Children of the Mind (Ender, Book 4) (Ender Quartet)

but he certainly could.
    And what did it matter, anyway? They were here to solve the problem of the descoladores, not to work out the kinks in their personal relationships after the wholesale body swap.
    "Do I take it we have agreement?" asked Ela. "To send messages encoded with the information contained on the descolada virus?"
    "The first one only," said Jane. "At least to start."
    "And when they answer," said Ela, "I'll try to run a simulation of what would happen if we constructed and ingested the molecule they send us."
    "If they send us one," said Miro. "If we're even on the right track."
    "Well aren't you Mr. Cheer," said Quara.
    "I'm Mr. Scared-From-Ass-To-Ankles," said Miro. "Whereas you are just plain old Miss Ass."
    "Can't we all get along?" said Jane, whining, teasing. "Can't we all be friends?"
    Quara whirled on her. "Listen, you! I don't care what kind of superbrain you used to be, you just stay out of family conversations, do you hear?"
    "Look around, Quara!" Miro snapped at her. "If she stayed out of family conversations, when could she talk?"
    Firequencher raised his hand. "I've been staying out of family conversations. Do I get credit for that?"
    Jane gestured to quell both Miro and Firequencher. "Quara," she said quietly, "I'll tell you the real difference between me and your brother and sister here. They're used to you because they've known you all your life. They're loyal to you because you and they went through some lousy experiences in your family. They're patient with your childish outbursts and your asinine bullheadedness because they tell themselves, over and over, she can't help it, she had such a troubled childhood. But I'm not a family member, Quara. I, however, as someone who has observed you in times of crisis for some time, am not afraid to tell you my candid conclusions. You are quite brilliant and very good at what you do. You are often perceptive and creative, and you drive toward solutions with astonishing directness and perseverance."
    "Excuse me," said Quara, "are you telling me off or what?"
    " But ," said Jane, "you are not smart and creative and clever and direct and perseverant enough to make it worth putting up with more than fifteen seconds of the egregious bullshit you heap on your family and everyone else around you every minute you're awake. So you had a lousy childhood. That was a few years ago, and you are expected now to put that behind you and get along with other people like a normally courteous adult."
    "In other words," said Quara, "you don't like having to admit that anybody but you might be smart enough to have an idea that you didn't think of."
    "You aren't understanding me," said Jane. "I'm not your sister. I'm not even, technically speaking, human. If this ship ever gets back to Lusitania, it will be because I, with my mind, send it there. Do you get that? Do you understand the difference between us? Can you send even one fleck of dust from your lap to mine?"
    "I don't notice you sending starships anywhere right at the moment," said Quara triumphantly.
    "You continue to attempt to score points off me without realizing that I am not having an argument with you or even a discussion. What you say to me right now is irrelevant. The only thing that matters is what I'm saying to you. And I'm saying that while your siblings put up with the unendurable from you, I will not. Keep on the way you're going, you spoiled little baby, and when this starship goes back to Lusitania you might not be on it."
    The look on Quara's face almost made Miro laugh aloud. He knew, however, that this would not be a wise moment to express his mirth.
    "She's threatening me," said Quara to the others. "Do you hear this? She's trying to coerce me by threatening to kill me."
    "I would never kill you," said Jane. "But I might be unable to conceive of your presence on this starship when I push it Outside and then pull it back In. The thought of you might be so unendurable that my unconscious mind would reject that thought and exclude you. I really don't understand, consciously, how the whole thing works. I don't know how it relates to my feelings. I've never tried to transport anybody I really hated before. I would certainly try to bring you along with the others, if only because, for reasons passing understanding, Miro and Ela would probably be testy with me if I didn't. But trying isn't necessarily succeeding. So I suggest, Quara, that you expend some effort on trying to be a little less