Ender Wiggin's Last Game

Shakespeare

There were few thins Ender and Meiji could agree on regarding the trip. One of them was that Valentine and Penelope would not be coming.

They both protested, of course, but Ender's decision was final and they had all agreed— given Meiji's conditions— that he would be given the reigns.

After they docked, Ender had Meiji set up the computer for Valentine and Penelope to use. The idea was that they could keep an eye out for them from a birds eye view. It was also the only way Ender could ensure they would both stay in the ship.

Now it was their turn to take their positions. Ender assumed this would take a few days, so he carefully packed bags for them to use. He wanted to go unseen, if that was possible.

They used the shuttle located on the right side of the ship to ferry their way down to Shakespeare. Once again, Ender was surprised by how deftly Meiji handled the controls. And with Valentine and Penelope steadying things in the background, things went smoother than Ender could have hoped.

They landed in a clearing in a forest only a two hours walk from the main city. They waited until the satellite was out of range of the location before landing, so they had a day before anybody would notice they had arrived.

Walking was the most grueling part of the first day. Gravity on Shakespeare was much higher than it was in the gym. Ender found himself scraping his feet against the ground as he walked side-by-side with Meiji.

In those two hours of walking, dispute being sweaty and tired, Ender found himself and, amusingly to him, Meiji looking up in awe at the trees and the sky. Feeling the wind flush against their bodies and hearing the strange noises of the insects chirping. Ender couldn't remember anything like this from Earth. Where the trees were tall and their trunks were as hard as rocks and grass was short and stalky just as the animals were.

These were all Formic plants. Formic animals.

But Ender refused to get caught up in thinking about the Formics until after he was finished. He had to make up for his most recent mistakes and kill Quincy.

Ender's stomach churned at the thought and he stopped just before they reached the colony to lean against a nearby tree, panting and sweating and nauseated.

Meiji looked at him.

"Common, Ender. I get it, you've never walked this far in your life, but we're almost there."

Ender nodded and pushed himself from the tree, continuing to the town.

Once inside, they found that nobody really cared who they were or where they just came from. Apparently, it was normal for hikers emerge from the forest unannounced.

They knew better than to ask openly where things were. If they had really lived there, of course they would know automatically.

So Ender let Meiji lead the way. They had gotten a location from one of their anon contacts just before making the trek, so they had a place to recoup and form a plan.

Ender kept his hood up, knowing full well that many of the people on Shakespeare would recognize him as the captive warlord who should be in his forties and on Earth right now.

Meiji kept close to Ender as they neared the address they were given. It was on the corner of a crowded street, in plain sight of anyone who passed. Ender figures Meiji didn't want a surprise attack from the guards.

But there wasn't an attack and nobody so much as looked at them as they entered. There was a man there to greet them. Ender actually recognized him from the files he studied years before this. He was old and walked with a cane. His beard scruffy, but cut short. Ender remembered him as a child. The only recognizable feature on his face was a mole on his nose and a constellation of freckles on the right half of his face.

"My sons!" He exclaimed. "It's been so long! How is your mother? I know she was so angry when I last saw her, but surely she's settled now."

Ender smiled brightly at the man.
"Father, it's been much too long. We've missed you."

Meiji looked at him sideways, but embraced the man with a genuine warmth that took Ender by surprise.

"It's good seeing you again, dad. Mom wanted to see you, but you know how she is."

The man smiled and placed a hand on Ender's shoulder.
"Walk and talk, children."

And so they followed, but nobody spoke again until they were in the back of the building, going up two floors.

"Since I'm sure I know why you're here, Ender, Meiji... I'm sure I can also guess what you're going to do next."

Meiji stepped next to Ender and slid an arm around his shoulders.
"We plan to get the medicine to as many people as possible."
Ender added, "You've already lost a fourth of the population, sir."

"Yes, yes, the colony would be doomed if we didn't have enough people to populate the planet, wouldn't it?"

"I'm sure you've heard this all before-" Ender started, but the old man cut him off.

"But it's important that we keep everyone safe, yes, son, I know. But there are a few things you don't know."

By this time, they had stopped on the staircase.

"What would those things be, sir?" Ender asked.

"Admiral Morgan is already dead, son. Died about a year ago now."

Ender waited for him to elaborate. To tell him why, exactly, they were still in hiding.

"See, it wasn't a death by disease that killed 'em. It was his wife's daughter, the demented thing. Killed both him and 'er mom."

"What's stopping the Xenobiologists from delivering the cure?"

"Why, his wife's daughter. Nobody knows her name, not really. Uh, but that's only because nobody knows Morgan's dead, either."

"She reigns under her fathers name."

"That's 'bout the half of it."

"And the other half?"

The man continued walking.
"Let's get somewhere safer before we discuss that."