The Vorkosigan sage commences!
Commander Cordelia Naismith is leading an exploratory mission on a new planet when they come under attack. She orders her ship away, and finds herself prisoner of the attackers' commanders, Aral Vorkosigan, who explains that the attack was complicated by a mutiny against him. A trek across the planet, coping with its wildlife, culminates in his taking back command, and her discovering their plans for attack.
A rescue from her men, a secret mission to resist the attack and a capture, a spy assigned to Vorkosigan, Vorkosigan's observation about what is small in evil, and what large-scale, a psychiatrist who refuses to believe tales as they are obvious defenses, a marriage proposal featuring much discussion of politics, a politician giving a speech, and much more add up to a grand adventure.
