A/N:

SilverGryphin: For Ch1 I ended it there because I was going into a flashback. Also Like I said to Anna (Below) Will is not the best at calculating like at a single moment. My response to Anna clears up a lot that I think I need to put in the story. Meaningless detail? No, no, no! D Yeah I guess it sorta meaningless but I like that part and sense of read the book like a bagillion times I do that. The Dream scene is in there because I wanted to sow how attached to his family Will is.

Nutz: I know I am putting them out slowly just because I don't have my Copy of Ender's Game yet. I am getting it the Christmas break. This William, Wills paper has all of Mrs. Haughtons attention. She is so into grading the paper that she tells the boy to go away. She doesn't realy relize what she just did.)

-emergency vehicle with flashing lights? i thought his dad had had a heart attack

(okay when I was writing this I was sorta leaning torwards the dad having a heart attack. guess I shoulda stuck with it. Then I decided that the lights should be on because the vehicle had to get to the house before Will got home. the IF wanted Wills parents to know. okay another thing. The man driving the vehicle hadn't turned them off. plus the bus ride home was longer than 20 minutes it was about forty-five minutes or longer. He lives fairl far away from the school.)

-putting all the wrong answers instead of 3 was thoroughly stupid. if the kid was so smart, he would have known the IF wouldn't buy it.

(he's still nieve. He doesn't know for a fact if the IF will figure it out. He leaves out some things that could have helped him. ((p.s. that's one thing I was gonna play off of later. good eye. That's another reason he doesn't get into the final team. when he has time to think of a good plan it's good but when he doesn't he falter's and his plan is irregular with many faults.)

-it's ridiculous for an IF officer to be at his house 20 minutes after he turned in (and got back) the test

(It was more like an hour to two hours after he turned in the test. Well not two hours. Anyways the IF had plenty of time to react and Will would be top priority.) he is in two grades above where he normally would be.

-("I didn't understand it. Why is that such a big deal?�/TD

Time is a waste of life: First off cool name. Second I am glad to hear that you like my story. I like it and it feels good to know other people enjoy reading it.

((((VBSers)))): I love you all for taking the time to read this. big smooch

To every1 who reads this: Thank-you for taking the time to read this. I hope you are enjoying this so far. I hope to be a nationally acclaimed writer some day but I also want to be a radio talk-show host so whatever. So Read on!!

CHAPTER 6

FROM: FreelancebtlScho1.if

TO: Col.GraffBattleSchool.IF

Sears/Wiggin/Bean

Sir,

I just inform you of yet another amazing mind that the IF has found. I believe he lies upon the same level as B and E. WS is from NC same as E. In the attachment that I have sent to you are his scores on the tests. There are quite amazing to say the least yet not as high as E or B for that matter. He is a genius bred to lead. I think you may be looking in the wrong area for your savior. This boy is coming up today. My brother is accompanying him. I know it is late. He is going to need to be advanced even faster then B was. This boy is going to undergo a lot of stress. This is to warn you of the boy's arrival here. Have a good day CG

-Capt. Eart

--

Will watched from the back seat. It was amazing to watch all the buildings go by. The metal track swiftly took the car to the launch site from the airport. The limo was soft and yet Will couldn't enjoy it.

'Why am I being brought up?' Will thought. 'I am only five, not yet the age that they normally bring people up. What is going on? I am going to battle school that is what is going on. Battle School to destroy the buggers. I've never taken time to sit down and think about what I am going to do when I get to Battle School I always thought how not to get picked. I am a fool.'

Will squirmed around in his seat. It was hard and completely different from his old booster seat. He hated it. Capt. Blanco reached over and tapped Will on the shoulder. "You ready, son? You ready to go to Battle School?"

What kind of question was that? Of course he was ready to go to Battle School. It wasn't like it mattered. Was this guy trying to be his friend? No, this Capt. Blanco was doing what any normal man would do, looking out for the kid. He was just being nice. He didn't understand that Will could look out for himself. Can I? Can I really look out for myself? Can I honestly say that? No I can't. He wouldn't need help from Capt. Blanco but he would from the other children when he got to battleschool.

