Ender Wiggin's Last Game

Penelope's Thoughts

It had been at least half a year on the ship and Ender hadn't said a word to Penelope. Granted, she didn't speak to him either, but Ender knew the ball was in his court. Valentine had taken to her side after their argument and really only spoke to Ender fleetingly.

Ender couldn't believe how much that bothered him, but he wasn't about to beg her to pay attention to him. Penelope needed somebody and it would only make her resent him more if he tried to take the one friend she had. Even if that friend was Ender's sister.

But then, why should it matter that Valentine was Ender's sister? Wouldn't he love her just the same if they weren't flesh and blood? He hoped so.

Ender, at the moment, was with Meiji. The more time went on, the more common a sight this was.

They were seated facing each other, but they didn't speak and they didn't look at each other. Reports from Shakespeare were coming in at a rapid pace because of the time difference. It seemed as though nothing was getting better.

Many of the old colonists weren't expecting the tyranny, and so, sparked a revolt among the younger colonists. All of them were either murdered or enslaved.

The part that caught Ender's attention was that a small group of the one's killed weren't accounted for. They were listed under dead, but unlike their peers, time and cause of death weren't there. Usually, that meant missing.

This sparked hope in Ender. It hurt that so many had died, but there were some who got away. In a situation like this, there was no missing.

As for who was sending the reports, they came in as unknown. When Meiji puzzled over it, Ender pointed out that they were probably the ones who escaped Quincy and listed themselves as dead. They debated this for at least an hour before they decided that was most likely.

The rest of the population was effectively Quincy's puppets. His yes men, in short. Ender was unsure if the genuinely felt the way they said they did, but it was possible.

"Do you think they're hiding away under someone's basement?" Meiji asked as he moved to rest his feet on Ender's chair.

"Well they can't go unnoticed outside of the colony, so I would assume so."

"That's right, the Admiral has control of the satellites now."

"Unfortunately."

___ ___ ___

Valentine looked up as Penelope huffed, her chin rest in the palm of her hand. She leaned slightly forward, her eyes glued to the pair of boys not too far away.

"You really need to give up on him. He won't do it."
Penelope seemed set on ignoring her warning.

"D'you think he's just gay?"

Valentine furrowed her eyebrows. "No, probably not. How do you even know that term?"

She shrugged, turning away. "It was a rumor that was flying around the school for a while. They say he even kissed another boy."

Valentine rolled her eyes. Rumors could get out of hand.
"Somehow, I doubt it."

"No, seriously. An upperclassman says it was Alai who he kissed, but he refused to go into more detail of what he saw." She ran her fingers through her hair as if this were the most well-known fact in the galaxy. "But when he wouldn't go into detail, naturally, people assumed the worst. Kissing was the least of the rumors for a long time."

Valentine was appalled. Where did they even learn this kind of stuff? She was about to deny the claims when Penelope cut her off.

"What's worse is that everybody knew Alai had a serious crush on Ender. Of course, Petra was the only one to say the whole idea was stupid. See, she had a crush on Ender too and she wasn't about to believe that someone-- a boy no less-- got to him first. Thank got Petra married Bean in the end, don't you think?"

"I doubt any of that actually happened." How could it? She had never seen Ender look at another boy like that in his life.

Penelope steered them away from that subject, but not very far.

"D'you think Meiji knows he's flirting?"

"Well, yes, he does it to make you jealous. Especially now that you know you can't have him." You're also twelve, you need to lay off.

"Fine, then you think Ender knows Meiji's flirting?"

"It's possible."

"So he is gay."

"That's not what I said."

"I bet Bonzo had a crush on him too. You know, before he died."

Valentine sighed. This really wasn't a conversation she should be having with someone so young. But it was curious.
"Look, you shouldn't be gossiping. Not only is it rude, but it divides us."

"In case you haven't already noticed, we are divided. It's you and I, and them."

"I have to disagree."

"What do you mean? You and I really only talk to each other."

"Ender and I communicate all the time. We just don't speak."

Penelope smiled, a sign that she was about to joke.
"Ah, telepathy. I thought that only happened between twins."

"Ender and I are special. We've been able to think to each other since he was in the womb."

"Is that how you knew to call him Ender?"

Valentine smiled, but didn't answer. Sometimes she really wished she could hear what Ender was thinking. Couldn't he see that he was dividing the group? She could deny it all she wanted to, but it was a fact.

It wasn't as if Meiji was helping either.

As she thought this, she glanced over at Meiji, who had a look on his face that spelled nothing but trouble for somebody. He had probably heard all the damn rumors about Ender.

If he were Peter, he would have used it as blackmail.