Miles Vorkosigan’s Imperial Auditor appointment and ImpSec audit

Miles Vorkosigan’s Imperial Auditor appointment and ImpSec audit turn his former chain of command inside out: the man who once received orders in Simon Illyan’s office now enters it with authority to examine how the organization has treated Illyan. Gregor appoints Miles to conduct the audit, and Miles uses that authority first to insist on seeing Illyan and hearing from the medical staff responsible for his care.

Appointment and Authority

Gregor confirms the appointment by placing Miles in the role of Imperial Auditor and authorizing an audit of ImpSec’s handling of Illyan’s breakdown. The office is made tangible by the heavy gold chain now hanging around Miles’s neck. Its thick links carry large, square enamel plaques chased with the Vorbarra arms and insignia; an electronic seal hangs from a central gold clasp engraved with Gregor’s arms. Miles estimates that the chain weighs about a kilo. Its visible weight gives the new office a material presence even as the authority it represents is institutional: as Gregor explains, an Imperial Auditor may request anything he pleases.

Ivan Vorpatril, summoned from work by one of Gregor’s liveried men, initially mistakes the summons for an emergency at the Residence or a family crisis. Finding Miles instead, he gapes at the chain and checks that it is real. Miles answers his astonishment with dry humor, comparing the appointment to unwrapping chocolate, then reminds Ivan that he must address him as Lord Auditor for the duration. The exchange makes the elevation both official and abruptly personal: Miles’s new rank changes how his cousin is expected to treat him, even while their familiar teasing continues.

Choosing an Assistant

Gregor says that Miles’s first request as Auditor was for an assistant and announces that Ivan is to fill the role. Ivan objects that he has been chosen as a beast of burden, imagining himself as the donkey expected to carry Miles’s luggage. Miles does not deny that the work may be burdensome. Instead, he explains that the audit concerns ImpSec’s treatment of Illyan and could involve “high explosives,” and that he needs someone on whom he can absolutely rely. His answer reframes Ivan’s appointment: the assistant is not merely convenient help but a trusted partner for an investigation whose risks Miles cannot yet fully specify.

Opening the ImpSec Audit

The investigation begins in Illyan’s office, a room where Miles has spent years receiving orders and reporting results. The familiar position across the comconsole desk now carries a different meaning. Miles recognizes that the flow of authority has reversed and that he will need to guard against his old reflexes. Lucas Haroche takes Illyan’s chair; Ivan sits beside Miles, placing the new Auditor between the official whose handling he is examining and the assistant he has chosen to support him.

Miles sets a firm sequence for the inquiry. First, he wants to see Illyan. Next, he requires a conference with Illyan’s entire medical staff, who are to bring everything they have learned and be prepared to brief him. He postpones deciding on any further demands until after those first steps. Haroche promises full cooperation, and Miles asks him to drop the formalities now that business has begun. The limited, ordered agenda establishes the audit’s immediate purpose without pretending that its conclusions are already known: Miles will begin with Illyan himself, then test the organization’s account against the evidence gathered by the people treating him.