"Oh." So it was recent for her, too. A female soldier. He's only met one in his life, Lady Vorkosigan. And Miss Droushnakovi almost counts, he supposes. "I'm not from here. I...just barely escaped a medical discharge myself. A stroke of good luck made my CO the Lord Regent of Barrayar--ah, the planet I'm from. He needed a secretary, so he asked me."

He's relaxing, thinking she'll be easy to talk to, being in a similar situation. Well. There's an obligatory war story swap coming up.

"What happened?"