Pilot Officer Parnell, of the Betan Expeditionary Force, was the jump pilot who took an unarmed freighter into Escobaran space in order to clear a path for the real cargo ships that were to follow. He served under Captain Cordelia Naismith; their group was taken prisoner soon after. While imprisoned by the Barrayarans, he learned a tale claiming that Cordelia had killed Admiral Vorrutyer and passed the information to the prisoners at their camp on Sergyar.