Ender Wiggin's Last Game

Sleep

Ender didn't speak to the other passengers for three days after that. When Meiji left, he didn't wait for him to come back. Instead, he went to their room and climbed into bed, his limbs weak and his hands covered in blood.

It was a miracle that he hadn't gotten hit, but it didn't stop him from feeling as if he had just been beaten to a pulp.

Not long after the incident, Meiji lead him to a seat so that they could get going. Ender didn't make a move to do it himself. He didn't think this was worth what he had done.

Meiji was gentle with him, though, and as soon as Ender and everyone else was secure, Meiji told the computer to reroute to the planet which Ender and Valentine were supposed to be at right now.

They all experienced the rough take-off of the ship and the rocky departure from the station. As soon as Ender knew it was stable, he went back to his room. He could not face Valentine. He never wanted her to see him like that.

__ __ __

Valentine did her best to stay at an arm's length away from the strange man Ender had decided to put his trust in. He was young. Just a little older than Valentine herself, but he was strong. His black hair was pulled into a ponytail as if he hadn't been able to cut it in a very long time.

Now that she thought about it, Ender's hair had grown out too. It looked shaggy. She wouldn't be surprised if he also decided to put it up like this man.

He looked intimidating. Valentine didn't trust him.

But more than that, she saw how he handled Ender with such care. She saw how Ender seemed to trust him wholly. It made her only just able to accept the man's hospitality.

She stuck near Penelope, who, by this point, had figured out what had just happened. The look on her face said that she was angry, maybe even furious, but Valentine had been with her long enough to know that she was relieved. She tried to hide it, but Valentine could see right through her lie.

She was glad to be away from Muhammad.

Valentine was too, but she didn't think they were in any better a situation. She watched how Muhammad and this man talked, how they fought. They were almost the same person.

Valentine helped herself to food after they had gotten back to lightspeed. They had not been given proper food during their stay with Muhammad, so they were both eager to get back onto a healthy diet.

She piled her plate high with food and watched rather happily as Penelope did the same. They sat at one of the many tables, keeping quiet. It was going to be hard to get to talking again after what had happened on the other ship.

It had been so long since Valentine had used her voice.

She tensed as Meiji sat across from them, his own plate filled with the space slop. (It was grown and gathered here in the ship, fertilized with human poop.)

She kept her head down and her gaze focused on her plat as she put one spoonful after another into her mouth.

Meiji cleared his throat, not lifting his fork.
"I don't know what Muhammad did to you, but I can assure you that I am a lot less harsh."

Valentine didn't answer. Meiji went on.

"Ender and I have built a sort of trust between us. We take the initiative when the other can't."