The Warrior's Apprentice

Plot summary

Blaming himself for the subsequent death of his aged paternal grandfather, he seeks to prove his worth by other means. His mother sends him to Beta Colony to visit his maternal grandmother, and he brings along his bodyguard Bothari and Bothari's daughter Elena to broaden her horizons. On Beta Colony, Miles encounters a jump pilot named Arde Mayhew barricaded inside his obsolete starship, threatening to blow it up rather than let it be scrapped. Miles buys the freighter from the creditor using ancestral family lands on Barrayar as collateral, neglecting to mention the region is radioactive from the former Cetagandan occupation.

He also acquires a crewman, Barrayaran deserter Baz Jesek. To cover the credit note, Miles masquerades as a mercenary leader and takes a risky job from Major Carle Daum: transporting cargo into a war on Tau Verde IV to the losing side, Felice. The star system is blockaded by Admiral Oser's mercenary fleet. When the freighter is stopped and the boarding officer decides to take Elena, Miles overpowers the lax crew.

He maintains the pretence of being an influential member of a shadowy mercenary outfit he calls the Dendarii, convincing his prisoners to become probationary members. Using military genius, Miles captures and recruits more of Oser's personnel and ships, then sabotages Oser's relationship with his employers. Outmaneuvered repeatedly, Oser offers to join the Dendarii under the command of Admiral Miles Naismith.