Enders In Exile

anyone wanted him to solve a problem—to judge a
dispute, to question a rule, to ask for a change or a privilege. "I'm
afraid that my authority doesn't begin until I set foot on the surface
of the planet Shakespeare," he'd say. "But I'm sure that you'll get
satisfaction from whatever officer Admiral Morgan has delegated to deal
with us passengers."
    "But you're an admiral,
too," several people mentioned. A few even knew that Ender had a higher
rank, among admirals, than Morgan. "You outrank him."
    "He's captain of the
ship," said Ender, always smiling. "There
is
no
higher authority than that."
    Valentine wasn't going
to settle for such answers, not when they were alone. "Mierda, mi
hermano," said Valentine. "If you don't have any official duties and
you're not being governor, then why are you spending so much time
being—
affable
?"
    "Presumably," said
Ender, "we will arrive at our destination someday. When that happens, I
need to know every person who will stay with the colony. I need to know
them well. I need to know how they fit together in their families,
among the friendships they form on the ship. I need to know who speaks
Common well and who has trouble communicating outside their native
language. I must know who is belligerent, who is needy of attention,
who is creative and resourceful, what education they have, how they
think about unfamiliar ideas. For the passengers who are in cold
storage, I had only a half hour meeting with each group. For those who
are making the voyage awake, like us, I have much more time. Time
enough, maybe, to find out why they chose not to sleep through the
trip. Afraid of stasis? Hoping for some advantage when we get there? As
you can see, Valentine, I'm working constantly out there. It makes me
tired."
    "I've been thinking of
teaching English," said Valentine. "Offering a class."
    "Not English," said
Ender. "Common. It's spelled better—no
ugh
s
and
igh
s—and there's some special
vocabulary and there's no subjunctive, no 'whom,' and the word 'of' is
spelled as the single letter 'v.' To name just a few of the
differences."
    "So I'll teach them
Common," said Valentine. "What do you think?"
    "I think it'll be
harder than you think, but it would really help the people who took the
class—if the ones who need it take it."
    "So I'll see what
language-teaching software there is in the library."
    "First, though, I hope
you'll check with Admiral Morgan."
    "Why?"
    "It's his ship.
Offering a course can be done only with his permission."
    "Why would he care?"
    "I don't know that he
does care. I just know that on his ship, we have to find out if he
cares before we start something as formal and regular as a class."
    As it turned out, the
passenger liaison officer, a colonel named Jarrko Kitunen, was already
planning to organize Common classes and he accepted Valentine as an
instructor the moment she volunteered. He also flirted with her
shamelessly in his Finnish accent, and she found that she rather
enjoyed his company. With Ender always busy talking with somebody or
reading whatever he'd just received by ansible or downloaded from the
library, it was good to have a pleasant way to pass the time. She could
only stand to work on her history of Battle School for a few hours at a
time, so it was a relief to have human company.
    She had come on this
voyage for Ender, but until he was willing to take her fully into his
confidence, she had no obligation to mope around wishing for more of
Ender's soul than he was willing to share. And if it turned out that
Ender never wished to take her into his life, to restore their old
bond, then she would need to make a life for herself, wouldn't she?
    Not that Jarrko would
be that life. For one thing, he was at least ten years older than she
was. For another, he was crew, which meant that when the ship was
loaded up with whatever artifacts and trade goods and supplies
Shakespeare was able to supply them with, it would be turning around
and heading back to Earth, or at least to Eros. She would not be on it.
So any relationship with Jarrko was going to end. He might be fine with
that, but Valentine was not.
    As Father always said,
"Monogamy is what works best for any society in the long run. That's
why half of us are born male and half female—so we come out
even."
    So Valentine wasn't
always with Ender; she was busy, she had things to do, she had a life
of her own. Which was more than Peter had ever given her, so she rather
enjoyed it.
    It happened,