They were trapped. Force shields sprung up all over the doorways and large windows of the front room. Even the walls emanated a faint heat. Generators? Or are the shields going through the wall? They were tantalizingly close to the front entrance.

"Raina! Force shields! We're in--"

"Don't give away your position," Raina's voice hissed over the comm. "Cora, I'm stuck here, too. And... no contact with Alex. You got the scanner?"

Cora, still shaking from the temporal dissonance, fumbled and dropped the scanner. Miles picked it up. "It'll pass," she said to Miles. "Don't worry."

Raina continued, "Transmit Fallow codes with alpha variations. That will lock you into the homing devices."

Though Cora complied, she protested, "But Raina, that locks you out of them! Don't you want to know where Miles and Ekaterin are?"

There was a grim laugh. "I don't need to know where they are. I need to know where Sebastian is." The comm link cut off.

"Force shields probably coming through the ceiling," said Cora thoughtfully. "Or the basement. Felice checked those when we arrived last night. This morning, rather." She turned to the others. "Nothing to do but take a breather. Sebastian won't do anything spectacular without Raina as his audience. And these force shields have immobilized everyone."

"Homing devices?" Ekaterin asked.

Cora chuckled. "Well, we couldn't let you know you had them, if either of you had been exposed to pentacrine. We didn't plant them subcutaneously, because you might notice it and have it removed. But both of you carry things which never leave your side."

Miles shook his head in wonder. "I might have guessed. My Auditor's chain." He flipped it over, and sure enough there was a small device right next to the main chip. "And your Barrayar pendant," he said to Ekaterin.

"That's why she let you have the nerve disruptor. You've never been left alone long enough to be programmed. I wish we could have done this for everyone, but we didn't have much that wasn't supplied by ImpSec. Your ImpSec, that is."

"I wonder how the Armsmen are handling this," said the Count. He was looking out the windows, towards the lake. The waters glittered invitingly, though they were chilly at this time of the year. The landscape was tranquil-- too empty for this time of day.

Checking her scanner, Cora grimaced. "Well, I spoke too soon. The force fields are moving. Keep tight to the center of the room, and I'll tell you where we're being herded."

Cordelia, who was nearest the door, turned, and muffled a cry. "Alex! God, you startled me."

Miles moved around Ekaterin. Alex stood just beyond the force shield, with an unusually strained look on his face. Then Miles saw why.

Behind him was a man with raven black hair, and eyes the blue of Arctic glaciers. There the resemblance to Rian Degtiar ended. For he was prematurely aged, his high cheekbones jutting through wrinkled skin. The changes were all subtle--the nose didn't fit on the face, the jaw was pushed back a bit--but Miles could see that Sebastian Giaja had been transformed from a dazzling young haut lord into an ugly old man. No, not ugly... just ordinary. What better punishment for a Cetagandan, than to be turned into an average human being? Even as he expertly immobilized the ImpSec chief, Sebastian wore his body like a cage.

"Look at them, snared like flies," Sebastian purred. His voice was mellifluous by common standards, but Miles knew it grated when compared to his father, the emperor of Cetaganda. "The sound's coming through now. They couldn't hear you scream before. High quality force shields. Of Cetagandan make."

"Back up!" Cora shouted. "To the center of the room! The shields are contracting."

Right on cue. Felice must be awake. Or maybe it's one of the Armsmen. They huddled together by the windows. From their new vantage point, Sebastian's hypospray could be seen, tracing Alex's jugular vein. Miles couldn't believe Alex was unable to overpower Sebastian from that position. It was only when he caught the raw terror in his eyes that he understood: Alex was as hysterically afraid of pentacrine as Raina.

Murmured words poured out of the Cetagandan's cracked lips. "You do know what happens during an allergic reaction to pentacrine? Of course, you're a spy, you've studied it. It's much slower than fast-penta. With the right dose, just the merest amount, it can be excruciatingly slow. The skin becomes inflamed-- just a slow burning sensation, really. It starts to itch and you can't help but scratch. With every new welt and sore, it itches even more. Your heart races as you claw at your own swollen, bleeding skin. Before long, it feels like your internal organs are crawling. People have ripped their eyes out, to get at their brain."

Through all this, Alex remained silent. His face was very close to the force shield. Sweat dripped off his eyebrows, and sizzled on the invisible surface.

"Which shall it be, Count Vorkosigan?" At that, Alex's eyes flicked aside, then gazed ahead in denial. "The bubble can continue contracting. It's space-grade, you know. I can shut off the air, and you can watch them suffocate together. Would you like that? Shall I keep the bubble sound-permeable? Or do you want to watch them scream with their last breath, in total silence? The other choice, of course, is to submit to me, and let the pentacrine do its work. I'll let your beautiful sister come to us. So she can watch you die."

