, secret hypostasis of Miles Vorkosigan (see the book " Apprentice Warrior ").

Simon Illyan , the head of the imperial Security Council, is forced to decide to “resurrect” Admiral Naismith and directs Miles to the Hedge hub under the supervision and command of his two operatives. The purpose of the operation is to collect data and try to force the mercenaries to leave the site of a possible conflict. However, plans are frustrated: Miles involuntarily comes into conflict with the mysterious commander Cavillo, who provokes the arrest of Miles by the local police at one of the space stations. The operatives lose Miles and he is left without custody.

In one of his cellmates, Miles recognizes the young Gregor Forbarr , the current Emperor Barrayar and his playmate. Gregor admits that the imperial crown was too heavy for him, and he escaped from the supervision of the guards and disappeared into the vastness of the galaxy, soon got into minor troubles, was left without money and was eventually arrested.

Miles attempts to get both of them out of prison and makes contact with the Dendarii mercenaries as Admiral Miles. It turns out that during his many years of absence, power in the fleet was again seized by former commanders led by Admiral Auxerre.

Escaping now from Auxerre, Miles and Gregor fall into the clutches of the commander of another mercenary fleet located in the Hub - Commander Cavillo, who turns out to be a "fatal woman" with a passion for unscrupulous intrigues. Her closest associate is General Metsov, who escaped from Barrayar and found a common language with Cavillo on the basis of the sadistic inclinations of both. Miles quickly reveals Cavillo's insidious plan: she plans to betray her current employer - Vervan, one of the galactic states whose space territories are adjacent to the Hedge Hub, and surrender it to the Cetagandan empire, looting it along the way. Cetaganda is Barrayar’s fierce enemy, so Miles faces the difficult task of saving not only himself, Gregor and the civilians of Vervan, but also defending the interests of his empire by not taking control of the enemy’s Hub.

Meanwhile, Cavillo, realizing that the emperor himself fell into her hands, changes plans and decides to betray both the Cetagandans and his own fleet, dragging all sides into the conflict. She herself hopes to take refuge in Barrayar, becoming his empress, for which she begins to seduce Gregor, who does not seem to her a difficult prey.

To outplay Cavillo, Miles needs to regain control of the Dendarii, avoid Metzov’s assassination attempt, remove Auxerre and enter the battle with Cetaganda. The Cetagandan invasion forces are defeated, the Dendarii glorify Admiral Naismith, Admiral Vorkosigan has the right to be proud of his son. Emperor and Aral Vorkosigan transfer Miles to serve in the imperial Security Council, directly subordinating Simon to Illyan. Miles becomes a galactic operative and receives the legal right to command the Dendarii in the role of Admiral Naismith.

• Miles Vorkosigan - Lieutenant of the Imperial Security Service, Admiral of the Dendarium Flotilla
• Simon Illyan - Chief of Imperial Security
• Gregor Forbarra - Emperor of the Barrayar Empire
• Cavillo - Fleet Commander Randol’s Flotilla

• Lois McMaster Bujold at the Science Fiction Lab
• Game of Forces at the Science Fiction Lab