Shadow Puppets (Ender, Book 7) (Shadow Saga)

subcontinent -- maybe they even imagined that Peter Wiggin could control the monsoon rains.
    Bean had no such illusions. Peter Wiggin had all kinds of contacts throughout the world, a collection of informants that was gradually turning into a serious network of spies, but as far as Bean could tell, Peter was still just playing a game. Oh, Peter thought it was real enough, but he had never seen what happened in the real world. He had never seen people die as a result of his orders.
    Bean had, and it was not a game.
    He heard his men approaching. He knew without looking that they were very close, for even here, in supposedly safe territory -- an advance staging area in the mountains of Mindanao in the Philippines -- they moved as silently as possible. But he also knew that he had heard them before they expected him to, for his senses had always been unusually keen. Not the physical sense organs -- his ears were quite ordinary -- but the ability of his brain to recognize even the slightest variation from the ambient sound. That's why he raised a hand in greeting to men who were only just emerging from the forest behind him.
    He could hear the changes in their breathing -- sighs, almost-silent chuckles -- that told him they recognized that he had caught them again. As if it were a grownup game of Mother-May-I, and Bean always seemed to have eyes in the back of his head.
    Suriyawong came up beside him as the men filed by in two columns to board the choppers, heavily laden for the mission ahead.
    "Sir," said Suriyawong.
    That made Bean turn. Suriyawong never called him "sir."
    His second-in-command, a Thai only a few years older than Bean, was now half a head shorter. He saluted Bean, and then turned toward the forest he had just come from.
    When Bean turned to face the same direction, he saw Peter Wiggin, the Hegemon of Earth, the brother of Ender Wiggin who saved the world from the formic invasion only a few years before --Peter Wiggin, the conniver and gamesman. What was he playing at now?
    "I hope you aren't insane enough to be coming along on this mission," said Bean.
    "What a cheery greeting," said Peter. "That is a gun in your pocket, so I guess you aren't happy to see me."
    Bean hated Peter most when Peter tried to banter. So he said nothing. Waited.
    "Julian Delphiki, there's been a change of plans," said Peter.
    Calling him by his full name, as if he were Bean's father. Well, Bean had a father -- even if he didn't know he had one until after the war was over, and they told him that Nikolai Delphiki wasn't just his friend, he was his brother. But having a father and mother show up when you're eleven isn't the same as growing up with them. No one had called Bean "Julian Delphiki" when he was little. No one had called him anything at all, until they tauntingly called him Bean on the streets of Rotterdam.
    Peter never seemed to see the absurdity of it, talking down to Bean. I fought in the war against the Buggers, Bean wanted to say. I fought beside your brother Ender, while you were playing your little games with rabble-rousing on the nets. And while you've been filling your empty little role as Hegemon, I've been leading these men into combat that actually made a difference in the world. And you tell me there's been a change of plans?
    "Let's scrub the mission," said Bean. "Last-minute changes in plan lead to unnecessary losses in battle."
    "Actually, this one won't," said Peter. "Because the only change is that you're not going."
    "And you're going in my place?" Bean did not have to show scorn in his voice or on his face. Peter was bright enough to know that the idea was a joke. Peter was trained for nothing except writing essays, shmoozing with politicians, playing at geopolitics.
    "Suriyawong will command this mission," said Peter.
    Suriyawong took the sealed envelope that Peter handed him, but then turned to Bean for confirmation.
    Peter no doubt noticed that Suriyawong did not intend to follow Peter's orders unless Bean said he should. Being mostly human, Peter could not resist the temptation to jab back. "Unless," said Peter, "you don't think Suriyawong is ready to lead the mission."
    Bean looked at Suriyawong, who smiled back at him.
    "Your Excellency, the troops are yours to command," said Bean. "Suriyawong always leads the men in battle, so nothing important will be different."
    Which was not quite true -- Bean and Suriyawong often had to change plans at the last minute, and Bean ended up commanding all or