A jerky, nervous shrug answers that comment, neither confirmation nor denial. Yet his agitation is clear: the twitchiness, the rime of sweat on his upper forehead, the way he rocks back and forth in his chair - only a little, only slightly, but he still rocks. In spite of that insistence on his indifference, the physical evidence of his terror of Galen is ample.

And yet even so, he goes on, "No. I don't care. Do whatever with him." Another twitchy shrug. "I'm not sticking my neck out for him, but it's not like anything good will come of him dying, either." Except my freedom. And that's not his to give any longer. Though back then - back amongst the Komarrans - he'd always known that Galen's death wouldn't set him free, either...He'd thought about it sometimes, kicking a little harder, kicking a little higher, turning a sparring session into something fatal. But he'd always known that if Galen died, they wouldn't set him free - they'd just turn him into so much biomatter, to be incinerated, like any leftover parts of a clone. And he's always wanted to live. That's always been the goal. Not revenge, not glory, not Komarr - just life.

And how does Galen staying alive serve that? Well, it's not like his lack of malice is going to do anything to spare Galen's life. Barrayar won't kill Galen for what he's done to some Jacksonian clone. They'll kill Galen for the dead Barrayaran soldiers, those past tales of murderous glory that had bored him so very many times.