Mirror Dance

THE STRANGERS, CLONED

Even if young Lord Miles Naismith Vorkosigan had built his own mercenary fleet before to joining the naval school and his mother was the stunning Cordelia, the ship captain who has taught the Lords of Barrayar a great deal about the dangers of sexism, not everyone would be envious of him. No normal person would be tempted to switch places with Miles, not even by the fact that he personally controls a sizable portion of his home planet and is third in line for the throne.

Miles' mother stood in the line of fire when assassins arrived to take Miles' father from the earth, and Miles was, all too literally, an egg for an omelet. Thanks to incredible medical care, Miles survived his almost deadly encounter with war gas. He was a painful dwarf with bones as fragile and weak as a malicious mixture of glass and chalk. Many of Miles's fellow mutant-hating citizens mistake him for a mutant.

However, his brother, the stranger cloned from Miles's childhood tissue, is the one who really envies him and aspires to be him. Because Mark Vorkosigan was raised with the sole intention of becoming Miles, killing him, and taking his place. The plot was foiled in Brothers in Arms, and Mark was forced to accept his new, Miles-less destiny. However, in the years that have passed, Mark has realized that he is nothing without Miles. Even if the improved Mark doesn't really want to murder his brother, Mark could end up staying and Miles leaving.