Ender's War

Chapter 10 - The Illusion of A Happy Ending

The low hum of the engine engulfed the small aircraft, and the descending darkness was making it increasingly difficult to navigate. Ender had been flying for twelve hours straight, and they were getting close to the ocean. Some of the plane's lights that were to be used during night travel had been fried from the hot sun of Germany, and as Ender slowly descended from the sky; he knew that they had to wait until morning to take on the large body of water.

He managed to land as gently as possible on the edge of an overhanging hill, and tried to cause the least amount of disturbance as possible. The last thing he needed was the European police coming to investigate the plane, and if that happened, his cover would be blown as soon as one of them came close enough to see his face. Nobody except the select few at the command base in the U.S.A were to know of Ender's reappearance, and he wanted to keep it that way. Otherwise, the plan he had spent so many hours coming up with, with the help of Graff and Rackham, would have to be forfeited. And without that, Ender would cease to have anything else to fall back on. He would be forced to improvise, and as skilled as he is, he did not like the idea of winging it when the lives of everyone on Earth were once again in his hands.

The inside of the aircraft was pitch black aside from the lights that lit up the controls, and a few wall lamps that kept the pilot's area, and the sitting area lit a dim orange. Ender rubbed the bridge of his nose with a couple of his fingers as he shut down the plane, and leaned back in his seat. He continued to run his hands over his eyes, and momentarily closed them while sighing. After a few minutes of silence, he forced himself to unfasten his seat belt and got up from the chair.

His head was spinning with questions and plans for the war. Ender was thrilled that he and Valentine had succeeded in finding Petra and Bean, but his distance from the war plans were making him anxious. He didn't like the fact that the longer he was away, the more he was out of the loop. And the more uninformed he was, the greater opportunity Peter would have to mess things up. And if that happened, all hell would break loose. U I don't need to worry, he said silently to himself. Mazer Rackham is handling it. He is more than capable of managing my brother, and making sure things go according to plan. I have nothing to worry about.

Ender continued to reassure himself as he walked across the main compartment of the aircraft. Everyone else had gone to sleep hours ago, and were now tucked up tight in the fold up beds lined up against the west wall of the plane. As far as he was concerned, all but one was occupied. The one where he would sleep, yet as tired as he was, Ender couldn't bring himself to lie down. He felt as if there was too much to do, to ponder, and to figure out. For some reason, a nagging feeling in his gut told him that he needed to strategize. It urged him to come up with a plan B, even a plan C, and to be prepared for the worst.

He didn't like that feeling, though as much as he wanted to get rid of it, he couldn't. It latched onto his being and invaded his conscious thought. Almost to the point where, after a while, Ender thought that it was beginning to make him crazy. Heck, for all he knew, he was already crazy. Perhaps it just took him a little longer to figure it out.

"Ender?" A faint whisper could be heard, and Ender quickly whipped his head around from where he was now seated on one of the couches.

His field of vision was immediately filled with a view of sparkling hazel green eyes. They were mere centimetres from his own brown ones, and Ender could feel her warm breath against his cheeks.

His company immediately pulled herself back a little once she realized the closeness of the situation, and blushed ever so slightly.