Cordelia Naismith

Cordelia Naismith is the name of two fictional characters by American writer Lois McMaster Bujold. One is from the science fiction series the Vorkosigan Saga. The other is the title character of the Victorian era Sherlock Holmes short story "The Adventure of the Lady on the Embankment" included in her anthology Dreamweaver's Dilemma.

Cordelia Naismith, who first appears in the novel Shards of Honor, is a citizen of Beta Colony, and was a member of the Betan Astronomical Survey, which was converted into the Betan Expeditionary Force during wartime.

The homeworld of the Vorkosigan Saga Cordelia Naismith first appears in the short story entitled "Dreamweaver's Dilemma" which is also included in the Dreamweaver's Dilemma anthology that contains "The Adventures of the Lady on the Embankment".

Cordelia is born on Beta Colony the daughter of Elizabeth Naismith, a doctor, who co-wrote the article Ethan read in a medical journal in the beginning of Ethan of Athos.

During Cordelia's time as the commander of a vessel in the Betan Astronomical Survey, she despises the military mindset due to her upbringing with Beta Colony's liberal and anti-militarist values. She explores jump-points and newly discovered planets in the Nexus, a job requiring advanced mathematical and scientific knowledge and no small degree of daring, as well as interpersonal skills, as her crew is composed of non-military civilian scientists that Cordelia often considers "a group of prima-donnas and cry-babies." On a survey mission on the newly discovered world that would later be named Sergyar, she is captured by the controversial Admiral Aral Vorkosigan of the Barrayaran Imperial Military Service, scorned by galactic society at large as the "Butcher of Komarr". They spend an arduous period on the planet's surface together, and during that time, they fall in love. However, given their positions on opposing sides of a military struggle, they do not act upon their feelings, though Aral asks her to marry him.

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