"I'm fine. Just fine," replied Will.

'No, I am not fine. I want my Mom. Now I am sounding like a bugger-lover. It is true though I do want my mom I do want my dad. Well it's to late. I can't do anything about it now. I have to roll with this and do what I can. Mom and Dad are the past. Battle School and the Buggers are the future.'

Soon the limo began to slow down. A large tower appeared across the horizon and it looked like the airport they had just left. The car approached a set of gates that were set up about a mile from the runway itself. A guard came out wearing an IF uniform and saw Lt. Eart and Capt. Blanco in the back. The young man looking sharp and dignified wearing his uniform. "Welcome home sir." That was all he said. He smiled.

"Glad to be back, private," Capt. Blanco replied. The guard saluted and the limo took off again. Now it headed for the runway. On the way it stopped by some stands with a crowd of adoring people watching to see the children on their way to the Battle School. He searched for his parents but they weren't there. Will looked at the stands and saw the cheering as he went by. It made him feel proud to be going off to Battle School. Yet, in the back of his heart he knew that he would miss his parents dearly, he already did. The limo came to a stop at the entrance to another gate.

"This is our stop," Lt. Eart said with a grin. He got up and opened the door. Then the Lt. reached over and unbuckled Will from his harness. "C'mon we don't want to mss our shuttle now do we?" Will followed close behind Lt. Eart and Capt. Blanco followed at a distance stopping for all the video cameras, posing and answering questions.

Another gate was set up in front of Will but this one you couldn't go through. It was an elevator and Will climbed right on after Lt. Eart. The doors closed and they left Capt. Blanco on the ground.

"All right, Will, when we get to the top of this thing I am going let you go, right? Okay?" Why is he telling me now? Why didn't he just say hey go over there when they actually got to the top. No, Lt. Eart had done the right thing because Will would have asked where he was going. Then Will would have asked why they had to split up. Well Will still didn't know the answer to that one. As if reading his mind Lt. Eart answered, "We got to take the different sides 'cause one is designated for adults the other for launchies."

The elevator stopped and more press was waiting for Will at the top. They filmed him and followed him. His mom had always said he was photogenic. She was probably watching right now, thinking that. Will glanced at the camera and winked. That was all. It wasn't noticeable if someone wasn't looking for it but it was easily noticed if you were actually watching Will. His mom and dad would see and they would probably cry. Now Will ignored the cameras and turned right once he got off the elevator. A small Metal building sat there and Will walked in.

On the inside, a bunch of boys all older then Will were talking. Some were all talking about Battle School and what it looked like and what it was. Then there were the kids who just sat there and listened with eagerness wanting to know all about it so they could tell their subordinates. Of course one boy saw Will enter. 'There he is. The last one!" one of the boys yelled. He was wearing a little gray uniform like the IF soldiers wore only it had little patches of yellow, green, and blue all over. All the boys cheered at this and ran off into another corridor. Obviously they had been waiting for the last of the group to arrive. Some didn't leave though they were too cool for that, or they had to let Will know they were the dominant ones there. They were the bullies and the punks, the kids who had no reason to move. Will moved, though. He walked over to a desk and stood up on a stool that was placed there for the smaller children. Will could easily have seen over the desk without the booster but it made him even taller and made him feel more in control. A young lady was sitting there and was wearing an IF uniform. She smiled at Will.

"Hi. You must be Will," she said.

"Yes, miss, I am," Will answered. The lady reached back into a drawer and pulled out the uniform that all the other kids were wearing. She handed it to Will.

"There's a dressing room right over there, but don't get use to it: You won't have any privacy up in Battle School." Will was old enough. He understood the concept of nakedness. He had heard the stories of Adam and Eve from his parents and how they had found out about their nakedness. Will was like them and was ashamed of his nakedness. So Will went into the dressing room and changed. The lady took Will's clothes and put them in a box. She closed the box and sealed it. Then she got on a Walkie-talkie and said, "All right last one is ready."

