Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen recap

Years after Aral Vorkosigan's death, Cordelia returns to Sergyar intending to leave the viceregency and raise daughters created from their stored reproductive material. She gives Oliver Jole, Aral's former partner, a related opportunity to have sons. Jole creates three viable embryos, begins a new relationship with Cordelia, and must choose between their emerging family life and promotion to Barrayar's Chief of Operations. Their relationship becomes public during a birthday picnic that ends in violence and a firestorm of native radials. Jole is burned while shielding Miles's children, then tells Miles about his history with Aral and the planned boys. Miles accepts them as family. Jole refuses the promotion, begins resigning his command, and starts one son's gestation. As Gridgrad's base and palace open, Cordelia and Jole build a home at Port Nightingale and plan a civilian future centered on family and marine research.

Previously: Cordelia was married to Aral Vorkosigan, a major Barrayaran military figure, and became the mother of Miles Vorkosigan. Cordelia later became Vicereine of Sergyar, where Oliver Jole rose to command the planet's military forces. Aral died before the events of this book. Cordelia and Jole begin the story as long-standing professional partners in Sergyar's civil and military leadership.

Cordelia returns to Sergyar carrying reproductive material preserved from her marriage to Aral. She intends to create as many as six daughters, use the surname Naismith to avoid inheritance disputes, and eventually retire as Vicereine. She also offers Jole a path to fatherhood using donated enucleated eggs and Aral's stored material. Jole completes the clinic's evaluation and creates four embryos, but one fails early. He freezes the remaining three while he considers whether he can combine parenthood with military command. Cordelia begins gestation of one of her own embryos and makes reciprocal guardianship plans with Jole. Meanwhile, the selected site for Sergyar's second base is Gridgrad, but deteriorating plazcrete delivered too early threatens its schedule. During a memorial trip, Cordelia and Jole discover teenagers stranded after their attempt to destroy native radials causes a fire. A later private sailing trip ends in shelter from a storm, where Jole and Cordelia acknowledge their attraction and begin an intimate relationship. They agree that it is a new bond between them, not simply a revival of what they once shared with Aral.

Cordelia and Jole continue their relationship privately while deciding whether discretion can last. Cordelia confirms that six embryos are viable and plans to leave office within a year. Jole confronts the practical demands of raising children, from housing and support to the limits imposed by his career. Cordelia informs Emperor Gregor and her close Barrayaran family circle about her retirement and daughters. Aurelia is already developing, with five sisters frozen. Miles, Ekaterin, and their children then arrive unexpectedly on Sergyar. Miles knows about the daughters but not Jole's three possible sons, whose origins would require revealing Jole's earlier relationship with Aral. Jole is offered the leading candidacy for Chief of Operations on Barrayar and realizes that accepting would conflict with both fatherhood and a life with Cordelia, who will remain on Sergyar. The Gridgrad project is still troubled by its plazcrete supply. During the visit, Cordelia tells Miles and Ekaterin that she and Jole are dating. Ekaterin is supportive, while Miles raises political and family concerns. He still does not know about the prospective sons, and Jole's career decision remains open.

Miles learns more difficult truths about Aral and begins to accept that his father's life cannot be reduced to an idealized image. The family tours Aral's mothballed flagship, where military history and the continuing danger of biological warfare reinforce the value of scientific expertise. Cordelia encourages Alex to choose a future other than the military path Miles favors. At the same time, the Gridgrad capital project remains exposed to a supplier's monopoly demands. Jole's relationship with Cordelia becomes known on the base, and his choice between Sergyar and the Chief of Operations post grows urgent. At his birthday picnic, the couple make their partnership publicly visible. Drunken players vandalize Mikos ghem Soren's cultural exhibit and assault members of its delegation before security intervenes. A bottle rocket then ignites a swarm of native radials. Jole shields Alex and Helen from the burning debris and suffers substantial burns. While recovering, he tells Miles that his long relationship with Aral later included Cordelia and explains that three embryos descended from Jole and Aral are stored for him. Miles accepts the prospective boys as half-brothers. Jole refuses the Barrayaran post and decides to support the Sergyar transition before resigning from service.

After the picnic disaster, Cordelia manages the public account of the emergency while preserving evidence of Jole's protection of her grandchildren. Mikos ghem Soren faces disgrace and removal by his consulate. After Kaya Vorinnis refuses his proposed marriage, he seeks asylum; Cordelia grants it on the condition that he work as a plumber on Sergyar. The men responsible for the assault face disciplinary consequences. Kareen Koudelka arrives with an Escobaran company able to erect a prefabricated plazcrete factory rapidly, giving the Gridgrad project a workable answer to its supply crisis. Miles departs with his family after affirming that Jole and the planned boys belong within the family. The new Gridgrad base and nearly complete viceregal palace open successfully, though the city remains under construction. Jole begins his resignation process and expects a replacement within two to six months. He directs his physician to begin gestation for one of his sons, while another of Cordelia's children is also in a uterine replicator. Cordelia and Jole are building a shared home at Port Nightingale. Jole turns toward graduate study in field biology, and they plan a future investigating Sergyar's marine biosphere together.

The Gridgrad base and nearly completed viceregal palace formally open while the surrounding capital remains under construction. A rapid Escobaran plan for a local plazcrete factory has eased the project's critical supply problem. Cordelia continues her transition away from the viceregency, and Jole begins resigning from military service after refusing the Chief of Operations post on Barrayar. His replacement is expected within several months. Miles and his family leave Sergyar having accepted Cordelia and Jole as partners and Jole's prospective sons as members of Aral's family. Jole orders one of his three stored sons into gestation, while Cordelia's next child is also developing and Aurelia is part of their household. Construction has begun on Cordelia and Jole's shared home at Port Nightingale. Jole plans to enter graduate study in field biology after completing additional academic work, and the couple envision using a research vessel to investigate Sergyar's marine life. That scientific project remains prospective, but their commitment to a shared civilian life on Sergyar is firm.