"Your word?" Cappell grimaced. "Do you know what a Vorkosigan's word means to us?" "Yes," said Miles levelly. "Do you know what it means to me?" Madame Radovas tilted her head, and her quiet stare became, if possible, more focused. Miles leaned forward into the vid pickup. "My word is all that stands between you and ImpSec's aspiring heroes coming through your walls. They don't need the corridors, you know. My word went down on my Auditor's oath, which holds me at this moment unblinking to a duty I find more terrific than you can know. I only have one name's oath. It cannot be true to Gregor if it is false to you. But if there's one thing my father's heartbreaking experience at Solstice taught, it's that I'd better not put my word down on events I do not control. If you surrender quietly, I can control what happens. If ImpSec has to detain you by force, it will be up to chance, chaos, and the reflexes of some overexcited young men with guns and gallant visions of thwarting mad Komarran terrorists." "We are not terrorists," said Foscol hotly. "No? You've succeeded in terrifying me," Miles said bleakly. "If you unleash ImpSec, the consequences will be your doing," said Cappell. "Almost correct," Miles agreed. "If I unleash ImpSec, the consequences will be my responsibility. It's that devil's distinction between being in charge and being in control. I'm in charge; you're in control. You can imagine how much this thrills me."
Komarr, from the Vorkosigan Saga, by Lois McMaster Bujold