Miles snorted. What kind of skewed logic...? Of all things, Alex doesn't value self-preservation. But Alex's hesitation made his stomach sink. Making Raina watch his death may be just as loathsome to him.

Impatient, Sebastian shifted his weight. Suddenly Alex twisted, and jerked Sebastian's hand towards the shield. With an angry yelp, Sebastian dropped the superheated hypospray. Unfortunately, he still managed to knock Alex to the floor. Alex's leg scissored out and Sebastian landed on top of him.

"Sorry, Sebastian," said Alex, panting, "you're not my type." There was a nasty burn across half his face where the force shield had touched him. Snarling, Sebastian whipped a tangle field around him.

A voice echoed from down the hall. "You're late."

It was Raina.

"I was expecting you earlier this morning," she continued.

Raina's voice was so even, her eyes so wide, that Ekaterin looked appalled. Raina could not have absconded. Impossible.

Sebastian licked his lips. "Well, I had to allow the family a sleepless night, isn't that right, Raina darling? I trust you spent it well."

"Bastard," gritted Alex.

For answer Sebastian slammed Alex's already injured face into the floorboards. Miles winced.

Ekaterin turned away. "Miles, he's going to kill him."

"Move in, Milady," Cora said to Cordelia. "Your side's closing in." Cora was flushed, and trembling a bit, but otherwise kept her eyes on the scanner. The odors of stress and sweat grew strong in the cramped space.

"Sebastian," said Raina quietly. "I'm what you came for."

"All too true, my dear," answered Sebastian. He stepped back, and the force shield shifted past Alex. Then it reversed, sweeping back towards them. Still restrained, Alex rolled away from its approach. He was almost at their feet when the force shield around them expanded to enclose him as well. Miles undid the tangle field, and Cordelia helped Alex up.

When Miles looked up again, Raina stood at the threshold, facing Sebastian. Her hands hung at her sides, though the sinews of her arms and shoulders were tensed. From opposite sides of a force shield they sized each other up. The same feral expression lit their faces. There were no more angles, no vectors of force save the delicate manuevering of changing the other's mind.

Alex waved off Cora's attentions, mumbling, "Oho, I see it now. You want to tame her. Stupid."

Sebastian broke the silence. "Sophia, come here."

Felice emerged from the hallway and stood between them. She was encased in a clear force bubble, and was wearing what looked like a stripped down command headset. Raina's hand twitched. Felice made no sign that she recognized anyone other than Sebastian.

"Sophia, cut communications."

Cora dropped the scanner, clutching her head in pain. She doubled over to Miles's level. He saw she was biting down on her tongue to muffle the scream. Ekaterin steadied her without letting go of Miles.

Alex had caught the scanner before it hit the floor. He checked it and said, "We're cut off from the Guardian governments."

"Even if they fix the Komarran nexus station," said Sebastian, "without a temporal link, they can't lock on to you. Or anyone else. It will take you a long time to establish another one. So," he gave them a toxic grin, "we deal on this timeline, at this moment, and not anywhen else. No easy exits now. Sophia, transfer Raina to the bubble and take her to this window."

Raina backed up, taking a defensive posture.

"And Sophia, if Raina tries to attack you, bite down on the pill at the back of your mouth."

Scowling, Raina suffered herself to be led.

Alex was nodding, as though it all made sense. Glad someone knows what's happening. Miles could see no way out now. And this madman was going to have his way with nearly every important person in his life, even the people who didn't exist yet...

As the sisters moved into the room, Cordelia said, "Good God, Felice isn't expendable, is she?"

Alex exchanged a glance with Aral, who held his wife closer. "We all are, but strategy doesn't demand it. You probably shouldn't watch." Miles felt Ekaterin stiffening as Alex touched her arm.

Crash! Glass shards tinkled outward. Aral and Cordelia both gasped softly. Felice was breaking the window panes with a small clock, an old anniversary gift from the Koudelkas.

Miles noticed the fresh-cut flowers waving in the lake wind, and realized the force shield was down. But Raina was still in the bubble, and all of them were trapped...

"Don't yell," said Alex, as though reading his mind. "Save your energy. Sebastian has sound-proofed the bubble. It comes in, but we don't transmit."

"Metal muntins," observed Sebastian, examining the window. "Antiquated, but strong. How Barrayaran. Sophia, turn on the force shield. Then tie Raina up to what's left of the window." Felice took out a coil of metal cord. It was the kind used as a zero-gee tether for space-walking personnel.

Alex wiped the sweat from his face. Looking up, Miles was startled by the anguish on his usually stolid face. Then Alex lowered his arm, and for the moment, the shadow passed. He was silent as Felice bound Raina, hand and foot, to the broken window. He repeated, "I don't think any of you should watch this."