The Flowers of Vashnoi recap

Ekaterin and Miles investigate missing radbugs from a promising cleanup experiment in the Vashnoi exclusion zone and discover a concealed household living amid severe radioactive contamination. Ingisi stole the insects as a gift for the dying Jadwiga, unaware that their glow marked concentrated radiation. Ma Roga, who was once exiled to the zone by Count Piotr and later sheltered abandoned children there, resists evacuation. Ranger Vadim Sammi is exposed as the settlement's long-time secret supplier. When Ma Roga tries to burn the household and kill Boris rather than let the group be separated, Ekaterin stops her. Jadwiga, Ingisi, and Boris are taken to Hassadar General, while Ma Roga is guarded separately. Vadim loses his ranger post, the animals gain a quarantine option at Butterbug Ranch, and Enrique prepares a redesigned radbug trial. Jadwiga's survival and the younger residents' long-term future remain unresolved.

Previously: Miles Vorkosigan, also known as Admiral Naismith, became an Imperial Auditor. He and Ekaterin Vorsoisson married, and she is now Ekaterin Vorkosigan.

So far: A field test in the Vashnoi exclusion zone shows that Enrique Borgos's radbugs can remove radioactive contamination from plants, concentrate it into pellets, and leave fertile soil. The experiment is disrupted when more than half the insects vanish. Video reveals a barefoot albino boy taking the glowing bugs and contaminated tools. Ekaterin and Enrique follow the trail to a concealed settlement inside the zone. There they find graves, evidence of prolonged radiation exposure, and Jadwiga, a gravely ill fifteen-year-old. Ingisi, the boy from the recording, explains that he took the bright insects as a gift for her, not understanding that their glow indicates danger. Ma Roga and her son Boris return and resist outside involvement, particularly because they believe evacuation would mean the destruction of their goats and ponies. Ekaterin identifies her authority over the zone and secures their agreement to discuss what must happen next. Vadim's prior contact with the household suggests that the district ranger knows more than he has disclosed.

Ekaterin learns that Count Piotr once allowed Ma Roga, a former Vashnoi marauder, to return to the exclusion zone instead of going to prison. Ma Roga later accepted abandoned children, including Ingisi. Vadim has secretly supplied the household for years and was connected to Jadwiga's placement there. Once his concealment is exposed, he helps recover the dangerous radbugs. Ekaterin orders a medical evacuation, while Enrique offers Butterbug Ranch as quarantine space so the settlement's animals will not be killed. Ma Roga answers the threatened separation by setting the bedding on fire and attacking Boris with a knife. Ekaterin stuns her, Enrique puts out the fire, and the others survive. At Hassadar General, Jadwiga, Ingisi, and Boris enter radiation isolation together, with Jadwiga's prognosis still uncertain. Ma Roga is held separately under guard. Miles plans to dismiss Vadim as a ranger but seek different work for him. Enrique proposes Butterbug Ranch as a possible future home and workplace for the younger survivors, and he plans a more robust radbug design after the first trial's operational failure.

Ekaterin forces the concealed household out of the exclusion zone after stopping Ma Roga's attempt to burn their home and kill Boris. Jadwiga, Ingisi, and Boris remain together under radiation isolation and evaluation at Hassadar General, while Ma Roga is guarded separately. Jadwiga's prognosis is still unknown. Miles decides that Vadim's long concealment of the settlement will cost him his ranger position, although Miles intends to find him other employment. Enrique offers Butterbug Ranch as quarantine space for the animals and as a possible later home and workplace for the three younger survivors. The Vashnoi restoration continues: the first radbugs proved that biological cleanup can work, but the failed trial leads Enrique to plan a tougher, burrowing, unpleasant-tasting design.