Ethan of Athos characters

Appears from the start

Athos's chief reproductive biologist, responsible for maintaining the ovarian cultures used by a district reproduction center. Ethan identifies the colony's aging stocks as a long-term demographic danger and confirms that the new Bharaputra delivery cannot provide viable replacements.

First appears in chapter 2

Ethan's foster brother and housemate on Athos. Janos has lost his job, mishandled Ethan's property and spent the credits that might have qualified him to share future parenting duties, leaving their domestic plans unsettled as Ethan prepares to depart.

Also known as Commander Quinn

First appears in chapter 3

A Dendarii commander encountered on Kline Station while conducting an undercover assignment. Elli gives the newly arrived Ethan practical help and later intervenes when station workers assault him, making her his first effective ally away from Athos.

Also known as ghem-Colonel Millisor

First appears in chapter 4

A Cetagandan intelligence officer who leads the abduction and interrogation of Ethan. Luyst Millisor is searching for the person linked to a secret genetics project, and he orders Ethan's death after connecting that hunt to Athos's failed shipment.

Also known as Captain Rau

First appears in chapter 4

Millisor's Cetagandan counterintelligence captain. Rau detects the tracer hidden among Ethan's possessions, participates in the drugged interrogation and helps pursue the missing target connected to the substituted ovarian shipment.

First appears in chapter 4

A member of Millisor's Cetagandan team, identified as another participant in the operation pursuing the secret genetic project's missing target. His specific duties have not yet become clear when he is first named.

First appears in chapter 4

An operative under Millisor's command. Okita is ordered to make Ethan's murder resemble an accidental fall in a docking bay, but Elli interrupts the attempt with a stunner and Okita dies during the confrontation.

Also known as Cee, Terran Sea

First appears in chapter 4

The unknown man sought by Millisor's team and associated with the secret Cetagandan project called Terran Sea. His apparent connection to Athos's substituted shipment makes him central to both the intelligence operation and Ethan's attempt to protect his colony.

Also known as Dr. Faz Jahar

First appears in chapter 4

The Cetagandan geneticist who directed the long-running secret project behind Millisor's search. Faz Jahar is reported to have died when the project's laboratory was destroyed before Ethan became entangled in the operation.

Also known as Biocontrol Warden Helda

First appears in chapter 5

A Kline Station biocontrol warden responsible for the recycling station. Ethan distracts Helda with a false report of a cockroach while Elli disposes of Okita's body through the station's body degrader.

First appears in chapter 7

Helda's assistant in Kline Station biocontrol and a cousin of Elli Quinn. When Ethan passes through quarantine without providing identification, Techie quietly lets him leave instead of completing the formal processing that would expose him.

First appears in chapter 8

Terrence Cee's fellow survivor and partner from Faz Jahar's experimental program. By the time Cee recounts their escape, Janine is dead, and he says her ovarian donation was secretly included in the shipment intended for Athos.

First appears in chapter 10

Techie's girlfriend. Sarah alerts Elli Quinn when Techie fails to meet her, providing the first warning that he has disappeared while Millisor's group remains active on Kline Station and may have taken him for questioning.

First appears in chapter 10

The Kline Station identity used by Luyst Millisor while his Cetagandan team operates under cover. Elli reports Harman Dal as a dangerous biological threat to force station authorities to enter his sealed quarters.

First appears in chapter 11

Helda's adult son, whose emigration to Athos is the reason she gives for sabotaging the colony's ovarian shipment. She hoped that depriving Athos of new cultures would compel Simmy to return to Kline Station.

Also known as Admiral Naismith

Appears from the start

A Barrayaran officer who commands the Dendarii under the identity Admiral Naismith. Elli Quinn serves under his authority in that organization.