Together

Chapter 36 ★ Amy

Darkness. Our sector is currently blacked out during another firefight with the Polemarch's troops. I sigh deeply as I hear thumping explosions from above.

Someone taps my shoulder. I see a vaguely Petra-shaped outline motioning at me to follow.

"They're letting us see Ender," was all she whispered before turning towards the door. I get up to follow her and flinch as the lights come back on.

Once in the hall, a man who has been introduced to us as Mazer Rackham stands with the other Toon Leaders.

"He hasn't been responding, no one's even seen him awake," he was saying.

"But it's been a week," Bean whisper-yelled.

"Doesn't change the fact that there's only been a whole lotta nothin outa him," Tom chided.

"He also has IV lines. Do not remove them and do not let him remove them, should he wake. Best of luck," Mazer said before walking away.

"So.... anyone know where his room is? I'd like to get there before we're blacked out again," says Molo. I turn in the opposite direction and start walking. Petra, Bean, and Alai follow close behind me.

"Guess we follow them then," says Dink.

★★★

"Watch out!"

"It's not my fault his room is tiny!"

"It's rather large for one person military quarters. It's rather tiny for nine people plus Ender in a bed." I snort quiet laughter and look over at Ender. He hasn't moved since we got here, almost an hour ago now. We've taken turns sitting by his bedside, and Alai is taking over now. Bean and Petra stand between me and Alai, with the others squished in behind us. I haven't moved from my spot at the foot of his bed since arrival. It's been a long, dark, explosion filled hour. As is the new norm, apparently.

Ender's hand shoots from nowhere to grab the front of Alai's shirt. It looks like he might be defending himself.

What's happening in his dreams?

"Ender, it's me, it's me!" Alai chatters, alarmed. Ender hesitates for a moment before saying, "Alai?"

"Salaam, pinprick. What were you trying to do, kill me?"

"Yes. I thought you were trying to kill me."

"I was trying not to wake you up. Well, at least you have some survival instincts left. The way Mazer talks about it, you were becoming a vegetable."

"I was trying to. What's the thumping?"

"There's a war going on. It looks like we might win. Not all the Warsaw-Pact people went with the Polemarch. A lot of them came over when the Strategos told them you were loyal to the I.F."

"I was asleep."

You weren't plotting treason in your sleep, were you?" I interjected. "Some of the Russians who came in told us that when Mr. Almighty Polemarch told them to find and kill you, they almost killed him."

"Yeah," said Bean. "Whatever they might feel about other people, Ender, they love you. The whole world watched us fight. Vids complete with your voice giving commands, nothing left out. You've got a career in the vids."

"I don't think so."⁴

"Oh, come on," Petra said. "Saving the world when you're​ only 11? Impressive. Not too bad appearance-wise, with a strong powerful 'man voice'? You'd make a woman swoon."

"Would that woman be you, Petra?" Dink teased. Petra instantly looked like she regretted her existence.

Tom walked in from outside.

"Truce," he proclaimed. Ender looked confused.

"We'll explain later when you feel better," Molo says. "Things are crazy back on Earth."

"No joke."

"They'll probably make us go to school. It's, like, a requirement over there." The kids all laughed at that.

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⁴ Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game, pages 301-304