Ender's Game

'Because you—' Because you spoke nicely to me, and honestly. 'You didn't lie.'

'I won't lie now, either,' said Graff. 'My job isn't to be friends. My job is to produce the best soldiers in the world. In the whole history of the world. We need a Napoleon. An Alexander. Except that Napoleon lost in the end, and Alexander flamed out and died young. We need a Julius Caesar, except that he made himself dictator, and died for it. My job is to produce such a creature, and all the men and women he'll need to help him. Nowhere in that does it say I have to make friends with children.'

'You made them hate me.'

'So? What will you do about it? Crawl into a corner? Start kissing their little backsides so they'll love you again? There's only one thing that will make them stop hating you. And that's being so good at what you do that they can't ignore you. I told them you were the best. Now you damn well better be.'

'What if I can't?'

'Then too bad. Look, Ender. I'm sorry if you're lonely and afraid. But the buggers are out there. Ten billion, a hundred billion, a million billion of them, for all we know. With as many ships, for all we know. With weapons we can't understand. And a willingness to use those weapons to wipe us out. It isn't the world at stake, Ender. Just us. Just humankind. As far as the rest of the earth is concerned, we could be wiped out and it would adjust, it would get on with the next step in evolution. But humanity doesn't want to die. As a species, we have evolved to survive. And the way we do it is by straining and straining and, at last, every few generations, giving birth to genius. The one who invents the wheel. And light. And flight. The one who builds a city, a nation, an empire. Do you understand any of this?'

Ender thought he did, but wasn't sure, and so said nothing.

'No. Of course not. So I'll put it bluntly. Human beings are free except when humanity needs them. Maybe humanity needs you. To do something. Maybe humanity needs me—to find out what you're good for. We might both do despicable things, Ender, but if humankind survives, then we were good tools.'

'Is that all? Just tools?'

'Individual human beings are all tools, that the others use to help us all survive.'

'That's a lie.'

'No. It's just a half truth. You can worry about the other half after we win this war.'

'It'll be over before I grow up,' Ender said.

'I hope you're wrong,' said Grail. 'By the way, you aren't helping yourself at all, talking to me. The other boys are no doubt telling each other that old Ender Wiggin is back there licking up to Graff. If word once gets around that you're a teachers' boy, you're iced for sure.'

In other words, go away and leave me alone. 'Goodbye,' Ender said. He pulled himself hand over hand along the tube where the other boys had gone.

Graff watched him go.

One of the teachers near him said, 'Is that the one?'

'God knows,' said Graff. 'If it isn't Ender, then he'd better show up soon.'

'Maybe it's nobody,' said the teacher.

'Maybe. But if that's the case, Anderson, then in my opinion God is a bugger. You can quote me on that.'

'I will.'

They stood in silence a while longer.

'Anderson.'

'Mmm.'

'The kid's wrong. I am his friend.'

'I know.'

'He's clean. Right to the heart, he's good.'

'I've read the reports.'

'Anderson, think what we're going to do to him.'

Anderson was defiant. 'We're going to make him the best military commander in history.'

'And then put the fate of the world on his shoulders. For his sake, I hope it isn't him. I do.'

'Cheer up. The buggers may kill us all before he graduates.'

Graff smiled. 'You're right. I feel better already.'

5

Games

'You have my admiration. Breaking an arm—that was a master stroke.'

'That was an accident.'

'Really? And I've already commended you in your official report.'

'It's too strong. It makes that other little bastard into a hero. It could screw up training for a lot of kids. I thought he might call for help.'

'Call for help? I thought that was what you valued most in him that he settles his own problems. When he's out there surrounded by an enemy fleet, there ain't gonna be nobody to help him if he calls.'

'Who would have guessed the little sucker'd be out of his seat? And that he'd land just wrong against the bulkhead?'

'Just one more example of the stupidity of the military. If you had any brains, you'd be in a real career, like selling life insurance.'

'You, too, mastermind.'

'We've just got to face the fact that we're second rate. With the fate of humanity in our hands. Gives you a delicious feeling of power, doesn't it? Especially because this time if we lose there won't be any criticism of us at all.'

'I never thought of it that way. But let's not lose.'

'See how Ender handles it. If we've already lost him, if he can't handle this, who next? Who else?'

'I'll make up a list.'

'In the meantime, figure out how to unlose Ender.'

'I told you. His isolation can't be broken. He can never come to believe that anybody will ever help him out, ever. If he once thinks there's an easy way out, he's wrecked.'

'You're right. That would be terrible, if he believed he had a friend.'

'He can have friends. It's parents he can't have.'

*

The other boys had already chosen their bunks when Ender arrived. Ender stopped in the doorway of the dormitory, looking for the sole remaining bed. The ceiling was low Ender could reach up and touch it. A child-size room, with the bottom bunk resting on the floor. The other boys were watching him, cornerwise. Sure enough, the bottom bunk right by the door was the only empty bed. For a moment it occurred to Ender that by letting the others put him in the worst place, he was inviting later bullying. Yet he couldn't very well oust someone else.

So he smiled broadly. 'Hey, thanks,' he said. Not sarcastically at all. He said it as sincerely as if they had reserved for him the best position. 'I thought I was going to have to ask for low bunk by the door.'

He sat down and looked in the locker that stood open at the foot of the bunk. There was a paper taped to the inside of the door.

Place your hand on the scanner

at the head of your bunk

and speak your name twice.

Ender found the scanner, a sheet of opaque plastic. He put his left hand on it and said, 'Ender Wiggin. Ender