Borders of Infinity characters

Appears from the start

A Barrayaran Imperial officer recovering from extensive arm surgery. His Dendarii operational accounts have drawn politically dangerous scrutiny, and pain and immobility sharpen his reaction to Illyan's questions.

Appears from the start

The head of Barrayar's Imperial Security and Miles's long-standing superior. He investigates allegations involving Dendarii spending while trying to keep a political dispute from becoming a court-martial case.

First appears in chapter 2

A bereaved mother from Silvy Vale who appeals directly to Count Vorkosigan after local officials refuse to record her charge that her infant daughter was murdered.

First appears in chapter 2

The district ruler who gives a newly commissioned Miles his first field assignment. Miles is to act with the Count's authority while examining an infant's reported killing in Silvy Vale.

First appears in chapter 2

A medical examiner assigned to accompany Miles to Silvy Vale and examine Harra Csurik's exhumed infant, including whether the child's facial condition could explain the death.

First appears in chapter 2

Harra Csurik's husband and the first suspect in their infant daughter's death. Warned before Miles can question him, he disappears from Silvy Vale.

Also known as Speaker Karal

First appears in chapter 2

Silvy Vale's speaker and a former service member. He is ordered to assist Miles but resists the inquiry and urges Harra to withdraw her accusation.

First appears in chapter 3

Harra Csurik's mother. She meets the investigation with hostility and insists that any attempt at justice has come too late.

First appears in chapter 5

A political opponent who renews scrutiny of discrepancies and cost overruns in Miles's reports, threatening to turn accounting questions into a public prosecution.

First appears in chapter 6

Miles Vorkosigan's command identity within the Dendarii. He takes the fast cruiser Ariel to Fell Station under a weapons-buying cover while pursuing a covert extraction for Barrayar.

First appears in chapter 6

The Ariel's Betan hermaphrodite captain and a former officer in Oser's fleet. Serving under Admiral Naismith, Thorne quietly undertakes to help Nicol escape her restrictive contract.

First appears in chapter 6

A freeborn, four-armed quaddie musician employed by Baron Fell. She cannot afford to buy out the five years left on her contract, and Baron Ryoval wants to acquire her.

First appears in chapter 6

A Jackson's Hole baron whose failing health and unusable replacement clone leave him politically exposed. Nicol remains bound by his employment contract.

First appears in chapter 6

The head of House Ryoval's biologicals trade. He treats people with unusual genetics as commercial property and shows an immediate interest in acquiring Nicol.

Also known as Vaughn

First appears in chapter 6

A senior House Bharaputra geneticist and the Dendarii extraction target. Using the code name Vaughn, he refuses to leave without seven gene complexes hidden inside a living prototype now held by Ryoval.

Also known as Nine

First appears in chapter 7

The sole survivor of Bharaputra's engineered super-soldier prototypes, previously called Nine. She is an intelligent sixteen-year-old prisoner whose great size, strength, claws, and fangs have led her captors to deny her personhood. Miles gives her the name Taura.

First appears in chapter 7

The chief of security at Ryoval Biologicals. Miles drugs and questions him during the infiltration, but Moglia's alert device summons guards.

First appears in chapter 10

A former Marilacan soldier isolated within the Dagoola prison camp. He gives the injured Miles water, explains how the camp's controls foster violence, and shares a torn page he regards as scripture.

First appears in chapter 10

A former Fallow Core sergeant caring for his unit's dying commander in Dagoola. He agrees to help Miles recruit prisoners for an organized force.

First appears in chapter 10

Miles's maternal cousin and the original target of the Dagoola mission. He is found alive but catatonic and neglected after the apparent betrayal of Fallow Core.

First appears in chapter 11

The commander of Dagoola's defended women's enclave. She hears Miles's case for rebuilding prisoner discipline, supplies clothing, and allows recruitment among her people.

First appears in chapter 11

Tris's close enforcer and practical supporter of Miles's plan. She helps turn the proposed ration operation into a functioning organization.

Also known as Commodore Tung

First appears in chapter 12

The Dendarii commander directing the expanded rescue at Dagoola. He brings fourteen drop shuttles for an extraction that now aims to recover the prison population rather than one captive.

Also known as Commander Quinn

First appears in chapter 12

A Dendarii commander working covertly around Dagoola. With another embedded operative, she discovers the lethal mechanism in the prisoners' skin encodes and provides the intelligence needed to remove it.

First appears in chapter 12

A participant coordinating the departure of the final shuttle during the evacuation from Dagoola.

First appears in chapter 13

At the hospital, Miles's mother dismisses Illyan, insists that Miles rest, and plans a family stay at the Lake retreat that will include Elli Quinn once Miles is discharged.