[Enders Game] >
Lara Flinn never thought she'd make it to Battle School, much less alongside Ender Wiggin. But powers beyond them have sealed their fates and there's no turning back.
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The International Fleet will do whatever it takes to pre...
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Status: Edited
As planned, we left for Command School three days later, on route for a small planet they called Eros.
There were a lot of things they didn't warn us about. Like how the buggers had lived there at one point, or how we'd run them right out of their own tunnels. They didn't warn us about the low ceilings or the eerie shadows that the lights cast along the stone walls either. We figured that out for ourselves quickly enough once we arrived.
Training began the second we set foot in the tunnels. The teachers, or I suppose now they were really commanders and majors, lead us through the maze of halls and into a large room.
The ceiling was high, which was a nice change from the claustrophobic tunnels. In the center, some sort of stage was built out of the ground, a command table circling its edge. Around the stage rose hundreds of seats, almost like the theaters we used to have on Earth. It was difficult to see, the room lit only by the dim light of the command station and the harsh fluorescents of the hallway.
The teacher guiding from the front spoke up to inform the group. "This is the Command Room, where we simulate battles with the formics. Your commander takes over the command table. The rest will sit in the chairs. There are headsets under the seat which will display what you would see in battle." He paused to let the information sink in. "Your commander tells you what to do. To pass the class, you win the battle. You lose a battle, you fail the class for the day. So work hard to win."
We were silent. I scowled as he said 'work hard'. It was as if they didn't expect us to for some reason. We knew what was at stake. We were fighting for the whole Earth now. These were preparations for the real battles that every day became more inevitable.
"Take your seats," the teacher announced. "Lara Flinn, please step up to the command table."
We did as we were told, studying the technology that surrounded us and gauging the environment. A nervous sweat rolled down my back as I stepped onto the stage. Starting now, I would be in charge of what happens to these hundreds of kids. These soldiers. Whether we won or lost battles, it was all on me.
I pressed the button to start the simulation. A holographic screen as large as the table popped up before me, a command rolling across the screen.
Choose five toon leaders.
I accepted the message. A list of those under my command was displayed. Just by pointing at the hologram, I was able to scroll through and select my toon leaders.
Bean, Crazy Tom, Fly Molo, Alai, and....
I paused at Petra Arkanian's name. She had been kind to me when I had been thrown into Salamander Army. Ender had trusted her.
Gently, I tapped her name, watching as the letters were highlighted before the whole list dissolved.
And so the simulations began.
Day after day. Week after week. One month of rigorous training ensued. One turned into two. Then three. We grew tired quickly and that weariness stayed with us, like a layer of film. But day after day we were winning simulations. At night, when the stress became almost unbearable, as heavy as the sky and palpable in the darkness, I reminded everyone that when Ender came, we would be ready.
