Gregor interrogates Haroche

Gregor interrogates Haroche at the point when an investigation into Simon Illyan’s collapse has exposed the commander’s role in it. Rather than rely on chemical interrogation or Miles Vorkosigan’s pressure, Gregor makes Haroche account for his actions in person. The scene’s decisive force lies in the contrast between Haroche’s claim to have served the Imperium and the sequence of choices he is required to recount.

From investigation to personal reckoning

Before entering the detention cell, Miles tells Simon Illyan that many questions remain unanswered, especially questions of motive. Haroche alone can explain much of what happened, but Miles believes that the opportunity to question him may narrow once Haroche has recovered his composure and secured a military defender. Miles asks Simon to conduct the interrogation; Simon agrees to try, while doubting that moral pressure will move a man who was willing to target him. Gregor offers a different approach.

The interview takes place in a new ImpSec detention cell. Haroche is still wearing his shirt and trousers, but has been separated from his tunic and boots and from the visible signs of command. Miles and Ivan Vorpatril remain at the edges of the room, while Simon watches from the wall. Gregor has his personal Armsmen wait outside and sits opposite Haroche. The arrangement keeps the Emperor and his former subordinate at the center of the encounter, with the others present but not directing it.

Haroche’s composure falters when Gregor enters. He rises and addresses him as Sire, then sits when Gregor quietly instructs him to do so. Gregor frames the interview as an obligation owed in both directions: Haroche must give his last report in person, and Gregor owes that hearing to a man who served him for thirty years, nearly the whole of his life and reign. He asks Haroche to begin at the beginning, provide the facts, and leave defenses for later. This makes the demand for a confession an appeal to the history of service between them, not simply an order from the head of state.

Haroche’s account of the prokaryotes

Haroche traces his knowledge of the Komarran bioengineered prokaryotes to the earlier operation against Ser Galen’s saboteurs. Diamant of Komarran Affairs told him about them while the departments were coordinating the sweep and lending personnel to one another. Haroche says he was present when Diamant stored the capsules downstairs, but thought no more about them for years. He recalls later winning promotion to head of Domestic Affairs after The Yarrow Plot, a case on which Simon had praised his work. In the cell, Simon does not remember it that way.

Haroche says that Miles Vorkosigan’s growing prominence changed how he saw his own prospects. He had heard rumors that Miles was a major figure in galactic affairs and might succeed Simon. After Miles was believed dead and then returned, Simon reorganized the chain of command and made Haroche second-in-command of ImpSec, naming him as a possible successor. Haroche subsequently learned that Simon wanted him to work with Miles as his second in Domestic Affairs. Simon described Miles as difficult but effective and said he needed Haroche’s experience. Haroche accepted the assignment, but regarded the prospect of training someone who might become his superior as a bitter reversal after thirty years of service.

Haroche describes Miles’s later career setback as a chance to recover the position he had expected. He believed Simon might remain in office for five or ten more years, and felt that younger candidates would continue to appear. He wanted his opportunity while he was still at his peak. In his own account, he cast his ambition as a desire to serve the Imperium and Gregor, but admits that he began thinking of the old Komarran powder as a means to advance his prospects.

He places the decision to take the capsules on the afternoon Miles emerged from Simon’s office in a serious condition. Haroche went downstairs to the ImpSec Evidence Rooms on another matter, opened the box that held the capsules, and pocketed two. He says the box, rather than the capsules inside it, carried the screamer-tag; his authorized access meant he was not searched. He knew he would eventually have to address the monitoring system. Three or four days later, he administered the prokaryotes to Simon, who regularly came to Haroche’s office to check facts and seek his advice. Gregor challenges Haroche’s description of this as an impulse, emphasizing the interval between taking the capsules and using them.

The framing of Duv Galeni

Gregor next asks when Haroche decided to frame Captain Duv Galeni. Haroche says that he did not plan to frame anyone at first; if he had to target someone, he wanted to implicate Miles. He resented Miles and believed the earlier courier affair had allowed him to escape serious consequences. When Miles returned to ImpSec as an Imperial Auditor, Haroche recognized that his investigation could not be dismissed as a subordinate’s complaint. Haroche describes Miles as persistently pressing the inquiry and says he concluded that a case against him would not hold.

Haroche then presents Duv Galeni as a more expendable alternative. He says Galeni attracted his attention through his association with Miles, and that Galeni’s profile seemed more useful for the frame. Haroche also saw him as a possible embarrassment to the woman who was to become Empress. The admission exposes the calculation behind the arrest: Galeni was not Haroche’s first choice, but Haroche considered him easier to sacrifice than Miles.

Haroche says Miles found the capsules in three days, far faster than Haroche expected, and stayed close to him throughout the building. He had expected to keep Miles occupied for much longer, but instead accelerated the timetable against Galeni and delivered him into custody. Haroche describes offering Miles bait that he believed would draw him away from the investigation. The account breaks off when Gregor asks what that bait was; the scene therefore reveals Haroche’s method and motives without yet supplying the answer to that last question.

The meaning of the confession

The interrogation moves through distinct layers of responsibility: Haroche’s earlier access to the capsules, his decision to use them against Simon, and his later attempt to shift suspicion onto Miles and Galeni. His chronology matters. What he calls an impulse began with a theft planned across several days, while the framing developed only after Miles’s appointment as Imperial Auditor threatened to expose the sabotage. Each step narrows the distance between Haroche’s public justification of service and his private pursuit of advancement.

Gregor’s restraint shapes the scene as strongly as Haroche’s revelations. He neither substitutes Simon’s personal authority nor lets Miles take over, despite the investigation’s direct connection to both men. By asking for a full account and postponing defenses, Gregor requires Haroche to narrate the decisions before arguing about them. Haroche repeatedly presents himself as someone passed over, yet the details he supplies show how he used entrusted access, departmental knowledge, and the vulnerability of colleagues to force his own chance. The interview turns the language of service into a test of what that service has actually entailed.