First meetings in the Enderverse

room to the other in a sporadic pattern.
    He walked by Mazer as he had several times before, and Mazer’s hand shot out and pushed Ender’s left leg into his right in the middle of a step. Ender fell flat on the floor. He leaped to his feet immediately, furious. He found Mazer sitting calmly, cross-legged, as if he had never moved. Ender stood poised to fight. But the other’s immobility made it impossible for Ender to attack, and he found himself wondering if he had only imagined the old man’s hand tripping him up. The pacing continued for another hour, with Ender Wiggins trying the door every now and then. At last he gave up and took off his uniform and walked to his bed.
    As he leaned over to pull the covers back, he felt a hand jab roughly between his thighs and another hand grab his hair. In a moment he had been turned upside down. His face and shoulders were being pressed into the floor by the old man’s knee, while his back was excruciatingly bent and his legs were pinioned by Mazer’s arm. Ender was helpless to use his arms, and he couldn’t bend his back to gain slack so he could use his legs. In less than two seconds the old man had completely defeated Ender Wiggins.
    “All right,” Ender gasped. “You win.”
    Mazer’s knee thrust painfully downward.
    “Since when,” Mazer asked in a soft, rasping voice, “do you have to tell the enemy when he has won?”
    Ender remained silent.
    “I surprised you once, Ender Wiggins. Why didn’t you destroy me immediately afterward? Just because I looked peaceful? You turned your back on me. Stupid. You have learned nothing. You have never had a teacher.”
    Ender was angry now. “I’ve had too many damned teachers, how was I supposed to know you’d turn out to be a-” Ender hunted for a word. Mazer supplied one.
    “An enemy, Ender Wiggins,” Mazer whispered. “I am your enemy, the first one you’ve ever had who was smarter than you. There is no teacher but the enemy, Ender Wiggins. No one but the enemy will ever tell you what the enemy is going to do. No one but the enemy will ever teach you how to destroy and conquer. I am your enemy, from now on. From now on I am your teacher.”

    Then Mazer let Ender’s legs fall to the floor. Because the old man still held Ender’s head to the floor, the boy couldn’t use his arms to compensate, and his legs hit the plastic surface with a loud crack and a sickening pain that made Ender wince. Then Mazer stood and let Ender rise. Slowly the boy pulled his legs under him, with a faint groan of pain, and he knelt on all fours for a moment, recovering. Then his right arm flashed out. Mazer quickly danced back and Ender’s hand closed on air as his teacher’s foot shot forward to catch Ender on the chin. Ender’s chin wasn’t there. He was lying flat on his back, spinning on the floor, and during the moment that Mazer was off balance from his kick Ender’s feet smashed into Mazer’s other leg. The old man fell on the ground in a heap.
    What seemed to be a heap was really a hornet’s nest. Ender couldn’t find an arm or a leg that held still long enough to be grabbed, and in the meantime blows were landing on his back and arms. Ender was smaller-he couldn’t reach past the old man’s flailing limbs.
    So he leaped back out of the way and stood poised near the door. The old man stopped thrashing about and sat up, cross-legged again, laughing. “Better, this time, boy. But slow. You will have to be better with a fleet than you are with your body or no one will be safe with you in command. Lesson learned?”
    Ender nodded slowly.
    Mazer smiled. “Good. Then we’ll never have such a battle again. All the rest with the simulator. I will program your battles, I will devise the strategy of your enemy, and you will learn to be quick and discover what tricks the enemy has for you. Remember, boy. From now on the enemy is more clever than you. From now on the enemy is stronger than you. From now on you are always about to lose.”
    Then Mazer’s face became serious again. “You will be about to lose, Ender, but you will win. You will learn to defeat the enemy. He will teach you how.”
    Mazer got up and walked toward the door. Ender stepped back out of the way. As the old man touched the handle of the door, Ender leaped into the air and kicked Mazer in the small of the back with both feet. He hit hard enough that he rebounded onto his feet, as Mazer cried out and collapsed on the floor.
    Mazer got up slowly,