Ender Wiggin's Last Game

Parasite

Valentine entertained herself with many different things. Few of them were things that actually had to do with the ship in which she resided.

Mostly what she did on the ship was busywork, nothing that took up any mental energy. But unlike Ender, it had occurred to her that there was a computer on this ship. Where there was a computer, there was outside information to take in.

The only problem was getting her hands on the information, or more accurately, getting her hands on the computer.

Meiji seemed to have full control of the computer and who accessed it. He was on it all day and for most of the night. When she woke, Meiji was on the computer, typing away. As she fell asleep each night she could hear the soft tapping of his fingers against the keys.

It was clear she would never get a chance to use it. And even if she did, somehow, it wouldn't be long enough to get any reasonable information that could entertain her for even a moment.

So Valentine had to settle with talking to Meiji. Something she had not been looking forward to.

She started with simple questions about what he was doing, looking over his shoulder. Valentine didn't bother to hide her interest in the things Meiji kept himself busy with all day. He was probably the only one not dying of boredom.

Meiji told her freely the happenings on the computer. Valentine thought it might be a show of hospitality on his part. I tell you what I know because I have nothing to hide.

For weeks on end, they discussed the problems on Earth and on the other colony planets. Valentine now knew that it was only the people down on Earth that seemed to have any idea of the whereabouts of Ender Wiggin.

The people on the other colonies hadn't gotten the news yet and because Meiji wasn't very good with math, he couldn't say when they would know due to the relativistic speeds.

Her situation changed, however,  when Meiji called Valentine into the living quarters.

"What do you need, oh keeper of the gates to the nets." She was being sarcastic. She and Meiji weren't close and Valentine didn't really want to be.
She could be flippant.

"Gate. Singular, " he said. Valentine shrugged and leaned over his shoulder to get a better look at the screen.
"I was going to tell Ender first, but it seems he's in the showers at the moment, " he said.

Valentine gave up on trying to look over him and settled with looking at him until he continued.

"... I just got an e-mail from the people on the colony of Shakespeare and it's not looking good over there."

So they knew where Ender was.

"What do you mean? What's the problem?" She asked, her grip tensing on the back of Meiji's chair.

Meiji paused, hesitating.
"Oh, nevermind. Go get Ender. I'll tell him first."

"Tell me what?"

It was Ender, still wet from his shower, but fully clothed.

"I got an e-mail from the current governor on Shakespeare..." Meiji paused like he was thinking about how to go about telling Ender. "I... think you should just read it."

Valentine watched as Ender pulled the monitor to face him. His eyes scanned the e-mail quickly. Valentine craned her neck to see.

Ender's expression turned serious, scratching his forehead.
"Is there anyone who can help them nearby?"

Meiji shook his head.
"No, not before we get there, anyway. To them, we are the help."

To Valentine, Ender looked frustrated. Angry.

"But we can't do anything." He said, his hand movements becoming more sporadic.

"Will somebody please tell me what's going on?" Valentine asked impatiently. She was getting tired of playing the pronoun game.

Ender looked at her, his forehead creased with worry lines.
"Admiral Morgan deployed his troops around the colony. He's become a tyrant."

Ender looked toward Meiji.
"Did the governor send any other emails? Any information about the parasites in the air?"

Valentine blinked. Parasites? Since when were there parasites in the air?

Meiji nodded, pulling up a second e-mail for Ender to read.

The air was tense as Ender read the next e-mail. His eyes darted across the screen for several minutes, before his face contorted into that of rage.

"Am I supposed to take this to mean that because Quincy is there, the Xenobiologists can't complete their work?" Ender spoke through his teeth. "How does he expect them to survive!?"

Meiji leaned back in his chair, the expression on his face displaying a mix of pity and worry.

Xenobiologists... Quincy, the colony. Valentine was starting to put it together.

"Do you think, " Valentine began, interrupting what Ender had been telling Meiji. "that maybe Admiral Morgan doesn't want them to survive? Any of them?"

"You mean... including the colonists?" Ender asked, his eyebrows raised. He leaned against Meiji's desk.

"Yes."

Ender thought for a moment. Could that be it? Morgan didn't seem like the kind of guy to something like that. Though, there was a possibility...

"Meiji, if we notify the people on the closest planet or station, how many people could we save?"

Meiji shrugged, looking up at Ender from his seated position.
"I don't know. If I knew more about the parasites and how they worked, I might be able to tell you given a few hours, but..."

Valentine knew it was impossible to tell how many people they could save by notifying people now. She also knew that Ender knew that too. He was angry.

"Just tell them anyway. There's no point in weighing the pros and cons. The faster they get there, the better."

Ender huffed, running a hand through his virtually dry hair.
"Yeah, there's no reason not to, I just-"

"You want to know how many, I get it," Meiji said, his voice soft. He looked at Ender with an unreadable expression.

Valentine stared openly at Meiji. There was something about this interaction that struck her as strange.

Since when did they become so close?

____ ____ ____

Hello! It's fine weather we are having where I live. The clouds are beautiful today!

I hope you enjoyed today's chapter.

Have a lovely day and be safe, my little mochis!