"The Flowers of Vashnoi" - Lois Bujold Quiz

Answer: Ekaterin Vorkosigan

It's Ekaterin whose actions drive this storyline and, thankfully, she's lost none of her feistiness since the events of "Komarr".

Answer: Between "Diplomatic Immunity" and "Cryofreeze"

Miles and Ekaterin were rushing to get back home to witness the birth of the first pair of their children at the end of "Diplomatic Immunity". In this story, their first children are still toddlers. Miles is away from Barrayar for most of "Cryofreeze", and is Count Vorkosigan by the end of that novel, while he is called Lord Vorkosigan on the opening page of this story, still the heir to the title.

Answer: It's the nuked city of Vashnoi

Vashnoi had been bombed by the Cetagendan occupation forces as they were attempting to halt the advances of the Barrayaran resistance forces. Miles's grandfather was away from the city at the time, but bought up the title deeds of the bits he didn't already own after the bombing.

Answer: Off world based technology had come up with a way of reducing the remaining radiation

Enrique Borges, he of the infamous butterbug incident at Vorkosigan House (read "A Civil Campaign" for details!), along with Ekaterin, has come up with the radbugs that are capable of cleaning out the radioactive components of the soil and reducing the overall radioactivity of the area. This is still in the field trial stage.

Answer: Enough radbugs

Enrique had placed two hundred of the radbugs in his trial plot, but, after a count, the party came up with less than a hundred.

Answer: A wood-elf

Barrayaran wood-elves were pale faced bringers of chaos, and completely mythical, so everyone assumes Miles was just confused by the light. But they should have known better!

Miles has had a number of bad reactions to various medications that he was given to control the seizures he had been prone to after his experiences in "Brothers in Arms". However, he's now off these so shouldn't be suffering hallucinations.

Answer: They placed surveillance cameras

Enrique and Ekaterin spent an afternoon putting up a set of cameras round the site, only to find that Miles's first impression was correct. Almost. Miles's offer of surplus imperial security equipment was rejected.

Answer: They took Ekaterin's lightflyer over the zone along with a mass detector

This was Ekaterin's adventure, and, though Miles would have had something to say about endangering herself in that way in the radiation zone, she felt it was something she had to do. Besides how dangerous could it be?

Answer: Hobbled ponies, a hut and areas of cultivation

Three ponies drew their attention to the correct area first, and it was Ekaterin who realised the importance of them being hobbled. The house, well, shack, threw Ekaterin when she first saw it from the air, as it looked as if it was balanced on a set of chicken's legs. The rest of the settlement was located after they had landed.

Answer: She was found in the animal hutch along with the missing radbugs

Jadwiga wasn't the youngest member of this little group, but she had suffered most from the radiation of the zone. She thought Enrique and Ekaterin were ghosts when she first saw them, thanks to their protective suits.

Answer: He charged out of the forest on pony back to save Jadwiga

Ingisi was younger than Jadwiga, although the only thing that seemed to mark him as different was his albinism.

Answer: An old armchair

The makeshift family were living pretty much hand-to-mouth and could afford to have little that wasn't directly useful without power. This final group was made up of Ma Roga and her natural son Boris, with another pony.

Answer: Ma Roga, to save her life

Way back when, Ma Roga had been a member of a gang that had terrorised the surrounding territory; when they were caught, they were all executed except for her, for she'd got herself pregnant and, on the understanding that she never came out of the zone, she was allowed to live. During the discussions she had with the group, Ekaterin reckoned Boris might have tried to leave but was forced back, and Ingisi and Jadwiga were dumped in the zone when their differences became clear.

Answer: Yes, Ma Roga attempted to kill the youngsters, giving Ekaterin a chance to stun her.

Ekaterin was happy not to have to take a blow for Enrique, but she was even happier to just stun Ma Roga.

Answer: However Ma Roga had come to be where she was, the rangers had to have known about her.

The rangers had been set up to stop people from entering the zone, and their liaison with them had skillfully guided Enrique away from the area where Ma Roga had her little empire.

Answer: The bugs had been designed to glow as they grew more radioactive

The bugs had been designed to show off the interstellarly recognised radiation warning symbols with an ever brighter glow as they got more radioactive, but Ingisi and Jadwiga were amongst those who didn't know...

Answer: They were both at home with their nanny

Miles and Ekaterin might have disagreed over the risks that they were taking as individuals, but they were united in not exposing the toddlers to the risks involved.

Answer: No

This story focuses very closely on Ekaterin, with Enrique the only other returning character to be much more than a supporting character. Even Miles only appears in short bursts, the least amount of time in any story he's in, and Martya, Enrique's partner in life and business, gets a few lines.

Answer: Ekaterin was only in overnight and the four from the zone longer.

Of the six people involved in the major part of this tale, only Enrique was dressed for the occasion, in his radiation protection for the whole of the encounter. While Ekaterin started off wearing protective gear, it got removed at various points in the story, leaving her exposed to the still contaminated elements. Ma Roga and her companions had been in the zone for quite some time. Thankfully (sort of) the local District hospital was very familiar with the results of radiation poisoning.

Answer: Yes

Miles and Ekaterin spend time together discussing what to do with the children and Ma Roga now they had been freed from the zone (and the children from Ma Roga), and the future of the project itself.