As soon as she said it a voice came over the intercom system. "All launchies please move towards the gate." Will looked around and the group of kids had been standing in front of a gate just outside the doorway. Will walked out and joined them.

One of the boys was prancing about in his uniform trying to show off how militaristic he could be. He was singing a cadence: "Left, left, left, right, left!" All the boys were glancing at him and smiling, laughing. "Yeah, laugh all you want but when you get assigned to Javier Martinez's Command you better watch out." The boy placed a thumb on his chest indicating he was Javier Martinez.

Another boy called out, "Yeah, what the IF wants is a prancing pony!" The boys around him laughed and chuckled and so did he but Will looked at their faces and saw that they didn't think the joke was funny either. They were just laughing because the 'funny boy' had made a joke and they were his followers, his clingers, who would do anything that he asked because they were brown-nosers. They saw something in that boy that Will could not see. Will would have rather followed Javier. After the boy's remark, Javier didn't do anything; he just continued his funny march. Will thought it was funny, but he also admired Javier for that.

Soon after that a large creak rang aloud and the gate pulled up. The men with the cameras were there again and they were not following, Will alone anymore, but all of the boys. Will tried to picture in his head what the news looked like. It was probably showing Will and giving a bio. It would say something like, "Name: Will Sears, Height: blah blah blah." Will could see it now. He smiled. They continued until they came to the shuttle itself and the boys walked in. Will looked around and saw the shuttle had the seats coupled in threes. A few seats were empty but Will wanted to know more about Javier. He looked around to find him and he saw him sitting on the far side of one of the triplets and on the other side of the same triplet was a girl.

Will walked over and placed himself between the girl and Javier and buckled himself in nice and tight. Javier and the girl were already buckled in themselves. Only a few other children had buckled themselves in when Lt. Eart came in and yelled out, "Get in your Seats!" The boys ran to there seats and buckled in quickly. "Now that everyone is in their proper areas we are going to go to Battle School." Will was stunned at the stupidity of the statement. Lt Eart was smarter than that. Will knew it. Will didn't say anything though. Will sat there and lt. Eart receded back into the front compartment, the door closing behind him. Will looked to his right at the girl.

"Hi," he said. Then he looked to his left at Javier, "Hi." The response came quick both little "hi's" just like Will's. "My name's Will, what's yours?" Will knew Javier's name but he didn't say anything.

Javier answered, "Javier Pablo Martinez. I am from California. My mother is a housewife and my father is a Police Man." The thick Portuguese accent was new to Will everyone he knew spoke like him but now meeting Javier Will felt a little more cultured. Will turned to the girl.

"Jaime Fiona Grant. My father's an Archeologist and my Mother is artist and teacher. You?

Will answered, "William Richard Sears. My mom's a stay at home mom and my dad is a Rocket Scientist."

The two sitting next to him were nice enough. At least he was talking to someone. Maybe he could make a few friends here. "So I got the inside scoop on Battle School," Will boasted. They probably didn't care. They would all be in Battle School soon and would find things out for themselves.

Javier turned, "Really? Who told you?"

Jaime looked at him like he was completely ignorant. "Don't believe the rumors the other kids feed you. I mean, c'mon how would they know?"

She didn't know about Will's stay with Lt. Eart. He could tell them, but would they think that would mean he was a teacher's pet? Would they think he was a brown-noser? Jaime hadn't even been talking to Will she had been talking to Javier, talking past Will. Obviously the had some sort of pact some sort of unwritten protection. Jaime was protecting Javier and Javier probably would have done the same for Jaime. Will wanted in on the unwritten pact and wanted the collective intelligence it brought with it.

"No, Lt. Eart told me." Well that was stupid they had no idea who Lt. Eart was. Only Will knew him.

"Oh that's fancy, did you make up that name? It sounds like a mix between ear and hurt which is what's going to happen to you if you don't stop feeding my friend and me lies." As if an angel sent by God, Lt. Eart walked in.

