Alessandra felt her face turning red. 'Mother! Don't think what I know you're thinking!'
'And why not think it? He'll have to marry somebody on that distant lonely world. Why not you?' Then Mother's face also turned red and she fluttered her hands against her cheeks. 'Oh, oh, Alessandra, I was so afraid to tell you, and now I'm glad, and you'll be glad!'
'Tell me what?'
'You know how we decided to sleep through the voyage? Well, I got to the office to turn in the paper, but I saw that I had accidentally checked the other box, to stay awake and study and be in the first wave of colonists. And I thought, What if they don't let me change the paper? And I decided, I'll make them change it! But when I sat there with the woman I became afraid and I didn't even mention it, I just turned it in like a coward. But now I see I wasn't a coward, it was God guiding my hand, it truly was. Because now you'll be awake through the whole voyage. How many fourteen-year-olds will there be on the ship, awake? You and Ender, that's what I think. The two of you.'
'He's not going to fall in love with a stupid girl like me.'
'You get very good grades and besides, a smart boy isn't looking for a girl who is even smarter, he's looking for a girl who will love him. He's a soldier who will never come home from the war. You will become his friend. A good friend. It will be years before it's time for him and you to marry. But when that time comes he'll know you.'
'Maybe you'll marry Mazer Rackham.'
'If he's lucky,' said Mother. 'But I'll be content with whatever old man asks me, as long as I can see you happy.'
'I will not marry Ender Wiggin, Mother. Don't hope for what isn't possible.'
'Don't you dare tell me what to hope for. But I will be content for you merely to become his friend.'
'I'll be content merely to see him and not wet my pants. He's the most famous human being in the world, the greatest hero in all of history.'
'Not wetting your pants, that's a good first step. Wet pants don't make a good impression.'
The school year ended. They received instructions and tickets. They would take the train to Napoli and then fly to Kenya, where the colonists from Europe and Africa were gathering to take the shuttle into space. Their last few days were spent in doing all the things they loved to do in Monopoli — going to the wharf, to the little parks where she had played as a child, to the library, saying good-bye to everything that had been pleasant about their lives in the city. To Father's grave, to lay their last flowers there. 'I wish you could have come with us,' whispered Mother, but Alessandra wondered — if he had not died, would they have needed to go into space to find happiness?
They got home late on their last night in Monopoli, and when they reached the flat, there was Grandmother on the front stoop of the building. She rose to her feet the moment she saw them and began screaming, even before they were near enough to hear what she was saying.
'Let's not go back,' said Alessandra. 'There's nothing there that we need.'
'We need clothing for the journey to Kenya,' said Mother. 'And besides, I'm not afraid of her.'
So they trudged on up the street, as neighbors looked out to see what was going on. Grandmother's voice became clearer and clearer. 'Ungrateful daughter! You plan to steal away my beloved granddaughter and take her into space! I'll never see her again, and you didn't even tell me so I could say good-bye! What kind of monster does that! You never cared for me! You leave me alone in my old age — what kind of duty is that? You in this neighborhood, what do you think of a daughter like that? What a monster has been living among you, a monster of ingratitude!' And on and on.
But Alessandra felt no shame. Tomorrow these would not be her neighbors. She did not have to care. Besides, any of them with sense would realize: No wonder Dorabella Toscano is taking her daughter away from this vile witch. Space is barely far enough to get away from this hag.
Grandmother got directly in front of Mother and screamed into her face. Mother did not speak, merely sidestepped around her and went to the door of the building. But she did not open the door. She turned around and held out her hand to stop Grandmother from speaking.
Grandmother did not stop.
But Mother simply continued to hold up her hand. Finally Grandmother wound up her rant by saying, 'So now she wants to speak to me! She didn't want to speak to me for all these weeks that she's been planning to go into space, only when I come here with my broken heart and my bruised face will she bother to speak to me, only now! So speak already! What are you waiting for! Speak! I'm listening! Who's stopping you?'
Finally Alessandra stepped between them and screamed into Grandmother's face, 'Nobody can speak till you shut up!'
Grandmother slapped Alessandra's face. It was a hard slap, and it knocked Alessandra a step to the side.
Then Mother held out an envelope to Grandmother. 'Here is all the money that's left from our signing bonus. Everything I have in all the world except the clothes we take to Kenya. I give it to you. And now I'm done with you. You've taken the last thing you will ever get from me. Except this.'
She slapped Grandmother hard across the face.
Grandmother staggered, and was about to start screaming when Mother, lighthearted fairy-born Dorabella Toscano, put her face into Grandmother's and screamed, 'Nobody ever, ever, ever hits my little girl!' Then she jammed the envelope with the check in it into Grandmother's blouse, took her by the shoulders, turned her around, and gave her a shove down the street.
Alessandra threw her arms around her mother and sobbed. 'Mama, I never understood till now, I never knew.'
Mother held her tight and looked over her shoulder at the neighbors who were watching, awestruck. 'Yes,' she said, 'I am a terrible daughter. But I am a very, very good mother!'
Several of the neighbors applauded and laughed, though others clucked their tongues and turned away. Alessandra did not care.
'Let me look at you,' said Mother.
Alessandra stepped back. Mother inspected her face. 'A bruise, I think, but not too bad. It will heal quickly. I think there won't be a trace of it left by the time you meet that fine young man with prospects.'
CHAPTER 6
To: GovNom%[email protected]
From: GovAct%[email protected]
Subj: Naming the colony
I agree that calling this place Colony I is going to get tiresome. I agree that naming it now instead of REnaming it when you and your colony ship get here in fifty years will be much better.
But your suggestion of «Prospero» would not play well here right now. We're burying former fighter pilots at the rate of one every other day while our xenobiologist struggles to find drugs or treatments that will control or eliminate the airborne worms that we inhale and that burrow through our veins until they're so perforated we bleed out internally.
Sel (the XB) assures me that the drug he just gave us will slow them down and buy us time. So there's a chance there'll actually be a colony here when you arrive. If you have questions about the dustworm itself, you'll have to ask him at SMenach%[email protected].
My address is my job title but my name is Vitaly Kolmogorov and my permanent title is Admiral. Do you have a name? Whom am I writing to?
To: GovAct%[email protected]
From: GovNom%[email protected]
Subj: Re: Naming the colony
Dear Admiral Kolmogorov,
I have read with great relief the recent report that the dustworm has been completely controlled by the drug
