Chapter Two

Ender awoke to Dap pounding on the door the next morning. 0600, the digital display beside him read. It was day two, and he was already sick of this place.

"Morning! Breakfast is at 0700, so you all got plenty of time to clean yourselves up. I don't want it smelling like a zoo in here. Again, follow the code if you still don't know where the mess hall is." Dap was out the door again before Ender had a chance to comprehend everything he had said. He groggily climbed out of bed, shivering as his body came in touch with the cold air around him. As he walked to his compartment to retrieve his towel and toiletries, Ender heard Alai jumping down from the top bunk.

"Sleep well?"

"Sounds like you didn't," Ender joked without turning around. When he did, he couldn't help but chuckle. "You want some brains, zombie?" Alai's hair stuck out all over the place, and there were dark rings under his eyes. A little pool of drool residue nestled in the corner of his lips. He shrugged, flashing Ender a lopsided grin.

The boys all shuffled down the hallway into the bathroom, which they shared with three other launch groups. It was crowded and noisy in there, with packed sinks against one wall, small urinals lining the second, and open showers covering the third. Ender could barely make out the valve through all the steam as he jumped under a shower, exhaling blissfully as hot water came in contact with his skin. He tried to block out the uncomfortable commotion around him, but to no avail. Ender made a mental note to avoid showering in the morning again.

Ender entered the mess hall at 0658. Alai had already gotten his food, but Bernard and his clique were nowhere to be seen. When he got his tray, Ender walked over to Alai and sat down across from him, knowing that his sole presence would reserve the entire table just for the two of them. Alai didn't seem to mind, and smiled reticently at him.

"Can I sit here?" Ender already knew the answer, but Alai's confirmation soothed him nonetheless. A few seconds later, Bernard marched in. Ender saw him making eye contact with Alai, who greeted him with only a slight eyebrow movement. Bernard grabbed his food and went to the table furthest away from Ender, with his puppets in pursuit.

"How are you feelin'?" Alai asked as he looked back at Ender.

"Better than yesterday."

"Wouldn't be hard to surpass." Ender smirked at Alai's remark, but suddenly grew serious again.

"Do you like Bernard?" His curious gaze met Alai's. "I mean, do you see anything good in him?"

"There's obviously something good in him. Otherwise he wouldn't be here."

"I know he's intelligent. He's got to be. But that's not why he's got so many pawns licking his toes. They're scared of him."

"And you seem to be too."

"But I don't kiss his butt everyday. Partly because I'd suffocate if I did." Both boys let out a laugh.

"You're different from them, Ender." Alai paused and Ender had a sudden flashback of his sister. "And so am I."

"You're not scared."

"Of Bernard? No." Alai shook his head. "Of him destroying the unity of our group? Maybe."

"How would you stop that?"

"How would you?"

Ender's group had trigonometry in the morning. As usual, the lessons were dull, but Ender knew that he could not slack off anymore. His classes were filled with only the most intelligent minds and the most competitive spirits. He had to work hard.

As Ender returned to his dormitory after lunch, he saw Bernard's desk lying openly on his bed. The desks had a laughable security system, as he had discovered in class. A smile formed on Ender's face as an idea popped into his head. Less than a minute later, the other Launchies returned. Ender sat on his bed and pretended to study on his desk, not glancing up once as the others entered. The room was quiet for a few seconds as everyone went about their business, but an enraged scream soon ripped through the air.

"Who did this?" Bernard was furiously scanning the room as Ender looked up. A crowd had gathered around him, and some were staring at his desk with wide eyes while others tried to suppress giggles. That's not even the end of it yet, you bastard. Ender tried to look as innocent as possible as a series of message pings ensued around the room. He glanced down at his desk, and sure enough, his little trick had worked.

Ender had filled Bernard's desk with "vulgar" images, pulled off from the health education database that students went through only in their final year at Battle School. The cherry on top was sending all of them to everyone else in the group when Bernard unlocked his desk. It wasn't the most difficult task, but Bernard's reputation was about to take a big hit. Ender's job was finished.

Dap came knocking on the door before poking his head through.

"Everything okay?"

"Sir! Someone messed with my desk!" Bernard indignantly held up his tablet for Dap to examine. Dap's only response was a smirk.

"Or is that just an excuse, Bernard?" Dap smiled knowingly and left before Bernard had a chance to respond. Ender guessed that Dap had probably already figured out the culprit, but he was safe for now. Bernard stormed out of the room in rage, and a few others followed. Not as many as before, Ender observed.

The calm after the storm only lasted a few seconds before subdued chatter filled the room again. A few of the boys glanced at Ender in wonder, and Ender sensed just the tiniest bit of admiration in their looks. Alai jumped down from his bunk and sat down beside him.

"Smart move," he whispered.

"Bernard probably wants my head on a plate now."