"Hey you little rats, get in your seats. I see the only three--make that four-" a small boy in the back had buckled himself in too, "-are smart enough to know that if you are unbuckled traveling at faster then the speed of sound you will probably get thrown back into the engines of this aircraft." Will smirked. It wasn't possible. Underneath the smirk though was fear. Will was afraid of Lt. Eart. The man was not acting the same as he had the past few days. He didn't even so much as glance at Will.

Will leaned over to Jaime and whispered into her ear, "That's Lt. Eart. He came and got me from my home. He explained the Battle School to me on the way." Lt. Eart glanced over now and saw Will whispering.

"Something you want to say to the whole crew today son? Was it so important that it couldn't wait for me to leave?" Lt. Eart was confronting Will in a very strange Way. Will had never really fought with anyone. He had always been everyone's friend. No one wanted to hurt him or even verbally abuse him they just wanted to leave him be at worst. Will just wasn't use to fighting anyone.

"Well, no, sir, I just was explaining something to Ms. Grant here." Will explained. Am I in trouble? Did I do something wrong, something terribly wrong? What was it?

Lt. Eart leaned over Will and placed his hands behind his back. Will wished he could just sink into the seat and not be under his gaze right now. Will held onto the armrest on his left and when he went to hold onto the one at right Will grabbed Jaime's hand by accident for it had been laying there. She removed it and Will placed his hand down on the armrest. "Would you mind 'explaining' what was so important that it couldn't wait?"

"Yes sir," Will said. He didn't want to tell. It was the reason he had whispered. Will continued though for Lt. Eart had told him too. "Well, sir, I was telling her that you had picked me up and that you had explained Battle School to me. It probably could have waited I just wanted to tell her."

"Is 'Ms. Grant' your friend or do you like to talk out of your butt for no reason?"

Will hated this spot he was in. Why did it matter so much that Will had been speaking? The other kids laughed at the crude mouth of Lt. Eart. Why was he being so mean? The Lt. Eart that Will knew was a completely different man. It was as if the IF forced him to be crude and mean. Will felt his palms begin to sweat. He was being put under this pressure and it was making him nervous. Will finally regained composure of himself and gained control of his nerves. He began to do his stress relief ceremony he had created as a young child. He began to imagine his fingers and his toes as individual segments of his body. He felt them disconnect and float as other beings a complete white glorious place surrounded him as his limbs and body parts floated off his imagination run wild. He closed his eyes and entered this world and then he was calm. He opened his eyes and coolly answered Lt. Eart.

"She is not my friend, sir. She is merely a person I so happened to meet. So if talking to a new person is talking out your buttocks then yes I enjoy it." Will used the formal word for butt because he wanted to show he was a higher intellect then this new Lt. Eart.

"Well, son, if you know so much about Battle School you tell me about it. I will quiz you and you answer if you know it then you will save the teachers much time up in the Battle School by explaining these things on the shuttle." Will nodded he was ready for this quiz he knew that he was being cocky and Lt. Eart was going to exploit his cockiness but he was already to deep to get out. Maybe Lt. Eart the old might form this man's mind a little to let him out of it.

"Ready, sir," Will let the words escape his mouth and he could feel the disgust from Jaime. She didn't like Will because of his cocky attitude. He had slurred sir and rolled it off his tongue.

"All right, what is the major game in Battle School?" Lt. Eart started off with an easy question. Maybe the old Eart was in there somewhere giving him a break. No, if Lt. Eart lost this he would never hold any power with the students in this Launch. Lt. Eart had to win for his record to be clean; he had to win for his integrity. Will had to win so that the kids looked up to him, for his integrity. Why did Will get locked into this battle of wits? Lt. Eart would ask something that would be totally or-the-top and he would look like a fool.

"All right, what is the first course you take when you get to battle school?" Lt. Eart asked. Will had no idea. Right off the bat Lt. Eart asked him a hard question. Will had been expecting Lt. Eart to give him a few easy questions but he didn't.

