Miles Vorkosigan, who has just graduated from the academy, is on a short vacation. But there is no rest in sight: if you are a lord, please administer justice among your vassals! The investigation into the murder of a little girl in a poor mountain village unexpectedly confronts twenty-year-old Miles with a difficult choice, when it is absolutely impossible to follow the letter of the law... Standard task: infiltrate the lair of genetic slave traders and pick up a scientist. And again, the talent of a military man gives way to the talent of a psychologist - Vorkosigan not only saves the life of an innocent young creature destined for his executioner, but also discovers the value of life, acquires character traits that he did not even suspect he had... To free several thousand from heavy captivity desperate people who have lost all hope, Miles will have to perform a miracle - turn the semi-wild crowd into an organized force. But how to work with those who have almost lost their human appearance under the yoke of captivity?