"We'll see about that. You did your part, now let me do mine." They both looked up as a small boy made his way over to them.

"Ho. I know it was you," he said as he winked at Ender. Ender vaguely remembered that the boy was called Shen. Or the Worm, as Bernard had named him. Mean, but at least it was more memorable.

"Maybe, maybe not," Ender replied and shrugged. He felt a smile forming on his lips as he looked over at Alai. Alai tried hard not to look amused. He failed miserably and burst out laughing.

That afternoon Dap took the group to the battleroom for the first time, though it would be the second time that they experienced null gravity. As the Launchies piled in, most of them tried to clutch onto the handholds along the walls. The suits they wore restricted fluid movement, and Ender felt like a decade-old robot that desperately needed its joints greased.

The disorientation soon became trivial as Ender began imagining that whichever wall he was travelling towards was the ground. There was gravity; he just had to assign which direction it was acting in. Ender then quickly learned how to handle the wall collisions through trial and error, using the impact to change direction and the friction to decelerate. As he grabbed a handhold and finally came to a stop, he imagined that he was lying on the floor and watched the chaos above him. Some boys were gliding around uncontrollably and rebounding in every direction, occasionally hitting others in painful collisions. Others were still clinging onto the wall near the entrance, unwilling to fly and experience every astronaut's dream.

Ender spotted Alai trying to make his way towards him. It took a few collisions and a string of curses.

"Look at you, sunbathing like a lazy bugger. Have you tried moving around? It's nearly impossible!" Alai was completely out of breath. Ender smirked.

"Nearly impossible? I didn't tense a muscle." Alai shot him a look of disbelief, and Ender went on to explain how thinking that he was always falling towards the ground removes the feeling of disorientation. He then showed Alai the best positions to break impact with a wall and bounce off in a different direction using his legs. A few demonstrations and practices later, Alai was doing flips through the air and triple bounces against the walls.

"What do you think these guns do?" Alai asked as he landed beside Ender. Ender had almost forgotten about the last piece of equipment.

"No idea, but there's only one way to find out."

"What do you say we shoot that lil' bugger over there?" Alai pointed at a nearby Launchy drifting aimlessly. He looked like he was asleep.

"Don't have to ask me twice." Both boys took aim with their guns and pressed down the trigger. Their helpless victim immediately tensed up as his suit visibly stiffened, blocking out his muffled screams.

"Sorry!" Alai shouted before they giggled.

"So they're like freeze rays."

"Guess so. Why don't we make that poor kid feel a little better and give him a few companions?" Ender immediately knew what he meant and grinned in agreement.

"Give me a minute first," Alai said as he expertly maneuvered towards Bernard and Shen, who were still bouncing around haphazardly like beachballs. Ender watched him help stabilize the two before telling them what's going on. As soon as Alai flashed him a thumbs up, Ender flew over to join them before initiating the massacre.

When Dap returned ten minutes later, everyone was frozen. The battle turned out to be a free-for-all, and Alai, the winner, shot himself in the end as well for a laugh. After thawing everyone, Dap began the real training and divided the boys into three teams. Everyone wanted to be on Alai's team, including Ender. Including Bernard. And they both were.

"That went well," Alai said as he sat down heavily next to Ender during dinner. He looked tired, but a thousand times livelier than that morning.

"Yeah, it sure did for you," Ender replied.

"For you as well. Bernard doesn't despise you anymore, does he?" It was true; being in the same training squad taught them how to work together. Ender looked around the hall and saw Bernard on a table not too far from his.

"I guess not. We're not exactly friends though."

"And you wanted to be on the second day? After what happened after lunch? He knows it was you, Ender. Anyone with brains would."

"And he's not threatening to vivisect me like a bugger. I really won the lottery, didn't I?" Ender rolled his eyes before turning to face his friend. He remembered what Mick said the day before. "I want his respect, Alai, so that he doesn't act like a scumbag anymore."

"He doesn't. Not anymore."

"Easy for you to say. You're already the most popular guy in our group."

"You jealous?" Alai retorted playfully, and Ender decided not to take the conversation any further. He focused on his food. Deep down, he was a little jealous at Alai's natural communication skills. Graff said that he had to be the best. That was their hope, their expectations. And he sure as hell didn't leave Valentine just to be second. But Alai was also his friend, and he should be happy for him. Ender pushed the thought away. He didn't notice Alai staring at him.

"I'm just trying to bring the group together," Alai said softly after a while. "Because that's the most important thing when, if, we get sent into battle. Nobody cares about popularity when they're blown to smithereens. And that's why we gotta look out for each other, Ender. Can't you see that I've always got your back?"

Of course I can, since the moment I stepped into the launch ship. Ender nodded.

"And you've got mine, right?" Alai sounded uncertain, almost afraid, for a second. Ender looked straight into his eyes without hesitation.

"Always."