"I'm sorry, sir, I don't know." Will heard Jaime huff and she just continued to stare at the front of the ship Will looked up at Lt. Eart again a wicked smile was playing across his face. "Sir, if I may tell you so. You-"

"You may not, 'tell me so'," Lt. Eart said. He shook his head and continued, "If anyone here knows more about battle school then me right now I'll shoot myself. For the rest of you if you want to learn about Battle School You should ask this little fart over here. He does know more about it than most. He has been taught about it by me." Lt. Eart stared over at Will and continued his little rampage. "Now the only reason you did that is why, Mr. Sears?"

Will looked up. Why was Lt. Eart now telling them he did know what he was talking about. Why did Lt. Eart decide to tell him that he was smart? He knew perfectly well that Lt. Eart was being a jerk but why was he being like this? He went from a complete jerk to a guy trying to reclaim Will's throne trying to rebuild what he had destroyed. Will looked at him and said, "I thought the Old Lt. Eart might let me have a little comfort, that he might be my friend." Lt. Eart stared at him as if he was the stupidest kid in the universe." Will had said the truth. He knew Lt. Eart saw it to. He watched as Lt. Eart was hit emotionally. He did care, but this was a job he had to do. He was acting. He was doing his job he was paid for. Will looked up at Lt. Eart and noticed his. Well Will could play a game. "Sir, I guess my mistake was wrong."

"You're right it was wrong. You haven't done anything but prove how much of a dim-witted bugger-hole you are. I can't believe this from you. You the one I thought was are last hope. I guess I was wrong."

Will looked up surprised. 'What did he mean, 'last hope'? Me?' Will was shocked that Lt. Eart would say something like that. The other boys looked around and snorted. How could this little kid be their last hope? Against what?

"Oh, excuse me. Did I say that? I mean, we all know that every single one of you is going to be the next Mazer Rackham. We are all going to see you saving the world. No, there is only one on this ship that can save us. That's Will Sears." What was Eart doing? Why was he doing this now? Was he still acting? Why was he doing all this? He had just proved how dumb Will was. Now why was he proving how great he was? Will looked at Lt. Eart questioningly. His eyebrows rose. Was Lt. Eart for real? Did they really think that much of Will? How was he supposed to command that many people? Was he supposed to Command all those older men? No, by the time Will got to that point he would be older too. Will watched as Lt. Eart said one last thing, "Yes, Will Sears is the one you all better watch out for, because you'll be mighty sorry that you forgot to say your please and thank-you's to him. Because when your life is on the line and he remembers the way you treated him in Battle School he'll send you into the depths of the Formic armies. Now buckle-up ladies." Lt. Eart spun on his heels and walked back the way he came.

Soon the ship took off and Jaime wouldn't say a thing to Will. Anytime Will started a conversation she just huffed and sighed or told him to stop being a bugger-fart. Javier just stared out the window as the ship shook with its power, the engines blazing. They lifted off the ground, but the ship still shook. Soon the ship went up until it was nearly black. From up here Will could see the curve of the earth. He felt himself getting lighter as the gravity gave way. Then the ship leveled off and began to orbit. It was still in the atmosphere though, for Will was still being pressed against his seat. Another ship came down and refueled the plane. The windows clamped shut and the plane began to fall. It felt like they were falling forever until the rockets fired one more time. This time the ship lurched forward at a tremendous rate that threw Will into his seat. He felt the pull of inertia on his body. Then the ship stopped rattling as they exited the atmosphere.

Then Lt. Eart came back in and briefed them on what they were going to do in Battle School when they got there. Will was mad that Lt. Eart had said everything he had earlier. Now the kids would hate him. He was cocky and he was smart all in one. They resented the fact that they couldn't be the best. Will was once again told how great he was in Lt. Eart's crude way and then Lt. Eart receded once again. Will watched as Lt. Eart receded and grew angry. Battle School was only moments away.