"They're at their destination with no problems then?"
"All, but Wiggin."
"But he will be arriving soon?"
"Of course."
"And when he's there?"
"We will inform them of their objective."
"Their full objective?"
"Well..."
"So you aren't informing them that they are on the enemy land?"
"We will if the need arises."
"Has Bean let on about anything?"
"Beans has not said anything."
"But you do think he knows?"
"I didn't say that."
"You do though?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he did."
***
Itu, Ambul, Petra, Tom, Bean and the rest sat at the oval table.
Bean was still deep in thought.
If their enemy wasn't America, but just a small group in America that had it's resources, it had to
be someone with political power.
A lot of political power.
It wasn't the president.
If it was him, the whole country would be after them, but it was a group.
That meant there was some one stirring things up that had power.
A kind of American Locke and Demosthenes possibly.
After all, if Peter Wiggin had been able to evacuate the battle school from just a few news articles,
what was to say someone else couldn't do a similar thing?
Still, this was different.
That had been for safety and peace, this was for war and for possession of the earth.
The thought of Achilles crossed through his mind, but that wouldn't be logical.
Achilles, if he ever escaped, would go first for revenge... yet that hadn't happened.
So this was a whole new enemy.
An old branch of the I.F that had tried to regain power?
It seemed likely, but not in America.
Then Bean realized what was wrong.
He was limiting himself.
He wasn't considering that this could be some other nation that had people in America.
Just because the threat was there didn't mean there was the threat.
Russia, yet again, was out.
They were building an army, unready for an attack.
Africa and Australia were out because of size.
It would be suicide to start a war without armies in their own countries.
But that only left a few places.
South America?
Too close.
They could probably get the power, however once American governments found out it would be too
close.
A couple well aimed missiles and they'd be goners.
That left only one place.
China.
True, they were helping with funding, but that just gave them an excuse to get men into the main bases.
And since they would have no chance for hegemony once Russia's army was together, acting fast was
their only option.
Bean finally reached the realization that to fight back would be near impossible.
They would be coming from both sides.
The only real way to defeat them would be to collapse the base and sneak an attack.
They couldn't do that yet though.
It was too soon.
China had to think they were victorious before they would be careless enough to be attacked on the sly.
That was when the door opened again and a boy, not much taller than Bean himself stepped in.
This one, however, did get respect from the others.
And lots of it.
***
It had been almost four years since Ender had been on earth.
He hadn't had time to miss it, but now...
With space behind him and the year and a half of rest he was in better shape both physically and mentally.
Now that he was back on earth everything seemed so far away.
Now that battle school was dissolved it seemed that Bonzo Madrid and the fatalities of war weren't as bad
as theyhad seemed.
He would always be different, but now he was rested, refreshed, and ready.
He had received the normal I.F mission briefing and eventually, had figured out what was going on.
A small army from some nation wishing hegemonic power had taken roots in America, he and his jeesh were
to get them out.
It seemed fairly simple.
That was why he was uneasy. In Ender's experience the things that felt simple rarely were and war, even a small
battle like this, was never pretty.
Finally, he and the guards reached a metal door.
The man in front stepped forth and palmed it open.
Inside Ender saw the one person he had been longing to see and, at the same time, dreading to see.
"Ho Bean."
***
Bean snapped out of thought.
It was the time he'd been so anxiously awaiting.
"Ho Ender."
The boy who was possibly the only person on the planet who could match
wits with him.
The boy who had signed into computers as God so long ago.
The boy who many people looked up to, worshiped as if he were God.
He looked at Ender.
Space had done him good.
He didn't look stressed, exhausted any of the things he'd looked at the Battle school.
"All, but Wiggin."
"But he will be arriving soon?"
"Of course."
"And when he's there?"
"We will inform them of their objective."
"Their full objective?"
"Well..."
"So you aren't informing them that they are on the enemy land?"
"We will if the need arises."
"Has Bean let on about anything?"
"Beans has not said anything."
"But you do think he knows?"
"I didn't say that."
"You do though?"
"I wouldn't be surprised if he did."
***
Itu, Ambul, Petra, Tom, Bean and the rest sat at the oval table.
Bean was still deep in thought.
If their enemy wasn't America, but just a small group in America that had it's resources, it had to
be someone with political power.
A lot of political power.
It wasn't the president.
If it was him, the whole country would be after them, but it was a group.
That meant there was some one stirring things up that had power.
A kind of American Locke and Demosthenes possibly.
After all, if Peter Wiggin had been able to evacuate the battle school from just a few news articles,
what was to say someone else couldn't do a similar thing?
Still, this was different.
That had been for safety and peace, this was for war and for possession of the earth.
The thought of Achilles crossed through his mind, but that wouldn't be logical.
Achilles, if he ever escaped, would go first for revenge... yet that hadn't happened.
So this was a whole new enemy.
An old branch of the I.F that had tried to regain power?
It seemed likely, but not in America.
Then Bean realized what was wrong.
He was limiting himself.
He wasn't considering that this could be some other nation that had people in America.
Just because the threat was there didn't mean there was the threat.
Russia, yet again, was out.
They were building an army, unready for an attack.
Africa and Australia were out because of size.
It would be suicide to start a war without armies in their own countries.
But that only left a few places.
South America?
Too close.
They could probably get the power, however once American governments found out it would be too
close.
A couple well aimed missiles and they'd be goners.
That left only one place.
China.
True, they were helping with funding, but that just gave them an excuse to get men into the main bases.
And since they would have no chance for hegemony once Russia's army was together, acting fast was
their only option.
Bean finally reached the realization that to fight back would be near impossible.
They would be coming from both sides.
The only real way to defeat them would be to collapse the base and sneak an attack.
They couldn't do that yet though.
It was too soon.
China had to think they were victorious before they would be careless enough to be attacked on the sly.
That was when the door opened again and a boy, not much taller than Bean himself stepped in.
This one, however, did get respect from the others.
And lots of it.
***
It had been almost four years since Ender had been on earth.
He hadn't had time to miss it, but now...
With space behind him and the year and a half of rest he was in better shape both physically and mentally.
Now that he was back on earth everything seemed so far away.
Now that battle school was dissolved it seemed that Bonzo Madrid and the fatalities of war weren't as bad
as theyhad seemed.
He would always be different, but now he was rested, refreshed, and ready.
He had received the normal I.F mission briefing and eventually, had figured out what was going on.
A small army from some nation wishing hegemonic power had taken roots in America, he and his jeesh were
to get them out.
It seemed fairly simple.
That was why he was uneasy. In Ender's experience the things that felt simple rarely were and war, even a small
battle like this, was never pretty.
Finally, he and the guards reached a metal door.
The man in front stepped forth and palmed it open.
Inside Ender saw the one person he had been longing to see and, at the same time, dreading to see.
"Ho Bean."
***
Bean snapped out of thought.
It was the time he'd been so anxiously awaiting.
"Ho Ender."
The boy who was possibly the only person on the planet who could match
wits with him.
The boy who had signed into computers as God so long ago.
The boy who many people looked up to, worshiped as if he were God.
He looked at Ender.
Space had done him good.
He didn't look stressed, exhausted any of the things he'd looked at the Battle school.